OA Campaign Specific Skills

Bureaucracy (Zhèngfu)
Originally meant government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected officials, but can also apply to any large organization with many departments, often complex with much paperwork and problems.

Prerequisite: CHA 12 or INT 12


 * Reduced time for paperwork or permits to be dealt with by 1d4+1 X 10%.
 * Knowledge of which the is the correct department or person for a certain subject.
 * +2 bonus to social interactions when dealing with those in the named bureaucracy.
 * This skill can be earned multiple times, once for each group or region. The benefits then apply when dealing with that group. Group refers to a kingdom or other large organization or location that requires a lot of paperwork or permits.

Source: d20PFSRD: Bureaucracy

Calligrpahy (Shu)
Calligraphy established itself as the most important ancient Chinese art form alongside painting, first coming to the fore during the Han dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE). All educated men and some court women were expected to be proficient at it, an expectation which remained well into modern times. Far more than mere writing, good calligraphy exhibited an exquisite brush control and attention to composition, but the actual manner of writing was also important with rapid, spontaneous strokes being the ideal. The brushwork of calligraphy, its philosophy, and materials would influence Chinese painting styles, especially landscape painting, and many of the ancient scripts are still imitated today in modern Chinese writing.

The highly flexible brushes used in calligraphy were made from animal hair (or more rarely a feather) cut to a tapering end and tied to a bamboo or wood handle. The ink used was made by the writer himself by rubbing a dried cake of animal or vegetable matter mixed with minerals and glue against a wet stone. Wood, bamboo, silk (from c. 300 BCE), and then paper (from c. 100 CE) were the most common writing surfaces, but calligraphy could also appear on such everyday objects as fans, screens, and banners. The best material was paper, though, and the invention of finer quality paper - credited to Cai Lun in 105 CE - helped the development of more artistic styles of calligraphy because its absorbency captured every nuance of the brushstroke.

A connoisseurship quickly developed, and calligraphy became one of the six classic and ancient arts alongside ritual, music, archery, charioteering, and mathematics. Accomplished Chinese calligraphers were expected to use varying thicknesses of brushstroke, their subtle angles, and their fluid connection to each other - all precisely arranged in imaginary spaces on the page - to create an aesthetically pleasing whole.

Source: Ancient Chinese Calligraphy

Diplomacy (Wàijiao)
Diplomats are skilled in the art and practice of conducting international relations by negotiating alliances, treaties, agreements etc., bilaterally or multilaterally, between states and sometimes international organisms, or even between polities with varying status, such as those of monarchs and their princely vassals.

You can use this skill to persuade others to agree with your arguments, to resolve differences, and to gather valuable information or rumors from people. This skill is also used to negotiate conflicts by using the proper etiquette and manners suitable to the problem.

Source: Bureaucracy vs Diplomacy

Flower Arrangement (Kado)
Ikebana ("arranging flowers" or "making flowers alive") is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as Kado ("way of flowers"). The tradition dates back to Heian period, when floral offerings were made at altars. Later, flower arrangements were instead used to adorn the tokonoma (alcove) of a traditional Japanese home.

Ikebana reached its first zenith in the 16th century under the influence of Buddhist tea masters and has grown over the centuries, with numerous distinct schools extant today.

Ikebana is counted as one of the three classical Japanese arts of refinement, along with kodo for incense appreciation and chado for tea and the tea ceremony.

Source: Wikipedia: Ikebana

Incense Appreciation (Kōdō)
Kōdō ("Way of Fragrance") is the art of appreciating Japanese incense, and involves using incense within a structure of codified conduct. Kodo includes all aspects of the incense process, from the tools (kodogu), to activities such the incense-comparing games kumiko and genjiko. Kodo is counted as one of the three classical Japanese arts of refinement, along with kado for flower arrangement, and chado for tea and the tea ceremony.

Source: Wikpedia: Kōdō

Legalism (Faija)
The School of Law or Legalism ( Fajia; Fa-chia; "School of Law") doctrine was formulated by Li Kui, Shang Yang (d. 338 BC), Han Feizi (d. 233 BC), and Li Si (d. 208 BC), who maintained that human nature was incorrigibly selfish; accordingly, the only way to preserve the social order was to impose discipline from above, and to see to a strict enforcement of laws.

The Legalists exalted the state above all, seeking its prosperity and martial prowess over the welfare of the common people. Legalism, school of Chinese philosophy that attained prominence during the turbulent Warring States era (475-221 BCE) and, through the influence of the philosophers Shang Yang, Li Si, and Hanfeizi, formed the ideological basis of China's first imperial dynasty, the Qin (221-207 BCE).

Legalism greatly influenced the philosophical basis for the imperial form of government. During the Han Dynasty, the most practical elements of Confucianism and Legalism were taken to form a sort of synthesis, marking the creation of a new form of government that would remain largely intact until the late 19th century.

The three main precepts of these Legalist philosophers are the strict application of widely publicized laws (fa), the application of such management techniques (shu) as accountability (xingming) and "showing nothing" (wuxian), and the manipulation of political purchase (shi).

The Legalists believed that political institutions should be modeled in response to the realities of human behaviour and that human beings are inherently selfish and short-sighted. Thus social harmony cannot be assured through the recognition by the people of the virtue of their ruler, but only through strong state control and absolute obedience to authority. The Legalists advocated government by a system of laws that rigidly prescribed punishments and rewards for specific behaviours. They stressed the direction of all human activity toward the goal of increasing the power of the ruler and the state. The brutal implementation of this policy by the authoritarian Qin dynasty led to that dynasty's overthrow and the discrediting of Legalist philosophy in China.

Source: Wikipedia: Hundred Schools of Thought

Military Strategy (Weiqi)
Sun Tzu - the warrior, philosopher and the creator of The Art of War - used his strategic thought and successfully led the state of Wu's numerically inferior army to defeat the ten times larger and powerful army of the Kingdom of Chu to the West. Like a master player of the Go, he turned the odds in his favour and ultimately King Helu of Wu controlled the vast expanse of fertile territory in eastern China. The only thing that separates present day's world from his legacy is a gap of two millenniums; otherwise his strategic thought transcends time and appears to be more applicable today. The strategists, generals, sportsmen and businessmen apply Sun Tzu's strategic thought, either wittingly or unwittingly, to gain victory in their respective fields. It isn't clear if Sun Tzu drew inspiration from the game of Go in writing The Art of War; but the black and white stones of the Go cannot teach strategy the way Master Sun did. He was the master player and the 'practical manifestation of the Go'.

The exact origin of board game Go is unknown, but the game has long been regarded as an exercise in discipline and strategic thinking. In ancient China, it was considered one of the "Four Accomplishments" for scholarly gentlemen, along with painting, calligraphy and playing the lute.

Source: AUEssays: Sun Tzu The Game of Go & Strategy

Tea Ceremony (Chado)
The Japanese tea ceremony (known as sado/chado ("The Way of Tea") or cha-no-yu) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea, the art of which is called (o)temae.

Zen Buddhism was a primary influence in the development of the Japanese tea ceremony. Much less commonly, Japanese tea practice uses leaf tea, primarily sencha, a practice known as senchado ("the way of sencha") in Japanese, as opposed to chanoyu or chado.

Tea gatherings are classified as either an informal tea gathering (chakai ("tea gathering")) or a formal tea gathering (chaji ("tea event")). A chakai is a relatively simple course of hospitality that includes confections, thin tea, and perhaps a light meal. A chaji is a much more formal gathering, usually including a full-course kaiseki meal followed by confections, thick tea, and thin tea. A chaji may last up to four hours.

Chado is counted as one of the three classical Japanese arts of refinement, along with kodo for incense appreciation, and kado for flower arrangement.

Source: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_tea_ceremony#:~:text=Japanese%20tea%20ceremony%20(known%20as,%2F%5B%E3%81%8A%5D%E7%82%B9%E5%89%8D). Wikipedia: Japanese Tea Ceremony]