"Every symbol has a story. Every mark, a meaning. In the neon-soaked corridors of the Inner Sphere and the haunted ruins of the Frontier, those who know how to read the signs hold power. A chalked glyph on a bulkhead, a subtle hand gesture at a guild meeting, a temporal sigil etched into a Pulse Rule—each is a message to those with eyes to see."
Secrecy is survival. Mystery cults dedicated to forgotten gods, esoteric guilds guarding cosmic knowledge, and underground resistance cells all use coded symbols to identify allies and warn of enemies. The Chronologists Guild itself harbors internal factions—Cycle-Breakers and Rift-Weavers—each with their own cryptic iconography and ritual passwords.
Those trained in Schooled in Secrets are Sigil-Readers, Shadow-Speakers, and Guild Infiltrators. They walk the line between insider and outsider, fluent in the hidden languages that shape alliances, betray conspiracies, and unlock forbidden lore.
Schooled in Secrets Feat 1
Source Player Core pg. 227
Prerequisites: trained in Occultism
You notice the signs and symbols that members of mystery cults and other secret societies use to declare their affiliation to fellow members. You can use Occultism in place of Diplomacy to Gather Information about such groups and in place of Deception to Impersonate a member of these groups.
If you belong to a secret cult, lodge, sect, or similar organization, you automatically recognize members of your group unless they are specifically attempting to conceal their presence from you. They also recognize your standing unless you are specifically concealing it.
Typical Uses in Starfall
Infiltration: Pose as a member of a Rift cult to gain access to their hidden sanctum or forbidden rituals.
Investigation: Gather intelligence on a secret society's activities, membership, and goals without raising suspicion.
Guild Politics: Navigate the internal politics of the Chronologists Guild by recognizing sub-faction loyalties and coded communications.
Underworld Dealings: Negotiate with black market operators, smuggler guilds, or resistance cells who use esoteric symbols to vet their contacts.
Ancient Mysteries: Decipher the sigil-work of long-dead civilizations, unlocking clues to pre-Hegemony secrets or Rift anomalies.
Secret Societies & Mystery Cults
Chronologist Sub-Factions: Cycle-Breakers mark their equipment with purging sigils; Rift-Weavers inscribe temporal knots into their ritual tools.
Rift Cultists: Groups who worship the Rift as a living god, using psycho-reactive glyphs that shift under observation.
Underground Networks: Resistance cells in the Inner Sphere communicate through graffiti codes and encrypted data-slates.
Ancient Orders: Survivors of pre-Hegemony civilizations maintain secret traditions, their symbols etched into ruins across the Frontier.
Guild Conspiracies: Even legitimate organizations like the Chronologists harbor secret councils and hidden agendas, their members identified by subtle ritual marks.
Adventure Hooks
A series of murders is linked by a strange glyph found at each crime scene—only a Sigil-Reader can decipher its meaning.
The party is hired to infiltrate a Rift cult planning to destabilize a Metronome, requiring perfect mimicry of their rituals and symbols.
An ancient ruin bears inscriptions that match the symbols of a modern secret society—are they descendants, or something more sinister?
A rogue Chronologist faction is recruiting members through coded messages in guild reports; the party must identify and stop them.
A smuggler offers valuable intel in exchange for safe passage through a sector controlled by a mystery cult—but only if the party can prove they "speak the language."
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