Characters are sometimes faced with the problem of trying to solve a puzzle by identifying and discovering missing pieces. In many cases, the answers can be found by checking against the relevant Casual Knowledge, usually Legend Lore or Area Lore. The simplest approach is to roll a stress die against an ease factor set by the storyguide.

If the characters fail this roll, however, it is entirely reasonable to allow characters to attempt to research the answer by consulting available experts or books on the relevant Knowledge. The following optional rules will be useful in this case.

If a number of characters are researching a problem together, they must designate a lead researcher. All except the lead researcher must have a score of at least one in the relevant Knowledge, and the number of assistants cannot exceed the lead researcher's Leadership score.

The storyguide then determines a Research Bonus based on the resources available to the characters. Each different summa (on the relevant Knowledge) consulted con-tributes its level in research points. Each tractatus or liber quaestionum contributes one point. Authorities are unsuited to this form of research and so do not contribute anything. If experts are consulted in person, the most knowledgeable one contributes his score, while additional experts con-tribute one point each. Experts actively attempting to mislead the researchers can subtract their full Storytelling Ability instead. Note that because of the need to crosscheck and compare results, all the resources must be within a day's travel from each other.

The resulting research total is treated as a sum of experience points yielding a Research Bonus equivalent to the corresponding Ability level. (For example, 3 research points would yield a Bonus of +2; 6 points would yield a Bonus of +3; 10 points would yield a Bonus of +4, etc.) Storyguides may wish to cap the Research Bonus at the level of the lead researcher's Scribe Latin (in the case of books) or Speak Language (if storytellers are consulted).

The lead researcher then indicates how much time will be devoted to the effort and then rolls a stress die + Int + Research Bonus + Lead Researcher's Knowledge + Number of Assistants.

The base time required to research a problem is one week, but this can be reduced if the research roll is particularly successful. If the lead researcher's modified roll beats the ease factor by three, the solution can be found in only three days. If the ease factor is beaten by six, only one day is lost;

if by nine the research only takes half a day; if by twelve only an hour; if by fifteen the answer is found right away.

Conversely, if none of the researchers are familiar with the libraries consulted, the amount of time required is doubled unless the lead researcher has Mythic Intelligence. Familiarity with a library can be achieved by studying in it for a season (any subject of study will do). Characters are assumed to be familiar with their own covenant library. If the characters have failed to allocate the required time to the investigation, they fail automatically but must still check for a botch.

The specific nature of a research botch is determined by the storyguide. It can range from a fatally inaccurate answer (the characters try to keep the enemy faerie lord at bay with a sprig of asparagus instead of a sprig of rowan) to an unfortunate accident (ink is spilled on a priceless manuscript) to a major disaster (you fall asleep at your lectern in the library, knocking over a lit candle and...).

If, having failed once, the researchers decide to widen their search and consult new sources, they may do so, but only the new sources count for determining the new Research Bonus, and the ease factor increases by three for each failed attempt.

Exempli Gratia: Anna is alerted to the discovery of a mysterious decomposed body in a nearby cave by one of the tenants. She decides to investigate in person accompanied by a guard and a maid. Searching the remnants of the corpse's clothing, she finds a sheet of parchment that has been ripped from a book hidden in the lining of the cloak. She has the body given a Christian burial (Anna does not approve of questioning the dead!) and examines the parchment at leisure for a few days, eventually cracking its code. Anna soon realizes that she has only part of a secret message. Two names on the parchment are unfamiliar to her, but should provide a clue as to what tale, or at least what cycle, they come from.

Wishing to keep her investigation private, Anna decides to research the problem alone using her own summa on legendary tales (level 3); the resources available at the nearby covenant library (two summae of levels 2 and 4); and some books from the scriptorium of St. Mary's priory, a nearby Benedictine convent where her aunt is a nun (one short summa of level 1 and a tractatus that uses examples from classical myth to elucidate points of Christian morality).

All these works together provide her with 11 research points (3 + 2 + 4 + 1 + 1 = 11) for a Research Bonus of 4. As Anna is unusually well-read, she has a Scribe Latin score of 4 and is able to assimilate all the available information. Anna has Intelligence +3 and a Legend Lore score of 3. The storyguide sets the ease factor for identifying the source tale at 12, and Anna decides to spend no more than a week researching the matter so she doesn't get too far behind in her embroidery.