An inspiration list for Stormlight characters. Player-safe.
Expertises are the narrow things your character simply knows: a culture, a trade, a weapon, a world. They sit next to your skills, not on top of them. Nothing here is a hard rule. Take an entry as written, narrow it, or invent your own and run it past the GM.
An expertise does three things at the table:
How you get them
Naming your own. The narrower an expertise is, the more it should do in its niche. "Military Life" helps a little in many places. "Siege Logistics" might skip the roll entirely when you fortify a town. A good expertise is a subfield or a cross-section of experience, not a copy of a skill.
Expertises and the plot die. When the plot die comes up, your expertise is what makes the twist fit. An Opportunity for a trader might be spotting that the merchant's broams are fake. A Complication for a scholar might be a convincing text that turns out to be wrong.
Why it matters. Specific expertises mean everyone gets a moment where only they can move the story forward. The Warrior can't read the ancient script, and the Scholar can't find the black-market fence.
Straight from the rulebooks: the cultures everyone starts with, the weapon and armour expert traits, and the rare specialist knowledge.
Every character starts with two. A cultural expertise means fluent, unaccented speech in the language, plus the customs, religion and social rules of that people. Two cultures can tell a story: an Alethi raised in Kharbranth, or a Herdazian who grew up on the caravan roads.
| Culture | You know… |
|---|---|
| Alethi | The lighteyes/darkeyes system and the dahns and nahns. Vorin rules on the safehand and masculine and feminine arts. Military codes and the politics of the highprincedoms. |
| Azish | The Azish bureaucracy: forms, essays, viziers and the Prime. The meaning of patterns and colours in Azish dress. How to petition properly. |
| Herdazian | The great web of "cousins". Street food like chouta. Crystalline fingernails and their uses. Living in the shadow of bigger neighbours. |
| Iriali | The faith of the One and the Long Trail. What golden hair and skin mean to the Iriali. Iri's trade and its neighbours. |
| Kharbranthian | The Palanaeum and the scholars and surgeons of Kharbranth. A city of bells and patients, where healing is offered to all. |
| Listener | Listener songs, rhythms and forms. Life on the Shattered Plains. Talk to the GM before taking this one. |
| Natan | The storm-battered east. Old Natan folklore and lost glory. Surviving where highstorms hit hardest and shelter is scarce. |
| Reshi | The island-nations built on the backs of the great Tai-na. Life at sea and in the tropics. A blunt, less formal society. |
| Shin | Shinovar's strange soil, grass and animals. Reverence for stone. A society that honours farmers and looks down on warriors. |
| Thaylen | Sea trade routes and currency exchange. The Passions. Ships, ports and merchant houses. Thaylen eyebrow styles. |
| Unkalaki | The Horneater Peaks. Birth-order roles within a family. The gods of the lakes, peaks and trees. Feasts and hospitality. |
| Veden | Jah Keved's Vorin court and the Holy Enclave in Valath. The ardentia. Noble houses and old feuds. |
| Wayfarer | Life on the road and in caravans. Every ford, waystation and highstorm shelter. A little of every border town's customs. |
More cultures from the Stormlight World Guide: Emuli, Tukari, Tashikki, Yezieri, Steen, Almi, Deshi, Marati, Riran, Selay (Purelake), Babatharnam, Marabethian, Yulay and Tu Bayla. Ask the GM if you'd like one of these.
Anyone can swing a sword. A weapon expertise unlocks its expert trait, which is where trained fighters pull ahead.
| Weapon | Skill | Traits | Expert trait |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knife | Light Weaponry | Discreet | Offhand, Thrown [20/60] |
| Mace | Light Weaponry | — | Momentum |
| Shortspear | Light Weaponry | Two-Handed | Loses Two-Handed |
| Sidesword | Light Weaponry | Quickdraw | Offhand |
| Staff | Light Weaponry | Discreet, Two-Handed | Defensive |
| Shortbow | Light Weaponry | Two-Handed | Quickdraw |
| Axe | Heavy Weaponry | Thrown [20/60] | Offhand |
| Hammer | Heavy Weaponry | Two-Handed | Momentum |
| Longspear | Heavy Weaponry | Two-Handed | Defensive |
| Longsword | Heavy Weaponry | Quickdraw, Two-Handed | Loses Two-Handed |
| Shield | Heavy Weaponry | Defensive | Offhand |
| Crossbow | Heavy Weaponry | Two-Handed | Deadly |
| Longbow | Heavy Weaponry | Two-Handed | Indirect |
| Unarmed | — | — | Momentum, Offhand |
| Improvised | — | — | Gains the traits of the most similar weapon |
Tips
Armour expertise lets you wear it well: fewer penalties, or looking fit for court.
| Armour | Deflect | Traits | Expert trait |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uniform | 0 | Presentable | — (crafting and repair only) |
| Leather | 1 | — | Presentable |
| Chain | 2 | Cumbersome [3] | Loses Cumbersome |
| Breastplate | 2 | Cumbersome [3] | Presentable |
| Half Plate | 3 | Cumbersome [4] | Cumbersome [3] |
| Full Plate | 4 | Cumbersome [5] | — (crafting and repair only) |
Tips
Rare, restricted knowledge. You can't pick these at character creation without the GM's say-so or a talent that grants one. You earn them in the story: long downtime with rare texts and mentors, or as a goal reward.
| Expertise | What it covers | Usually needs |
|---|---|---|
| Fabrial Crafting | The artifabrians' guarded craft: pick an effect, get the right gem, lure and trap a spren, then build it. | Crafting; gems; a teacher or a talent such as Prized Acquisition |
| Soulcasting Protocols | How Soulcasters coax a thing to become something else, and the Essences it can become. | GM permission; Soulcaster access |
| Radiant Lore | What can still be found about the Knights Radiant and their orders, beyond the usual stories of betrayal. | Rare texts, patient research |
| Shardbearer Lore | Shardblades and Shardplate up close: summoning, strengths and the weak points of an enemy Shardbearer. | Training with a Shardbearer |
| Ryshadium Bonding | Riding a Ryshadium, which chooses its rider. Without this you can't use its special abilities. | The horse's trust (a high-tier companion) |
The GM may hold other specialist expertises in reserve. Some knowledge is something you have to find in play.
Expertises that come from who you are or what life made of you, rather than your heroic path.
Human backgrounds
| Expertise | What it covers | Pairs with |
|---|---|---|
| Bridgeman Survival | Triage under fire, moving in step under crushing strain, scavenging what the dead left behind. | Athletics, Survival, Medicine |
| Ardentia Protocols | How the Vorin clergy works: devotary hierarchy, requisitioning Soulcast food, and the loopholes ardents use to study. | Persuasion, Lore |
| Caravan Guarding | Watch rotas, likely ambush points, and keeping chull-drawn wagons moving over long distances. | Perception, Survival |
Singer backgrounds (talk to the GM first)
| Expertise | What it covers | Pairs with |
|---|---|---|
| The Rhythms | Attuning to rhythms such as Joy or Mourning to share feeling without words, and reading other singers. | Insight, Deception |
| Forms | How forms change in a highstorm, what each form needs and what it can and can't do. | Medicine, Survival |
| Songs of History | The listeners' oral tradition: history human books have lost. | Lore |
Ideas grouped by heroic path. Nothing stops a Warrior from taking Cartography; these are just where each path tends to look first.
Agents work the edges of society: information, locks, lies and rooftops.
| Expertise | What it covers | Pairs with |
|---|---|---|
| Urban Parkour & Scaling | Roof-hopping and wall-climbing without a roll. Spotting weak walls and good grapple points. Chases. | Athletics, Agility |
| Locksmithing & Mechanics | Picking locks, naming who made one, disarming multi-stage traps. How non-magical machines work. | Thievery, Deduction |
| Forgery & Counterfeiting | Writs of passage, seals and signatures. Spotting fake spheres (glass, not gemstone). | Deception, Crafting |
| Underworld Contacts | Thieves, fences, smugglers and safehouses: the jargon, the signs, where to find black-market goods. | Insight, Persuasion |
| Cryptography & Ciphers | Writing and breaking coded messages, including hidden meaning in women's script. | Deduction |
| Disguise & Prosthetics | Makeup, posture and costume. Passing as another caste or trade and building a false identity. | Deception |
| Sleight of Hand | Palming spheres, planting evidence, cheating at cards unseen. | Thievery, Agility |
| Poisons & Toxins | Toxins such as blackbane. Recognising a poisoning, handling poison safely, and antidotes. | Medicine, Crafting |
| Surveillance | Tailing someone through a crowd, and noticing when you're the one being followed. | Stealth, Perception |
Envoys are the social glue: courts, faiths, law and trade.
| Expertise | What it covers | Pairs with |
|---|---|---|
| High Society Etiquette | How to address a brightlord versus a highprince. Duelling etiquette and the cues of highborn feasts. | Persuasion, Deception |
| Theology (Vorinism) | The devotaries, the Heralds, the Almighty and the ardentia's debates. Using piety or guilt in a negotiation. | Lore, Insight |
| Theology (The Passions) | Thaylen faith. Predicting what people will do from what they openly want. | Insight |
| Trade Customs & Economics | Trade routes, exchange rates, where luxury goods come from, spotting a bad deal. | Persuasion, Lore |
| Bureaucratic Navigation | Which form to file, which clerk to ask and how to speed a process along. Essential in Azir. | Lore, Persuasion |
| Artistic Expression (pick one: Music, Painting, Sketching…) | Making and judging art and spotting forgeries. Sketching as a near-perfect visual memory. | Crafting, Persuasion |
| Oratory & Rhetoric | Composing a rousing speech, projecting over a battlefield, winning a debate. | Leadership, Persuasion |
| Pedagogy (Mentorship) | Teaching well. Helping others learn faster during downtime. | Insight, Leadership |
| Law & Precedent | Local laws, rights, contracts and how to argue a case. | Persuasion, Deduction |
| Languages (pick one) | A language beyond your cultural ones, for translating and interpreting. | Insight, Persuasion |
| Mediation | Calming feuds, finding the compromise and keeping both sides at the table. | Insight, Persuasion |
Hunters read the wild: tracks, beasts, weather and terrain.
| Expertise | What it covers | Pairs with |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking & Quarry ID | Reading a disturbed rockbud or a scuff on stone: what passed, how heavy and how long ago. | Survival, Perception |
| Rosharan Botany | Useful plants: knobweed sap for cleaning wounds, longroot for stew, firemoss as a dangerous drug. | Survival, Medicine |
| Zoology (Greatshells) | Chasmfiends and other giants: their habits, warning signs and where the gemheart sits. | Survival, Lore |
| Zoology (Pack Hunters) | Axehounds and whitespines: pack tactics, territory marks, and how to tame or ward them off. | Survival |
| Animal Husbandry | Diagnosing sick animals, fitting saddles, calming a panicking chull or horse in a storm. | Survival, Insight |
| Chasm Survival | The chasms of the Shattered Plains: flash floods, edible moss and finding your way without a map. | Survival, Athletics |
| Trapping & Snaring | Snares for game, traps to slow pursuers, and with care, traps for something much bigger. | Survival, Crafting |
| Meteorology (Storms) | Reading wind and sky to predict highstorms, the Weeping and the Riddens. No stormwarden maths needed. | Survival |
| Camouflage & Ambush | Hiding a camp or a shooter and picking the ground for an ambush. | Stealth |
| Butchery & Hides | Dressing game, tanning, harvesting carapace and gemhearts. | Crafting, Survival |
Leaders hold people together: soldiers, crews, caravans and causes.
| Expertise | What it covers | Pairs with |
|---|---|---|
| Military Life | Ranks, camp routine, drill and the unwritten rules of soldiers. | Leadership, Insight |
| Military Logistics | Feeding, arming and moving an army. Reading an enemy camp's rations and supply lines. | Deduction, Lore |
| Small Unit Tactics | Squad formations, spearmen and archers, shield walls, breaking a charge. | Leadership |
| Siege Engineering | Trenches, siege towers and sapping. Finding a wall's weak point and building defences fast. | Crafting, Deduction |
| Naval Command | Running a ship's crew, sailing the winds and boarding actions. | Leadership, Survival |
| Geopolitics | Ruling families, bloodlines, old grudges between highprinces, marriage alliances. | Persuasion, Insight |
| Camp Management | Preventing mutiny and camp sickness, and lifting spirits after a defeat or a brutal march. | Leadership |
| Interrogation | Pressure, patience and leading questions. Getting answers without violence. | Intimidation, Insight |
| Caravan Master | Routes, schedules, guards and hiring. Running a convoy safely. | Leadership, Survival |
Scholars know how things work and how to fix them, from bodies to bridges.
| Expertise | What it covers | Pairs with |
|---|---|---|
| Anatomy & Surgery | Beyond first aid: amputations, internal surgery, treating serious injuries. | Medicine |
| Pharmacology | Making medicines, antiseptics, anaesthetics and poisons from local plants. | Medicine, Crafting |
| Architecture | Load-bearing pillars, dating a ruin by its style, designing a sound bridge. | Deduction, Crafting |
| Astronomy | Roshar's moons, Salas, Nomon and Mishim, and the cycles of the sky. Navigation by night. | Lore |
| Linguistics | Dead and obscure languages and old glyphs. The Dawnchant remains a famous puzzle. | Lore |
| Cartography | Drawing maps from memory, charting new ground, estimating travel times over rough terrain. | Survival, Lore |
| Gemstone Cutting | Cutting and appraising gems. Groundwork for anyone who wants to build fabrials. | Crafting, Thievery |
| History | The Heralds, the Hierocracy and the old kingdoms, as scholars tell it. | Lore |
| Archaeology | Digging, dating and handling ancient sites and objects. | Lore, Deduction |
| Equipment Crafting | Building and repairing tools, gear and simple devices. | Crafting |
| Spren Watching | Which common spren appear for which emotions and events, and what scholars argue about them. | Lore, Perception |
Warriors know violence well, and what it costs.
| Expertise | What it covers | Pairs with |
|---|---|---|
| Blacksmithing | Repairing shields, forging spearheads, judging steel at a glance. | Crafting |
| Weapon Maintenance | The daily rituals that keep gear ready and stop it failing at the worst moment. | Crafting |
| Duelling & the Arena | The right of challenge, seconds, the rules of a duel, and playing to the crowd. | Presence skills, Weaponry |
| Athletic Conditioning | Pacing a forced march, breathing, pushing past exhaustion. | Athletics |
| Cavalry Operations | Charging with a lance, controlling a horse in battle, caring for a warhorse. | Athletics, Heavy Weaponry |
| Shardblade Stances | Windstance, Stonestance, Smokestance and the rest. Most people only ever see them from a distance. | Heavy Weaponry |
| Soldiering | Drill, line fighting and holding a shield wall. | Heavy Weaponry, Athletics |
| Bodyguard | Spotting threats to a charge and putting yourself in the way. | Perception |
| Wrestling & Brawling | Grapples, throws and fighting dirty. | Athletics |
| Battlefield Medicine | Keeping a comrade alive until a surgeon arrives. | Medicine |
Ideas for each hero: what they have now, and what they might pick up through a new Intellect point, downtime training or a goal reward. These are suggestions, not homework.
Still to choose: Temzil, Shira and Marith each have one cultural expertise left to pick. Choose the people your character spent the most time with before the story began, not just the most useful one. Propose it to the GM.
Has: Azish (cultural) · Literature, Economics, Bureaucracy, Sourcing Supplies
| Could pick up | Why |
|---|---|
| Archaeology or History | For dating and understanding the relics he collects. |
| Linguistics | Old glyphs and dead languages: the writing on the relics themselves. |
| Games of Chance | Good at the thing that keeps getting him in trouble. |
| Law & Precedent | Fighting slavery and abuse through the courts as well as with words. |
Has: Alethi, Wayfarer (cultural) · Shield, Logistics & Pack Animals
| Could pick up | Why |
|---|---|
| Shortspear | Removes Two-Handed, so he can carry spear and shield together. |
| Caravan Guarding | Watch rotas, ambush points and keeping a convoy moving. |
| Meteorology (Storms) | Seeing a highstorm coming in time to get everyone under cover. |
| Bodyguard | Spotting threats to the people he protects and getting in the way. |
| Chain | Solid protection without the penalties. |
Has: Thaylen (cultural) · Small Unit Tactics, Naval Command, plus a weapon of her choice (Longsword or Longspear suit her)
| Could pick up | Why |
|---|---|
| Duelling & the Arena | Challenges, seconds and playing to the crowd. A duel is the fastest way to a name in the warcamps. |
| Breastplate | Presentable: she can impress officers without taking her armour off. |
| Theology (The Passions) | Her Thaylen faith, and a read on what people want. |
| Military Life | The unwritten rules of soldiers, for winning them over. |
Has: Kharbranthian (cultural) · Anatomy & Surgery, Botany, Toxicology, Animal Health, Military Life
| Could pick up | Why |
|---|---|
| Pharmacology | Mixing the antidote or medicine that saves the day. |
| Battlefield Medicine | Keeping someone alive while the fight is still going on. |
| Spren Watching | Painspren and rotspren tell a healer a lot. |
| Shin (cultural, later) | Learned from time with Taszo, for Shin medicine. |
| Knife | A surgeon's blade is still a blade. |
Has: Azish, Wayfarer (cultural) · Tracking, Animal Handling, Shortbow, Rosharan Botany
| Could pick up | Why |
|---|---|
| Zoology (Pack Hunters) | Whitespines and axehounds. Knowing Hulu's kind is how he raises Hulu well. |
| Chasm Survival | The chasms of the Shattered Plains, without a map. |
| Trapping & Snaring | Shaping the ground before a fight starts. |
| High Society Etiquette | The noble runaway still knows which fork to use, and hates that he does. |
Long stretches of travel are a good time to train.