Polymath
This design document was once relevant, but was deemed unsatisfactory before being implemented into Ephemeral Space.
The following reason was given for its removal: "kind of Too Much deniability, maybe ok in some masquerades but also i dont want to bait someone into implementing this when its not really that good. the flavor text is awesome though i cooked with that"
Name: Polymath
Troupe: Crew
Archetypes: Depends
Description: Use your strange array of abilities to do... something!
Objectives: 2 random objectives from other crew masks
This blood on the ground? It's alright... could use a little more Sodium Chloride--slang for salt, by the way. Have you tried my delicious fruits? They're simply to die for--bad guy! BLAM BLAM BLAM
Concept
The Polymath is a highly variable crew mask that receives two random abilities from other crew masks, as well as two random objectives from other crew masks.
Abilities
The Polymath's abilities depend on the random abilities chosen for them--for example, from the Fruit Vendor, Arms Dealer, Philanthropist](./philanthropist.md), or Connoisseur. Abilities are rolled first, and then objectives. Objectives which require for certain abilities--like the Fruit Vendor's objective--should require the corresponding ability. However, other objectives may always roll, even without the corresponding ability.
Gameplay
The Polymath generates high amounts of variable deniability for essentially any crew mask with an ability--suddenly, being able to spawn fruits out of the aether no longer implies a harmless Fruit Vendor, and it may in fact be a Polymath with the ability to kill an enemy or set fires.
The existence of the Polymath requires people to think more carefully about ability-granting masks, and the randomization allows for some truly strange combinations (Fruit Vendor with Glutton objectives, anyone?).