Skills

1. Skills

   #1

   Each attribute has three basic traits under it: How strong it is, how well you can use it, and how long it you can use it. Each skill is under one of nine categories for which trait uses it. The traits are set up as follows:
   
   Attribute
   Level 1 { [Strong, Long, Well] }
   Level 2 { [Strong, Long], Well }
   Level 3 { Strong, Long, Well }
   
   All traits are included in the single level 1 trait, each trait is by itself in level 3, and level 2 has the Strong trait and the Long trait together as one trait. To class together the skills into categories the player can easily understand, we need to list both the level 3 trait it uses and the level 2 trait, as follows:
   
   Physical Str/Tou
   Physical Con/Tou
   Physical Agl/Dex
   Mental Int/Cog
   Mental Int/Know
   Mental Wis/Apt
   Magic For/Arc
   Magic Res/Arc
   Magic Prow/Spir
   
   That way, the players can look up whatever trait they have and find skills they want. For their level 1 attribute, they look under it's attribute for any skills, because it covers all of them.
   
   To classify our skills as we make them, we just look at the level 3 trait that best fits it and the rest filters out.

2. Skills

   #2

   Bonus skills points come from the Mental attribute and be spent on any skill under any trait, even traits that have a 0 assigned to them. The limiting factor on what skills a character can know or not know is the skills rank. Harder skills have higher ranks and only characters with higher traits can learn them.
   
   For example, skills that can be learned without teaching and things animals do in nature are typically rank 0 skills. Running, swimming and climbing are great examples. Rank 1 skills are harder, but still things peasants and other people with poor educations can do. Unarmed combat, handle animal, and area knowledge are good rank 1 skills. More specalized skills and craft knowledge would be Rank 2 skills. Things like metalworking, lockpicking, and brewing. Rank 3 would be for the hardest of skills, things that can only be learned by the brightest individuals of the day, the masters of thier crafts. Engineering, artifice, and alchemy are good Rank 3 skills.
   
   Weapons have differing levels of complexity, from as simple as cave man tools of clubs and spears, to five part rods and weighted chains. For that reason, there are four ranks of Wield Weapon to group together general types of weapons. Wield Weapon is for primitive weapons: Clubs, spears, axes, daggers and knives. Weild Weapon is for simple weapons that make up the bulk of regular soilder's gear: Swords, bows, flails, thrown weapons. Weild Weapon is for more difficult and specalised weapons: Crossbows, polearms, whips, boomerangs and such. Weild Weapon is for the exotic types: Weighted chains, five part rods, knife shoes, battle yo-yos and such.
   
   Characters can have skills at levels higher than their ranks, is simply means they're better at it. A character with Weild Weapon at level 3 would be quite good with a dagger or club.

3. Skills

   #3

   Alpha Skill sets and examples.
   
   These lists are to show what kind of skills go with which trait. It is by no means a complete or accurate list.
   
   Physical Str/Tou
   Lift
   Block
   hrrmmm what else?
   Physical Con/Tou
   Swimming
   Carry
   Physical Agl/Dex
   Dodge
   Acrobatics
   Wield Weapon
   Mental Cog/Int
   Language[other than own]
   Math
   Problem Solving
   Mental Know/Int
   Barter
   Negotiate
   Diplomacy
   Mental Wis/Apt
   Area Knowledge
   Arcane Lore
   Monster Knowledge
   History
   Magic For/Arc
   Spell shaping - altering a spells effects
   Magic Res/Arc
   Spellcasting - casting a level of spell
   Magic Prow/Spir
   hrrmmm, what here? endurance of magic...

4. Skills

   #4

   I've been doing a lot of thinking about skills and combat. They are directly related because combat is resolved through challenges, and challenges fall out like this:
   
   1. Artifact level
   2. Skill level
   3. Item level - both magic items and weapons
   4. Trait level
   5. Attribute
   
   And that makes me reconsider how challenges are resolved. I still want artifacts to come first, that's why they're called artifacts, after all, and then skill level, because I want to let the players develop something to thier characters, and skills are the easiest to develop without being over powerful. After that, I'm not so sure how I want it to fall out. I'm leaning for trait, then Attribute, then item, because things can be picked up, but the people using them should be more important. The way it is now, dagger beats club even if club has a higher physical attribute. I don't really like that.
   
   What this means for skills is that broader groups are neccesary. Just like weapons are lumped together, skills should be too. With broader groups, challenges will be resolved quicker and the action can keep flowing. But it kind of does now. You declare your action, find the appropriate skill, and compare it on the challenge table untill someone loses.
   
   How many skills are neccesary? Are skills neccesary? More thinking to do...

The Sixth World · All categories · Guildhall