Back to Experience Points

Skills are chosen by you to give your character experience in certain areas. You don't have to take a skill, but many apprenticeships are available, and many aspiring young people chose to get some training which might help them at a later date. Skills can make you gold if you wish to live in the city, they can serve to enter you into the "in-group" of a certain profession, and can even prove useful during adventures, if you choose to do a bit of that.

The main skills below are called Skills. Special Skills are separate skills you can purchase, which follow a different set of guidelines for ranking. See Special Skills.  This is the only place to access Special Skills, so remember that you find them under the Skills heading.

If you're using the experience point system, you'll go up a rank in each of your skills each time you go up a level. (In most cases – see your specific skill to check out your options)

You can also go up to the next rank in your chosen skill or skills by spending 1000 experience points times the target rank. (Eighth rank would cost 8000 experience). You must go up ranks in order.

As a new character, (level 0) you get one free Skill Slot to fill. You can put any of the below Skills into it.  If you start off with enough experience points, you can purchase another slot for each 1000 experience points you spend. You will then have the Skill(s) at rank 0. A character must advance up a level before they can purchase their fourth Skill Slot. After that, a character can only add two Skill Slots per level if they choose to do so, and they must find someone to apprentice or train with in order to do so.  At level one, a Skill Slot costs 2000 silver, at level two, 3000, etc.

Skills require continuous training if a character wishes to advance in rank. It is assumed that a character will read or visit libraries to do research if they are not training with a person during role-playing. If a character has no access to training and cannot practice his or her Skills, the ST may consider not awarding an advancement in rank, even if a character goes up a level.

It is also imperative to understand that percentages for skills are guidelines only.  Every situation is different, and if you are attempting to perform a skill under duress, your ST may give a penalty to your percentage.  Likewise, if you are performing a skill under optimum conditions, the ST may give a bonus to your percentage. 

Here are the Skills --