Talinn Ryalor
Minister of Justice, Duke of Westisle
Staff member
Nobility: Duke
Minister: Justice
Fortuna Survivor
Urk Expedition Service Badge
- Character Biography
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The Skill System
Skills Introduction
Skills Introduction
The Skill System was created by the admin team as the last point of the player dispute resolution process. When there is a conflict between characters that comes down to a contest of skills, and the players are unable to resolve this conflict through the first several steps of dispute resolution, that is when the Skill System comes into play. The system is present to ensure that a player will not be able to claim their character is the most skilled at everything and therefore wins all conflicts they are faced with against other PCs. Due to the nature of why the Skill System exists, a player will not expect these skills to reflect the whole of their character, but rather the skills are there to provide support and flavor to an already fleshed-out character.
The Three Categories
Physical
Physical skills include everything from martial training and prowess to fleetness of foot, stealthiness, and physical endurance. These skills are primarily gained by honing one's body, or at least learning how to move one's body with more precision to match one's intent. Generally speaking, these can be divided into fighting styles and physical skills. Fighting styles encompass how your character survives combat and other dangerous situations in which the ability to throw a punch, swing a blade, or maneuver a shield can mean the difference between a celebratory night out with friends and a stay in the hospital. The second type, approaches, is how your character gets themselves into, through, and out of danger; it includes movement skills like stealth, parkour, sprinting, and tumbling, but also being able to endure or withstand a blow, use dirty tricks to your advantage, or wrestle a dangerous foe to the ground.
Example fighting styles: katanas, rapiers, knives, traditional bows, crossbows.
Example approaches: stealth, parkour, endurance, duck and cover, dirty tricks, wrestling, sprinting, tumbling.
Mental
Mental skills are everything that your character has learned to do via study and hard work, and they are primarily sourced in an intellectual understanding of facts and procedures. They include both trades (what your character has learned how to do) and knowledge (what your character knows by rote). These can be overlapping categories; a character might know how to play the piano as matter of practical skill, while also having a great deal of rote knowledge about various composers and styles of music. It is still worth considering approaching these as separate types to build a more well-rounded character. Think about their trade as what they were doing (or at least were training to do) before their time in the Imperium; this includes all the practical day-to-day knowledge of how to adequately perform that job, such as lockpicking and pickpocketing for a thief, a basic understanding of the law (or at least general social morality) for police, and shorthand and filing practices for clerks. Think of their knowledge as what they learned a great deal about, but which is either extraneous to or in excess of what is required for job performance; a thief might know a great deal about rare and valuable Alkamarian frescoes, a Fogey police officer is secretly passionate about jurisprudence and wants to become a lawyer, or a clerk has an eye for engineering and design far beyond the demands of his menial position.
Example trades: accounting, thievery, sailing, smithing, policing, espionage, dancing, music, medicine, racketeering, administration
Example knowledge: literary analysis, history, music theory, chemistry, biology, jurisprudence, engineering, art history, world languages
For NPC "Commander" Type Characters: Read This
These following skills determine how well NPCs under a PC’s command are deployed and how well they fight for you in terms of actual skill (versus morale, which is handled by the social "Command" ability). This includes how quickly they can be mobilized and how accurately they carry out one's orders. A character with low mental organization skills will struggle to both mobilize and have their NPCs accurately understand what they are supposed to be doing, and to have them actually be competent in their actions. This does not, determine, however, their resolve and ability to withstand losses-that is determined by the social "command" skill that will be described in the social section.
NPC Commander Skills
Small Unit Organization: Probably the most common skill on the VI for player characters up to lower ranking officer characters, this determines how well they are able to deploy and effectively use smaller groups of NPCs, say, a few bodyguards up to a squad of soldiers.
Medium Unit Organization: Less common and usually reserved for higher faction/ship officers, this determines how well they are able to command units of NPCs that fall into the middle ground between the two, say, over a squad and up to around a company's worth of soldiers at the outside.
Large Unit Organization: Usually reserved for Captains, Ministers, faction leaders, and high-ranking officers, this determines how well they are able to handle a fairly large amount of NPCs in general, say, battalion+ level.
Social
Social skills are how your character engages with the beasts around them, at least when they aren't trying to kill each other. Social skills can best be understood in terms of in-group and out-group socializing. Everyone's character has groups in society who recognize them as ‘one of us’: social clubs, niche hobbies, and professional organizations are among the most common, and the warmth and camaraderie within can make for a comfortable environment. Conversely, there are many out-groups to whom a character would be seen as a stranger or, worse, an interloper. How one interacts in these two fundamentally different environments can be radically different, and can certainly be a reflection of the station in which one grew up. A haughty noble might be congenial to his peers and condescending to the workers on and around his land; a sailor might be raucous with his crewmates and in taverns, but respectful in more formal environments.
Example social skills: flattery, persuasive argument, logical debate, incendiary rhetoric, bad puns, intimidation, blackmail, fast talk, seduction, impersonation, deceit, appeals to the masses
A special note on world languages: While the default language in the setting of the Vulpine Imperium is Vulpinsulan (or, just because we are a predominantly English-reading fanbase, the English language if you have to get more precise), there's no reason your character has to be limited to that language. Perhaps your character is from a land where Vulpinsulan is a distant second or third language, or is an enthusiastic Vulpinsulan-born student of another land's native tongue. Generally speaking, you don't need to take a skill rank in world languages to have knowledge of a language that your character would have grown up speaking, or which they would have been raised to understand. That being said, if your character is a burgeoning polyglot or just has a sharp ear for picking up new languages, it may be worth taking a rank or two in the skill. Perhaps they were even trained in languages as a career, groomed to be an interpreter to diplomats and politicians.
For NPC "Commander" Type Characters: Read This
NPC Commander Skills
Unlike the organization skills in the mental section, there is simply one, Command, that "buffs" all of them, depending on how far you choose to invest in them. This represents the morale, loyalty, and resolve of the NPCs under your command, versus how fast one can deploy them and how well they can fight. A commander with a low level in Command may find their units break and run when the situation gets more serious, or find their NPCs more susceptible to being bribed, whereas a commander with a high level of Command will find that their units will fight much longer against worse odds, be essentially unbribable, and at the highest levels, fight to the very last beast.
Specialized vs Generalized Skills
(1): In general, a character with a specialized skill in a particular area will, all other things being equal*, beat out a character who has a generalized skill in that area.
(2): A character who chooses a specialized skill will suffer penalties if they try to use that skill in a general expertise role. Up to veteran, that is a -1 skill rank penalty, above veteran, that is a -2 rank penalty, to reflect the difficulty of adjusting from a specialized skill to a generalized one.
(3) Someone with novice skills will beat out someone who is completely unskilled in a given area, despite both costing zero.
*Remember, skills are only a portion of the dispute resolution process, remember to refer to the very first paragraph of this guide. Dispute resolution is not always as simple as higher skill=automatic win in every single case.
Let's look at some examples now.
(1) A character with a proficient skill level in longswords fights a character with a proficient level in swords in general. All other factors being equal, the character with longswords will win out.
(2) A character who has a general charisma is trying to bribe an NPC, competing with a character with a character who has a specialized debate skill, which would still fall under charisma. Both are at the Trained level in their respective skills. The player with generalized skill will win the resolution, all other factors being equal, due to the -1 penalty affecting the player who chose to specialize in debate.
(3) A character who dabbles in poetry (a novice) is going up against someone who has no experience in poetry. All other things being equal, the novice will win that dispute.
Should I specialize or should I generalize?
It depends on what type of character that you are going for. Someone who is more generalized will have more flexibility to handle a greater variety of situations, at the cost of losing out to someone who has specialized in a particular area. There really is no "meta" or best way to make a character, by design.
A Note On PVP
It should be noted here, for posterity, that a higher skill level does not mean you inherently automatically curbstomp player opponents, especially multiple player opponents, with no effort. Someone who is, say, a Veteran, would still find taking on multiple proficient opponents to be a challenge-likewise, a Veteran who is wounded or tired may find it hard to fight at their full capacity vs a fresh, but less skilled, opponent. As outlined in the first paragraph, skills are not the end all, be all of dispute resolution. Be sure to read the linked dispute resolution page in the first paragraph to figure out how these would be judged.
Skill Levels
There are seven levels for skills, ranging from Novice to Imperium’s Finest. There is one level above Imperium’s Finest, Superlative, but this is not and will not be available to player characters. For initial character creation, with limited exceptions approved by the VI staff, you will not be able to start with a skill above Seasoned and must earn this through roleplaying.
Novice
Your character has begun their journey towards the mastery of a skill. They may be learning their skill as a junior apprentice, or out of a dog-eared How-To book from the public library, and just starting to grasp the basics. A burgeoning hobbyist in a skill could be considered a novice.
Trained
Your character now has a solid understanding of the fundamentals of a skill in theory and the ability to carry out the basics of it in practice in a reliable manner. They may be able to stand on their own and make a career of their skills without landing themselves in prison or the poorhouse, though more than likely they work with or for a more experienced group or individual to hone the fine points of their craft.
Proficient
Your character has started to gain an advanced understanding of a skill in theory and has completely mastered the fundamentals in practice. At this point, they have gained enough skill to be considered reliable in their craft and even able to do some freelancing, though they lack the stability and expertise that further experience brings.
Seasoned
Your character now has a solid understanding of advanced concepts of this skill in theory and has moved beyond the basics into their journey towards practical mastery. They may have taken a novice or two under their wing and become a trusted figure among their neighbors for their expertise.
Veteran (Initially Restricted)
Your character, for all intents and purposes, is now able to discern the steps towards complete mastery of a skill. They have a theoretical understanding of how the savants of their trade operate, and in practice have become quite advanced. In context of a career, they would have emerged as among the local leaders in their field and become sought-after as a mentor by novices just starting out.
Master (Initially Restricted)
Your character is now regarded by all, even their most ardent enemies, to have achieved a solid practical mastery of a skill, with the ability to understand feats of true greatness in theory and maybe even a few good ideas on how to replicate them in practice. This is the pinnacle of an average beast’s ability; going beyond this level requires a singular will, a great amount of experience, and perhaps fate’s fortune.
Imperium's Finest (Initially Restricted)
Your character is now regarded as one of the Imperium’s leading masters in their field and may even be known to the general public as a household name. They have successfully broken through a barrier few beasts have the ability to pierce, one even fewer have accomplished in their particular skill. They typically have either invented some kind of novel breakthrough in their field or learned such from some fabled master and keep such information close to their hearts. This is the maximum level a player character may achieve and is a hard cap.
Superlative (NPC Restricted)
Although the rank of Imperium’s Finest is the highest skill rating that the player can achieve, this does not signify the absolute peak of achievement. They are the finest in the Imperium, not necessarily the world. There are all kinds of legendary beasts who may eclipse that of one or perhaps even multiple of the Imperium’s best. These will typically be written by staff or the head admin themselves for story purposes or perhaps some kind of group challenge and to remind IFs that while they are very skilled, they are also still very much mortal.
Starting Points and Levels
Characters Aged 16+
Characters 16 or above receive 12 points to begin with to freely spread across three categories, with a maximum initial skill level cap of Seasoned per particular skill.
Characters Aged <15+
Characters 15 or below start with 11 points with a starting skill cap of Proficient.
Skill Costs and Upgrading Your Character
This operates by what is known as a “point buy” system wherein you get a certain amount of points at character creation to apply to skills across three categories. There is a “soft cap” of 20 maximum points achieved through RP over time in which you accumulate influence (gained via post wordcount) and a hard cap of 24. Each skill point under and up to and including the soft cap of 20 requires 5,000 influence per point, each point after the soft cap until the hard cap of 24 requires 10,000 influence per point. This can be done in the Skill Upgrades Thread.
Point Cost Per Skill Level
Novice: 0 (limited to five novice skills)
Trained: 1
Proficient: 2
Seasoned: 4
Veteran: 7
Master: 10
Imperium’s Finest: 14
Resetting Your Skills
If you do decide that you do not like where you put your skill points or decide your character has evolved in a different manner over time, it is possible to reset your skills upon staff approval or by spending influence to signify your character significantly retraining their abilities. If you have questions about this, message the VI staff.
Exceptions To The Above
The VI Staff reserves the right to grant exceptions to the above, but this shall be closely monitored and reviewed.
The VI Staff reserves the right to grant exceptions to the above, but this shall be closely monitored and reviewed.
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