Skills

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Skills are a type of proficiency mechanic available for all player characters to invest Skill Points into in order to use various actions and commands in an adventure. Skills range from effectiveness of equipment such as weapons, armour and tools. They are also important for allowing characters to overcome obstacles such as terrain, barriers, or to influence other non-playable characters. Other skills deal with the Metaforce, allowing characters to use fantastic abilities such as magic, psionics or Ki. Compared to other game systems that operate with a class structure, Viridian uses skills as a replacement to classes, enabling characters to mix and match their abilities and proficiencies.

Skills are considered as important as Attributes and Perks combined since they can provide bonuses and extra abilities at the same time. Also, Skill points are acquired every level whereas perks and attributes do not.

List of Skills

Use the above link to view a list of skill groups and skills. The Glossary below will explain the terms used relating to Skills in general.

Skill Mechanics & Glossary

Skill Points: Invest to increase Skills

Skill Points are used to increase the Skill-Rating of a character's skills.

♦ A character gains 15 skill points every level, including 1st level during character creation.
♦ A character cannot add skill points to a Skill if its Skill-Rating would exceed the Skill-rating cap for their level.

Skill-Focus: A head-start into mastering skills

Skill-Focus is a separate Skill-Rating boost to a single or group of Skills to make it easier to get a start with the skill and master such skills. These are granted by Archetypes and Racial Trait(s) and positive Intelligence modifiers.

That apply to Skill GROUPS
♦ If the Racial Trait for a character race grants Skill-Focuses.
♦ If the Archetype trait for a character race grants Skill-Focuses.
♦ The one free Skill-Focus granted at character creation (player decides).

That apply to SINGLE skills
♦ Skill-Focus granted by Intelligence score above 0 and each time it increases (due to levelling up).

Skill-Focus Definition
♦ Grants a +20 Skill-Rating bonus to specified Skills. Every 20 Skill-Rating points in a skill grants a new rank and skill perk.
♦ Skill-Focus bonus increases by another +5 for all affected skills for each Intelligence point above 0.
♦ Skill-Focuses are still affected by the Skill Point Cap, the player cannot invest points if the Skill is capped due to the character's level.

Skill Ranks: Skill milestones that grant perks

Skill Ranks refer to the milestones that all Skills possess, the initial number of ranks goes up to 5. Some mechanics uses Skill Ranks as a gate or as a way to scale up or down bonuses and penalties.

The first five ranks are Novice (20), Competent (40), Adept (60), Expert (80) and Master (100). The number in parentheses references the required Skill-Rating required to acquire that rank.

♦ A character is always rewarded with a Skill Perk upon reaching a new rank, how the reward is given depends on the skill and rank obtained.
♦ A Skill-Rank is only obtained when the total Skill-Rating and Points are equal or greater than the rating required, temporary bonuses to Skill-rating do not count!
(In the case that there is not enough Skill Perks available on the Wiki, the player may ask to use a third-party 'Feat' in place of a skill perk, as long as it relates to the skill in question.)

Skill Perks: Unique Perks granted by Skill Ranks

A Skill Perk is granted when a character reaches a new rank in a skill, whether they added the necessary Skill-Points to achieve it or gain the necessary amount via Skill-Focuses.

♦ The Skill that ranked up will usually have a small list of Perks you can apply to your character, but in the event there is none, you may ask the GM if you can use a 3rd-party feat instead.
♦ When a Skill reaches Master (100), the character can use Universal Perk Points in order to obtain any missing skill perks they can't obtain due to maxing out their skill ranks.

Skill Bonus: A Bonus given for having a high Skill-Rating

A character receives a scaling benefit known as a Skill Bonus when a Skill's Rating is 21 or higher. The benefit given is scaled by each Rating point, meaning no amount of Rating added is wasted. This bonus can affect how powerful or effective the character's actions or commands are when used in game.

♦ The Maximum Skill Bonus is defined at 100 Skill-Rating, whereas Skill-Ratings from 21 to 80 are treated as a fraction of that total bonus. Ratings 20 or lower provide no bonus whatsoever.
♦ In Advanced games where characters surpass the Skill-Rating cap of 100, additional rating about 100 will be scaled to provide a greater benefit than can be possible in a standard game.

Game Rules

Skill-Point Cap: To stop characters from one-tricking a single skill to 100 too quickly

To prevent characters from mastering skills too quickly for their level, there is a maximum Skill-Point Cap determined by the character's level. At regular intervals, the skill cap will be increased to allow them to access higher ranks.

Max Skill Cap Chart
♦ 1st level: Competent (40)
♦ 4th level: Adept (60)
♦ 8th level: Expert (80)
♦ 12th level: Master (100)

(Due to the way skill points are granted, a character may not actually achieve Master (100) rank until they reach Lv14, as they only unlock the ability to surpass Expert (80) by Lv12.)