Link ability
After opening a diagnostic link to another character, an Empath can temporarily add a portion of that person's knowledge to their own via the LINK ability. A link in Empathy is necessary in order to teach a class in that skill.
Learning how to Link
You learn how to Link by having a fellow Empath link to you. After accepting that first link, you can then link to other people on your own. There are no other requirements.
Establishing the Link
The steps of forming a link are:
- TOUCH <person> to establish the necessary diagnostic connection.
- LINK <person> <skill> to initiate the link itself.
- The other person then has to accept the link, by entering LINK <empath>
If successful, the initiating Empath will gain a boost in the chosen skill. Maintaining the link will cost the initiating Empath in fatigue and concentration, and if either drops too low, the link will end. But otherwise the link will continue indefinitely. Both parties must also stay in the same room for the link to remain active.
You can hold multiple links at once, but cannot hold more than one link per skill. The strength of a link is random, but will always be positive. It is commonly believed that the length of Roundtime you receive when activating the link is an indication of the strength of the skill boost. The link will also pass along a tiny bit of experience to the initiator of the link.
Syntax
An Empath can initiate a LINK to another player to temporarily share some of the knowledge that player has in a skill.
- LINK options for Empaths:
- LINK <target's name> <skill> - Issues a request to link
- LINK CHECK - Checks to see what links are in place
- LINK options for non-Empaths:
- LINK <Empath's name> - Accepts a request to link
- LINK <Empath's name> REFUSE - Refuses a request to link
- LINK CANCEL - Breaks a link
- LINK options for all:
- LINK <name> CANCEL - Breaks a link with a specific person
- LINK ALL CANCEL - Breaks all links
Teaching a class on Empathy
To teach a class on Empathy, have your student link to you in Empathy. After accepting the link, you can then teach the class via the normal TEACH syntax. You will only be able to have one student at any one time, and by design the learning from an Empathy class is supposedly not that great.