Skills 3.0: Difference between revisions

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|'''This article is solely to hold the facts and stated positions of the GMs on the Experience and TDP changes. This is not an article for opinions, debate, or suggestions, and any attempts to add such will be delt with more harshly than usual. -The Elanthipedia Moderators
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{{RTOC}}
{{RTOC}}
In [[DragonRealms 3.0|DR3]], we've seen an overhaul of our current skill system. In previous iterations of DR, we have had a number of skills that were over-general ('mechanical lore'), which covered a lot of possible applications but were only governed by one skill. On the flip side, there were several skills that were very niche - Skills like Animal Lore and Percussion had few uses, and were largely TDP sinks for players.
==Skills/Ranks==
===Rationale===
The GMs feel that too many skills are difficult to develop by themselves due to their specificity and wish to combine them. Other skills, such as Mechanical Lore and Primary Magic, do too much and are unfair when compared to other skills.


==Mech Split==
For example, it is difficult and time-consuming to try to place both climbing and swimming opportunities at all levels in all zones, and having to only do one or the other would free up development time. In addition, the proposed Athletics skill '''might''' also be applied to things such as jumping, riding, or other athletic activities that the uncombined skills do not cover.
Mechanical lore can be split into one or more of the currently existing crafting skills: Forging, Engineering, or Outfitting. To do this, the {{com|convert}} command has been released.


It should be noted that experience can only once ever be moved into a specific skill. Once experience is moved to Engineering, for example, no more may be moved over.
===General Principles===
*Combined skills will be set to the highest of the included skills. The remaining skill(s) will be dissolved into the bonus pool for the relevant skillset. [[Stealth skill|Stealth]] is an exception to this. (See [[#Exceptions to the General Mechanism for Merging Skills|below]].)
*Bonus pools will boost learning for the entire skillset at approximately double rate (that is, if 200 bits are taken from field experience, 400 bits are absorbed into the skill), until the pool is empty.
*The current skill cap is 1,750 ranks.


See {{com|respec}} command for details.
===Exceptions to the General Mechanism for Merging Skills===


==Changed Commands==
"You may notice that the skills we are reconsidering for merging transcend the notion of "they're too easy" and are instead skills that specifically can be trained to high mindstates and high ranks either with no cost or a time cost measured in seconds with your fingers." --GM [[Armifer]]
{{com|experience}} has mostly remained the same, though {{tt|experience skill}} will now list the shorthands for all skills.


Converted or combined skills will accept the previous shorthand, but display the new skill.
*[[Stealth skill|Stealth]] (hiding + stalking) will be capped at 130% of your ranks in [[Hiding skill|hiding]].
:''Rationale'': This was changed in response to widespread bug abuse that allowed players to lock stalking within seconds by spamming {{tt|advance}}/{{tt|face next}} while hiding. A secondary concern was that {{com|HUNT}} allows players to train [[Stalking skill|stalking]] without hiding or doing anything stealthy. As a result of these two issues, there are characters whose stalking grossly exceeds their hiding; they would suddenly find themselves much more effective at stealth even though they didn't "work" for it.
*[[Performing skill|Performing]]: [[Vocals skill|Vocals]] will not count toward Performing unless you're a Bard. Instead these ranks will go into the lore bonus pool.
For Bards, Performing will be capped at 130% of their highest non-vocal instrument.
:''Rationale'': Most characters currently have "excessive" ranks in vocals due to continuous humming, which can be done during most activities with no roundtime. If players are allowed to keep these ranks, performing-based activities will have to have higher skill requirements to compensate.
::"The reasoning behind bards getting vocals included in performance in this way is that ''some'' bards have trained Vocals using methods outside of HUM. Virtually zero other characters have trained vocals by singing rather than humming. Additionally, the reason for NOT including vocals is so that Performing isn't a horribly bloated skill for everybody that trained using HUM. If we included it for everybody, Performing would be the top lore for nearly everybody, and it would be at an insane number of ranks per circle compared to any other skill in that skillset. Bards are an exception to this because their performing must be high (since it's a circle requirement) and they have to train so many instruments." -- GM Socharis


==TDPs==
===List of 3.0 Skills===
Unlike previously announced, the way TDPs are earned will not be changing. However, all TDPs spent on spell slots or learning scrolls will be refunded.


However, because many skills have been combined, some people may experience negative TDPs. To fix this, all players will receive the option to reset their TDPs twice in the first six months post release.
Below is a complete list of skills.


==Combined Skills==
*Unless otherwise noted, combined skills use the normal merger formula. (See [[#General Principles|above]].)
When two skills are combined, the new skill will be set to the higher of the two skills and the "lost" experience will be placed in an Overflow Pool. Each skillset has a separate pool, and so long as any is left in the pool, all skills learned in that skillset will receive a bonus to the drained bits. This bonus can be combined with RPA and other experience bonuses, though they are additive.
*If nothing is listed in the "Old Skills" column, it means that the new skill and old skill will have the same name.
*You will be grandfathered to your current circle no matter what. Whether grandfathered ranks are deducted from your bonus pools depends on the skill:
:*For existing, combined, and split skills, grandfathered ranks will be deducted from the bonus pool for that skillset. (If you don't have enough bits in the bonus pool, you will still be grandfathered.)
:*For '''''new guild-only skills''''', you will be grandfathered to your current circle. (These ranks are not deducted from your bonus pools.)
:*For '''other new skills''', your ranks will be derived from other skills. (These ranks are not deducted from your bonus pools.)


===Exceptions===
<br>
There are two exceptions to the previous rule.
'''Armor Skillset'''


* If Stalking is higher than Hiding, the Stealth skill will only be raised to a maximum of 30% over the Hiding skill.
{|class="wikitable"
* Only Bards will have Vocals count toward the Performance skill. All others will have it completely moved to the bonus pool.
|-
!Skill!!Old Skills!!Formula
|-
|[[Brigandine skill|Brigandine]]||Light Plate||
|-
|[[Chain Armor skill|Chain Armor]]||Light Chain, Heavy Chain||
|-
|'''[[Defending skill|Defending]]'''||new skill||''derived'': average of the top two of Shield, Parry, Evasion, and Multi Opponent
|-
|'''''[[Endurance skill|Endurance]]'''''||new Paladin-only skill||grandfathered to current circle
|-
|[[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]]||Leather Armor, Cloth Armor, Bone Armor||
|-
|[[Plate Armor skill|Plate Armor]]||Heavy Plate||
|-
|[[Shield Usage skill|Shield Usage]]||||
|}
<br>
'''Weapon Skillset'''


===New Skills===
{|class="wikitable"
'''Defending:'''<br />
|-
Defending indicates your overall ability to defend against attacks, and is in the Armor skillset. It replaces Multiple Opponent's functionality as the skill used when being engaged with multiple foes, and also increases your defensive skills so that they're more effective overall. Defending is best trained by being in combat and successfully defending against an attack.
!Skill!!Old Skills!!Formula
|-
|[[Bows skill|Bows]]||Short Bow, Long Bow, Composite Bow||
|-
|[[Brawling skill|Brawling]]||||
|-
|[[Crossbows skill|Crossbows]]||Light Crossbow, Heavy Crossbow||
|-
|'''''[[Expertise skill|Expertise]]'''''||new Barbarian-only skill||grandfathered to current circle
|-
|[[Heavy Thrown skill|Heavy Thrown]]||||
|-
|[[Large Blunt skill|Large Blunt]]||Heavy Blunt||
|-
|[[Large Edged skill|Large Edged]]||Heavy Edged||
|-
|[[Light Thrown skill|Light Thrown]]||||
|-
|'''[[Melee Mastery skill|Melee Mastery]]'''||new skill||''derived'': average of top two melee weapons
|-
|'''[[Missile Mastery skill|Missile Mastery]]'''||new skill||''derived'': average of top two ranged weapons
|-
|[[Offhand Weapon skill|Offhand Weapon]]||||
|-
|[[Parry Ability skill|Parry Ability]]||||
|-
|[[Polearms skill|Polearms]]||Pikes, Halberds||
|-
|[[Slings skill|Slings]]||Slings, Staff Sling||
|-
|[[Small Blunt skill|Small Blunt]]||Light Blunt, Medium Blunt||
|-
|[[Small Edged skill|Small Edged]]||Light Edged, Medium Edged||
|-
|[[Staves skill|Staves]]||Short Staff, Quarter Staff||
|-
|[[Twohanded Blunt skill|Twohanded Blunt]]||||
|-
|[[Twohanded Edged skill|Twohanded Edged]]||||
|}
<br>
'''Magic Skillset'''


'''Melee and Missile Mastery:'''<br />
{|class="wikitable"
The Mastery skills indicate your overall ability with that class of weapon, and are in the Weapon skillset. Having a high Mastery skill gives you a bonus when using that kind of weapon - This is especially helpful during backtraining. The best way to train the Mastery skills is to train multiple weapons of that type. You can mind lock a Mastery skill using just one weapon, but you're better off training multiple weapons. For clarity thrown weapons count as ranged weapons.
|-
!Skill!!Old Skills!!Formula
|-
|[[Arcana skill|Arcana]]||||
|-
|''[[Astrology skill|Astrology]]''||moved from Lore to Magic||
|-
|[[Attunement skill|Attunement]]||Harness Ability, Power Perceive||
|-
|'''[[Augmentation skill|Augmentation]]'''||new skill||''derived'': 90%, 80%, 75%, or 70% of Primary Magic<br>(depends on guild)
|-
|'''[[Debilitation skill|Debilitation]]'''||new skill||''derived'': 90%, 80%, 75%, or 70% of Primary Magic<br>(depends on guild)
|-
|'''[[Inner Fire skill|Inner Fire]]'''||new skill||grandfathered to current circle
|-
|[[Primary Magic skill|Primary Magic]]||||
|-
|'''[[Sorcery skill|Sorcery]]'''||new skill||N/A (must be trained from 0)
|-
|'''''[[Summoning skill|Summoning]]'''''||new Warrior Mage-only skill||grandfathered to current circle
|-
|[[Targeted Magic skill|Targeted Magic]]||||
|-
|'''''[[Theurgy skill|Theurgy]]'''''||new Cleric-only skill||grandfathered to current circle
|-
|'''[[Utility skill|Utility]]'''||new skill||''derived'': 90%, 80%, 75%, or 70% of Primary Magic<br>(depends on guild)
|-
|'''[[Warding skill|Warding]]'''||new skill||''derived'': 90%, 80%, 75%, or 70% of Primary Magic<br>(depends on guild)
|}


'''Augmentation:'''<br />
<br>
Augmentation is one of the new magic skills, which gauges your ability to successfully augment yourself magically/supernaturally. It is the primary skill taken into account when casting spells that buff yourself or others. See the Magic page for details on how to best train Augmentation.
'''Survival Skillset'''


'''Debilitation:<br />
{|class="wikitable"
Debilitation is one of the new magic skills, which gauges your ability to successfully penalize others without causing direct damage. It is the primary skill taken into account when casting spells that debuff others. See the Magic page for details on how to best train Debilitation.
|-
!Skill!!Old Skills!!Formula
|-
|[[Athletics skill|Athletics]]||Climbing, Swimming||
|-
|''[[Backstab skill|Backstab]]''||||
|-
|[[Evasion skill|Evasion]]||||
|-
|[[First Aid skill|First Aid]]||||
|-
|[[Locksmithing skill|Locksmithing]]||Lockpicking, Disarm Traps||
|-
|[[Outdoorsmanship skill|Outdoorsmanship]]||Foraging, Animal Lore||
|-
|[[Perception skill|Perception]]||||
|-
|''[[Scouting skill|Scouting]]''||||
|-
|[[Skinning skill|Skinning]]||||
|-
|[[Stealth skill|Stealth]]||Hiding, Stalking||cannot exceed 130% of Hiding
|-
|''[[Thanatology skill|Thanatology]]''||||
|-
|[[Thievery skill|Thievery]]||Stealing||
|}
<br>
'''Lore Skillset'''


'''Utility:'''<br />
{|class="wikitable"
Utility is one of the new magic skills, which gauges your ability to perform miscellaneous magical tasks that don't fit neatly into the other four spell skills. See the Magic page for details on how to best train Utility.
|-
!Skill!!Old Skills!!Formula
|-
|[[Alchemy skill|Alchemy]]||Mechanical Lore*||allocated by player
|-
|[[Appraisal skill|Appraisal]]||||
|-
|'''''[[Bardic Lore skill|Bardic Lore]]'''''||Musical Theory||
|-
|''[[Empathy skill|Empathy]]''||||
|-
|[[Enchanting skill|Enchanting]]||Mechanical Lore*||allocated by player
|-
|[[Engineering skill|Engineering]]||Mechanical Lore*||allocated by player
|-
|[[Forging skill|Forging]]||Mechanical Lore*||allocated by player
|-
|[[Outfitting skill|Outfitting]]||Mechanical Lore*||allocated by player
|-
|[[Performing skill|Performing]]||'''Bards''': Percussions, Strings, Vocals, Winds<br>'''everyone else''': Percussions, Strings, Winds||cannot exceed 130% of top non-vocal instrument (Bards)
|-
|[[Scholarship skill|Scholarship]]||Scholarship, Teaching||
|-
|'''[[Tactics skill|Tactics]]'''||new skill||''derived'': weighted average of two parts Scholarship,<br>one part Brawling, one part Multi Opponent
|-
|''[[Trading skill|Trading]]''||||
|}


'''Warding:'''<br />
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The player will be forced to allocate his existing Mechanical Lore ranks to one or more crafting skills. Any circle-based grandfathering of Mechanical Lore will occur ''before'' the mech split.
Warding is one of the new magic skills, which gauges your ability to successfully use barrier spells and abilities. It is the primary skill taken into account when casting spells like Ethereal Shield, Manifest Force, etc. See the Magic page for details on how to best train Warding.


'''Sorcery:'''<br />
----
Sorcery is another new magic skill, but it behaves very differently than the other four new skills. Your Sorcery skill indicates your ability to use mana types that you're unfamiliar with. This is used instead of your Primary Magic skill to determine if you're able to cast a spell that uses a different mana type. Training this skill is NOT, in and of itself, illegal. However, some spells are still illegal to use in any town, and if you use them you can be charged with Forbidden Practices. The best way to train Sorcery is simply to cast spells from other mana types that you find on scrolls.
<br>


'''Tactics:'''<br />
===Skills That Are Going Away===
Tactics is a new skill in the Lore skillset. It has two current main uses: Applying multiple-opponent penalties to a target (useful for ganging up on people), and using non-damaging brawling moves. The best way to train it is to use tactical maneuvers like WEAVE and BOB against creatures.


==Retired Skills==
Three skills won't exist in Skills 3.0.


'''Multiple Opponent:'''<br />
{|class="wikitable"
Multiple Opponent no longer exists, because in its old incarnation it was difficult to train and harder to write fun abilities for. The skill checks that used to depend on MO will mostly now use Defending.
|-
!Skill!!Use
|-
|[[Multi Opponent skill|Multi Opponent]]||factored into Defending and Tactics
|-
|[[Escaping skill|Escaping]]||dissolved into Survival bonus pool
|-
|[[Vocals skill|Vocals]]||dissolved into Lore bonus pool for everyone but Bards
|}


'''Escaping:'''<br />
==Experience Drain==
Escaping has been removed because it was too narrowly-defined to be expanded into a useful, widely trainable skill. Most of the skill checks that used to use escaping (notably, webs) will now use Athletics. Some (like escaping from the guards) will use Thievery.


==Combined and Renamed Skills==
The current plan is to grant an experience drain bonus for characters that are training fewer than about 10 skills simultaneously.
<blockquote>"There will be a gradient in there somewhere, so that people aren't as much in the mindset of 'I have an extra slot to train a skill for maximum efficiency, I'll add this random skill.'" --GM Socharis</blockquote>
<br>
There will '''not''' be a penalty for training many skills at once. However, "super long-term experience gain might eventually be penalized." (GMs have declined to define what constitutes "super long-term experience gain" at this time.)


'''Light Armor:''' Leather armor, Bone armor, and Cloth armor have been combined into the Light Armor skill. This skill determines your ability with all of these kinds of armor.
==Circle Requirements==
Circle requirements have been redone for every guild. Here are some basic principles (quoted from [[Post:New Skill Reqs - Basic Info For Everyone - 03/15/2012 - 19:56|New Skill Reqs - Basic Info For Everyone]]):
*'''You will be grandfathered to your current circle no matter what.''' The only changes you'll see are in relation to how hard it will be to circle to the next circle, NOT how hard it will be to have the right skills at your current circle. Everybody will have the same difficulty there. It will be zero.
*There are three kinds of requirements that you'll have. Nth requirements, Hard requirements, and Soft requirements.
:*An '''Nth requirement''' is something along the lines of 1st Weapon, 3rd Magic, etc. It's the Nth highest skill in that skillset that is not excluded.
:*A '''Hard requirement''' is a specific skill required to be trained per-circle. These skills are NOT allowed to be included in Nth requirements. For instance, if you have a Hard Scholarship req, Scholarship cannot count for one of your Nth lores.
:*A '''Soft requirement''' is a specific skill required to be trained per-circle. These skills ARE allowed to be included in Nth requirements. For instance, if you have a soft TM requirement, that can count for your 2nd Magic skill, etc.
*With the condensation of several skillsets (primarily Weapons and Survival), many Nth requirements require fewer overall skills. However, the remaining skills have largely had their ranks increased.
*There are some skills that are ''never'' allowed as Nth Requirements. This is because the skills are not really in the same spirit as the Nth requirements. These skills are:
:*Defending
:*Melee Mastery
:*Missile Mastery
:*Offhand Weapon
:*Parry Ability
:*Primary Magic
*Total X requirements are going away. They're a little bit too fluid for any kind of structured advancement. For instance, you could hit 149th without ever training Appraisal, and then use your first 30 baby ranks of Appraisal to fill your requirement for 150th. It's really hard to construct a fiction around that where the guildleaders think "Hey, based on what he did, he's totally ready for 150th".
*Many guilds had requirements that lasted for one or two circle ranges. For instance, WMs required 1 rank of shield for the first 10 circles, and then did not require more. These requirements have been deemed nonsense and removed or made more aggressive.
*Existing skills and their combined relatives that are increased to meet guild minimums will subtract from the relevant bonus pools, but will reach necessary levels even if the bonus pool is insufficient.
*On July 18, 2012, the '''circle cap was increased from 150 to 200'''. These last 50 circles are primarily for bragging rights, as they do not grant TDPs or new ability slots. In general, the rank requirements are 2.5 times those of the 100-150 range. For details, see [[Post:Increasing the Level Cap - 04/01/2012 - 12:19|Increasing the Level Cap]]. (This is not an [[April Fools' Day]] joke!)


'''Chain Armor:''' Heavy Chain and Light Chain have been combined into Chain Armor.
For your guild's circle requirements, see [[Post:New Circle Reqs Have Been Posted - 03/16/2012 - 03:03]].


'''Brigandine Armor:''' Light Plate armor is now known as Brigandine Armor, and includes armors formed of sewn plates and also what is commonly known as 'banded mail'. This allows for further expansion of this niche.
==TDPs and Stats==
'''Please read the entire section.'''<br>


'''Plate Armor:''' Heavy Plate Armor has been renamed to be simply Plate Armor
===TDPs===


'''Small Edged:''' Light Edged and Medium Edged have been combined into the Small Edged skill.
'''The December 2010 proposal of having enhanced and reduced TDP generation for "main skills" and "alternate skills," respectively, has been scrapped as of October 2, 2012.'''


'''Small Blunt:''' Light Blunt and Medium Blunt have been combined into the Small Blunt skill.
<blockquote>"What I found was, the wider the disparity between the 'main' and 'alternate' skills in the TDP equation, the worse off and better off some people were - The extremes were more extreme. Looking at the curves, I saw a sharper increase and decrease, which meant that more people were getting significant shakeups. Additionally, wide wide differences between the two, MORE people were suffering, with a smaller number gaining a HUGE number of TDPs. There were a few people losing an extreme amount, but more people were losing TDPs with wide splits. As I brought them closer together, I saw that the curves were less dramatic, and the differences were less extreme." --GM Socharis</blockquote>


'''Slings:''' Slings and Staff Slings have been combined under the Slings skill now.
It is possible that all skills will continue to generate TDPs at the current rate of 200 ranks / TDP, but the GMs are still doing the math to see what will be best for the game as a whole.<br>
<br>
*TDPs are only spent by training stats and are only earned by gaining ranks and circling. There are no more for-TDP spell slots, etc. (TDPs spent memorizing spell scrolls will be refunded.)
*You will have the option of doing a stat respec to reset your stats to your racial default (what you would have if you rolled a new character) and then re-training your stats using your recalculated pool of TDPs. You can choose not to do the stat respec, which may be desirable if you have very negative TDPs under new system. (For those characters, not doing the respec "is beneficial because you've basically taken out an interest-free TDP loan.") If you have fewer TDPs and don't do a stat respec, you will have a negative TDP count.
*Everyone will get at least one free stat respec. Characters that are converted within the first two months of DR 3.0 will get an additional respec "so that as knowledge grows about what's 'right' for you, you have a chance to re-do your stats again after your initial attempt."
*You will '''not''' be able to change your race, even if you chose your race for purely mechanical reasons that are no longer valid in DragonRealms 3.0.
<blockquote>"This is a roleplaying game, and I'm only going to go so far to let people optimize after changes. There are some choices that are permanent and won't be changing - What guild you are, what race you are, etc." --GM Socharis</blockquote>


'''Bows:''' Longbow, Short Bow, and Composite Bows all use the Bows skill now.
===Stats===


'''Crossbows:''' Light and Heavy Crossbows will all use the Crossbows skill now.
*[[Attributes|Stats]] will no longer be capped at 99. The new cap will be somewhere between 150 and 200.
*It will cost five times as many TDPs to train stats above 99. (This formula may be changed to be less heavily dependent on race, but stats over 99 will remain very expensive to train.) Additionally, stats over 99 will cost at least 15 times as much money to train.
*You'll get roughly the same benefit from going from 99 to 100 as you would from going from 98 to 99.
*If, in the future, GMs need to make dramatic adjustments to stat models, everyone will be given a free stat respec.


'''Staves:''' Short Staff and Quarterstaff weapons will now use the Staves skill.
{{RefAl|r=y}}

'''Polearms:''' Halberds and Pikes will now use the Polearms skill. This opens up the opportunity for exotic polearms as well.

'''Attunement:''' Harness and Power Perception have been combined into the Attunement skill. See the Magic page for more details.

'''Athletics:'''Climbing and Swimming have been combined into the Athletics skill.

'''Stealth:''' Hiding and Stalking have been combined into the Stealth skill.

'''Locksmithing:''' Lockpicking and Disarm Traps have been combined into the Locksmithing skill.

'''Thievery:''' Stealing has been renamed Thievery in order to allow for more opportunities to expand on the concepts there.

'''Outdoorsmanship:''' Outdoorsmanship combines Foraging and Animal Lore.

'''Performing:''' Performing includes all of the instrument skills - Percussions, Winds, Strings, and Vocals.

==Weapon and Armor Types==
It should be noted that the categories of weapons and armor are not being combined. There still will exist light edged and medium edged weapons, for example, though they both teach the Small Edges skill.

For most things the distinction is unimportant, but certain abilities such as Backstab still take the difference into account.

{{RefAl}}


==External Links==
==External Links==
[http://www.elanthia.org/3.0%20Conversion.xls 3.0 Conversion Spreadsheet]: Calculates your current and future ranks, TDPs, and circle based on the latest information about Skills 3.0.
* [http://www.elanthia.org/3.0%20Conversion.xls 3.0 Conversion Spreadsheet]: Calculates your current and future ranks, TDPs, and circle based on the latest information about Skills 3.0.
[http://fallenbard.hostoi.com/BonusPoolFun.xls Lore Bonus Pool Spreadsheet]: Estimates how many ranks you can gain in one or more skills until your bonus pool is depleted. (This spreadsheet requires information from the 3.0 Conversion Spreadsheet.)
* [http://fallenbard.hostoi.com/BonusPoolFun.xls Lore Bonus Pool Spreadsheet]: Estimates how many ranks you can gain in one or more skills until your bonus pool is depleted. (This spreadsheet requires information from the 3.0 Conversion Spreadsheet.)

Revision as of 02:09, 23 November 2012

In DR3, we've seen an overhaul of our current skill system. In previous iterations of DR, we have had a number of skills that were over-general ('mechanical lore'), which covered a lot of possible applications but were only governed by one skill. On the flip side, there were several skills that were very niche - Skills like Animal Lore and Percussion had few uses, and were largely TDP sinks for players.

Mech Split

Mechanical lore can be split into one or more of the currently existing crafting skills: Forging, Engineering, or Outfitting. To do this, the CONVERT command has been released.

It should be noted that experience can only once ever be moved into a specific skill. Once experience is moved to Engineering, for example, no more may be moved over.

See RESPEC command for details.

Changed Commands

EXPERIENCE has mostly remained the same, though EXPERIENCE SKILL will now list the shorthands for all skills.

Converted or combined skills will accept the previous shorthand, but display the new skill.

TDPs

Unlike previously announced, the way TDPs are earned will not be changing. However, all TDPs spent on spell slots or learning scrolls will be refunded.

However, because many skills have been combined, some people may experience negative TDPs. To fix this, all players will receive the option to reset their TDPs twice in the first six months post release.

Combined Skills

When two skills are combined, the new skill will be set to the higher of the two skills and the "lost" experience will be placed in an Overflow Pool. Each skillset has a separate pool, and so long as any is left in the pool, all skills learned in that skillset will receive a bonus to the drained bits. This bonus can be combined with RPA and other experience bonuses, though they are additive.

Exceptions

There are two exceptions to the previous rule.

  • If Stalking is higher than Hiding, the Stealth skill will only be raised to a maximum of 30% over the Hiding skill.
  • Only Bards will have Vocals count toward the Performance skill. All others will have it completely moved to the bonus pool.

New Skills

Defending:
Defending indicates your overall ability to defend against attacks, and is in the Armor skillset. It replaces Multiple Opponent's functionality as the skill used when being engaged with multiple foes, and also increases your defensive skills so that they're more effective overall. Defending is best trained by being in combat and successfully defending against an attack.

Melee and Missile Mastery:
The Mastery skills indicate your overall ability with that class of weapon, and are in the Weapon skillset. Having a high Mastery skill gives you a bonus when using that kind of weapon - This is especially helpful during backtraining. The best way to train the Mastery skills is to train multiple weapons of that type. You can mind lock a Mastery skill using just one weapon, but you're better off training multiple weapons. For clarity thrown weapons count as ranged weapons.

Augmentation:
Augmentation is one of the new magic skills, which gauges your ability to successfully augment yourself magically/supernaturally. It is the primary skill taken into account when casting spells that buff yourself or others. See the Magic page for details on how to best train Augmentation.

Debilitation:
 Debilitation is one of the new magic skills, which gauges your ability to successfully penalize others without causing direct damage. It is the primary skill taken into account when casting spells that debuff others. See the Magic page for details on how to best train Debilitation.

Utility:
Utility is one of the new magic skills, which gauges your ability to perform miscellaneous magical tasks that don't fit neatly into the other four spell skills. See the Magic page for details on how to best train Utility.

Warding:
Warding is one of the new magic skills, which gauges your ability to successfully use barrier spells and abilities. It is the primary skill taken into account when casting spells like Ethereal Shield, Manifest Force, etc. See the Magic page for details on how to best train Warding.

Sorcery:
Sorcery is another new magic skill, but it behaves very differently than the other four new skills. Your Sorcery skill indicates your ability to use mana types that you're unfamiliar with. This is used instead of your Primary Magic skill to determine if you're able to cast a spell that uses a different mana type. Training this skill is NOT, in and of itself, illegal. However, some spells are still illegal to use in any town, and if you use them you can be charged with Forbidden Practices. The best way to train Sorcery is simply to cast spells from other mana types that you find on scrolls.

Tactics:
Tactics is a new skill in the Lore skillset. It has two current main uses: Applying multiple-opponent penalties to a target (useful for ganging up on people), and using non-damaging brawling moves. The best way to train it is to use tactical maneuvers like WEAVE and BOB against creatures.

Retired Skills

Multiple Opponent:
Multiple Opponent no longer exists, because in its old incarnation it was difficult to train and harder to write fun abilities for. The skill checks that used to depend on MO will mostly now use Defending.

Escaping:
Escaping has been removed because it was too narrowly-defined to be expanded into a useful, widely trainable skill. Most of the skill checks that used to use escaping (notably, webs) will now use Athletics. Some (like escaping from the guards) will use Thievery.

Combined and Renamed Skills

Light Armor: Leather armor, Bone armor, and Cloth armor have been combined into the Light Armor skill. This skill determines your ability with all of these kinds of armor.

Chain Armor: Heavy Chain and Light Chain have been combined into Chain Armor.

Brigandine Armor: Light Plate armor is now known as Brigandine Armor, and includes armors formed of sewn plates and also what is commonly known as 'banded mail'. This allows for further expansion of this niche.

Plate Armor: Heavy Plate Armor has been renamed to be simply Plate Armor

Small Edged: Light Edged and Medium Edged have been combined into the Small Edged skill.

Small Blunt: Light Blunt and Medium Blunt have been combined into the Small Blunt skill.

Slings: Slings and Staff Slings have been combined under the Slings skill now.

Bows: Longbow, Short Bow, and Composite Bows all use the Bows skill now.

Crossbows: Light and Heavy Crossbows will all use the Crossbows skill now.

Staves: Short Staff and Quarterstaff weapons will now use the Staves skill.

Polearms: Halberds and Pikes will now use the Polearms skill. This opens up the opportunity for exotic polearms as well.

Attunement: Harness and Power Perception have been combined into the Attunement skill. See the Magic page for more details.

Athletics:Climbing and Swimming have been combined into the Athletics skill.

Stealth: Hiding and Stalking have been combined into the Stealth skill.

Locksmithing: Lockpicking and Disarm Traps have been combined into the Locksmithing skill.

Thievery: Stealing has been renamed Thievery in order to allow for more opportunities to expand on the concepts there.

Outdoorsmanship: Outdoorsmanship combines Foraging and Animal Lore.

Performing: Performing includes all of the instrument skills - Percussions, Winds, Strings, and Vocals.

Weapon and Armor Types

It should be noted that the categories of weapons and armor are not being combined. There still will exist light edged and medium edged weapons, for example, though they both teach the Small Edges skill.

For most things the distinction is unimportant, but certain abilities such as Backstab still take the difference into account.


Related Forum Posts

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External Links

  • 3.0 Conversion Spreadsheet: Calculates your current and future ranks, TDPs, and circle based on the latest information about Skills 3.0.
  • Lore Bonus Pool Spreadsheet: Estimates how many ranks you can gain in one or more skills until your bonus pool is depleted. (This spreadsheet requires information from the 3.0 Conversion Spreadsheet.)
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