Topic: Optional Leveling System For Roleplaying and Leveling

[tbigness]

Leveling Option I am looking at.

 I want skill leveling to be more of a roleplaying improvement than an automatic given. So I was considering some steps to get the roleplaying aspects in character improvement. Here is what I was thinking.

All skills have to be learned to rank one to have any development. (learn being instructed by someone or something).

Ranks 1-10 take 30 hours of training.
Ranks 11-20 take 60 hours of training.
Ranks 21-30 take 90 hours of training.
Ranks 31+ take 120 hours +40 per 10 over 40.

Learning modifiers allow training time to be decreases by actively engaging in the skill use.

x5 Bonus for tutor/teacher actively teaching 1 hour per day. Tutor/teacher must be 5 ranks above to qualify.
x4 Bonus for Peer teaching, actively teaching 1 hour per day. Peer must be at least 1 rank above to qualify.
x3 Bonus for actively using skill in conflict (IE,, Haggling, combat, watch duties, ect..)
x2 Practicing with another participant. Participant does not need to know the skill.
x1 Self teaching with no help.

This would give someone trying to learn 1 rank of stalking from a ranger who has 5+ ranks more to learn the rank in 6 hours instead of 30. if he was instructing for the full 6 hours.

Any combination can be calculated by dividing the factors into into the hours required and subtracting that amount.

IE... Stalking was taught 3 hours with a trainer (6-3 hours category = 3x5 or 15 hours left) then practicing with a friend who has 3 ranks more for 2 hours (8.5-2 = 6.5x4 26 hours - 15= 11 hours Left. Then practices sneaking up on others for 5 hours (11-5 = 6 x 2 =12 - 11 = 1 hour remaining).

All skills and especially spells must have a teacher or peer to learn the first level. Also a spell must have a book, scroll, rune or other medium to learn from.

These are learned during the new level heading up to the next level. If all the Ranks are not learned by the new level or Development points are not spent fully then they must be designated as (in training before the next level Development points are distributed). This also allows for skills to be developed during character play for new or specialized Cultural skills, languages, spells or talents.

Tell me what you think.

[tbigness]

This will put emphasis on learning and Sparing during roleplay and will also introduce skills such as Lores (Fey, Demon, Undead, Dragon, ECT...) during the session. Spell users may come across a buried tome or have to decipher older dialects.

I also forgot if a skill is simimlar to another then learning it with out being taught is 1/2x cost.

learning rank 1 in battle ax when knowing to use a hand ax will allow development but will take 2x longer without someone who knows the weapon.

Learning rank 1 in picking locks but knowing Lock Lore will allow for Development but still will take 2x longer.

[Cory Magel]

Just my personal viewpoint, but unless you make 'Training' an actual role-play or you are using it to limit how people 'level up' skills, it's not worth spending time worrying about how it's done.

If your group likes literally role-playing their training then I think whatever your group thinks is fun works just fine.
If it's being used as a mechanic to limit progress, then I think needing to find a trainer and that kind of thing is useful.

However, too often 'leveling up' requiring time amounts to "Ok, the group spends X amount of time in Y location with Z person training... so, now that that's done, what's next?"

[Old Man]

I used a similar system for downtime learning but not level-based learning. For that I went as far as requiring the PCs to figure who/where they were learning new skills (hence some PC to PC interchange, NPC hiring or searches for tomes).

Regards,
Old Man

[Cory Magel]

If it's your cup of tea, I can totally see having a setup where when you level up there are certain skills that you just increase via personal research or practice, but having other skills where you really need a trainer and making players, during the normal course of play, have to find opportunities: "Ok, we've found/I've heard about/I go looking for a master at this skill so I can level it up..."  We've never bothered with that (and I doubt we ever will), likely because most of us are a bit of a hack-and-slash group.

[jdale]

certain skills that you just increase via personal research or practice, but having other skills where you really need a trainer

Might be interesting if the dividing line was your Professional skills. The core skills of your profession are things that come naturally to you, other things you need more pointers in.

[tbigness]

The big thing with me was the instant getting skills that you had no ranks in to start and encourage Sparring or side quests to learn skills or Spell lists which may bring in other quest with contacts in the future. This also fleshes out the world with NPC involvement and story lines. There maybe days of down time between events that can be used as practice or sparring time to fill the time events. Again as a roleplaying aid, such as the Loremaster will meet within 3 days time, can be spent with studying spells, lores of the ancient city and demons that haunt the area, sparring with possible tactics, ect...

[RickInVA]

Are you giving your players XP for all that training and Role Playing?

While I think the idea has merit and good intentions, I'm not sure I follow the logic of needing a teacher for the first rank.  Perhaps for some things this makes sense, like Pick Locks, but surely I can learn Stalk & Hide without a teacher, can't I?  If I spend some time in Death Valley I would think I could get a rank of Lore: Death Valley without needing a teacher, likewise I might be able (depending on time spent and time of year) to learn Survival: Desert.  Certainly having an instructor or book or something along those lines would make it easier, I would agree.

Would certain stats make this easier or harder?  I could see the stats of the skill making it easier/harder.

Does the teacher need skill in Teaching/Instructing?  Just because you can play the piano doesn't mean you can teach someone else.

I understand the role playing aspect of it, especially that it creates many opportunities for quests to find teachers and lore.

And it certainly gives the GM more control over the skills the PCs learn, and if that works in your setting that is great too.

[Marrethiel]

Leveling Option I am looking at...Here is what I was thinking...

Grab a copy of Runequest if you can, espacially the earlier editions, it has a very similar system.
There is a training time for skills but also when you use a skill in adventuring you can put a tick next to it and when you level up (well, the system doesn't actually have levels). When you have downtime at the end of an adventure, you get to check (percentile roll) to see if you get a skill increase. This is similar to development points in a way but more random. The idea is that anything that you don't develope through adventuing you need to train for.