OK folks, now you have some X Points and some time to spend in training we can talk about your options.

X Points can be used to buy new skills, improve existing skills and can also be used to increase your attributes i.e. STR/STA, DEX/RS etc.  When you spend X points on your attributes you will can gain 1 attribute point per X Point you spend and you need at least 1 week of training per point.  When you spend X points on skills, the Vocation, Hobby and Languages skills are all a flat rate of 1 X Point per skill level (most of these skills only have 1 level).  The cost of all other skills is determined by your Primary Skill Set and these costs are listed in the Primary Skill Sets & Skills & Ranks (OOC) thread:
link to a message in this game

You also need a teacher that you can learn the skill from.  A teacher cannot learn or improve any skills while they are teaching.

I think probably the best way to go about this is for each of you to post here how you are thinking about spending your X Points and I can give a more detailed response or offer any suggestions.

I am assuming that you will all want to learn the local language, this costs 1 X Point and will take 3 months to learn, so the sooner you begin the sooner you will become fluent.  An opportunity for you to learn the Rus language will be presented shortly and we can explore that option (IC), so whatever else you are considering, keep an X point up your sleeve for that option :)

Fun!

So, let me use my own character sheet as reference to confirm how all of this works. It looks like we have skills, hobbies, and languages grouped together. I assume we can use XP to add to any of those three categories. Alternatively, we can add to any of our attributes, 1 XP per point added. Does that cover all the different ways to use XP?

My first skill listed is Musketry/Rifles, Level 1. It looks like I can use three XP to go to Level 2. Or I could use the same amount to learn a different military skill at Level 1. Like Musketry/Pistols, or Demolition, or whatever. Or I could use one XP to choose a miscellaneous skill from the PSA chart (e.g., camouflage or tactics or whatever). Yes? Also, if I choose to level up in Musketry/Rifles, does that mean I'm promoted to Corporal? (The same way a Fighter in AD&D would become a Warrior.) Or is Rank a completely separate thing and something you will explain/handle later on?

My second skill is Natural Sciences, Level 1. Looks like it would take all five of my XP to go to Level 2 here. Is that a reasonable choice this early? Even though it would mean I'd have to put off learning Rus for now? Similar to above, do I also have the option to become Level 1 in one of the other categories (Classical Education or Medicine) instead? At the same cost (five XP)?

Do I have the option to add Engineering as a third skill? If so, does it cost four XP (as shown in the chart for Level 1)?

My vocation is listed as climbing. Should that be moved to the hobby section, with Railroad Hand being inserted here (which is what we decided during character generation)? Are we capable of learning additional vocations? For instance, you said IC that we are about to build a fort. Might it make sense to take the opportunity to train under someone else in the company to learn how to be a carpenter? If you do something like that and play a more significant role in building the fort as a result, does that earn additional XP, like using a NWP might in AD&D?

My one hobby listed is politics. But (continuing the thought above) I suppose climbing needs to be added here. Setting that detail aside, does it ever make sense to use XP to develop additional hobbies, or are skills and attributes almost always a better choice?

My one language is English. You've already said we could (should) use one XP to begin learning Rus, which makes sense. At this point, there's no good reason to learn any of the other languages, right? (Except, maybe, Latin Literacy, if you just wanted to develop your character.)

I think I know the answers to all of those questions, but since this is our first opportunity to spend XP I figured it was better to confirm everything. (Plus, I thought the Q&A might benefit everyone else as well, not just me.)

I imagine the simplest thing to do at this point is use 3 XP to level up in Musketry/Rifles, 1 XP to learn basic Rus, and add the other XP to an attribute? (In which case I'd choose STA to bump my score from 59 to 60.)

Alternatively I could use four XP to add Engineering to my skill set (if that's an option), and use the other XP on Rus.

Donald spends his time chatting with the locals which helps pick up their language.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:01, Tue 16 Apr.

OK first up lets look at your Primary Skills.

Randolph is Military PSS so it would cost him 3 X Points to learn a new Military skill at Lvl 1 i.e. Melee weapons.  He already has Musketry, Rifles: Lvl 1 so to improve to Lvl 2 he will need 6 X Points.

If he wants to learn or improve Primary Skills outside of Military then they are twice the cost, so to learn an Engineering skill will cost 8 X Points for a level 1 skill.  Or to improve his Natural Sciences skill which is already level 1, it will actually cost him 20 X Points (it would only be 10 X Points if Science was his PSS.

Not sure how I buggered up all his other Miscellaneous skills but you have the right of it there :)  We can sort out those details privately.

With regard to how X Points are earned, I use a similar system to the Star Frontiers rules.  Points are awarded each Chapter based on overall role-playing performance, unlike D&D where it is largely combat based with X Points for kills.  If you only post occasionally, one line posts and don't interact with other players and NPC's 1 X Point, average performance 2 X Points and 3 X Points for being active, descriptive, imaginative etc  You could be in a battle and miss every shot but if your posts are descriptive, entertaining and contribute to the overall story and enjoyment of the game then 3 X Points or if you just roll the dice and kill everything in sight probably only 1 X Point.

So when bonus X Points are offered, they are usually worth pursuing.  Some scenarios may be worth more X Points, particularly larger battles and sometimes there may be specific tasks that are worth specific X Points, these situations will be announced when they occur.  I tend to be generous early on so that you can establish a well rounded character.

The Hobby, Vocation and Language Skills are all designed to help round out characters and offer more role playing opportunities so learning the local language will enable you to interact with the locals, learn things about the environment and help you survive long enough to earn more X Points.  Same goes for many other skills.  Learning to ride will allow you to travel further and faster or offer new opportunities.  A carpenter is certainly more useful when construction shelter or defences etc

The two most common uses of X Points tend to be either STA or DEX but depending on your charcater and playing style, they can all be useful.

Rank is handled differently, if you look at the bottom of the page in the Primary Skill Sets & Skills & Ranks (OOC) thread, there are tables for ranks in all three PSS and we will go into more detail a little later in the game but you will see the pre-requisites include specific skills and activities required and show the size of the formation each rank can command.
So a military corporal needs to know the language of the unit he is commanding, needs the Drill Instructor skill and has to have fought in at least one engagement, then he would be able to command a platoon.  For the purposes of this game a platoon is one 'rank' in a battle line, effectively half a company i.e. "Front rank, fire!"

If you are considering learning a new Hobby or Vocation skill, the Game Wiki lists player skills as one place to find a teacher and most PSS skills are available through various units or organisations, also listed in the Game Wiki.

Thanks for the detailed reply. All of that is more or less as I expected, but I do want to confirm my understanding of a couple of things you've said above.


I reviewed the chart. I guess I just misinterpreted it. Coming from a D&D background, a character might need 2000 XP to reach Lvl 2 and 4000 XP to reach Lvl 3.  Because XP is cumulative in that system, that means the "cost" for each level is just 2000 XP. But it sounds like you're saying this system is different. Each leveling up requirement stands alone. There is no "accumulation." So one would have to expend the full 6 XP to go from Lvl 1 to Lvl 2 (and 9 to get from Lvl 2 to Lvl 3, and so on.) Is that the idea?


This makes perfectly good sense. I just misunderstand the framework initially. (One, I wasn't sure if I had access to Engineering skills since I hadn't selected "Engineering" during the CG process. Two, I didn't realize that was a distinction without meaning, in that, it doesn't really matter what you choose during the CG process. You still have access to everything else going forward. It's only a matter of cost.)


Ah! Good to know. Thanks for the tip.


This is helpful too. Thank you.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:40, Wed 17 Apr.

With all the singing and fiddling i been doing i think i should have started with those skills. But well i want to learn those first now.

Yes all characters have the ability to learn any skill if they have the X Points, teacher and time.

Because of the scale and scope of the campaign players will be able to create other characters with different skill sets so if you decide you want to explore other career paths that will become a possibility however by that stage of the game anyone who has multiple characters, they will almost certainly be operating in different places and won't interact.

A couple of you have new Rus characters that will become more involved in a couple of chapters and there are other civilizations on this world that you are yet to encounter.

Another question: if you only have 5 XP, for example, and a skill requires 8 XP to obtain or level up, can you expend 5 XP now and then an additional 3 XP after next chapter (like real training that may take a longer time) or do you just HOLD XP until you have enough to pay for the full amount?

Do we keep a running list of skills on our character sheet that are in process of being learned or improved but not yet completed?

Good question but no, you cannot purchase a skill and begin training unless you have all the X Points up front.  You will need to save your X Points.  New or upgraded skills are added to your character sheet at the completion of training.

I'm laughing because I asked several questions, none of them good ones. Then here comes Harris, once again showing that he is the smart one...

:)
FYI I have not added Xpoints to your sheets yet for the 2nd chapter.  Hopefully I will get that sorted in the next couple of days, I am on the road at the moment with limited access to all my gaming material.