The NERTH LAWS of Skills

SKILLS: How to Gain and Advance them.

Before we launch into the mechanism, let's discuss some terms.
A Persona, monster or other entity who takes Actions in any kind of scene are collectively called the CAST, and individually called ACTORS. This is not a reference to who they are, but rather only recognizes their role in the scene.
So, Skills are any Actions taken by an Actor in a scene that could be improved incrementally by practice and repetition. Players choose a group of them at Persona Origination, then add others over the life of the Persona.

At Character Origination

The Passages depend on the development of the Persona of each player over time. In Dark Shards ( and therefore, in NYCOSRPG, Players each may choose 1 or 2 skills each from their Persona's preferred Race-associated Skills list, Place list, AND Caste Lists (meaning they could have as many as 6, or as few as three skills when they have finished with Caste. Then they get to choose a Way and choose from that list up to their Base Core value that many skills. (If they have any skill slots left over, they can choose from any Way they choose)

In-Game Skills accrual

At the end of a Game Session, Players may add new Skills with the approval of the Director, when : The Player uses an unspent Skill Progression Point from a Session or other means. The Player can reason how the Persona came up with the Skill Idea in-game, or as a derivation of Skills the Persona already has, The Persona "purchases" a Treatise on the Skill from a reasonably available resource (Usually towns and cities have lots) that the GM makes available The Persona gets such a Treatise from the loot of an adventure or other in-game methods. As mentioned above, Skills develop along the course of a Persona's life. Generally speaking, any Persona can attempt to do just about anything, with varying levels of success, just like in real life. For example, I can't sing an operetta or climb Vesuvius, but I could try to sing a melody or climb a steep hill. With that in mind, virtually anything can be attempted by a player in-game, to perhaps some tiny level of relative success. So mechanically, anything can be tried by the Player, even if it seems outrageous or impossible at first. There is, of course, at least from time to time, an element of chance associated with the possibility of becoming a practical Skill.
A general recommendation is that the players should, after Origination, earn at least one Progression Point per in-game day* and that these be awarded at the end of a Session, or at the end of a Feature Scene that wasn't completed before the end of the previous Session. When the Persona progresses, they can choose any skills from any list, regardless of the Way, so long as the skill was role-played in-game, purchased in the form of a Treatise, or coordinated with the Director to build a new one.

PROGRESSION

- Role-playing Method Improving skills that were a part of the roleplay of the session, the Persona spends one Earned Progression Point to advance by 1%.

TREATISE or TRAINING

- Purchase/Redemption Method During the game, certain Skills may be added by way of new Skills-Treatises the Persona purchased or found in a treasure trove. Treatises have a silver cost, generally, 20x local community daily pay rate (so 20 Dwages on Nycos) and Training is by appointment (RP time) and a Gold cost, generally in keeping with the silver rate (so on Nycos, 20 Kwan) Treatises start at CORE value, Training at BASE value.
Treatises discovered in treasure troves will be 'random' - but can be traded with a treatise-bondsman on a one for one basis, assuming the requested Treatise is available, of course.

PLAYER - CREATION

Method Players may create ORIGINAL skills at the cost of one Skill Progression each. GM approval required, of course. Player-created Skills always use CORE value, not Base to begin, but get a BONUS RAMP when it meets or surpasses BASE for that skill. (see the RAMP section below.

Ramps and Bonus Points

The RAMP process is recorded in the sidebar, right side. Ramps always occur at the end of a Feature Scene or a session, NOT in an active Feature Scene. Ramps occur at 10-point increments (10,20,30, etc.)Ramps always occur at the end of a Feature Scene or a session, NOT in an active Feature Scene.
If two or more skills become ramp-worthy (they hit the Incremental value in the same Session), Ramp them, one at a time. In no case does a player ever 'lose' a Persona Ramp opportunity because of 'missing the timing.' If a player forgets to Ramp, he should do so at the next reasonable opportunity. In any case, Directors and all players should witness the die roll.
If a Director sees fit, he can allow players to trade Bonus Points (BPs) for Progression Points but he is NOT required to do so.

The RAMP Process Many times in Passages, a die roll will use the RAMP process to determine a result.
Passages checks are percentile in nature; the values attained will thus fall between 1 and 95 (leaving a statistically significant 5% for extreme and unexpected situations). In most cases, the RAMP will have an Initial Value of 5. Having established the Set Value from the default or proscribed Initial value, the acronymic RAMP process can be accomplished as follows:
Roll against the Set Value. Roll percentage dice the target being equal or higher than the Value.
Assess the rolled number. If it is not higher than the Set Value, then the Value is "solid" and the process for that RAMP ends. Record the solid Value in the appropriate Pillar location, and the RAMP number (the number of die rolls you made successfully before the Value became solid). If it is equal to or higher than the Set Value, continue to the next step.
Modify the Set Value, increasing it by the Step of the Ramp. The Step of RAMPs varies in range from 1 to 10, with most being 5. Once the Value has been Modified, then continue.
Proceed until all Set Values are SOLID. Pillar Solid Ramps Grace 35 7 Brilliance 30 6 Presence 40 8 Resistance 25 5 Persistence 35 7 Appearance 45 9

Type

Natural