Skills Overview
Introduction to Skills
Skills are a measure of how proficient or knowledgeable your character is regarding certain tasks. The higher your level is in a certain skill, the more expertise your character has in that area. At later levels, this can translate to dice roll advantages, or even contribution to Linea's lore.
Skill Levels and What They Mean
Skill levels are increased by writing your character performing actions relevant to that skill within threads. The more your character practices their skills, the better they get!
Below is a breakdown of skill levels and how they translate to your character.
Skill Level | Expected Proficiency | Skill threads required to reach this level |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Very little to no experience in this field. Cannot be expected to perform well. May only have broadly common knowledge of the subject. | 0 |
| 1 | Basic working knowledge or skillset in this area, abilities are rudimentary and crafting skills are primitive. Work has a hit-or-miss success rate and character is still making lots of mistakes. | 2 |
| 2 | Able to utilize stone-age technology with ease and rapidly gaining tricks, knowledge and ability. Work is generally effective with technical errors noticeable by more proficient characters | 5 |
| 3 | Generally seen as being "good" at this skill, even by those with more experience. Crafting ability is entering early iron-age level technology. Work is effective with minimal flaws or technical errors. | 10 |
| 4 | Expert. Full use of iron-age technology, recognized as a leader in their skill. Work is exquisite with little to no technical flaws. Eligible for Mentorship Bonus. | 15 |
| 5 | Master. Work is not only flawless, but character is actively making new strides in their field. Eligible for Lore Breakthrough. | 20 (including Mastery Project) |
The above table should be used as a general guideline for how good your character is at a given skill. For example, a wolf that is only level 1 in the weaponry skill would probably be expected to be able to make a simple wooden stave, but not an ornate broadsword! The same applies to "soft" skills like performance: you're likely to be much more convincing at higher levels!
As a note, all technology on Linea is capped at the iron-age level. Meaning that while castles, ships, high-fantasy clothing, and metal tools are all fine; things such as complex machinery, steampunk aesthetics, firearms, and modern clothing are not. If you are unsure, ask our staff!
Additionally, characters are given 3 skill levels to distribute as they please when they start the game.
Skill Types
There are 15 skills that your character can master:
- Agriculture Includes resource gathering from animals, plants, and fungi via husbandry, gardening, farming or foraging.
- Altercation Encompasses feats of physical prowess and skill shown in the heat of the moment, including combat, duels, and physical competitions.
- Artistry Includes creative endeavors exemplifying art and design. Includes painting, sculpting, weaving, other visual arts and crafting of items that are not otherwise encompassed by other skills.
- Culinary Processing ingredients to cook, bake, ferment, or brew non-healing consumables.
- Construction Creating, designing, or repairing structures both natural to wolves (e.g. dens, tunnels) and unnatural (e.g. buildings, fortifications, boats, etc.)
- Espionage Rouge-ish actions, including spying on other characters, sneaking around undetected, or planning and executing surprise attacks.
- Apothecary Actions related to non-magical medical care. Includes first aid, medicinal plant identification, medical diagnosis, administration of treatments, knowledge of poisons.
- Enchantment The infusion of physical objects (armor, weapons, items) or consumables (food, potions, etc.) with a single effect of an Affinity you possess. See Special Resources and Enchanted Items for more detail.
- Research Gathering of field or book knowledge, writing, experimenting, gaining information from others, and investigating secrets or mysteries.
- Navigation Ability to track one's position within Linea, includes following and interpreting maps, observation of the movement of stars & celestial bodies, tracking of atmospheric patterns.
- Expression The deft navigation of social engagements with charisma, intimidation, mediation, persuasion, and lying. A deepened perception of body language aids in the detection of emotional falsehoods and outright lying. Applies to verbal and body language alike. Includes diplomacy, gossip, persuasion, and scheming.
- Survival The ability to live off the land without access to civilization. Includes hunting, fishing, tracking creatures, managing temperature, responding to harsh weather conditions or natural disasters, and avoiding injury in the wild.
- Travel Movement across difficult terrain during long journeys (i.e, not within your home territory), exploring new lands, charting territory.
- Performance The art of self-display, including music, singing, theatre, or disguise.
- Weaponry Proficiency in the creation and use of armor and weaponry. Includes smithing and smelting of ores, maintenance of weaponry, and knowledge and utilization of weaponry in combat.
How to Level Skills
Skill level is increased based on the amount of completed threads depicting that character utilizing and/or improving that skill. A thread is only eligible to count towards skill levelling so long as it is complete and reasonably substantial.
Feel free to be creative with how you utilize your skills! For example, a character demonstrating the Survival skill could look like teaching a pup how to survive a snowstorm, hunting a wild boar for food, tracking a legendary monster across the mountains, or building a fire in order to keep warm. That being said, the depiction of a skill within your thread should be a notable action within that thread: try to shoot for at least a paragraph. Passing mentions of things such as picking herbs or crafting tools with no detail are not eligible for skill claims.
There may be instances where an action or event could potentially fall under two different skills. In these cases, we ask that you use your best judgement, or ask staff if you are unsure.
Multi-Skill Threads
Multiple different skills may be claimed per thread, but each use of a skill must be depicted as an independent, thoughtfully-written action. Thoughtfully written means you must write at least a paragraph or paragraph's worth of sentences depicting your character utilizing that skill in order for it to be eligible as a skill thread, and independent means that a character cannot claim to be using two skills at the exact same time for the purposes of skill levelling.
Here is a demonstration of what is vs. isn't eligible for claiming as a multi-skill thread. Consider these two examples:
Example ABoth of these examples have the same end result: a pretty sword made by Lorna. However, in example A, the creation of the sword is described as a singular action, with no differentiation of skills. Thus, it is eligible to claim for her weaponry skill, but cannot also be claimed for his artistry skill, as her artistic abilities were not described independently. In example B, however, both skills are described as separate, individual actions, even though they both came together in the end. In example B, Lorna WOULD be able to claim both artistry and weaponry in this case.
Mentorship Bonus
Characters with a skill level of 4 or above in any given skill are eligible for the mentorship bonus, meaning that all threads with that character will count as +1 extra thread for characters gaining the same skill at level 3 or below. This applies only to the lower-level character(s) who are actively participating in or performing the same skill.
Here is an example to see how this works:
ExampleWhen tracking and submitting your skill threads, please be sure to mark when this bonus is applicable or staff may miss it!
Skill Specialties
As characters develop their skills, they may choose to work toward a specific specialty. A specialty is a bonus available to players who reach a cumulative skill level of 9 within a certain grouping of skills. Our available specialties are as follows:
Specialty Name | Bonus awarded | Purchasable when cumulative lv 9 among following skills |
|---|---|---|
| Burly | WIP | Altercation + Weaponry + Construction |
| Silvertongue | WIP | Performance + Expression + Espionage |
| Innovator | WIP | Artistry + Culinary + Agriculture |
| Adventurer | WIP | Travel + Medicine + Survival |
| Scholar | WIP | Enchantment + Research + Navigator |
Cumulative level means that you have gained 9 total levels within that grouping of skills.
ExampleEach character may only declare one specialty at a time, and that specialty must be purchased in the ether exchange once the requirements are met.
More details on dice rolls and how they interact with specialty bonuses, see Dice Rolls and Impactful Actions
Mastery Projects & Lore Breakthrough
In order to achieve Level 5 and mastery of a certain skill, players must undertake a mastery project as a part of their completed thread requirement. Completion of the mastery project and achievement of level 5 will make you and your character eligible for a Lore Breakthrough, in which you and your character get to add a page to Lore Linea's lorebook documenting your discovery / achievement for all time!
Mastery Project Prompt, Examples, and Guidelines
| While experts have considerable experience and produce excellent results, a master is a cut above the rest. their dedication and skill has resulted in a new development, discovery, accomplishment, and/or infamy within their mastered skill. |
|---|
The project chosen must be complex enough to require a minimum of 3 threads to complete. At least 2 threads should document planning and executing any necessary steps to prepare for and see the project to completion (AKA "Progression threads"). The Final thread should match your intended Lore Breakthrough: it should be the climatic moment of your journey, demonstrating your character's success in achieving their goal. "Read Only" threads may be used for Progression threads, but the Final thread must involve at least one other character as witness. Threads should be substantial, thoughtful, and detailed in nature with quality writing. "Throwaway" threads or clearly low-effort writing will not be accepted as part of the Mastery Project.
Requirements are deliberately broad to allow flexibility in how you proceed through your project. They are not intended to demonstrate perfection, but the ups and downs of your character's journey to a pinnacle accomplishment that goes down in history. We encourage the use of setbacks and roadblocks in order to create an engaging narrative.
Threads must be created and completed after the character has achieved level 4 in the skill in question.
There are many directions your character may take in designing their project and achieving skill mastery. Here, we will consider two different examples of a mastery project within the same skill.
SKILL EXAMPLE: Mastery Project in Agriculture
Approach 1Of course, projects will look different for different skills. A wolf mastering the espionage skill might immortalize a grant heist where they went undercover within another pack to gain a vital secret. A wolf mastering the weaponry skill might discover a new ore and use it to craft a powerful weapon. A wolf mastering the travel skill might create a new trail across the territories to ensure that their pack's traders have a safe pathway to take their carts. The possibilities are endless!
If you are unsure of your mastery project idea works for the skill you are trying to master, please ask! Mastery projects that are too far removed from the skill they apply to may not be accepted.
Generally, projects should be complex enough to be the result of deliberate efforts. Accidental discoveries can happen, but should still be accompanied by learning how to use them, uncovering their secrets, etc. All projects need to be witnessed by another, but ideally they involve multiple characters throughout the project (even if they aren't reoccurring appearances). These projects should result in something transformative or new for Linean society, after all! It should also be noted that three threads is the minimum, but some stories might take longer to tell. We encourage you to really flesh out and have fun with your story arcs!
Lore Breakthrough
Your efforts will not go unrewarded! To commemorate your achievements, you and staff will collaborate on adding your new discovery, creation, or campaign to our Deep Lore records, immortalizing it for all of Linea's characters.
For example, in the above Approach 1, Lorna's player would write a lorebook page on the magical plant she discovered, detailing what it looks like and where other players can find it. In approach 2, Ryley's player could go in two directions: either a page on the poison spring, where it is, and the illness it causes OR they could write a page on the illness itself, what causes it, its symptoms, what animals it affects, and how to cure it should another spring be uncovered.
Skill Mastery is an incredible achievement, meant to celebrate characters and players who have actively contributed to Linea's story and lore. Great job!
Combining Skills and Affinities + Special Circumstances
There may be instances where you want to utilize your skills in order to create an item which has a tangible, game-altering effect on yourself or another player that results in an Impactful Action (see Dice Rolls and Impactful Actions for what constitutes an Impactful Action) In these instances, it may be required that you possess both relevant skills and affinities in order to create that item. Here are some examples below:
| I want to... | Requirements | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Use an item to poison someone in order to deal damage | Pestilent Affinity + Relevant Skill | Crafting poison arrows (weaponry skill) |
| Create a healing item to recover HP | Vitality Affinity + Relevant Skill | Creating Healing potions (apothecary skill) |
| Imbue an item with a tangible magical effect that cannot naturally occur | Relevant Affinity + Enchantment Skill | Smoke bombs (imbuing an object with the Atmospheric affinity) |
The purpose of this is not to micromanage your storytelling, but simply to prevent players from using skills as a way to "shortcut" the magic system in order to gain advantage in combat or other Impactful situations.
Comments