Skills

Skills are what make up a character’s talents and knowledge base. Each person in Siliren, from PCs to NPCs, learns skills throughout their lifetime, grow their skills through threads. Each thread a player is involved in will usually earn them skill points in the numerous skills available.

The Skill List shows every skill currently available to players on the site as a whole. All skills have attached lore articles leading to all the currently available information on that skill, including their skill progression. Spells are included on this list but spells also have their own, separate list which is the Spell List. While this skill list is intended to be comprehensive, there may be a skill or two missing that has fallen through the cracks. If you have a skill in mind for your character or NPC and it is not on the Skill List, approach a Spirit Moderator for the possibility of having the skill added to the site. 

Skill points determine the skill level of players using that skill. As a player gains points in a particular skill, their knowledge and talent in it will also increase. Most skills represent this gaining of knowledge via the 4 tier progression system. This progression system

There are two types of skills: Basic Skills and Learned Skills.

Learned Skills

Learned Skills make up the vast majority of skills on Siliren and are the skills players will be spending their 140 Starter Page XP on. These skills are categorized as any skill that is based on the basic 4 tier progression system. Skills that follow the 4 tier progression system have 4 separate levels of skill progression which are Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert and finally Master. As characters gain XP in a certain skill, they naturally level up to the next tier without needing to apply for the upgrade

The Apprentice tier encompasses points from 1-25. At this tier, the player is at an introductory stage of the skill and has very limited access to actions and knowledge. The second tier is Journeyman which encompasses skill points 26-50. The third is Expert with points 51-75, and the final tier is Master from points 76-100. Some skills, like spells, have an added bonus that can be learned at 100 points. However, these bonuses differ widely from skill to skill and some may require additional action from the player. Each individual skill page will explain in more detail the abilities at each tier and whether or not they include a 100 point ability.

This tier system shows players what their characters can realistically do at their current skill level. Players on Siliren are expected to roleplay their skills reasonably by playing within their skill tier as shown by the tier progression system. By not doing such, players may be subjected to IC or OOC consequences.

Because Learned skills make up the vast majority of skills, they are split up into two additional categories: Core skills and Specialization skills. Core skills are skills every character starts off with and usually are fairly broad, including a variety of activities. Specialization skills are skills that are not necessarily innate to a character or are specific skills in which a character has to actively study to improve. Specialization skills typically are more narrow in their field of focus than that of Core skills, but both Core skills and Specialization skills follow the basic 4 tier progression system.

Specialization skills greatly outnumber Core skills, and because of this, they are separated into further categories. These categories are Combat, Knowledge, and Magic. Combat skills are any Specializstion skills that pertain to non-magical methods of fighting. Knowledge skills are any skill that requires specific knowledge to perform or does not fit neatly within any of the other skill categories. Magic skills are any skill related to the magic system, like Rigenology or spells.

As players make threads and earn points, their character will become more skilled in the areas they practice. Players are expected to play their characters realistically by playing within their skill level. While the only skills that have a dedicated dice rolling system are Combat skills (which you can view on the Combat System page), rolling dice may be implemented by a Spirit during moderated threads or if a player is consistently playing outside of their skill level. Players who consistently roleplay outside of their skill level will be issued warnings and asked to revise their work. If the player refuses or the issue persists, the player will not receive any grades for the problematic threads and the player may receive other IC or OOC punishments.

Basic Skills

Basic skills are different from Learned skills as they do not follow the 4 tier progression system. As such, Basic skills do not take away from the starting 140 XP available to starting characters. Each Basic skill has its own progression system and its own way of earning tiers. For example, learning a language is different from learning how to teach, and the amount of time and effort it takes to gain either skill is different. Basic skills also do not have XP attached to them. Instead of earning XP like Learned skills, players are asked to submit requests to gain a whole tier in their chosen Basic skill, so long as they have met the requirements of improvement.

Some Basic skills come with the Starter Package, like language, reading, and writing. However, some Basic skills do not come within the package or a player may wish to forgo a Basic skill entirely. Because of this, Basic skills can always be learned IC at any point in the character’s story.

The current Basic skills are listed in the Basic Skills list.

Starting Package

Players all start with 140 skill points plus their specific racial bonus points. When assigning these starting points players may choose from any Learned Skill on the Skill List. Players can choose any number of skills to start with as long as they follow these rules:

• Players can put a maxmimum of 40 points in a single skill.
• Each Core skill must have at least 1 point.
• A maximum of 2 skills can be at the Journeyman tier.
• Players can start off with a maximum of 2 spells.
• A maximum of 1 spell can start at the Journeyman tier.
• The player meets the prerequisites for the skills they are taking, especially for spells.
• Spells taken at creation should have a minimum of 10 points.

Gaining Skills

Players gain skill points or tiers through threads. After the completion of a thread, it can be submitted to be graded by a Spirit who will then award the thread points or tiers via the grading methods available. See the Grading Guide for more information on these grading methods and how you can improve your skills.