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| Advancing Your Skills | |
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As your character advances in levels, you develop your skills and spell circles according to your experience. Once you've earned enough experience to advance a level, "CHECK IN" at the front desk of a local inn. There is an inn just northwest of Town Square in Wehnimer's Landing, but if you get lost in town, type "DIR INN" for step-by-step directions.
After you check in, you'll be presented with menus to help you select your training, just as you did when training your character for the first time at level 0.
Once you attain your next level, you must return to a local inn and enter the Character Manager to assess your current stats and stat-bonus gains. Upon completing this process, you allocate your next batch of training points for the skills you want for your new level. This process is repeated for each incremental level advancement.
Skills
The skills one can master in GemStone III are open to all professions. Not only arms but also magic spells can be used by anyone in the land. The ease with which you can learn a particular skill and the rate at which you can advance your bonus in it depend on your profession. Skills are divided up into the following categories: Armor Use Skill, Weapon Use Skill, General Skills, Magic Use Skills and Special Skills. Armor Use Skill Armor provides the basic defensive and protective mechanism during combat, so learning to maneuver successfully when wearing it is important. Less cumbersome types of armor allow you greater mobility, therefore enabling you to evade hits more successfully. Heavier types of armor fend off damage better, but more blows land, since you are not able to evade as quickly. For instance, although full plate armor will make it difficult for a sword to cleave your arm off, you will find yourself getting rather steadily beaten up, because you cannot dodge the blows. Some spell attacks may also be modified by degrees, depending on armor type worn. Heavier armors will make you more resistant to certain magics (such as Disruption effects) but more vulnerable to others (chain mail and lightning bolts are not a good combination, at least for the wearer). Spellcasters will find that wearing armor inhibits their magic. Elemental spellcasters may fail to cast a spell while wearing almost any armor with more bulk than the lightest of soft leather. Leather armor will not restrict any of the spiritual spellcasters, but metal armor will. Weapon Use Skill There are six weapon skills, each one allowing you to use a category of weapon types: Edged Training allowing you skill bonuses when wielding single- and double-edged swords, knives, daggers, axes that are light enough to use with one hand, and similar edged weapons. Blunt Skill in using weapons that crush on impact, rather than slash or puncture. Includes, among others, mace, war hammer, morning star, and whips. Two-Handed Skill training here enhances your ability to use those weapons that are so heavy or awkward that they are required to be grasped with both hands. Naturally, if you can use them skillfully, they inflict large amounts of damage. Included are both crushing and slashing weapons such as battle axes, clubs, cudgels, picks, flails, war mattocks, staves, and two-handed swords. Ranged There are crossbows, both light and heavy, composite bows and short and long bows. Thrown Weapons that are hurled or flung at a target, which include shuriken, darts, boomerangs, and bolas. Polearms Long-handled thrown or thrusted arms. Skill in their use sharpens your aim and accuracy. Included are javelin, spear, harpoon, trident, lance, polearm, and halberds. (Throwing polearms is not yet implemented in the game. However, they may still be used in hand.) General Skills In addition to the major skills of arms and spells, your persona can develop many skills that will be useful in moving about the world, fighting, surviving, sojourning, interacting with other players and NPCs, and adding to your enjoyment of the world as a whole. Again, certain professions will find development of some skills easier and more useful than others. Climbing Helpful in ascending and descending cliffs, ladders, slopes, and rugged terrain. Reduces the likelihood of falling when crossing certain obstacles and scaling slopes or walls. Swimming Useful in traversing bodies of water. Disarm Traps Determines your chances of success when neutralizing traps. Some creatures carry chests and other containers, and these are often trapped. In general, the greater your skill in this area, the less likely you are to damage yourself and those in your vicinity when disarming the many varieties of traps you will encounter. Pick Locks As in disarming traps, this helps you to open locks, assuming you have the necessary equipment. Stalk & Hide Allows you to hide and to follow another while remaining hidden. Your success is determined by your own skill at stalk and hide and the perception skill of your quarry. This skill is often combined with the ambush skill. Perception This skill affects how much information and how many clues your character can gather from the environment and the other adventurers, creatures, and NPCs. Watching or searching an area, room, object, or being can reveal important features that you can use to your advantage. First Aid Without a healer nearby, you'll need first aid to give immediate treatment to light and moderate injuries. This skill also helps you skin certain beasts, whose pelts can then be sold. Trading Skill training in trading gives you an advantage when dealing with the merchants in the town of Wehnimer's Landing, who supply you with the necessities you require in order to embark on your adventure and maintain yourself while in the world of Elanthia. Pick Pockets One way of supplementing your income, if you are prepared to face the consequences. Includes the ability to appropriate the wealth of other players and inhabitants of town. Brawling Skill in hand-to-hand, bare-fisted fighting. This skill is useful if you must defend yourself without a weapon. Magic Use Skills The bending of elements to your will and the maintenance of spiritual mana from the deities takes a lot of study and requires great dedication. However, the power that can eventually be acquired is considerable. As you might expect, pure spell users such as wizards and clerics have the least difficulty in mastering skill levels for magic use. Hybrid spell users (sorcerers) have slightly higher costs, and semi-spell users (bards and rangers) must expend yet more energy. Rogues and warriors have a very difficult time learning the mystic arts. Learning Spell Circles After earning the required number of training points, you are asked to choose the particular spell circle you wish to attempt to learn. Up to three options will appear, depending on which profession you have chosen, from among the minor spell circles, major spell circles, and profession-based spell circles. See the section Magic for details on choosing spell circles and casting spells. Different professions must pay different training costs to learn spells. Note that the spells of each circle must be learned in consecutive order. To learn the 10th spell of the Empath circle, you must first learn spells one through nine. If you have the training points, you can learn multiple spells/level; however, you can only cast spells which are at or below your level. A level 3 wizard can learn a level 4 spell, but cannot actually use the spell until level 4. For a complete list of spells available to each profession, read the Spell Lists in the Game Tips section. Scroll Skill Skill with scrolls will allow you to decipher, examine, and read runes and special spells inscribed on paper, parchment, and similar material. Magic Item Skill Staves, rods, and wands are powerful magical items that take skill to use, and practice to wave effectively. They are items that have inherent spells that can be used regardless of the caster's level, and have the built-in ability to cast those spells when used properly and skillfully. More powerful wands require more skill to use effectively. Mana Share The skill of sharing mana involves the transfer of energy, or mana points, between individuals. The two parties involved must use the same type of magic, spiritual or elemental, to have this transfer take place. Any race or profession may develop the capacity to transfer mana points to another character, in order to allow the recipient to use those points toward spellcasting. Aimed Spells Aimed spells are the magical equivalent of weapons in the sense that they create and focus natural force, hurling it at one or more targets. Skill development in aimed spells applies only to elemental spells, such as major and minor fire, shocks and the like. Special Skills Ambush This is the ability to make a very precise attack while employing the element of surprise. To use your ambush skill, you must approach your target undetected and be able to strike before the quarry can react to defend or strike back. You first hide, and then, while hidden, make your attack. Enhanced skill in Ambush then modifies your attack by increasing the amount of damage once you have succeeded in hitting the target. Physical Training Skill in physical training is the primary factor that determines how many hits your character can withstand before succumbing to unconsciousness, shock, or death. Every time you train in this, you achieve increases in the amount of health points you have. You can increase your health point total by an amount determined by your race (usually around 1 to 10 points) each time you train in this skill. Using Special Skills In order to take advantage of certain skills, you must use the special commands that go with them. Disarm Traps "DISARM" will allow you to use your Disarm Traps skill with your success or failure determined by a modified die roll. Pick Lock "PICK" will allow you to try the Pick Lock skill if you have the right tools. Your success at opening the lock is determined by a die roll, your statistics (Wisdom and Dexterity), your skill, magical aids given by spells, and the difficulty of the lock you are attempting to open. Example: PICK CHEST WITH LOCKPICK Stalk & Hide The "HIDE" command will allow you to remain concealed while motionless. To stalk someone, "HIDE," and then "STALK" them. Perception The commands "SEARCH" and "EXAMINE" allow you to search a room or examine objects. "SEARCH" in a room will also potentially reveal to you hidden objects or characters, depending upon your perception skill versus the hiding skill of the concealed individuals. The perception skill is automatically factored in if someone tries to hide in the room from you or stalk you. Note that sometimes objects mentioned in the room description will not show up via a "SEARCH," but they will be mentioned in the text. You can still "EXAMINE" them. Mana Share The command to transfer mana points between two spell users is "SEND," in the form "SEND <amount> <name of recipient>." The one to receive the mana must be in the same room that you are. The amount of mana successfully transferred will depend on the sender's Mana Share skill, and the skill of the recipient. Transfer "TRANSFER" is a skill only empaths can use. It is the way to use the Realm of Spirit to transfer the wounds of others to oneself, thereby healing them. Once an empath has taken on those wounds, the process of self-healing begins. In order to transfer wounds, the empath enters "TRANSFER <player name> <area>". The area can be: head, neck, chest, abdomen, back, right hand, left hand, right arm, left arm, right leg, or left leg. For example:
Each time you train in a skill, you will generate a bonus (usually applied to die rolls). The bonuses, as your skill increases, are subject to the law of diminishing returns. The amount of bonus per skill is higher at lower levels (usually about +5 per training) but gradually lessens at higher bonuses to an accumulated value of +1 per training. Skill Training To learn all of those skills, you must spend training points. Each level, you trade training points for skill ranks. Training Points Training points are derived from your stats. The current value of each of your stats determines the total number of training points that may be used to increase your skill bonus during any one training session. You receive training points when you enter GemStone III for the first time to generate your character, and each time you advance a level. These points do carry over from one level to the next, so if you do not use all of them, do not worry. The expenditure of training points represents the effort and time you invest in improving skills, practicing, studying, fighting, or engaging in combat. Your character has two types of training points: mental and physical. Each is used in some combination when training in your skills. These are determined based on your stats as follows: Mental training points: (Discipline + Logic + Intelligence + Wisdom + Charisma + Aura) /10 Physical training points: (Discipline + Constitution + Dexterity + Strength + Reflexes + Aura) /10 The average new character has about 40 points in each of these areas. Skill Training Costs Each skill has two costs: Physical Point Cost and Mental Point Cost. For example, a skill rated as "1, 2" would require 1 physical point, and 2 mental points in order to successfully train in it. In addition, you will see a third number in parentheses: (2). This indicates the number of times you may train in a particular skill at each level. IMPORTANT: For multiple training, the skill costs will double for each additional purchase. Example: You are a rogue, training in Climbing Skill, which is listed as: "2,1 (2).". You train in it once for a cost of 2 physical points and 1 mental point, and then the skill is displayed as: "4, 2 (1)." You train in it one more time, and the (1) is changed to (0), meaning you can no longer train in that skill for this level. The next time you go up a level, the cost will be back to "2, 1 (2)" and you continue from there. |
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