Master Skills & Affinities

Skills are exactly what they sound like. They are non-combat talents that your character can acquire (purchase) as they journey throughout the Crossroads. Skills often revolve around knowledge in an area, and the ability to effectively apply one’s knowledge, relative to their peers.

Much like your character starts as ‘just a normal fella,’ they also have a baseline competency in most Skills they might need. Now, if you want to become a Master at a particular skill, you’ll have to purchase it at the rate of 50 Essence per rank of each ‘Master Skill.’

• Technical (Type)
• Craft (type)
• Performance/Art (Type)
• Driving/Piloting (Type)
• Medical
• Humanities/Sciences (type)
• Subterfuge
• Knowledge (type)
• Research/Investigation
• Rituals/Arcana
• Sport/Athletics (type)
• Social (Type)
• Survival (Type)

Make sure you specify what ‘type’ of skill mastery you’d like. For example: Craft (Art) or Driving (Ships).

Master Skills may have up to 10 Ranks. These ranks denote increasing fluency and mastery in a given Master Skill.

Remember that the Rank Cap for Master Skills is the same as your character's Rank Cap for Effects.

With Master Skills, you may elect to add up to 1 Negative Modifer and 1 Positive Modifer. Unlike Effects these Modifiers do not adjust the Essence cost.

• Rank 1: 'Basic Familiarity' - You are more familiar with this subject than the average person.
• Rank 2: 'Capable Amateur' - You have started to learn how to further use this skill or knowledge to the level of a hobby.
• Rank 3: 'Skilled Amateur' - Still at the level of a hobby, but one that you have invested a significant amount of time studying or practising.
• Rank 4: 'Capable Professional' - More than a hobby, this skill or field of study is one that you are capable of using in your day to day career.
• Rank 5: 'Skilled Professional' - A high level of proficiency, anyone observing your work in this area would trust you to get a satisfactory job done.
• Rank 6: 'Complete Professional' - An impressive level of skill, able to draw attention from anyone who observes you performing your art or skill, a very advanced level of knowledge on a subject.
• Rank 7: 'Personal Mastery' - You have mastered your field in almost every sense of the word.
• Rank 8: 'National Expert' - Your knowledge or skill is known across a large region of your most prevalent World, with people coming from all across that region to seek your wisdom or skills.
• Rank 9: 'Planetary Expert' - Nearing miracle levels of skill, your knowledge and skill in your field has grown to such a level that whenever someone from the World you are most known on thinks of this skill, a clear image of you pops into their head.
• Rank 10: 'Legendary Expert' - You are the living embodiment of your skill, so proficient that your name has spread throughout the myths and legends of the Crossroads, and some may even doubt that such a person could actually exist.

Make sure you specify what ‘type’ of skill mastery you’d like. For example, Craft (Art) or Driving (Ships). You are also welcome to come up with your own. Just like abilities, your Skills and Perks should be approved through the Ability Approval thread.

Remember that skills don’t serve as a replacement for Abilities.

Affinities represent your character's natural inclinations and gifts. Just as all people have strengths and weaknesses, so too do your characters have areas in which they excel.

At level 1, you will choose one of the options below. Upon reaching level 5, and again on reaching level 9, you will choose another option from the list, for a total of 3 Affinities.

• Thrifty: Consumables cost 50% less Coin, which can reduce costs below the normal minimum of 50 per rank. This discount also applies to Consumables purchased via the Exceptional Affinity, the discount capping at 50%.
• Enterprising: Bases (and base-related purchases/repairs) cost 25% less Coin, which can reduce costs below the normal minimum of 50 per rank.
• Persuasive: Minions (and minion-related purchases/casualties) cost 25% less Coin, which can reduce costs below the normal minimum of 50 per rank.
• Immortal: You can wait 1 OOC day before reviving your character, rather than having to write a Quest or pay for the Consumable. Additionally, in events which track damage, the event runner may choose to reduce the damage your character should have taken.
• Inspiring: +1 to the Minion Rank Cap, and you can use your "buff" Abilities on Minions. You also lose 50% less Casualties compared to the norm.
• Gifted: You can purchase "Skill Groups" consisting of up to 5 "Specific Skills", at the normal cost of a single Skill. You also gain +1 to the Skill Rank Cap.
• Exceptional: You may "flavor" Coin as an internal reservoir of "energy", purchasing Consumables as though they are limited-use Abilities inherent to your character. Events that prohibit Consumables still apply. You also gain a 25% Consumable Discount for these "internal" consumables, which can reduce costs below the normal minimum of 50 per rank.
• Lucky: You gain +1 Focus at level 1, +2 Focus at level 5, and +3 Focus at level 9 (each increase replaces the previous boost, regardless of what level you initially took this Affinity).
• Extravagant: Allows the Purchase of Size 9 Bases, which are 5,000,000,000 sq/cu ft and adds +1 to the Base Ability Rank Cap.
• Formidable: +1 to the Rank Cap of Abilities (Does not affect the Rank Cap of Skills, Consumables, Bases, or anything else).
• Influential: Earn twice as much Influence and Influence loss is halved. Gaining Notoriety with a Faction doubles the Influence gained with opposing Factions.
• Specialized: Choose 1 Positive Modifier when you pick this Affinity. This Modifier costs you 0 Essence to apply to Effects. For Affects Multiple, this discount applies to only one application (20 ft diameter) of that modifier per Effect.
• Beloved/Fearsome: These two special options are only available to characters who are Respected’ or ‘Notorious’ with at least 6 different factions on 6 different Worlds. This affinity grants the player character 25% bonus Coin for completing Quests. Whether it’s because of love or hate, you’re gonna make that extra money. This does not stack with other Affinities.

Another advantage to certain Affinities is the ability to confer your bonuses and discounts to other players. Someone who can create Consumables cheaper due to Affinity might want to try and sell these to other players to attempt to get a profit.

Trading through Affinity bonuses comes with a couple caveats:

1. The two players who are trading must be on the same world or have other means of communicating. For example, Player B might visit Player A’s shop on Erde Nona and ask for the same.
2. All trades require the two players to complete a short Quest in a shared thread. The requirement for this Quest is 1,000 words, with each player contributing at least half of the total. These posts can be used to describe the trip from Erde Nona to Cevanti, or to describe the haggling for the purchase of consumables, etc….
3. As usual, the transfer of Coin via trading must be requested in [The Counting House] so a staff member can complete the Coin transfer between accounts.