Abilities and Skills

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Kiyaani
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Abilities and Skills

Post by Kiyaani »

I was hoping to hear more about how abilities and skills will work together in this new system. It seemed to me that with Somnium abilities were non-existent and various access and capabilities occurred with the different levels of skill assigned. But in Clok skill levels unlocked specific abilities that granted the use of spells, attack types, or gated skill caps. Will Cogg use a system that is a hybrid of the two, will it follow the Somnium model, or will it be closer to Clok? Any information about how these systems will work would greatly aid planning a character.
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Rias
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Re: Abilities and Skills

Post by Rias »

It's a hybrid. Some actions are possible simply by having enough skill. Other more specialized actions require taking an ability to enable them, and most, but not all, abilities have skill requirements. So you can't take the super uber power attack ability if you're only a Novice at the Melee skill, because the ability requires at least Talented skill to take.

Also, abilities can be - but aren't always - linked to a specific skill, and depending on how much skill you have, you can get that many abilities of that type. So for instance, if you were only Novice (1) in the Melee skill, you couldn't take a bunch of specifically Melee-categorized abilities. You could only take one. So on that note, having higher skill not only gives you better rolls or better quality (crafting), but also unlocks more ability slots for related abilities.

Hopefully that isn't too confusing.
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Kiyaani
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Re: Abilities and Skills

Post by Kiyaani »

Not confusing at all. Does this mean there will be at least 7 abilities related to every skill you can point into at some time in the future or will those stay fairly consistent with what was already in Clok?
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Rias
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Re: Abilities and Skills

Post by Rias »

The hope is to eventually have a whole big ton of abilities to choose from for most of the skills, so people can be more unique and less cookie-cutter even when compared to people of similar base skillsets. Expect a fairly low ability count at the beginning, though. There are a lot of skills, and some of them are harder than others to think up special abilities for. To start, it'll be similar to what you saw in CLOK.
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Kiyaani
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Re: Abilities and Skills

Post by Kiyaani »

Sorry in advance for the large number of questions incoming. Just trying to make sure I understand how things will work. I assume the previous response means there will be multiple ability points unlocked per tier of skill point. And then depending on that skill there may be fewer or more ability options available.

But for guilds with a lot of abilities like Udemi, Utasa, Rooks, Templar, etc., will it still be possible to get a fair amount of the abilities available or will things be much more limited? Will guild abilities all be assigned a general skill and then gated behind the guild requirement/pre-req or will guilds have their own ability point pool that's separate? Will guilds have a recommended skills list so people don't inadvertently point into a skill that unlocks none of their desired guild's abilities? Will some previously guild-only abilities become generalized so that people pointing into certain skills will have access without being in a specific guild? Will some skills be restricted to guild-only (locksmithing, arcana, meditation, etc.)?

I'll probably have more later and appreciate any feedback :)
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Rias
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Re: Abilities and Skills

Post by Rias »

Kiyaani wrote: Mon Sep 11, 2017 1:38 pmfor guilds with a lot of abilities like Udemi, Utasa, Rooks, Templar, etc., will it still be possible to get a fair amount of the abilities available or will things be much more limited?
It certainly won't be more limited than it was in CLOK, if that's what you mean by "more limited".
Will guild abilities all be assigned a general skill and then gated behind the guild requirement/pre-req or will guilds have their own ability point pool that's separate?
Shared point pool. I feel guilds would be overpowered otherwise, and make people feel they -had- to join one.
Will guilds have a recommended skills list so people don't inadvertently point into a skill that unlocks none of their desired guild's abilities?
I hadn't planned on it, other than just saying which abilities have prerequisites.
Will some previously guild-only abilities become generalized so that people pointing into certain skills will have access without being in a specific guild?
Maybe. Still considering many of them.
Will some skills be restricted to guild-only (locksmithing, arcana, meditation, etc.)?
Have another Maybe. I still like the idea that the more specialized or trade-secret-like skills require being part of an associated organization to learn. There's no YouTube or Wikipedia in the Lost Lands for people to self-teach with, and much secret knowledge tends to be jealously guarded in order to keep it valuable.
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Kiyaani
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Re: Abilities and Skills

Post by Kiyaani »

Thanks for answering those. Now I have MORE questions!
  • Will all abilities from CLOK be assigned a skill they fall into - both guild and non-guild abilities?
  • Will some abilities not have a skill requirement at all?
  • Will abilities be gated by certain skill tiers or will their success rates just vary based on skill points assigned?
  • Will all of this be on the wiki somewhere in the future under each ability's page?
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Rias
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Re: Abilities and Skills

Post by Rias »

Kiyaani wrote: Mon Sep 11, 2017 5:08 pmWill all abilities from CLOK be assigned a skill they fall into - both guild and non-guild abilities?
Some, but not all, because ...
Will some abilities not have a skill requirement at all?
Yes.
Will abilities be gated by certain skill tiers or will their success rates just vary based on skill points assigned?
Depends on the ability.
Will all of this be on the wiki somewhere in the future under each ability's page?
Yep. Ability descriptions will list their various prerequisites, if any.
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Candelori
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Re: Abilities and Skills

Post by Candelori »

I wanted to express gratitude for the enhanced ability descriptions we have now. The information given is extremely useful and will be immensely helpful in deciding which abilities to choose when considering one's skills and even chosen primary attribute. For example, the information on Feint:

Code: Select all

Information on Feint:

   A feint is a misdirection of sorts, making your target think you are going to strike and causing
them to lose their form as they attempt to prepare for it, while you take the opportunity to improve 
your own.
   OOC Info: (A quick non-damaging move that causes the target to lose balance while you gain
balance.)
   Usage: feint
   Roundtime: 3
   Energy usage: -5
   Balance gain: 8
   Failure balance loss: -5
   Target balance loss: -10
   Cooldown timer: 15
   Skills applied to offense:
      Melee Combat: 100%
      Artifice: 25%
   Skills applied to defense:
      Melee Combat: 100%
   Attribute bonuses to defense:
      Intuition: +25%
      Awareness: +10%
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