Experience

This is in response to some questions that have arisen.  I first wrote this response to a play tester but its still appropriate to the questions that have come in by email after the final release. 

First, advancement is two-tiered.  You can get better by increasing your skill ranks or you can learn a specific capability that opens up to you when your skill ranks reach certain levels (Proficient, Trained, and so on as previously explained under skills).

Second, EPS comes at a rate of one (1) EPS per session.  Ultimately the gauge of how fast or slow EPS arrives is in the hands of the GM. 

Now, let’s get specific in how experience can be used.

We’ll use the Weapon skill, which I will venture more than a few enterprising enthusiasts will think that dumping a lot of skill ranks into it will reap the most benefit.

I’ll play a Dwarf and you play the Human and let’s both start with 10 skill ranks in the same Weapon and Guard skill and gain one (1) EPS and +2 skill ranks for each skill every time.  If you convert EPS into skill ranks, you get 8 skill ranks.  If I do so as the Dwarf, I get 1 skill rank.

1 EPS

You convert the EPS into 8 skill ranks and now have 18 skill ranks in Weapon.  I elect to use my EPS to take a secret and learn to defend better with my Weapon.

Now, that puts you at 20 skill ranks (10 + 8 +2) and me with 12 skill ranks + the Web of Steel secret (better defense or offense at my election and I can switch back and forth from one to another).  You hit better (+20 to my +12) but I can defend better (+4 DEF) or add to my attack (+4 ATK to have a +16 ATK) and that defense or offense will now scale in strength as I get more skilled.

2 EPS

You convert the EPS into 8 skill ranks and now have 28 skill ranks.  I elect to use my EPS to take a secret and learn how to use my weapon faster and more efficiently, lowering the penalty it applies to initiative (which is called CF by the way).

Now that puts you at 30 skill ranks (you hit better (+30 to my +14) but I can defend better (+5 DEF) or add to my attack (+5 ATK to have a +19) and go faster (+1 CF faster).

3 EPS

You convert the EPS into 8 skill ranks and now have 38 skill ranks.  I elect to use my EPS to take a secret and learn how to strike more efficiently, adding +3 ATK and that offensive secret will scale in strength as I get more skilled.

Now that puts you at 40 skill ranks (you hit better (+40 to my +19) but I can defend better (+5 DEF) or add to my attack (+5 ATK to have a +24) and go faster (+1 CF faster).  Each of those will continue to scale as gain skill.

4 EPS

You convert the EPS into 8 skill ranks and now have 48 skill ranks.  I elect to use my EPS to take a secret from Guard and learn to defend much better (+9 DEF with an 18 Guard skill).

Now that puts you at 50 skill ranks (you hit better (+50 to my +27) but I can defend better (+15 DEF) or add to my attack (+6 ATK to have a +33) and go faster (+2 CF faster).

As you can see from this short progression, yes, you could scale rapidly in accuracy.  But advancement is measured by skill ranks and by capability at those skill ranks.  The human has used their time to gain in accuracy but sacrificed capability to do it.  The Dwarf took a route of capability and is much more capable across a spectrum if less accurate than his human counterpart.

Key parts of the scenario are to instill the understanding that having purely high skill ranks will NOT provide a holist spectrum benefit.  Here is why.

**You gain in skill by scaling skill ranks high but lose out in capability.  Having the ability to hit is fine but fighting a mediocre fighter who can disarm you when you attack, dodge, parry or counterattack every one of your attacks is a problem.

** Arduin Eternal skills work synergistically but separately as well.  High skill in one area helps but doesn’t give an overwhelming benefit.

In melee combat you would likely use one, two or all of the following skill in a common CF action count:  Weapon, DEF, Lorica, Shield, Athletics, Acrobatics, Combat, Guard, Recon and Unarmed.

Being extremely high in a single weapon would help but if you poured all your EPS into a single skill you would suffer overall.  A person who poured skill into say, a sword, could hit very well but would not have corresponding equality in defense (DEF) and be susceptible to the tactical advantages of lower skilled but more capable players.  I purposely and deliberately played out hundreds of scenarios over the last year to assure myself of this very point.