Proficiencies and the Point System (Skills and Powers)

Proficiencies and the Point System The point system lets players give their characters a wider variety of skills and abilities than are available with the standard rules. However, skills that are not related to a character’s class are still more difficult and expensive to obtain than those tied directly to the adventurer’s area of expertise.

Character points help determine an adventurer’s initial proficiencies. Players can also assign character points earned during play to improve their heroes’ chances of success with proficiencies, as well as to add new proficiencies.

Unlike the original proficiency rules, the Skills and Powers system gives each proficiency a rating—a possibility for success. This is influenced by a character’s ability score (see Table 44: Ability Modifiers to Proficiency Scores). It is a more realistic approach, since proficiencies can be gradually improved. In these rules there is a significant difference in performance between someone with a beginning level of proficiency and someone who is an expert.

In this step of the character creation process, all player characters receive an additional allotment of character points, based on their classes, to purchase their initial non-weapon proficiencies. In addition, any leftover points from race or class ability selection in the previous chapters can be used here. Finally, characters may add their CP bonuses for their Intelligence scores to their total of character points at this time. The number of CPs awarded to each type of character in this step appears in the table below.

Characters may also choose disadvantages at this point, which can give them bonus CPs to spend in acquiring extra skills or traits.

Warriors:	6
Wizards:	8
Priests:	8
Rogues:	6

Selecting Proficiencies

When a character is created or converted from the standard AD&D game rules to the Skills and Powers system, character points must be expended for each proficiency selected. The more points spent, the better the character will be at using that particular proficiency.

Table 45: Nonweapon Proficiency Groups lists the proficiencies available. It is broken into five categories—general proficiencies, and those relating to the priest, rogue, wizard, and warrior classes. Players can choose proficiencies from any of the lists, though the costs for some will be increased because they don’t relate to a character’s class.

Additionally, some characters, because of high Intelligence scores, can add bonus proficiencies at the time of character creation.

Character Point Costs

A character point cost is indicated for each specific entry—that is the expenditure in points required for players to add that skill to their characters’ repertoires. The cost is normal if the proficiency is selected from the general list or the list relating to a character’s class. If it is selected from a different character class list, the initial cost for the proficiency is increased by 2.

For example, Wingo the thief decides to spend character points on an assortment of proficiencies, including fishing (for a cost of 3) from the general group, disguise (for a cost of 4) from the rogue group, and cryptography (listed cost 3) from the wizard’s group. His cost in points is as stated for the general and rogue proficiencies, but he must pay 5 character points, not 3, to acquire the skill from the wizard group.

Relevant Abilities

Each proficiency on Table 45 is listed with one or two of the character abilities and/or subabilities that are most essential for the use of this skill. To acquire the proficiency at the normal cost, the character must have a score of at least 9 in each of the relevant abilities.

A character with lower ability scores is still allowed to purchase the skill. However, the cost in character points is increased. Add 1 to the cost for each point needed to bring the relevant abilities up to a 9.

For example, Wingo wants to become proficient at riding horses. His 15 Dexterity score is no problem, but his 7 Wisdom score gives him some difficulties. Since the normal cost for the riding proficiency is 2 character points, and Wingo would need to add 2 more points to raise his Wisdom to 9, he must pay 4 points for the riding proficiency. The additional cost does not actually improve Wingo’s Wisdom score, it merely allows him to gain the riding proficiency.

Campaign Considerations/Training

The DM is encouraged to provide a rationale for acquiring proficiencies. Certain skills might not be available because they relate to vocations not employed by the cultures of the campaign environment. Riding and blacksmithing, for example, would be unavailable in a setting based on the pre-Columbian Aztecs, while seamanship might be unknown to a mountain-dwelling people or a character born into a tribe of desert nomads. Of course, the DM need only introduce a traveler from a different culture to teach or otherwise introduce a new skill to the setting.

In other cases, the DM could disallow certain proficiencies at the time characters are generated. Adding proficiencies later is simply a matter of the players finding ways for their characters to learn the new skills—the mountain herder who signs on as a deckhand for an ocean-crossing vessel will have plenty of opportunities to learn seamanship.

An NPC who possesses a proficiency generally will have enough knowledge to impart a basic level of skill to an nonproficient character. The amount of time this requires varies, but it should be a matter of at least several weeks of intensive training, or a much longer time of general exposure and experience.

In general, a teacher cannot raise a student’s skill to a higher level than his own, but here, too, are exceptions. Characters who receive proficiency bonuses for high ability scores do not have to consider these bonuses when comparing their levels to their teacher’s.

Bonus Proficiencies

Characters with average to high Intelligence scores can gain bonus nonweapon proficiencies. The “# of languages” rating for a character, found in the AD&D game rules, is treated as bonus character points. Bonus character points from Intelligence cannot be spent earlier in the character creation process.

These points can be used only to acquire languages or acquire or improve nonweapon proficiencies which use the Intelligence score as one of the proficiency’s relevant abilities. However, there is one exception—warriors can use these bonus character points as described here, or they can use them to purchase or improve weapon proficiencies.

For example, Wingo the thief has an Intelligence score of 15, while Bluto the warrior has an Intelligence score of 12. Table 4 (in the PHB) shows that Wingo is allowed to learn four languages, while Bluto is limited to three. Wingo thus gains 4 character points that must be used for Intelligence-based nonweapon proficiencies. He could purchase ventriloquism (from the rogue group) or cooking (from the general group), since each of these uses Intelligence as a relevant ability.

Bluto, on the other hand, could use his 3 bonus character points to purchase cooking, or add them to his normal character points to purchase the armorer proficiency (from the warrior group). Alternately, Bluto could use his bonus character points to purchase or improve an additional weapon proficiency.

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