Skills, Attributes and How To Use Them

[Gaz]

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Character Progression

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Every character starts at E class, this signifies the beginning of their journey that may suggest different stages of life for the different races. At this stage, every character is awarded 400 XP to spend in their individual stat trees according to the specifications below, they are also gifted 2 Traits and 2 Aspects for free that have to tie into their Attributes and Racial Skills. Character progression is marked by several thresholds that they reach throughout their journeys that will allow them to grow their skill and attribute classes. However there are limitations and costs when distributing these acquired skills and attribute points. Characters can upgrade their Skills and Attributes to one level above their overall Reishi Class to gain extra benefits.

This is demonstrated in the table below:

Reishi Class	Attribute/ Skill Gains (A Character can upgrade their Attribute and Skills one letter grade over their current Reishi Class)	Threshold to reach this class (Once your character is awarded this amount XP from threads, they move up to the indicated class with the newly assigned limitations)
E	All Attributes and Skills start at E Class. They have the ability to have 1 Trait or Aspect.	400 XP
D	Attributes and Skills can be upgraded to this rank by spending 200 XP. Once reaching this class they gain 1 free Trait or Aspect.  They have the ability to have 2 Total Traits or Aspects.	800 XP
C	Once reaching this class they gain 1 free Trait or Aspect. Attributes and Skills can be upgraded to this rank by spending 400 XP to upgrade from D Class (600 XP Total).  They have the ability to have 4 Total Traits or Aspects.	2,000 XP
B	Once reaching this class they gain 1 free Trait or Aspect. Attributes and Skills can be upgraded to this rank by spending 500 XP to upgrade from C Class (1,100 XP Total). They have the ability to have 6 Total Traits or Aspects.	4,000 XP
A	Once reaching this class they gain 1 free Trait or Aspect. Attributes and Skills can be upgraded to this rank by spending 600 XP to upgrade from B Class (1,700 XP Total). They have the ability to have 8 Total Traits or Aspects.	6,500 XP
S	Once reaching this class they gain 1 free Trait or Aspect. Attributes and Skills can be upgraded to this rank by spending 700 XP to upgrade from D Class (2,400 XP Total). They have the ability to have 10 Total Traits or Aspects.	10,000 XP

Additionally, every race has their own unique ability that ultimately defines what they are. This ability is unlocked and improved as the character progresses through the classes as indicated below. These are known as Racial Manifestations and act similar to a 1st Level Manifestation (talked about later) However these Racial Manifestations only cost 200 and create the temporary Manifestation Skill, and grand a free Aspect for said skill. These manifestations can be upgraded as the character also grows up to D class.

- A Shinigami unlocks the ability to use their Shikai at E Class and their Bankai at limited potential at B Class, and finally their Bankai at full potential at S Class.

- An Arrancar unlocks the ability to use their Resurrección at E Class and their Resurrección Segunda Etapa at limited potential at B Class, and finally their Resurrección Segunda Etapa at full potential at S Class.

- A Human unlocks the ability to use their Fullbring Item Affinity at E Class and their Fullbring Evolution limited potential at B Class, and finally their Perfect Fullbring at S Class.

- A Quincy unlocks the ability to use their Schrift at E Class and their Vollstandig at B Class, and finally their Vollstandig Perfected at S Class.


The table below indicates this for all four playable races:

Reishi Class		Threshold	Shinigami	Arrancar	Human	Quincy
,E		400	2 Traits & 2 Aspects, Basic Shikai	2 Traits & 2 Aspects, Basic Ressurección	2 Traits & 2 Aspects, Basic Fullbring OR Contract Summon	2 Traits & 2 Aspects, Basic Schrift
D		800	1st Level Manifestation	1st Level Manifestation	1st Level Manifestation	1st Level Manifestation
C		2,000
B		4,000	Bankai	Aspect Of Death	Fullbring Evolution	Vollstandig
A		6,500
S		10,000	Beyond Bankai	Resurrección Segunda Etapa/ Aspect Of Death Full Potential	Perfected Fullbring	Vollstandig Perfected

Before distributing your XP to upgrade any of your character's skills and attributes, however, it is important to first understand what they are and what the differences are between each one to lead your character down the desired path. All Attributes and Skills start at E Class, and each character has 2 free traits to give to their Attributes, and 2 free Aspects to allocate to their skills. 

Strength: This Is how strong your character is, this affects how powerful physical attacks are.
Agility: The attribute linked to dexterity and speed, with this increased your character is more nimble.
Endurance: This is how tough you are as well as how much stamina a character has. Without Endurance fights will be short and quick.
Reiatsu: The ability to control one's Spiritual Pressure that exerted onto the world and how much of it is released.

Attributes all grow in the same way across every race. E Is the starting because that is what an average human has. This understanding increases as the attribute rank does. The table provided will give an accurate idea of what each of these numbers equate to in the grand scheme of things and will help everyone have a grounded idea of the scale things can get to here on BS.

Class		Equivalent
E		Average to Trained Human
D		Trained Human to Peak Human
C		Peak Human to Inhuman
B		Inhuman to Monstrous Levels
A		Monstrous Levels to Godly Levels
S		Godly Levels to Unfathomable

The unique skill sets are explored further in the individual sections for each race.

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Shinigami

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Shinigami, the soul reapers who are tasked with defending the soul society and escorting the souls of deceased humans as well as cleansing the hollows that plague the Living World. Each Shinigami is given a Zanpakuto, one that they are to bond with and to mould as they themselves learn and grow. They live long lives but develop into adulthood at a similar rate to a human before their ageing process stagnates for centuries, barely changing.

As a group they have formed many organisations, the most prevalent being the Gotei 13, a group that has taken it upon themselves to protect the world of the living and the soul society. Each squad has its own assignments and tasks, however they all use the same base skills learned in the academy to do their jobs.

Skills:

- Zanjutsu: Weapon based combat for using one's Zampacuto as a means of fighting
- Hakuda: Melee combat focused on using one's body as a weapon
- Hohō: Trained movement Shunpo and other techniques
- Kidō: Using Reishi to formulate spells to both be utilised in offence and defence


Shikai: When a Shinigami first makes a deeper connection with their Zanpakuto they can hear its name, giving them the ability to call it out and transform their weapon to something unique. This form is called a Shikai, it allows a Shinigami to draw out more of their natural attributes whilst utilising any new abilities this transformation grants them.

A basic Shikai costs a Shinigami 200xp to unlock; this creates a separate pool to their own which is additive, meaning it enhances the Shinigami whilst the weapon is in this state. A shikai may also create new Skill pool for new effects that also gain strength as it is upgraded.

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Arrancar

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The Arrancar are a species of evolved hollow that have cracked their masks, ascending to become more like the Shinigami that come to cleanse them. They attain this power in two ways. They can attain the rank of Vaso Lorde by hunting and eating parts of other Menos class hollows to gain strength. Once at this point, over time they can break their mask naturally. Or they can kill a Shinigami, claiming its Zanpakuto and shattering their own mask.

No matter how this is achieved this weakens each hollow down to the same level but offers them greater potential in the heights of power they can achieve.

Skills:

- Sonído: The sonido is a basic technique all Arrancar know, this allows them to move faster than the eye can see.
- Hierro: Steel Skin, this is a skill that reinforces one’s own skin against damage.
- Cero-arts(Reiryoku): This skill lets Arrancar tailor their Cero and personalise it in new and unique ways.
- Lucha: The combat skill, Arrancars proficient in combat of any kind will train their Lucha.

Resurrección: The act of releasing one’s abilities and merging with their Zanpakuto to gain tremendous abilities, whilst becoming closer to their original hollow form. The base cost of a Resurrección is 200xp; to create a separate pool to their own which is additive, meaning it enhances the Arrancar whilst their body is in this state. This may also create a new Skill pool that can be used to add new effects to the Arrancar’s combat ability.

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Quincy

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The Quincy are a race of humans that are entirely opposed to the very nature of Shinigami. Legends state that early quincies came about in a time of strife when Hollows run amok in the human world and the Shinigami were nowhere to be found. In that time these humans discovered Reiryoku and how to draw it in and shape it into weapons.This act sends souls to hell to an eternal damnation regardless of the fact if the owner was a sinner in life or notl, not just cleansing them to go back into the cycle as a Shinigami’s Zanpacuto does. Being human means the Quincy do not have the long lives of a soul but their ability to manipulate reiryoku has greatly increased their longevity.

Skills:

- Bogen: Archery and other combat abilities are tied to the growth of the Bogen skill
- Schnell: Move, Quincy have learned to stand on air and move at speeds greater than the eye can perceive in small bursts.
- Blut: Shell, A quincy who wishes to be resistant to damage, trains their Blut to harden their skin and body to all damage.
- Waffen: Armory, The Quincy are very adept at creating tools to aid in their ability to hunt and slay hollows. All quincy have some ability in crafting tools but those who wish to master the craft train their Waffen.


Schrift: A Quincy can spend 200xp to unlock a Shrift at E Class. An alphabetical Epithet that describes the nature of their power. Schrifts are activated in a temporary nature, as announcing the name temporarily unseals the abilities the name stores. A player can take this 200xp and create another stat that is the special ability the Schrift unlock.

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Human

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Humans are an oddity in the Brave Souls world, they inhabit the living world and are a key point in the cycle of reincarnation, it is also the place where the other worlds intersect. This means that humans can be exposed to Spirit energy and particles, some humans that have this exposure go on to develop a strong soul themselves and with that gain powers that they can use to defend themselves and others from spiritual beings that would do them harm.

Skills:

- Martial Arts: Humans can train their bodies to be capable of fighting in many styles in both mind and body,
- Brightstep: Those that have awakened their souls latent abilities can channel that spiritual energy to their feet, allowing them to move at insane speeds and to stand on the air.
- Contracting: Some humans have an affinity for making contact with the souls of animals and their hollowfied counterparts, Dragons. Contracts can be formed with untainted Dragons that allow the Fullbringer the ability to use their abilities in a fight. Be it making use of their claws on their own hands, or their ability to breath elemental breaths.
- Magic: Some people have developed the ability to shape this spiritual energy they have into spells that have varying effects.

Fullbring: Humans can enhance their abilities and develop them into strange powers with the help of spiritually infused items that a person can bond with to create a Fullbring. By spending 200xp at the E class threshold a human can create a Fullbring that acts as a separate pool of attributes that are additive to the regular pool, it also creates a new Skill that is linked to their own power.

Contract Summon: Humans with a deep bond with a dragon can summon it in its entirety, allowing the dragon to fight on their behalf or with the summoner. This is extremely powerful as both humans and dragons under the influence of a contract are incredibly strong. By spending 200xp at the E class threshold a human can Summon A Dragon they have Contracted that acts as a separate pool of attributes that are additive to the regular pool, it also creates a new Skill that is linked to their own power.

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Traits & Aspects

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What makes a character? Well aside from their backstory and personality traits? No, not who you can ship them with! It’s their abilities, how they fight and interact with the world. Here on Bright Souls our characters are unique and that can be shown with their skills and attributes… But “Gaz” I hear you shout, “Those are just numbers!” And you are right. But these numbers have a deeper meaning than the top trumps of who ever has the higher numbers wins. No, at certain intervals in the skills and attributes comes a trait, or aspect.


Starting at E Class every character on Bright Souls gets a pair of Traits, these are linked to attributes as they are a characters unique extension of these attributes that they are linked to. They can gain further traits be spending 100 XP up to the threshold that their Attribute provides.

These traits are unique uses of their linked Attributes, it could be how a character uses their Strength for “Explosive Power” to suddenly use a massive burst of that strength. Or their endurance allows them to have access to “Untapped Reserves” allowing them to push on for far longer than they have any right too. This is just one example of what can be done with Traits.

As Attributes rank up on the Stat tree a singular Trait can be Evolved into a stronger more potent version or variation instead of purchasing a new one, if a character has multiple traits linked to an attribute only one can be evolved at a time. (You can focus all evolutions on the same trait or spread them about between them). Traits must associate with one attribute for this to be possible. This could take a trait that has a drawback to being used and reduce the effects, eventually removing those drawbacks whilst increasing overall output. The reverse could also be possible, if a character stretches beyond what their limit is an evolution could add a drawback to using it. Traits can only evolve 5 times in total and can only be Evolved once per class from D Class and up.

At any time a character be given a “Negative Trait” A fluff mechanic that can be used to steer a characters roleplay. These traits can also be applied to characters such as Shinigami who do not want to play the standard path but instead choose to be a “Substitute Shinigami”! This Negative trait is exampled below! A Negative Trait can be removed at any time a character is upgraded as long as the player feels that it makes sense in their story.

Negative Trait Name: Mortal Reaper (Substitute Shinigami)
Trait Description: Being a Substitute Shinigami the character has a mortal body that must be kept alive and fed while his soul leaves it to perform his duties as a Substitute Shinigami. A caveat to this is that being a mortal their soul is bound to their body and cannot be removed easily, often needing an external method to do so.

In tandem with these traits, we also allow characters to gain their own unique Aspects for their skills. These are a unique application of a characters skill that augments how they fight. Characters can gain these aspects when they rank up their Skill, getting 1 for free every time they do Or they could spend 100 XP and buy an aspect when a character is updated. A character can forgo new Aspects to Evolve their current aspect to a higher more potent level by removing drawbacks or adding an additional facet to the power.

Traits and Aspects bought as part of a manifestation will be expanded upon in that explaining thread.

When making changes to a character please start a thread or post in a current thread you have started in the Dojo with this block of code and fill it in.

[b]Character:[/b] (Name and Link)
[b]Total Earned XP:[/b] (How much XP has the character got in total?)
[b]Total Free XP:[/b] (XP that has not been spent on Stat or Attribute Points)