Ages of Athiria Newsletter - Volume 13     his year's Game Developer Conference was more than I had hoped it would be which is a good sign.   The industry itself is finally warming up to the idea of a more player-driven world.   This will help us acquire a publisher once our demo is complete.   The pitch we hoped to make in the beginning of this year never came to be, as we were simply left waiting for an answer that we haven't yet received.   Such is the nature of things so we've learned.   In any case we're already moving forward with alternative plans even as this newsletter hits your email boxes.   Through all of this we continue to work towards a great demo that shows what Ages of Athiria is and could be.   We appreciate all of our fan's support and will remain true to our commitment of openness by keeping you as up-to-date as possible.       - Kressilac     Knowledge, Skills, Professions and Titles     ast newsletter we discussed how a character gains ranks in knowledge and skill.   While having an open skill system is great from a flexibility standpoint, it presents a problem during character interaction in social and combat environments.   Level-based systems have a global indicator available to them to indicate if I am stronger than some other character, and to help me identify strategy and tactics when approaching that character.   As a result, much of the level-based game play centers on this consider game mechanic.   Having an open set of skills makes it more difficult to measure the relative difference between two characters because there is no global indicator such as level.   To solve this problem, Ages of Athiria expands on Knowledge and Skills with Professions, and uses a flexible Titles system to help further define those Professions.   Professions are not classes like one would see in a class-based game.   A character's rank in a profession is derived from the skills they chose to use, which differs from a class system where the skills available to use are determined by your chosen class.       Professions       rofessions are collections of knowledge subjects, knowledge topics, knowledge foci and skills.   As your character gains ranks in knowledge or skills, those ranks are summed up into one or more professions, giving your character an overall rating in that profession.   These professions can then be used to compare two characters (PC or NPC) to determine their relative strength.   Relative strength is important to the game mechanics because our skill gain formula relies upon it.   Thinking back to our skill gain formula, its easy to see that having this comparison available allows us to reasonably determine the level of difficulty in any given task, and to use that level of difficulty when awarding knowledge and skill ranks.   While the formula for doing so is rather complex, it is safe to assume that, without it, it would be more difficult to ascertain just what degree of skill gain to award.     e're asking the profession system to perform multiple functions.   First and foremost, it provides a means to compare two characters (PC or NPC) against one another.   Second, it expands traditional comparison techniques to include non-combat abilities.   For example, players can tell which character is a better craftsman or politician, neither of which have anything to do with swinging a sword or casting a spell.   Lastly, the system is being used to help govern knowledge and skill gain.   The goal is to allow players to quickly generate a somewhat accurate opinion of their capabilities in comparison to another PC or NPC, and in doing so measure their potential for skill gain.   Complexity is added, however, if there are too many categories to use in the comparison process.   Ages of Athiria solves this problem by limiting the number of categories (professions) to seven.            Craftsman - All crafting knowledge trees and skills used in the manufacturing of items belong to this profession.            Merchant - Any knowledge or skills that center on trading items, managing a business or transporting goods belong to this profession.  Characters strong in this profession will have an easier time managing NPCs that work for their businesses.            Explorer - This is a more diverse set of skills geared towards adventuring in the wild and seeking out uncharted lands and oceans.   Examples knowledge and skills that would fall under this profession include, hunting knowledge, survival skills, weather sense, geography knowledge, and mapping skills.            Politician - This profession is a measure of a character's ability to run a city.   While there is no way to indicate who is a better leader from a social standpoint, a character's rank in this profession will be used to guide the NPCs of a city as they go about their daily lives.   A strong politician will have an easier time assisting in the retention of NPCs employed by a city's businesses and will have an easier time recruiting NPCs to join their city.            Entertainer - Entertainers excel at performing for others. Skill with instruments, ability with language, and knowledge of dancing and music all apply toward this profession rating.            Magician - Character's with a high value in this profession will be adept with either casting magic or creating scrolls.   Language skills, casting and scribing skills are of importance to this profession.   Ethereal Plane skills and knowledge are also considered magical in nature and belong to this profession.            Warrior - The warrior profession covers all combat related skills.   It is a measure of ones ability to engage in battle.   Examples of knowledge and skills are wielding a sword, firing a crossbow, military tactics and armor usage.       Titles     itles are made available to a player as their knowledge and skill increase.   They help to further define the professions so that a character with craftsman ranks can be recognized as a tailor, weaponsmith, etc.   Titles are unlocked at a given rank in some skills.   A full list of these titles and the rankings that they are achieved at will be published to my.AgesOfAthiria.com in the future.   As a character gains rank in multiple skills, the player will have the ability to choose one or more titles to display to other characters that query them.   The titles may be chosen from all of the unlocked titles and remain visible until the player changes their selection. When a skill degrades enough such that the title is no longer unlocked, the character will have the currently displayed title reduced to correctly reflect the proper title for that knowledge/skill.   Professions are meant to give an overall assessment of the strength of a character.   While professions provide enough ambiguity for role-playing purposes, titles allow players to selectively reveal more about their character when they feel it necessary.     he Master Swordsman title would show that a warrior has high levels of swordsmanship.   Master Tailor, Master Jeweler, Journeyman Brewer would also indicate a high level of talent in those respective professions.   Titles are created for nearly every skill in the game.   Combined with professions, another player can consider a character and see that they are relatively strong in crafting and then look at their title to see the type of crafting skills in which they are adept.     n conclusion, Ages of Athiria is looking to Professions and Titles as a means to accomplish several goals.   Professions provide an estimate of ability that is neither completely accurate nor completely inaccurate and titles allow for players to further clarify that ambiguity.   Our desire has always been to find a workable solution that allows both role-playing options for those that do not wish to have their identities and strengths immediately known, and a functional game mechanic for those that do.   From the Ashes...     s the odor of burnt wood reached Raugin's nose, he immediately stopped.  Hannar, only a couple of steps behind, did the same.  Listening intently, Raugin heard the faint crackling of wood that had nearly burnt itself out.  He also heard Hannar breathing slightly hard.  Emphasizing the need for silence, Raugin turned to look at Hannar and touched two fingers to his mouth.  Hannar nodded and fell completely silent.  Raugin understood.  He was tired too, but able to tap into a deep well of stamina built from years of facing unknown and life-threatening situations as a hunter.  While this situation didn't feel life threatening, it was unknown, and he hadn't lived this long taking chances.     uickly considering their options, Raugin decided their best strategy was for Hannar to circle the Outpost and approach from the other side, meeting in the middle.  Indicating this to young Hannar, Raugin waited until he was out of sight before moving forward.  After only a few steps Raugin saw the clearing that held the Outpost.  Pausing briefly to make sure the clearing was empty, he continued cautiously into the clearing.     annin was small compared to other lowland outposts. It consisted of five log houses; two for barracks, and one each for the commander, kitchen, and storehouse.  Well, it used to consist of five houses.  None stood now. All but one was reduced to ash and smoldering wood.  The fifth, built next to a moderately sloped hill, was pushed over completely off its weak foundation and scattered down the hillside.     To view the rest of this story and the other Athirian history, click here.   Copyright © 2001 - 2004 Elysian Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.