Design Monologue 25: Character Advancement

Taking another stab at a class/race/skill/etc system.

Everything is a skill.
Each skill has a rank (1-5).
Each rank costs more than the last, but provides a linear increase. Thus, rank 5 is the least efficient in terms of power gained per XP spent. However,
Rank 5 skills unlock new, more specialized skills.

Thus, it is relatively easy to be fairly well-rounded. But, if you want to do anything really cool, you'll have to specialize.

Also:

Races just give you a bunch of abilities up front, all of which can be earned some other way.
There are no classes, though there could be bundles of skills to represent formal training or previous life experience. More like lifepaths.

A Skill List

Driving
Small Craft
- Small Starships
  - Medium Starships
    - Large Starships
      - Capital Ships
Maneuvering (+ to ship handling)
- Evasive Maneuvers (+ to ship defense)
- Tactical Maneuvers (+ to ship attacks)
Efficiency (- to fuel consumption)

Persuasion (+ to affecting NPC decisions)
- Intimidation
- Coercion
Negotation (+ to negotiate contracts, buy/sell, etc)
- Haggling (+ to sell price, - to buy price)
- Crisis Negotiation (+ to talking down criminals with hostages, terrorists, etc)
Leadership
Decision-Making (+ initiative as ship/mission commander)
Networking (+ to business relationships)
- Proactive Networking (+ to form new relationships)
- Network Support (+ to existing relationships)
Friendliness (+ to friendships)
Diplomacy

Guns
- Marksmanship (+ to sniping)
- Controlled Fire (+ to automatic weapons)
- Quick Draw (+ to initiative in gun duels)
- Projectiles (further + to bullet/plasma guns)
- Lasers (further + to lasers)
Grenades
Rocket Launchers
Heavy Weapons (such as gatling guns, anti-aircraft batteries, emplaced machine guns, etc)
Ship Guns
- Cannon Specialization
- Railgun Specialization
- Laser Specialization
Missile Launchers

Nanotech (build and maintain nanobots)
- Nano-repair (build repair bots)
  - Nano-construction (build construction bots)
Power Systems
- Fusion Reactors
- Antimatter Reactors
- Ship Wiring
Dark Matter Technology
- Shield Systems
- Gravity Generation
- Armor Hardeners
- Tractor/Repulsor Beams
Secondary Ship Systems
- Water and Wastewater
- Fuel Distribution Systems
- Ammunition Distribution Systems
Computers
- Programming
- Maintenance
- Security
  - Hacking
  - Counter-hacking

Taking some more lessons from EVE.

All characters have a level that starts at 1.
Characters have a certain number of "slots" for major/minor/passive abilities, determined by level.
The abilities to be slotted are determined by equipment and skills.

===Example 1==

Race->Bloodline->Ancestry->Career->Specialization

Name	Homeworld	Ancestry	Career	Specialization
Adrian Ross	Karma	Soldiers	Military	Fighter Jock

Skills: Driving 2, Small Craft 5, Small Starships 1, Maneuvering 5, Evasive Maneuvers 3, Tactical Maneuvers 3, Efficiency 2, Guns 5, Marksmanship 1, Controlled Fire 1, Grenades 3, Rocket Launchers 1, Heavy Weapons 1, Ship Guns 2, Cover 4, Concealment 3, Dodging 2, Hand-to-hand 4

Covering Fire: Affects medium area in medium range; grants +5 to Defense for one ally or a small group of allies in close range of one another. Targets may ignore Defense bonus, but you gain an opportunity attack.
Disabling Shot: A quick shot to the knee or elbow causes terrible pain; opponent suffers +3 Disabled for encounter.
Shoot From Cover: Reduce cover bonus by 2, but enables a single attack.
Spectrum Targeting: You can aim through your weapon's spectrum targeting system, which sees through darkness and most forms of concealment, though you suffer movement and awareness penalty for 1 round.
Improved Cover: Increases cover bonus by 2.
Bullet Efficiency: Use 25% less bullets when using full-auto or burst-fire.