Proficiency Tree

*Under Construction*

*This is just a rough draft*

All Characters have a Proficiency Tree. The Tree has multiple Branches. Melee Combat, Ranged Combat, Armor, Power Armor and Item Use. A Character can choose to train in one or more Branches which in turn allows that Character to use better and better equipment.

To train in a particular Proficiency a Character gets a Training Point every even level starting at Level 2. They also have access to a bonus Training point as an option in a Character's Bonus Character Attribute. There are also 2 Feats that provide a Training point, Training Expert and Power Armor Expert. Training Expert gives one Training point to spend immediately and Power Armor Expert unlocks the Power Armor Branch and provides one free point toward Power Armor. The total of possible earn able points is 17 however only 10 points are guaranteed. There are 9 levels to Melee and Ranged Combat. 10 levels to Armor. 5 levels to Power Armor and 2 levels to Item Use.

By default a Character starts out with 1 Level in Melee Combat, 2 Levels in Ranged Combat, 2 Levels in Armor. However some Species or Classes can change this.

Melee & Ranged Combat Branches

Melee and Ranged Branches has the same rules for level progression. Each level unlocks the use of the Level of Weapon. Weapons have 'Weapon Levels' as exampled in the Weapon Levels section. The max level for a weapon is 8. However there is 9 levels to the Proficiency Tree. This is because if a Weapon has any one or combination of the following attributes it requires a level higher to wield. 'Exotic', 'Clunky', 'Masterworked'. So a Laser Rifle ( Level 5 Weapon) requires 6 levels in the Ranged Combat Proficiency Tree.

A Character can wield a weapon of higher level then they have points in there Proficiency Tree but they take penalties. These are similar to an off-hand weapon. The Character can take no advantages for a weapon they are not proficient in and takes one disadvantage for every level higher the weapon is. A Character cannot fire a weapon if they have more then 3 disadvantages regardless of where those disadvantages come from.

Level 6 and above is considered 'Heavy Weapons'. Each level costs 2 Training Points instead of 1 unless you have the Heavy Melee Weapon Training or Heavy Ranged Weapon Training feats.

Armor Branch

Similarly to Melee & Ranged Combat Branches the Armor Branch Proficiency Level determines the Armor max AC bonus. Also if Armor has an attribute such as 'Exotic', 'Clumsy', or 'Masterworked' then it requires an additional Proficiency Level to wield. This does not stack so if the Armor has all 3 attributes it still only takes 1 additional Proficiency level to wear.

Characters can wear armor of one level higher but they get there movement reduced by half and have to take disadvantage on all checks.

Level 7 and above is considered 'Heavy Armor'. Each level costs 2 Training Points instead of 1 unless you have the Heavy Armor Training.

Item Use Branch

Item Use only has 2 levels.

Level 1

The Character can use Items of all Tech Levels and can use Masterworked items as long as they are only Masterworked +1 no higher.

Characters can still use these items without this level just at a disadvantage.

Level 2

The Character can now use Items of all Masterworked levels.

Characters can still use these items without this level just at a disadvantage.

Power Armor Branch

This requires the Power Armor Expert feat in order to start training in. This Feat once taken not only unlocks the Tree but also provides a single point toward it for free.

Each Level in Power Armor allows the Character to use the higher Grade Power armor. Starting at Level 1 a Character can use Grade/Class E Power Armor. At Level 5 Power Armor Proficiency the Character can use Grade A Power Armor.

In order to gain

- There will be 5 different Trees each character can train from. Melee Combat, Ranged Combat, Armor Proficiency, Power Armor Proficiency, Item Use Proficiency.

- Melee, Ranged and Armor will all have 10 levels while Power Armor has 5 and Item Use will only have 3.

- Each character will start out with 2 points in Armor, 3 points in Melee and 4 points in Ranged and 1 point in Item use.

- Power Armor Proficiency is locked and cannot be used unless the Character has taken the Power Armor Feat.

- There will be 38 points in total for the whole Proficiency Tree. However 10 points will already be spent by default at level 1. Leaving 28 points left.

- Every even level a character earns one point to spend somewhere on a Proficiency Tree of their choice. They can also choose to gain a bonus point whenever they gain a bonus Ability score or Tech Score. There are also a few Feats that can add a point.

 - Feat: “Training Expert” Immediately gain and spend another Proficiency Tree point. Can only be used once.
 - Feat: “Training Focus” Pick a Tree to be your focus. Immediately gain another Proficiency Tree point and spend it. You can only focus on one Tree.
 - Feat: “Power Armor Expert” This unlocks the Power Armor Proficiency tree.

- The total amount of possible points acquirable for a Character by level 20 is 17. 10 of these points are standard for all characters. However 7 more can be gained through Feats and if the Character chooses to spend all bonus Abilities Score/Tech Level bonuses on points instead. There is also the possibility of certain Advance Classes that can provide bonus Proficiency Points or exceptions to rules allowing them the use of Items with lower Proficiency Scores then necessary.

- Re-Training: Some Advance Classes may require that the user sacrifice some Proficiency in one tree for another. Re-Training is possible in this game and comes in 2 main forums. First re-training for an Advance or Prestige Class. This happens freely and immediately but the Character can only Re-Train the Proficiency Points exactly the way the Class requires it. The Character cannot end up with more total points then what they started out with before the re-training. The Second option will be a money/time payment system. The Character will have to have weeks to months (depending on price and tech level of whatever system is doing the re-training) for each point being moving. The price will very depending on the situation/GM. It should be both extremely expensive and time consuming and can only be done once per level. (edited)

• Melee Combat Tree*:

   This tree focuses on melee combat both with and without weapons. The levels work just like Ranged Proficiency Tree when it comes to Melee Weapons. A Character cannot use a Weapon that is more then 2 levels higher then their Proficiency level. The only way a Character can add their Advantage Bonus to the use of a weapon is if their Proficiency level matches or is higher then that of the Weapon level. If the weapon is one level above the Character Proficiency level then the Character can use the weapon just without an Advantage bonus. If the Weapon level is two above then the Character can use the weapon but they take disadvantage and they cannot gain an advantage bonus from other external sources. If a weapon is Clunky or Exotic then it requires a Proficiency Level 1 higher then its Weapon Level, simply consider its Weapon level 1 higher. A Weapon with a Tech level 2 above the Character’s tech level is considered exotic too that Character.
   For Melee combat without weapons every 2 levels improves the max weapon damage die the Character can have by 1. At Proficiency Level 1 the damage die is 1d4. At 3 (default starting place) the max damage is 1d6. At level 4 the damage can be considered non-lethal. Some Classes or Feats can remove this non-lethal restriction.

• Ranged Combat Tree*:

   This tree focuses on all ranged style weapons. This doesn’t include melee weapons with Reach. These rules are the same as Melee Proficiency Tree. A Character cannot use a Weapon that is more then 2 levels higher then their Proficiency level. The only way a Character can add their Advantage Bonus to the use of a weapon is if their Proficiency level matches or is higher then that of the Weapon level. If the weapon is one level above the Character Proficiency level then the Character can use the weapon just without an Advantage bonus. If the Weapon level is two above then the Character can use the weapon but they take disadvantage and they cannot gain an advantage bonus from other external sources. If a weapon is Clunky or Exotic then it requires a Proficiency Level 1 higher then its Weapon Level, simply consider its Weapon level 1 higher. A Weapon with a Tech level 2 above the Character’s tech level is considered exotic too that Character.

• Armor Proficiency Tree*:

   This tree focus on all non-powered Armor in the game. Level 1 allows all armor with a 0  and 1 AC bonus. Level 2 all armor that provides a 2 AC bonus all the way to level 9 which provides a 9 AC bonus. Any armor that is considered Exotic or Clunky requires 1 level of Proficiency higher then the AC bonus of that armor.

• Power Armor Proficiency Tree*:

   This tree has a focus on all Powered Armor in the game. Armor that provides 10+ AC bonuses. A Feat is required to unlock the use of Power Armor. There are 5 levels. Each level describes how many customization or add-ons can the Armor have. If the Armor has more then the Proficiency Level then the Character cannot wear it.
   These rules are subject to change because Power Armor rules has yet to be written.

• Item Use Proficiency Tree*:

   This tree has a focus on all General Equipment items. This has 3 levels. At level 1, which is the default starting level) the character can use any item as long as it meats the following criteria:
    1. Is there own tech level or below.
    2. So long as it doesn’t have any attached Gadgets.
    3. Is not considered Clunky or Exotic.
    4. Isn’t Masterworked +2 or above.
   In order to use any item with a Gadget and/or an item considered Clunky or Exotic, the user most have two levels in Item Use Proficiency Tree.
   In order to use an item that is at or above Masterworked +2 and has a higher Tech Level they must have 3 points in Item Use Proficiency Tree.
   Many items in the game has restrictions or requirements that go beyond  or override the Item Use Proficiency Tree. These will be described on a per item biases.

[8:08] This system assumes that the most sought after skills will be Armor and Ranged Weapons. With second most sought after being Melee Weapons and Items. The hope is with the importance of Item Use later in the game that some points may be spent there. If a Character wants to have both the best weapons AND the best armor they will need to sacrifice some Ability Score and/or Tech Level bonuses as well as Feats.

   This is just a rough draft. Let me know if I missed anything or if anything seams out of balanced

Update 1: Remove the melee without weapons part of the Melee tree. Making the rules for Melee and Ranged the same.

Update 2: Change the Melee & Ranged rules so that the character can only use weapons of one level higher not two. At one level higher make the character take the disadvantage penalty.

Update 3: Change the armor rules so that a character can wear armor of one level higher just that they get 0 max dex. This can only happen if the dex bonus is higher then 3 and is not clunky.

Update 4: Clarify that the free retraining that can happen when picking a new class is for when a character has to much in one tree but enough already in all other trees. They cannot use this as a way to move points I to a tree they need more in. Only to get ride of points from a tree they have too much in. They also cannot do this if it conflicts with a requirement or restriction of another class they already have.