It took me a long time to figure out what sort of skill system I wanted to use for Chronology. While classic, I wanted to do something different than the 'gain level, learn skill' mechanic, but I didn't want it to deviate too far from classic RPG gameplay, either. So I decided to go for the classic skill tree variation with some tweaks, and thus the Virtue System came about. This way, players can gain skills in a relatively plannable way, while still allowing them a degree of choice on where they want to spend their skills.



The premise is simple; upon gaining a level, characters receive Virtue Points, which are then used to follow along a tree to gain skills or traits.

Physical Skills-Represented by the sword icon, these are skills that are physical in nature, or more simply, those where magical stats have a minority contribution or no contribution. These are not always offensive skills.

Magic Skills-Represented by the ball icon, these are skills that are magical in nature, or more simply, those where physical stats have a minority contribution or no contribution. These are either general 'magic spells' or other magic based abilities.

Traits-Represented by the triangle and the 'T', traits are passive skills that enhance the abilities of a character in concrete ways. Examples of 'Traits' are...

Shellcracker-Critical hits lower defense
Ignis Et Glacies- Fire and Ice damage increased 25%
Blood Rage-Attack increases as HP decreases, up to 125%
The Dauntless-Offense increases by 5% per enemy in battle

Things like that.

What you're looking at on the screenshot represented about 80% of what the in game product is going to look like. Besides some minor issues, it works very well, and I am thinking about spilling up the Trees per character so that each character has two sets of trees to give the player even more choice where to invest their Virtue Points.

So yeah!