Book Of Travels Explains Unique Skill System In New Dev Blog
Kickstarted MMORPG Book of Travels continues its efforts to redefine the genre with a unique skill system that focuses more on the role-playing aspect of the game as opposed to conventional combat skills. Developer Might and Delight explains in a new developer update:
“There are four types of skills that your character can learn. Knots, Teas, Abilities and Passives. They each have different tones, uses and gameplay orientation. What all skills share is that they are not all tailored to boost your stats or give you obvious advantages. Many skills are just ways for you to express your character and to use for roleplaying purposes in social situations.”
Knots need to be tied and untied before they take effect and are similar to scrolls or spells in other games. Teas are akin to potions but first need to be prepared. It takes a bit of patience to concoct one but the effects are often very potent and long-lasting. Abilities are non-magical skills such as hiding, fishing, and social skills. And finally, Passives. Like other MMORPGs, Passives give permanent bonuses to characters but work a bit differently than what you’re used to. Players can use Passives along with other skills to create unique bonuses.
“Our idea is that players can use the other categories in conjunction with their passives to create tricky chains of bonuses. An example is drinking a tea that makes you unaffected by the elements, using a knot to call for rain clouds and then having a passive skill that gives you bonuses when standing in rain. With the amount of skills we are prepping, we are quite convinced that you can come up with some pretty awesome combos.”
Skills are also affected by four Winds: Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western. Every skill in the game is connected to one of the four winds. Each character also has a wind affinity that will make it easier for them to learn skills related to that wind.
Learning skills is also different from your typical RPG. “Unlike many RPGs, your character won’t learn skills per automation upon levelling up,” explains Might and Delight. “nstead we have made gathering skills into something a bit more contextual and roleplay like (you're likely to learn the fishing skill from a fisherman, and a master at a tea house might teach you a magical tea blend). Of course there are numerous ways to acquire skills, such as learning them from NPCs, receiving them as rewards in events, trading for them, or finding them randomly in loot. A skill you write in your skill book must be activated or learned before it can be used. This is done by allocating points in the skills you want to use.”
Find out more about the Book of Travels skill system on the game’s Kickstarter Page.
