Protein: just my way of saying it is me (the player or IRL user) as opposed to my character. in those cases I would mark it off with Ethon instead of Protein. and yes I got the joke, but it isnt totally a dud idea. you could easily magic up a crossbow that could fire that fast. I dunno how you might do it. probably by gluing an arrow glyph to give you the ammo and an air glyph for speed. then you would have a nice automatic crossbow.

by the way. perfectly understandable that you thought I was calling you protein. happens a lot. I got this convention of OOC speaking from somewhere else. thus if I ever get in the IRC my handle would probably be Protein then instead of Protomaster. (which is a name I also got from somewhere else)

Protein: this does of course open up the possibility that various weapons and specifc styles of martial arts can be put in game so long as there is a naming convention to them that doesnt automatically make the players think that it's out of place or out of time. a claymore is indeed a claymore but that's just the name for their version of a two handed sword. some people think that a claymore is the name for a two handed sword as opposed to a particular kind of two handed sword. though I think it's taken as such enough that it wouldnt break the fantasy too much. If the term Tai Chi sword makes people think too much of the oreint on earth then naming it a "spring steel sword" would be fine. I think I read that the topic creator wouldnt mind. similarly "exotic longsword" would be a great way to describe a katana without making you instantly think of a samurai.

this reminds me; since this opens multiple possibilities assuming we can find names for them that dont seem out of place I'd like to see clawed gauntlets (it would be funny if they were sold only in oja), brass knuckles, spears and halbreds (and exotic variations, naginata for example)

various styles of oriental martial arts could fit as well just under differnet names. I can see where Niten-Ichi-Ryu might be OOC in planeshift but "two swords" wouldnt. (as opposed to skill in "swords, etc") I cant think up of names for things like Tae Kwon Do or Tai Chi right now but I'm sure someone will.

Protein: I dont see the new topic anywhere so I'll just post this here. this should pertain.

The new system proposed here seems like an absolutly wonderful idea, especially after reading the link in this thread to an example of what it might be like at character creation. I only have two issues one of which I think has been mentioned.

I think it'd be better for Aplitude to only determine the speed at which you learn/gain exp in a particular skill as opposed to that and also putting a level cap on a particular skills. I would not be against a very difficult level gain for a particular skill once you get to a certain level in that skill due to it not being your "strong subject" (which is what aplitude feels like to me.) for example a person with high cooking aplitude but low crafting aplitude should still be able to gain high levels in crafting though it would take them substiantially more work where as learning to cook Clacker Chowder (for example, they do seem a lot like lobster or crab.) would only take them thirty mintues of study.

secondly I think that the questions at character creation to determine aplitude in certain things should be very detailed or very broad. A system to assign points to a characters ability to learn without a Confidence modifier needs to exist either on the microlevel or macrolevel each of which has certain advantages. If the questionare is very detailed then you can use it to find very specific things that they are good at and what is related to it (for example splitting cooking into skill at cutting, making stock, broil, boil, fry, season, prep, etc. list could go on and on) or a second more realistic option is to assign aplitude more generally such as "working with hands" might encompass crafting, cooking, various martial arts, and most weapons. (minus kicking and spiked shoes) all of which would receive an aplitude boost. The other thread seems to indicate the latter.

One thing in addition. This isnt an issue but something I'd like to see done with this system. There needs to be a way to keep people from all rolling for epic presteige stats and ease of level in those only, because the last thing a great RP game like this needs is a population filled completely with knights and mages who cannot even learn to feed themselves, much less tend to gardens. It was mentioned that certain stats would be tied into others (for example if you train in say...handling heavy swords then skill in things like battle axes and heavy blunts would be effected positivly as well because no matter what you're holding, an overhead smash works mostly the same for all three. In addition strength would go up too as I dont see how lifting heavy things would avoid contributing to your strength.) I'd like to see stats from non combat skills tied into it as well. For example a warrior cleaves tefus and rats all day getting better at use of swords, axes, maces and strength. It would makes sense to raise their skill in mining (you're going to need some strength and technique to break things out of solid rock), blacksmithing (hammers are like maces. battle hammers definatly are like hammers. and besides molten or not you're still hitting metal until it becomes more shaply), farming (mideval times probably used some kind of blade to harvest things like corn) and, uh, butchery (killing tefus and rats is butchery. just more "still alive".) and I propose that it work backwards as well. for example if you found that you're good at cooking and learning how (high aplitude in cooking) and you start practicing how to cook, raising that stat, then other stats should be effected positivly as well. (though that does bring the question of which aplitude modifier to use when determining increase) for example: when cooking, uh, pizza, it would raise you're cooking skill indeed, however it should also raise things like "small knives and daggers' (cuttings tools are small knives), soft martial arts (moving pizza dough around can be compared to some of the counters, grabs, and pressure attacks in various styles of soft martial arts [soft martial arts are martial arts that do not rely on your strength, but rather the strength of your opponent]) blacksmithing (to a degree, pounding  horshoes out of metal isnt too far off from tenderizing meat or cutting up salami for your peperoni) metallurgy (knowing when to take a pizza out of the oven is like knowing when to take the steel ingots out of the forge), pottery (same applies for kiln and clay) etc.

the more detailed that stats will be the more possibilities for specific stats to be tied together.

one thing in addition; taking my above pizza cook example; with the ranks acheived in various skills he may be an epic cook by day and by night be a pretty decent-legendary-epic ninja due to the analogous skills thus giving all characters the potential to also have simple lives and professions and be able to feed themselves. Afterall a population full of the strongest knights, wisest wizards, and other such things makes for a dead population when they realise they cant cook. It also makes for a poor population when they realise that "Questing to Bring Down That Which Chooses to do Harm upon the People via Violence" isnt a high paying job. whereas blacksmith is a nice job and still leaves time for questing on the side.

this last bit may be a bit off topic or it may pertain. I cant really tell. Ranks of magic aside from raising associated core stat, should also be put to good use. for example; let's take that epic cook/ninja from earlier, let's say he has average aplitude as a mage in a few ways (let's stick with brown, red, and crystal for now) and he's out hunting clackers for that Clacker Chowder (now I want some seafood) and he gets hungry and is a bit low on hp/stanima, but as a ninja who is adventuring to slay a Queen Clacker (on a quest I guess) who has been terrorising anyone who wants a bit of delicious clacker claw dipped in butter, our ninja/cook didnt bring his spatula. and certainly not a stove. could he with adequate ranks in the respective ways (and appropriate glyphs) use brown magic to shape the earth into a nice oven, and grow a tree. Then use red magic to shear the tree into nice sized logs, put them in the oven and fireball at it till it ignites to make a tempoaray stove. Then use Crystal magic to summon up a spatula (instead of an arrow) and conjure up some other ingredients (might be in his icebox, at his house, which is also a front for his resturant) and use this to make come clacker chowder and eat it for the stanima/health/other stat bonus/heal that you get.

and there you have it a nice in character use for an epic cook/ninja with a few ranks in some magic (I imagine it's way easier to light stoves with fireballs) that can make use of the stat system you've made for various useful thigns, inside and outside city walls.