Master Rank Points

Discussion initiated by Dean in September 2008

Suggestion for Standardising Master Work Requirements

In my opinion, getting the option to take a skill to master level is both too hard, and too easy. Too hard, as it can be difficult to get an adventure where the skill is represented enough. Even if it may have been, then the player has to negotiate with the GM as to whether there is merit enough to gain a master rank. Often the player tries to organise a specific adventure to target a specific skill, with the attainment of master rank requirements pre-confirmed. This is easier for some than others depending on who you know.
Too easy, as there is often no discernible difference between the requirements for Rank 8, 9 or 10. Often just one adventure can be seen as enough experience to meet the requirements, again without differentiating between the master ranks being attained.

With all the above in mind, I would like to suggest the following ideas for meeting the master work requirements:

• Once a character reaches Rank 7 in a skill, they can start accumulating Master Rank Points (MRP) for that skill.
• MRPs are handed out by GMs at the end of their game, in the same manner as XP.
• The number of MRPs given out is appropriate to the game level, the skill in question, and the level of usage of this skill by the player during the game.
• MRPs for a skill will be a cumulative total, starting at 0
• Once a player has enough MRPs to satisfy the requirements for the master rank they are looking to attain, then they may start ranking that skill to the next level

The scale of MRPs would be as follows:

• 10 pts for Rank 8
• 25 pts for Rank 9
• 50 points for Rank 10

A player can therefore earn points towards a master rank slowly or fast depending on the game, but there can be ongoing progress, rather than just one off jumps. For instance, a player may use their Rank 7 Philosopher enough on the game for the GM to reward them with 1 MRP. Once they have accumulated 10 such points they can advance to Rank 8, and need 15 further points to advance to Rank 9. It is therefore especially useful for the more esoteric skills, that are often not core or critical to the game, but do get used enough to warrant some incremental movement towards master level. Obviously a player can still go on an adventure specifically targeting a skill, with the knowledge that perhaps as much as 10 MRPs will be awarded. This gets Rank 7 skills to 8, but may not progress the higher ranks, requiring them to do a larger body of work to satisfy the next stage increase, which makes sense

The only downside I see is the paperwork one for each player to track their current points, but I do not see this as a show stopper.

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