Skills in Wyrdwood

| Categories | Acquisition/Learning | Progression/Loss/Change |

Skills in Wyrdwood represent learned abilities, training, and lived experience. They describe what a character knows how to do — not what they are allowed to be.

Skills are designed to function across both live-action play and tabletop (TTRPG) use, while remaining grounded, fair, and practical in real-world play. Not all skills work in the same way, and they are not intended to.

– Some skills improve through repeated practice and mastery.
– Some skills unlock access to increasingly complex actions.
– Others exist to support investigation, roleplay, or narrative context.

This distinction is intentional.

Wyrdwood avoids rigid class structures and fixed progression paths. Characters are expected to grow unevenly, change direction, and develop in ways that reflect their experiences rather than an abstract build.

Live Action and Tabletop Compatibility

In live-action play, skills are demonstrated through physical action, roleplay, tools, props, or referee adjudication. Success is often determined by preparation, execution, and context rather than pure chance.

In tabletop play, skills may translate into structured checks or percentages, allowing the same character to function consistently across both formats.

The goal is not perfect symmetry, but conceptual consistency — a character who is competent in one format should feel competent in the other.

A Living System

The Wyrdwood ruleset is intentionally simple and flexible. It is designed to grow alongside the world and its players.

As the setting develops:

– Some skills may be refined, merged, or reworked
– Some skills may be removed if they prove unworkable
– New skills may be introduced as the world, stories, and play styles evolve

These changes are not failures of the system — they are part of its design. The goal is not a frozen rulebook, but a framework that responds to real play, real people, and a living setting.

This page explains how skills are structured and used.
Detailed skill lists, progression rules, and special cases are covered on their respective pages.

Skill Categories in Wyrdwood

This section defines how different types of skills function, without listing individual skills or locking in mechanics. Its job is to explain expectations and stop confusion before it starts.

Not all skills in Wyrdwood function in the same way. Different kinds of abilities require different forms of progression, adjudication, and representation — especially when balancing live-action play with tabletop use.

To support this, skills are grouped into three broad categories. These categories describe how a skill behaves, not how important it is.

Progressive Performance Skills

These skills represent abilities that improve through practice, repetition, and refinement. Competence increases gradually, and effectiveness is tied to experience and training.

Progressive performance skills are typically:

– Used frequently and visibly
– Improved over time through play
– Affected by training, injury, neglect, or circumstance
– Represented through ranks or levels of mastery

Examples include combat disciplines, crafting trades, medical practice, stealth, and magical disciplines.

In live-action play, these skills are demonstrated through execution, preparation, and consistency.
In tabletop play, they may translate into structured checks or percentages.

Progressive Permission Skills

These skills govern access to increasingly complex or restricted actions. A character must first be trained well enough to attempt an action at all, and further progression expands what they can safely or reliably attempt.

Progressive permission skills:

– Gate access to actions or challenges
– Improve reliability, scope, or speed rather than raw power
– Often involve tools, props, puzzles, or referee oversight
– Still benefit from experience and progression

At low levels, a character may only attempt simple or safe tasks. As the skill develops, more complex, dangerous, or time-sensitive actions become possible.
Examples include skills such as lock manipulation, trap handling, advanced rituals, or operating specialised equipment.

Narrative & Contextual Skills

These skills exist to support roleplay, investigation, and world interaction rather than mechanical success or failure.

Narrative and contextual skills:

– Provide justification for knowledge, insight, or social leverage
– Are adjudicated collaboratively by staff
– Rarely require ranks or numerical resolution
– Emphasise plausibility, preparation, and roleplay

Examples include history, law, heraldry, etiquette, counseling, cartography, and similar fields of knowledge or experience.

Skill Acquisition & Learning

Skills in Wyrdwood are not gained in a single way.
Characters learn through experience, instruction, and deliberate effort, just as people do in the real world.

Different skills may be acquired through different paths, depending on their nature.

Experiential Learning

Some skills may be gained naturally through repeated action.

If a character consistently performs an activity over time — such as foraging, basic fieldwork, or assisting in a craft — they may gain a foundational level of skill without formal training.

This represents practical familiarity rather than formal mastery. Experiential learning tends to grant basic competence, not advanced techniques.

Examples:

– A character who forages regularly may gain basic Foraging
– A long-time assistant may gain familiarity with a craft
– Repeated exposure may justify a low-ranked performance skill

Instruction & Training

Some skills require direct instruction from someone who already possesses that knowledge.

Training may come from:

– Another player character
– An NPC specialist
– An organised group, guild, or order
– Structured lessons or mentorship

Skills learned this way often develop faster or more reliably than purely experiential learning, but still require time, commitment, and justification.

Certain skills may only be learned through instruction, particularly those involving:

– Dangerous techniques
– Specialised tools
– Formal procedures
– Complex theory

Study & Campaign Actions

Some skills are acquired through focused study or dedicated downtime, rather than physical practice.

This may involve:

– Spending time researching in a library or archive
– Conducting long-term experiments
– Observing and documenting patterns
– Participating in structured campaign actions

These skills often represent knowledge, theory, or understanding rather than physical execution, and are typically narrative or contextual in nature.

For example, a character might learn History by devoting time to study, records, and research rather than field action.

Limits & Oversight

Not all skills are available through all methods.

– Some skills cannot be learned accidentally
– Some skills require instruction or approval
– Some skills require time, preparation, or risk

These limits exist to maintain fairness, safety, and believability, not to restrict creativity.

As with all aspects of the system, skill acquisition is reviewed collaboratively, with emphasis on:

– Consistency
– Plausibility
– Player effort
– Impact on the world

Skill Progression, Loss & Change

Skills in Wyrdwood are not static. They grow, weaken, shift focus, and sometimes fade — reflecting the way real abilities change over a lifetime.

Progression is meant to feel earned and contextual, not automatic or abstract.

Skill Improvement

Skills may improve through:

– Repeated use and practical experience
– Deliberate training or instruction
– Long-term study or campaign actions
– Significant narrative events

Improvement reflects time, effort, and consistency, not simply participation. Characters who focus on a skill over time will see it develop, while those who neglect it may find their abilities stagnate.

For skills that use ranks, progression represents increased reliability, control, breadth, or efficiency — not sudden leaps in power.

Skill Loss, Decline & Neglect

Just as skills can improve, they can also decline or be lost.

This may occur due to:

– Long-term injury or trauma
– Magical or supernatural effects
– Extended periods without use
– Narrative consequences

Loss does not always mean permanent removal. Some skills may be retrained or recovered, while others leave lasting marks on the character.

This ensures characters feel shaped by their experiences, not immune to them.

Retraining & Changing Focus

Characters are not locked into early decisions.

Over time, a character may:

– Shift focus from one skill set to another
– Abandon old disciplines
– Return to previously neglected abilities
– Learn entirely new skills later in life

Changing direction is normal and expected. Growth in Wyrdwood is not linear — it reflects opportunity, hardship, curiosity, and choice.

Oversight & Fairness

All progression, loss, and retraining is reviewed with an emphasis on:

– Plausibility
– Player intent and effort
– Narrative consistency
– Balance within the world

The goal is not to punish experimentation or reward optimisation, but to ensure skills remain meaningful, grounded, and fair across both live-action and tabletop play.

Closing Philosophy

Skills in Wyrdwood exist to support play, not constrain it.

They reward engagement, creativity, and consistency while allowing room for failure, change, and adaptation.
As the world evolves, so too will the skills within it.