Soulthieves: natural Literacy grant?
This is a mechanical musing so it might be even more disjointed than usual. You can try to follow if you wish.
The point of discussion here is: if a character quantifiably has sufficient education (i.e. a high enough Lore skill) at generation (the beginning of the game), should this not entitle them automatically to basic Literacy skill? And since I'm already leaning toward yes, at what level of Lore should this grant occur?
This line of thought began when I wrote about tribesfolk a couple posts ago. I mentioned they would have the lowest Lore skill at generation, and that makes enough sense. But what about those characters who aren't so cut off from Island society at large? Many of them will have experienced many things, including written things. It's not unreasonable to suppose that, with enough experience in that regard, the character would learn to read or feel the need to do so, even if it's not an integral aspect of their race's culture or their class's training. In terms of game mechanics, this simply means that a high enough Lore will grant them some elementary level of Literacy; the actual number of levels granted would depend on a synthesis of Lore and the Intelligence attribute. Depending on race, some classes that don't start with guaranteed Literacy might still be literate for having sufficient Lore. Hikers, due to their large starting Lore, would probably be practically guaranteed to be literate in this manner; I must have had a reason for not giving them Literacy in the first place, probably because it would make more sense for hikers of certain races like orcs and kobolds. Tribesfolk, in contrast, should not be entitled to this grant at all even if they get a sufficiently large Lore bonus from race, so they'd be barred from the Literacy grant. I'm not sure at this point if any races would get such a large Lore bonus, anyway.
Now that I'm thinking about it, though, characters from different provinces could get different Lore bonuses. Province/culture is supposed to impact gameplay, after all. For example, characters from Capital Network might get larger Lore bonuses due to the sheer diversity of the cities there and the need to interact with all kinds of different people. Characters from Westlands could get a large bonus as well, since being a Westlander amounts to being a revolutionary; they would interact with all kinds of people from all over country both in Westlands and while travelling elsewhere as agents for their organizations. On the flip side, the sheer hatred running through the diverse communities of Golden Winds could very well impede education, so the Lore bonus would be relatively small. Meanwhile, characters starting in Southern Mountains or Central Provinces would have low Lore just because they grow up so isolated from the rest of The Island. Thus, characters from Capital Network and Westlands would have a higher chance of starting with Literacy; characters from Golden Winds or the mountain provinces would have a lower chance.
Now that I'm factoring in provincial bonuses, level 10 in Lore seems like a decent Literacy grant point. Before I started writing this I was thinking more of level 7. 5 felt too low, and 10 felt too high. But I forgot about provincial bonuses. Level 10 might be fine, but balance might ultimately require me to increase it to 12. 15 is probably too steep, but I obviously don't know yet.
This whole grant mechanic is similar to Ancient Domains of Mystery, another roguelike that has heavily influenced Soulthieves' development. In ADOM, any character that doesn't train in Literacy may still be granted the skill if their Learning (~Intelligence) attribute is 10 or more. ADOM also has exceptions: barbarians (~tribesfolk) and beastfighters (a strange unarmed fighting class like monks but crazier) are barred from the grant even if their Learning is 10 or greater. Since Soulthieves has the Lore skill representing a character's wisdom, it seems I have a more accommodating system anyway, so I feel a natural Literacy grant based on Lore is fair.
Let's note that, as it stands, not all tribesfolk would necessarily be illiterate to start; some races start with Literacy, such as the elven races, gnomes or centaurs, so tribesfolk of those races would be literate. This is also similar to ADOM, but as this game has evolved so greatly, I don't think that makes complete sense, as tribesfolk are cultural outliers in their race groups. It seems I have two options in that regard. The first is to override the racial Literacy bonus, so tribesfolk of all races are illiterate. The second is to eliminate Literacy as a racial starting skill. The latter option hinges on those races still getting sufficient Lore to otherwise be granted the Literacy skill, but as starting skills are to some extent randomized, that's an unreliable mechanic; some classes, like farmers, hunters or prostitutes, could have a hard time consistently attaining the Literacy grant point. That may not be a huge deal if most characters of the race are still literate, since that doesn't completely throw their culture out the door, but obviously the cultures of some races like high elves and lauchorns place great value on literacy (in those races' cases, ostensibly for poetry), so they'd be more likely to ensure all of their own can read. And the Lore-based Literacy grant is also to account for lived experience; it doesn't supplant direct education in reading and writing. After all, not everyone who is literate is necessarily worldly. On the whole, the former seems to be the better option.
I'm losing my train of thought, but just to sum up my leaning at the moment: all PCs except tribesfolk will be granted the Literacy skill at generation if they possess a Lore skill of 10 or greater.
The point of discussion here is: if a character quantifiably has sufficient education (i.e. a high enough Lore skill) at generation (the beginning of the game), should this not entitle them automatically to basic Literacy skill? And since I'm already leaning toward yes, at what level of Lore should this grant occur?
This line of thought began when I wrote about tribesfolk a couple posts ago. I mentioned they would have the lowest Lore skill at generation, and that makes enough sense. But what about those characters who aren't so cut off from Island society at large? Many of them will have experienced many things, including written things. It's not unreasonable to suppose that, with enough experience in that regard, the character would learn to read or feel the need to do so, even if it's not an integral aspect of their race's culture or their class's training. In terms of game mechanics, this simply means that a high enough Lore will grant them some elementary level of Literacy; the actual number of levels granted would depend on a synthesis of Lore and the Intelligence attribute. Depending on race, some classes that don't start with guaranteed Literacy might still be literate for having sufficient Lore. Hikers, due to their large starting Lore, would probably be practically guaranteed to be literate in this manner; I must have had a reason for not giving them Literacy in the first place, probably because it would make more sense for hikers of certain races like orcs and kobolds. Tribesfolk, in contrast, should not be entitled to this grant at all even if they get a sufficiently large Lore bonus from race, so they'd be barred from the Literacy grant. I'm not sure at this point if any races would get such a large Lore bonus, anyway.
Now that I'm thinking about it, though, characters from different provinces could get different Lore bonuses. Province/culture is supposed to impact gameplay, after all. For example, characters from Capital Network might get larger Lore bonuses due to the sheer diversity of the cities there and the need to interact with all kinds of different people. Characters from Westlands could get a large bonus as well, since being a Westlander amounts to being a revolutionary; they would interact with all kinds of people from all over country both in Westlands and while travelling elsewhere as agents for their organizations. On the flip side, the sheer hatred running through the diverse communities of Golden Winds could very well impede education, so the Lore bonus would be relatively small. Meanwhile, characters starting in Southern Mountains or Central Provinces would have low Lore just because they grow up so isolated from the rest of The Island. Thus, characters from Capital Network and Westlands would have a higher chance of starting with Literacy; characters from Golden Winds or the mountain provinces would have a lower chance.
Now that I'm factoring in provincial bonuses, level 10 in Lore seems like a decent Literacy grant point. Before I started writing this I was thinking more of level 7. 5 felt too low, and 10 felt too high. But I forgot about provincial bonuses. Level 10 might be fine, but balance might ultimately require me to increase it to 12. 15 is probably too steep, but I obviously don't know yet.
This whole grant mechanic is similar to Ancient Domains of Mystery, another roguelike that has heavily influenced Soulthieves' development. In ADOM, any character that doesn't train in Literacy may still be granted the skill if their Learning (~Intelligence) attribute is 10 or more. ADOM also has exceptions: barbarians (~tribesfolk) and beastfighters (a strange unarmed fighting class like monks but crazier) are barred from the grant even if their Learning is 10 or greater. Since Soulthieves has the Lore skill representing a character's wisdom, it seems I have a more accommodating system anyway, so I feel a natural Literacy grant based on Lore is fair.
Let's note that, as it stands, not all tribesfolk would necessarily be illiterate to start; some races start with Literacy, such as the elven races, gnomes or centaurs, so tribesfolk of those races would be literate. This is also similar to ADOM, but as this game has evolved so greatly, I don't think that makes complete sense, as tribesfolk are cultural outliers in their race groups. It seems I have two options in that regard. The first is to override the racial Literacy bonus, so tribesfolk of all races are illiterate. The second is to eliminate Literacy as a racial starting skill. The latter option hinges on those races still getting sufficient Lore to otherwise be granted the Literacy skill, but as starting skills are to some extent randomized, that's an unreliable mechanic; some classes, like farmers, hunters or prostitutes, could have a hard time consistently attaining the Literacy grant point. That may not be a huge deal if most characters of the race are still literate, since that doesn't completely throw their culture out the door, but obviously the cultures of some races like high elves and lauchorns place great value on literacy (in those races' cases, ostensibly for poetry), so they'd be more likely to ensure all of their own can read. And the Lore-based Literacy grant is also to account for lived experience; it doesn't supplant direct education in reading and writing. After all, not everyone who is literate is necessarily worldly. On the whole, the former seems to be the better option.
I'm losing my train of thought, but just to sum up my leaning at the moment: all PCs except tribesfolk will be granted the Literacy skill at generation if they possess a Lore skill of 10 or greater.