=== Skill FAQ ===

Q:I keep dying, and I can't hit anything, or cast spells or. . .

A:Push 'G' to allocate your skill points.


Q:Oh.

A:No problem - it's common to people coming from other variants.


Q: I'm level 12, and I can't cast the level 12 spells in my device!

A. Level currently affects very few things in Steamband. Almost
everything is determined by your skill. Whether or not you can 
cast/understand a spell is _solely_ determined by your level 
in the appropriate skill. Which for mage spells is Latin + Occult 
path, and for priest spells is Latin + Spirituality path. For 
devices - if you get them, it's gadgeteering + the specific device skill.


Q:I added a skill point where I didn't want it to go! How do I get it
back?

A:Sorry. You can't. Skill increases are permanant. Perhaps someday 
I'll create a temp system like sangband.


Q:How do I increase my saving throw? I added points to priest skills
and that didn't help.

A: Raising your level, your saving throw skill, equipping objects that
raise your saving throw, and raising your ego and agility stats will
all increase your saving throw. (For that extra bit of spoiler,
every 60 points to your stat and every two levels improves your
saving throw by one. It's a one to one increase for the skill.)


Q:Does the Device Power Amp skill increase my damage from enigmatic
devices, like the clockwork carbine, and clockwork chassis?

A: No, that skill only affects tools, ray guns, and apparatuses.


Q:I added points in a skill and some skills dissappeared!

A:Sometimes when you put points in a skill (like daggers or firelore)
it means you are specializing, and it denies you access to other
opposed skills. If you're going to become a weaponmaster of daggers
you can't very well also become a weaponmaster of swords. Skills
should *NEVER* dissapear if you have already put points into them.
If one does, it is a bug and an email should be sent to valis@oook.cz


Q:I don't see any combat or magic skills. Where are they?

A:Push the 'h' key on the skill screen to switch across
the skill tabs.


Q:How come I can't raise my skill any higher?

A:There are 2 limits to raising skills. First, no skill can be higher 
than your current level + 2. Second, each skill has a maximum value of
3 + 1 for every level you gain while the skill is available or 20, 
whichever is less. No skill can be raised higher than 20.


Q:What?

A:No skill can be raised higher th-


Q:No, the other part.

A:If you are level thirteen and you gain access to the rogue skill
theft by raising your stealth to 15, then the maximum you can raise
the theft skill to is to 3. If you become level 14, then you can
raise the theft skill another point to 4.


Q:Doesn't this mean it's too my advantage to try to avoid gaining 
levels and collecting skill points from turning in books to the 
library.

A:Well it would, if you couldn't pay to raise your skill maximums 
in the home. ('8')


Q:How many skill points does a person invest in a skill before it 
becomes a waste of skill points? For example,once novice melee (or 
whatever the name is) is advanced enough to open up standard melee 
skill is it a waste to put any more points in novice?? 

A:The answer to this question is very important! Skills _never_ 
become a waste of skill points. I made very sure that every point 
that you put into a skill increases your ability in something 
somewhere - and I insured that the ability gets better with every 
single skill point spent. There is never a skill you will put a 
point into that it will be a waste of your time. In the case of 
novice melee - it provides a bigger bonus to hit, but standard 
combat opens up new abilities. Skill points are never a waste. 
Oh, and the name of the skill is neophyte combat.


Q:Could a message be implemented for the various skills (or a 
skill cap) that would notify the player that they had reached 
the effective limit of that skill?? 

A: I believe the answer to the above question takes care of this. 
There is no need for a message, because there is no effective 
limit of skills. 20 is the max, and every point does something useful.


Q:I put a lot of points into advanced combat, and my to hit and 
damage didn't go up. What gives?

A:Those skills *don't* raise your to hit or damage. They raise your
fighting ability which affects how well you can hit monsters - before
a to hit or damage bonus is applied. To get an idea of your relative
fighting skills take a look at the 'C'haracter screen - that will give
you an idea of your current fighting skill


Q:If I put points in magic skills am I making my combat skills any
worse?

A:No. All skills are used and raised independently. Barring the 
specialization skills mentioned above, raising one skill will never
affect the effects of another skill.


Q:I turned a book into the library and didn't get the number of skill
points that I sold it for. Why not?

A:The number of skill points you gain is random, it can be *up* *to*
the sale price of the book, but the actual value you acquire is random.



Q:Skill points gained whether from library books or leveling seem 
to be a fairly random quantity, is there any stat that can effect 
this? What is the algorithm?

A:There is no stat or skill that can increase the amount of skill
point gain. The algorithm for skill gain on level is spoiler information
which can be found by source diving. However, it does decrease as
your level increases. As for books, each book is assigned a 'cost'
from 1-20 (with 99.8% being lower than 4) and when you turn in a 
book, a simple random number is generated between 1 and the cost
of the book. That is the number of skill points you gain.
