Sorry, but we ran into a bit of discussion about when specialist knowledge becomes available to a PC. For clarification: is a PC only able to request specialist knowledge after they are 60 knowledge and 250/250 xp in research?
For Skill Knowledge that would fit this, that isn't under the Research skill currently; could a player request in PSF to convert those skills as a Research: Specialist skill instead (as long as the other skills aren't being used for something else like a capstone total, etc.)?
Like... I'll find a quick example....
I got awarded these as skill knowledge a while ago: Magic: Rupturing: An ingress/egress portal can be intercepted
Magic: Rupturing: Interception may be due to use of artifacts
Llyr will likely have some form of specialization in Magic (or Ether, or both...) so the above would (hopefully) get changed to: Research: Specialism: Magic - Rupturing: An ingress/egress portal can be intercepted
Research: Specialism: Magic - Rupturing: Interception may be due to use of artifacts
Would that be alright with this new system to request in the PSF?
And going kinda off what Hart was asking ...
Does one have to wait until they hit Grandmaster (250/250 and 60 knowledge); or can this type of knowledge recording begin at 60 knowledge (regardless of xp); or can these specific knowledge requests occur at any level, any knowledge, and it just is counted with the actual L1, L2, etc. once post-mastery?
And to check, Post-mastery is GM+ too, not 151+ xp master?
I agree that there needs to be a bit more clarity about the specializations, when they can be awarded and if there's any conversion that can be done.
I certainly don't want to speak for Faith, but below are some possible methods/solutions for going forwards:
1) Specialization knowledges can be achieved at any time, but the PC is only recognized as a specialist once they reach Grandmaster in Research and have the required number of specialist skills. (or this could be after reaching "Master", I wasn't quite sure what the intent was for the level)
2) Research knowledges with descriptions can be converted to specialist knowledge, so long as the description is detailed enough to suggest the specialization, by submitting a PSF request.
3) Research knowledges without descriptions can be converted to specialist knowledge by contacting the peer reviewer of the corresponding thread and by proposing the revised knowledges which would include both specialization and description. If the peer reviewer is no longer active, these can also be submitted to the PSF, so long as a detailed summary of the thread is provided as well as a link.
4) Skill knowledge in other skills cannot be converted into research knowledge. The reasoning is that there is potential that these skill knowledges were used to level up the original skill (e.g. 11 for competent, 22 for expert, etc.). To completely retrace the history of these knowledges is unreasonable. However, in future threads, the PC can learn the same piece of knowledge and apply it to their research skill.
Specialist Knowledge Post-Master Level
Research is unique as a skill in that it affords a benefit post-mastery which is not simply the Capstone / GM. Outside of the GM system, a player may accrue "Specialist Knowledge" in research and they provide academic bragging rights and indicate level of knowledge in a PCs specialist area.
33 Knowledge = Master.
60 Knowledge = GM
As per existing system.
Is what it currently says?
How about I change it to:
Research is unique as a skill in that it affords a benefit once a PC achieves Mastery. Once this level is reached, the PC may accrue ....
???? I'm not sure what's not clear, so I'm not clear what's needing changing?
word count: 131
"Every evil has its good, and every ill an antidote."
Maybe I was confused because there are other skills such as Combat, Design, Mount that have different specialties that take into effect right away.
Do you think this section could be simplified so it just talks about the "Master" level requirements? Rather than getting too much on a tangent talking about Grandmaster? I also wanted to make it clear that the specialist knowledges still contribute to grandmaster/capstone requirements (I -think- they do).
For example (and taking in your changes too):
Specialist Knowledge Post-Master Level
Research is unique as a skill in that it affords a benefit once a PC achieves Mastery (151 exp and 33 knowledge). Once this level is reached, the PC may accrue "Specialist Knowledge" in research, which provides academic bragging rights and indicates the level of knowledge in a PC's specialist area. These knowledges still contribute to the grandmaster and capstone knowledge requirements, but also add to their specialty level.
As they progress in Research a PC may identify their Knowledge requests in the following way:
Research: (Specialism: Subject): Full knowledge description.
For me, "post mastery" suggests that the specialist knowledges can be earned once a PC reaches master level. But when you add the part about GM/capstones, it makes me wonder if the specialist knowledges are earned after a PC hits GM and has their first capstone in research. Brent's suggestion, if it was what you meant, makes it a lot more clear to me.
word count: 66
Rei'sari was formerly Ari'sora, but after getting a fresh start in life and a new appearance from Vega, she changed her name to Rei'sari.
And since you can only gain the specialty knowledges after reaching Master, I think it would be fair to start implementing from now on, rather than converting. I don't think there are too many PCs that are currently at master research (Faith and Victor are ones I can think of) that would be seriously penalized for only starting the specialties now. It would also be tricky to confirm which knowledges were awarded once the PC was at master level if trying to convert them.