Skill Sheets Guide [UPDATED: 2024/09/08]

Introduction
On Platinum Hearts we utilise a skill-based system which measures progression and serves as a loose metric as to what a character may be capable of in where they are at. This thread will cover the attributes and skills which are universal to all characters, the General attributes and Mental skills. Racial skills will be covered in their respective racial threads.

The general attributes are used to measure characteristics, strength, speed and durability with a fourth skill to denote the spiritual output itself. Meanwhile the mental skills are used to measure a specific elements of a character's psyche when necessary such as in the event they are subjected to an illusion, a psychic attack or a complex issue that is difficult to solve. Essentially anything that would try to inhibit them on the mental level which cannot be measured using general attributes.

There are seven tiers - Grade E to SS for general attributes and Untrained to Grand Master, in the case of the others - which are used to measure progression and development of the character in these core areas. The different levels are intended to be descriptive rather than proscriptive in nature and the material in the application is encouraged to demonstrate the character's own understanding and cultivation of the skill itself.

On approval, a character cannot be graded above Elite in their skills as it is the universal "peak" which a normal individual could hope to achieve in the setting. Due to their nature, going beyond Elite in a skill requires the characters to develop and demonstrate effort to reach these levels and only in extremely rare circumstances can a character or NPC be approved with above Elite.

At the same time, for a character to achieve all Elites in their Mental or Racial bracket is a special feat in itself by being a paragon in so many areas. As a result, and for the sake of balance, a character cannot have all Elites and then have one become a Master in that same bracket of skills which means at least one skill must be restricted at Advanced for a character to pursue a Master+ in that skill bracket.

Skills are allocated by the grader based on the material offered in the application during the grading process. For first characters on the site, they are restricted to one adept in each bracket at most, and a max of SC8, due to aiming to encourage members to familiarize themselves with the skill system.

On General attributes: General attributes are assigned based on spirit class, with each level of spirit class giving a certain amount of points to allocate. The spirit class is assigned by the grader during the application process but the member is free to allocate their general attributes based on their spirit class. These attributes are fixed but can be expanded upon through increase of spirit class where the difference is added to their attributes.

On Mental skills: Mental skills are assigned by the grader based on the material in the application whether that is personality, history, or the abilities section. These attributes can change and develop independently through the course of role-play and upgrade processes, and do not follow an allocation process like the general attributes due to being based on the individual rather than being intended to be universally comparable. A character cannot be assigned skills above Elite, except in specific circumstances.

On Racial skills: Racial attributes are assigned by the grader based on the material in the application, primarily the personality and abilities. They represent individual experience and proficiency, skills in the literal sense. Most skills operate off an attribute such as high-speed movement techniques scaling off speed, or attributes like hierro being complimentary to durability. A character cannot be assigned skills above Elite, except in specific circumstances.

SC 10 [3 points]
SC 9 [4 points]
SC 8 [5 points]
SC 7 [6 points]
SC 6 [7 points]
SC 5 [8 points]
SC 4 [10 points]
SC 3 [12 points]
SC 2 [14 points]
SC 1 [16 points]


DURABILITY
This skill measures the robustness and durability of a character. Essentially how much can their body endure before it fails them, it measures their physical resistance to trauma so an individual with higher durability is more likely to come out of powerful attacks with less damage to their body compared to someone with lower durability. As a skill it is also used to measure how much one can handle poison and other ailments before their body succumbs to the effects.

Grade E: With untrained durability, one’s body can only be described as fragile and incapable. Whether born with or reduced to such a state of weakness, regardless of cause, someone at this level likely won’t be able to weather the common day without experiencing some physical harm or strain.

Grade D: One’s resistance to damage is similar to that of a human lacking in spiritual power to up their natural defenses. This lies solely in the expected range of toughness a typical human can have. Their immunity to disease and poison is comparable to that of a normal human.

Grade C: This is where one’s defenses begin to stand out above the common person. One’s ability to take hits reaches into that of a superhuman, being able to get through fights with comparatively less physical damage. Someone at this level is able to take hits such as a car collision or mid-calibre bullets and still be relatively intact. Disease and poisons don’t take as much a toll on their bodies than others, being able to tough out most common illnesses or poisons.

Grade B: Reaching this level, one’s ability to take physical damage reaches well into the supernatural. One’s ability to take damage has reached a point where they can survive blows on par with an exploding tank shell. They are also able to contract diseases or poisons that have been created or modified without feeling as much ill effect.

Grade A: The pinnacle most could ever reach in terms of physical resistance to damage, any who reach Elite level Durability are able to survive blows comparable to that of a battleship’s main cannon. Their constitution is incredible, capable of shaking off most synthetic or natural poisons or diseases that would at the very least be sickening to anyone less.

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Grade S: A level most don’t ever attain the few who have reached this point are at a level of physical resistance that they could conceivably survive majority of physical altercations, no matter how disastrous or deadly, short of cataclysmic events, being largely unaffected by the majority of known poisons or diseases.

Grade SS: The highest natural defenses one could ever conceive of possessing, even within the worst of cataclysms, it is far more likely that the world around them crumbles to pieces long before they do. There is no calculable metric for the lengths these defenses could go.

SPEED
This skill determines a character's overall ability to move, not only through the world but on the battlefield and in a fight. It allows characters to respond more quickly to danger, to evade incoming attacks, and in general to safely maneuver without being hit.

Grade E: At an untrained level of speed, you aren't even capable of avoiding everyday threats. Whether this is because of some debilitating injury, or simple lack of coordination, it's unlikely that you can avoid a threat even if you've been given relatively ample time to react.

Grade D: Beginner level speed is a human level of agility, capable of running and avoiding threats at a functionally normal level. A punch is entirely avoidable, certainly, and you can likely maintain a 7 minute mile with some training. You're not superhuman, but you're definitely quick enough to get by.

Grade C: This is where one's speed begins to move past the realm of a typical human. Your ability to evade attacks has now made it to the point where you can likely dodge a rifle round as long as you know it's coming, though that doesn't mean you can simply evade an entire spray of bullets. Your more sustained speed is likely enough to keep up with a car, and at this point you can probably run wherever you'd need to go, unless it's exceptionally far off.

Grade B: At this stage, one is quite beyond typical mortal limits of speed. Evasive capabilities at this level are enough to not only avoid high-speed projectiles, but even the explosive after-effects of tank shells and similar destructive impacts. Movement is easily on par with high-speed land vehicles, and you could likely cross whole continents in a few days if you somehow kept a consistent pace.

Grade A: The zenith of what most could ever hope to accomplish, these are the fastest of the fast, those who have trained themselves to extreme speeds. Even the detonations of high-explosive naval shelling are avoidable at this speed, and you could likely match air travel speeds on foot. Suffice to say, it's unlikely you'll need to rely on anything but your own two legs anymore.

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Grade S: A level beyond what the vast majority of people could even hope to achieve with the most intense training, Master level speed is so extreme that even trying to keep track of you in combat is a challenge in itself. Even the sound barrier is just one more slight obstacle to you now, and you can likely maintain supersonic speeds for a fairly considerable distance.

Grade SS: The absolute height of speed anything could hope to achieve, this is the point at which distance almost ceases to be a factor to a person. Even traveling around the world is just a few hours at most, and their every step on the battlefield seems nearly instantaneous.

STRENGTH
Strength will determine how strong your character naturally is. If they are on the high-end of this chart, they may be able to destroy buildings, rip through steel like paper, lift insanely heavy things and other amazing acts of this nature.

Grade E: Someone of untrained strength is either subpar due to lack of fitness, constitution or something is inhibiting their muscle development in the case of a disability. Regardless of what the reason is, they display strength which is on the lower end of an average human if any.

Grade D: At the level of beginner the maximum amount of strength that an individual could showcase is equal to standard human capabilities. This could range from average to peak performance depending on the individual in question. They cannot display any feats of superhuman strength with their strikes or lifting.

Grade C: At this level of strength a person starts to show some feats of superhuman strength. At this level an individual can begin to lift something as heavy as a car with comfort and anything more starts to test them a bit. They can focus their strength to punch someone with the force of a mid-calibre bullet.

Grade B: When someone reaches into this level of strength it becomes possible for a person to lift and throw up to a the weight of a tank with their full strength and the force of their strikes carry as much force as if they struck someone with the power of a tank round.

Grade A: Hitting the peak of what a person could achieve with supernatural levels of strength normally, someone with Elite strength could lift up to the weight of a commercial airliner and throw it. The strength that their blows can carry could equal up to the force of being hit with a battleship's main cannon.

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Grade S: To reach this level of strength is where the strongest people of the setting can be found. Their feats of strength could range from lifting battleships or entire buildings though the actual holding of it may be cumbersome depending on the person's size. The force of their strikes can cleave through chunks of mountains with ease.

Grade SS: This type of strength can damage entire cities, put small nations in danger and they turn into absolute menaces to society at this level. Their strength is transcendent and there is no proper metric as to what could theoretically be achieved by someone in this realm of raw physical strength.

SOUL
Soul measures the strength of the character's spiritual feats whether they are techniques such as kido, cero, or other forms of supernatural abilities and spellcraft. It can also measure the scale of a release form prior to any percentile measures being applied for the release form.

Grade E: Spiritual feats do little more than affect targets on an individual level, if you were a high-spec human you might have the power to heat up their fist to the point where it could incinerate a normal human being but the fire wouldn't be very effective on blowing up your environment unless they triggered and effect such as something flammable or the fire causing an explosion with something else. This level can also represent having potent spiritual abilities but them being unable to be exerted beyond the user at all, or the absence of spiritual power entirely.

Grade D: The character can expect to begin destroying walls and smaller buildings. Structures that one would expect to see in a residential area rather than a metropolis, by using the full extent of someone's spiritual power they could blow up a house but it would leave them pretty worn out afterwards to exert that much destructive power. If someone had the ability to establish an advantageous territory such as using magic to create a forcefield it could do well to fill a room but the person would quickly tire if they tried to exert their forcefield to cover a house.

Grade C: A character could smash through suburbia with no real trouble but the buildings which now give them trouble are those big skyscrapers, those multi-story buildings that take a bit more effort to to obliterate or influence in their entirety compared to the houses that they have been working with thus far. So whether it's created a barrier or blowing it up this is about the scale someone can achieve at this level.

Grade B: At this stage a character can make light work of influencing those multi-story buildings and are able to exert their power to further reaches. A character can showcase a feat that can influence a city block with a lot of effort such as razing it to the ground with flames of destruction or generating their protective forcefield up up to this level.

Grade A: The character can begin to influence more than just a city block and can begin to extend their influence outwards to the point of two or three of these city blocks. A person with wind powers might create a tornado that could ravage through multiple blocks before they are exhausted for example.

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Grade S: Large town or small cities. At this level if a character desired they could destroy something such as Karakura Town or Naruki City if they dedicated their entire pool of energy towards the goal and were unopposed before they reached their limitations and would find themselves depleted.

Grade SS: With all their strength a character at this grade would be capable of influencing an entire city for better or worse before being completely spent and need to recover. Those of this spirit class are formidable individuals if they can properly use their spiritual power to its greatest potential.

WILLPOWER
This skill determines the mental strength and fortitude of a character. In essence, their drive, capacity to tap into their motivations to persist against adversity and hardship. It can manifest from a second wind against a tough opponent despite incapacitation, to regaining an amount of energy when a character was spent or pushing the body to the limit to walk despite both legs being broken.

Untrained: At this stage a character's willpower is almost non-existent, or completely lacking in the ability to act for themselves. They are most certainly easily swayed or lazy, they're not likely to show any kind of resilience or fortitude when met with adversity and they fold at the slightest hint of struggle or discomfort.

Beginner: Where most people in the world would sit, the character has some motivation and will to themselves. They can make goals and might even succeed with a bit of work. That said though, when the odds go from unlikely to highly unlikely in terms of success is where these people falter where anything beyond unlikely is impossible.

Adept: A very determined individual who is dedicated and has their eyes on the prize so to speak. Attempts to sway them are difficult and they have some resistance to temptation, illusions, inebriation and impulses if it goes against their goal.

Advanced: A person who has reached advanced is where a person begins to show inhuman levels of willpower. The kind of willpower where they will cut off their own limb if it was necessary without hesitation. A person of this level has an inhuman level of tolerance towards anything that would try to influence their state of mind, drugs, torture, illusions and temptations are pushed aside.

Elite: To these individuals the idea of impossibility is likely. Near-death is met with a willingness to keep getting up until they are physically incapable of doing so, well and truly on death's door. They are nigh-immune to their mental state being impacted and can endure most psychological attacks.

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Master: A level of willpower where their state of mind is not restricted to their body anymore. Their determination exceeds the threshold to manifest in strange ways unique to the individual, a highly charismatic individual of this level might display the trait of empowering their allies or a character with such intense willpower could weaponise it and crush an opponent mentally instead of physically. It's a highly personalised way in which a person of this level will showcase their willpower but it will certainly begin to influence the world around them rather than just their state of mind.

Grand Master: Unparalleled among peers, at this level a character's willpower is unrelenting beyond even those who simply influence the world around them, these individuals are those that dominate the very space they occupy. For someone at this level, nothing is truly impossible if they are determined to make it happen.

DEDUCTION
This skill encompasses a character's ability to quickly engage in cognizant, conscious thought, without the use of external assistance. A character with low Deduction isn't inherently unable to process high level concepts, but they are most definitely not capable of doing so off the cuff, without prior preparation. This is not simply a matter of knowing things, nor is it the ability to come up with ideas; Deduction comprises a character's ability to recall information, and to apply it in the moment.

Untrained: At this stage, a character is either so unintelligent that they are a functional child, or they have some significant issue which keeps them from functioning in any higher capacity. Their understanding of the wider world is pitiful at best, and they are so lacking in cognizant ability that they likely hardly remember much, if anything, when it comes to information outside their immediate personal sphere.

Beginner: The typical person, the character with a Beginner level of Deduction is broadly capable of learning new things and remembering the important parts of the real world, but it's highly unlikely that they even remember most of their schooling, let alone the finer details of the world around them. They might be perfectly competent if they have access to reference material, but when it's just them, they aren't going to be giving you much more on a topic than the bare basics, unless they've really specialized.

Adept: This is the level where one could likely be called an academic, or an intellectual. While your mind is nothing supernatural, you certainly don't have any issues applying your knowledge to new situations, and you're probably capable of holding a conversation on any given topic without too much difficulty.

Advanced: At this stage, you're likely smarter than any typical human could reasonably hope to achieve, and your mental acuity is at the point where a normal person has trouble even keeping up with you on basic topics. You can likely take into account every major factor at your disposal at any given time, though minutiae might still escape your notice, and your ability to compare a current situation to past information is excellent.

Elite: The pinnacle of what any mind would be capable of reaching under normal circumstances, Deduction at this level is such that a person can easily take in all information in a given circumstance in only a few moments, and formulate a response just as quickly. Their mind operates exceptionally quickly, and they can likely recall minute details even in the heat of the moment.

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Master: Having ascended past the limits of a standard mind, those with Master Deduction are not only capable of processing all information at their disposal, but can do it so effortlessly that they piece together even the most esoteric problems in a few moments. Their thoughts are fast enough that it's no longer simply a question of not being able to keep up; few people alive can likely even fathom how quickly they're thinking.

Grand Master: The absolute highest degree of Deduction, and one which belongs to only those with truly unparalleled genius. At this stage, one can piece together things of such complexity, and consider all possible factors with such accuracy, that people begin to wonder not simply what they know, but how they even know the things they do. Those with Grand Master in this skill certainly have all the knowledge necessary in every possible circumstance.

FOCUS
This skill is a measure of a character's instincts and perception, their ability to notice details even without needing to think actively about it. Characters with exceptionally high Focus are able to quickly adapt to situations and respond to them seemingly as if with a sixth sense, while low focus can come across as generally unattentive, or easily surprised.

Untrained: With Focus at this level, a character likely has some inhibiting factor that prevents them from properly focusing. They can barely manage to keep track even of normal occurrences in everyday life, and it's unlikely that they'd be able to react to something quickly even if they saw it coming.

Beginner: The typical person, you can react to something coming your way without too much trouble. You don't have any way in particular to respond to something outside your field of vision, though, and you're still easy enough to catch off guard if you aren't paying attention.

Adept: This is the domain of most trained combatants and other professionals, who are capable of staying alert more or less at all times. Your senses are always ready to note when something seems wrong, even if you can't place exactly what it is, and you're likely going to catch onto an ambush before it actually happens. You're not a superhuman, but compared to a typical person, you've got a much sharper instinct.

Advanced: At this level your instincts are superhuman but you tend to be able to vaguely divine the intent of a person or the situation with little information is quite impressive such as whether the situation is in their favour or not. Their ability to discern the ideal course of action and notice details is alarming for those that would seek to make a fool of them.

Elite: At Elite your instincts are top-notch. Gut feelings could almost be taken as reliable sources of information based on their startling accuracy. A person could reliably discern attributes of another person such as if they are trustworthy or not. Traps rarely get by you and your judgement is among the best for reliably taking the best course even with limited knowledge.

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Master: At this stage, you've gone beyond simple instinct or awareness, and your natural response to any given situation is almost certainly the correct one. There are still those things which you'll fail to notice in time, but those are events so unexpected that it would be nothing short of precognitive to have seen them coming.

Grand Master: Having reached this absolute pinnacle of accomplishment, there is nothing which escapes your notice from the instant that you're impacted by it. Your body simply reacts without the slightest effort to even the most unknown of attacks, and your body knows what every incoming attack will be before it's even been thrown. Catching you off guard at this point requires nothing short of flawless form, and even then, you'll probably still be able to defend yourself.