Spirit Class & Universal Skills

Spirit Class is broadly used to refer to the power scale of an individual soul on Bleach: Platinum Hearts. It is a tiered system which measures the power and progression of characters for the purposes what they are capable of achieving. There are twelve levels of spirit class which go in ascending order with Spirit Class 10 being the lowest and Spirit Class 0 being the highest.

Each spirit class will allow a certain number of points to be allocated into a character's capabilities and serves as a linear scale to demonstrate vertical progression of a character's growth.

These attributes will be expanded upon in the skill information below.

Attribute Baselines: The baseline is the point that the character's attributes begin at, and are then increased by allocation of the points from the spirit class. As a general rule, all characters have a baseline of E without any forms of increase from their spiritual class. This holds true for all entities except hollows, who possess a baseline of D. In the event that a hollow becomes an arrancar this will be dropped down to E. The reason that hollows are given a different baseline is due to their typically inhuman and monstrous physiology.

Spiritual Classification In-Character: This system is both an external resource and an in-character resource that represents the quantity of spiritual power a soul has. It is modelled off the Spirit Class term used in the Hell Chapter by Kubo and while it is not a 1:1, it is utilised in-character to determine and classify souls by major groups.

For example, if a hollow appeared shinigami may be alerted to the presence of a spirit class 5 threat in the area. While it is not necessary for characters to abide by this, for example if your character has had no formal exposure to the Gotei or some human organisations then they might just eyeball it and have an understanding of what strength is what but not the proper language to explain it. That's fine too.

How To Improve Spirit Class: Your soul is like any other muscle. If you exercise it then it will get stronger so the method to improve your spiritual power is to utilise it. As a result as a character develops they will passively grow in power as well such as using kido, cero, their zanpakuto, fullbring or high-spec powers. Therefore the more a character conditions themselves and grows as a soul, the more power their soul will be able to produce. Besides passive growth, a character can actively focus on this area but it will usually involve external, risky methods such as experimental and dangerous training with the goal of accelerating their growth.

Spirit Classification Modifiers: Some characters will be seen which have a plus or minus attached to them. These are modifiers which are conditional benefits or detriments to the character in question. For example, Ichigo does not simply have tremendous reserves of reiryoku at his disposal but he has a tremendous rate of energy recovery which would give him an advantage over someone else of his spirit class who does not have that attribute.

For the negative side of this, we can look at Juushiro Ukitake. A sickly individual who is on life support with body and spirit being unreliable. Someone like this would show a disadvantage due to relying on his body being in a proper state to fight and that he won't become too sickly in the battle.


Below are the twelve classifications that we utilise on Bleach: Platinum Hearts. This area will focus on ten of them which are relevant to the majority of characters on the site while the section afterwards will explain the characters who have broken out of the confines of traditional spirit classes.

SPIRIT CLASS 10
For those that are considered to be individuals that do not have enough spiritual power to even be spiritually aware if they are alive and for the dead then they will not require food due to having no spiritual power to maintain.

A character at Spirit Class 10 has [3] points to allocate and they cannot put it in the Soul attribute.

Note: This is very uncommon for living humans in the current setting of PH due to 99% percent of humans having enough spiritual power to be spiritually aware but not enough to manifest spiritual powers. Spirit Class 10 is true powerless, it is still common amongst the plus population of the Rukongai to not have any spiritual power though.

SPIRIT CLASS 9
A character at Spirit Class 9 has [4] points to allocate.

SPIRIT CLASS 8
A character at Spirit Class 8 has [5] points to allocate.

SPIRIT CLASS 7
A character at Spirit Class 7 has [6] points to allocate.

SPIRIT CLASS 6
A character at Spirit Class 6 has [7] points to allocate.

SPIRIT CLASS 5
A character at Spirit Class 5 has [8] points to allocate.

SPIRIT CLASS 4
A character at Spirit Class 4 has [10] points to allocate.

SPIRIT CLASS 3
A character at Spirit Class 3 has [12] points to allocate.

SPIRIT CLASS 2
A character at Spirit Class 2 has [14] points to allocate.

SPIRIT CLASS 1
A character at Spirit Class 1 has [16] points to allocate.


Until further notice this will be withheld to be worked on as required.

SPIRIT CLASS — [Unobtainable]
These characters are those scant few beings which simply lack any limit on their capabilities. Not only the world, but multiple worlds, are easily within their scope of influence, and there is no end to the energy at their command. Only beings such as the Soul King can comprehend a degree of power at this level, let alone have it for themselves.

Examples: Soul King. God Yhwach.


Due to the narrative focus on Platinum Hearts, the following section is aimed to provide a guideline rather than a strictly enforced system. This will expand on interactions between stronger and weaker spirit class - essentially this is the spiritual pressure, reiatsu, section of the reiryoku system. None of these interactions are enforced by staff and require mutual agreement between the members, the levels provided are for reference purposes but do not need to be abided by individuals in threads.

Negation: It is possible for those of higher spirit class to negate effects from those weaker than them. For those who are 2 spirit classes lower it is possible to see the effectiveness reduced and below that the effects might be completely negated or harm the person with the weaker spirit class if they attacked.

Examples: Aizen being immune to Sui-Feng's shikai. Ichigo's hands bleeding when he tried to cut Kenpachi in the Soul Society arc.

Fear Inducement: For those who are in the presence of a more powerful spiritual pressure can be instilled with a fear towards them that makes it feel impossible to win. The recommended bracket is those below 3 spirit classes will start to feel this effect. This can be overcome with willpower.

Examples: Nanao being in the presence of Yamamoto's spiritual pressure. Ichigo feels he cannot defeat Kenpachi.

Stagger: The sudden emission of spiritual pressure can stun weaker souls. The recommended disparity is greater than 5 spirit classes. For those that are not below five levels for an outright stun or being knocked unconscious - and above that one could be caught off guard and be winded.

Examples: Ichigo's friends are knocked unconscious when Aizen's reiatsu is released. Weaker souls struggle to move in the presence of higher reiatsu.

Paralysis: Unlike "stagger', paralysis does not affect the psychology of the affected. The body simply refuses to move in the presence of the stronger reiatsu and can cause them to be unable to act.

Examples: Nanao when making eye contact with Yamamoto.

Sensations: It is possible to be affected by spiritual pressure where phantom sensations are felt. Whether that is feeling the malice of a powerful spirit class individual directed towards them and feels like a knife to the throat or the feeling of already being stabbed by them despite having not moved.

Examples: Kenpachi Zaraki in the Soul Society Invasion Arc towards Ichigo.

Sudden Death: Simply existing in the presence of extremely high spiritual pressure can be fatal for those weaker than themselves where they may be vapourised or succumb to sudden death. It is generally recommended this only be applied when the gulf of spiritual power is so vast and to mass NPCs.

Examples: Hogyoku-enhanced Aizen vapourising souls that come into his presence. Coyote Starrk killed hollows that couldn't survive his immense reiatsu.

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. While the spirit class is the pool of spiritual power, it is the attributes that assign where the soul is distributing that power. 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.

For attributes. Grade D to Grade A cost 1 point each level. Grade S and SS cost 2 points each level.

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 history 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.


DURABILITY
This attribute 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. It is also used to measure how much one can handle poison and other ailments before their body succumbs to the effects making it an important consideration for a character's resilience as well.

Grade E: At this stage, a character is quite fragile. Suffering wounds easily and spending as much time sick as they do healthy. 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 worrying.

Grade D: This marks the average human in terms of their constitution. This lies solely in the expected range of toughness a typical human can have which quite varied but they will not exceed any records of the toughest men or women in the record books. Their resistance to disease and poison is comparable to that of a normal human.

Grade C: This is where one’s defenses begin to stand out. The 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 this level of 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 endure a carpet bombing and being largely unaffected by the majority of known poisons or diseases.

Grade SS: The highest natural defenses one could ever conceive of possessing, someone of this level could survive a nuclear weapon levelling a city, and come out of the fallout to boot. Attempts to corrupt or infect their bodies with toxins or what have you are achievable only by something as equally unfathomable as their tenacity.

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 and act with more freedom than someone who is slower, whether that is making the first move, reacting, or just attempting to justify doing more actions in less time than someone slower could achieve.

Grade E: For those that are incredibly sluggish for one reason or another, even with ample time they will fail to react more times than they succeed.

Grade D: This is an average human level of agility. They are capable of running and avoiding threats at a functional level. A punch is entirely avoidable, certainly, and they could likely maintain a 7 minute mile with some training. These are not superhuman individuals but the exceptional outliers of this group might be able to achieve record-level speeds.

Grade C: This is where one's speed begins to move past the realm of a typical human. Their ability to evade attacks has now made it to the point where they can likely dodge a rifle round as long as they know it's coming, though that doesn't mean they can simply evade an entire spray of bullets. For their sustained speed is likely enough to keep up with a car, and at this point they can probably run wherever they'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 they could likely cross whole continents in a few days if they somehow kept a consistent pace.

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

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Grade S: A level beyond what the vast majority of people could even hope to achieve reaching a point where they might be able to achieve supersonic speeds if they were able to build up to them for short spurts around a large town before tiring.

Grade SS: The absolute height of speed anything could hope to achieve, this is the point at which the time they can cross distance becomes irrelevant for most. Travelling around a city at supersonic speeds is within their capability, though to maintain this speed would be the equivalent of a full sprint and drain their stamina very quickly.

STRENGTH
Strength will determine how strong a character 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. It is considered heavily in terms of the potency of physical feats which makes them monsters in close-combat.

Grade E: This strength is either subpar due to lack of fitness, constitution, or something is inhibiting their ability to exert feats of strength like a disability. Regardless of what the reason is, they display strength which is below that of an average human, if any at all.

Grade D: At this the maximum amount of strength that an individual could showcase is equivalent 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 this level of 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, and finish off a large town or small city before they tire.

Grade SS: This type of strength can destroy entire cities before finding themselves feeling the affects. This strength finds large structures being lifted and thrown with ease, each labour of strength is just another to be overcome for these individuals.

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 easily swayed and influenced by different means; succumbing to different forms of influence, spiritual or not.

Beginner: The average human. The character has some motivation and direction to themselves. They are the types of people who struggle with an addiction but might overcome it if they keep at it enough times. They have some resilience to temptations, impulses, and substances or abilities that would sway them but it's a coin toss which is generally skewed against them and might take some time to recover from.

Adept: An individual with above average willpower. They are dedicated and could overcome an addiction or habit on the first try or endure torture and not give up through it. They understand what motivates them and pursue that which gives them some resilience towards being swayed off that path but that can change if it was to come from something spiritual or potent in how it affects their state of mind.

Advanced: This is where the individual becomes inhuman in mind over matter. The idea of an addiction is something that wouldn't cross their mind. Their tolerance towards substances or influences that try to sway them away from their convictions is leagues beyond a regular human where they could simply choose to function under the effects of substances such as drugs or alcohol, or resist temptations and attempts to undermine their sense of self.

Elite: At this extreme, the idea of influencing them with any kind of external influence is closer to impossible than it is to being likely. Only the most extreme cases could undermine their willpower. This makes them nigh-immune to their state of mind being impacted by something but it is not without drawbacks where the individual can be nigh-impossible to negotiate with if it opposes what drives them.

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Master: Their state of mind is not restricted to their body anymore. An individual's will exceeds the threshold to manifest in strange ways unique to them. A highly charismatic individual might empowering their allies or another could weaponise it to 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 wills, at this level the individual'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 is able to process difficult material or high level concepts such as fields of science or engineering technology, but they are most definitely not picking these up quickly or without effort to learning it. 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 and adapt information to apply it in the moment.

Untrained: At this stage, a character would likely be classified as having some form of learning impairment. They are the type that does not grasp things quickly and require more attempts to achieve the same result as someone who might not have these issues if it came to finding the solution.

Beginner: A character at this stage is average. Plain and simple. They are nothing special but they are nothing short of capable either. They might lose information that the subconscious deems unnecessary such as schooling that wasn't relevant to the path they took afterwards.

Adept: At this stage a character is above average for information processing. The type of individual that could skip a year level because they just learn faster than their peers do. Things are quickly understood but it is a superficial understanding of any given topic that they could learn quickly. Intuiting the full depth of a subject remains something that takes time and effort.

Advanced: At this stage, the character far exceeds what the typical mind could reasonably hope to achieve, besides an incredibly keen memory and ability to process information. A person of this level is the type of individual that would be expected to complete a six year degree in just three with their thorough and deep ability to analyze.

Elite: A level that scant few figures could hold to achieve. A true universal man in the making. At this level 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 details even in the heat of the moment. They are the types of individuals that can pick up a subject and within a few months be considered an expert in the subject matter.

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Master: These are the men and women that claim the title of universal man. Whether intentionally or not, they are the type that could achieve a deep and thorough understanding of a subject in just one day with the resources available to learn. The situational awareness and information tracking is instantaneous where all factors can be considered without any kind of strain for them.

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. Unlike those below them, they learn as quickly as they are exposed. Likely becoming an expert on the subject by simply having exposure to it and processing the details in real-time with their extraordinary capabilities.

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, while low focus can come across as generally inattentive, or easily surprised. This skill also measures their ability to recover from disorientation such as being hit with a flashbang, sustaining a concussion, or other circumstances that might interrupt them them.

Untrained: At this level, a character likely has some inhibiting factor that prevents them from properly concentrating. They struggle to stay focused on everyday occurrences, and it's unlikely that they'd be able to react to something quickly even if they saw it coming.

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

Adept: A person of this level are capable of staying alert most of the time. Their instincts are such that they could detect something wrong in their environment such as catching onto an ambush, or react to something in their peripheral vision. Their ability to reorientate themselves is faster than the average person.

Advanced: Superhuman instincts and awareness. They tend to be able to anticipate a person's actions or determine if their situation is favourable, in the context of gambling they are more likely to win than they are to lose. It is likely that they could recover from disorientation seconds after being struck with it.

Elite: The highest form of instincts where gut feelings could be taken as reliable most of the time due to the alarming accuracy. They could determine attributes such as trust or hostility from others and their ability to make judgments with little information is generally the best course of action they could take. It is unlikely for someone like this to be affected by the majority of disorientating effects.

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Master: Beyond the realm of basic instincts, a person of this level would be assumed to have some kind of precognition or divining ability. Their reactions or decisions could not be explained but they possess a keen sixth sense that others could not hope to match. Generally only the most spontaneous and unpredictable of circumstances can overwhelm their senses.

Grand Master: The truest form of sixth sense that one can boast. Their awareness of their environment is such that they can react without any effort. There is no requirement to think about what they do, allowing the body to move faster than conscious thought itself. The instinctive judgment is such that they could not explain it but it is almost certain to be correct in both action and reaction, and veracity - as illogical as it may be to others.