The Adventurer Conqueror King system is a spiritual
successor to the B/X rules.
Proficiencies may be the greatest divergence of the Adventurer Conqueror
King system from B/X, allowing players to further customize their characters,
and, potentially, allowing Judges to further customize their games. This post is the first in a series of posts
that will take a closer look at proficiencies
in the Adventurer Conqueror King system main rulebook.
The Adventurer Conqueror King system rulebook includes 96
proficiencies, or 114 proficiencies including maneuvers, styles and weapon
groups as unique proficiency choices. 37
of these proficiencies are categorized as general
proficiencies. Characters learn
proficiencies as either class or general proficiencies based upon the
Proficiencies Gained per Level table on page 56 of the rulebook. The rate of proficiencies gained on this
table is based upon the rate of improvement in a class’s saving throw
progression. For example, over a 14
level career a Fighter class character will select 5 class proficiencies and 4
general proficiencies.
The creators of the Adventurer Conqueror King system have
stated that they wanted the system to be playable without proficiencies, and
designed the system with that in mind.
This is one reason why the rate of proficiencies gained is based upon an
otherwise existing feature of the system, saving throw progressions. However, for most of my games, I find the
broader selection of proficiencies presented in the rulebook to be one of the
most compelling and interesting aspects of the Adventurer Conqueror King
system. (And the “severability” of
proficiencies makes them a perfect “hook” for Judges to further customize their
games, a topic for future posts … But
let’s return to thoroughly examining proficiencies as written.)
By way of analysis, we might categorize proficiencies based
upon their function in the game. My
analysis uses the following categories.
(Note that these categories are created by me purely for analysis and
discussion. As labels they are not a
part of the Adventurer Conqueror King system.)
A craft or profession (hereafter craft,
for brevity) produces income either through producing a good or rendering a
service. A feat provides an ability or power that a character would not
otherwise have. A skill is a specific type of proficiency that requires a successful
throw to benefit from. Such benefits are
unrelated to other functions in the game, such as combat or casting a
spell. A trait provides a bonus to other functions in the game, such as
initiative or attack throws. I found it
insightful to consider each proficiency as one or more of the above four
categories. It’s important to note that
a proficiency could be in more than one category. For example, crafts are generally also
skills, in that they include knowledge relevant to the craft, such as
identifying quality goods or a famous practitioner.
By the numbers, the Adventurer Conqueror King system
includes:
13 crafts
62 feats
26 skills
41 traits
I will delve into each category in a future post. For now, let’s continue our high-level
overview. Two other characteristics were
notable to me as I read through each proficiency. (Again, these labels are a convenience of my
analysis and discussion. They are not a
part of the Adventurer Conqueror King system.)
Some proficiencies scale. By scale, I am referring to a benefit
provided by the proficiency that automatically increases as the character’s
level increases. Also, some
proficiencies are tiered. Tiered proficiencies provide different
benefits as additional proficiency selections are invested in that same
proficiency.
The Adventurer Conqueror King system includes:
14 scaling
proficiencies
12 tiered
proficiencies
This concludes this week’s post in my Proficiencies
series. I plan to post in this series
every two weeks until it finishes. On deck, how proficiencies further define classes and races, and more on the variety of proficiencies.
