Skill Scale Down 2021

This skill has been impacted by the Skill Scale Down. The impact of this for this skill is as follows:

• This skill remains.
• All knowledge is left as is.
• For how to deal with XP, please see the page Skill Scale Down 2021 for links, information, and a player guide.
• The scope of this skill has not changed. Please ensure that you take this into account going forward.

Overview

Development Credit: Faith

The skill, and art, of playing musical instruments. An instrument might be played in isolation or for an audience, as part of a group or alone. The context is different from PC to PC, but this skill is about the skill of that PC to create a pleasant sound.

Types of Instruments

Please note: while the example instruments per school are not an exhaustive list - these are all the schools of this skill. Each school is a skill in its own right. See below.

• String (bow) ~ eg: fiddle, viola,
• String (strum or pluck) ~ eg: harp, gittern, psaltery, ukulele
• Percussion - eg: drum,
• Wind (General) - eg: shofar, cornett, flute
• Wind (Reed) ~ eg: clarinet, rackett, shawm
• Keyboard - eg: piano
• Brass ~ eg: sackbut, trumpet, etc.

How Instrument Types / Schools Work

Each type of instrument (school) is a skill in it's own right.

All knowledge and skill points, however, must be assigned to a type and need not be a specific instrument. So for example, if you wanted your PC to be good at playing the fiddle, you would choose knowledges and skill titled Musical Instrument (String). If you wanted to specialize in bongos, you would go with Musical Instrument (Percussion). There are no subtypes between these, so someone who wants to play a steel drum and has Musical Instrument (Percussion), would be as good at playing the bongo.

Related Skills

Detection: The ability to hear is a vital one to anyone who plays music. Detection can be useful for picking out notes and rhythm.

Psychology: There is very little in the world as emotional as a really good piece of music. A true musician is significantly advantaged by the ability to understand others.

Socialization: Being able to "hold" an audience requires a certain ability and stage presence. This skill gives you that.

Skill Ranks

Novice (0-25)

The character is learning the basics of the instrument, discovering the sounds it is capable of making and the techniques to produce them - at the basic level. This level usually requires the repetition of basic tunes, scales and so on in order to develop the muscle memory needed to be able to play the instrument flawlessly. In the later stages of novice, a relatively decent sound is produced when playing a simple tune. There are still a lot of mistakes made, and anything but the most simple combination of notes is beyond the individual's skill.

Competent (26-75)

Competency with an instrument is exactly that. The character can play the instrument well, managing to play basic and common music well, producing a pleasant sound of the kind they intended to. More complex melodies are beyond the character's ability unless they are practiced for a long time before playing them. Advanced techniques (which will be specific to each instrument) are beyond the pc and emotional nuance is not usually present in their playing.

Expert (76-150)

The achievement of this level sees the character start to explore the nuance of the musical instrument in question. They develop their ability to play using advanced techniques and, although they still need to practice in order to use them confidently, they are now able to achieve this. Also, the music they play truly starts to capture the emotions of the piece and there is that "something" which makes listening to a melody truly magical.

Master (151-250)

Mastery of an instrument marks the ability to create a rare and beautiful sound, flawlessly merging between the player, the melody and the instrument itself. As the player progresses through this level, their ability to use advanced techniques becomes more and more immediate, until they are able to play even the most complex tunes with ease. Furthermore, they can inject real emotion into their music. A true maestro!

Progressing Musical Instrument

• Capstones
• Grandmasters
• Tier 2 PCs

Musical Instrument Knowledge

The collapsible below has examples of Skill Knowledge for this skill. If you are unsure of what Knowledge is, please check the Knowledge Primer for details. Please remember that our Peer Reviewers will be checking to make sure that your Knowledge claim is appropriate to what you have learned in the thread and ensuring that you are not duplicating knowledge.

A guide to knowledge can be found here (this link takes you to the site) and the person reviewing your thread will do so following the steps laid out in the Peer Reviewer Guide. If you wish to use one of these knowledge in your request, please ensure that it is appropriate to your thread.