Skill Trees

Skill trees let characters learn and upgrade abilities over time. Like items and statuses, skills are status layers - they can modify stats, grant abilities, add skin layers, and more.

How Skills Work

When a character learns a skill, a status effect is applied to them. This status can:

• Add stats (e.g., +10 Strength)
• Grant abilities
• Add skin layers (visual changes)
• Set traits or attributes

Skills can be upgraded multiple times. Each upgrade level adds another stack to the status effect, multiplying its bonuses.

Editor Forms

Skills are defined using two forms in Characters → Skills:

Skill Slots

Individual skill definitions. Each slot describes what a skill does.

Skill Trees

The visual layout that organizes skills into learnable progression paths.

Skill Placements

Each entry in a tree's skills array places a skill slot on the canvas:

Assigning Trees to Characters

In Characters → Character Templates, add skill tree IDs to the skill_trees field. A character can have multiple skill trees available.

Public vs Private Skill Trees

Skills cost currency items to learn, similar to trading. The is_private field determines which inventory pays for skills:

Public Trees (Default)

Currency is deducted from the party inventory. All party members share the same currency pool.

Skill Tree: "combat_skills"
is_private: false
Skill price: { gold: 100 }
→ 100 gold deducted from party inventory

Private Trees

Currency is deducted from the character's private inventory. Each character has their own separate currency pool.

Skill Tree: "personal_talents"
is_private: true
Skill price: { skill_points: 1 }
→ 1 skill_point deducted from this character's private inventory

This is useful for:

• Level-up skill points that each character earns individually
• Class-specific currencies
• Per-character progression systems

Learning Skills

Skills are learned through the in-game skill tree UI. Requirements:

1. Parent skills - At least one parent must be learned (if any are defined)
2. Currency - Character must afford the price
3. Not maxed - Current level must be below max_upgrade_level

Action Learning

Use the skill action in scenes to grant skills directly (bypasses currency costs):

{skill: "alice.fire_magic.fireball"}

Programmatic Learning

const character = game.getCharacter("mc");

// Learn a skill (1 level)
character.learnSkill("combat_tree", "fireball_slot", 1);

// Unlearn a skill (triggers refund if refund_factor > 0)
character.unlearnSkill("combat_tree", "fireball_slot");

Skill Requirements with params

Use the params field when adding Skill Slot to a Skill Tree to have conditions or trigger actions:

{
  "if": "player_level >= 10",
  "scene": "unlock_celebration"
}

Refunding Skills

If refund_factor is set on the tree (e.g., 0.5 for 50%), players can refund learned skills:

• Refund amount = price × skill_level × refund_factor (rounded up)
• A skill cannot be refunded if it's the only learned parent of another learned skill

Example Setup

1. Create Skill Slots

In Characters → Skill Slots:

Fireball

• id: fireball
• name: "Fireball"
• status: { stats: { magic_damage: 10 }, abilities: "fireball_ability" }

Inferno

• id: inferno
• name: "Inferno"
• status: { stats: { magic_damage: 25 } }

2. Create a Skill Tree

In Characters → Skill Trees:

• id: fire_magic
• name: "Fire Magic"
• width: 400, height: 300
• refund_factor: 0.5
• skills:
  • { id: "slot_fireball", skill: "fireball", x: 200, y: 50, price: { gold: 100 } }
  • { id: "slot_inferno", skill: "inferno", x: 200, y: 150, price: { gold: 250 }, parent_skills: "slot_fireball" }

3. Assign to Character

In the character template, add fire_magic to the skill_trees field.

API Reference

Character Methods

// Add a skill tree to character
character.addSkillTree("fire_magic");

// Remove a skill tree
character.removeSkillTree("fire_magic");

// Learn a skill (level = number of levels to add)
character.learnSkill(treeId, slotId, level);

// Unlearn a skill (refunds if tree has refund_factor)
character.unlearnSkill(treeId, slotId);

// Get skill status ID (for checking if learned)
const statusId = character.getSkillStatusId("fire_magic", "slot_fireball");
// Returns: "_skill_fire_magic_slot_fireball"

Events

// Triggered when a skill is learned
game.on("skill_learned", (treeId, skillId, level) => {
  game.showNotification("Learned a new skill!");
});

// Triggered when a skill is unlearned
game.on("skill_unlearned", (treeId, skillId) => {
  console.log("Refunded:", skillId);
});

Checking Skills

Use the _skill condition to check if a character has learned a skill:

_skill(alice.fire_magic.fireball) > 0   // check if learned
_skill(fire_magic.fireball) >= 3        // check level (selected character)

Tips

• Use parent_skills to create progression paths (skill A → skill B → skill C)
• Set max_upgrade_level > 1 for skills that can be upgraded multiple times
• Use is_private: true for character-specific currencies
• The params field supports the same conditions as scene choices
• Skill status effects stack with equipment and other status sources