# Skills

A **skill** is narrow, trained competence a character holds in ranks (0 to 10): Lockpicking, Foraging, Healing, Swordsmanship.

## Skills vs stats vs abilities vs plugins

- A **stat** is broad biological or mental aptitude (Strength, Agility, Intellect) shared by every roll of its kind.
- An **ability** is a named, costed move with a cooldown (Fireball, Shield Bash).
- A **skill** is narrow competence (0-10 ranks). It adds to checks of that kind and scales heals and hits.
- **Skills are NOT plugins.** Do not create a plugin, custom fields, or hooks to track skills or skill progression. The engine already handles skill progression natively.

## Declaring skills

Skills are declared on the game under `settings.skills`. Each skill has:
- `name`: Short display name, e.g. "Lockpicking", "Foraging", "Swordsmanship".
- `description`: The acts it covers, e.g. "foraging for wild herbs, hunting edible roots, gathering forest sustenance". The adjudicator uses this description to decide which skill applies to a player's action.

## Built-in progression: skills improve with use

Characters gain practice automatically whenever they:
1. Make a roll that draws on the skill (harder checks teach more, failure still teaches half).
2. Use an item or weapon tagged with the skill (`item.skill: "Swordsmanship"`).
3. Use an ability tagged with the skill (`ability.skill: "Healing"`).

As characters earn practice, their skill ranks increase automatically. You do not need to write hooks or scripts to level them up.

## Tagging items and abilities

- An item or weapon can declare `skill: "<SkillName>"`. Wielding or using it trains that skill and benefits from the character's rank.
- An ability can declare `skill: "<SkillName>"`. Its damage and healing steps scale with the caster's rank.
- Conditions can gate on skill rank, e.g. requiring a certain rank to attempt an action.