As a tangent to my PreWar Book Titles mod, I am working on an idea involving Skill Books, but have stalled a bit, and it would be useful to bounce ideas around with anyone interested. I would like to make skill books apply to different skills, based on the interests of the character. For example, "Guns and Bullets" makes you aim better, but should also teach you how to maintain (repair) your gun. "Dean's Electronics" is useful for a repairman, but should also help computer hackers and energy weapon users. A book about "Lying" should help you get better prices when trading. The "Stealth" manual could include a chapter on bypassing locks, etc. etc. I also like the character theme of such perks such as "Gun Nut", "Thief", and "Daddy's Girl" which raise pairs of skills at a time; however, I don't use them because I don't like maxing out my skills that way. I would like to retain the thematic flavor of these dual-skill perks, while applying them to other things like skill books. The "Gunsmith" for example (my renaming of the "Gun Nut") could benefit in both Small Guns and Repair by reading "Guns and Bullets". I am creating dual-skill perks for all the combinations of skills. My idea is to call these "Proficiencies" and have your character start with one or more (perhaps based on intelligence?) which must include a tag skill. Then, when you read a skill book, you can apply the effects differently based on your Proficiencies. I would delete the +5/+5 type perks like Gun Nut, and replace them with the ability to level up one of your proficiencies or learn a new one. I am a big fan of the Book Perks and Alternate Start Roleplayers mod and intend this idea to blend with both. Alternate Start already uses the term Proficiencies for selecting tag skills. I would just add another step that lets you choose from my list based on your chosen tag skills. Likewise, the Book Perks mod controls which books you can read based on your interests (as determined by skill levels) and gives points towards earning perks. I would make it so you can always read books related to your proficiencies, and a higher level proficiency could let you apply multiple points towards different book perks. (Permission will be sought from those modders once this idea is more solid.) What do you think? If this works well, I intend to apply it to the idea of "non-fiction" books for my PreWar Book Titles mod, for iconic books like The Art of War, Grey's Anatomy, etc. (which is where the whole idea started). Below is the list of Proficiencies. I still need a good concept or name for some of the combinations. Feel free to help fill in the blanks, or suggest changes. ARMS DEALER: Barter / Big Guns Barter / Energy Weapons Barter / Explosives LOCKSMITH: Barter / Lockpick APOTHECARY: Barter / Medicine PROSPECTOR: Barter / Melee Weapons TINKER: Barter / Repair DATA MINER: Barter / Science MERCENARY: Barter / Small Guns SMUGGLER: Barter / Sneak SCOUNDREL: Barter / Speech RUFFIAN: Barter / Unarmed HEAVY GUNNER: Big Guns / Energy Weapons BLASTMASTER: Big Guns / Explosives Big Guns / Lockpick Big Guns / Medicine (Gunner that relies on combat drugs, need a good name) SHOCK TROOPER: Big Guns / Melee Weapons Big Guns / Repair (Obviously a weapons tech, but need a better name) TECHNICIAN: Big Guns / Science SOLDIER: Big Guns / Small Guns BUSHWHACKER: Big Guns / Sneak INTIMIDATOR: Big Guns / Speech BODY BUILDER: Big Guns / Unarmed Energy Weapons / Explosives Energy Weapons / Lockpick SURGEON: Energy Weapons / Medicine KNIGHT: Energy Weapons / Melee Weapons ELECTRICIAN: Energy Weapons / Repair PHYSICIST: Energy Weapons / Science SHARPSHOOTER: Energy Weapons / Small Guns Energy Weapons / Sneak SPACE HERO: Energy Weapons / Speech (character emulates Captain Cosmos) Energy Weapons / Unarmed SAFECRACKER: Explosives / Lockpick CHEMIST: Explosives / Medicine MARAUDER: Explosives / Melee Weapons MUNITIONS EXPERT: Explosives / Repair BREACHER: Explosives / Science TACTICIAN: Explosives / Small Guns GUERILLA: Explosives / Sneak REVOLUTIONARY: Explosives / Speech GRENADIER: Explosives / Unarmed FORAGER: Lockpick / Medicine CUTTHROAT: Lockpick / Melee Weapons SALVAGER: Lockpick / Repair HACKER: Lockpick / Science BOUNTY HUNTER: Lockpick / Small Guns THIEF: Lockpick / Sneak INVESTIGATOR: Lockpick / Speech THUG: Lockpick / Unarmed GLADIATOR: Medicine / Melee Weapons Medicine / Repair SCIENTIST: Medicine / Science MEDIC: Medicine / Small Guns JUNKIE: Medicine / Sneak PSYCHIATRIST: Medicine / Speech ATHLETE: Medicine / Unarmed BLACKSMITH Melee Weapons / Repair Melee Weapons / Science DUELIST: Melee Weapons / Small Guns ASSASSIN: Melee Weapons / Sneak SWASHBUCKLER: Melee Weapons / Speech MARTIAL ARTIST: Melee Weapons / Unarmed INVENTOR: Repair / Science GUNSMITH: Repair / Small Guns SCOUT: Repair / Sneak Repair / Speech IMPROVISER: Repair / Unarmed Science / Small Guns DELVER: Science / Sneak SCRIBE: Science / Speech CYBERNETICIST: Science / Unarmed HUNTER: Small Guns / Sneak GUNSLINGER: Small Guns / Speech GUNKATA MASTER: Small Guns / Unarmed SPY: Sneak / Speech NINJA: Sneak / Unarmed PREACHER: Speech / Unarmed
