Development site... not to be used

This is not a "rule" per se, it is more how you would like to display the percentage on your skill list.

By default the site lowers the percent to make it easy to calculate the current total percent.

The house rules is to show the percentage from the books, adding any bonuses from O.C.C. and other skills. The format is "$\mathrm{40+5\%}$" This makes it easy to calculate the total for the current level with simple math, at level one 45%, level 2, 50%, etc.

The simple equation is $\mathrm{Total}=\mathrm{Base}+(\mathrm{Per\; Level}\times \mathrm{Level})$. When a skill is received at level other than one, the amount is reduced according to the "per level" percent, for example a skill with a +5% per level will be reduced by 10% if received at level 3. So, the same skill as our previous example, if taken at level 3, would be listed as " $\mathrm{30+5\%}$ " and at level 3 the total would be 45%. When at a higher level, it is possible the percent might even be negative. If, for example, a character in Fantasy takes Escape Artist at 8th level, the percent would be displayed as $\mathrm{-10+5\%}$ (not withstanding any bonuses), so at level 8, the total would be $-10+(5\times 8)=30$ which is what this skill gives at first level (if you disagree, please read on).

If you select "Use official skill percent reduction rules" the percent would be reduced by an additional level. As per page 300 of Rift Ultimate Edition "Skill Bonuses" section, the "per level" bonus applies to level 2 and after. If this option is selected, a skill that starts at 45% plus 5% per level would show up as $\mathrm{40+5\%}$ in the skill list (if taken at the first level, without bonuses). If you add $45+(5\times \mathrm{Level})$, you get 50% at first level as per the book.

If you select "Just put the number, I will figure it out" this would not lower the percent at any point. A skill with percent in the book as $\mathrm{50+5\%}$ would be displayed as "$\mathrm{50+5\%}$" always no matter what level it is taken. I'm not sure why anyone would want to use that option... but it is there.

Note on secondary skills. This site does not follow the new Rift Ultimate Edition rules on Secondary Skills on page 300 that

1. limits the list of skills you can select for all characters:

   This site will use the rules that were written for all other games which means the secondary skills will be selected based on the O.C.C. skill list without the bonuses. I personally think it makes more sense. As per the secondary skills rules of Rift Ultimate Edition on page 300, "Secondary Skills are areas of knowledge that the character has picked up on his own through learned experience, observation and personal studies. This may be related to the character's occupation or reflect completely different interests and hobbies." According to this new rule, if a Thief did not learn the skill "Palming" in his "official" training to become a thief, he could only take that skill as an O.C.C. related skill, not a Secondary Skill. However, my opinion is that seeing as he hangs out with thieves and does shady deals all the time, he should be allowed to train himself to use palming technic without formal training. So that thief, in my opinion, should be allowed to select "Palming" as his third level secondary skill. His percent would not be increased by 10% (the O.C.C. bonus, explained by taking more time to train), but he should still be allowed to learn it by himself. Similarly, a military member, following this new rule, would not be allowed to take Heraldry as a Secondary Skill, even though he might be able to pick it up on his own or by talking to friends in the military. I think this makes no sense. It is written on page 300 "Certain skills (namely Mechanical, Medical, Military, Electronics, Science and especially Cowboy, Espionage and Pilot Related skills) can NOT be learned as a Secondary Skills." I know a lot of people that can fix almost anything wrong with my car and what they can't fix, usually requires specialized tools, not knowledge that they lack and those people never took a mechanical course in their life. I do accept that some skills, like Surgeon/Medical Doctor, requires formal training, but according to Palladium no one can learn to brew fermented alcoholic beverages. And I'm not even talking about distilling, just fermenting. Well, I have made wines and meads and never took a formal course.

2. makes secondary skill less than O.C.C. skill:

   Also on page 300 of Rift Ultimate Edition in the Secondary Skills section it is written that "[A] character takes Art as a Secondary Skill, however, his ability is that of a talented amateur. Even if a Secondary Skill artist had a higher chance of success than an O.C.C. Related Skill artist, the O.C.C. based artist's work always looks better." I totally disagree with this especially for art but for other domains as well. Vincent Van Gogh was an informally trained artist and according to this new rule his painting would ALWAYS look worst that a freshly out of college art student. The same thing can be said about computer hacking, according to the new rules, not only would it be impossible for anyone to learn computer hacking as a Secondary Skills (without formal training), but a freshly graduated computer hacker would ALWAYS be better at hacking than the self-taught hacker with 15 years of experience.

In conclusion, that's why this site does not follow the Secondary Skills rules of Rift Ultimate Edition. If they really wanted to penalize Secondary Skills over O.C.C. Related Skills they should say that every Secondary Skill starts with -15% to compensate, but since they did not I will only write the percent not which skills were taken as O.C.C. related and which are secondary skill. If this is an issue, please let me know and I might see what I can do if demand is great.

The official rules for exceptional/extraordinary stats is that only 3D6 stats (Rift Ultimate Edition p.279, Heroes Unlimited p.15, Nightbane p.33, etc.) or 2D6 and 3D6 stats (Fantasy p.14) can result in exception stats. I disagree with this rule. Why can't an orc with 4D6 of strength have an exception strength for his race?

This is why this site use a homebrew rule for exceptional stats by default. Any stats can be exceptional. To be considered exceptional, a stat must:

1. Be equal or higher than the maximum possible, minus the number of dice minus 1. Ex:
   • For 3D6, the max would be 18 minus number of dice-1, 18-(3-1), 18-2=16. At 16 or more a stat is considered exceptional.
   • For 2D6, 12-(2-1), 12-1, at 11 or 12, this stats is considered exceptional.
   • For 4D6, 24-(4-1), 24-3 = 21, so at 21+ this stats would be considered exceptional.
   • For 5D6, 30-(5-1), 30-4 = 26+
2. No 1s must have been rerolled. If the roll include the option to reroll 1s and one or more 1s were rerolled, the stat will not be considered exceptional no matter the total of the stat.
3. No 1s must have been rerolled even if removed. If both the reroll 1s and the option to roll an extra dice is selected, a stat will not be considered exceptional if a 1 was rerolled, even the die removed was the only 1 that was rerolled.

When a stat is considered exceptional, a single six-sided die is added to the stat

If you select "Use official Fantasy exceptional stats rules", only 12 for 2D6 and 16+ for 3D6 (as per Fantasy p.14) - when no 1s were rerolled - will be considered exceptional and add up to 2 six-sided die (if the first roll is a 6)

If you select "Use official Rift exceptional stats rules", only 16+ for 3D6 (as per Rift Ultimate Edition p.279) - when no 1s were rerolled - will be considered exceptional and add up to 2 six-sided die (if the first roll is a 6)