Effect Trees

Effect trees allow our characters to do the impossible.

Core Effect Tree: The core sets of abilities our characters can choose at level One. When we choose our Core Effect Tree, we unlock all of the Talents associated with it.

Talents: These special abilities have a Mastery Potential of 3. When they are mastered, the character unlocks the Root Effect associated with the Talent.

Root Effect: These special abilities usually have a Mastery Potential of 5. Mastering them may unlock Branch Effects.

Branch Effect: These special abilities are upgrades of Root Effects. Once a Branch Effect is unlocked, Leaf Effects become available.

Leaf Effects: These are either upgrades to Root or Branch effects. Abilities not associated to Core Effect Trees, Root Effects, or Branch Effects are often Leaf Effects that may be added to any Branch.

Crown Effects: These are the Ultimate Abilities in the game.

Progression

At level One we get to unlock one Core Effect Tree. Beyond that we may spend experience points to unlock more Root Effects from other Core Effect Trees, Leaf Effects, or Crown Effects.

The barriers for unlocking Effect Trees are written into their entries. Mastery unlocks the Root Effects associated with the Talents in our Core Effect Trees. We may also spend Experience, (xps), to unlock Root Effects from other Core Effect Trees and non-associated Root Effects.

Branch Effects are unlocked by getting the prerequisite Mastery in Root Effects. In many cases a certain amount of Mastery is required from multiple Root Effects to unlock a Branch Effect.

Leaf Effects are only available once a Branch Effect is unlocked. Each Branch Effect has a pre-determined Number of Leaf Slots. Leaf Slots may be upgrades or unrelated to the Roots & Branches. Leaf Effects cost xps to learn. Leaf Effects may be discarded by going through Abscission.

Crown Effects are the ultimate abilities in Vaia and cost a significant amount of xps to learn. It is not uncommon to fill the tree with leaf effects, then go through abscission to learn a Crown Effect.

Unlock by Study or Apprenticeship: Some Effect Trees may be unlocked by reading special books or receiving special training. These can not be reserialized to gain experience.

Reserialization:

Abscission is a voluntary discarding of Leaf Effects to regain xps. Abscission usually takes up to a week and one day, (v:8), and is commonly done to learn Crown Effects.

Epiphany: An epiphany is when we discard enough Leaf Effects to learn a Root or Crown Effect instantly. An Epiphany causes 5 Mental Stress. This may only be done to learn one Effect at a time.

Pruning: We can regain spent xps by Pruning Root Effects or Crown Effects. Doing so leaves us Vulnerable for (v:4) days. Any Branch Effects associated with Root Effects that are Pruned are also lost. Only one Effect may be Pruned at a time. Core Effects can not be pruned.