Lessons and learning

Lessons are the easiest way to progress in a given skill. You can learn as many lessons as you have lesson credits for. Lesson credits are built up over time as you grow older in the land. Every ten to fifteen minutes, unless your character is in a "non-lessongain" state, you will accumulate a lesson. You do not need to do anything special, nor pay anything for the privilege: it happens as a result of just living your Avalon life. Check out HELP SKILLS for info on how to increase your skills by learning and how to look at your skill-set and the abilities attached to each.

It is very important you are aware of the factors that will prevent your lessons from accumulating. There are two main reasons: the location you are in and your character being in a "non-lessongain" state.

Locations in which you will not gain lessons can be checked out by typing SURVEY. You will see the text "and thus affords no lesson gain" in the survey response and this should tell you to move elsewhere. The locations in which lessons do not accumulate are those of protected or sundered-from-Avalon type: the Pool of Life, the bulletin board, the Underworld, highly marked holy locations (e.g. possible sanctuaries), rooms with safeguard shielding, enforced peace, or special protections (e.g. treasure chambers, commodity sheds, shop stockrooms, barracks interiors, the ethereal winds, etc) and locations in which globe-stave wreathe or conquistador is active. The principle is simply that standing around in an invulnerable position is not gaining "experience" of the world; hence no lesson gain.

Your character is normally in a lesson gaining state. To be in a "non-lessongain" state, you will need to be: idling (i.e. more than an hour without any activity), in poltergeist or ghost form under half mana, existing as a stone statue, having no game-playing credits or active subscription, extreme hunger (starving to death; ill through lack of food) and/or sleep deprived. Type STATUS to see your levels of hunger and fatigue. Idling is not penalised if you are still on the JUNIORS list.

Type LESSONS to see how many lessons you have gathered and any learning enhancements in effect. Check out HELP GAIN for info on this command and how to use it to influence how quickly you gain lessons.

Lesson and lesson-potential info is shown when you type STATUS, this being one of your four character-sheet commands along with SCORE, SKILLS and DEFENCES. See HELP SCORE, HELP SKILLS, HELP DEFENCES and HELP STATUS for more info on each.