Before we get into how to make a perk collection let's break down a perk:

You need 3 lines to declare one:

1) Name and cost
2) Human readable description
3) Comma separated pairs that contain our perk effects like so: Effect:Value, Effect:Value etc.

ie.
first line:
Pioneer, 0

second line:
You have an insatiable need to explore this vast world.<br>→ You gain +5 HP.<br>→ You can learn Survival actions.<br>→ 1x [Explorer's Cloak].<br>→ Completing an Area yields +2 bonus XP.

third line:
Unique:Background, HP:5, ExpertiseSurvival:0, AddInventoryExplorer's Cloak:1, ModifyEffectAreaCompletionXP:2

Final result:

Pioneer, 0
You have an insatiable need to explore this vast world.<br>→ You gain +5 HP.<br>→ You can learn Survival actions.<br>→ 1x [Explorer's Cloak].<br>→ Completing an Area yields +2 bonus XP.
Unique:Background, HP:5, ExpertiseSurvival:0, AddInventoryExplorer's Cloak:1, ModifyEffectAreaCompletionXP:2

Don't worry about the effects just now. Let's move on ;)

A perk collection consists of many 3-lined perks like Pioneer in the example above.


a) A plain text file to put in our perks. For this example let's name it MyCustomPerks.tdb
b) A plain text file to initialize our various mod parts. Youmust name this file ModLoaderUser.conf

Step 1

Let's pick any folder on our PC, and create there our Mod folder. I'll name it 'Rs Perk Expansion 1'.

Step 2

In Rs Perk Expansion 1/ create the following folder:

Rs Perk Expansion 1/Perks

In this folder create a file called: MyCustomPerks.tdb

The only important consideration is to make sure that Windows won't attach the .txt extension after, so if it does, remove it. You can easily edit this file by dragging it in an empty notepad window.

So let's say that I don't like a vanilla perk and I want to change it. I'll copy paste just its three lines in my MyCustomPerks.tdb. And nothing else. And change their values as I see fit. I also need to setup a priority above that of the vanilla files. 11 will do.

ie.
#Priority 11
Pioneer, 0
You have an insatiable need to explore this vast world.<br>→ You gain +5 HP.<br>→ You can learn Survival actions.<br>→ 1x [[b]Raven's Backpack[/b]].<br>→ Completing an Area yields +2 bonus XP.
Unique:Background, HP:5, ExpertiseSurvival:0, AddInventoryRaven's Backpack:1, ModifyEffectAreaCompletionXP:2

All I did was to override the Pioneer perk to now give in my inventory the equipment card Raven's Backpack (assuming this card exists).

Step 3

In the root of your mod folder create a plain text file called: ModLoaderUser.conf

The only important consideration is to make sure that Windows won't attach the .txt extension after, so if it does remove it. You can easily edit this file by dragging it in an empty notepad window.

In this file just add these two lines:

>> Perks
MyCustomPerks.tdb

Making sure that the filename you declare match the filename of your card set. In this case MyCustomPerks.tdb.

We are done actually. All you need to do is install your mod.

Your mod is ready and should have the following structure:

Rs Perk Expansion 1/
Rs Perk Expansion 1/Perks/MyCustomPerks.tdb
Rs Perk Expansion 1/ModLoaderUser.conf

You can copy Rs Perk Expansion 1/ folder in your ../Content/Mods/ or just send the folder to .zip and install it with the Mod Manager.

Pro Tip: You should never include in your ModLoaderUser.conf resources you don't actually modify. It will cause conflict with other mods, and perhaps even break your own mod.

Then if the game was running restart your mod manager.

Background are detected automatically by the game by their 'Unique' key.

Pioneer is a background because of the Unique:Background tag in the beginning of its effects list. That's all there is to it.

Pioneer, 0
You have an insatiable need to explore this vast world.<br>→ You gain +5 HP.<br>→ You can learn Survival actions.<br>→ 1x [Explorer's Cloak].<br>→ Completing an Area yields +2 bonus XP.
Unique:Background, HP:5, ExpertiseSurvival:0, AddInventoryExplorer's Cloak:1, ModifyEffectAreaCompletionXP:2

let's make our own!

Alchemist, 0
My description of the effects
Unique:Background, Effects

The only consideration when creating new perks is to make sure that our perk name 'Alchemist' is unique. You can search the vanilla perks file to make sure of that.

Alchemist, 0
Intellect +2. You can learn Alchemy Actions.
Unique:Background, Intellect:2, ExpertiseAlchemy:0

That's all there is to it, and you can now pick this in the Backgrounds tab.

Creating Starting kits is equally easy. But this time we use Unique:Starting Kit.

ie.

Mercenary's Gear 143, 0
→ 1x [Longsword +2].<br>→ 1x [Brown Shield].<br>→ 1x [Whetstone].<br>→ 2x [Elixir of Healing].
Restrict:Mercenary, Unique:Starting Kit, AddInventoryLongsword +2:1, AddInventoryBrown Shield:1, AddStashWhetstone:1, AddStashElixir of Healing:2

That's it. Now we can select this starting gear with our Mercenary. The Restrict:Mercenary, is what makes it appear only in Mercenaries. And the same could work for backgrounds too.

ie.

Broken Coven, 0
Description
Restrict:Witch, Unique:Background, ModifyEffectCoven:-2, ExpertiseWitchcraft:1, ModifyEffectDamageIfExpertWitchcraft:2, QuestStateRippleEffectCoven:SynergyEnvy#1

Creating Sub-Archetypes is equally easy.

My Spellblade, 0
Description
Unique:SubClass, Willpower:2, Intellect:1, ExpertisePyromancy:0, ExpertiseAeromancy:0, ExpertiseHydromancy:0, AddDeckSpell Research:2

This time we specify Unique:SubClass for classes and Unique:SubRace for Subspecies.

ie.

My Dhampir, 0
Description
Unique:SubRace, Intellect:2, Charisma:2, Willpower:-2, ProficiencySlashing:1, ExpertiseStealth:0, AddDeckHunger:2, AddDeckLurk in Shadows:2, AddDeckAnticipation:2, AddDeckLesser Compulsion:2, QuestStateCountsAsWicked:true, Location:Innford

To hook them in the game we need additionally this section in our ModLoaderUser.conf (Restrict:x, won't work here)

>> SubArchetypes
Mercenary#My Spellblade
Human#My Dhampir

Done ;) You can now find and play with these two new sub archetypes.

So that's the overview of the thing.Best way to learn what to use as effects for your perks is to reverse engineer the perks file. i.e. Let say I want a Perk which makes me wicked, and gives me pyromancy as skill.

I spot ExpertisePyromancy:0 in Spellblade, and QuestStateCountsAsWicked:true in Dhampir. Hmm so that's how Raven did it...

Ifrit, 0
Description
Unique:SubRace, ExpertisePyromancy:1, QuestStateCountsAsWicked:true

Then in my ModLoaderUser.conf also need:

>> SubArchetypes
Demon#Ifrit

Or wherever you want to add your subarchetype. And that's it too.

As you can see is pretty easy to create your own backgrounds, starting kits & archetypes by modifying vanilla ones. If you need more help, come into problems or other issue, drop by our Discord server #Modding channel and I'll be happy to help you further!