Editing VB-Leaders (section)

==Abilities and Traits==

Leaders can have one or more Abilities and Traits. Abilities as well as being useful in a number of fields, increase the chance that a commander will be promoted in Ranks and Seniority, when using [[#Automatic Assignments|Automatic Assignments]]. Whereas Traits have no mechanical effect, they're for role-playing flavour only.
 
All the non-[[team]] abilities have a chance to increase with experience and the ability bonus that increase will be related to officer's current assignment. For example, an officer commanding a survey ship can advance in Crew Training, Fleet Initiative or Survey Bonus whereas a carrier commander could advance in Crew Training, Fleet Initiative or Fighter Operations. A planetary governor may advance in any of the skills that influence a population. Teams gain experience through successful actions. For example, a diplomatic team concluding a treaty or a xenology team discovering a new tech will increase the team rating a little.

===List of Abilities ===
Each leader type have a subset of the existing abilities and a subset of the existing assignments, although in some cases these overlap.

* '''Administration Rating''': Used by Civilian Administrators and Scientists to indicate the size of [[colony]] / number of labs they may oversee at one time.

* '''Communications''': Used by Task Force Communications Officers to pass orders and coordinate the fleet. Important if you use 'Inexperienced Fleet Penalties'. Also assists if the Leader is placed in a Diplomacy Team that is attempting to establish communications with alien races.

* '''Diplomacy''': Used my Diplomatic Team members to make other races/empires like you (or hate you less). Important if you ever want to do anything other than conquer & destroy. Also used by Task Force Public Relations officers to convince the gullible public that your ships are better than they are, and up their perceived Planetary Protection Value.

* '''Espionage''': Used by Espionage Team members to steal info from (designs, technology, survey data) and sabotage (installations) other races/empires, and to defend your empire from such activities by others.

* '''Intelligence''': Used by Task Force Intelligence Officers to discern enemy capabilities, interpret sensor data, and identify enemy classes & ships. Basically, everything found on the Ctrl-F5 'Intelligence & Foreign Relations' window that isn't 'Political Relations'. Also used to interrogate captured enemy personnel.

* '''Logistics''': Used by Ship Commanders, PDC Commanders, Task Force Logistics Officers and Civilian Administrators to decrease the loading/unloading time* of their ships/PDCs/Task Force members/any military unit at their colony, or any civilian unit if the colony has a civilian spaceport.
*Of cargo, passengers, cryo tubes, Marines, ammo, fuel, maintenance supplies, etc.

* '''Operations''': Used by Task Force Operations Officers to coordinate the fleet. Important if you use 'Inexperienced Fleet Penalties'. Also used in 'Task Group Training' to overcome said penalties

* '''Survey''': Used by Geological Team members to discover additional, overlooked Trans-Newtonian Minerals on colony worlds and Task Force Survey Officers to grant a bonus to the Survey efforts of all ships in the Task Force in the same system as the TFSO.

* '''Xenology''': Used by Xeno Team members to investigate alien ruins, identify the builders, and designate 'recoverable' tech, installations, or components. Also used by Construction Brigade commanders to recover the aforementioned items and put them into working order.

* '''Wealth Creation''': Used by Civilian Administrator to increase the 'wealth points' generated by population & Financial Centres under their control.

* '''Crew Training Bonus''': Used by ship commanders. The number of grade points that are added annually to the ship that this officer commands. The effects of grade points are listed in the Crew and Grade section of the rules

* '''Factory Production Bonus''': Used by planetary or sector governors and commanders of construction and [[salvage]] ships. Provides a bonus to the construction rate of construction factories, ordnance factories, fighter factories and fuel refineries for a population if this officer is the planetary governor. If the officer is a sector governor, every planet in the sector receives 1/4 of his bonus. For construction ship or salvage ship commanders, the time required to build a [[jump gate]] or [[salvage]] a wreck is reduced by the size of the bonus

* '''Fighter Operations Bonus''': Used by carrier commanders. Reduces the time required to rearm and refuel fighters

* '''Fleet Movement Initiative Rating''': This indicates the level of initiative shown by the commander when it comes to maneuvering a fleet. A fleet or fighter group can have its initiative set at any level up to that of its commander. As fleets/FGs move in ascending order of initiative, this can be very useful when trying to intercept another fleet or fighter group.

* '''Ground Combat Bonus''': Used by ground unit commanders. Increases the [[Ground_forces#Attack and Defense|combat strength]] of a ground unit by the bonus. Bonuses stack for division, brigade, and unit commanders.

* '''Ground Forces Training Rating''': Non-HQ Units subordinate to this officer get a chance to improve their [[Ground_forces#Morale|Morale]] over time. Officer must command an HQ with units attached. If the officer commands a division, this bonus is halved, but applied to all non-HQ units in that division.

* '''Ground Unit Construction Speed Bonus''': Used by planetary or sector governors. A bonus to the rate at which ground troops are [[Ground_forces#Recruiting|Recruited]] at the population if this officer is the planetary governor. If the officer is a sector governor, every planet in the sector receives 1/4 of his bonus.

* '''Mining Bonus''': Used by planetary or sector governors and commanders of mining and harvester ships. Provides a bonus to the production rate of mines and automated mines in a population for which this officer is the planetary governor. If the officer is a sector governor, every planet in the sector receives 1/4 of his bonus. For mining ship or harvester commanders, provides a bonus to rate of mineral or fuel production

* '''Political Bonus''': has the greatest influence of all bonuses on the chance of promotion, but serves no other useful purpose. This is to simulate that sometimes the ability to create the right impression and political connections is a lot more important when it comes to promotion than actual skills.

* '''Political Stability Bonus''': This bonus lowers the effects of unrest on a planet, giving you longer before outright revolt

* '''Population Growth Bonus''': Used by planetary or sector governors. Provides a bonus to the population growth rate for a population if this officer is the planetary governor. If the officer is a sector governor, every planet in the sector receives 1/4 of his bonus.

* '''Research Bonus''': Used by planetary or sector governors. A bonus to the number of research points produced by the population for which this officer is the planetary governor. In addition, if the planet is currently researching a project that falls within the planetary governor's research specialization, the bonus is quadrupled. If the officer is a sector governor, every planet in the sector receives 1/4 of his bonus.

* '''Shipbuilding Bonus''': Used by planetary or sector governors. A bonus to the Shipbuilding rate for the population for which this officer is the planetary governor. If the officer is a sector governor, every planet in the sector receives 1/4 of his bonus.

* '''Survey Bonus''': Used by survey ship commanders. A bonus to the number of grav or geo survey points generated by the ship that this officer commands

* '''Terraforming Bonus''': Used by planetary or sector governors and the commanders of terraforming ships. Provides a bonus to the amount of gas produced or removed. Applies to all terraforming installations for a planetary governor and an individual ship for the commander of a terraforming ship. If the officer is a sector governor, every planet in the sector receives 1/4 of his bonus.