In order to keep your arsenals fresh, we've implemented a system that allows you to tweak things that you already have in your arsenal once you've used them enough to avoid forcing you to phase them out of your combat strategy simply because you've gotten physically stronger or more skilled. Similarly, if you are primarily a summons user, your summons would become less capable of fighting alongside you against your peers and enemies as your opponents improve, but your summons don't To combat this, we have a system for Technique Mastery, Equipment Upgrades, and Summon Upgrades.

Technique Mastery

Many times, a ninja will become known for a particular technique, and it almost becomes something like a signature move. Of course, some of these are techniques that could ordinarily be learned by just about anyone with the right prerequisites, but they become unique in the way that the ninja makes them their own. One example from canon is the way Sasuke was able to create variants of the Chidori by applying differently-natured chakra other than the original lightning. He mastered the shape transformation of the technique and applied different nature transformations to get varied results.

On Fighting Dreamers, we've implemented a system that we like to call "Technique Mastery" - that is, your character has become so adept at particular techniques that they put their own spin on them, making them (somewhat) their own. In utilizing this system, you can:

• Make slight alterations to the appearance of a technique (such as creating blue fire);
  
• Increase the size and power of a technique (such as Fireball vs. Great Fireball); and
  
• Create variants of a technique that cater toward your character's strengths (e.g. faster execution but weaker in power, expanding upon or adding a nature transformation, etc.)
  
• Reduce the Hand Seal amount needed to perform the technique
  
• Increase or decrease the Chakra Cost of the technique, depending on how it's being altered
  

When you want to increase your mastery of a technique, simply apply for the updated version as you would any other custom technique. Just make sure to specify that you're applying for mastery, and include both the original and the updated versions.  Make sure to update the name of the new version to differentiate it from the original (how exactly you decide to do that is up to you).

Note that the original will not be replaced and you'll still be able to use it. Since it's not an entirely new technique, the updated version will only cost half the funds to purchase. Keep in mind that your new technique can't be too different from the original - it should be fairly clear that it's an improved or altered version of the original technique.

Equipment Upgrades

If you've used a piece of equipment for at least 5 combat threads, you will be able to upgrade it similarly to how you would upgrade a technique (see above). This equipment upgrade will cost half the typical purchase cost of a piece of equipment of the same rank. Your upgrade will be judged according to the rank you're giving it.

Summon Upgrades

Because summons are a bit different from techniques and equipment, upgrading them is different as well. After all, summons don't laze around just because you aren't fighting alongside them - they can train and grow just like their human counterparts. To reflect this, you can upgrade your summons using Funds just as you would your normal character. However, to keep this process from becoming unfairly expensive, every 15 Funds you spend grants a 30 Fund allotment for your summon upgrade. You can only spend multiples of 15 funds for your summon upgrade, so plan accordingly.  Once the total allotment (including the amount used at initial creation of the summon) passes the creation threshold, the summon's letter rank will also increase. This means that you can't upgrade your summons indefinitely without also upgrading your Aptitude.