Best Background Skills

[CyborgPrime]

Trying to figure out how not to waste background skills (esp in Mongoose Traveller)?

Check out this analysis I did of Background Skills and Careers:
https://www.cyborgprime.com/traveller-rpg-blog/traveller-character-creation-best-background-skills

 

[Proneutron]

The "best" are those that best match your vision of the character BEFORE going out into the world. IMO

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Skills should degrade over time if you haven't used them since the 10th grade.

 

[coliver988]

Skills should degrade over time if you haven't used them since the 10th grade.

Depends on how long you did it, and background skills are level 0, meaning no positive DM, no negative DM. Pretty sure if you grew up on a farm milking cows every day for a decade, you'd remember how 20+ years later.

 

[coliver988]

The "best" are those that best match your vision of the character BEFORE going out into the world. IMO

What he did was indicate what skills you are going to get per career, especially with the basic and advanced training so you don't pick something you are likely to get anyway. Just a way to maximize skills, more of a min/max style of generating a character.

 

[Proneutron]

Skills should degrade over time if you haven't used them since the 10th grade.

That ENTIRELY depends on the skill and how long you were at it. I haven't rode a bicycle since I was 16 but I GUARANTEE I still have the equivalent of Bike 0 today. I rode one for 11 years starting at a young age so the muscle memory ensures I still can ride well decades later. Same with my Rifle 0, pistol 0, [horseback] riding 0, et al.

 

[Proneutron]

What he did was indicate what skills you are going to get per career, especially with the basic and advanced training so you don't pick something you are likely to get anyway. Just a way to maximize skills, more of a min/max style of generating a character.

Right. Which is why I wrote what I did. I prefer players who look at their PCs as a person and not a "build".

 

[Timerover51]

Depends on how long you did it, and background skills are level 0, meaning no positive DM, no negative DM. Pretty sure if you grew up on a farm milking cows every day for a decade, you'd remember how 20+ years later.

Hmm, if a character had been doing that for a decade, along with all the rest that goes with dairy farming, I would figure a minimum skill level of 1 for Animals or Agriculture if those are skill options.

 

[CyborgPrime]

This has been a rub for many players, especially new ones.

They felt like they were being stripped of their background skills.

"I woundt have selected such and such if I knew I was going to get it as basic training in my career".

I didn't write it for min/maxing, though I suppose you could use it that way.

Some characters may not want to enter careers with basic training they already have background skills for - this is a way to do that.

 

[Proneutron]

Hmm, if a character had been doing that for a decade, along with all the rest that goes with dairy farming, I would figure a minimum skill level of 1 for Animals or Agriculture if those are skill options.

Not really. My mom grew up on a dairy farm in Western Wisconsin with her grandparents and all she did was help milk the cows in the morning. She did no other farm work as they had employees too. She had no other real animal husbandry knowledge. So DEFINITELY not a level 1 skill

 

[Proneutron]

I didn't write it for min/maxing, though I suppose you could use it that way.

Some characters may not want to enter careers with basic training they already have background skills for - this is a way to do that.

IRL that would be a very weird attitude. E.g. a person wants to be a pilot when they grow up. So, they manage to get a student license at age 17 (pilot-0) then turn down a scholarship because they will "waste" that training by getting further redundant pilot training at Embry-Riddle. It IS a decision made because of min-maxing. No other reason.

 

[Condottiere]

Neglected zero level skills probably need a little practice to get back the hang of them.

But the more you specialize, the more they require attention to keep them honed.

 

[CyborgPrime]

IRL that would be a very weird attitude. E.g. a person wants to be a pilot when they grow up. So, they manage to get a student license at age 17 (pilot-0) then turn down a scholarship because they will "waste" that training by getting further redundant pilot training at Embry-Riddle. It IS a decision made because of min-maxing. No other reason.

Well, you're entitled to your opinion.

Some people don't want to waste their time doing something now that they are going to get trained for later. Like most folks don't learn how to run a cash register because they figure they will learn if they ever work a retail job.

It's just compiled information - you can use it how you want or not use it at all. It's up to you.

 

[Proneutron]

Well, you're entitled to your opinion.

Right. And if someone has a logical counter-argument that would be great.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Trying to figure out how not to waste background skills (esp in Mongoose Traveller)?

Check out this analysis I did of Background Skills and Careers:
https://www.cyborgprime.com/traveller-rpg-blog/traveller-character-creation-best-background-skills

Nice work there. But I feel one level was missing. The "what if I get drafted?". What are the "best background skills" in this situation. You went for a career, even a military one, failed to get in and were drafted. So now what is your best choices?

 

[CyborgPrime]

E.g. a person wants to be a pilot when they grow up. One year, they are offered a chance to learn pilot or animal handling. They choose animal handling bc they love animals and know they are unlikely to get that skill at pilot school.

It's a game, not a real-life simulator.

Play it how you want. Take or leave the info. Some people like to have fewer skills, others like to have more; it's a matter of personal preference.

If you aren't interested you don't need to announce it - just scroll on by or write your own article.

 

[CyborgPrime]

Nice work there. But I feel one level was missing. The "what if I get drafted?". What are the "best background skills" in this situation. You went for a career, even a military one, failed to get in and were drafted. So now what is your best choices?

Good point, but isn't that already covered by the military backgrounds?

Technically, all Careers are random (you may fail your enlistment roll), so this info would be most useful for non-random character generation, or situations where you know you have a high chance of qualifying.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Not exactly, CyborgPrime. I think the "best" (optimal) would be the ones that appear least amongst all the draft picks. My brain is not up for doing number crunching assigning weight to each basic training skill among the drafts. and yes, I was thinkin along the lines of random, or semi-random generation.

 

[CyborgPrime]

I believe there's a table for that in the article.

 

[Timerover51]

In what edition of the rules do background skill appear?