Cascading Skills

[atpollard]

Originally posted by Eyeball:
Although you could go down further and further specialisations, you might consider putting a cap on the depth of the cascade to stop things from getting specified to a rather silly level.

My inclination would be to increase the cascade system and make sure that things don't go beyond roughly three levels.

How common are skill levels above 3 (4+) in YTU?
1. There are none.
2. A few people have one.
3. Most people have one.
4. Most people have more than one.
5. Everyone has more than one.

What is the highest skill level YOUR character has ever had?

I'd also try to keep a goal of having no skill be too useful or useless. The vehicle example is a good example of the system but the highest level Vehicle-1 seems almost too useful, giving you a better chance at driving a racing car, a tall ship, or a biplane.

Most of the cascade skills are level-0 type skills, so most characters have access to them already. It is an increase from level 0 to level 1, but how much of a difference is that really?

How much training do people get before they are allowed to operate a 12' fishing boat? Almost None. I have never driven a bulldozer or tractor-trailer in my life, but I am fairly confident that I could start either of them up and perform simple maneuvers if I tried. I assume that operating an air raft will be closer to driving a car than flying an F-15.

Having been trained in Wheeled Ground Car-1, I could probably also operate a small watercraft, a tracked vehicle, a large wheeled vehicle or an air raft. Fancy tricks and repairs would require higher skill levels, but that is a referee judgement issue and not really part of the rules.

Some vehicles (like the F-15) might require a higher skill level to operate - referee call.

You could also make Vehicle-0 and move up the specialization to Grav vehicle-1, etc.

The original goal was to make the Character generation roll (Blade Cbt, Vehicle, etc.) a level 1 skill and the specific equipment item (revolver, air raft, etc.) a level 3 skill - for uniformity, simplicity and ease of use.

 

[atpollard]

Originally posted by Eyeball:
Although you could go down further and further specialisations, you might consider putting a cap on the depth of the cascade to stop things from getting specified to a rather silly level.

My inclination would be to increase the cascade system and make sure that things don't go beyond roughly three levels.

How common are skill levels above 3 (4+) in YTU?
1. There are none.
2. A few people have one.
3. Most people have one.
4. Most people have more than one.
5. Everyone has more than one.

What is the highest skill level YOUR character has ever had?

I'd also try to keep a goal of having no skill be too useful or useless. The vehicle example is a good example of the system but the highest level Vehicle-1 seems almost too useful, giving you a better chance at driving a racing car, a tall ship, or a biplane.

Most of the cascade skills are level-0 type skills, so most characters have access to them already. It is an increase from level 0 to level 1, but how much of a difference is that really?

How much training do people get before they are allowed to operate a 12' fishing boat? Almost None. I have never driven a bulldozer or tractor-trailer in my life, but I am fairly confident that I could start either of them up and perform simple maneuvers if I tried. I assume that operating an air raft will be closer to driving a car than flying an F-15.

Having been trained in Wheeled Ground Car-1, I could probably also operate a small watercraft, a tracked vehicle, a large wheeled vehicle or an air raft. Fancy tricks and repairs would require higher skill levels, but that is a referee judgement issue and not really part of the rules.

Some vehicles (like the F-15) might require a higher skill level to operate - referee call.

You could also make Vehicle-0 and move up the specialization to Grav vehicle-1, etc.

The original goal was to make the Character generation roll (Blade Cbt, Vehicle, etc.) a level 1 skill and the specific equipment item (revolver, air raft, etc.) a level 3 skill - for uniformity, simplicity and ease of use.

 

[Ranger]

You might want to look at the way the Serenity RPG deals with skills. You have broad basic skills, but you can only get them up to a relativly low level. After that you have to take more specialized skills, which you can only get at a higher level. So, to translate that into Traveller you could get Handgun at level 1. After that you would have to take a specific weapon skill, like autopistol 2. If you get a third handgun skill, you could take it as autopistol 3 or revolver 2.

Trasnportation skills are a little more tricky, because I think it depends on the tech level of the vehicle. First and second generation vehicles are a lot harder to operate than later models. With ground car 1 you could probably drive a Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, but not an M113 APC because the M113 controls are nothing like a car. A TL 9 or 10 Grav car is probably going to be very tricky to control, like a Heliocopter, but a TL 11 or 12 one is probably going to drive just like a ground car.

 

[Ranger]

You might want to look at the way the Serenity RPG deals with skills. You have broad basic skills, but you can only get them up to a relativly low level. After that you have to take more specialized skills, which you can only get at a higher level. So, to translate that into Traveller you could get Handgun at level 1. After that you would have to take a specific weapon skill, like autopistol 2. If you get a third handgun skill, you could take it as autopistol 3 or revolver 2.

Trasnportation skills are a little more tricky, because I think it depends on the tech level of the vehicle. First and second generation vehicles are a lot harder to operate than later models. With ground car 1 you could probably drive a Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, but not an M113 APC because the M113 controls are nothing like a car. A TL 9 or 10 Grav car is probably going to be very tricky to control, like a Heliocopter, but a TL 11 or 12 one is probably going to drive just like a ground car.