Straybow
SOC-14 1K
Bored on a rainy day, so I decide to break out the T5 pdf and fiddle a bit.
I got the Homeworld result VHiTech, Starport A and consulted the applicable table. For some reason, the most likely results were not HiPop worlds with tens of billions of citizens (2,3,9,12 = 8 of 36), but LoPop worlds with thousands of citizens (6-8 = 16 of 36).
Second, homeworld skills depend entirely on trade classifications. I can see how the available skills will skew toward trade classifications. But why does a Na Ind Ast HiPop Va world get 5 skills while a Ri world 1 skill independent of character's Edu score? Or for that matter, Soc score?
A character with low Soc would likely be from an impoverished background and have few opportunities to learn technical skills, regardless of world or Edu. A character of low Edu would likely have few viable skills regardless of homeworld or Soc.
Moving on, I plan an academic course for the character, which I will relate as narrative:
Edu 11 (upper 4-8% of population) does save him 1 year off the normal study time, but so would a mere Edu 8 (stats of 5-9 are all within 1 std deviation of the median, so should have no benefit or penalty). I also notice that no Academic skills (teaching and research) are available at Uni.
Furthermore, the player has a choice of taking skills from the declared major or rolling from the table, rather than requiring a specific set of skills related to degree and major.
Lastly, University attendance accumulates skills at a slower rate than frequently encountered during a career (which often grants extra skills for commission and promotion). University is a period of life most dedicated to training, whereas career often involves mindlessly repeating the same tasks rather than learning new skills.
Once again, Edu, Int, Honors, and skill in Research or Medical give no bonus to application or perseverence. Of those, only Int applies to the roll for Honors. This time Ritun fails his Perseverence roll.
Aarghh! It means that this dedicated, skilled man suddenly decides to chuck it all and live a life of fraud, posing as a Noble at the risk of prison (or perhaps worse)? What the heck? No, this is entirely unreasonable.
I propose an alternative allowing Noble service for those with Soc below 11. Noble service surely must include advisors, confidants, even huscarles, butlers, and lowlier types of servants. Another possibility is serving a landed Noble in his/her fiefdom rather than in direct service of the Imperium.
The fortunes of the citizen in service to a Noble rise and fall with his Patron, Knighthood and Elevation are applied to the Patron Noble. Or in the case of serving in a Noble fiefdom the Patron is mustered out and his/her career is already fixed. Following this line of reasoning, the character isn't forced to be a criminal.
I notice that only Medical school has the possibility of building up a formidible expertise. University should include 2 levels in one career specific skill for those who persevere.
Skill rolls spread out so widely that even concentrating all rolls on one table is unlikely to help. 10 of 16 rolls were taken on the Career table, giving 6 skills at level 1 and 2 skills at level 2.
Of course, a Medical career should include some possibility of continuing growth in that field, but only a few services make that remotely possible. The same problem occurs to a lesser degree in any other field. An engineer can hardly specialize in one branch, instead getting a smattering of levels in gravitics, screens, gunnery, electronics, etc.
What is needed is some way to track mission specialization and relate skills to it. At the minimum there should be an option to allow at least one skill slot for each term be applied to any existing skill of the players choice.
More than likely, the majority of skills for each term of service should be applied to the mission, and only one or two allocated to an auxiliary field or personal development.
I got the Homeworld result VHiTech, Starport A and consulted the applicable table. For some reason, the most likely results were not HiPop worlds with tens of billions of citizens (2,3,9,12 = 8 of 36), but LoPop worlds with thousands of citizens (6-8 = 16 of 36).
Second, homeworld skills depend entirely on trade classifications. I can see how the available skills will skew toward trade classifications. But why does a Na Ind Ast HiPop Va world get 5 skills while a Ri world 1 skill independent of character's Edu score? Or for that matter, Soc score?
A character with low Soc would likely be from an impoverished background and have few opportunities to learn technical skills, regardless of world or Edu. A character of low Edu would likely have few viable skills regardless of homeworld or Soc.
Moving on, I plan an academic course for the character, which I will relate as narrative:
At this point I notice that neither his 11 Edu (ie, experience and very high aptitude for study and testing, since he has not yet achieved a Doctorate) nor his modest skill of Research is of any benefit to Perseverence or Honors.
Edu 11 (upper 4-8% of population) does save him 1 year off the normal study time, but so would a mere Edu 8 (stats of 5-9 are all within 1 std deviation of the median, so should have no benefit or penalty). I also notice that no Academic skills (teaching and research) are available at Uni.
Furthermore, the player has a choice of taking skills from the declared major or rolling from the table, rather than requiring a specific set of skills related to degree and major.
Lastly, University attendance accumulates skills at a slower rate than frequently encountered during a career (which often grants extra skills for commission and promotion). University is a period of life most dedicated to training, whereas career often involves mindlessly repeating the same tasks rather than learning new skills.
Now in Med school the intensive learning environment that should be applicable to University kicks in. For each year the student gains one level in Medical plus a roll on the table (3 of 6 results are Medical).
Once again, Edu, Int, Honors, and skill in Research or Medical give no bonus to application or perseverence. Of those, only Int applies to the roll for Honors. This time Ritun fails his Perseverence roll.
Here the process is unclear: does the player have to roll again to persevere after getting a waiver? Normally for failed perseverence the character accrues 1-3 years worth of experience. For Med school 2-4 years remain; perhaps it is assumed the close call staves off habits that interfered with perseverence before.
I rolled a twelve. This means Ritun must submit either to the Draft or the random assignment. I choose the random (2D) assignment and roll a two.
Aarghh! It means that this dedicated, skilled man suddenly decides to chuck it all and live a life of fraud, posing as a Noble at the risk of prison (or perhaps worse)? What the heck? No, this is entirely unreasonable.
I propose an alternative allowing Noble service for those with Soc below 11. Noble service surely must include advisors, confidants, even huscarles, butlers, and lowlier types of servants. Another possibility is serving a landed Noble in his/her fiefdom rather than in direct service of the Imperium.
The fortunes of the citizen in service to a Noble rise and fall with his Patron, Knighthood and Elevation are applied to the Patron Noble. Or in the case of serving in a Noble fiefdom the Patron is mustered out and his/her career is already fixed. Following this line of reasoning, the character isn't forced to be a criminal.
T5 is based on a task system, so why isn't the task system used in generation? Application for Service should be a Difficult task based on various Service-related stats plus homeworld and educational skill levels. Perseverence should be a Formidable or Staggering task based on relevant stats. Apply bonuses or penalties based on secondary stats or skills.
I notice that only Medical school has the possibility of building up a formidible expertise. University should include 2 levels in one career specific skill for those who persevere.
Skill rolls spread out so widely that even concentrating all rolls on one table is unlikely to help. 10 of 16 rolls were taken on the Career table, giving 6 skills at level 1 and 2 skills at level 2.
Of course, a Medical career should include some possibility of continuing growth in that field, but only a few services make that remotely possible. The same problem occurs to a lesser degree in any other field. An engineer can hardly specialize in one branch, instead getting a smattering of levels in gravitics, screens, gunnery, electronics, etc.
What is needed is some way to track mission specialization and relate skills to it. At the minimum there should be an option to allow at least one skill slot for each term be applied to any existing skill of the players choice.
More than likely, the majority of skills for each term of service should be applied to the mission, and only one or two allocated to an auxiliary field or personal development.
