Character Retro Dancing

[Supplement Four]

OK, so I've convinced myself (mainly due to Tbeards' 2D6 thread) that I need to enforce the CT experience limit (that total skills for a character cannot exceed INT + EDU).

Because I allowed a switch in careers back during chargen (a year and a half ago we started this campaign), I've got a couple of characters with too many skills.

That's not a huge problem. I think I've got two characters of the main 11 with 2-3 more skill levels than they should have.

The problem is this die rolling phenomenon I had when a player rolled his butt off, coming up with the most incredible character I've ever seen in Traveller.

I've got to scale this guy back. The player ain't going to like it. He's got 42 skill levels!

Yep. 42 skill levels.

His INT-11, EDU-5 means I've got to scale back 26 skill levels.

Man, what a chore this is going to be. But, it needs to happen. I was the victim of unintended consequences when I allowed my players to keep going in chargen when they failed survival throws.

I'm trying to "fix" this.

And, I want to do it with minimal fuss.

Here's what I'm thinking:

The character gets a random point to a stat for every 1D6 skills that are rolled back.

For example, Bromely Riieve has 2 skills too man. So, the player will knock 2 skill levels from his current skills. I'll have him roll a D6. If he rolls a 3-6, then there is no benefit.

If he rolls a "2", then the gets 1 random stat improved 1 point.

If he rolls a "1", then he gets 1 random stat improved 1 point, and he gets to roll again, getinging another random stat point if he rolls a "1" a second time.

The idea behind the benefit is that I'm taking away skills earned in chargen, in order to retro-fit the INT + EDU limit. But, had the player known this going into chargen, then maybe he wouldn't have gone a 4th term..etc.

This is a way to give the player a "benefit" for doing the terms he did.

Now, with my character with 26 too many skill levels, I'm afraid his stats are going to blossom.

We've got a good story for this guy. There's a reason for him being the way he is.

But, on average, his stats are going to go up by 7 points!

I'm dead-set on enforcing the INT + EDU rule and retro-fitting the PCs with it (like I said, there's only three characters that need this, and two of them are just 2 points over their max).

Any other ideas on how to strip the one character of 26 skill levels and still reward him for time spent in all those terms?

I mean, after all, the player did make a bunch of unmodified stat aging checks when he rolled up the character. You wouldn't believe how this guy was rolling (with my dice)! Yeah, it was something to see.

I welcome input in handling this "character retro dancing" in another way...

S4

 

[far-trader]

Why not (re "The Master") simply trade skill levels (player's choices) for additions to EDU (representing serious learning) or INT until it balances. The reduction of 13 levels and addition of room for 13 more restores balance.

Same thing for any other characters that go over the limit. Trade skill levels for boost to INT or EDU (up to 15 max for either of course) until balance is reached.

And (in future) when generating characters, if at any point a character rolls a skill where it puts thier skill levels over the total INT + EDU then that skill level is a (player) choice of add for INT or EDU.

I think that makes more sense than some random skill for stat exchange, and the players will probably be happier having the choice of direction

 

[TheEngineer]

Hi !

BTW, when did the max skill number thing came up ? Well, when I started Traveller this rule was already there.

In this special and somehow extraordinary case, I would shift perhaps 13 levels to enhance Int and Edu to 14 and 15, leaving 29 skill levels, but also the potential to keep those all.
The player just has to reduce the level of some of his skills and perhaps drop some of them to 0-levels, which usually still would provide benefits (well, in MT, because being unskilled usually raised task difficulty) but do not have impact on skill accounting.
Maybe you could even allow the player to use some of his acquired skill levels to raise other physical characteristics, so that nothing is lost.
Now, just watching intellectual and educational parameters, the character really would be a different one (from undereducated to a super brain multi expert).

Keeping Int 11 / Edu 5, would force the player to reduce the skill levels enormously, but using the 0-level accounting rule, he still would perhaps be an extraordinary flexible and somehow interesting person. Here, too, you might allow to safe some skill levels by using them to enhance UPP characteristics.
Anyway he would perhaps appear a bit more natural than the first one.

But downsizing is always difficult....

regards,

TE

 

[Jame]

I never really liked the INT+EDU limit. Part of this is that I'm wavering between a couple of task systems which use a variant of "roll X dice against your skill+attribute;" the rest of this is a belief that you don't need it because you can have Int 3 Edu 3 characters who won't have many skills (such a character is [1] unplayable and [2] going to be severely limited under that limit).

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Jame:
I never really liked the INT+EDU limit.

I've decided to enforce the limit because of the mechanics of the 2D6 system.

The limit is really needed. That's why both CT and MT have that rule. The rule disappears when the game version strays away from the 2D6 model in TNE, T4, and later version of Trav.

Part of this is that I'm wavering between a couple of task systems which use a variant of "roll X dice against your skill+attribute;"

As in T4.

The problem with that type of system is that stats are overweighted.

Not only do skills contribute relatively little to the success of the roll, but stats are bloated due to that a single increase in stat greatly enhances success with every task governed by that stat. A +1 DEX is like saying the character just got a Skill-1 with every weapon the character will ever pick up and use.

Stats are very powerful in that type of game. Skills...they don't mean as much.

T5 will probably struggle with this issue.

... the rest of this is a belief that you don't need it because you can have Int 3 Edu 3 characters who won't have many skills (such a character is [1] unplayable and [2] going to be severely limited under that limit).

Any character is playable in the hands of a good role player.

Take the character Russlin Suvarrii from my game. His stats: 324A76

Would you want to play this guy? One hit, and he's dead.

But, me and the player playing him worked out a good story for this guy. He's the victim of a low berth accident. Suffered some physical trauma. And, since it happened aboard our PC captain's ship, the captain feels responsible for him.

The captain gave him a job. Russlin is the steward aboard the ADROIT PURSUIT. The player describes him as he walks...with a limp. He's not hunched-back, but the way he holds himself, it sometimes looks like that from a distance.

This guy's got character. Is he combat capable? No. The character actually has Brawling-6 (we reason, from before the accident), but if he got into a fight, a couple of punches, and he'd be out.

Right now, in my game, the PCs were repelling boarders aboard the PURSUIT. Russlin was a captive in with the boarders. The PCs on the bridge had the boarders trapped in the cargo bay. They were going to close off the atmo until the boarders collapsed for lack of oxy.

Well, Russlin's stats couldn't take it. He collapsed first, before any of the boarders...and this became the central part of an exceptional role-play encounter we had in our game, with the boarders bargaining with Russlin's life.

It was a pretty damn cool game.

That, combined with the way Russiln's player plays the character, this character with 324 physical stats has made quite an impact on my game.

I guess my point is: Any character is playable in the hands of a good player.

 

[BlackBat242]

Brawling 6?

I'd play him as a close-combat instructor who never actually exchanges blows with his students.

He is still capable of taking them through the movements, etc..., and just imagine what he could charge as fees to the minor nobles and wealthy upper-class commoners.

 

[Whipsnade]

Originally posted by Jame:
... because you can have Int 3 Edu 3 characters who won't have many skills (such a character is [1] unplayable and [2] going to be severely limited under that limit).

Jame,

Unplayable? That depends on what you consider 'playable' means. To me, such a PC would be a challenge to play and, being a challenge, would fun. YMMV. (This supposed 'lack' of skills also depends on how often you actually use skills and roll tasks during a session.)

Such a character would have a total of 6 skill levels and could easily have been through two LBB:3- CT terms. He could have 2 levels in some combat skill and a single level in 4 other skills. Picking at random here: ACR-2, Survival-1, Medic-1, Mechanic-1, and Gambling-1.

Does that look 'limited' to you?

Our 'severely limited' character could be a classic 'gun bunny' and one helluva a lot of fun to play. Think Forrest Gump.

Forrest was drafted out of his mommy's arms and into a hot war. He got through boot camp easily because he did exactly what his superiors told him to do. He essentially sleepwalked through the war itself in the same manner surviving while those around him didn't. He's just smart enough to know he's stupid. He's also just smart enough to know that, if he goes back home, he'll just end up mowing lawns. Fighting the war and meeting different people has shown him that life can be exciting. He travels to the starport and convinces a free trader captain to sign him aboard as 'security'. The fact that he has a strong back and will help with cargo handling is a point in his favor too. He knows how to gamble, but doesn't often know when not to gamble or when to stop. His crewmates are somewhat fond of him and look out for him during layovers. He doesn't mean to get into trouble, but he usually does.

Does that sound like a fun character to play in a few sessions or in a campaign? It does to me.

I remember an article from an old (early 80s) RPG magazine dealing with this very topic. The writer pointed out that we all (usually) roll up or fashion a character that is smart out of a desire to play a highly competent character. He also pointed but that such a habit limits game play and, more importantly, limits the fun we can have in a game. The writer then presented one of his favorite D&D characters, Ferd the Nerd.

The mentally challenged Ferd was well meaning, good natured, and always getting the party into minor trouble. He gave an example of Ferd charging into a dungeon room and tripping some sort of trap the party had to deal with. It was a riot and sounded like the players had a great deal of fun. The writer didn't play Ferd all the time, but he did enjoy playing him every so often.

I guess it all boils down to what you consider fun. I liked to mix it up once in a while so things didn't grow stale.


Have fun,
Bill

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by BlackBat242:
I'd play him as a close-combat instructor who never actually exchanges blows with his students.

Tis another creative way to play a character like that.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Bill Cameron:
I guess it all boils down to what you consider fun. I liked to mix it up once in a while so things didn't grow stale.

Back in the day, when Oriental Adventures first came out, I had a player roll up a Ninja that was on sojourn into the western part of the Forgotten Realms.

We established, the player and I, that the guy could understand some of the Common Tongue, but could barely speak it.

Through the entire campaign (this one lasted about a year), the player playing the Ninja would never speak in character. When the player did speak, it was always in the third person. "He does this. He goes over there and picks up the sword."

Typically, when a player spoke to the Ninja in character, the Ninja's player would just shake his head--yes or no.

The player would do this randomly, because he figured that the Ninja couldn't really understand what was being said anyway.

This lead to some hilarious adventures, I've got to tell you.

The other players (and me as GM) didn't know what to call him, so we took to calling him "Frank". Just "Frank".

To this day, Frank lives in our memories as some of the most memorable characters we've ever encounter.

After the campaign, "Frank" just walked off into the sunrise, east, never to be seen again.

I'm actually really glad he never got killed.

 

[tbeard1999]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
OK, so I've convinced myself (mainly due to Tbeards' 2D6 thread) that I need to enforce the CT experience limit (that total skills for a character cannot exceed INT + EDU).

The problem is this die rolling phenomenon I had when a player rolled his butt off, coming up with the most incredible character I've ever seen in Traveller.

I've got to scale this guy back. The player ain't going to like it. He's got 42 skill levels!

Yep. 42 skill levels.

His INT-11, EDU-5 means I've got to scale back 26 skill levels.

Man, what a chore this is going to be. But, it needs to happen. I was the victim of unintended consequences when I allowed my players to keep going in chargen when they failed survival throws.
S4

I'd handle this by talking to the player and explaining the situation. Most players are reasonable and surely your experience with Traveller gives you sufficient credibility to make your case to him.

If you feel the need to award him a consolation prize, perhaps a couple of karma points that can be spent to re-roll an adverse die roll or somesuch?

 

[Supplement Four]

Here's what I've decided to do.

The character is "over" by 26 skill levels. First off, we'll correct that so that the Experience Limit rule is in place.

I'm going to have the player roll 1D and subtract the roll from the total of 26. For example, if he rolls a "4", I'll give him a "benefit" but it cost him 4 of his 26 skills that he's pairing back. We'll roll 1D until all the 26 skills are gone.

The number of times he rolls the 1D is the number of "perks" I'll reward him in exchange for lowering his skill levels.

If he ends up rolling the 1D five times, and all five of those dice add up to 26 or more, then he'll get 5 "perks" in exchange for the downgrade.

Now, as for the perks...

I'm thinking a random +1 stat isn't a bad idea. I can hang with that. If a stat goes over 15, then the perk is lost.

I'm also thinking about material benefits for the perks. Maybe I'll pay off 10 years of his ship (which has been a financial issue in the game) as a perk.

Another perk could be that I'll let him roll on the cash table, increasing his personal wealth.

I guess I could give him some specific piece of equipment, if he wanted something.

Besides that, though, I'm at a loss.

Can anyone think of any ther perks I could give the player?









BTW, I also realize that the character could conceivable come out better than he was before in some areas. For example, his DEX-6 and SMG skill could see his DEX go up via the perk. I'm rolling randomly on perk stats, but if it goes up a few points, he'll get the DEX bonus with the weapon and actually be better with it because of that than he was before the skill reduction!

But, that's OK. I'll end up with a character who meets the experience rule.

Another thing that could easily happen is that his INT or EDU goes up due to a perk, and therefore his Experience Limit goes up...and not as many skills are reduced. But, I'm prepared for that.

Any thoughts on other perks for this guy?

 

[BlackBat242]

The normal mustering out rules allow a weapons skill to be substituted for an actual weapon of that type (or is it the other way around?), so maybe you can trade some weapons skills for the weapons themselves.

If he already has all the weapons he knows how to use, perhaps he can upgrade them to expensive, high-performance versions of the same type.


Similar things can be done with body armor, vacc suits, and other equipment.

 

[flykiller]

iou's. he knows a port master, a yard boss, and/or a shipper or other such, and they owe him a favor.

a degree in some educational institution that grants him some kind of standing.

a robot.

educational standing in a skill which is being downgraded. say, he downgrades pilot 4 to pilot 3. then once a week (or so), if he makes a check against his pilot skill and fails, he can try again once in that instance. (imtu that's the benefit of obtaining a skill in a school - you can try again if you fail a check.)

 

[Supplement Four]

Whelp,

My player came over tonight. We did a little of that there so-called character retro-dancing.

A year an a half ago, when I started my campaign, I ignored the Experience Limit rule. Now, I've seen the error of my ways and gone back and corrected the issue.

Two characters were "fixed" this night. What I did was have the player roll 1D. If the number of skills being fixed (removed from the character) was thrown on the 1D or less, I'd give the character something in return.

I talked about all sorts of things: Paying off 10 years of his ship loan. Allowing him to throw on the Cash table for some extra funds. I offered to do psionic training. And, I offered to throw 1D and randomly improve one stat. I was even open to any ideas the player had.

Well, the psionics were tempting, but in the end, he said his character would never go for it. He's too much of an "Imperial". It's an anathema. If he ever found out about anyone with psionics, he'd do something about--tell the authorities, or if no authorities were around, maybe do something worse.

I just beamed. As GM, I dig it when my players "get into" their characters and play them correctly.

Since the group, right now, is captured, without equipment, not knowing if they'll ever get their ship back, the temptation of material benefit didn't get far.

We ended up just improving stats in return for lowering total skills.

I allow each of my player to play two characters. I've learned over the years that this is a good policy, especially if you want to keep everyone involved all the time. Someone gets wounded or killed, there's another character to play (and, nobody has a problem staying behind with the ship either).

I've only got three characters out of eight that need to be lowered in skill levels to meet the Experience Limit. Two of them are played by a single player--the player who came over tonight.

Man, was he hot when we were rolling up characters. He couldn't miss a roll.

First, I started with the one character with the least skills to lose.

Salmon Jones, Personal Bodyguard to His Majesty, The Marquis Terran Tukera
888478
Pilot-1, Wheeled Vehicle-1, Dagger-1, Carousing-2, Liasion-1, Streetwise-1, Grav Vehicle-1, Electronics-1, Rifle-3, SMG-1, Tactics-1.

As you can see, this guy's got 14 total skills and an Experience Limit of 11.

We had to drop 3 skill levels. I had the player roll 1D for 3-. If he made the throw, I'd allow him to roll randomly and increase one stat. But, he rolled a 5. No benefit. The character just loses the skill levels, but I allowed the player to pick and choose which would be lowered.

Now, the character is retro-danced. Here's the new Salmon Jones:

888478
Pilot-1, Wheeled Vehicle-0, Dagger-1, Carousing-1, Liasion-1, Streetwise-1, Grav Vehicle-0, Electronics-1, Rifle-3, SMG-1, Tactics-1.

Not too shabby. I think the player made some good picks.






OK, now on to the monster. Take a look at this guy:

Captain Dexter Bryte, Owner/Operator/Pilot of the ADROIT PURSUIT
E6AB58
Combat Rifleman-1, Wheeled Vehicle-1, Blade-5, SMG-2, Gambling-5, Vacc Suit-1, Brawling-3, Forgery-1, Bribery-4, Medical-4, Engineering-1, Legal-1, Electronics-2, ATV-1, Grav Vehicle-2, Mechanical-3, Steward-1, Streetwise-1, Gunnery-1, Pilot-1.

Special Note: Bryte is 62 standard years old, the recipient of multiple organ transplants and lifespan prolong medical experimentation. He looks like a weight lifter and acts as if his body was 20-30 years younger.

Yep, this player was on fire. No, I didn't enforce survival when I was rolling up characters at the start of my campaign. If they bricked survival, I'd have them check to see if they were injured (if stats were reduced), and then I'd allow them to try for another career.

It didn't matter with this guy. He didn't fail any survival throws. This player was a rolling machine. I DID enforce the aging rolls, and he rolled something like 24 aging rolls, right in front of my eyes, and lost only 2. With no modifiers.

It was an amazing night.

I don't think I've ever seen anybody roll that well, ever, in my entire quarter century of gaming.

So, it was kinda sad when I had to pair this incredible character back. But, it was necessary. The guy had 41 skill and a Experience Limit of 16!

Tonight, we had some work to do. We had to pair back 25 skill levels!

I treated this guy just like the guy above. The player would roll 1D. We'd pair that number of skills back. Then, I'd give him a random increase to a stat.

Well, here's how the bonuses went:

1D roll of 6 meant 6 skill levels paired back for 1 stat increase.

1D roll of 6 meant the same.

1D roll of 1.

1D roll of 1.

1D roll of 6.

1D roll of 2.

And, since EDU was increased randomly by 1 point, we only needed to decrease the character by 1 more skill level rather than 2.

Now, that looks like the character got 6 stat increases, right?

Nope.

You see, his STR was already an E. I told him if it was raised over F that he'd lose the benefit.

Out of the six random rolls, he rolled STR 3 times!

Yep. STR increased to its max of F, and the other two benefits were lost.

Net result is that we retro-danced this character down to the tune of 24 skill levels and only increased his stats by 4 point in return.

Here's the new Dexter Bryte:

F8BB68
Combat Rifleman-1, Wheeled Vehicle-0, Blade-2, SMG-1, Gambling-0, Vacc Suit-1, Brawling-2, Forgery-0, Bribery-0, Medical-3, Engineering-1, Legal-0, Electronics-2, ATV-0, Grav Vehicle-0, Mechanical-2, Steward-0, Streetwise-1, Gunnery-0, Pilot-1.

Still, he's a pretty bad-assed character. Not too shabby for Classic Trav.

And, I'm happy because he fits into the Experience Limit now.

And that, folks, is how we did it.

 

[Straybow]

First I gotta say it: how is it even mathematically possible to get 41 skill levels in CT???? I don't know of any official CT rules that allow more than three rolls per term. This guy was only in for 11 terms.

Too many skills have nothing to do with Int or Edu. Especially reflex based physical skills. The obvious ones are combat related (guns, hand weapons, brawling, gunnery) and small craft piloting (at least VFR and stunt flying). It isn't in Traveller, but many people play music by ear, having no clue about theory and structure.

Do you need Int or Edu for carousing or streetwise? Gambling and bribery might not be subject to that limit either. They can be governed by an innate ability to "read" the people you're dealing with.

At the very least, many of these skills could be had at a level 1 without requiring the character to "study" and learn theory or design.

When you consider that, he's got the following unlimited skills (27 levels):
Combat Rifleman-1, Wheeled Vehicle-1, Blade-5, SMG-2, Gambling-5, Brawling-3, Bribery-4, ATV-1, Grav Vehicle-2, Streetwise-1, Gunnery-1, Pilot-1.

He's got the following Int+Edu limited skills (14 levels of 16 allowed):
Vacc Suit-1, Forgery-1, Medical-4, Engineering-1, Legal-1, Electronics-2, Mechanical-3, Steward-1.

If we move Bribery into the I+E limited category that's 18 levels, only over the max by 2.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Straybow:
First I gotta say it: how is it even mathematically possible to get 41 skill levels in CT???? I don't know of any official CT rules that allow more than three rolls per term. This guy was only in for 11 terms.

He was in two services because I allowed him to do another career after mustering out of one.

I used the MT Special Duty and 4+ rule.

And, no kiddin', this guy rolled like there was no tommorrow. I've never seen anything like it. It was incredible. The other players just watched (our first game session was CharGen), and it became a spectator sport.

And, he used MY dice.

It was really an amazing, remembered moment in my gaming career.

He could do no wrong.

Too many skills have nothing to do with Int or Edu.

It's a CT rule that I've decided to enforce (instead of ignore as you suggest).

It's really more about 2D mechanics than it is about INT or EDU governing anything.

But, I like the symmetry: First three stats are your "hit" points. One goes to zero, you're stunned/dazed/unconscious. Two goes to zero, you're seriously wounded. Three go to zero, you're dead.

The next two stats, together, make up your total skills. If you want to learn a new skill later, you have to lower one you haven't been using (once you've hit your max).

There's a certain elegance of design to that.

If we move Bribery into the I+E limited category that's 18 levels, only over the max by 2.

And, just FYI, one thing you're doing here that I don't do is assign one stat to one skill (as seen in MT, TNE, and T4 as well).

In my game, DEX doesn't always govern Rifle, for example.

When a character attempts to shoot somebody, then, sure DEX governs Rifle.

If the character sees a Rifle in a bazaar and he wants to judge its worth, then EDU governs Rifle.

The stat depends on the skill's use. I don't tie stats directly to skills. I use the stat that makes the most sense.

 

[BlackBat242]

Another example of not tying everything about a skill to one stat:

If the character wants to carry an "all-in-one" multi-function do-it-all combat rifle around... and his Str is 4... I don't give a hoot what his Dex is, he is going to have a negative DM on his "to hit", simply because he will be straining to lift that heavy thing after carrying it for a while.

 

[Straybow]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:

If we move Bribery into the I+E limited category that's 18 levels, only over the max by 2.

And, just FYI, one thing you're doing here that I don't do is assign one stat to one skill (as seen in MT, TNE, and T4 as well).

I'm saying that the Int+Edu limit should only apply to skills in a way that makes sense. Things that actually take intellectual effort to learn, practice, and perfect.

I'm saying that Rifle skill is shooting the thing, and is not the kind of skill to be Int+Edu limited. Just the opposite: shooters have to learn not to overthink a shot; to allow eye-hand coordination to become reflex. If the GM allows applying Rifle skill to a character's attempt to appraise a pawn shop rifle, that makes sense. But that doesn't define the skill.

If the character wants to become an expert at appraising weaponry, that would be a separate skill counting against the Int+Edu limit. It requires an accumulation of knowledge about manufacturers, models, and the like. That knowledge is of little help when it comes to getting that chunk of lead to hit the target. In fact, one could learn it without ever firing a rifle.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Straybow:
I'm saying that the Int+Edu limit should only apply to skills in a way that makes sense. Things that actually take intellectual effort to learn, practice, and perfect.

I completely understand where you were coming from. My answer to that, though, is that the Experience Limit is more of a limit needed for game mechanic reasons on a set of mechanics based on 2D.

Didn't you yourself show, in the other thread, how a +1 DM means so much more than it does in the d20 system?

The game can get unbalanced quickly. Which is why the Experience Limit (total skills = INT + EDU) should be enforced and why the Optional Survival Rule should be enforced (so that characters must end CharGen and not go on to other careers, earning more skills).

If you need a handwave, I kinda like what Marc writes under the experience system (in Book 3?). He says that a sniper is at the height of his game while he's training and being a professional sniper. If he doesn't keep practicing and keep his skills up, his expertise deteriorates (-1 skill level).

I can remember how to roller skate, but it's been so long since I've been on skates that I bet I'm Skill-0 (or Skill-1 at the max) on them today. Get me when I was in Junior High School, though, and I was hell on wheels.

I've applied that to my game. The Experience Limit is all the total skills a character can have (some skills are exempt, like anything I throw in for language or psionic skills), but if a character wants to learn a new skill, it's not a problem. We pick a skill he's been neglecting, lower it by a one level (it will never go below Level-0), making room to learn the new skill.

It works for me. And, I don't know of another rpg that has flexible, up & down skills like that.

But, the real benefit is that CT doesn't get unbalanced.

I haven't studied MT in this regard, but since characters get more skills in MT character gen (plus more benefit from stats at +0-3), and it's usining a 2D system, it might be unbalancing too (maybe not with it's higher common target numbers).

Bottom line, though, is that the Experience Limit is needed to keep the game balanced.

Otherwise, you've got too many character being successful on tasks 100% of the time.

 

[Straybow]

That's why I said to apply it to technical skills.

The other problem is the lack of cascade skills. In CT if you have Rifle-4 you still only function at skill level 0 with a Carbine in your hands. You need a huge allowance for a serious combatant.