Characters & Skills & Tech Level

[Supplement Four]

Consider, for a moment, a character who earns Medical-1 on a TL 4 world like Pysadi in the Aramis subsector of the Spinward Marches.

The US Civil War was fought at TL 4, and their method of dealing with gangrene before it spread was to chop off the effected body part. They were using maggots to clean out wounds. Early anesthetics, like the highly addictive morphine, had just made it on the scene. And, in some cultures around that time, medicines were still made from boiling plants and making sauves from crushed combinations.

Now, consider this character, and consider a character hailing from a world two parsecs away, Aramis, the subsector capital, at TL 11.

A character earning Medical-1 has an experience with medicine that is vastly different from the Pyadi character's experience. At TL 11, they're very comfortable with limb regeneration (which appeared two TLs previous). Take everything we know about medicine today, and ramp it up. Diagnostic machines. Expert Robots that can do specific jobs that some doctors aren't trained for. Miracle drugs compared to what's possible at TL 4. Etc.

Now, both of the characters meet, during a game, and try to help an injured crewman.

Who would you want helping you if you were shot...or sick?




I know that this type of thing is typically ignored in CT games. I used to just not think about it as well.

Then, I started a system where by I recorded the TL at which the character learned the skill. You can see this on the character sheet in my sig. Each skill has a TL blank next to it where I can record the TL that character knows that skill.

Well...

I'm unhappy with that.

I don't like the bookkeeping. I don't want to record that info any longer. I've found, in a game, I rarely refer to it anyway. It's wasted effort.

So, I'm trying to correct that.

I'm looking for an easy method. I want to forget about it most of the time but be able to reference it when needed--when common sense means its important.

If you handle this type of thing in your game, how do you handle it?

I'm looking for input.

If you know of a Traveller magazine article that references this type of thing, then point me the way.

Chances are, I'll come up with a rule I'm comfortable with, but I'm looking for inspiration.

Right now, I'm thinking that a "TL Range" will be more appropriate than a single TL associated with a skill. And, I'm thinking I'll figure this range just for the character--not specifically for every skill he has. That'll make it easier for NPC's as well.

I want to involve the EDU stat, too. Maybe the range is based on the EDU.

Or, maybe something simple, like rolling EDU or less when TL is a question.

I don't want something too fussy. I want something simple and easy with minimal or no bookkeeping.

Thoughts & Comments?

 

[Supplement Four]

Consider, for a moment, a character who earns Medical-1 on a TL 4 world like Pysadi in the Aramis subsector of the Spinward Marches.

The US Civil War was fought at TL 4, and their method of dealing with gangrene before it spread was to chop off the effected body part. They were using maggots to clean out wounds. Early anesthetics, like the highly addictive morphine, had just made it on the scene. And, in some cultures around that time, medicines were still made from boiling plants and making sauves from crushed combinations.

Now, consider this character, and consider a character hailing from a world two parsecs away, Aramis, the subsector capital, at TL 11.

A character earning Medical-1 has an experience with medicine that is vastly different from the Pyadi character's experience. At TL 11, they're very comfortable with limb regeneration (which appeared two TLs previous). Take everything we know about medicine today, and ramp it up. Diagnostic machines. Expert Robots that can do specific jobs that some doctors aren't trained for. Miracle drugs compared to what's possible at TL 4. Etc.

Now, both of the characters meet, during a game, and try to help an injured crewman.

Who would you want helping you if you were shot...or sick?




I know that this type of thing is typically ignored in CT games. I used to just not think about it as well.

Then, I started a system where by I recorded the TL at which the character learned the skill. You can see this on the character sheet in my sig. Each skill has a TL blank next to it where I can record the TL that character knows that skill.

Well...

I'm unhappy with that.

I don't like the bookkeeping. I don't want to record that info any longer. I've found, in a game, I rarely refer to it anyway. It's wasted effort.

So, I'm trying to correct that.

I'm looking for an easy method. I want to forget about it most of the time but be able to reference it when needed--when common sense means its important.

If you handle this type of thing in your game, how do you handle it?

I'm looking for input.

If you know of a Traveller magazine article that references this type of thing, then point me the way.

Chances are, I'll come up with a rule I'm comfortable with, but I'm looking for inspiration.

Right now, I'm thinking that a "TL Range" will be more appropriate than a single TL associated with a skill. And, I'm thinking I'll figure this range just for the character--not specifically for every skill he has. That'll make it easier for NPC's as well.

I want to involve the EDU stat, too. Maybe the range is based on the EDU.

Or, maybe something simple, like rolling EDU or less when TL is a question.

I don't want something too fussy. I want something simple and easy with minimal or no bookkeeping.

Thoughts & Comments?

 

[atpollard]

Suppose that the top surgeon from a modern hospital went hunting in rural Alaska and accidentially shot his guide. The surgeon has all of the skill and knowledge to deal with the injury, but he has only a hunting knife and some fishing line to treat the wound. The patient will bleed out if they try to transport him to a hospital first. Will the on-site trauma treatment be much different than the treatment in a Civil War hospital?

I would assume that Medical-1 skill involves reading the same text book at whatever TL Imperial world that you learned it (except a world with a class X starport). Local TL will affect what resources are available to treat the patient with, but that sounds like a modifier to the roll.

Since TL 9-12 is "average Imperial" - I would use +1 for treatment at TL 13+; -1 at TL 4-8; -2 at TL 0-3 ... or something close to that.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by atpollard:
Suppose that the top surgeon from a modern hospital went hunting in rural Alaska and accidentially shot his guide. The surgeon has all of the skill and knowledge to deal with the injury, but he has only a hunting knife and some fishing line to treat the wound. The patient will bleed out if they try to transport him to a hospital first. Will the on-site trauma treatment be much different than the treatment in a Civil War hospital?

That's a very good take. I like that--a view from the other side. That's the kind of thinking I'm looking for.

I would assume that Medical-1 skill involves reading the same text book at whatever TL Imperial world that you learned it (except a world with a class X starport). [/i]

Not necessarily. Let's say your character lays with the wrong ho and ends up with syphilis.

The low tech Med-1 character scratches his head, figures out you've got syphilis, tells you to "drink this", and hopes for the better. He might wrap your head with a cloth or send you out to die in a sanitorium.

The high tech Med-1 character knows that there's an antibiotic pill that will take care of that ailment in 24 hours.

I understand your point, saying "it depends on the equipment and technology available to the character". And, I think that's a very good consideration.

But, I don't think that a TL 4 Med-1 student and a TL 11 Med-1 student read the same text book. One reads about horrible methods of abortion, and the other reads about the "day after" pill.

It's not unlike reading a car manual from 1900 and a car manual from 2010. They're going to talk about *some* of the same things, but there's going to be a lot of things that are different too.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by atpollard:
Suppose that the top surgeon from a modern hospital went hunting in rural Alaska and accidentially shot his guide. The surgeon has all of the skill and knowledge to deal with the injury, but he has only a hunting knife and some fishing line to treat the wound. The patient will bleed out if they try to transport him to a hospital first. Will the on-site trauma treatment be much different than the treatment in a Civil War hospital?

That's a very good take. I like that--a view from the other side. That's the kind of thinking I'm looking for.

I would assume that Medical-1 skill involves reading the same text book at whatever TL Imperial world that you learned it (except a world with a class X starport). [/i]

Not necessarily. Let's say your character lays with the wrong ho and ends up with syphilis.

The low tech Med-1 character scratches his head, figures out you've got syphilis, tells you to "drink this", and hopes for the better. He might wrap your head with a cloth or send you out to die in a sanitorium.

The high tech Med-1 character knows that there's an antibiotic pill that will take care of that ailment in 24 hours.

I understand your point, saying "it depends on the equipment and technology available to the character". And, I think that's a very good consideration.

But, I don't think that a TL 4 Med-1 student and a TL 11 Med-1 student read the same text book. One reads about horrible methods of abortion, and the other reads about the "day after" pill.

It's not unlike reading a car manual from 1900 and a car manual from 2010. They're going to talk about *some* of the same things, but there's going to be a lot of things that are different too.

 

[Icosahedron]

My take on this depends on WHY the world is TL4.

Is it TL4 because it is a reservation world with little or no outside contact? Or is it TL4 because it is a recent colony and TL4 is the current limit of its uplift self-sufficiency?

In the latter case, everything of a higher tech has to be imported - like the latest medical facilities in the world's TL11 hospital module, whose resources (and teaching aids) are regularly replenished from off-world.

TL is just a general descriptor for the level of goods and services that can be produced IN HOUSE on that world. I would expect the farmers and mill-owners of the TL4 colony would be exchanging their native produce for the best medical facilities they can get.

Would the locals be able to afford to pay for a TL11 hospital ship to berth there indefinitely? If they can, it will happen - they are not going to watch their children die for want of imported technology. They will trade for anything they can't produce.

Another possibility is, of course, off-world study. If you have a TL13 teaching hospital two jumps away, where is daddy going to send you to learn medicine? That 32kCr return ticket will soon pay for itself.

The other alternative I've used is a 'Personal TL' where, for each 4 year term a character spends in a higher TL environment than his homeworld, his personal TL increases by 1 point, as he avidly reads up the latest info on any subject that interests him.

Hope that lot helps.

 

[Icosahedron]

My take on this depends on WHY the world is TL4.

Is it TL4 because it is a reservation world with little or no outside contact? Or is it TL4 because it is a recent colony and TL4 is the current limit of its uplift self-sufficiency?

In the latter case, everything of a higher tech has to be imported - like the latest medical facilities in the world's TL11 hospital module, whose resources (and teaching aids) are regularly replenished from off-world.

TL is just a general descriptor for the level of goods and services that can be produced IN HOUSE on that world. I would expect the farmers and mill-owners of the TL4 colony would be exchanging their native produce for the best medical facilities they can get.

Would the locals be able to afford to pay for a TL11 hospital ship to berth there indefinitely? If they can, it will happen - they are not going to watch their children die for want of imported technology. They will trade for anything they can't produce.

Another possibility is, of course, off-world study. If you have a TL13 teaching hospital two jumps away, where is daddy going to send you to learn medicine? That 32kCr return ticket will soon pay for itself.

The other alternative I've used is a 'Personal TL' where, for each 4 year term a character spends in a higher TL environment than his homeworld, his personal TL increases by 1 point, as he avidly reads up the latest info on any subject that interests him.

Hope that lot helps.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Icosahedron:
The other alternative I've used is a 'Personal TL' where, for each 4 year term a character spends in a higher TL environment than his homeworld, his personal TL increases by 1 point, as he avidly reads up the latest info on any subject that interests him.

Hope that lot helps.

That is a pretty cool idea.

In my campaign, I actually have a character from Pysadi. We reasoned he was the child of starport workers stationed on the world by the SPA.

Through chargen, the player "played" the character as if he couldn't wait to get off that rock--possibly not unlike the child of US oil workers stationed in the middle east or some third-world country.

The character, 18 yrs. old, took a position on the first tramp freighter that would have him (enlisted in the merchants). 12 years later, the character is Medical-3.

Now, I did consider his "homeworld" at TL 8, instead of TL 4, because the character grew up in the confines of the starport, rarely venturing off into Pysadi proper.

Your rule might work. Travelling on the starship, he'd be a TL 11 character by your standards.

Not a bad rule.

The little problem I see is this. Let's say the character, TL 8, joins the Merchants and gets Medical-1. By your rule, he's a TL 9 character. But, the training he got at the hands of a doctor from a TL 11 world, would train him to TL 11 standards, yes?

Hmmm...but then we're back to keeping track of TL for every skill, and I want to get away from that.

Let's kick it around in the old grey matter for a while and see what we come up with. I like the idea, though.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Icosahedron:
The other alternative I've used is a 'Personal TL' where, for each 4 year term a character spends in a higher TL environment than his homeworld, his personal TL increases by 1 point, as he avidly reads up the latest info on any subject that interests him.

Hope that lot helps.

That is a pretty cool idea.

In my campaign, I actually have a character from Pysadi. We reasoned he was the child of starport workers stationed on the world by the SPA.

Through chargen, the player "played" the character as if he couldn't wait to get off that rock--possibly not unlike the child of US oil workers stationed in the middle east or some third-world country.

The character, 18 yrs. old, took a position on the first tramp freighter that would have him (enlisted in the merchants). 12 years later, the character is Medical-3.

Now, I did consider his "homeworld" at TL 8, instead of TL 4, because the character grew up in the confines of the starport, rarely venturing off into Pysadi proper.

Your rule might work. Travelling on the starship, he'd be a TL 11 character by your standards.

Not a bad rule.

The little problem I see is this. Let's say the character, TL 8, joins the Merchants and gets Medical-1. By your rule, he's a TL 9 character. But, the training he got at the hands of a doctor from a TL 11 world, would train him to TL 11 standards, yes?

Hmmm...but then we're back to keeping track of TL for every skill, and I want to get away from that.

Let's kick it around in the old grey matter for a while and see what we come up with. I like the idea, though.

 

[aramis]

Traveller's Digest (DGP) had a good series of articles on Medicine in Traveller. Written for MT, but readily CT useful.

 

[aramis]

Traveller's Digest (DGP) had a good series of articles on Medicine in Traveller. Written for MT, but readily CT useful.

 

[tbeard1999]

The type of TL4 world is important. If it's a colony with access to modern technology, then I'd treat the Medical skill per normal rules. Third world doctors don't drop to 1860s medical knowledge merely because they go to an area that's roughly TL4.

If it's a TL4- world that has no real access to outside knowledge, I'd replace the Medical skill with Primitive Medicine (or, perhaps Chirurgery) and treat it as Medical-2 or somesuch. Or, yuld even detail it out - it would include First Aid, stopping bleeding, etc.

 

[tbeard1999]

The type of TL4 world is important. If it's a colony with access to modern technology, then I'd treat the Medical skill per normal rules. Third world doctors don't drop to 1860s medical knowledge merely because they go to an area that's roughly TL4.

If it's a TL4- world that has no real access to outside knowledge, I'd replace the Medical skill with Primitive Medicine (or, perhaps Chirurgery) and treat it as Medical-2 or somesuch. Or, yuld even detail it out - it would include First Aid, stopping bleeding, etc.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by tbeard1999:
The type of TL4 world is important. If it's a colony with access to modern technology, then I'd treat the Medical skill per normal rules. Third world doctors don't drop to 1860s medical knowledge merely because they go to an area that's roughly TL4.

If it's a TL4- world that has no real access to outside knowledge, I'd replace the Medical skill with Primitive Medicine (or, perhaps Chirurgery) and treat it as Medical-2 or somesuch. Or, yuld even detail it out - it would include First Aid, stopping bleeding, etc.

So, your suggestion is to take character TL on a case by case basis and just go with the GM's gut? No guideline rule...just do it the CT way?

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by tbeard1999:
The type of TL4 world is important. If it's a colony with access to modern technology, then I'd treat the Medical skill per normal rules. Third world doctors don't drop to 1860s medical knowledge merely because they go to an area that's roughly TL4.

If it's a TL4- world that has no real access to outside knowledge, I'd replace the Medical skill with Primitive Medicine (or, perhaps Chirurgery) and treat it as Medical-2 or somesuch. Or, yuld even detail it out - it would include First Aid, stopping bleeding, etc.

So, your suggestion is to take character TL on a case by case basis and just go with the GM's gut? No guideline rule...just do it the CT way?

 

[Supplement Four]

Right now I'm thinking that the easiest way to do this is to assign a TL to the character, just like you would a planet.

Then, it's easy to consider individual skill checks from that POV during a game.

If I go this way, the question becomes...how do I assign the TL? Where do I get it?

And, I guess the easiest answer to that is to look at where the character has spent most of his time.

Ico's idea is not a bad one. He said to take the TL of the character's homeworld and raise it by 1 for every 4 year term spent at a higher level.

Although I like that concept, I think that needs a little work.

What about a scientist watching aborigines on a low tech planet for a long time. They certainly wouldn't decrease in personal TL. I'm sure they'd stay the same.

Also, we have to consider something else. A character form a TL 4 world is recurited by a mercenary unit, a-la Hammer's Slammers, outfitted to TL 12.

The recruit spends 2 terms with the mercenaries. He's only TL 6 when he gets out? I mean, he learned everything he knows at TL 11! So, that doesn't compute for me.

And...

Most people in Traveller learn their skills post-18 years old. I think THIS is where we should look for inspiration on the character's personal TL. The character in the above mercenary example will jump from a TL 4 character to a TL 11 one. "I'm home, ma! Know what a plasma gun is?"





More questions pop up: What happens when a character changes careers (if you allow that in your game). Let's say the TL 4 kid in the example above becomes a TL 11 man during his two terms with those mercenaries. Then, he musters out at age 26 and gets a job, working for The Man, in the Bureaucrat career on a TL 9 world.

He spends a term doing that, then goes into game play at age 30.

How would one reconcile that TL? He's TL 4 at birth. TL 11 in the military. Then TL 9 for the last four years?

Maybe Ico's idea comes into play here? Only TL decrease is handled by -1 TL per 4 years (so our character would end up as a TL 10 character).

Or...does it ever go down? Maybe it can just go up?

All things to consider.

 

[Supplement Four]

Right now I'm thinking that the easiest way to do this is to assign a TL to the character, just like you would a planet.

Then, it's easy to consider individual skill checks from that POV during a game.

If I go this way, the question becomes...how do I assign the TL? Where do I get it?

And, I guess the easiest answer to that is to look at where the character has spent most of his time.

Ico's idea is not a bad one. He said to take the TL of the character's homeworld and raise it by 1 for every 4 year term spent at a higher level.

Although I like that concept, I think that needs a little work.

What about a scientist watching aborigines on a low tech planet for a long time. They certainly wouldn't decrease in personal TL. I'm sure they'd stay the same.

Also, we have to consider something else. A character form a TL 4 world is recurited by a mercenary unit, a-la Hammer's Slammers, outfitted to TL 12.

The recruit spends 2 terms with the mercenaries. He's only TL 6 when he gets out? I mean, he learned everything he knows at TL 11! So, that doesn't compute for me.

And...

Most people in Traveller learn their skills post-18 years old. I think THIS is where we should look for inspiration on the character's personal TL. The character in the above mercenary example will jump from a TL 4 character to a TL 11 one. "I'm home, ma! Know what a plasma gun is?"





More questions pop up: What happens when a character changes careers (if you allow that in your game). Let's say the TL 4 kid in the example above becomes a TL 11 man during his two terms with those mercenaries. Then, he musters out at age 26 and gets a job, working for The Man, in the Bureaucrat career on a TL 9 world.

He spends a term doing that, then goes into game play at age 30.

How would one reconcile that TL? He's TL 4 at birth. TL 11 in the military. Then TL 9 for the last four years?

Maybe Ico's idea comes into play here? Only TL decrease is handled by -1 TL per 4 years (so our character would end up as a TL 10 character).

Or...does it ever go down? Maybe it can just go up?

All things to consider.

 

[tbeard1999]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by tbeard1999:
The type of TL4 world is important. If it's a colony with access to modern technology, then I'd treat the Medical skill per normal rules. Third world doctors don't drop to 1860s medical knowledge merely because they go to an area that's roughly TL4.

If it's a TL4- world that has no real access to outside knowledge, I'd replace the Medical skill with Primitive Medicine (or, perhaps Chirurgery) and treat it as Medical-2 or somesuch. Or, yuld even detail it out - it would include First Aid, stopping bleeding, etc.

So, your suggestion is to take character TL on a case by case basis and just go with the GM's gut? No guideline rule...just do it the CT way? </font>[/QUOTE]Pretty much

Seems to me that the problem only arises if the character is *not* from a colony-type world (i.e., low tech because its unable to make high tech stuff, but possessing high tech knowledge).

But even then, I notice that the CT character generation systems assume that (regardless of origin), a character's career takes place in a technological civilization. I base this on the presence in the skill charts of high tech skills like Electronics, Computer, Forward Observer, Air Raft etc. Even the Barbarian career has Mechanical (which could mean windmills and crossbows rather than gas turbine power plants).

So the assumption must be that while someone may be from a primitive world, his or her career is spent in the normal high tech world. In fact, the explanation for how he wound up in outer space could provide some interesting roleplaying opportunities.

I once had a player who came from a world that looked a lot like France circa 1620 ("one for all and all for one, HUZZAH").

I don't recall if we actually rolled that; it could have been part of his character concept. He was of the minor nobility (Soc 10 IIRC), but unlanded. He had a good back story to explain how he was "volunteered" by his parents for the Imperial Army. (It involved inheritances, a liason with a girl promised to a higher ranking nobleman, etc.)

He wound up with an unusually high level of blade combat skill, so he made that part of his background, taking Foil, of course. Of course, there was an adventure in which everyone got to pretend they were Musketeers.

And the military careers might be particularly hospitable to folks from primitive worlds. Some might even prefer to recruit from "savage" worlds. The modern-day British recruit "primitive" Ghurkas, for example. Other careers might be opened to primitives by charitable organizations, or government organizations attempting to bring the blessings of True Civilization to the primitives. (As an aside, I have a number of semi-Red Zone worlds where the Scout Service allows contact, but restricts high tech weaponry and equipment. I play the Scouts administering these worlds as naive sorts who have bought into the "noble savage" myth just a bit. Anyhow, this allows for fun "fish out of water" stories.)

So I'd default to the idea that the skills are high tech skills, except for (maybe) barbarians. But if a player wants to take primitive equavalents of certain skills, why not let him (assuming it's appropriate for his background)? Imagine the first time the doctor tries to treat a wounded player character with leeches...

I might let the player slowly "upgrade" to the high tech skill.

--Ty

 

[tbeard1999]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by tbeard1999:
The type of TL4 world is important. If it's a colony with access to modern technology, then I'd treat the Medical skill per normal rules. Third world doctors don't drop to 1860s medical knowledge merely because they go to an area that's roughly TL4.

If it's a TL4- world that has no real access to outside knowledge, I'd replace the Medical skill with Primitive Medicine (or, perhaps Chirurgery) and treat it as Medical-2 or somesuch. Or, yuld even detail it out - it would include First Aid, stopping bleeding, etc.

So, your suggestion is to take character TL on a case by case basis and just go with the GM's gut? No guideline rule...just do it the CT way? </font>[/QUOTE]Pretty much

Seems to me that the problem only arises if the character is *not* from a colony-type world (i.e., low tech because its unable to make high tech stuff, but possessing high tech knowledge).

But even then, I notice that the CT character generation systems assume that (regardless of origin), a character's career takes place in a technological civilization. I base this on the presence in the skill charts of high tech skills like Electronics, Computer, Forward Observer, Air Raft etc. Even the Barbarian career has Mechanical (which could mean windmills and crossbows rather than gas turbine power plants).

So the assumption must be that while someone may be from a primitive world, his or her career is spent in the normal high tech world. In fact, the explanation for how he wound up in outer space could provide some interesting roleplaying opportunities.

I once had a player who came from a world that looked a lot like France circa 1620 ("one for all and all for one, HUZZAH").

I don't recall if we actually rolled that; it could have been part of his character concept. He was of the minor nobility (Soc 10 IIRC), but unlanded. He had a good back story to explain how he was "volunteered" by his parents for the Imperial Army. (It involved inheritances, a liason with a girl promised to a higher ranking nobleman, etc.)

He wound up with an unusually high level of blade combat skill, so he made that part of his background, taking Foil, of course. Of course, there was an adventure in which everyone got to pretend they were Musketeers.

And the military careers might be particularly hospitable to folks from primitive worlds. Some might even prefer to recruit from "savage" worlds. The modern-day British recruit "primitive" Ghurkas, for example. Other careers might be opened to primitives by charitable organizations, or government organizations attempting to bring the blessings of True Civilization to the primitives. (As an aside, I have a number of semi-Red Zone worlds where the Scout Service allows contact, but restricts high tech weaponry and equipment. I play the Scouts administering these worlds as naive sorts who have bought into the "noble savage" myth just a bit. Anyhow, this allows for fun "fish out of water" stories.)

So I'd default to the idea that the skills are high tech skills, except for (maybe) barbarians. But if a player wants to take primitive equavalents of certain skills, why not let him (assuming it's appropriate for his background)? Imagine the first time the doctor tries to treat a wounded player character with leeches...

I might let the player slowly "upgrade" to the high tech skill.

--Ty

 

[Icosahedron]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:

The little problem I see is this. Let's say the character, TL 8, joins the Merchants and gets Medical-1. By your rule, he's a TL 9 character. But, the training he got at the hands of a doctor from a TL 11 world, would train him to TL 11 standards, yes?

Hmmm...but then we're back to keeping track of TL for every skill, and I want to get away from that.

As I see it: He's a TL9 character taught by a TL11 doctor. He understands some, but not all of what he was taught, and can only function as a TL9 medic. However, as his Personal TL continues to increase over time, he will begin to figure out what the old guy was talking about as he continues to research and practise to the best of his current ability. By the time he reaches TL11, he will be fully conversant with everything he was taught and will finally have the knowledge and experience to put it all into practice.
If he continues to progress to TL12, he may well be able to show his old tutor a thing or two.

Note that this is not the same as a skill increase, though. As a Medic-1, he will still only learn paramedic skills. (however, a TL12 paramedic may have more life-saving skill than a TL4 doctor, as we have seen.)

Think of this: An Engineer nearing retirement today (TL7/8) may have graduated at TL6 (1958)
However, he is not limited to TL6 technology - his Personal TL has increased as he has aged, he has kept abreast of the latest developments and his Engineer-3 status has now been uprated to TL8.
The technician he went to school with (who never graduated) will now be a TL8 Engineer-2, even though he left college as a TL6 Engineer-2.
Does that make sense?