A Very Playable Character
I think I can clear up some misperceptions about CT (and a lot of discussion above) by taking a look at a character with only a single skill to see how playable he is under the CT rules.
I think you'll see that this character is very playable given the game rules (and understanding this is why I said many people do not understand CT as much as they think they do).
First, we need a character. I'll look to 1001 Characters in order to find him. I'll take the first character printed in that book with only one skill.
And...look at that. Opening the book, I see the very first character, pg. 2, has only one skill.
Starman 569AA9 Age 22 1 Term Cr10,000
Pilot-1
This is an ex-Naval character. We'll call him Joe Starman.
Now, let's put Joe to the test. Let's look at prescribed throws described in CT materials and see how well this character can be played!!
Pg. 22, TTB: Joe needs to obtain lift papers (exit visa) so that he and his comrades can lift from a world where their ship has undergone its annual maintenance. This is an Administration throw. Joe needs 7+, but he's got a -3 DM for not having the skill.
Joe's throw is 2D for 10+.
Pg. 22, TTB: Joe is piloting an air/raft over a local hurricane. The throw is 5+, -1 DM for the weather.
Joe's throw is 2D for 6+.
Pg. 23, TTB: Joe is called, late at night, by a clerk working in the lift office (from the first example above). The clerk wants to meet Joe and sell him a lift paper. Suspicious, Joe thinks the paper may be fakes. The throw to determine if the paper is genuine or not is 6+.
Joe throws 2D for 6+.
Pg. 103, TTB: Joe decides to take on a training program. He decides to focus on weapons. He makes his dedication die throw of 8+. He looks at his STR and DEX and decides to train Blade and Shotgun.
NOTE! Joe has just, immediately, increased his total number of skills! Because of the way the Experience Rules work, Joe has just picked up two permanent skills that will not decrease (unless Joe chooses to decrease them later because of the Experience Limit).
So, Joe is now:
Starman 569AA9 Age 22 1 Term Cr10,000
Pilot-1, Shotgun-1, Blade-1
Pg. 29, TTB: Under the Default Skill rule, the GM decides that awarding Joe a Vacc Suit skill due to his Naval basic training.
Joe is now:
Starman 569AA9 Age 22 1 Term Cr10,000
Pilot-1, Shotgun-1, Blade-1, Vacc Suit-0
Not too shabby for a character that started out with only one skill.
Pg. 28, TTB: Joe, wearing a Vacc Suit, attempts to jump across a vacuum plain, from one ship to another. The throw is 10+.
Joe throws 2D for 10+.
Joe misses that throw! The GM allows him a throw (per the rules listed under the Vacc Suit skill) to catch onto the other ship or be free falling away from the vessel. The saving throw is 7+, with -4 DM if no expertise. But, Joe now has expertise, thanks to the Default Skill rule, and, thus, will have a difficulty of 7+ to save himself.
Joe throws 2D for 7+ to save himself.
Note: That Joe cannot use combat armor or battle dress because those special versions of vacc suits require Vacc Suit-1 skill or better.
Pg. 43, TTB: Joe attempts to throw his blade at an enemy at short range. The throw is 18+, with DMs of +DEX and +blade skill.
Joe throws 2D for 11+.
Pg. 45, TTB: Joe, in his Vacc Suit, is holding onto a handhold near the airlock, firing his shotgun with one hand, pointing it at the pirates jump across the vac plain from the other ship. Regardless of whether he hits or not, Joe has to roll to see if he remains in control after he fires his weapon.
The throw is 10+, -4 if firing a weapon, +5 if using a handhold.
Joe throws 2D for 9+.
Pg. 46, TTB: Now, let's how how Joe's hit (from above) fared. He needs 8+ to hit. He's +1 for shotgun skill, -1 handhold DEX penalty (pg. 45), +3 medium range, -3 defender's armor.
Joe throws 2D for 8+ to hit.
Pg. 50, TTB: Joe attempts to bring someone out of cold berth. The throw is 5+ (-1 DM is low passenger END 6-).
Joe throws 2D for 5+ or 2D for 6+, depending on passenger's END.
Pg. 60, TTB: If the ship gets into a scrape with pirates, note that Joe cannot operate the ship's weapons. Gunnery is one of the few expertise areas that requires training. Gunner-1 or better is required to operate ship's weapons.
IN SUMMATION: Joe Starman, with only one skill to start (using the rules to gain three additional skills), is a very playable character. He can work his way through red-tape on a planet, fly an air/raft, spot suspicious papers, operate in zero-G, participate in both gun and blade combat (even throwing weapons!), and even bring passengers out of cold sleep.
You could keep going with this character, looking through rules and situational throws in various CT supplements and adventures.
But, the point is: There are a lot of things a character can do without skills.
CT is designed that way.
Otherwise, the character with only 3 skills would be very boring, indeed, to play (and he could, unrealistically, do very little to influence events that occur around him).
