Jack-O-Trades and Zero-Level Skills

[Golan2072]

I'm considering the following ideas about Zero-Level Skills and the use of the J-O-T Skill:

1) Zero-Level Skill Availability:

1a) Any character from a homeworld with an Atmosphere of 0 or 1, or who have served in a space-bourn service (Navy, Marines, Merchants, Scouts, Pirates, Belters and so on) recieves Vacc Suit-0.

1b) Any character from a world of TL5-9 recieves Ground Vehicle-0.

1c) Any character from a world of TL10+ who posses SOC 8+ recieves Grav Vehicle-0.

1d) Any character who have served in a military or paramilitary career (Army, Marines, Navy, Fliers, Sailors, Hunters and Law Enforecement) may choose ONE weapon skill as skill-zero.

1e) In addition, each character recieves EDU/2 (round down) zero-level skills to be chosen freely (subject to the referee's consent, ofcourse). For example, a character with EDU 7 may choose 3 zero-level skills. These skills come in addition to any zero-level skills recieved by virtue of a character's homeworld or career.

2) If a character uses a skill he has neither a "real" skill or a skill-0 in, he suffers from DM-4.

3) Jack-O-Trades allows a character to attempt to recieve a "skill-0-equivalent" to a specific task; this attemp is, by itself, a UGM task of Jack-O-Trades/EDU/Difficulty-DM, where the Difficulty DM is determined by the skill. I'll add the J-O-T DMs to the next version of my skill-list. For example, Vacc Suit will have a J-O-T DM of +2; a character without any Vacc Suit skill but with J-O-T will roll Jack-O-Trades/EDU/+2, and, if successful, will be able to use a Vacc Suit as if he had Vacc Suit-0. Note that J-O-T could not be aquired by itself as a "Skill-0".

 

[Golan2072]

I'm considering the following ideas about Zero-Level Skills and the use of the J-O-T Skill:

1) Zero-Level Skill Availability:

1a) Any character from a homeworld with an Atmosphere of 0 or 1, or who have served in a space-bourn service (Navy, Marines, Merchants, Scouts, Pirates, Belters and so on) recieves Vacc Suit-0.

1b) Any character from a world of TL5-9 recieves Ground Vehicle-0.

1c) Any character from a world of TL10+ who posses SOC 8+ recieves Grav Vehicle-0.

1d) Any character who have served in a military or paramilitary career (Army, Marines, Navy, Fliers, Sailors, Hunters and Law Enforecement) may choose ONE weapon skill as skill-zero.

1e) In addition, each character recieves EDU/2 (round down) zero-level skills to be chosen freely (subject to the referee's consent, ofcourse). For example, a character with EDU 7 may choose 3 zero-level skills. These skills come in addition to any zero-level skills recieved by virtue of a character's homeworld or career.

2) If a character uses a skill he has neither a "real" skill or a skill-0 in, he suffers from DM-4.

3) Jack-O-Trades allows a character to attempt to recieve a "skill-0-equivalent" to a specific task; this attemp is, by itself, a UGM task of Jack-O-Trades/EDU/Difficulty-DM, where the Difficulty DM is determined by the skill. I'll add the J-O-T DMs to the next version of my skill-list. For example, Vacc Suit will have a J-O-T DM of +2; a character without any Vacc Suit skill but with J-O-T will roll Jack-O-Trades/EDU/+2, and, if successful, will be able to use a Vacc Suit as if he had Vacc Suit-0. Note that J-O-T could not be aquired by itself as a "Skill-0".

 

[Plankowner]

What do you give to the TLA+ person without the SS8+? They don't get ground vehicle and they don't get Grav vehicle...

No Grav Taxi Drivers? No Chauffeurs?

Why not just use the EDU/2 thing and make them pick skills that would be appropriate for their background and homeworld? What you give would be a good guide, but there are plenty of people around today, age 18, that I would say have not earned Ground Vehicle-0.

My guess is that your players will pick the kind of skills that would make sense for their envisioned background.

Why give former military people a Weapon-0 skill? Shouldn't they have weapons skills already? OR, is this in addition to any rolled skills? WHY?

Vacc Suit-0 makes sense to me. You might even be able to convince me that MANY people might have VaccSuit-0, even if their HW has an atmosphere. If they ever took a vacation to an orbiting station, they would have been given some instructions, so just about everyone of TLA+ worlds should have a chance.

Maybe you could use EDU in Zero level skills with no automatics at all? As GM you could keep things pointed in the right direction. I would give myself Weapon-0 in a LOT of different types of weapons, but probably only Pistol-1 and Shotgun-1; maybe Sword-1 and Blade-1. But, I am not unfamiliar with most other types of "primitive" and modern weapons. I've even fired an AutoRifle; not every accurately, but I've done it and if I had to do it again, I would be a lot more accurate.

Level-0 skills should be fairly easy to get, IMHO, a few minutes fiddling with it, or firing off a few rounds should be enough in most cases. Your Mileage May Vary.

 

[Plankowner]

What do you give to the TLA+ person without the SS8+? They don't get ground vehicle and they don't get Grav vehicle...

No Grav Taxi Drivers? No Chauffeurs?

Why not just use the EDU/2 thing and make them pick skills that would be appropriate for their background and homeworld? What you give would be a good guide, but there are plenty of people around today, age 18, that I would say have not earned Ground Vehicle-0.

My guess is that your players will pick the kind of skills that would make sense for their envisioned background.

Why give former military people a Weapon-0 skill? Shouldn't they have weapons skills already? OR, is this in addition to any rolled skills? WHY?

Vacc Suit-0 makes sense to me. You might even be able to convince me that MANY people might have VaccSuit-0, even if their HW has an atmosphere. If they ever took a vacation to an orbiting station, they would have been given some instructions, so just about everyone of TLA+ worlds should have a chance.

Maybe you could use EDU in Zero level skills with no automatics at all? As GM you could keep things pointed in the right direction. I would give myself Weapon-0 in a LOT of different types of weapons, but probably only Pistol-1 and Shotgun-1; maybe Sword-1 and Blade-1. But, I am not unfamiliar with most other types of "primitive" and modern weapons. I've even fired an AutoRifle; not every accurately, but I've done it and if I had to do it again, I would be a lot more accurate.

Level-0 skills should be fairly easy to get, IMHO, a few minutes fiddling with it, or firing off a few rounds should be enough in most cases. Your Mileage May Vary.

 

[Supplement Four]

If it helps...

I consider my characters to have a butt-load of Level-0 skills that are just not written on the character's sheet.

Any skill that a character can attempt without required training is a Level-0 skill.

That's pretty much the CT defintion, too, I think.

So, anybody can pick up a gun and fire it. They might be able to hit anything, but a person can typically figure which way to point a weapon and how to pull the trigger (the GM may intercede with some non-standard military weapons or weapons of alien design). So, all gun combat skills are Level-0, and all characters have most of them.

Swimming? Not a default skill. You have to learn this one.

Pilot? You have to learn it.

Engineering? you have to learn it.

Steward? Everybody's got it a Level-0.

Admin? Everybody's got it at Level-0.

Broker or Trader? Everybody's got both of them at level 0.

Communications, or Mechanics, or Elecrical? You've got to learn 'em.

And so on.

 

[Supplement Four]

If it helps...

I consider my characters to have a butt-load of Level-0 skills that are just not written on the character's sheet.

Any skill that a character can attempt without required training is a Level-0 skill.

That's pretty much the CT defintion, too, I think.

So, anybody can pick up a gun and fire it. They might be able to hit anything, but a person can typically figure which way to point a weapon and how to pull the trigger (the GM may intercede with some non-standard military weapons or weapons of alien design). So, all gun combat skills are Level-0, and all characters have most of them.

Swimming? Not a default skill. You have to learn this one.

Pilot? You have to learn it.

Engineering? you have to learn it.

Steward? Everybody's got it a Level-0.

Admin? Everybody's got it at Level-0.

Broker or Trader? Everybody's got both of them at level 0.

Communications, or Mechanics, or Elecrical? You've got to learn 'em.

And so on.

 

[Supplement Four]

JOT, I use a bit differently.

JOT is a point pool. The level can be used as a DM during the game session as a modifier to any non-combat throw.

So, if a character's got JOT-1, he can use that as a +1DM on the very-important-and-if-you-fail-it-we're-all-gonna-die roll to help him succeed (like, "Fix the jump drive or we're all Vargr meat!").

Now, after that point is used during the night, it is used up from the pool. You can only use it once per game session.

But, the pool will "re-fill" in between games and be available for use next game session.

I starting playing JOT like this, and my players fell in love with it. It really seems to fit the spirit of the skill.

I do the exact same thing with the Tactics skill, except Tacitics can only be applied to combat rolls (JOT for non-combat rolls, Tactics for combat rolls).

 

[Supplement Four]

JOT, I use a bit differently.

JOT is a point pool. The level can be used as a DM during the game session as a modifier to any non-combat throw.

So, if a character's got JOT-1, he can use that as a +1DM on the very-important-and-if-you-fail-it-we're-all-gonna-die roll to help him succeed (like, "Fix the jump drive or we're all Vargr meat!").

Now, after that point is used during the night, it is used up from the pool. You can only use it once per game session.

But, the pool will "re-fill" in between games and be available for use next game session.

I starting playing JOT like this, and my players fell in love with it. It really seems to fit the spirit of the skill.

I do the exact same thing with the Tactics skill, except Tacitics can only be applied to combat rolls (JOT for non-combat rolls, Tactics for combat rolls).

 

[Plankowner]

WJP, would you allow a similar DM for the Ship's Tactic skills and Fleet Tactics skills from High Guard? Or do you not use those skills?

 

[Plankowner]

WJP, would you allow a similar DM for the Ship's Tactic skills and Fleet Tactics skills from High Guard? Or do you not use those skills?

 

[Ranger]

I broke this down into three seperate groups:

Life Skills - Things you need to know to survive.

Vaccum or Exotic Atmo: Vacc Suit

Desert or Low Pop (non-vacuum): Survival

Hi Pop or Hi/Extreme Law: Admin

No/Low Law: Streetwise, Brawling, Blade, or Gun Cbt.

Pre-Stellar +: Computer

Transportation Skills - Have to roll 3+ for this, but Soc A get them automaticly.

Pre-Industrial: Equestrian

Industrial to Stellar: Ground Car

Stellar to High Tec: Air Raft/Grav Car

Exotic Skills - Things that result from a special combination of circumstances.

Atmo Standard & Pop Low: Hunting

Pop Hi & Law Hi or Extreme: Persuasion

 

[Ranger]

I broke this down into three seperate groups:

Life Skills - Things you need to know to survive.

Vaccum or Exotic Atmo: Vacc Suit

Desert or Low Pop (non-vacuum): Survival

Hi Pop or Hi/Extreme Law: Admin

No/Low Law: Streetwise, Brawling, Blade, or Gun Cbt.

Pre-Stellar +: Computer

Transportation Skills - Have to roll 3+ for this, but Soc A get them automaticly.

Pre-Industrial: Equestrian

Industrial to Stellar: Ground Car

Stellar to High Tec: Air Raft/Grav Car

Exotic Skills - Things that result from a special combination of circumstances.

Atmo Standard & Pop Low: Hunting

Pop Hi & Law Hi or Extreme: Persuasion

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Plankowner:
WJP, would you allow a similar DM for the Ship's Tactic skills and Fleet Tactics skills from High Guard? Or do you not use those skills?

I haven't had to use them in my game yet, but I would if the situation came up (large fleet battles is something that's just hasn't ever occurred in my game before...but there's always a first time).

Sure, I'd use Fleet Tactics that way. What kind of rolls are common in large fleet actions?

You could use it on sensor rolls (my sensor rules), repair rolls, attack rolls, damage rolls ... whatever.

Because you're typically only going to see a skill of level-1 or even level-3, it's not unbalancing to include a "Fleet Tactics" pool, especially since the bonus DM can only be used once. Once it's gone, it's gone for the night's gaming session.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Plankowner:
WJP, would you allow a similar DM for the Ship's Tactic skills and Fleet Tactics skills from High Guard? Or do you not use those skills?

I haven't had to use them in my game yet, but I would if the situation came up (large fleet battles is something that's just hasn't ever occurred in my game before...but there's always a first time).

Sure, I'd use Fleet Tactics that way. What kind of rolls are common in large fleet actions?

You could use it on sensor rolls (my sensor rules), repair rolls, attack rolls, damage rolls ... whatever.

Because you're typically only going to see a skill of level-1 or even level-3, it's not unbalancing to include a "Fleet Tactics" pool, especially since the bonus DM can only be used once. Once it's gone, it's gone for the night's gaming session.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Funny how everyone thinks hi-SOC will get vehicle skills... Most hi-SOC folks in our day and age don't drive at all, and many don't even know how. That's what money is for: to hire drivers.

2-4601, I think you have the right idea, but I'm not sure you have a good plan, yet. Keep poking at it.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Funny how everyone thinks hi-SOC will get vehicle skills... Most hi-SOC folks in our day and age don't drive at all, and many don't even know how. That's what money is for: to hire drivers.

2-4601, I think you have the right idea, but I'm not sure you have a good plan, yet. Keep poking at it.

 

[Supplement Four]

Another skill I've added a little "meat" to is Leader.

A Leader leads.

(Leader, btw, is a default skill. Everybody's got it a level-0.)

In my game, I roll initiative to see who acts first. The combat round is played out semi-simultaneously in that all people take their first actions (in initiative order), then second actions are taken, then third, etc.

When initiative is being rolled, anybody with Leader-1 or better can attempt to lead. He does so just by the player stating that his character is attempting to lead. In effect, the character starts barking orders or acting in a fashion that will inspire others--especially in getting them to do as he commands.

The character attempting to lead rolls his initiative normally (It's a Morale check - 2D for Morale or less). If the character, in rolling his initiative, also makes the morale check (same roll, not two different rolls. This is based of his initiative throw.), then every one else gets a beneficial DM equal to the leader's skill level.

For example ...

Pauli has Leader-2. His Morale rating is 6 (Morale is determined in the standard Striker or Book 4 fashion).

When Pauli rolls initiative (lower is better), he throws 2D. Pauli's player announces that Pauli is attempting to lead. So, if the initiative roll is 6 or less, then every one else in Pauli's party (in effect, they are "under his command") receives a beneficial DM of -2 to their initiative throws.

In effect, Pauli is ordering people, "commanding them" or "leading them". Their initiative's will probably be lower than Pauli's, allowing them to go before Pauli in the game round (the "officer" is hanging back, overseeing and commanding the situation, ordering his troops into battle).

Playing the Leader skill this way makes it so much more useful in the game.

Ever since I've made these changes to JOT, Tactics, and Leader, all three skills have become "sought after" by the players.

No longer is there a sigh and an unspoken feeling of "crap, now I've got a useless skill like Leader when I would have much perferred some other more useful skill".

 

[Supplement Four]

Another skill I've added a little "meat" to is Leader.

A Leader leads.

(Leader, btw, is a default skill. Everybody's got it a level-0.)

In my game, I roll initiative to see who acts first. The combat round is played out semi-simultaneously in that all people take their first actions (in initiative order), then second actions are taken, then third, etc.

When initiative is being rolled, anybody with Leader-1 or better can attempt to lead. He does so just by the player stating that his character is attempting to lead. In effect, the character starts barking orders or acting in a fashion that will inspire others--especially in getting them to do as he commands.

The character attempting to lead rolls his initiative normally (It's a Morale check - 2D for Morale or less). If the character, in rolling his initiative, also makes the morale check (same roll, not two different rolls. This is based of his initiative throw.), then every one else gets a beneficial DM equal to the leader's skill level.

For example ...

Pauli has Leader-2. His Morale rating is 6 (Morale is determined in the standard Striker or Book 4 fashion).

When Pauli rolls initiative (lower is better), he throws 2D. Pauli's player announces that Pauli is attempting to lead. So, if the initiative roll is 6 or less, then every one else in Pauli's party (in effect, they are "under his command") receives a beneficial DM of -2 to their initiative throws.

In effect, Pauli is ordering people, "commanding them" or "leading them". Their initiative's will probably be lower than Pauli's, allowing them to go before Pauli in the game round (the "officer" is hanging back, overseeing and commanding the situation, ordering his troops into battle).

Playing the Leader skill this way makes it so much more useful in the game.

Ever since I've made these changes to JOT, Tactics, and Leader, all three skills have become "sought after" by the players.

No longer is there a sigh and an unspoken feeling of "crap, now I've got a useless skill like Leader when I would have much perferred some other more useful skill".

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Fritz88:
Funny how everyone thinks hi-SOC will get vehicle skills... Most hi-SOC folks in our day and age don't drive at all, and many don't even know how. That's what money is for: to hire drivers.

I see that point, and I see the argument for EDU as well. Both aren't bad positions.

But, I think, of the six stats, SOC is more appropriate because higher social level gives people more "opportunity" to learn things.

Especially in a Traveller setting, where one's SOC level is very important in a fuedalistic society.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Fritz88:
Funny how everyone thinks hi-SOC will get vehicle skills... Most hi-SOC folks in our day and age don't drive at all, and many don't even know how. That's what money is for: to hire drivers.

I see that point, and I see the argument for EDU as well. Both aren't bad positions.

But, I think, of the six stats, SOC is more appropriate because higher social level gives people more "opportunity" to learn things.

Especially in a Traveller setting, where one's SOC level is very important in a fuedalistic society.