MGT Only: Jack-of-All-Trades?

[kilemall]

OK, let's see whant happens when you need high rolls.

Let's imagine the party has to fix their life support. The roll to do it is 12+, and the two characters able to do it have a +1 stat bonus. One of them (let's call him A) has engineering 2 (power plant and jump drive, so he rest of specialties to 0). The other (let's call him B) JOT 1.

With rules as written (JOT reduces the unskilled DM):

• A needs to roll 12+ with a +1 DM, so 11+ (about 8% chance). Exceptional failure (effect -6) on a 5- (so about 28% chance)
• B cannot do it unless takes more time to have positive DMs.

With JOT as rerolling capacity situation is more or less the same.

With your suggested rules (JOT nullifies unskilled DM and gives you rerolls):

• A: same as above
• B: Needs to roll 12+ with a +1 DM, but rolls twice and chooses the best. So about 15% chance of success (rolling 11+ in any of both rolls) and about 7% chance of extraordinary failure (rolling 5- in both rolls).

So, when those high rolls are in force, your rules not only give the JOT player about double chance to achieve the result, but also reduce the chance of an Exceptional failure by about 75%. Not much sense, IMHO (YMMV)...

In my system the engineering 2 guy gets 2 rolls, but that’s because I don’t hold with these cascade skills. Or the overall skill counts for retries.

 

[McPerth]

In my system the engineering 2 guy gets 2 rolls, but that’s because I don’t hold with these cascade skills. Or the overall skill counts for retries.

And why does he get 2 skill rolls, not having JOT?

 

[coliver988]

And why does he get 2 skill rolls, not having JOT?

going with Eng-2. which is a different take but an interesting approach (get the number of rolls per level). But that is just a guess so we'll see what Kilemall says.

 

[kilemall]

going with Eng-2. which is a different take but an interesting approach (get the number of rolls per level). But that is just a guess so we'll see what Kilemall says.

Exactly.

We’re home ruling on this anyway.

 

[Daidoji Dave]

So is there any value to JoT > 1?

It helps every other skill on your sheet that isn't at 0 or higher. That's actually really good.

I like the home rule JoT gets you 0 negative skill DM and the skill number gives you number of retries, indicating degree of resourcefulness.

That, and the related twist that you have to come at it by J-o-T-ing a different applicable skill after an initial failure.

Picking an electronic lock?
First attempt, Electronics-0 (trying to rewire it).
Second attempt, Mechanical-0 (trying to force the lock's bolt mechanically).
Third attempt, Computer-0 (trying to trick the security computer into thinking there's an emergency so as to invoke its emergency override).
... or maybe Brawling-0 in an attempt to kick the door in.

Thing is, JoaT is already so good by the book it doesn't need powered up further. So this strikes me as an aesthetic change with bad follow on effects rather than a rules fix.

Also I'd encourage players to think of those alternate approaches as task chains rather than waiting their turn to re-roll.

That way, there's no "penalty" (by waste) for having a high skill level in J-o-T.

JoaT 4 or higher in traditional character creation should be a non-issue.

This is why I like rolling characters as a group, with dice in the open. Not that I expect anyone to cheat, but if the impossible happens (all 18s in D&D, JoaT 4 in Traveller) I want everyone to be cheering it on, not harboring suspicions about it. If I ever do see JoaT 4+ rolled with my own eyes I'll figure out something for it to do (but it won't be a +1 to the skill, it'll have to be something orthogonal). But bluntly, if you roll off in the corner and scoop up your dice quick and show me good stats and JoaT 4 that doesn't mean I need to figure out what the 4+ gets, it means I need to boot a player.

just because you are smarter does not mean you can do something someone else is trained in (good luck decrypting the quantum computer with that fork BTW). I've always used JOT per classic, and really on a case-by-case basis. I know that the RAW can make it way too powerful in Mongoose.

Mongoose's version works well enough (-1 against that -3 per level up to 0) but again, I'd only let that skill get used as a band aid. If brain surgery were required, sorry, JOT won't cut it. Interpreting the medical scanner and applying appropriate first aid, getting that power plant started (shades of "I know Unix/Jurassic Park") probably. It would really be a case-by-case basis for me, not a blanket rule to let a JOT-3 character do anything without a negative DM.

I do go farther in letting JoaT try anything. But I also lean more on the "skilled characters don't roll until they're under pressure" language in the rules. And JoaT never counts as skilled, even at 3+. So Pilot 0 doesn't roll to land the spaceship in normal circumstances, while JoaT 3 always has to roll.

Also I've never had even JoaT 3 rolled, so I haven't had to address that hypothetical where JoaT 3 has higher stats than Pilot 0 and is then better when they both have to roll. I can see it being a problem if it comes up, but it should be vanishingly rare.

 

[whulorigan]

If I ever do see JoaT 4+ rolled with my own eyes I'll figure out something for it to do (but it won't be a +1 to the skill, it'll have to be something orthogonal).

In such an instance I would probably just allow the player to choose a skill of his choice to be a level-1 skill (presuming he can justify to me how he got it).

 

[Condottiere]

As a game mechanism, I originally viewed this as a form of handyman, or Renaissance Man, possibly both.

Now I think it might be better represented in other game systems as luck, or karma, as a one off action or situation.

 

[frankm]

Jot for me is a fall-back, and shouldn't ever be better than true training and experience with a skill. It can get the job done, but it won't be pretty. JoT-2 can happen, occasionally, and I suppose JoT-3 as well, but then that character is essentially unskilled at everything so no penalties. Rather useful on a scout or tramp freighter. I'd like to say such things are very unlikely.... and then I remember my Vacc Suit-4 (thank god it was just some testing on a modified skill system!)