One Skill level per year

[Whipsnade]

Gents,

IMEHO the number of skills or the level they reach is not important. Go skills 'lite' like earl CT or go skill 'heavy' it really doesn't matter.

What is absolutely critical however is the number and levels of skill the NPCs have compared to the PCs. The 'equality' of NPCs and PCs is one of the aspects of Traveller that makes the game Traveller.


Have fun,
Bill

 

[Whipsnade]

Gents,

IMEHO the number of skills or the level they reach is not important. Go skills 'lite' like earl CT or go skill 'heavy' it really doesn't matter.

What is absolutely critical however is the number and levels of skill the NPCs have compared to the PCs. The 'equality' of NPCs and PCs is one of the aspects of Traveller that makes the game Traveller.


Have fun,
Bill

 

[aramis]

Bill:

Quite wrong... unless one chooses to ignore rules as well.

Rules are there to describe the universe... If the levels and the system combine to make Joe Average able to plug a thrown pence at 50 paces, it will be a very different game than if a sniper-level character can't plug a man in the head from 100 paces...

Now, with CT, it's less of an issue, specifically due to the lack of a non-combat cohesive system..

But if one can get bribery 8, who needs broker 4?

 

[aramis]

Bill:

Quite wrong... unless one chooses to ignore rules as well.

Rules are there to describe the universe... If the levels and the system combine to make Joe Average able to plug a thrown pence at 50 paces, it will be a very different game than if a sniper-level character can't plug a man in the head from 100 paces...

Now, with CT, it's less of an issue, specifically due to the lack of a non-combat cohesive system..

But if one can get bribery 8, who needs broker 4?

 

[Whipsnade]

Aramis,

We'll have to agree to disagree then.

If someone inflates skill numbers and levels until Joe Average can pot that 50 pence piece it really doesn't matter as long as everyone else can make the same shot. Ditto the worthless sniper. As long as all 'boats' are effected by the same 'tide', the level of the 'water' doesn't matter.

Would I like to run or play in a Traveller game with outrageous skill numbers and levels? Hell, no. It would be little more than munchkinism IMHO, besides being extremely boring.

Once the boredom sinks in however, even a mediocre GM will be forced to 'up' the difficulties the players face in order to bring excitement back into his sessions. All the inflation is skills did was inflate setting and the players remain in the same relative position to it.

It's when the players' skill numbers and levels are inflated at the expense of the setting; i.e. NPCs, that an important part of Traveller is lost. Traveller PCs do not greatly outclass their opponents because they and their opponents use the same chargen. Adding to this balance, Traveller PCs trade age for skills, running an aging roulette of sorts for a few more rolls.

That PC-NPC balance is a more important aspect of Traveller than skill levels IMHO.


Have fun,
Bill

 

[Whipsnade]

Aramis,

We'll have to agree to disagree then.

If someone inflates skill numbers and levels until Joe Average can pot that 50 pence piece it really doesn't matter as long as everyone else can make the same shot. Ditto the worthless sniper. As long as all 'boats' are effected by the same 'tide', the level of the 'water' doesn't matter.

Would I like to run or play in a Traveller game with outrageous skill numbers and levels? Hell, no. It would be little more than munchkinism IMHO, besides being extremely boring.

Once the boredom sinks in however, even a mediocre GM will be forced to 'up' the difficulties the players face in order to bring excitement back into his sessions. All the inflation is skills did was inflate setting and the players remain in the same relative position to it.

It's when the players' skill numbers and levels are inflated at the expense of the setting; i.e. NPCs, that an important part of Traveller is lost. Traveller PCs do not greatly outclass their opponents because they and their opponents use the same chargen. Adding to this balance, Traveller PCs trade age for skills, running an aging roulette of sorts for a few more rolls.

That PC-NPC balance is a more important aspect of Traveller than skill levels IMHO.


Have fun,
Bill

 

[Spiderfish]

But if one can get bribery 8, who needs broker 4? [/QB]

Well it depends on who your dealing with doesn't it, not everyone is succeptible to bribery and i'd think that it also comes down to how much money is on the table. It's the short term finnancial reward of taking a bribe related to the risks of getting caught, including the long time finnanical risk of getting fired.

What exactly is bribery skill anyway, does a bribery 8 character have some technique that makes a 1 credit coin look like a kilocredit note?
If all you can offer them is a few credits, it doesn't matter what your "skill" is. I assume bribery relates more to convincing the other character that taking the money is a good idea and that this way is best for everyone then again isn't that really persuasion... i'm sure there was a seperate skill for that.

 

[Spiderfish]

But if one can get bribery 8, who needs broker 4? [/QB]

Well it depends on who your dealing with doesn't it, not everyone is succeptible to bribery and i'd think that it also comes down to how much money is on the table. It's the short term finnancial reward of taking a bribe related to the risks of getting caught, including the long time finnanical risk of getting fired.

What exactly is bribery skill anyway, does a bribery 8 character have some technique that makes a 1 credit coin look like a kilocredit note?
If all you can offer them is a few credits, it doesn't matter what your "skill" is. I assume bribery relates more to convincing the other character that taking the money is a good idea and that this way is best for everyone then again isn't that really persuasion... i'm sure there was a seperate skill for that.

 

[aramis]

Spider: Bribery skill halved can be used in lieu of broker skill... and the CT broker skill peaks at level 4.

Bill:
Rules have certain hard-lines drawn in... going to 1 skill per year +commission/promo will really inflate the skill levels, and does strange things to combat; things you're forgetting about.

In CT, just getting the jump on someone doesn't guarantee the fight... but in uberskill situations, the side with the initiative will reduce your numbers far faster, and thus make fights much more one sided.

Raising the skill levels makes taking damage more common, as well as dealing out damage becoming more common; it thus makes the initiative rolls FAR more important, unless you adjust combat to compensate.

(It's a far worse deal in MT... where the more you make the to hit by, the higher the damage is... 1 skill per year nearly breaks MT combats; almost all pistol shots across the room will kill.)

And with Broker 4 and Trader 4, you have a money making machine in spec trades...

 

[aramis]

Spider: Bribery skill halved can be used in lieu of broker skill... and the CT broker skill peaks at level 4.

Bill:
Rules have certain hard-lines drawn in... going to 1 skill per year +commission/promo will really inflate the skill levels, and does strange things to combat; things you're forgetting about.

In CT, just getting the jump on someone doesn't guarantee the fight... but in uberskill situations, the side with the initiative will reduce your numbers far faster, and thus make fights much more one sided.

Raising the skill levels makes taking damage more common, as well as dealing out damage becoming more common; it thus makes the initiative rolls FAR more important, unless you adjust combat to compensate.

(It's a far worse deal in MT... where the more you make the to hit by, the higher the damage is... 1 skill per year nearly breaks MT combats; almost all pistol shots across the room will kill.)

And with Broker 4 and Trader 4, you have a money making machine in spec trades...