Skills cap

[gregcaires]

Does anyone know where the cap on skills comes from? I thought it was a CT rule that a character could not have skills (type and levels) in excess of their INT + EDU. I know I didn't make this up, I must have read it somewhere. Is this canon in any edition of Traveller?

 

[aramis]

Does anyone know where the cap on skills comes from? I thought it was a CT rule that a character could not have skills (type and levels) in excess of their INT + EDU. I know I didn't make this up, I must have read it somewhere. Is this canon in any edition of Traveller?

Book 7.

 

[ffilz]

Does anyone know where the cap on skills comes from? I thought it was a CT rule that a character could not have skills (type and levels) in excess of their INT + EDU. I know I didn't make this up, I must have read it somewhere. Is this canon in any edition of Traveller?

It is in The Traveller Book, and in the Consolidated Errata for 1981 Book 1.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Does anyone know where the cap on skills comes from? I thought it was a CT rule that a character could not have skills (type and levels) in excess of their INT + EDU. I know I didn't make this up, I must have read it somewhere. Is this canon in any edition of Traveller?

Usually in the "other" skills sections of various rule sets. Page 16 of Traveller Starter Edition book 1.

 

[infojunky]

It is in The Traveller Book, and in the Consolidated Errata for 1981 Book 1.

Is it?

I recall it being a part of MT.

 

[ffilz]

Is it?

I recall it being a part of MT.

From the errata:

Page 23, Other Skills, Maximum Skills (omission): This rule (included in The Traveller Book and Starter Traveller),
was left out of Book 1:
As a general rule of thumb, a character may have no more skills (or total of levels of skills) than the sum of his or her
intelligence and education. For example, a character with UPP 77894A would be restricted to a total of 13 combined skills
and levels of skills. This restriction does not apply to level-0 skills.

And on P.29 of The Traveller Book and P.16 of Starter Traveller.

Frank

 

[infojunky]

From the errata:



And on P.29 of The Traveller Book and P.16 of Starter Traveller.

Check. Missed it on my quick search.

Honestly I never have had a character hit the cap.

 

[Supplement Four]

Book 7.

I believe it was carried through to MT, also.

It's in the Traveller Book, page 29.

The reason: The chargen systems that provide a lot of skills will sometimes provide character with high school that pretty much break the 2D6 system. There's only 11 results on 2D6, and if you have +7, that's a hell of a modifier.

 

[aramis]

Is it?

I recall it being a part of MT.

It's in there, too.

It was introduced in The Traveller Book in 1982 (Maximum Skills, p. 29), and reiterated in 1985 in Bk 7.

 

[infojunky]

It's in there, too.

Yep.

Amusing factoid I discovered tonight with MT's basic Character Generation it is possible to hit the average Skill Cap in 3 terms.

 

[Ulsyus]

I believe it was carried through to MT, also.

Players Manual p30, top of the right-hand column, limiting the number of skills or total of levels of skills to the sum of a character's Int+ Edu.

Though IMTU that limit can be broken using chipped skills, but the players lose them if they remove the device.

 

[aramis]

Yep.

Amusing factoid I discovered tonight with MT's basic Character Generation it is possible to hit the average Skill Cap in 3 terms.

2 terms, if its the army. Why army? because the Rank and service skills are 1 at service entry and 1 at Rank 1

Average would be 14 levels.

T1
Su 1
Co 2 (1 pass, 1 bonus)
Pr 2 (1 pass, 1 bonus)
SD 2 (1 pass, 1 bonus)
R&S 2
T1B 1

T2
Su 1
Pr 2 (1 pass, 1 bonus)
SD 2 (1 pass, 1 bonus)

We've hit 15 skills.

 

[infojunky]

2 terms, if its the army. Why army? because the Rank and service skills are 1 at service entry and 1 at Rank 1

Average would be 14 levels.

T1
Su 1
Co 2 (1 pass, 1 bonus)
Pr 2 (1 pass, 1 bonus)
SD 2 (1 pass, 1 bonus)
R&S 2
T1B 1

T2
Su 1
Pr 2 (1 pass, 1 bonus)
SD 2 (1 pass, 1 bonus)

We've hit 15 skills.

See, I totally missed that specific combination. But it puts a totally new light on the 3 term cap I used to play with.

 

[infojunky]

An Idea occurs, character generation using the Skill limit as the limit. I.e. when you hit the skill limit your character musters out.

 

[welsh]

But why?

 

[infojunky]

But why?

Just an idea, right up there with going until the character fails a survival roll.

Arbitrary limits as experiments in play. We once had a game where the limit was no military characters. Then go on from there into typical Traveller sorts of adventures.

 

[Timerover51]

I worry not so much about the number of skill levels, but more the total number of skills. Someone with 7 education and 7 intelligence could, in theory, have 14 different skills. I am happy with the basic Classic skills generation, it is when you get into more complex character generation that I start seeing problems, when you have the possibility of multiple skills per term of service.

 

[Supplement Four]

I worry not so much about the number of skill levels, but more the total number of skills. Someone with 7 education and 7 intelligence could, in theory, have 14 different skills. I am happy with the basic Classic skills generation, it is when you get into more complex character generation that I start seeing problems, when you have the possibility of multiple skills per term of service.

Skill levels are important because of the 2D6 system. With only 11 results, its easy to break the system with a skill that will never fail (hardly ever fail).

Then, you have to pad the difficulty to soak up some skill levels with targets above 12. 15+. 18+.

 

[aramis]

Skill levels are important because of the 2D6 system. With only 11 results, its easy to break the system with a skill that will never fail (hardly ever fail).

Then, you have to pad the difficulty to soak up some skill levels with targets above 12. 15+. 18+.

All of which are de rigeur for 2d6 systems, including CT (tho CT hides it as penalties to the roll on the combat tables).

 

[BlackBat242]

I used something based on a piece of trivia from Original Star Trek.

In one episode (Court Martial), it is stated that only 2 persons aboard the Enterprise have a skill level of 6 (Kirk and the antagonist in the episode, Lt. Cdr Finney), and only Spock has an A7 rating (one of only a handful in all of Starfleet).

I set the bar a little lower (half the TOS ratings, rounded up) - there is a normal per skill cap of 3, with only an exceptional character getting a 4... and that requires at least 1 of the levels to have been gained in "college" (any of the following: Service Academy, college {see "pre-enlistment options" in High Guard pg.15}, Imperial Academy of Science & Medicine {Journal of the Travellers Aid Society No. 22, pg.18-23, 30}, or similar options.