Thoughts... Talents

[Supplement Four]

I've been making some rule changes to my (almost a year long!) campaign I've been runing, and I've been toying with some thoughts on Experience and Character Improvement (see the other, older, threads on this).

The problem is that the CT rule system doesn't do "character improvement" well. If you start upping skill levels, the characters become much too powerful way to quick. A GM interested in a balanced game (non-munkin-ized) should rarely allow characters to improve stats and skills (just check out the "official" CT experience rules where it takes 8 freaking game years to permanently improve a skill!).

On the other hand, improving one's character is fun! Say what you will about the d20 system (I'm not a big fan of that system), but one of the things it has going for it is that characters are constantly improving, gaining levels and abilities--something that players really like. Building their characters.

In Classic Traveller, a GM has to rely on rewarding characters with nifty pieces of equipment (rather than, as in D&D, characters are rewarded with nifty pieces of equipment AND improved abilities).

One idea I've been working on--in order to bring some sort of character building to Classic Traveller without creating uber powerful characters and keeping the "realistic" CT feel--is to add something to characters called Talents .

Talents are special abilities a character can have--grow into--earn through role playing. Talents are not skills--typically, they're beneficial modifiers for specific circumstances (which keeps the game balanced).

An example of what I would call a Talent is the Vargr ability to sprint. This is faster movement granted to the Vargr character with some limitations.

What I'm aiming to do, with this Talent-idea, is bring other character benefit to the game--benefits that are not already in the game. This way, a player can build his character, from time to time, by gaining these Talents , and still, the game will not be unbalanced because we're not really upping a character's skill level--just his ability in certain, specific areas.

An example of a Talent , taken from the old Fallout computer RPG is that of Bruiser .

A character with the Bruiser talent is a little slower, but a little bigger than your average joe. He won't hit as often, but when he does hit, he does more damage.

So, in Classic Traveller terms, a character with the Bruiser talent would receive a -1DM on his Brawling or Melee Weapon combat attacks, but, when he hits, he gets a +1 to damage. This is appropriate to bare-hand or melee weapon attacks only. Ranged weapons wouldn't be effected by this Talent.

You get the idea--which is: Come up with a list of things (Talents) that CT players can use to improve their characters...and add more "character" to them...without unbalancing the game.

Things like better night vision, faster healing rate, extra movement, extra load....different things that a character can learn during his adventures. All of this designed to improve the character without unbalancing the game by increasing skill levels or adding new skills to a character.

Creative GMs and players would create new talents based on happenings in their game.

For instance, if a player has done a spectacular job of role playing encounters with merchants on the different planets the ship travels to...maybe it's one of those funny things that always happen in a good rpg session...then maybe the GM and the player can put their head together so that, when it comes time for the character to improve with a new Talent, the talent is something like a +1DM when bargaining with merchants.

Note that this can be considered a limited form of the Broker, Carousing, or Streewise skills. Those full skills can be used in a variety of situations. This Talent can be used only in a specific situation.

And, another idea for Talents is the ability to combine skills.

For example, Combat Rifleman includes a number of skills all under one umbrella. A character skilled with Combat Rifleman is skilled equally with the Rifle, Carbine, Assault Rifle, ACR, and Gauss Rifle. Combat Rifleman effectively combines all these five skills into one skill.

Then, you have the Pistol skill from Book 4. Pistol skill combines both revolvers and autopistols, whereas the Handgun skill from Book 5 combines those two skills plus body pistols AND snub pistols.

Talents could be used to improve a character by combining skills this way. Maybe a character has AutoPistol-1. The first time he gets an opportunity for a Talent, the character will trade in his AutoPistol-1 skill for the Pistol-1 skill from Book 4 (AutoPistol designates expertise with just the autopistol whereas the Book 4 pistol skill designates expertise with both the autopistol and revolver). Then, when a second Talent is earned, the Pistol skill can be upgraded, yet again, for the Handgun skill from Book 5...so that now the character, who used to have AutoPistol-1, now has Handgun -1, giving him expertise in revolvers, autopistols, body pistols, and snub pistols.

A character who has been using Vacc Suit skill to govern his use of Battle Dress during the game may increase, or add the Battle Dress skill (instead of Vacc Suit) to his character sheet, through the use of Talents.


I haven't quite worked out when and how a character can be improved through the use of Talents, but you get the idea...

...Talents are a way of character building without unbalancing a Classic Traveller game with hordes of skill level improvements.

Talents are specific benefits that characters have earned applicable to specific situations--situations much more narrow than a typical broad CT skill.

 

[Supplement Four]

I've been making some rule changes to my (almost a year long!) campaign I've been runing, and I've been toying with some thoughts on Experience and Character Improvement (see the other, older, threads on this).

The problem is that the CT rule system doesn't do "character improvement" well. If you start upping skill levels, the characters become much too powerful way to quick. A GM interested in a balanced game (non-munkin-ized) should rarely allow characters to improve stats and skills (just check out the "official" CT experience rules where it takes 8 freaking game years to permanently improve a skill!).

On the other hand, improving one's character is fun! Say what you will about the d20 system (I'm not a big fan of that system), but one of the things it has going for it is that characters are constantly improving, gaining levels and abilities--something that players really like. Building their characters.

In Classic Traveller, a GM has to rely on rewarding characters with nifty pieces of equipment (rather than, as in D&D, characters are rewarded with nifty pieces of equipment AND improved abilities).

One idea I've been working on--in order to bring some sort of character building to Classic Traveller without creating uber powerful characters and keeping the "realistic" CT feel--is to add something to characters called Talents .

Talents are special abilities a character can have--grow into--earn through role playing. Talents are not skills--typically, they're beneficial modifiers for specific circumstances (which keeps the game balanced).

An example of what I would call a Talent is the Vargr ability to sprint. This is faster movement granted to the Vargr character with some limitations.

What I'm aiming to do, with this Talent-idea, is bring other character benefit to the game--benefits that are not already in the game. This way, a player can build his character, from time to time, by gaining these Talents , and still, the game will not be unbalanced because we're not really upping a character's skill level--just his ability in certain, specific areas.

An example of a Talent , taken from the old Fallout computer RPG is that of Bruiser .

A character with the Bruiser talent is a little slower, but a little bigger than your average joe. He won't hit as often, but when he does hit, he does more damage.

So, in Classic Traveller terms, a character with the Bruiser talent would receive a -1DM on his Brawling or Melee Weapon combat attacks, but, when he hits, he gets a +1 to damage. This is appropriate to bare-hand or melee weapon attacks only. Ranged weapons wouldn't be effected by this Talent.

You get the idea--which is: Come up with a list of things (Talents) that CT players can use to improve their characters...and add more "character" to them...without unbalancing the game.

Things like better night vision, faster healing rate, extra movement, extra load....different things that a character can learn during his adventures. All of this designed to improve the character without unbalancing the game by increasing skill levels or adding new skills to a character.

Creative GMs and players would create new talents based on happenings in their game.

For instance, if a player has done a spectacular job of role playing encounters with merchants on the different planets the ship travels to...maybe it's one of those funny things that always happen in a good rpg session...then maybe the GM and the player can put their head together so that, when it comes time for the character to improve with a new Talent, the talent is something like a +1DM when bargaining with merchants.

Note that this can be considered a limited form of the Broker, Carousing, or Streewise skills. Those full skills can be used in a variety of situations. This Talent can be used only in a specific situation.

And, another idea for Talents is the ability to combine skills.

For example, Combat Rifleman includes a number of skills all under one umbrella. A character skilled with Combat Rifleman is skilled equally with the Rifle, Carbine, Assault Rifle, ACR, and Gauss Rifle. Combat Rifleman effectively combines all these five skills into one skill.

Then, you have the Pistol skill from Book 4. Pistol skill combines both revolvers and autopistols, whereas the Handgun skill from Book 5 combines those two skills plus body pistols AND snub pistols.

Talents could be used to improve a character by combining skills this way. Maybe a character has AutoPistol-1. The first time he gets an opportunity for a Talent, the character will trade in his AutoPistol-1 skill for the Pistol-1 skill from Book 4 (AutoPistol designates expertise with just the autopistol whereas the Book 4 pistol skill designates expertise with both the autopistol and revolver). Then, when a second Talent is earned, the Pistol skill can be upgraded, yet again, for the Handgun skill from Book 5...so that now the character, who used to have AutoPistol-1, now has Handgun -1, giving him expertise in revolvers, autopistols, body pistols, and snub pistols.

A character who has been using Vacc Suit skill to govern his use of Battle Dress during the game may increase, or add the Battle Dress skill (instead of Vacc Suit) to his character sheet, through the use of Talents.


I haven't quite worked out when and how a character can be improved through the use of Talents, but you get the idea...

...Talents are a way of character building without unbalancing a Classic Traveller game with hordes of skill level improvements.

Talents are specific benefits that characters have earned applicable to specific situations--situations much more narrow than a typical broad CT skill.

 

[Ptah]

S4, got to love a man that references Fallout.

One of my all-time favorite computer RPGs for game play, reward mechanic and flavor.

I think these were called Perks in Fallout. They also sound similar to Feats in D&D/T20, and some Skills in The Fantasy Trip. When I originally saw the word Talents I thought more of those used in Aftermath.

Have you thought of changing the scale of improvement. Say you improve a skill in 0.1 increments to provide a sense of progression but to avoid exploding skills?

It might be a good thing to add on with the Talents you describe, which I like the idea of. Basically a trade-off between short term narrow gain versus longer term broader gain.

 

[Ptah]

S4, got to love a man that references Fallout.

One of my all-time favorite computer RPGs for game play, reward mechanic and flavor.

I think these were called Perks in Fallout. They also sound similar to Feats in D&D/T20, and some Skills in The Fantasy Trip. When I originally saw the word Talents I thought more of those used in Aftermath.

Have you thought of changing the scale of improvement. Say you improve a skill in 0.1 increments to provide a sense of progression but to avoid exploding skills?

It might be a good thing to add on with the Talents you describe, which I like the idea of. Basically a trade-off between short term narrow gain versus longer term broader gain.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Ptah:
S4, got to love a man that references Fallout.

One of my all-time favorite computer RPGs for game play, reward mechanic and flavor.

Went to the store the other day doing Christmas shopping. Saw a package of Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics for $19.99. Never played it. Heard of it. Heard good things. So, I bought it.

Yeah, the graphics are way old school...but MAN! WHAT A GAME!

I'm playing Fallout right now. Haven't finished. It's damn addicting!

I think these were called Perks in Fallout. They also sound similar to Feats in D&D/T20, and some Skills in The Fantasy Trip. When I originally saw the word Talents I thought more of those used in Aftermath.

Some of these were definitely inspiration for the Talents idea. I've been looking for ways to harness my players attention on character growth (they all want to grow their characters...but it's hard with CT) without unbalancing the game.

I mean, we've played our campaign almost a year now (real year--a few months for the characters including time in jump space), and nobody has gone up.

So, I wanted some method of improving CT characters without actually giving them skill increases. When I saw the system in Fallout (which I like as well...even downloaded the pen and paper version of the game, which is available here if you're interested in taking a looksee), it did make me think of feats in d20....

...and then I thought of how certain CT races have special benefits and penalties (such as Vargr night vision)...

...and that lead me to the Eureka! Talents for CT characters. A method of improving the characters without unbalancing the game.

Players can pick up these neat little aspects to their characters, making the PC different from each other an other NPCs...instilling a sense of accomplishment and character growth as the players play their avatars during the adventures.

Have you thought of changing the scale of improvement. Say you improve a skill in 0.1 increments to provide a sense of progression but to avoid exploding skills?

Actually, I have no idea, as I write this, how I'm going to implement Talents. Nor how often.

I know I don't want record keeping (you get X amount of points...and that leads to...etc).

I want something to key the event, like rolling a Critical Success keys the event for a Focus Skill under the Experience idea I posted.

I want something that happens in the game to "flag" the possibility that the character could get a new talent, and then move on from there--maybe with a roll to see if the Talent is obtained.

I am thinking of tying it in with roleplaying and good ideas contributed by the player to the game session, but I'm not sure how to do that yet.

Any ideas on this are welcome.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Ptah:
S4, got to love a man that references Fallout.

One of my all-time favorite computer RPGs for game play, reward mechanic and flavor.

Went to the store the other day doing Christmas shopping. Saw a package of Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics for $19.99. Never played it. Heard of it. Heard good things. So, I bought it.

Yeah, the graphics are way old school...but MAN! WHAT A GAME!

I'm playing Fallout right now. Haven't finished. It's damn addicting!

I think these were called Perks in Fallout. They also sound similar to Feats in D&D/T20, and some Skills in The Fantasy Trip. When I originally saw the word Talents I thought more of those used in Aftermath.

Some of these were definitely inspiration for the Talents idea. I've been looking for ways to harness my players attention on character growth (they all want to grow their characters...but it's hard with CT) without unbalancing the game.

I mean, we've played our campaign almost a year now (real year--a few months for the characters including time in jump space), and nobody has gone up.

So, I wanted some method of improving CT characters without actually giving them skill increases. When I saw the system in Fallout (which I like as well...even downloaded the pen and paper version of the game, which is available here if you're interested in taking a looksee), it did make me think of feats in d20....

...and then I thought of how certain CT races have special benefits and penalties (such as Vargr night vision)...

...and that lead me to the Eureka! Talents for CT characters. A method of improving the characters without unbalancing the game.

Players can pick up these neat little aspects to their characters, making the PC different from each other an other NPCs...instilling a sense of accomplishment and character growth as the players play their avatars during the adventures.

Have you thought of changing the scale of improvement. Say you improve a skill in 0.1 increments to provide a sense of progression but to avoid exploding skills?

Actually, I have no idea, as I write this, how I'm going to implement Talents. Nor how often.

I know I don't want record keeping (you get X amount of points...and that leads to...etc).

I want something to key the event, like rolling a Critical Success keys the event for a Focus Skill under the Experience idea I posted.

I want something that happens in the game to "flag" the possibility that the character could get a new talent, and then move on from there--maybe with a roll to see if the Talent is obtained.

I am thinking of tying it in with roleplaying and good ideas contributed by the player to the game session, but I'm not sure how to do that yet.

Any ideas on this are welcome.

 

[Ptah]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Ptah:
S4, got to love a man that references Fallout.

One of my all-time favorite computer RPGs for game play, reward mechanic and flavor.

Went to the store the other day doing Christmas shopping. Saw a package of Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics for $19.99. Never played it. Heard of it. Heard good things. So, I bought it.

Yeah, the graphics are way old school...but MAN! WHAT A GAME!

I'm playing Fallout right now. Haven't finished. It's damn addicting!
</font>[/QUOTE]

The graphics were pretty good for its day, late '90's IIRC. The addicitveness of the game impresed me, part to me was the reward mechanic, I really liked the skill + perk improvement approach and the frequency of reward.

Thinking of frequency of reward, it depends a lot on the players, but typically I've found a reward every 2 or 3 sessions when playing monthly is inspiring and provides a sense of progress. I'd say every 4-6 sessions if playing weekly. This has no connection to in game time but player perception of game pacing.

On role playing based rewards how about the following. During a session when a player does something inventive, exceedinly brave, very good role playing you make a note. I know record keeping, but nothing more than a tick on a list of character names or against a skill. At the end of the session, GM and players talk about these things and decide if they rise to the appropriate level. If so, you get to make a "skill" roll or something to improve a skill y x amount(semi-permanently the first time, permanently the second time)or acquire a Talent.
This of course relies on good GM-Player interaction which it sounds like you have.

In a sense, the reward in this case is getting to make the roll. Since criticals come up so rarely this may be a way to provide rewards.

You may also use this to provide a choice between incremental skill increase vs Talent. Two ticks to roll for the skill, one for the talent? I realize this is getting close to a point system.

I think these were called Perks in Fallout. They also sound similar to Feats in D&D/T20, and some Skills in The Fantasy Trip. When I originally saw the word Talents I thought more of those used in Aftermath.

Some of these were definitely inspiration for the Talents idea. I've been looking for ways to harness my players attention on character growth (they all want to grow their characters...but it's hard with CT) without unbalancing the game.

I mean, we've played our campaign almost a year now (real year--a few months for the characters including time in jump space), and nobody has gone up.

So, I wanted some method of improving CT characters without actually giving them skill increases. When I saw the system in Fallout (which I like as well...even downloaded the pen and paper version of the game, which is available here if you're interested in taking a looksee), it did make me think of feats in d20....

...and then I thought of how certain CT races have special benefits and penalties (such as Vargr night vision)...

...and that lead me to the Eureka! Talents for CT characters. A method of improving the characters without unbalancing the game.

Players can pick up these neat little aspects to their characters, making the PC different from each other an other NPCs...instilling a sense of accomplishment and character growth as the players play their avatars during the adventures.

Have you thought of changing the scale of improvement. Say you improve a skill in 0.1 increments to provide a sense of progression but to avoid exploding skills?

Actually, I have no idea, as I write this, how I'm going to implement Talents. Nor how often.

I know I don't want record keeping (you get X amount of points...and that leads to...etc).

I want something to key the event, like rolling a Critical Success keys the event for a Focus Skill under the Experience idea I posted.

I want something that happens in the game to "flag" the possibility that the character could get a new talent, and then move on from there--maybe with a roll to see if the Talent is obtained.

I am thinking of tying it in with roleplaying and good ideas contributed by the player to the game session, but I'm not sure how to do that yet.

Any ideas on this are welcome. [/QB][/QUOTE]

 

[Ptah]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Ptah:
S4, got to love a man that references Fallout.

One of my all-time favorite computer RPGs for game play, reward mechanic and flavor.

Went to the store the other day doing Christmas shopping. Saw a package of Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics for $19.99. Never played it. Heard of it. Heard good things. So, I bought it.

Yeah, the graphics are way old school...but MAN! WHAT A GAME!

I'm playing Fallout right now. Haven't finished. It's damn addicting!
</font>[/QUOTE]

The graphics were pretty good for its day, late '90's IIRC. The addicitveness of the game impresed me, part to me was the reward mechanic, I really liked the skill + perk improvement approach and the frequency of reward.

Thinking of frequency of reward, it depends a lot on the players, but typically I've found a reward every 2 or 3 sessions when playing monthly is inspiring and provides a sense of progress. I'd say every 4-6 sessions if playing weekly. This has no connection to in game time but player perception of game pacing.

On role playing based rewards how about the following. During a session when a player does something inventive, exceedinly brave, very good role playing you make a note. I know record keeping, but nothing more than a tick on a list of character names or against a skill. At the end of the session, GM and players talk about these things and decide if they rise to the appropriate level. If so, you get to make a "skill" roll or something to improve a skill y x amount(semi-permanently the first time, permanently the second time)or acquire a Talent.
This of course relies on good GM-Player interaction which it sounds like you have.

In a sense, the reward in this case is getting to make the roll. Since criticals come up so rarely this may be a way to provide rewards.

You may also use this to provide a choice between incremental skill increase vs Talent. Two ticks to roll for the skill, one for the talent? I realize this is getting close to a point system.

I think these were called Perks in Fallout. They also sound similar to Feats in D&D/T20, and some Skills in The Fantasy Trip. When I originally saw the word Talents I thought more of those used in Aftermath.

Some of these were definitely inspiration for the Talents idea. I've been looking for ways to harness my players attention on character growth (they all want to grow their characters...but it's hard with CT) without unbalancing the game.

I mean, we've played our campaign almost a year now (real year--a few months for the characters including time in jump space), and nobody has gone up.

So, I wanted some method of improving CT characters without actually giving them skill increases. When I saw the system in Fallout (which I like as well...even downloaded the pen and paper version of the game, which is available here if you're interested in taking a looksee), it did make me think of feats in d20....

...and then I thought of how certain CT races have special benefits and penalties (such as Vargr night vision)...

...and that lead me to the Eureka! Talents for CT characters. A method of improving the characters without unbalancing the game.

Players can pick up these neat little aspects to their characters, making the PC different from each other an other NPCs...instilling a sense of accomplishment and character growth as the players play their avatars during the adventures.

Have you thought of changing the scale of improvement. Say you improve a skill in 0.1 increments to provide a sense of progression but to avoid exploding skills?

Actually, I have no idea, as I write this, how I'm going to implement Talents. Nor how often.

I know I don't want record keeping (you get X amount of points...and that leads to...etc).

I want something to key the event, like rolling a Critical Success keys the event for a Focus Skill under the Experience idea I posted.

I want something that happens in the game to "flag" the possibility that the character could get a new talent, and then move on from there--maybe with a roll to see if the Talent is obtained.

I am thinking of tying it in with roleplaying and good ideas contributed by the player to the game session, but I'm not sure how to do that yet.

Any ideas on this are welcome. [/QB][/QUOTE]

 

[Arthur Denger]

Originally posted by Ptah:
Have you thought of changing the scale of improvement. Say you improve a skill in 0.1 increments to provide a sense of progression but to avoid exploding skills?

It might be a good thing to add on with the Talents you describe, which I like the idea of. Basically a trade-off between short term narrow gain versus longer term broader gain.

If not using advanced generation (ala High Guard), why would the referee not take skill improvements in 2-year increments based upon actual experiences adventuring, and basically allow a "saving throw" to achieve improvement or acquisition of a new skill? If a PC wants to train in a specific skill, fine; that character should then be trying to apply the specific skill or attribute at every opportunity. I understand your rationale for using incremental skill level increases, but isn't that just something of a paper tiger?

 

[Arthur Denger]

Originally posted by Ptah:
Have you thought of changing the scale of improvement. Say you improve a skill in 0.1 increments to provide a sense of progression but to avoid exploding skills?

It might be a good thing to add on with the Talents you describe, which I like the idea of. Basically a trade-off between short term narrow gain versus longer term broader gain.

If not using advanced generation (ala High Guard), why would the referee not take skill improvements in 2-year increments based upon actual experiences adventuring, and basically allow a "saving throw" to achieve improvement or acquisition of a new skill? If a PC wants to train in a specific skill, fine; that character should then be trying to apply the specific skill or attribute at every opportunity. I understand your rationale for using incremental skill level increases, but isn't that just something of a paper tiger?

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Ptah:
Thinking of frequency of reward, it depends a lot on the players, but typically I've found a reward every 2 or 3 sessions when playing monthly is inspiring and provides a sense of progress. I'd say every 4-6 sessions if playing weekly. This has no connection to in game time but player perception of game pacing.

I'm actually now thinking of going this way with the talents idea--of customizing the talent to what the player does with the character during the game.

See the post I'm about to write on this....

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Ptah:
Thinking of frequency of reward, it depends a lot on the players, but typically I've found a reward every 2 or 3 sessions when playing monthly is inspiring and provides a sense of progress. I'd say every 4-6 sessions if playing weekly. This has no connection to in game time but player perception of game pacing.

I'm actually now thinking of going this way with the talents idea--of customizing the talent to what the player does with the character during the game.

See the post I'm about to write on this....

 

[Eyeball]

You could also use talents as a form of incremental skill increase.

A talent could be a skill specialisation giving you a +1 when engaging the skill in the defined way.

For example: Broker (when dealing with aliens) gives a +1 bonus under those circumstances.

Vac-suit (moving at great speed) gives a +1 when the character is making a run-check.

I think this is already contained in your idea of a talent above.

When a character has built up enough talents in one area then these are removed and the whole skill goes up one level.

The speed with which this happens would depend upon the speed that the referee likes increases to happen.

I like the idea of a skill increase for every year of a characters adventuring life. I'd hand out four talents each adventure-year and if they all went into a single skill then they'd increase that skill, but the adventurer could distribute them between different skills instead of going into a single skill.

The player might not have an idea for a specific talent for each skill but they could still record that they were part way through increasing the skill.

Talents would be gained in skills that were either (a) heavily used, (b) achieved one or more critical successes or (c) which the character was practising (and had the appropriate opportunity).

With these numbers a talent wouldn't be awarded after each play session unless you had long and eventful play-session.

Also you'd want the talent to come into play roughly a quarter of the time. A seasoned ref would have a good feeling for what was suitable and what was silly and that's all that would be required.

So having the talent Shotgun (while in combat) wouldn't be allowed as too general. Shotgun (against pink things) would be too silly for my campaign but you never know. Shotgun (while standing on a moving train) would be discouraged as too specific, but because of the "four talents = 1 skill level" rule it might still be useful.

Of course using sub-skills on the skill tree would be perfectly acceptable.

 

[Eyeball]

You could also use talents as a form of incremental skill increase.

A talent could be a skill specialisation giving you a +1 when engaging the skill in the defined way.

For example: Broker (when dealing with aliens) gives a +1 bonus under those circumstances.

Vac-suit (moving at great speed) gives a +1 when the character is making a run-check.

I think this is already contained in your idea of a talent above.

When a character has built up enough talents in one area then these are removed and the whole skill goes up one level.

The speed with which this happens would depend upon the speed that the referee likes increases to happen.

I like the idea of a skill increase for every year of a characters adventuring life. I'd hand out four talents each adventure-year and if they all went into a single skill then they'd increase that skill, but the adventurer could distribute them between different skills instead of going into a single skill.

The player might not have an idea for a specific talent for each skill but they could still record that they were part way through increasing the skill.

Talents would be gained in skills that were either (a) heavily used, (b) achieved one or more critical successes or (c) which the character was practising (and had the appropriate opportunity).

With these numbers a talent wouldn't be awarded after each play session unless you had long and eventful play-session.

Also you'd want the talent to come into play roughly a quarter of the time. A seasoned ref would have a good feeling for what was suitable and what was silly and that's all that would be required.

So having the talent Shotgun (while in combat) wouldn't be allowed as too general. Shotgun (against pink things) would be too silly for my campaign but you never know. Shotgun (while standing on a moving train) would be discouraged as too specific, but because of the "four talents = 1 skill level" rule it might still be useful.

Of course using sub-skills on the skill tree would be perfectly acceptable.

 

[Supplement Four]

CREATIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF TALENTS...





A GM could, if he wanted, go about making a list of "Talents" that his characters can grow into as his campaign progresses. If one wanted to do this, looking at the list of T20 feats wouldn't be a bad idea (converting them for use in CT), although inspiration for Talents can be found everywhere--in other pen and paper rpgs, computer rpgs, or even in the latest scifi novel you may be reading (or even scifi telivison series or movie you just watched).

But, how I'm going to implement Talents in my game is a little more organic...a little more customized. I don't want it to be a dry pick-from-the-list kind of thing.

In fact, I'm not even going to make a list.

What I am going to do, though, is pay attention to what happens in my campaign. I'm going to watch how my players play. And, I'm going to take this info and create Talents tailored for specific individuals.

Let me give you an example:




One character in my campaign is psionic. NONE of the other players know this. We've kept it between me (the GM) and the player (away from the other players). The few times it has come up (the character's psionic training isn't much) in a game, me and the player have left the gaming table for another room, or passed notes, and we've managed to do this without arousing the suspicions of the other players.

At this point in the game, I honestly don't think any of the other players have a clue that a character with (slim) psionic training is among them.

It's something secret and special I share with the one player.

Now, in the game, the characters have had a hard time. Not to go into too much detail, I'll say that the characters have found themselves captured and placed into low berths.

In between games, I called the player playing the psionic character and said to him, "as you float in limbo, your mind is acutally racing. Typically, those in low berth do not dream. But, you're psionic. The few times you've been down before, you do remember dreaming. It's unusual, yes, but you've never mentioned it to anyone for fear of revealing your psionic training.

"This time, though...THIS TIME...it's different. Your dreams are stronger than they ever have been. You feel more than see, as you dream, warmth and cold. Which are you attracted to? The cold or the heat?"

The player answered me, saying his character gravitated towards the cold.

During our next game session (our last game session we had, acutally), I made it look like I rolled randomly for this character to awake first from the cold berth. In fact, though, I did it on purpose.

You see, what happened (and the player doesn't even know this yet...I'll reveal it later in the game) is that the psionic character had a telepathic connection with an anola.

What's an anola? They're spider-monkey-like creatures native (and typically only found on) the world of Pysadi in the Aramis subsector. It's not widely know, but anolas have a limited form of psionic ability.

What happened in the game is that the sleeping psionic pc made a "connection" with the anola. The PCs are in modified berths similar to those used for the Navy's Frozen Watch. Those things are made so that any idoit spaceman can slap a switch allowing the 5 minutes de-freezing process.

Well...the anola hit the green button (the colder button. the red button was the "warm" one). And now the PCs are out of the berths--none of them sure why one of their number mysteriously popped out of cold berth with noone else around.

The berths were stacked, like cargo containers, outside. It's freezing cold. Raining. The PCs aren't protected from the weather.

A guard stumbled across the psionic PC as he was waiting for the next guy to thaw, and they got into an altercation.

The PC ran out into the field. An alarm went off. Now the entire compound is searching for this PC who has somehow escaped cold berth and escaped out into the field around the farm house.

My plan is this:

The PC (his name is Bromley) is trying to evade the guards looking for him. They're out, en masse, and they even have a helocopter circling with a spot light.

He's unprotected from the weather. There are so many guards looking for him in the dark. He knows (the player knows) that it is just a matter of time before they find him.

Next game, what I plan to do as GM, is bring up the connection with the anola again. Bromley will be able to "feel" where some of the guards are--the ones perceived by the anola. Hopefully, he'll be able to use this to his advantage and evade the guards.

What the player doesn't know is that I've given his character a Talent. It's a psionic talent, allowing him to "connect" with animals.

Right now, it's just the anolas, since they are already slightly psionic.

But, if the character works at it, we may grow this talent to include non-psionic creatures as the campaign progresses.

Right now, the player doesn't even realize that me, as the GM, have awarded his character with this Talent. It's a mystery to him. It's something he's going to discover as the game moves on.

Now, what have I done? I've used the Talent idea in a creative way to improve the character's abilities, and I've done it without increasing the character's skill levels (which would unbalance the game quickly).

Maybe, down the road, we can blow this Talent into a full blown psionic skill, but right now, it's just some cool thing the GM is doing. The PC has no control over when to use it. It's like Luke trying to speak to Obiwan in the beginning--Kenobi only appears to Luke when the GM wants him to.

If the player really "gets into" this, we'll grow the Talent, maybe giving the PC more control over it's use down the road...maybe turning it into a full blown skill.

This has been a long way to go, I know, to make a point.

And, that point is: Talents don't have to be dry, pick from a list types of things. Creative GMs and players can put their heads together and "grow" Talents out of the situation happening in their game.

Of the top of my head, take for example a PC who likes to brawl. He's always getting into bar fights all the time.

A GM who wanted to create a talent for such a character might engineer a meeting with an NPC the next time the PC wanders into the local startown bar.

He meets an old, grizzeled spacehand who teaches him a "move". "Sonny, the next time you're in a fight, kick that thier knee, like this, then use your upper body to slam them to the ground, using your hip as a pivot."

Now the PC has a Talent in making throws. Come up with a rule...maybe something like: "This talent requires Brawling-3 skill, and each time a successful Brawling attack is made, and the dice come up as doubles (1-1, 2-2, 3-3, etc), then each character makes an opposed STR roll. If the PC wins, his opponent is knocked to the ground, loosing his action that round, or beginning next round on the ground.

Something like that.

Get creative with it.

Rather than a dusty list.

 

[Supplement Four]

CREATIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF TALENTS...





A GM could, if he wanted, go about making a list of "Talents" that his characters can grow into as his campaign progresses. If one wanted to do this, looking at the list of T20 feats wouldn't be a bad idea (converting them for use in CT), although inspiration for Talents can be found everywhere--in other pen and paper rpgs, computer rpgs, or even in the latest scifi novel you may be reading (or even scifi telivison series or movie you just watched).

But, how I'm going to implement Talents in my game is a little more organic...a little more customized. I don't want it to be a dry pick-from-the-list kind of thing.

In fact, I'm not even going to make a list.

What I am going to do, though, is pay attention to what happens in my campaign. I'm going to watch how my players play. And, I'm going to take this info and create Talents tailored for specific individuals.

Let me give you an example:




One character in my campaign is psionic. NONE of the other players know this. We've kept it between me (the GM) and the player (away from the other players). The few times it has come up (the character's psionic training isn't much) in a game, me and the player have left the gaming table for another room, or passed notes, and we've managed to do this without arousing the suspicions of the other players.

At this point in the game, I honestly don't think any of the other players have a clue that a character with (slim) psionic training is among them.

It's something secret and special I share with the one player.

Now, in the game, the characters have had a hard time. Not to go into too much detail, I'll say that the characters have found themselves captured and placed into low berths.

In between games, I called the player playing the psionic character and said to him, "as you float in limbo, your mind is acutally racing. Typically, those in low berth do not dream. But, you're psionic. The few times you've been down before, you do remember dreaming. It's unusual, yes, but you've never mentioned it to anyone for fear of revealing your psionic training.

"This time, though...THIS TIME...it's different. Your dreams are stronger than they ever have been. You feel more than see, as you dream, warmth and cold. Which are you attracted to? The cold or the heat?"

The player answered me, saying his character gravitated towards the cold.

During our next game session (our last game session we had, acutally), I made it look like I rolled randomly for this character to awake first from the cold berth. In fact, though, I did it on purpose.

You see, what happened (and the player doesn't even know this yet...I'll reveal it later in the game) is that the psionic character had a telepathic connection with an anola.

What's an anola? They're spider-monkey-like creatures native (and typically only found on) the world of Pysadi in the Aramis subsector. It's not widely know, but anolas have a limited form of psionic ability.

What happened in the game is that the sleeping psionic pc made a "connection" with the anola. The PCs are in modified berths similar to those used for the Navy's Frozen Watch. Those things are made so that any idoit spaceman can slap a switch allowing the 5 minutes de-freezing process.

Well...the anola hit the green button (the colder button. the red button was the "warm" one). And now the PCs are out of the berths--none of them sure why one of their number mysteriously popped out of cold berth with noone else around.

The berths were stacked, like cargo containers, outside. It's freezing cold. Raining. The PCs aren't protected from the weather.

A guard stumbled across the psionic PC as he was waiting for the next guy to thaw, and they got into an altercation.

The PC ran out into the field. An alarm went off. Now the entire compound is searching for this PC who has somehow escaped cold berth and escaped out into the field around the farm house.

My plan is this:

The PC (his name is Bromley) is trying to evade the guards looking for him. They're out, en masse, and they even have a helocopter circling with a spot light.

He's unprotected from the weather. There are so many guards looking for him in the dark. He knows (the player knows) that it is just a matter of time before they find him.

Next game, what I plan to do as GM, is bring up the connection with the anola again. Bromley will be able to "feel" where some of the guards are--the ones perceived by the anola. Hopefully, he'll be able to use this to his advantage and evade the guards.

What the player doesn't know is that I've given his character a Talent. It's a psionic talent, allowing him to "connect" with animals.

Right now, it's just the anolas, since they are already slightly psionic.

But, if the character works at it, we may grow this talent to include non-psionic creatures as the campaign progresses.

Right now, the player doesn't even realize that me, as the GM, have awarded his character with this Talent. It's a mystery to him. It's something he's going to discover as the game moves on.

Now, what have I done? I've used the Talent idea in a creative way to improve the character's abilities, and I've done it without increasing the character's skill levels (which would unbalance the game quickly).

Maybe, down the road, we can blow this Talent into a full blown psionic skill, but right now, it's just some cool thing the GM is doing. The PC has no control over when to use it. It's like Luke trying to speak to Obiwan in the beginning--Kenobi only appears to Luke when the GM wants him to.

If the player really "gets into" this, we'll grow the Talent, maybe giving the PC more control over it's use down the road...maybe turning it into a full blown skill.

This has been a long way to go, I know, to make a point.

And, that point is: Talents don't have to be dry, pick from a list types of things. Creative GMs and players can put their heads together and "grow" Talents out of the situation happening in their game.

Of the top of my head, take for example a PC who likes to brawl. He's always getting into bar fights all the time.

A GM who wanted to create a talent for such a character might engineer a meeting with an NPC the next time the PC wanders into the local startown bar.

He meets an old, grizzeled spacehand who teaches him a "move". "Sonny, the next time you're in a fight, kick that thier knee, like this, then use your upper body to slam them to the ground, using your hip as a pivot."

Now the PC has a Talent in making throws. Come up with a rule...maybe something like: "This talent requires Brawling-3 skill, and each time a successful Brawling attack is made, and the dice come up as doubles (1-1, 2-2, 3-3, etc), then each character makes an opposed STR roll. If the PC wins, his opponent is knocked to the ground, loosing his action that round, or beginning next round on the ground.

Something like that.

Get creative with it.

Rather than a dusty list.

 

[Golan2072]

I like this idea (as usual with Sup4's work).

If I'll use any such systemin my game, I'd use Talents only for things that cannot be easily dealt with by giving the PC a skill. Talents would probably not be incremental (i.e. on a scale with multiple levels) but would represent a special feature of the character.

This would work especially well with certain types of augmentations (wide-spectrum innoculation, brain-computer link implant, subdermal armor and so on), with specialized "one-of" experience or training (Combat Experience for example). On the other hand, things such as Infantry Training could easily be covered by a Combat Rifleman skill (covering rifles as well as hand grenades, bayonets and general battlefield survival training).

 

[Golan2072]

I like this idea (as usual with Sup4's work).

If I'll use any such systemin my game, I'd use Talents only for things that cannot be easily dealt with by giving the PC a skill. Talents would probably not be incremental (i.e. on a scale with multiple levels) but would represent a special feature of the character.

This would work especially well with certain types of augmentations (wide-spectrum innoculation, brain-computer link implant, subdermal armor and so on), with specialized "one-of" experience or training (Combat Experience for example). On the other hand, things such as Infantry Training could easily be covered by a Combat Rifleman skill (covering rifles as well as hand grenades, bayonets and general battlefield survival training).

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
...would represent a special feature of the character.

This would work especially well with certain types of augmentations...

Another thought is that Talents would be a great excuse for the GM to "break the rules" a bit.

I sometimes think that we, as GMs, forget that it's our universe, and it's our job to make that universe as interesting, mysterious, and involving as possible. Sometimes we allow ourselves to be "hemmed in" with the rules.

I know I've been guilty of it.

I look back on the time when I first starting role playing, way back in the early 80's as a sophomore in high school--back when there was much more encouragement (or, it seemed like encouragement) for GMs to be extremely creative with their games.

Companies who publish RPGs are basically book publishers, and its in their interests to write a rule for each and every occurence (many of them, anyway) that they can think of in a game--they way, they sell more books.

Nothing wrong with that. I acutally prefer a "prefab" adventure that allows me to do as much or as little work as I choose.

But, I wonder...do we sometimes allow ourselves to get cornered on all sides by the mountains of rules and supplemental material available for our favorite rpgs?

Do we forget to be creative?

As I mention above, I think Talents are a good way for a GM to "get creative" with his game...maybe even break a few rules (or, at least bend 'em) in the efforts of telling a good story.

I've been gaming with the same basic group of guys for over 20 years now, and I think the main reason they keep coming back is that I always strive to involve them in a good story no matter which rpg we're playing.

You know, if you're running a Traveller campaign, and you've got a PC who's served 10 terms and pushing 60 years old...yet you all of a sudden decide that it would be extremely cool for your game if this character, in his waning years of his life, suddenly realized that "the force was strong in his family" (read: He's got an extremely high chance having psionic potential), then there's nothing wrong with giving the character a "Talent" that allows him to disregard the Term-penalty normaly used when rolling for pisonic STR.

I'm looking at Talents not only as a method of character improvement without the need to increase skills, but also as a creative endeavor aimed at making the game more interesting.

Traveller is a scifi game. Talents allow a little of the "fiction" to be used along with the science.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
...would represent a special feature of the character.

This would work especially well with certain types of augmentations...

Another thought is that Talents would be a great excuse for the GM to "break the rules" a bit.

I sometimes think that we, as GMs, forget that it's our universe, and it's our job to make that universe as interesting, mysterious, and involving as possible. Sometimes we allow ourselves to be "hemmed in" with the rules.

I know I've been guilty of it.

I look back on the time when I first starting role playing, way back in the early 80's as a sophomore in high school--back when there was much more encouragement (or, it seemed like encouragement) for GMs to be extremely creative with their games.

Companies who publish RPGs are basically book publishers, and its in their interests to write a rule for each and every occurence (many of them, anyway) that they can think of in a game--they way, they sell more books.

Nothing wrong with that. I acutally prefer a "prefab" adventure that allows me to do as much or as little work as I choose.

But, I wonder...do we sometimes allow ourselves to get cornered on all sides by the mountains of rules and supplemental material available for our favorite rpgs?

Do we forget to be creative?

As I mention above, I think Talents are a good way for a GM to "get creative" with his game...maybe even break a few rules (or, at least bend 'em) in the efforts of telling a good story.

I've been gaming with the same basic group of guys for over 20 years now, and I think the main reason they keep coming back is that I always strive to involve them in a good story no matter which rpg we're playing.

You know, if you're running a Traveller campaign, and you've got a PC who's served 10 terms and pushing 60 years old...yet you all of a sudden decide that it would be extremely cool for your game if this character, in his waning years of his life, suddenly realized that "the force was strong in his family" (read: He's got an extremely high chance having psionic potential), then there's nothing wrong with giving the character a "Talent" that allows him to disregard the Term-penalty normaly used when rolling for pisonic STR.

I'm looking at Talents not only as a method of character improvement without the need to increase skills, but also as a creative endeavor aimed at making the game more interesting.

Traveller is a scifi game. Talents allow a little of the "fiction" to be used along with the science.