help fleshing out skills for Teen Champ Character.

[The Rose]

Hello Everyone,

I am currently writtting a possible character of mine for a Teen Champions game. I am reviewing the skills I have and have been thinking about various other skills I might take. This is where you all come in, I am wanting help on thinking of various other skills to take including knowledges, perfessions, and others.

Basic back ground is 200pt characters, everyone is just starting highschool, and this paticular one has a secret complex built into it for the gifted children. Falicia Taylor just enrolled here. She is 14 years old and the heir to a large fortune and has spent time enjoy life to it full. She has asperations of theater, and is a pretty good actress, and even can do musicals (which she absolutly loves!). Her basic power set is the ability to alter her physical shape and abilities. Included in this is basic Growth, Stretch, shink, DI, Characterists, and shape change.

Here is the list of skills she has of so far and I have 15pts worth to still buy some.
3 Acrobatics 12- (13-) 2 Acting 14-
3 Breakfall 12- (13-) 0 CK: Millinium City 8-
0 Climbing 8- 0 Concealment 8-
3 Contortionist 12- (13-) 2 Conversation 14-
0 Deduction 8- 9 Disguise 15-
3 High Society 14- 3 KS: Theater and Stage 12-
0 Language (idiomatic; literate) (5 Active Points)
3 Language: French (completely fluent; literate) (4 Active Points)
3 Mimicry 12- 3 Oratory 14-
3 PS: Actress 14- 1 PS: Dilettante 14-
3 PS: Singer 14- 0 Paramedics 8-
2 Persuasion 14- 3 Power 12-
1 Seduction 8- 0 Shadowing 8-
2 Stealth 12- (13-)
2 TF: Equines, Hanggliding, Skiing (water), Small Motorized Ground Vehicles

Thanks in advance,
La Rose

[Shoutybloke]

Honestly, for a fourteen year old girl, that's enough skills

[brionl]

You might want to throw in a couple Cultural Knowledge skills, but yeah, that's a lot of useful skills for a 14yo.

p.s. I'm pretty sure you mean "fleshing" out, not "flushing" out.

[wylodmayer]

I dunno. That's a LOT of skills for a 14-year old, even a gifted one. Maybe "flushing out" of skills is what's called for, here.

Especially note that a 14- is solid professional competence, possibly even above average, if I recall correctly (I don't have my book to hand). So, we're talking about a 14 year old who is as good or better than professional adults in the same field at: public speaking, acting, singing, and socializing. That last one especially concerns me - the first three can be chalked up to (phenomenal!) talent, but being a smooth social operator is the kind of thing that mainly comes with experience. There's only so good you can get at it from raw ability.

I'm also curious what "PS: Dilettante" is supposed to be. It doesn't mean "rich person," as some might think (not supposing one way or the other whether you thought that). It means, essentially, a dabbler - the rich are often called dilettantes, but not because they're rich (well, not precisely). One might call Angelina Jolie a dilettante in international politics, because she uses wealth and status to jump into international crisis areas and stays for a month or two and then leaves to go back to her comforting life for a few more years... people who make a life out of helping out during such tragedies might just use that label for her.

None of that is to say that there couldn't be a "Dilettante" skill. Indeed, it might function as a kind of weird, catch-all "default" skill. Jolie could probably claim an 8- or 9- roll with a lot of stuff because she's a dilettante. She dabbles. So it's a legitimate skill, but under that interpretation, I seriously doubt whether a 14 year old would have it, at any level.

Now, if you're looking a skill to describe what a rich, idle teenager does - i.e., shop, eat out, and hang with celebrities - then "debutante" may be more what you were looking for. However, I'm not sure what kind of skills that would confer.

[Doctor Agenda]

I think the kind of skills she needs to be more fleshed out are this kind:

AK: Her School
KS: Latest Music
PS: Keep Up with Fashion
PS: Teen Diva

You might want to consider changing some of her skills to Advanced Familiarities, from the Ultimate Skill

Cost Skill
2 Acting 10-
2 Conversation 10-
2 High Society 10-
2 Oratory 10-
2 Persuasion 10-

I'm not suggesting you do that with all those skills, but you might want to consider doing it with some of them. Not only will it make her seem more like a teenager, I think you'll find the character development interesting as she gradually spends experience to bring those skills to their full potential.

[moquif]

Since she speaks French, I'd include KS French History AK France KS French Culture all at 8- (or 11- if you give her Scholar and/or Traveler). I'd also add KS related to her TF (KS horse shows, AK hand gliding areas, etc). There aren't many skills that don't have a complimentary skill.

For a more normal girl KS Boy Bands, KS School Cliches. Ultimate Skill talks about dividing Seduction into romantic and friend skills. In this light I'd remove Seduction and replace it with a skills like Charm (for friends) and Flirt (for boys). Oh and let's not forget AK internet.

As for how many skills a 14 year old should have, I don't think we should be as concerned about the number of skills but the skill level. An 8- could be justified by paying attention in a class, an after-school activity, or watching an educational program every night. Also remember the power of hobbies. If the skill level remains low (little beyond basic knowledge), there shouldn't be a problem.

[The Rose]

I think the kind of skills she needs to be more fleshed out are this kind:

AK: Her School
KS: Latest Music
PS: Keep Up with Fashion
PS: Teen Diva

You might want to consider changing some of her skills to Advanced Familiarities, from the Ultimate Skill

Cost Skill
2 Acting 10-
2 Conversation 10-
2 High Society 10-
2 Oratory 10-
2 Persuasion 10-

I'm not suggesting you do that with all those skills, but you might want to consider doing it with some of them. Not only will it make her seem more like a teenager, I think you'll find the character development interesting as she gradually spends experience to bring those skills to their full potential.

Since she speaks French, I'd include KS French History AK France KS French Culture all at 8- (or 11- if you give her Scholar and/or Traveler). I'd also add KS related to her TF (KS horse shows, AK hand gliding areas, etc). There aren't many skills that don't have a complimentary skill.

For a more normal girl KS Boy Bands, KS School Cliches. Ultimate Skill talks about dividing Seduction into romantic and friend skills. In this light I'd remove Seduction and replace it with a skills like Charm (for friends) and Flirt (for boys). Oh and let's not forget AK internet.

As for how many skills a 14 year old should have, I don't think we should be as concerned about the number of skills but the skill level. An 8- could be justified by paying attention in a class, an after-school activity, or watching an educational program every night. Also remember the power of hobbies. If the skill level remains low (little beyond basic knowledge), there shouldn't be a problem.

Nice suggestions, thanks. And yes I did mean 'Fleshing out skills.' I more than agree that these skills are FAR FAR above a normal teen ager and would normally not let them be so high. However this paticular game set up, has 12- be normal and 14- be skilled. As such I would be severly limiting myself in skills comparison to other PCs if I went for more realism. Also on that same note, realisticly a teen ager should have Character scores around 5-7, but average student at the school gifted or otherwise(the school is a blend of both) has 10 in most stats. So although I agree with you all for the sake of not limiting myself I will be sticking with the full value skills.

Also thanks wylodmayer debutante is more what I am looking for. I didn't realize that about Dilettante, so thanks.

[wylodmayer]

However this paticular game set up, has 12- be normal and 14- be skilled. As such I would be severly limiting myself in skills comparison to other PCs if I went for more realism.

Ah, man. That blows - I hate it when you get spanked for actually doing the plausible thing, in character. My sympathies to you on that one. The GM oughta rein in the others a little so you don't have to go to excess just to compete.

Also thanks wylodmayer debutante is more what I am looking for. I didn't realize that about Dilettante, so thanks.

My pleasure. Seems like a neat concept, I hope you enjoy playing her.