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The Language Table is great! How about a Skills Table?


DentArthurDent

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19 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

For a General skill, you have your will to have a General knowledge about the specific subject.  At a prescribed penalty, you can have specific knowledge about the specific subject.  For a further penalty, it happens to be something with which you are intimately familiar.

 

Myself, I am not keen on making three rolls on the same skill to answer the question,

 

No suggestion that there be three rolls. Following the flow of the Indie game, if only one player has "Scientist", and no one else has any science schtick, that player gets a normal, unpenalized roll for all things science.

 

But if we have a Scientists and a Geologist, then a roll related to Geology is a normal roll for the Geologist. The more general Scientist can roll, but takes a penalty because his knowledge is more broad and less focused on Geology.

 

I see no reason your "degrees of success" model can't be applied in addition. The Geologist is more likely to know more, but we may still see rolls where the Scientist knows some obscure Geology issue that the Geologist has never run across before.  If they both paid for the same roll, the Scientist will not handle Geology as well over time, but there may be occasional exceptions.

 

Of course, nothing would prevent GM or play group decisions that some skill choices are too broad, or too narrow, for the game.

 

 

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Yeah, I've got no issue with defining a "General Science" skill that might represent, for example, 1 year of college-level physics, biology, chemistry, and geology.  Why is the sky blue?  Rayleigh scattering.  Describe the structure of an atom.  What are the layers of the atmosphere, and the Earth?  OTOH, funkier questions like "why do no stable, non-decaying atoms have fewer neutrons than protons?" or "why does the addition of 2 neutrons turn stable carbon-12, into unstable carbon-14?" get penalties, or even deny a roll to know it, if it's too esoteric.  You're getting a huge scope for few points.

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On 12/15/2022 at 3:03 PM, Hugh Neilson said:

 

No suggestion that there be three rolls.

 

Sorry for the confusion, Hugh.  I was putting forward the idea of how one _might_ use a generalist skill.  The first idea was roll to see if this is a field,about which you have general knowledge (familiarity, in HERO terms).  If yes, roll again (at penalty) to see if you have excellent knowledge of it (or a KS, in HERO terms).  Roll a third time at greater penalty to see if this particular aspect of the subject is something with which you have solid personal experience that will let you comfortably address  the problem at hand (a PS in HERO).

 

As a model, it is fine.  I then pointed out that personally am not a big fan of rolling three times on the same skill in the same moment, and offered the suggestion of "reading the roll" to immediately determine what you do or do not know:  if your roll succeeds even after all applicable penalties, then _in this instance_, you have PS- type knowledge-- again, as it applies to this particular problem,  unlike a real PS, it doesn't mean you can immediately handle a similar problem; you just happen to know what you needed to know for this problem.

 

Beating the roll by enough to clear the first modifier but not the second would allow you roughly Knowledge skill type understanding of the situation.  Beating the Roll, but not by enough to clear any modifiers allows you general relevant knowledge, or maybe even a familiarity-type understanding.

 

That was all I was saying.

 

 

On 12/15/2022 at 3:03 PM, Hugh Neilson said:

 

But if we have a Scientists and a Geologist, then a roll related to Geology is a normal roll for the Geologist. The more general Scientist can roll, but takes a penalty because his knowledge is more broad and less focused on Geology.

 

Right; I understood that.  And while I do not usually disagree with Scott (seriously: for the most part, we seem to have similar sensibilities about gaming), I not only agree with the above, I enforce it in my own games already: if someone wants to be a specialist, then he deserves some benefit to that.  Similarly, Generalists and Family Practice doctors don't do kidney transplants: the specialist is _expected_ to be far more knowledgeable about that subject in which he specializes.

 

If my choices for my heart transplant were world-renouned thoracic surgeon Johhny Whatiznaym or Jack Elam from the ambulance in Cannonball Run, I am going to have to go with Doctor Johnny for my heart surgery.

 

Similarly, if my problems require a proctologist, then I not go with Jack Elam again.  He is an actor.  He only played a proctologist in Cannonball Run.  

 

If Scott is watching: I enforce this because I played in one or two (score) too many Traveller games were half the PCs were "the greatest pilot in the universe. "  Sorry; forgot the "!".  (Sort of forgot.  Okay, didn't forget).  While the event in Gaurdians of the Galaxy 2 ("Expanding Universe!  There is now more to guard!") With Rocket and that other guy both going "good thing I am" after "you'd have to be the greatest pilot in the universe" was extremely funny.....   A couple hundred hours of gaming that problem is....  Less so.

 

So I instituted a "no stepping on toes" policy that actually brings a lot of discussion and cooperation during the character generation party (everyone wants to the best _something_, so there is a lot of negotiating. Works out great!)

 

I have _zero- issues with overlap: you can _all_ be pilots, and damned good ones!  But only one of you is going to be the best that has ever been.

 

 

 

 

On 12/15/2022 at 3:03 PM, Hugh Neilson said:

I see no reason your "degrees of success" model can't be applied in addition. The Geologist is more likely to know more, but we may still see rolls where the Scientist knows some obscure Geology issue that the Geologist has never run across before.  If they both paid for the same roll, the Scientist will not handle Geology as well over time, but there may be occasional exceptions.

 

Agreed.  The idea I was trying to put forward (and I think I did it better this time) was that the more specific the success, the more specific the expertise as well: the Scientist may have incredibly good understanding of the situation at hand- loads, batteries, circuits, quartz, and rubies, but not necessarily because he knows as much as the geologist about quartz, or the engineer about circuits, or the electrician about circuits-- but because in this one situation, he happens to know a _boatload_ about quartz lasers: enough about each aspect to be a whiz-bang quatrz laser guy.

 

When approached with a situation where that same quartz is being used a repository for billions of terrabytes of information and stored in a class ring, he might come,up completely dry: "well how about that!  I have never seen such an amazing thing!  How do you suppose they do that?!"  (Because he didn't "succeed enough" to have any useful or relevant information), while the quartz guy is busy pointing out everything they got wrong and able to make the system more efficient just based on what he knows of the crystal structure of quartz.

 

 

On 12/15/2022 at 3:03 PM, Hugh Neilson said:

 

Of course, nothing would prevent GM or play group decisions that some skill choices are too broad, or too narrow, for the game.

 

 

Also agreed.  I tend to prefer broad skills because they allow a freedom in the game that every level of specialization draws away.  There is an economy of concept, design time, and play options if I allow "medical doctor" instead of seven kinds of "-ologists" that require Familiarities or expertise in order to become a general practitioner.

 

I don't go so far as "scientist,' mind you, but I am not entirely above considering it with a good argument.  

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I mean how many times are you going to have two scientists in the same player character group, each with a specialty that they have a Science-Off to see who knows the most?  its like breaking Acrobatics down to tumbling and swinging and jumping and so on.  Yeah you are great at the trapeze, but I can trampoline at 15-! 

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Man, I did not want to get  more into this, but this is exactly the thing I am talking about as far as some people will require you to spend X pts; some people will require you to spend 3X points.

 

This is a great example.  At my table, if you have Professional Skill: Pilot, then yes: you can fly an airplane.  Give me some idea what kind (big commercial jets, small propeller planes; helicopters

 

Yes; it's my profession.  I have the skill to do that for a living.  It is my professional skill.  I fly big cargo jets for the BTP (Brown Truck Parcel).

 

Can you fly some other kind of plane?

 

I could, if it was similar enough.  Might be a bit challenging at first.

 

Can you fly something radically different?

 

Like a high orbital shuttle?

 

No; like something that actually exists.  Like a helicopter.

 

No; I am not at all familiar with those.  I would have to take some specific courses, most likely- develop some level of familiarity.

 

Okay.  And your big cargo jet- can you fly it in combat?

 

Can I what, now?

 

Combat- jinking and barrel rolls and immelmans and evading gunfire and avoiding missile locks?

 

Are you on drugs?!

 

So you cannot fly your cargo jet in combat conditions?

 

Man, I don't even _go_ to Chicago.  Why would I need to be able to do all that?  I don't even think the plane could take it!

 

Because you can't fly it without knowing how to pull a reversal on your opponent and avoid missile locks.

 

Really?  I can't be the only pilot who does it every day.  Can you drive?

 

Of course I can; I drove here.

 

Can you deive in combat conditions?

 

Yes; I am from Chicago.

 

Of course you are.  Look, see that high school over there?

 

Yes.

 

How many of those cars do you think were driven here by sixteen and seventeen year old kids?

 

I don't know.  Maybe a hundred?

 

How many of them do you think can drive in combat conditions?

 

Clearly all of them, or they can't drive.

 

Are we in Chicago?

 

New Jersey.

 

Ah.  Same thing, really.  But can you concede that someone can drive a car without being Sgt. Rock or Joey Chitwood?

 

I supose it's possible.  Doesn't make a lot of sense, though.

 

How about a nice Winnebago.  You suppose that Grampa Octogenarian is capable of swinging that thing around, charging the trenches while dodging machine gun fire and bazooka shells?

 

He better be, if he wants to drive in this state.

 

How about a boat?  You know: Joe Yuppie gets a cushy job, and after a few years, decides he doesn't have enough long-term problems, so he buys a nice cabin cruiser to take his family out on three-day weekends three times a year.  Must he be capable of great feats of boatsmanship to do that?

 

I suppose not.  He should be, though.  We are living in an adventure game. 

 

He's a background character.  I am sure it's fine. 

 

But you think I can't fly a winged apartment block unless i am Manfred von Richtofen?

 

Right.

 

 

 

 

Sure, not everyone is going to go that far, but _someone_ is, and more than just one, simply because it is possible with HERO.

 

I was really trying to avoid saying this, because I don't want anyone thinking I am bagging on the whole thing, but frankly, the introduction of familiarity, knowledge skills (other than area knowledge), and professional skills and the "okay, kids; that is all you need!" Is really when the Skills system really went to crap, just because there is no way to pin it down that everyone can agree on, and the system itself is designed in a way that prevents any one authority from saying "this is the one correct way" without countermanding some other part of the system (in particular, the "it is perfectly open-ended and works the way you say it does" part).

 

 

 

 

On 12/14/2022 at 9:11 AM, LoneWolf said:

For that you still need either combat piloting or transport familiarity.  

 

For what it is worth, I have (and always will) assume that a character, barring magical interference, got familiar with _something_ on his way to becoming a pilot (or driver, or sailor, or space captain, or whatever), and have never (and will never) make them buy another skill in order to use the skill they just bought. I just ask the player to define a reasonably-related group of vehicles they can fly and assume this is what they practiced on until they became competent enough to be professionals at it.  Shorter version: my games assume there is one familiarity built into being a pilot or a driver, or whatever.  Want to use it with a different group of reasonably-related vehicles?  Buy that second (or third, or whatever) familiarity to apply your extant skill to that. 

 

And I never require combat anything.  Maybe you don't see your character having a background that provides this oddly-specific bit of training.  I am fine with that.

 

Though the "or" statement confuses me.  For clarification, are you saying that a helicopter pilot must either buy familiarity with Airbusses _or_ be able to fly the helicopter in dangerous situations in order to fly the Airbus?

 

(Not being sarcastic: long-timers here can confirm that I don't do that.  I am genuinely puzzled about what you meant to say here)

 

 

On 12/14/2022 at 9:11 AM, LoneWolf said:

What it would cover is being able to use those skills in a commercial environment.  It would cover things like flight plans, takeoff and landing protocols, how to communicate with the towers or other people dealing with flight.  It would also include knowing all the regulations dealing with flight.  

 

See?  I find those to be unrelated to pilot:  I find that Pilot reders to being able to make the vehicle takeoff, fly, land, and do so safely under relatively moderate conditions (rain storm? Yes.  Mortar fire and barrage of missiles?  Probably not, at least not without lots of planning and preparation.  Dogfight? Definitely not).

 

The other things you describe I would put into a knowledge skill, or even a specialized Beureaucratics roll: with or without that particular knowledge, you can make the plane fly.

 

 

On 12/14/2022 at 9:11 AM, LoneWolf said:

The character who wants to be a pilot should really have both Combat Piloting and Professional skill pilot.  If you know how to fly an airplane but don’t really know all the protocols and regulations you would not have the professional skill, but a licensed pilot would have both.  You could get by with just a transport familiarity, but most licensed pilots will have combat piloting. 

 

 

My appologies for the late arrival; this is still in my editor; I thought it had already posted.

 

 

As to how often will you have multiple scientists:

 

I play primarily not-superheroes.

 

It happens quite frequently in games where bullet-proof flying humans arent real.

 

 

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Transport familiarity, cars. One can go from home to work using a car, without crashing or getting a ticket. Will have to make rolls in stress situations like inclement weather. Professional Skill commercial driver. Drives 100 to 300 miles a day or even mor. Drives more than one type of vehicle in the course of the job. Has to make rolls to either squeeze a large trailer through a small space, avoiding road hazards or potential accident situations that instantly make themselves known in front of the vehicle at speed, and navigating around blocked routes to keep to the schedule. Combat driving, the  Character has taken the State Department Diplomatic Transport course, spent a couple of years competing on dirt tracks across the South, or drove Technicals in a conflict zone successfully.  Must make. a roll when actively targeted by bullets, another vehicle, or trying to break off pursuit, or pushing the limits of the vehicle on the ragged edge of physics and engineering.

 

Even with these options, the GM has to figure for time and attention.  Multiple rolls slow things down a lot. The vehicle rules in Hero are not my favorite, especially after 4th edition, as they got complex, even more so with the addition of turn.  Other skill rolls are about information, mostly, and a GM should be ready either the information, graduated by quality, depending on the player’s die roll. They should also be prepared to shut down begging for countless complimentary skill rolls. 
 

As they currently exist, the Hero List of skills already is categorized, as illustrated above. Anything further becomes rock collecting. 
 

Mechanically, I am gravitating towards how old Traveller, and Mongoose Traveller handle things where skills are a stat roll modifier to a stat roll depending on the situation.  Skill + Education skill to remember a fact one was taught. Skill + Intelligence to apply that skill, Skill + Social to impress people at parties with bits of knowledge or experience. Most GMs will allow only one roll, but will allow other players to roll complementary rolls if they are declared to be helping ( or hindering if they blow the roll), and time taken in the task, will also improve odds of success.  It’s a simple and mechanically fast and clean system.  Multiple stacking rolls just slow things down and lead to arguments. 
 

 

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23 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

I mean how many times are you going to have two scientists in the same player character group, each with a specialty that they have a Science-Off to see who knows the most?  its like breaking Acrobatics down to tumbling and swinging and jumping and so on.  Yeah you are great at the trapeze, but I can trampoline at 15-! 

To me, this is entirely the point.  If we have one scientist, one medical doctor, one lawyer and one acrobat because none of those skills are central to the game, then they just buy one broad skill.

 

If the game is Gymnast Hero, then maybe we have a more broken-down series of specialized Acrobatics skills and each character has a different specialty. If it's very science-centric, we have more specialized science skills, and Charlie the Geophysicist who was also a gymnast just buys Acrobatics in addition to his Geophysics skill.

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The problem with letting background skills duplicate other skills is they are considerably cheaper. The base cost of a background skill is 2 points and can be reduced with skill enhancers.  That brings the cost of a background skill down to 1 point.  The cost for increasing the background skill is also half the cost of a normal skill.   If I can purchase PS Fighter Pilot and be able to do anything combat piloting does why would I pay the extra points?  If this is the case all skills would end up being PS and no one would buy regular skills.  If I have a character with 20 normal skills that will usually cost 60 points.  If I use PS instead the cost drops down to 23 points.  I actually had a player try to do something similar.  He did not take 20 PS; I think he had 10 or so.  They included Pilot, Electrician, Mechanic, Navigator, Locksmith, Computer programmer, and Inventor and a few other I can’t remember.  

 

The other thing people are forgetting is that all characters get a free 2pt PS as an everyman skill.  That means the character that takes combat piloting does not actually have to pay for it unless he has other PS. 
 

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The difference tho, is that the background skills can't be used in an encounter, or when a skills contest is going to be involved.  The skill Computer Programming includes hacking, as that's an encounter skill.  PS:  Computer Programming means you can write HD...given time...but doesn't make you a hacker.  Background skills typically have longer execution times, as well.  If you take PS:  speech writer, you aren't going to whip out a 10 minute speech in a turn.

 

Now, with PS:  Electronics Tech vs. Electronics...the differences are so slight that I agree with you.  Simply don't allow the PS.  Note that PS:  Electrician is *not* the same.  An electrician is a tradesman who installs your home's power system and hooks it up to the power grid, or integrates your solar panels into your home system.  PS:  Mechanic and Mechanic are also pretty similar, altho you might allow PS: Mechanic to be limited to everyday tasks.  Fix a car engine?  Yes.  Rig it to run with a nitrous booster?  No.  

 

As long as you can draw clean lines between the PS and the full skill, there's no problem.  If you can't, then disallow the PS altogether.  It's already explicitly stated that a background skill can't replace a full skill.  It might just be another case where a revision for clarity and brevity would be good, but unfortunately, that's rather unlikely.

 

 

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3 hours ago, unclevlad said:

As long as you can draw clean lines between the PS and the full skill, there's no problem.  If you can't, then disallow the PS altogether. It's already explicitly stated that a background skill can't replace a full skill.  It might just be another case where a revision for clarity and brevity would be good, but unfortunately, that's rather unlikely.

 

 

 

This is what I have been saying the entire time.  

 

The way I look at it the PS has some value in that it allows you to do thing the way they should be done.  Combat Piloting or TF planes, allows you to fly the plane, but does give you the knowledge of all the protocols and regulation to operate as a pilot.   Someone with the full skill without the PS can fly a plane but may make mistakes in protocol or procedure that could cause issue.  

 

For example, when flying from California to New York the character without PS pilot would not know how to register the flight plan and may accidently fly through restricted air space.  This might end up with a fighter jet showing up and telling the “pilot” to land at the nearest air base.  The same thing is true for other PS.   PS electrician would understand all the regulation of how to do things and would also the right way. 

 

People seem to think I am saying you charge more for the ability to do the same thing, but that is not what I am saying.  What I am saying is having a PS allows you to do a better job because it takes into account things outside the actual skill.  It can also act as a complementary skill to the main skill. The character with PS pilot has been trained in how to do things the right way and is not just winging it.  He has been trained how to handle situations that may come up so is able to handle them better. 
 

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1 hour ago, LoneWolf said:

 

This is what I have been saying the entire time.  

 

The way I look at it the PS has some value in that it allows you to do thing the way they should be done.  Combat Piloting or TF planes, allows you to fly the plane, but does give you the knowledge of all the protocols and regulation to operate as a pilot.   Someone with the full skill without the PS can fly a plane but may make mistakes in protocol or procedure that could cause issue.  

 

For example, when flying from California to New York the character without PS pilot would not know how to register the flight plan and may accidently fly through restricted air space.  This might end up with a fighter jet showing up and telling the “pilot” to land at the nearest air base.  The same thing is true for other PS.   PS electrician would understand all the regulation of how to do things and would also the right way. 

 

People seem to think I am saying you charge more for the ability to do the same thing, but that is not what I am saying.  What I am saying is having a PS allows you to do a better job because it takes into account things outside the actual skill.  It can also act as a complementary skill to the main skill. The character with PS pilot has been trained in how to do things the right way and is not just winging it.  He has been trained how to handle situations that may come up so is able to handle them better. 
 

 

I think where people disagreed with you is when you said that PS: Pilot didn't allow you to fly a plane but that it required Combat Piloting. At the time you didn't mention TF: Planes. Now that you do your stance is clearer and I'm with you.

 

What I think you're trying to say is: It takes TF to fly the plane and PS to comply with all the FAA legalities. And you still can't do it in combat without Combat Piloting which should include one TF and little to none of the PS.

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I’m glad I asked for the community’s input before posting anything else. You had lots of great ideas that helped me define what I would like to see in a Skills Table. I’d like to start with two of these ideas: Granularity (an awesome descriptor that I will be using often) and General Skills with Specializations

 

The Hero system already has Skill Types: Agility, Background, Combat, Intellectual, and Interaction. So, I took this as a starting point.

 

My minimal skills list: 🥁🥁🥁

Athletics

Background

Combat

Crafting

Deduction

Humanities

Interaction

Science

Stealth

Transport

 

These 10 Skills Types cover everything I want to do in a game. And they emphasize the activities that tend to occur most often: finding things, talking to people, running around, and breaking stuff. These are very, very generalized skills with very low granularity.

 

This does not imply there is no overlapping of Skills. The Language Table does a wonderful job showing that no knowledge stands on its own. Maybe this would affect point costs. Or maybe it would grant Familiarity. Or … I don’t know yet.

 

Adding granularity would be a next step. So would a description of which Skill determines success for a specific action. Then there are point costs and die rolls.

 

This seems like a good time to ask the community for input.

 

 

 

 

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As great as this compressed skill is, I can see a problem here.  Over time people will get injured regardless if it's through combat,  natural activity,  human interaction, or something else.  While natural healing is powerful,  it does need aid.  I don't see anything upon the list that would work,  unless it is (possibly) a subset of the either science or humanities skills.  However,  multiple subsets gets greatly complex.  Let's handle this problem by making a generic medical skill. 

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As most of this conversation demonstrates, you don't have problems until you start trying to add granularity.

 

I dont remember precisely- I _think_ it was made core rules in 4e, but the inclusion of PS, KS, BS, and Familiarity is when the HERO skills system just fell completely apart.

 

Because the guidance is so poor (and necessarily so, as the idea was to make any possible thing a measurable skill of some sort or other) that there isn't going to be a universal consensus- ever- which just leads to a hot mess regarding "the correct way." 

 

I participated here because advice was asked for; not because I believe I have the One True Way to do skills HERO style. 

 

I also feel that most of the participants were like-minded: participating because "this is how I do it" offers an example of how it could be done as opposed to "the correct way to do it."  I believe that because there has never been enough guidance to support any One True Way.

 

The closest you are likely to come is to pick and choose feom what you have read here, or come up with something entirely different _that works for you and your players_, and just respectfully disagree with everyone else, the way the rest of us do.

 

;)

 

 

 

 

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7 hours ago, LoneWolf said:

People seem to think I am saying you charge more for the ability to do the same thing, but that is not what I am saying.  What I am saying is having a PS allows you to do a better job because it takes into account things outside the actual skill.  It can also act as a complementary skill to the main skill. The character with PS pilot has been trained in how to do things the right way and is not just winging it.  He has been trained how to handle situations that may come up so is able to handle them better.

 

I think what is really being questioned is how much it should cost for a PC to be good at, or event expert in, their "day job".  If being a lawyer requires PS: Lawyer, KS: Law and, Perk: Called to the Bar, that's pretty pricy for something that may come up once or twice in the campaign.  Now, let's say that you must pay for that PS to be any one of a case researcher, litigator, tax advisor...; the KS for each branch of law (e.g. US corporate tax law) and a perk for each jurisdiction in which he is licenses to practice.  Now it's a lot more expensive to get Jen Walters or Matt Murdock the ability to do their day job.

 

The real question is how much, or how little, the points invested in any given skill should achieve.

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For me it is not so much about being good at your day job, as it is that characters should pay for things that will affect the game.  When your day job is something that can affect the game, you should have to pay for it. 

 

If your character is a lawyer and you want him to be able to deal with red tape, he should have the skill Bureaucratic. If he is good at tricking people into telling more than they intended, he should have conversation.  You can’t just take PS lawyer and get that for free.  The same thing goes for PS pilot.  Background skills are supposed to be just that, and not substitute for actual skills.    
 

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I don't think anyone's been asserting PS: Lawyer would buy you a Bureaucratics or Conversation roll.  I can imagine some players *maybe* trying to argue for it, but bloody darn few.  The connection is there, but it's extremely tenuous.  

 

Hugh, to counter your point...6E1 page 84 under Paramedics.

 

Quote

A character with Paramedics is not necessarily a doctor. To be a licensed doctor, the character must also buy SS: Medicine and Fringe Benefit: License To Practice Medicine

 

But a key point is...if you don't care about the title and the privileges, then don't bother.  Heck, in a supers campaign, you arguably don't care about Paramedics.  The power can be taken to Just Work.  Yeah, fine, you can define a Detect, you can buy Medicine and Paramedic and maybe exotic things like Toxicology...but they're nothing but justifications and explanations.  They have no game impact.  I *do* take them at times;  one of my favorite healer concepts is essentially a shapeshifter where the Healing SFX is "shape shift, UOO."  The narrow interpretation would be, he can't deal with poisons, so I give him SS: Toxicology, SS:  Pharmacology, and Paramedic, because they round out his power.  That's becoming the difference between being used in-game, and actually affecting the game.  It's very unlikely the skills will affect the game.

 

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I guess what it really comes down to is what type of character you are running and how detailed you want to get on his background.  Personally, I prefer characters that are fully fleshed out.  When I choose a background for my character, I try to give them the skills that someone with their background would actually have.  So, if I am playing someone who is supposed to be a super scientist, I will give them all the skills that he should have.  In a Champions game I usually have their powers and skill complement each other.  Unless the characters background is something like a construction worker or a high school student, they will usually have a decent number of skills.  

 

It is not that hard to find uses for most background skills.  Unless the campaign is strictly combat, and your skills are really off the wall you can usually get some use out of them.  Something like PS basket weaving may be completely useless, but SS Chemistry is not hard to get something out of.   
 

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