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

[Hugh Neilson]

The link between paramedics and MD seems extremely tenuous to me.  Paramedic is pretty much basic first aid.  Taking more of that quote:

 

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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. Paramedics only provides immediate, emergency care; it does not involve the long-term care and cures, intensive therapy, or invasive surgical procedures that doctors perform. Almost all medical doctors have Paramedics, but not every character who has Paramedics is a doctor.

 

So that asks 2 more points for the SS and one for licensure.  This is not a huge extra cost, to my mind.  And, for a typical Supers game, probably should be enough.  But someone will say "well, he should have a PS: MD to make money at it, and Anatomy, and Biology, and Microbiology.  Oh, he wants to perform surgery?  Well, he'll need to buy that - select any or all of:

 

• Bariatric Surgery
• Breast Surgery
• Colon & Rectal Surgery
• Endocrine Surgery
• General Surgery
• Gynecological Surgery
• Head & Neck Surgery
• Hernia Surgery
• Minimally Invasive Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Orthopedic Surgery
• Ophthalmological Surgery
• Outpatient Surgery
• Pediatric Surgery
• Robotic Surgery
• Thoracic Surgery
• Trauma Surgery
• Urologic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery

 

as KS, SS and PS, of course.  Looks like there are some missed from my random choice cut & paste as I do not see heart or brain surgery right off the bat, nor plastic surgery.  No geriatrics or oncology or epidemiology or gynecology up there either.

 

Now he will also at least need Contacts - anesthesiologist, nurses, hospital staff, hospital administrator, but he'd be better off buying the hospital as a base, and shelling out for the followers.

 

I wonder how many people who have built a Captain America homage have even purchased firearm and commando knife familiarity.  He did go through basic training, didn't he?

 

There are two sides to this.  The player should not expect to get something for nothing.  At the same time, if the GM is going to require a 30 point spend to be a doctor or a lawyer, then there is an onus on the GM to ensure that the player gets in-game value commensurate with the points spent.

[DentArthurDent]

I know the idea of a Skills Table isn’t for everyone. But I really do appreciate all the input; the critiques and the what if’s and even the eye rolls. However, I’m determined to carry on and see how it turns out before I trash the whole thing. So, …

 

How similar are Combat Piloting and Combat Driving?

 

Maybe the dexterity, situational awareness, nerves, and skill with cars gives you a roll at -4 with boats and a -6 with planes?

 

So when Frank Martin (Driving 18-) jumps into an idling speed boat, he has a 14- to maneuver around the other docked boats, a 12- to handle the wake of a passing freighter, and a 10- to speed up the loading ramp and into a delivery truck.

 

Powering up a jet would probably be too much for him without at least one flying lesson. But what if he pushed the unconscious pilot out of the seat to avoid crashing into the looming mountain peaks at 10-. Of course landing would be a bigger challenge at 8-, but the plane doesn’t need to survive, just the passengers.

 

This suggests, to me at least, a Skill Roll of 14- in Transport. Then a specialization in Combat Driving with a +4.

 

So …

 

Characters have a base roll in each skill and may purchase extra levels (at a cost which seems too high to the players and a bit too low to the GM). Then they can purchase Specializations and levels.

Skills would be expensive and Specializations would be less so. (I haven’t done enough work with points to suggest specific numbers.)

 

This is not what I had in mind last week, but it seems fairly easy to implement. And it allows players and GM’s to choose their level of granularity.

[unclevlad]

Combat Piloting requires thinking in 3 dimensions.  Combat Driving doesn't.  The control assemblies are also VERY different.  A plane doesn't have a brake...and that brake supports maneuvers that you just can't do in a plane.  Or a boat, for that matter.  Evasive maneuvers with a fast-moving boat would seem to be rather difficult.

 

Even in Combat Piloting, there's a major division where there's little/no crossover:  rotary vs. fixed-wing.  Any time I hear this discussed...flying a helicopter is much more difficult to learn.

 

Without someone telling him what to do?  One lesson won't give someone a 10- roll.  It takes 40 hours, minimum, before you can take your test flight.  Flying anything would, IMO, never have a default;  I like the notion of "trained only."  One lesson does not cut it.

 

I wouldn't touch Combat Driving or Piloting in general.  But how often does it ever get taken?  Hey, if you're running an agents/espionage game, if you want to simply *give* Combat Driving for free, as part of training, I'd rather see that.  Combat Pilot, OTOH, *tends* to be a specialist skill.

[Christopher R Taylor]

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How similar are Combat Piloting and Combat Driving?

 

It depends, as in all things.  In game terms, they are functionally equivalent: use this vehicle in a combat situation.  In real world terms, well unclevlad does a pretty good job breaking it down.  It depends, as I say, you're looking to do in a game.  Do you want a gritty, hard world simulation of what its like to operate a vehicle in combat, or do you want a structure that allows entertaining use of a vehicle in a game on occasion?  Is this going to be Red Skies, or Microsoft Flight Simulator?