Tetsuyama Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 I've been doing some work trying to come up with some sort of list of standard skills for a variety of jobs that characters might have as their day job, or as a background job. Is this the sort of thing that anyone is interested in? Has anyone else come up with a list of jobs that they use? I was thinking of tackling it as a set of 25 point groups of skills and stats minimums, and then using the package any time the PCs encounter a reasonably competent individual of that profession. Though it seems like a set of 15-20 point bundles might be nice for PCs to pick through and grab ideas from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent333 Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 I hate to beat Dave Mattingly to the punch, but he has an excellent article about Skill Packages in his Power Point archive. http://www.geocities.com/area51/cavern/1905/haym16.html I still use it to this day, it's one of the best resources I have. Thanks Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 It all depends.... I didn't use skill packages as the heroes could come from practically any background For instance The Flame was a Sales man. The Magician was a professional entertainer and vigilante. The Demoness having spent life on the run from the bad guys became the Magician's protogee. She wanted to learn medicine to heal people. Arachneida was a librarian The Angel was an intergalactic policeman Dr Density was a student The Unicorn was an Alien scout who quit to join the earthlings and took up Jazz music Sureshot was an archer and inventor Thaw was the Iron Man (ie millionaire backer) of the group Magnetic Mistress was a mutant fugitive. Wolverine (yes that Wolverine and poorly played at that) was a government employee As was Mindshock and Weather Wizard. British Bulldog was a brick layer So you see the skill sets are vast and different. No two the same, really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattingly Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 Thanks, Agent333. Good to know someone's getting some use out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetsuyama Posted March 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 Wow.. That's a pretty awesome site. That article is a lot like what I was thinking of. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterVimes Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 Amongst my team: * Bullet-Proof Mohammed is a homeless bum (because of his distinctive features - Made of Metal) * Corona is a Doctor * Ghost Walker is a Diplomat * Lady Libra is a School Teacher * Marksman is a Student * Warrior is an Architect In my old game * Deimos (an Alien w/Public ID) was a Construction worker * Doppler was a Student * Matrix was a Dance instructor * Mr. America was a Soap Opera Actor * Orion was a lazy bum who hung out at the headquarters and mooched. * Sentinel was a Government Agent * She Wolf was a TV reporter * Technomancer was a Private Detective Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 Nobody has a newspaper reporter ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 Newspapers are so 20th Century. I bet we won;t even have them in 25 years except as online equivalents. Now a web designer -- THERE'S an occupation for a superhero. Especially if he's a freelancer -- nobody cares what he does during the day, or at night, as long as he keeps on making his deadlines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 Personally, I find many of the day jobs of classic super-heroes to be rather hard to swallow. It's one thing to work eight hours in a day and fight crime. Many super-heroes do possess the physical and mental fortitude to do this. However, with most jobs you can't just up and leave on a moments notice when the super-villains attack. Amongst these hard-to-believe day jobs are: * Doctor Doctors work a LOT more than 40 hours a week, and are on call to boot. * Professor/Teacher/Lecturer Different than research scientists, teachers have strictly defined work schedules - especially those who are still trying to get tenure. * Police Officer/Law-Enforcement Officer Not only are your hours strictly defined, but many Law-Enforcement agencies will monitor the off-duty activities of their officers. * Attorney Attornies work LONG hours like doctors. As well, they are expected to put in 50-60 hours a week just to impress the partners. This doesn't stop once you make partner or junior partner. You have to keep putting in the hours to make sure that you keep your position. * Actor True, most actors are out of work most of the time. But once you get work, you have to do it! Otherwise you need to find another career. However, there are many classic day jobs that do work: * Research Scientist/Graduate Student These people actually have very felxible schedules and can always take a few hours off of their project here and there as long as they make it up. The only hinderance would be when they have to work with others. Of course lots of high-level academics are known for idiosyncracies. * Private Detective Unless your a junior member of a firm, you're your own boss. You just have to make sure that you actually put some time in on the cases you do have. You also won't make a lot of money. * Reporter Reporter actually works well, because you always have the excuse of "chasing down" a lead. Making up the work later is simply a matter of super-speed. * Free-Lance Photographer You just show up when you have pictures. "Best thing for a kid your age." What I haven't seen yet are software programmers and people making money via the internet (there are still a few out there). These are also people with very flexible hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebuchet Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 I have a ninja character who works as a translator of books and articles (She speaks 11 languages). She also occasionally works as a translator for important business negotiations. This not only gives her the ability to set her own hours (since most of her work is done on a laptop computer), but keeping current on her language skills is a good excuse to travel overseas often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 Originally posted by MisterVimes * Orion was a lazy bum who hung out at the headquarters and mooched. Orion is clearly a very wise fellow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wormhole Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 How about a teenage hero who works as an assistant manager at Burger King in civillain ID? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterVimes Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 Originally posted by Hermit Orion is clearly a very wise fellow He was indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Steve Posted March 12, 2003 Report Share Posted March 12, 2003 I've had... Inventor living on disability pay Mildly sucessful musician Bouncer Security at a University Grad student Electronics tech support on 24 hour on-call Independantly wealthy playboy Moochers, hangers on and various parasites One homeless guy. Professor of obscure topics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted March 12, 2003 Report Share Posted March 12, 2003 Here are the less interesting jobs that still turned out to entertaining in game... Telemarketer Door-to-door salesman Shoe Salesman (Yup. Shoe Salesman. No, his name wasn't Al.) Any job can be fun if you don't have to do it in real life :-) Some of the ones that may not seem to useful but turned out to be good were... DMV employee (Run a check on anyone) Real Estate Salesman (Lots of property info) Bank Cashier (Keep tabs on money laundering) The one that was the most fun: Stuntman. The character had a public ID and was known for his tolerance to injury. So he'd do impossible stunts that otherwise couldn't be done for major motion pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted March 12, 2003 Report Share Posted March 12, 2003 I want to make a Super Villain who's plans for global domination are masked by his ownership of a RPG company... I just feel inspired in that direction for some reason lately Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBikle Posted March 12, 2003 Report Share Posted March 12, 2003 Always thought that being a cab driver was a great complimentary job to being a super-hero. It's a perfect cover for patrolling in your civilian I.D. and could even be used to get info from the streets or from high society. Also , you never have to rationalize toanyone why you're in the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Posted March 12, 2003 Report Share Posted March 12, 2003 Originally posted by CBikle Always thought that being a cab driver was a great complimentary job to being a super-hero. It's a perfect cover for patrolling in your civilian I.D. and could even be used to get info from the streets or from high society. Also , you never have to rationalize toanyone why you're in the area. Huh. That's actually a good idea. If you own your own cab, as many drivers do, then you can take a break whenever you want. Of course you'd be mighty unpopular with your dispatcher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcholmes Posted March 12, 2003 Report Share Posted March 12, 2003 Originally posted by Supreme Personally, I find many of the day jobs of classic super-heroes to be rather hard to swallow. It's one thing to work eight hours in a day and fight crime <snicker> Phil Foglio had a "What's New (with Phil and Dixie)" cartoon about this in an old, old issue of Dragaon Magazine, commenting about how superheroes need jobs that allow them to be absent for long periods of time without notice. The acccomanying cartoon showed a waiter saying "Sorry I took so long with your order..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 Does 'Super Insurance Salesman' count for a job? My very first hero was a salesman selling insurance to cover damage from a super-person battle, whether hero or villain. The insurance sold quite well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterVimes Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 Does anyone remember Superhero 2044? You had a calendar where you had to set aside blocks of time for work and sleep and patrol. creative, but weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 Originally posted by MisterVimes Does anyone remember Superhero 2044? You had a calendar where you had to set aside blocks of time for work and sleep and patrol. creative, but weird. Oh, yeah. Forgot about the one. It was humorous but still, c'mon, that's part and parcel of roleplaying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 I may have played champions and villains & vigilantes first as a player, but Superhero 2044 was the first superhero game I ever ran! When my brother gave up roleplaying I inherited his champions book and left my SH2044 book to a friend. It was the only SH game I'd ever seen with what were essentially "random encounters". For those who never played it, You'd fill out a block of time on a calendar to patrol a certain district, roll off of a chart based on how crime ridden the area was and what time of day, and it would yield a semi-appropriate crime for you to encounter. How a brick who is dumb as a post could discover Embezzling, I don't know. But you could mark out whole blocks of time for sleep, work, school, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klytus Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 Originally posted by bcholmes <snicker> Phil Foglio had a "What's New (with Phil and Dixie)" cartoon about this in an old, old issue of Dragaon Magazine, commenting about how superheroes need jobs that allow them to be absent for long periods of time without notice. The acccomanying cartoon showed a waiter saying "Sorry I took so long with your order..." In one game I ran, one of my players, in a flaming piece of social commentary, had his civilian ID job listed as PennDOT (Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation) worker. His rationale? "These are the guys you see at road construction sites, only they're not doing any work other than having lunch. Plus its a union job. If you take off for a few hours in the middle of the day, nobody can do anything about it and you can't get fired." In short, it was the perfect job for a superhero in Pennsylvania, and I couldn't argue with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 Vanguard (power armor) is a pizza delivery guy with an MS in Physics. He doesn't have time for the PHd program because he's out heroing at all hours of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.