Thread: New Skills
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Old 07-09-2018, 05:37 PM   #89
guymc
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Default Re: New Skills

Wow, this flowed along fast! Hard to keep up.

A few of my takes:

** Half-points - yuck.

** I really like the idea of having talent “slots” equal to your (ST+DX+IQ)/2. Starting talents are limited by starting IQ, with multi-point talents costing more. The nomenclature is getting confusing, though. How about this:
You have Talent/Spell SLOTS equal to your basic ST + DX + IQ / 2.
No matter how it is purchased, a Talent or Spell takes up 1 Talent/Spell SLOT.

At character creation you have a STARTING POOL of Talent/Spell POINTS equal to your IQ stat. You may spend these POINTS as you choose, spending:
For Wizards 1 POINT per Spell or 2x the Talent COST in POINTS per Talent
For Heroes 3 POINTS per Spell or 1x the Talent COST in POINTS per Talent

Once your STARTING POOL of Talent/Spell POINTS is all spent, you may not have any more Talents/Spells with which to start.

After character creation you may buy additional Talent/Spell POINTS at a flat 100 XP per POINT. They are spent the same as the POINTS from your initial POOL.
Does that make sense? Is it easy to remember the difference between Talent/Spell SLOTS (how many you can have) and Talent/Spell POINTS (used to purchase Talents & Spells)

**Pull languages out of Talents entirely. You have language SLOTS equal to your IQ. You may start with your native tongue (spoken, oddly enough, like a native) and perhaps a common or trade tongue (spoken with a discernible accent), each filling a slot. Multi-cultural characters can start with TWO “native” tongues plus a trade/common tongue, but you speak all three with an accent. After character creation, you may buy additional languages with XP. It costs 100 XP to learn to read and speak a language, built you’ll not be mistaken for a native by a real native speaker. Spending an additional 100 XP on a language means you’ll be taken for a native, even among natives. You can only learn languages until you fill up your language slots. (A language fills only one slot, whether or not you speak like a native.) If you possess the Linguist Talent, you have IQx2 slots and an expenditure of 100 XP lets you speak like a native. If you choose that Talent at character creation, you can start with a number of starting languages up to 1/2 your IQ, each filling one available slot.

**I would not miss the two “Followers” Talents if they go away. That’s not really a Talent.

**I think a character should be assumed to have Literacy (in his known languages) and basic mundane abilities like cooking, etc. As an option, a character can start WITHOUT Literacy. Such a character gets only one native language which he can speak but not read or write. The character also gets one EXTRA starting Talent/Spell Point in their Pool. They may later BUY Literacy for *200 XP* if they wish, and it takes up a Talent slot of they do. (Those who start with Literacy don’t use up a slot for it.) You cannot “give up” Literacy to free up a slot after you already have it. And the GM should STRICTLY require an illiterate character to play the handicap. No reading of signs, books, papers, scrolls, etc. No writing except for making symbols in the nature of a game of Pictionary.

**Professional Knowledge could be purchased in packets like Talents, taking the same slots as Talents do. They have minimum IQ levels, and may be stackable requiring higher levels of knowledge to be bought atop lower ones. Some Professions may have only one level, others may have more depending on the depth of knowledge required. However many levels you buy, it all goes in a single Slot. For the most complex professional subjects, you might have a level for a lay enthusiast or student, another for a practicing professional or teacher, a third for a recognized expert or theoretician, and even a fourth for that renowned person who is at the top of their field and on the cutting edge. This, however, is approaching the “too darn much trouble” level. We might not need it at all.
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Guy McLimore
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