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Old 08-02-2016, 10:29 AM   #45
Mailanka
 
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Physician and Physiology

Quote:
Originally Posted by Celti View Post
And for some (not all — possibly even not most) games, that's fine. For others, the dramatic tension hangs on figuring out how to damage it, and then seeing if it worked — and once you've solved that puzzle, the actual defeat of the monster, while still hazardous, is the denoument, not the climax.
That's an exceedingly specific situation. How often will that come up? Is it worth spending 8 points on? 4? 2? 1? If it's one, why not a perk?

And what happens if your players fail? What then? I roll to see if I know where the monster's vitals are and success or victory of the entire encounter comes down to me having the right skill and also got lucky enough to roll?

Perhaps you'd enjoy that sort of game, but I certainly wouldn't.

A skill should have a variety of uses, a variety of modifiers, and be useful at a variety of levels. Skills like Physician and Surgery and Diagnosis certainly fit that bill. Physiology does not. Physiology is a lot closer to Cultural Familiarity than it is to Savoir-Faire.
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