Quote:
Originally Posted by Celti
but in the game that caused me to mention it the particular speciality is Physiology (Demons), where “demons” are an alien race with an incredible degree of morphogenetic variation (think Zerg or Tyranids).
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In that case, I think the problem is a definitional one. The skill involved there isn't really Physiology. I mean you wouldn't allow Physiology (Animals) and allow a roll for both humans and jellyfish would you? For something that varied, it's no longer [a] species, it's either multiple species or far enough from real world biology that "species" isn't a meaningful category for it.
That's not to say there isn't a reasonable skill here - maybe even a realistic one. But it's Find Weaknesses or something rather than Physiology, and probably does work just about as well on normal animals (or robots for that matter) as it does on "demons". Physiology (species) would then negate the need to roll against that skill at all if you have it for whatever you happen to be fighting.
I do think Physiology (species) probably is a perk, or a low cost advantage. It's a broad familiarity akin to Cultural Familiarity, or Ambidexterity, something that counters a penalty that would otherwise apply to a bunch of skills, but goes away for all of them once you understand it for any of them.