Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman
Plenty of my characters have had Survival, rather fewer Urban Survival, and I don't think any have ever had Fishing. What have you, or your players, done with these skills?
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None of my players have ever taken Urban Survival, plenty have had Streetwise. I think two have had Fishing. I've taken Urban Survival plenty of times on characters as well as Fishing and Streetwise.
My break down:
Fishing may be used anywhere there is water and Fish, I allow Survival specs that could also fish (almost all of them*) to Fish outside their area of specialty with a -2 Familiarity penalty (I basically wrap Fishing into Survival for free). Likewise though, I give Fishing a Familiarity penalty if the character is in a 'Fishing Environment' they are not used (ie. Deep Sea fishing when they are used to creeks and rivers) as there is a difference, but it's not that big of one.
* I have disallowed it once to some desert Characters that had no experience with fishing when they traveled outside the area they had never previously left (there being no fishable water sources in the rocky desert they lived in). However once they had someone teach them (a native guide) I let them Fish with only Familiarity penalties from then on. So they had Survival (Desert) with Beach Familiarity (yes, I allow that.
Urban Survival is all about Food, Shelter, and Environmental Safety. I allow it to default to and from Streetwise with a -4. I do not allow it to recognize local street gangs, criminal syndicates, areas of heavy police patrol, etc, all that is Streetwise.
Streetwise is all about Information (and making and using Contacts), the whys, wheres**, whos, and sometimes hows of the criminal street world.
** Relatively speaking, you'll know "the docks are where the heavy mob activity is" (and once at the Docks which parts to watch out in) but Area Knowledge is how to get from Uptown to the Docks.
Area Knowledge is knowing where stuff (people, places, things) is and how to get there from here.