OK, it seems like mixing up optional and mandatory specialisations in this discussion is something that happens but is to be avoided, so . . .
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Originally Posted by dataweaver
Yes. That's why the “(c)” in my post was “they're usually optional” — emphasis on “usually” because nearly every “consolidated skill list” I’ve ever encountered makes specialization mandatory for the likes of academics, crafts, and sciences.
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Well, the idea of the consolidated list is to
avoid something as fiddly as dozens of mandatory specialisations.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dataweaver
I would not advise using GURPS' standard specialization rules for this project — nor the standard Technique rules, for that matter. Rather, I'd recommend something along the lines of what Fate Core does: have a separate trait that you take to customize a skill, either by improving your roll where the specialization or technique is involved or (more rarely) by expanding the scope of the skill so that it can do things it otherwise couldn't do. In GURPS terms, this customization trait would work best as a Perk.
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Actually, Techniques
look like the way FATE does specialisation bonuses. Pricing is to be estimated at some level, of course.
As for widening the scope of a skill - I have marked some skills with a * symbol in the note column (in the linked document, not in the post), which is meant to denote skill functions that only become available after taking some enabler trait, e.g. TbaM for cinematic combat skill functions. But I see that as a necessary evil.
Having e.g. a dozen scope-expander perks for a dozen ElOps specs would defeat the purpose of skill consolidation. The idea of skill consolidation is that you
don't need to specify such fiddly details as whether you know sensors and sonar (which is somehow not a sensor), or one or the other of the two.
[QUOTE=dataweaver;1928463]One benefit of this approach is that you avoid skill bloat: as GURPS normally handles specializations, each specialization is effectively a separate skill: even the optional specializations can almost be thought of as “reduce the difficulty level by one (just like required specializations), and default to all other optional specializations at a -2 penalty.” With specializations replaced by customization perks, you never have new skills added to the list, and each skill only ever has one purchased rating tied to it.