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Old 04-26-2017, 03:32 PM   #25
Curmudgeon
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Default Re: [Basic] Time to learn familiarities

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormcrow View Post
Read my posts more carefully. I said familiarities only apply to that equipment whose use or repair is the main point of the skill. Using a hammer is not the main point of Carpentry; building things made of wood is. I did not say Carpentry doesn't require using equipment.

Carpentry is a TL skill and requires equipment. You don't get familiarities for the equipment used in Carpentry. You don't use familiarities for being able to build particular things (because the skill description doesn't say so).

Mechanic is a TL skill and requires equipment. You don't get familiarities for the equipment used as a Mechanic. You DO use familiarities for being able to repair particular things (because the skill description says so).
I did read your posts carefully, however, your assertion that familiarity only applies to equipment whose use or repair is the main point of the skill is an assumption on your part and I do not accept that assumption. Nothing, I say again, nothing in B169 Familiarities supports that view. By your assumption, familiarity should not apply to maintaining a weapon because maintaining the weapon is not the main point of the skill. Now, there's no question in my mind that maintaining your rifle helps prolong it's useful life and will be helpful in keeping it operating, but a completely clean weapon adversely affects consist shooting which is why we fire two fouling shots before getting down to the business of shooting targets. Maintaining the weapon is not the main point of the skill, hitting the target is. Allowing familiarity penalties for odd tools in the Woodworking skill, and I was talking about Woodworking skill and not Carpentry skill, is no different than allowing familiarity penalties for odd maintenance regimes with weapons.

Let me clarify a couple of points, bulb-shaped handles vs. pistol grip handles and pull vs. push saws are not "every woodworker" can use tools in the sense that every woodworker will automatically have both kinds in his shop. It is more usual to find only one choice in a shop, using either pull or push saws exclusively, similarly for handle grips, and if you use one type, you do face a not very steep learning curve in switching over, which is best modelled as a familiarity penalty. Being more familiar with woodworking, I might cut the penalty to -1 and call four hours enough to eliminate the penalty in some, but not all, cases, but as a generic rule for people who are vaguely aware of the differences, a blanket -2 and 8 hours will work.

I'm not advocating the position that you should take a familiarity penalty every time you need to switch tools, not even if you change brands and sometimes not even when the tool has a change in form. But, there are times and situations where assessing a familiarity penalty is exactly what's needed to represent the situation. Granted, it's because woodworking is my hobby and I do have a big enough tool collection to have an awareness of the problems that I do feel familiarity can be both the problem and the solution. If it's not something you do, you can say that the blanket skill with no familiarities is fine. I won't stop you but I don't think you can categorically state that I'm wrong when I do choose to do so. I expect that other people who have expertise in other skills, may have similar views of skills they're familiar with.

Familiarity is a questionable thing. My father was a farm machinery mechanic, not a patternmaker or an engineer. Nonetheless, one day when he got particularly frustrated about having a four-hour job that he could do in just fifteen minutes, if only he could get in there to take the nut off, he grabbed a socket, a metal bar and welded the bar to the socket at an angle and then put the bar in the vise and gave it a couple of bends in just the right places and bang, done in fifteen minutes. Maybe it was familiarity with that line of farm machinery or that particular make of machine, but making a new tool to get the job done isn't what you usually associate mechanic with. Nonetheless, I don't see what other skill you could say he was using. In fairness, he was also a trained blacksmith, but he was welding with a propane torch, not working at a forge (and I did see him do smithwork at a forge once, making a hook and chain.)
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