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Old 03-05-2017, 09:51 AM   #21
johndallman
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Default Re: Technique family of the week: Focussed

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Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen View Post
I agree that Survival (specific terrain type) is too broad for a technique, and should be an optional speciality. What I'd suggest making the technique, instead, would be a combination of (specific terrain type, specific season). So you could take a technique in Survival for (Woodlands in autumn), or (plains in winter) or so forth.
This looks plausible, assuming you mean Camouflage, rather than Survival. I was using the Survival terrain types as a way of splitting up Camouflage, not creating Survival techniques.
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Old 03-05-2017, 10:12 AM   #22
Kelly Pedersen
 
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Default Re: Technique family of the week: Focussed

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Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
This looks plausible, assuming you mean Camouflage, rather than Survival. I was using the Survival terrain types as a way of splitting up Camouflage, not creating Survival techniques.
Er, right, yeah. Sorry!

Although, now that I think about it, a Focused technique for Survival for a given season probably would make sense.
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Old 03-05-2017, 11:25 AM   #23
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Default Re: Technique family of the week: Focussed

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Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
Flush <Poison> is based on Body Control, which has a prerequisite of Trained by a Master, plus Breath Control and Meditation. It's just fine for Drunken Masters, but few snake handlers or assassins will have the training.
It's also what you use to increase your body temperature which is something real people can do. I stopped when I accidentally shot it past 103 deciding the whole practice was too dangerous.
So I'm fine allowing some perk to gain access to one "minor" supernatural enhancement like flushing poison for campaigns that aren't rigidly realistic. Its use has so many requirements like knowing what the poison is and only giving bonuses over time, etc.
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Old 03-05-2017, 11:27 AM   #24
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Default Re: Technique family of the week: Focussed

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Originally Posted by vicky_molokh View Post
Well, they'd need Unusual Training [1] instead.
My childhood is starting to get some odd write ups. Unusual Training for knowing how to alter my body temperature. Unusual Training for having Discriminatory Smell before diabetes.
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Old 03-05-2017, 11:33 AM   #25
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Default Re: Technique family of the week: Focussed

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Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen View Post
Er, right, yeah. Sorry!

Although, now that I think about it, a Focused technique for Survival for a given season probably would make sense.
Many regions only really have two seasons, dry and wet. At best, you're just divvying it up into fourths. Is that small enough for a technique?
I never thought about how small a sub-skill must be to count as a technique, so am not being sarcastic, but truly curious.

But Survival probably works best for real world regions like Woodlands; Pacific Northwest, Desert; American Southwest, etc.
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Old 03-05-2017, 11:44 AM   #26
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Default Re: Technique family of the week: Focussed

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Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
Many regions only really have two seasons, dry and wet. At best, you're just divvying it up into fourths. Is that small enough for a technique?
I never thought about how small a sub-skill must be to count as a technique, so am not being sarcastic, but truly curious.
As Techniques are a really significant fraction of the cost of full skill, I tend to think that anything that is less than half of what a skill might potentially cover is very probably a valid Optional Specialisation and if it's obviously less than this, I'll be inclined to allow it as a Technique unless that seems clearly abusive or doesn't pass a gut-check of plausibility.*

The best example from a published work is probably Motion-Picture Camera for the Photography skill, right there in the Basic Set. In a late TL8 campaign, I don't think it's unfair to say that this is close to half of what you'd use Photography for, but it's still allowed as an Average technique with no cap.

*I.e., could a real person be much better at this than other aspects of the skill?
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Last edited by Icelander; 03-05-2017 at 11:50 AM.
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Old 03-05-2017, 11:49 AM   #27
johndallman
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Default Re: Technique family of the week: Focussed

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Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
I never thought about how small a sub-skill must be to count as a technique, so am not being sarcastic, but truly curious.
Quarters of a Per/Average when you have no control over which one is required seems OK to me, but this is not a precise science as yet. In my ideal world, someone in a year or so's time would sweep up all these threads and create Power-Ups 9: Techniques, with all the rules nicely sorted out.
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But Survival probably works best for real world regions like Woodlands; Pacific Northwest, Desert; American Southwest, etc.
If you look at it that closely, the divisions start to get shaky. I do track familiarities for some Survival types. For example, jungles vary a lot.

Edit: I've added most of the suggestions in this thread to the root message, and to the index in the Resources sub-forum.
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Old 03-05-2017, 12:16 PM   #28
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Default Re: Technique family of the week: Focussed

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Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
someone in a year or so's time would sweep up all these threads and create Power-Ups 9: Techniques, with all the rules nicely sorted out.
Noooo!!! PU9 has to be Gadgeteering!

For Survival, Techniques I'd look at would be Finding Water or Building Shelter, though I'm not sure if they fit your Focussed paradigm.
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Old 03-31-2017, 04:32 PM   #29
johndallman
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Default Re: New Technique family of the week: Focussed

Here are some more Techniques for this family:

<Specific menu> (Cooking): This is buying up skill in preparing a limited range of related dishes.

<Specific code/cipher decryption> (Cryptography): This is buying up skill in decrypting a specific code or cipher. For example, even once the WWII-period Enigma cipher was fully understood and methods for breaking it established, doing the work required skill.

<Archetype> (Disguise): This is buying up skill in a specific disguise that isn't impersonation of a specific person. The ever-popular generic homeless person is an example.

<Specific code/cipher use> (Electronics Operation (Communications)): This is buying up skill in operating a specific code or cipher, many of which required skill to operate correctly before software took over the task at TL8.

<Spirit type> (Exorcism): This is buying up skill in exorcism of a specific type of possessing spirit: demon, disease, ghost, etc.

<Specific vehicle model> (Mechanic (Vehicle type)): This is buying up skill in maintaining and repairing a specific model of vehicle.

Agenda (Propaganda): This is buying up skill in doing Propaganda for a particular course of action. It's surprisingly common amongst lobbyists, and can lead to politically-appointed jobs in government.
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Old 03-31-2017, 04:46 PM   #30
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Default Re: New Technique family of the week: Focussed

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<Specific menu> (Cooking): This is buying up skill in preparing a limited range of related dishes.
Needs to be fairly strongly limited to avoid being an Optional Specialization instead.
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