Skill level descriptions

[Wicked Lurker]

I'm trying to put together a list ranging from Skill 8 to 25 with a small flavour sentence behind each level to give new players some kind of idea what it means.

Any input on this?

08 Novice: you once learnt this skill but never used it since.
09 Average: you use this skill from time to time
10 Average: you use this skill regularly
11 Professional: you could earn a living with this
12 Professional: ?
13 Professional: ?
14 Expert: skills related to yours are no problem for you
15 Expert: people ask you for advice regularly
16 Expert: ?
17 Expert: ?
18 Expert: you are an expert even in related skills without ever learning them
19 Expert: ?
20 Master: ?
21 Master: ?
22 Master: people write books about you
23 Master: only very few on earth are as good
24 Grand Master: you are bordering the humanly possible
25 Grand Master: There is probably nobody on earth as good as you are in this.

[rosignol]

Here's what I go by for combat skills.

10: green (parry 8, knows which end hurts)
12: rookie (parry 9, usually doesn't hurt himself)
14: squaddie (parry 10, can hit other guy reliably)
16: competent (parry 11, can hit hands and vitals reliably)
18: dangerous (parry 12, can use deceptive attack reliably)
20: vicious (parry 13, can use rapid strike reliably)
22: deadly (parry 14, can hit eyes reliably)
24: master (parry 15, fighting this person is a death sentence)

Of course, as the consequences of using most non-combat skills are generally not nearly as bad as what can happen when using combat skills, I'd expect the comparable levels to be 2-4 points lower.

[KDLadage]

I would, personally, break skill levels into brackets...

05 and below -- You do not so much as have this skill, as you have a rating to measure your inevitable failure.

06 - 08 -- Raw Beginning levels. This is the skill of a person that has no real aptitude for the skill, or has limited training in the skill. Might be able to handle the most basic tasks if given regular supervision and feedback. Many times, this will represent the default use of a skill.

09 - 11 -- Apprentice/Journeyman levels. This is the skill of a person that is not quite up to the task of using this skill on a professional basis, but has some basic or fundamental knowledge of the skill and can handle routine tasks with minor supervision.

12 - 14 -- Professional levels. This is the skill of a person that can handle most tasks with the skill, and could use this skill as the basis of a carreer. The knowledge of the skill goes well beyond the fundamentals and reaches into the theories and practical applications of the skill. This is someone that could teach the skill's fundamentals.

15 - 17 -- Seasoned Professional levels. This is the skill of a person that can not only handle the general, common tasks of the skill, but can easilly apply the knowledge of this skill to perfom tasks that are only tangentially related to the core theories. This is someone that can teach the skill's practical applications.

18 - 20 -- Expert levels. This is the skill of a person that can not only apply the skill to tangentially related areas of knowledge, but is quite capable of expanding the body of knowledge in the field into areas that others may not see as related until after this individual has completed their work and can demonstrate this new application. This is someone that can teach experts, and invent new (related) knowledge bases.

21 - 23 -- Master levels. This is the skill of a person that has demostratable mastery of the skill. No area of the skill is beyond the scope of this person's knowlege. They understand the theories, applications, related areas, how to expand those areas -- but not only into related but even into unrealted fields of knowledge. This individual can apply the knowledge they have in this skill no nearly anything they do, making them better at those tasks as well.

24 and higher -- Legendary levels. This is the skill of a person that Masters defer to when they are at a loss as to how to use a skill effectively.

[Wicked Lurker]

Now that is just exactly what I was looking for, thanks!

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by KDLadage

I would, personally, break skill levels into brackets...

05 and below -- You do not so much as have this skill, as you have a rating to measure your inevitable failure.

I'd note that a skill level of 3-5 represents a "real" skill of 7-9 in "routine circumstances," for which you get a +4 bonus. So, taking extra time and in a casual environment, you might expect a 50% success rate. This is perfectly acceptable for stuff you don't care much about, but in any difficulty, and certainly in a time crunch, you're hopeless. "Casual use only" might be more informative than "will inevitably fail."

06 - 08 -- Raw Beginning levels. This is the skill of a person that has no real aptitude for the skill, or has limited training in the skill. Might be able to handle the most basic tasks if given regular supervision and feedback. Many times, this will represent the default use of a skill.

With 6-8, you can expect 50-75% success rates in casual use, which is enough to impress the untrained, but not enough to hold say in a crisis. "Routine success in casual use" or "armchair but thorough academic knowledge"

09 - 11 -- Apprentice/Journeyman levels. This is the skill of a person that is not quite up to the task of using this skill on a professional basis, but has some basic or fundamental knowledge of the skill and can handle routine tasks with minor supervision.

In fact, I would say that in most cases, this is the appropriate skill level for someone who does things that are routine but not critical. THIS PROBABLY INCLUDES COMBAT SKILLS. Meaning you go to the range, add +4 for routine circumstances and little life-threatening stress in a static environment, and you qualify scoring 90% on the paper target.

12 - 14 -- Professional levels. This is the skill of a person that can handle most tasks with the skill, and could use this skill as the basis of a carreer. The knowledge of the skill goes well beyond the fundamentals and reaches into the theories and practical applications of the skill. This is someone that could teach the skill's fundamentals.

I would stress that at this level, you've got enough skill to handle (if badly) what one might refer to as "routine practical applications," meaning rolling against time critical or hard-ish tasks, but not both.

15 - 17 -- Seasoned Professional levels. This is the skill of a person that can not only handle the general, common tasks of the skill, but can easilly apply the knowledge of this skill to perfom tasks that are only tangentially related to the core theories. This is someone that can teach the skill's practical applications.

For this skill level, the user will seem like a sage in casual use, hardly ever fail in routine practical use, and be capable of tacking with aplomb time critical and unusual situations. Really, this person will be considered an expert by everybody other than other experts.



18 - 20 -- Expert levels. This is the skill of a person that can not only apply the skill to tangentially related areas of knowledge, but is quite capable of expanding the body of knowledge in the field into areas that others may not see as related until after this individual has completed their work and can demonstrate this new application. This is someone that can teach experts, and invent new (related) knowledge bases.

At levels of 20+, you're talking people who can apply their skill in novel ways under extreme duress and have a very high chance of success. A combatant with this skill level will likely develop a reputation from everyone who sees him fight. A service provider will command huge salaries and likely be a pathfinder for new ways of doing things.

[Kromm]

I'd aim for swaths that come as close as possible to 20% steps in probability of success, mirror the progression at -10 (the harshest recommended TDM on p. B346) for masterful end cases, and smooth over the discontinuity where they meet. I'd then associate these bands with the usual descriptors for power levels (p. B487) -- and note that I'm not associating skill levels with the power levels themselves, I'm just borrowing a familiar set of adjectives. Try:

7 or less

Unskilled (default users)

8-9

Feeble (beginners, humorous bumblers)

10-11

Average (most non-job skills for ordinary folks)

12-13

Competent (most job skills for ordinary folks)

14-16

Exceptional (the most seasoned of ordinary folks)

17-19

Heroic (extraordinary world-class experts)

20-21

Larger-than-Life (top experts from all of history)

22-23

Legendary ("typical" mythic figures)

24-26

Superhuman (outstanding mythic figures)

27 or more

Godlike (greatest mythic figures, gods, etc.)

[RedMattis]

Good list Kromm, I''ll definitely save that one for the next time my players are creating characters :)
By the way, does anyone have an attribute level description?
for ST?
for HT?
for IQ?
for DX?
I've had a lot of problems with players trying to convince me that an ordinary man with a medium build can have 18 in ST <_<;; (In a realistic campaign)
ST is probably my biggest issue, since it's hard to figure out the scales for differently built people. Here is the scale I use


Stick-like build
Normal ST 6, max ST 11

Light Build (most women)
Normal ST 8, max ST 13

Medium Build (Average male)
Normal ST 10, max 15

Heavy Build
Normal ST 12 Max 17

Gigantic/huge build (gigantism dis/advantage)
Normal ST 14, max 19

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by RedMattis

Good list Kromm, I''ll definitely save that one for the next time my players are creating characters :)

By asking that, you're veering into religious territory on these boards. ;) I like p. B14 well enough, but I might add some more categories:

6 or less

Crippling (literally -- you can't live a normal life)

7

Poor (you can life a normal life, with care, but never be an adventurer)

8-9

Below Average (low side of able-bodied, probably the lowest an adventurer should ever have)

10

Average (most scores for most people)

11-12

Above Average (high side of able-bodied, probably a good average for adventurers)

13-14

Exceptional (highest you'll likely meet on the street, above average for adventurers)

15-16

Amazing (highest you'll likely see or hear about, strongly defines an adventurer)

17-18

Legendary (historical "bests" and remarkable fictional heroes)

19-20

Mythic (astounding even among great heroes in fiction and folklore)

21 or more

Superhuman (off-limits to humans, barely suitable for great heroes, okay for deities)

[nik1979]

Originally Posted by Kromm

By asking that, you're veering into religious territory on these boards. ;) I like p. B14 well enough, but I might add some more categories:

6 or less

Crippling (literally -- you can't live a normal life)

7

Poor (you can life a normal life, with care, but never be an adventurer)

8-9

Below Average (low side of able-bodied, probably the lowest an adventurer should ever have)

10

Average (most scores for most people)

11-12

Above Average (high side of able-bodied, probably a good average for adventurers)

13-14

Exceptional (highest you'll likely meet on the street, above average for adventurers)

15-16

Amazing (highest you'll likely see or hear about, strongly defines an adventurer)

17-18

Legendary (historical "bests" and remarkable fictional heroes)

19-20

Mythic (astounding even among great heroes in fiction and folklore)

21 or more

Superhuman (off-limits to humans, barely suitable for great heroes, okay for deities)

Dis is AWESOME!!!

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by Kromm

13-14

Exceptional (highest you'll likely meet on the street, above average for adventurers)

15-16

Amazing (highest you'll likely see or hear about, strongly defines an adventurer)

Interesting - in my Traveller game, with characters built on 150+50 points, I think every PC has a stat in the 13-14 range, and one guy (the doctor, now and NPC) has IQ15, and while it is pretty defining, he's more known for his disads and his tendency to test brand spanking new drugs of his own formulation on other members of the party.