06-24-2008, 03:47 PM | #21 | |
Join Date: Oct 2007
|
Re: Professional skill (Spy)
Quote:
__________________
This post copyrighted © by nyu2. Please ask me before posting elsewhere. |
|
06-24-2008, 04:11 PM | #22 | |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
|
Re: Professional skill (Spy)
Quote:
__________________
Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
|
06-24-2008, 06:23 PM | #23 |
Join Date: Oct 2005
|
Re: Professional skill (Spy)
Wow. That makes a lot of sense, and changes my approach to Professional skills entirely.
Up to now, I used them mostly as, "this is everything that your supposed to know how to do, even if it isn'ta full GURPS skill." |
06-24-2008, 07:26 PM | #24 |
Join Date: Oct 2007
|
Re: Professional skill (Spy)
Knowing that they are placeholders makes all the difference. Could we get that added to a FAQ, perhaps?
__________________
This post copyrighted © by nyu2. Please ask me before posting elsewhere. |
06-24-2008, 08:02 PM | #25 | |
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Oz
|
Re: Professional skill (Spy)
Quote:
__________________
Decay is inherent in all composite things. Nod head. Get treat. |
|
07-15-2008, 09:13 PM | #26 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Flushing, Michigan
|
Re: Professional skill (Spy)
Quote:
Hobby = Knows clusters of information about a topic or can do some kind of craft, useful for role-playing, occasionally useful for spotting clues, fakes, etc. Most won't help you earn a living, although there would be some exceptions. Professional = Understands a body of knowledge, technical skills, etc. well enough to earn a living at it; used for professions that are so specialized no skill exists for them OR a skill that is "a skill's worth" of bits from other skills that you would need for a specialized kind of job. (As far as a campaign is concerned, the real use of most of these would be role-playing and giving a character a way to earn a living...some might give them an edge in some adventures; Professional Skill (Exterminator), for example, would give a character a good excuse to scout around buildings...there was a TV show where the two detectives used this, but I can't recall the name now.) Expert = Has a truly in-depth level of knowledge about one topic or an intersection between several topics; as written, it's main use would be for advisors and analysts, but if it's just a placeholder for any Hard skill, there might be exceptions. Now, there are probably some gray areas. Is a plumber handled under Professional Skill (Plumber) or Mechanic (Plumbing)? Does a beekeeper have Animal Handling (Bees) or Professional Skill (Beekeeper)? Is knitting, if you are good enough to sell your work, a hobby or a profession? I suppose the gray areas will have to be handled on a case-by-case basis. I agree that not every profession needs its own Professional Skill because what the character does is already covered by other skills. For example, I wonder if Professional Skill (Journalist) is necessary. What part of being a journalist isn't just Writing, Area Knowledge, Research, and Current Affairs? Yes, a journalist needs to know not to libel people, but isn't that just an aspect of Writing? I could see someone having Expert (Journalism) which would cover such things as the history of the field, specialized aspects of communication law, mass communication theory, etc., but you wouldn't need this to work as a reporter at a local paper or a local radio station. You would need it if you wanted to be a pundit or an academic, though. And, of course, there are other, more focused placeholder skills like Sports and Mechanic...placeholders in the sense that you can add new specialties when they're needed (e.g., Mechanic (HVAC)). That's one of the things I really enjoy about GURPS, that it lets you "play" by building truly unique characters. You might not use those oddball skills and specialties all that often, but I think it adds something that you've got the freedom to build characters like that if you want to. Mark |
|
07-15-2008, 11:09 PM | #27 |
Join Date: Sep 2007
|
Re: Professional skill (Spy)
I don't think Profession skill (Spy) really works. Even someone simply hired by the state department to sit at a desk and be a secretary who is also the field agent's cover probably qualifies for one point each in Acting, Fast-Talk, Intelligence Analysis, and Observation. Most desk jobs are simply Intelligence Analysis + one other skill, and most field jobs can be described in adventuring skill terms.
I have a hard time picturing someone saying, "I am going to spy" and making a roll against Profession skill (spy) and not using other skills. Profession skill is not the skill used to spy, and if it the skill used for something else, figure out what that something else is. Some good skills for "spies": Intelligence Analysis Psychology Politics Area Knowledge Research Observation Criminology Savoir-Faire (Intelligence community, or your agency) Diplomacy Writing Cryptography Hold-out Fast-Talk Acting Detect Lies Administration Expert Skill (some theatre of operations or some genre of spy strategy) |
07-15-2008, 11:11 PM | #28 |
Join Date: Sep 2007
|
Re: Professional skill (Spy)
Yes, a journalist needs to know not to libel people, but isn't that just an aspect of Writing?
I think it's possible to be a passable journalist while being an execrable writer at other pursuits. The requirements of journalism are specific enough you can learn to do it with a journalistic background and practice, with little poetry or technical clarity. All you have to do is to look at how badly headline are often written to know the typical journalist does not have Writing 12+. |
07-16-2008, 05:46 AM | #29 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Flushing, Michigan
|
Re: Professional skill (Spy)
Quote:
If you wanted to build a character who could ONLY do reporting, give them Writing (Journalism), an Optional Specialty of Writing. They might be very good at this, but would be at a penalty to do other kinds of writing. Mark |
|
07-16-2008, 08:37 AM | #30 |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Flushing, Michigan
|
Re: Professional skill (Spy)
As for the original posting, I would argue that Intelligence Analysis provides an academic understanding of espionage techniques. It wouldn't cover how to do these things, but you would know that when spies gather certain kinds of data, they often do X, Y, or Z.
So, for example, someone with Intelligence Analysis would probably know that spies sometimes use dead drops or the old "two guys with similar suitcases sit down next to each other and 'accidentally' pick up the wrong one" trick. But doing such things would use skills like Acting, Filch, Shadowing, Observation, etc. (I suppose if you must have exceptions, you could use Optional Specialties like Intelligence Analysis (Satellite Photography)--obviously, someone like that probably won't know how dead drops work.) So, no need for Professional Skill (Intelligence Officer). The only time you add a Professional Skill is if you can't easily cover it with existing skills. Mark Last edited by Mgellis; 07-16-2008 at 09:01 AM. |
Tags |
expert skill, hobby skill, kromm answer, professional skill |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|