Low TL familiarity?

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

Smiths just aren't trained in flint-knapping.

Well, they shouldn't be, that's Machining. ;)


Yes, I get your point, and Smiths should also know Machining... but honestly I'm not sure how much of a differentiation there should be in TL 1-4 Smithing and Machining, they are basically the same skill.

[Vaevictis Asmadi]

Stone-knapping continued to be used up through TL5, though, in decreasing frequency.

And how should I represent immortals or other long-lived characters who were alive in TL0 and lived through their own culture's development up to a higher TL?

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by Vaevictis Asmadi

Stone-knapping continued to be used up through TL5, though, in decreasing frequency.

And how should I represent immortals or other long-lived characters who were alive in TL0 and lived through their own culture's development up to a higher TL?

This is why I named my leveled perk "I Lived It!". :)

I also treat half the price of Extended Lifespan and Unaging as an Unusual Background permitting access to earlier-TL skills alongside their "current" counterparts, but YMMV on that.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Vaevictis Asmadi

Stone-knapping continued to be used up through TL5, though, in decreasing frequency.

And how should I represent immortals or other long-lived characters who were alive in TL0 and lived through their own culture's development up to a higher TL?

It's still an Unusual Background that gives them access to skills other people don't have and can't get trained in.

If there are cultures currently existing elsewhere on Earth that offer those skills, I might allow it for a 5-point UB plus Cultural Familiarity. Saying it's a UB doesn't compel you to adopt a specific point value, though Reawakened does sugggest an appropriate range.

[malloyd]

I personally call it Tech Familiarity and charge 5 points (since 5 points is enough to buy one level of High TL, or buy off one level of Low TL that's what the official rules charge you for one other TL near the one you already have after all, and it gives a reasonable looking year or two of self study to figure this stuff out without help if you get stranded in different TL culture).

And I let it buy off the TL based knowledge penalties for all your TL skills (I figure if 1 point of Cultural Familiarity is enough to negate penalties for all your social skills, regardless of how many you have or how alien the culture....). You might still suffer some for lack of appropriate tools or materials.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Vaevictis Asmadi

And how should I represent immortals or other long-lived characters who were alive in TL0 and lived through their own culture's development up to a higher TL?

They're built at the highest TL their culture attains, and they have lots of skills, and lots of Anachronistic Training techniques/perks to make them fully usable at multiple TLs.

(Yes, they expensive on points. They're immortal skill monsters; of course they're expensive on points.)

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by Vaevictis Asmadi

And how should I represent immortals or other long-lived characters who were alive in TL0 and lived through their own culture's development up to a higher TL?

Give them skills of all the various tech levels they lived through.

Note that there's nothing stopping you from learning a skill from a lower TL than your own aside from opportunity. B168 specifically states that:

You learn technological skills at your personal TL. You may also choose skills from a lower TL.

If the skills these characters have are hard or impossible to normally learn in the current setting then, as others say, UB would be in order.

[dcarson]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

They're built at the highest TL their culture attains, and they have lots of skills, and lots of Anachronistic Training techniques/perks to make them fully usable at multiple TLs.

(Yes, they expensive on points. They're immortal skill monsters; of course they're expensive on points.)

I'd allow a Modular Ability to represent that they knew how to do lots of things but need time to remember how they used to do it. So they can swap out active skill points with a couple hours/days of prep.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Rupert

Give them skills of all the various tech levels they lived through.

Note that there's nothing stopping you from learning a skill from a lower TL than your own aside from opportunity

If the skills these characters have are hard or impossible to normally learn in the current setting then, as others say, UB would be in order.

Rupert is right about all of this. The UB comes in when people in your current culture could not learn skills that you know (unless, of course, they learned from you!).

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Rupert

If the skills these characters have are hard or impossible to normally learn in the current setting then, as others say, UB would be in order.

Originally Posted by whswhs

Rupert is right about all of this. The UB comes in when people in your current culture could not learn skills that you know (unless, of course, they learned from you!).

And, it should be noted, when the GM believes having access to that nominally obsolescent skill is actually going to be an advantage worth paying points for! It's very possible for an outdated skill to be a background buy that's scarcely worth its own point cost, let alone a premium.