07-17-2016, 11:23 AM | #11 |
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Snoopy's basement
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Re: Learning Skills and Advantages
My way is:
-Improvement Through Study only applies when the campaign skips over some kind of 'down-time'. -Earned character points can only be spent on character improvements at the end of play sessions, and only when they meet one of the cases below. -Every character has a declared 'long term saving' project to which they automatically apply one earned character point at the end of each session (we usually give 2-3/session). This must be a characteristic with a final cost of at least 10cp, usually an attribute but could also be Advantages acquireable in the setting or buying off a Disad. Once the savings have reached half the price the character has the option to buy out the purchase with other earned CP if they have any. When a purchase is completed, a new saving project is chosen. -A character can declare one thing that they are 'kind of working on in the background'. After 'enough' game time passes a character may put an earned character point into this. ('Enough' is a GM judgement call, based on the characteristic involved and the amount of time that it seems likely could have been going on in the background.) -An earned character point can be applied to a skill or a technique of a skill the character already has if the character made substantive use of the skill/technique in that game session. The estimation of 'substantive' is a GM call and greater scrutiny is applied when the point spent will give a level-up, and the GM may require the character to roll higher than his current skill level to be allowed to spend the point. -A character point can be spent toward a skill he does not have if succeeds spectacularly or in narratively significant way on a default use of the skill. (Skills without defaults or teachers in the setting can only be learned after first Inventing it.) -A CP can be applied to a primary or secondary attribute if the GM agrees that in-play activities could reasonably result in an improvement. (A lot of hiking over the last several weeks? Okay, spend a point toward HT. You were direct-mind-linked to a super-human genius while in stasis? Okay, spend a point toward IQ.) -A CP can be applied to an acquirable Advantage or to buy off a Disadvantage if relevant in-play events support it. (E.G. the character comes up with one or more really good put-downs of opponents -- a point could be spent toward Rapier Wit. Or the character takes some nasty spills or bad beatings but has to carry on -- a point could go toward High Pain Threshold.) -CP spent under any of these categories is tracked separately until the required total for the purchase is reached. A separate count is also kept of unallocated earned points. |
07-17-2016, 11:45 AM | #12 | |
Join Date: Jul 2016
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Re: Learning Skills and Advantages
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Example 1: One of the old crates your team salvaged out of the derelict strip-mall a few weeks ago happened to be full of books. And a few of them cover internal combustion engine maintenance. Example 2: A character is targeted by a Psychic Lance attack but resists (or at least survives) and then has their own psychic breakthrough, manifesting in the lowest level of the attack that they experienced. |
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07-17-2016, 01:35 PM | #13 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Medford, MA
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Re: Learning Skills and Advantages
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I am on the stricter and stingier end of the spectrum in most of my games, though I loosen up if I'm running more cinematic games. So here is an example. There is a PC who is playing a research librarian. He has lots of mental skills that are class appropriate...and not much outside of that. The adventure involves missing artifacts. The last session involved the research librarian using Research to find out about the artifacts. Then the librarian had to Fast Talk a special collections librarian to give him access to a special medieval manuscript. The librarian didn't have the Fast Talk skill, so had to do so off of default and was successful. He then later tried to use Forgery off of default to make a fake security badge so he could sneak back into the special collections of the Smithsonian. He failed that roll terribly and the session ends with him facing a hostile security guard who found him out and thinks look like they are about to get violent. Session ends and cp are awarded. Now, because I am stingy, I award between 1-3 cp per session, and I'd probably award 2cp for that one. Other GMs often award 3-5cp. That makes a big difference. So, the player wants to spend cp on: a) A point of Strength b) A point of Intelligence c) A level of Research d) A level of Fast Talk e) A level of Forgery f) A level of Boxing g) A Mental Stun psychic power h) The special collections librarian as an Ally i) the Create Fire spell Some GMs would say yes to any of those assuming they exist in the universe. I don't. There has to be a successful roll on a skill, evidence of working on something over time, getting a teacher, RP justification. So, for me: a) Not unless the player had told me the PC had been regularly weight training on their off time...because there was no evidence of using ST at all in the last session. b) The PC had been using a variety of Mental skills and generally exercising their brains successfully. Sure. c) They used the skill successfully, sure. The skill goes up. I don't demand downtime. The PC successfully research and that learned how to research better, now they are better. d) They used the skill successfully off of default. Sure e) They did not use the skill successfully. No. f) They didn't even attempt Boxing this session. No. g) I need to decide how psychic power are gained in my world. If I decide that people can just manifest whatever psychic power they want in times of stress? Then being confronted by the guard would count and I'd say yes. If that is not how I imagine psychic powers working, then no. h) The player could ask me if they could take the Special Collections librarian as an Ally...and then I'd assess if the RP justified it. It might have, or it might not have. Maybe it only justified the librarian as a contact for now, but could become an ally later. Maybe ally-ship is justified. But for things like Ally, that tends to be an RP reward I give on top of the 2cp. Though, if a player wants to deliberately cultivate someone, they just need to RP it and I'll usually say yes. i) I'd have to decide how magic spells are gained in my world. If they are manifest in a person during times of stress or because of some trigger...sure. If not, no. You decide how you want your games to go. |
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07-18-2016, 03:33 PM | #14 |
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: New York
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Re: Learning Skills and Advantages
Here's my system in my game ( found in signature)
. Firstly it's important to note that for my adventuring Party I found a day by dividing into three. This is 8 hours of sleep, free time, and travel. If my party is well supplied, and they don't need that 8 hours to hunt, gather, or survive they have the option of studying or practicing. I ask the player what skill do you want to learn and at what level? Wrestling at skill 15 ? Ok assuming, someone is available nearby to spar with... I use 200 hrs per point for very hard skills 150 hrs per point for hard 100 hours per point for average 50 hours for easy. So your dx is 11 you need dx +4 You'll need X points and thus y hours before you reach skill level 15' Now we use a mini calendar during play to track hours. I like this system because it reflects both the difficulty of the skill, the level of your governing attributes, and time invested. A high dx player will achieve a reliable level of wrestling faster than a lower dx player
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This is my setting: www.enniya.net Its open for anyone to run if they like fantasy campaigns! E-mail me if you have questions enniya.questions@gmail.com |
07-29-2016, 04:07 PM | #15 | |||
Join Date: Oct 2015
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Re: Learning Skills and Advantages
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So you basically apply the same system for learning with a teacher as the book has (with some modification for skill difficulty). I suppose that reduces any disparity between skills used that session and skills not (available), though it's reintroducing the bookkeeping. |
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07-30-2016, 02:16 AM | #16 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Medford, MA
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Re: Learning Skills and Advantages
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Or if they don't want to do this in game time, they can do self study in non-game time. |
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07-30-2016, 07:34 AM | #17 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Learning Skills and Advantages
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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Tags |
learning, skills, training |
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