[Basic] Skill of the week: Housekeeping

[Otaku]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

However it was in quoted reply to Phil sounding like a Rolemaster critical failure

True but remember why Phil brought it up? He didn't like the suggestion that a real world account where I hard-boiled some eggs, stupidly tried to finish up some underdone ones in the microwave, and proceeded to have one egg explode in the microwave and the other in (or at least in close proximity to) my face might provide a good idea for how to handle someone messing up similarly using Housekeeping...

...that or he didn't want to allow people to use Housekeeping to intentionally do something stupid (like microwaving something one shouldn't) to create a small distraction. I'm still not sure which and not sure if he was joking or serious.

Either way, you can see how others would be confused by this chain of comments.

[dcarson]

Guy I knew in college had a critical failure on Housekeeping. Was working as part of a cleaning crew at night and tried to get a stubborn mess clean. Not sure if he mixed ammonia and bleach or ammonia and something acidic. Either one gives you a poison gas either chloramines or chlorine. The Toys R Us was closed for a day and he was not employed for a while.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Otaku

True but remember why Phil brought it up? He didn't like the suggestion that a real world account where I hard-boiled some eggs, stupidly tried to finish up some underdone ones in the microwave, and proceeded to have one egg explode in the microwave and the other in (or at least in close proximity to) my face might provide a good idea for how to handle someone messing up similarly using Housekeeping...

...that or he didn't want to allow people to use Housekeeping to intentionally do something stupid (like microwaving something one shouldn't) to create a small distraction.

The former, really. The latter sounds rather clever.

Originally Posted by Otaku

I'm still not sure which and not sure if he was joking or serious.

We're talking about exploding eggs and a roleplaying game in which people worry about critical failures on a skill called "Housekeeping", and you think I might be being serious?

[Otaku]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

The former, really. The latter sounds rather clever.

Thanks for clarifying.

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

We're talking about exploding eggs and a roleplaying game in which people worry about critical failures on a skill called "Housekeeping", and you think I might be being serious?

My mistake, I did not realize you were so new to "the internets" where sometimes where almost anything can (and will) be discussed in a serious manner. ;)*

*See, an emoticon helps underscore that I am well aware you are not new to online discussion. Quite true that no matter how absurd the subject matter, serious discussions of subject can and do happen.

[johndallman]

I've been playing a preparatory session for a space campaign. It's just dawned on me that Free-Fall Housekeeping is a significantly different skill from the normal kind...

[Boomerang]

I have been playing GURPS since the early 1990s and for the first time ever the Housekeeping skill featured in one of my games. This is in a Reign of Steel campaign where the PCs claimed an abandoned hydroelectric power station and used it as their base. The PCs felt the robots were getting too close to discovering them so they fled the base and used the Housekeeping skill to remove all trace of them ever being there.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by johndallman

I've been playing a preparatory session for a space campaign. It's just dawned on me that Free-Fall Housekeeping is a significantly different skill from the normal kind...

Yes, those differences would also fall under any Professional skill that would reasonably cover Free-Fall activities.

Also, there is no real penalty to switching from Housekeeping (Freefall) to Housekeeping, so I wouldn't actually sweat this one.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Yes, those differences would also fall under any Professional skill that would reasonably cover Free-Fall activities.

Also, there is no real penalty to switching from Housekeeping (Freefall) to Housekeeping, so I wouldn't actually sweat this one.

I would saying it's tired to Cultural Familiarity if you know Cultural Familiarity (Spacer) then your Housekeeping Skill is appropriate for maintaining a space in case of Free Fall.

But yes before that cultural familiarity develops it would be a complementary use of Crewman(Spacer)+Housekeeping

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

But yes before that cultural familiarity develops it would be a complementary use of Crewman(Spacer)+Housekeeping

I'd also allow straight housekeeping with a Familiarity (Cultural?) penalty.

[Pursuivant]

I'm surprised that Housekeeping isn't a TL skill, or don't carry TL penalties if you're trying to perform a task using radically higher or lower tech. For example, cleaning the bathroom or cooking a chicken dinner are going to be very different tasks at TL2 (Roman), TL8 (Modern US), or TL10 (Traveller).

Housekeeping can be used for all sorts of useful little tasks, from dressing game and starting fires (at low TL), to mending clothes, to removing stains, to determining if common foodstuffs are sound or not. At higher levels, it lets you do simple maintenance tasks like unclogging (or blocking) rains or repairing (or sabotaging) light switches or light fixtures. It substitute for Carpentry, Crewman, Cooking, Electrician, Masonry, Scrounging, Soldier, Survival, and similar skills for performing small, simple tasks involving simple personal equipment. Make a Housekeeping skill roll to get blood off your clothes before the police arrive, to make a toilet overflow to create a distraction, or to determine if that rabbit you just killed is fit to eat.

Housekeeping is also a "flavor" skill necessary to get and keep certain jobs. For example, a typical Victorian "maid of all work" isn't going to have much in the way of Savoir-Faire (Servant) since she almost never sees family members other than the mistress of the house, and probably will never see anyone of higher social status than a Knight in her life. But, she will have a decent score in Housekeeping skill, since her job depends on it. Likewise, a typical "handyman" who performs odd-jobs like sharpening knives or mending furniture is likely to have Housekeeping skill - albeit focused on other tasks.

It's also the stereotypical "homemaker" skill, so any historical female character of the middle class or lower is going to have some skill with it (upper class ladies had servants). In some cultures, if you're female and don't have an adequate Housekeeping skill level, you're not considered fit to run a household, hence not fit to be a bride. That might give you the Social Stigma (Uneducated) disadvantage.