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Old 08-27-2017, 12:07 PM   #101
Kelly Pedersen
 
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Default Re: New Technique of the Week: an ongoing thread

I think those work, yeah. I think it makes it reasonably clear that the Savoir-Faire ones only apply to criminal activity within that subculture, while the Streetwise one is more general.
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Old 08-27-2017, 01:32 PM   #102
johndallman
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Thanks - you have the knack of spotting holes in my ideas.
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Old 09-10-2017, 01:55 PM   #103
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How about these?

<Performer> (Musical Composition (Form)). A particular musical form, such as the verse-chorus form of modern rock songs, or the strophic form of many folk, pop and blues songs is a valid optional specialisation for Musical Composition. It's possible to buy a technique for that optional specialisation to make songs especially suited to a particular performer or group. Many singer-songwriters specialise in themselves.

<Performer> (Poetry (Song)). Writing lyrics for songs is a valid optional specialisation for poetry. It's possible to buy a technique for that optional specialisation to make songs especially suited to a particular performer or group. Many singer-songwriters specialise in themselves.
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Old 09-10-2017, 02:52 PM   #104
Kelly Pedersen
 
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Sounds good to me! I wouldn't restrict it to the optional speciality, though - there are enough performers out there that have multiple styles, and I think it's reasonable to buy a technique to work with that performer off the general Musical Composition or Poetry skill.
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Old 09-12-2017, 02:54 PM   #105
johndallman
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen View Post
Sounds good to me! I wouldn't restrict it to the optional speciality, though - there are enough performers out there that have multiple styles, and I think it's reasonable to buy a technique to work with that performer off the general Musical Composition or Poetry skill.
I was cautious about that, because I lack any real-world experience of composition and have only trivial amounts in writing lyrics. I felt sure that restricting the techniques to the optional specialities was narrow enough.

I see these techniques as being something used by artists without lots of talent, but with plenty of craftsmanship. Highly talented people don't really need them.

Does anyone have experience or sources to add?
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Old 09-13-2017, 02:23 AM   #106
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Default Re: New Technique of the Week: an ongoing thread

Well, I've written quite a few lyrics and several tunes, mostly for myself. But even though I took no particular trouble to make them performable by other people, other people have had no problem doing just that.

Writing for a specific performer might be respecting their limitations and/or showing them to best advantage ("I'm writing a show piece for Ivan Rebroff so I'll use all of the four and a half octaves that he can sing in") but I don't find myself convinced that there's enough that's distinctive about a performer that writing specifically for them would be a whole point's worth of knowledge.
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Old 09-13-2017, 09:51 AM   #107
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Writing for a specific performer might be respecting their limitations and/or showing them to best advantage ("I'm writing a show piece for Ivan Rebroff so I'll use all of the four and a half octaves that he can sing in") but I don't find myself convinced that there's enough that's distinctive about a performer that writing specifically for them would be a whole point's worth of knowledge.
Maybe it's a Hyperspecialization perk. I'm not entirely convinced it's a specialization of the songwriter though - presumably anybody else able to pull off the same octave range could sing your song as well as Ivan. What you've done there is write a piece that is *hard to perform*, not one that's "better" in some way, which would be what a bonus to your composition skill would seem to indicate. I suspect it's a trait Ivan has - maybe Hyperspecialization (songs demanding huge range) - instead, that gives him a bonus to perform your work, offsetting the penalty it imposes on anybody else for being ridiculously difficult.
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Old 09-16-2017, 03:28 PM   #108
johndallman
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I think I've been trying too hard to try to invent Techniques, so I'm going to stop trying to post them weekly.
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Old 08-18-2019, 12:09 AM   #109
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Vehicle Identification (Soldier). Average, default Soldier; cannot exceed Soldier+4.
When attempting to ID equipment within a particular category, I'd treat Vehicle Identification as a function of any relevant skill, such as Boating, Crewman, Driver, Expert Skill (Military Science), Gunner, Heraldry (Military), Mechanic, Pilot, or Soldier. Treat it as a Per- based roll for skills that are normally based on DX or IQ.

For military vehicles, this technique should also default to Forward Observer or Tactics, with specialized versions of Tactics only giving rolls to ID weapons systems within a given class but allowing default rolls to recognize vehicles outside of it. (E.g., most non-ground attack pilots suck at identifying ground vehicles, most soldiers have no clue about different fixed-wing aircraft types, and non-navy pilots are generally bad at recognizing different ship types.)

The usual modifiers for Vision (or whatever sense is applicable) apply to ID vehicles using your natural senses. But, in some cases, an observer might get bonuses if a particular vehicle is so large or fast that there aren't many other vehicles like it. (e.g., the IJN Yamato battleship or the Concorde SST).

Bonuses apply to ID extremely distinctive vehicles (e.g., an experimental submersible painted bright orange, or a P-38 Lightning aircraft). Penalties might apply to distinguish between vehicles which are similar in appearance and Size (e.g., a P-51 Mustang and a Bf-109, or various makes of 21st century 4-door sedans).

In some cases, Electronics Operations/TL (Sensors) can use this technique if the operator can ID specific weapons systems or vehicles by their electronic "signature."

Finally, Vehicle Identification might default to certain specializations of Connoisseur, History, or Hobby Skill in order to recognize vehicles relevant to the specialization. E.g., Connoisseur (Luxury Goods) to ID a Lamborghini, or History skill to recognize the RMS Titanic or an Apollo rocket.

Last edited by Pursuivant; 08-18-2019 at 12:13 AM.
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