Really High Skills as Magic

[kirbwarrior]

Originally Posted by Sorenant

That's for combat purpose, Power Blow can be useful outside combat at lower skill levels. In fact, even in combat it can be useful in some situations (eg if the character can't beat enemy DR with a normal or all-out attack, concentrating for a turn or two to increase the damage output is worth it).

I was talking specifically about the option for -10 if skill is 20+ to do triple ST instead of double, using it as comparison.

[Sorenant]

Originally Posted by kirbwarrior

I was talking specifically about the option for -10 if skill is 20+ to do triple ST instead of double, using it as comparison.

Oh, right, my bad. I misunderstood you because the skill itself is cinematic/magical in nature.

[kirbwarrior]

Originally Posted by Sorenant

Oh, right, my bad. I misunderstood you because the skill itself is cinematic/magical in nature.

No problem. But that raises a good point, allowing cinematic skills as blatantly magic would definitely work.

[Varyon]

As for crafting, in my (slowly a work-in-progress) Oubliette setting, mundane craftsmen can readily create enchanted items, simply by taking the extra time needed to account for said items' increased cost. Highly-skilled craftsmen are also incredibly fast workers - a character with skill 20 works at 20x the rate of a character with skill 12 (wages are set as skill 12 in an Average skill is good enough for an Average wage; every +1 to skill - or to skill difficulty - is +1 SSR - x1.5, x2, x3, etc - to wages, and this translates directly into labor rate). I'm considering ditching the normal rules for Haste, at least when it comes to crafting, and replacing them with a rule that lets you trade in each -1 to skill for +1 SSR to rate, with the built-in assumption craftsmen typically opt to work at skill 12 (or maybe some other point - if you can instead claim +1 to skill for -1 SSR to rate, which follows from the above wage rules, it may be that lesser craftsmen purposefully slow down to work at skill 15).


As for using other skills, I previously worked out an alternative Imbuements system that might be of use. That took inspiration from Sorcery's use of the Godlike Extra Effort for improvising powerful spells, and basically works out to "pay some FP and take a penalty to the action to gain an additional effect," for adding armor divisors, attacking outside your weapon's normal Reach, etc. Obviously the focus there was on combat skills, but there's also the option of outright improvising an Advantage from a relevant skill, such as the "Lizard Climb" Technique (replacing the esoteric skill of the same name) allowing you to using the Climbing skill at -5 to climb otherwise-unclimbable walls or -10 to function as though you had the Clinging Advantage.

[kirbwarrior]

Originally Posted by Varyon

As for crafting, in my (slowly a work-in-progress) Oubliette setting, mundane craftsmen can readily create enchanted items

Another way this can done is with something like TL(4+5) where new tech is enchanted items.

[SimonAce]

Originally Posted by Lisandro

Does anyone uses really high skills and their increased critical possibility as a way to simulate "magic"?

Combined with wildcard skills that could be a better way to replicate some great effects without the need of Mana. A "mage" with high Diplomacy, Fast Talk and Intimidation could pass for a mind controller. High Animal Handling and Naturalist skills can give the impression of Nature Powers.

Do you think it can work?

That doesn't feel right to me though it can work for a charlatan character in a low magic setting.

I do like using skills and talents with powers with magic. Someone with a 15+ skill say could buy associated powers (Mental ones for Diplomacy/Fast Talk/Intimidation, Animal Handling - Animal Empathy for Animal powers etc) and use them at a skill penalty of -3.

[Lisandro]

Originally Posted by SimonAce

That doesn't feel right to me though it can work for a charlatan character in a low magic setting.

I do like using skills and talents with powers with magic. Someone with a 15+ skill say could buy associated powers (Mental ones for Diplomacy/Fast Talk/Intimidation, Animal Handling - Animal Empathy for Animal powers etc) and use them at a skill penalty of -3.

That is a good definition of magic in a no mana setting.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Varyon

I'm considering ditching the normal rules for Haste, at least when it comes to crafting, and replacing them with a rule that lets you trade in each -1 to skill for +1 SSR to rate, with the built-in assumption craftsmen typically opt to work at skill 12 (or maybe some other point - if you can instead claim +1 to skill for -1 SSR to rate, which follows from the above wage rules, it may be that lesser craftsmen purposefully slow down to work at skill 15).

Having looked at it further, I've opted against this, and would also suggest against others doing it. While I still want high skill to increase crafting speed following the SSR table, running the numbers reveals that, depending on where in the sequence one's skill is, unless crafting resources are in short supply you're better off reducing skill to 7, 8, or 9 (if going with just one value, 9 is the best overall option, as even when it isn't the best, it's close enough to not make a sizable difference). That's not a paradigm I want.