Allowing skills to Default to Expert: X

Last Pawn · 03-31-2010, 11:12 AM

Assuming that my understanding off Expert skills is correct: Roll against Expert: Explosives to tell that the best way to bring down a structure is by detonating explosives at key support points. Roll against Explosives (Demolitions) to identify said key support points and prepare the charges. Theoretical vs. Practical with nothing defaulting to Expert skills. But at some point shouldn't theoretical knowledge start lending itself to practical knowledge? What about people with huge Expert skills? Like as in double-their-IQ levels?

So I was thinking, what if there was a way to default a practical skill to its Expert counterpart? My tentative approach to this is as follows; an Expert skill can stand in for IQ, and only IQ, when attempting a default roll against a skill that the Expert Skill would logically provide some knowledge of, however the default penalty is doubled. Eg: A person with IQ 10 and Expert: Explosives 18 could roll against Explosives (Demolitions) at IQ-5 (5), or they could roll at Expert: Explosives -10 (8).

One key point of this is that it would be impossible to buy up skills from default in this way. Thoughts?

Desthro · 03-31-2010, 11:28 AM

That seems like a pretty fair way to allow "experts" to apply their theoretical knowledge in a practical way. Even if you did want to buy from default, with the extreme penalty, (-8 to -12 for example...) I wouldn't worry too much about it becoming unbalancing. Default + 10 ,for example, to give equivalent skill would cost in the neck of the woods of 32-40 points, at which they should probably just buy the practical skill anyway.

I like it.

03-31-2010, 11:12 AM	#1
Last Pawn Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Between.	Allowing skills to Default to Expert: X Assuming that my understanding off Expert skills is correct: Roll against Expert: Explosives to tell that the best way to bring down a structure is by detonating explosives at key support points. Roll against Explosives (Demolitions) to identify said key support points and prepare the charges. Theoretical vs. Practical with nothing defaulting to Expert skills. But at some point shouldn't theoretical knowledge start lending itself to practical knowledge? What about people with huge Expert skills? Like as in double-their-IQ levels? So I was thinking, what if there was a way to default a practical skill to its Expert counterpart? My tentative approach to this is as follows; an Expert skill can stand in for IQ, and only IQ, when attempting a default roll against a skill that the Expert Skill would logically provide some knowledge of, however the default penalty is doubled. Eg: A person with IQ 10 and Expert: Explosives 18 could roll against Explosives (Demolitions) at IQ-5 (5), or they could roll at Expert: Explosives -10 (8). One key point of this is that it would be impossible to buy up skills from default in this way. Thoughts? __________________ Sometimes the appropriate response to reality is to go insane. Philip K. Dick, Valis

03-31-2010, 11:28 AM	#2
Desthro Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Albuquerque	Re: Allowing skills to Default to Expert: X That seems like a pretty fair way to allow "experts" to apply their theoretical knowledge in a practical way. Even if you did want to buy from default, with the extreme penalty, (-8 to -12 for example...) I wouldn't worry too much about it becoming unbalancing. Default + 10 ,for example, to give equivalent skill would cost in the neck of the woods of 32-40 points, at which they should probably just buy the practical skill anyway. I like it.