New Talents?

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by Ellie the Technomancer

I'm with Importance here. Your talents look too much like professions; you just selected all the skills a certain practionner of a profession should have, and put them together in a Talent, even if they have nothing in common. That's not how it works. Think more of a Talent as a precise ability your character has, and then find all the skills this ability shoud help.

Noted. I probably should've labeled that last one "Munchkin Talent;" it wasn't serious at all.

Other than that, I did have a particular talent or affinity in mind for them, although I agree that "Prostitute" doesn't seem as well-related as the others. (I'm thinking of a couple of individuals I know in the sex industry. Their innate personality leans to those skills, even though they don't seem to actually use all of them. But I can't quite find a way to describe it, and am certainly willing to agree that Importance's "Seducer" talent is more realistic.)

Priest: Someone with an ability to share their innate connection with the divine.

Occultist: an affinity for, and understanding of, esoteric lore--the inborn understanding of connections between "mundane" facts and "supernatural" ones.

World Traveler: Possibly should be "natural tourist." An affinity for casual/superficial understanding of many cultures.

[CharlesGriswold]

Originally Posted by CraigR

Back on topic, anyone want to work on a Cinematographer talent? :)

Sure.

Cinematographer: You have the uncanny ability to get movies made, whether or not they really should be made. Accounting (to hide cost over-runs), Acting (to lie to investors and the higher-ups), Fast-Talk (ditto), Seduction (couch casting). Bonus: anyone you're trying to persuade, at least until they catch on to how much of a stinker your movie really is.

How's that? :-)

[Stephane_Theriault]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Noted. I probably should've labeled that last one "Munchkin Talent;" it wasn't serious at all.

Other than that, I did have a particular talent or affinity in mind for them, although I agree that "Prostitute" doesn't seem as well-related as the others. (I'm thinking of a couple of individuals I know in the sex industry. Their innate personality leans to those skills, even though they don't seem to actually use all of them. But I can't quite find a way to describe it, and am certainly willing to agree that Importance's "Seducer" talent is more realistic.)

Priest: Someone with an ability to share their innate connection with the divine.

Occultist: an affinity for, and understanding of, esoteric lore--the inborn understanding of connections between "mundane" facts and "supernatural" ones.

World Traveler: Possibly should be "natural tourist." An affinity for casual/superficial understanding of many cultures.

Ok, let's examine your Talents with that in mine.

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Priest/ess: Meditation, Psychology, Public Speaking, Religious Ritual, Theology
Bonus: Parishioners, anyone seeking spiritual guidance; 5 pts/level

Actually, this one looks fine.

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Occultist: Hidden Lore, History, Literature, Occultism, Research, Ritual Magic
Bonus: Historians, Researchers, anyone with ties to (or experiences with) the supernatural; 5 pts/level

The only one I don't understand is Ritual Magic. And even if it did make sense, it should NEVER, EVER be part of a Talent. That would be such a point crock because all your Paths and Rituals default to it one way or another.

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Prostitute: Acting, Detect Lies, Fast Talk, Erotic Art, Merchant, Streetwise
Bonus: Clients & prospective clients; 5 pts/level

Prostitute Talent is kinda bizarre, however a Courtesan Talent would be fine, since I see a Courtesan as a professionally-trained prostitute (stop laughing). Accordingly, I'd go with Sex Appeal (how could you forget that one?), Erotic Arts, Savoir-Faire (instead of Acting - how to act in high society), Make-Up, and Streetwise (how to act in low society).

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

World Traveler: Area Knowledge, Carousing, Connoisseur, Current Affairs, Gambling, Geography, Gesture, Heraldry, Savoir Faire
Bonus: Traveling companions, hotel/travel managers; 10 pts/level

I do have a problem here. I can see Area Knowledge, Connoisseur, Geography, Heraldry and Savoir-Faire fitting together, but the others... I agree that a good traveller should have them, but I can't really see them fitting all in the same Talent.

[Gef]

The skills affected by a talent must be related, but not as closely as for bang skills. Furthermore, talents are cheaper than bang skills and provide a reaction bonus. So what are the guidelines for determining when an aptitude should be purchased as a talent (like speedfreak from this thread) or a skill (like Drive! from the iconic character Xing La)?

[warmachine]

Originally Posted by Gef

The skills affected by a talent must be related, but not as closely as for bang skills. Furthermore, talents are cheaper than bang skills and provide a reaction bonus. So what are the guidelines for determining when an aptitude should be purchased as a talent (like speedfreak from this thread) or a skill (like Drive! from the iconic character Xing La)?

I think guidelines are really a matter of taste of realism vs cinematic drama. With talents, there is a plausible philosophy or underlying technique but the player must still buy the skills individually with some concept of how he learnt them. With wildcard skills, it's action movie reality where the hero can effortlessly pilot a helicopter despite being trained as a fighter pilot.

[Fnord-Fnairlane]

Originally Posted by Gef

The skills affected by a talent must be related, but not as closely as for bang skills. Furthermore, talents are cheaper than bang skills and provide a reaction bonus. So what are the guidelines for determining when an aptitude should be purchased as a talent (like speedfreak from this thread) or a skill (like Drive! from the iconic character Xing La)?

Wilcard skills are completely cinematic, and you only get one word to describe them. Talents are (or at leat can be) realistic, and you get a whole sentence!

Also a Talent is "innate ability", while a wilcard skill is (usually) cinematically extensive training, or GM granted permission to ignore familiarity penalties for a skill or very closely related group of skills.

[Gef]

Originally Posted by Fnord-Fnairlane

Wilcard skills are completely cinematic, and you only get one word to describe them. Talents are (or at leat can be) realistic, and you get a whole sentence!

Also a Talent is "innate ability", while a wilcard skill is (usually) cinematically extensive training, or GM granted permission to ignore familiarity penalties for a skill or very closely related group of skills.

So why are wildcard skills more expensive? The cost 12 per level, plus another 12 in most cases because you start from VH. The expensive version is cinematic and the cheapie is realistic?

[Stephane_Theriault]

Originally Posted by Gef

So why are wildcard skills more expensive? The cost 12 per level, plus another 12 in most cases because you start from VH. The expensive version is cinematic and the cheapie is realistic?

Wildcard skills includes EVERY sub-skills, even those you don't even know exist. So they will usually cover at least 10-15 skills (otherwise, there would be no point in using them). So,

1) An equivalent Talent would cost 10 or 15 points per level, not 5
2) Wildcard skills cover skills you don't even know exist
3) Wildcard skills are cinematic.
4) Wildcard skills can cover fighting skills, something which is strongly discouraged with Talents

So there's no way I would consider Wildcard skills simply a costier version of a Talent.

[Southern Cross]

Thanks Ellie,that makes it much clearer.
Essentially,you're saying that wildcard skills cover ALL uses of a skill,even combat/weapon skills,while Talents just give you a bonus to learn certain related non-combat skills,a reaction bonus with a specified group of people,and a 10%/level reduction in the time it takes to learn the skills in question.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by Ellie the Technomancer

The only one I don't understand is Ritual Magic. And even if it did make sense, it should NEVER, EVER be part of a Talent. That would be such a point crock because all your Paths and Rituals default to it one way or another.

Okay. I'm a bit blurry on Ritual Magic... I don't have Voodoo or Cabal. I'd think someone with a talent for occult lore would have an innate understanding of the "real magic" parts of it, but this might almost be better expressed as a bonus to Thaumatology.

Prostitute Talent is kinda bizarre, however a Courtesan Talent would be fine, since I see a Courtesan as a professionally-trained prostitute (stop laughing). Accordingly, I'd go with Sex Appeal (how could you forget that one?), Erotic Arts, Savoir-Faire (instead of Acting - how to act in high society), Make-Up, and Streetwise (how to act in low society).

I don't know how I missed Sex Appeal. (Maybe we've known different kinds of hookers? I live in Oakland, used to walk to work past the women wearing faux tiger fur jackets and fishnets in January. "Sex Appeal" is not what came to mind.) Acting: convince the client that you're really happy to see him. Convince the pimp that you're really sad you didn't make more money. Convince the minister that you're really, really sorry you're in this line of work.

Make-Up is a skill? I have *got* to pay more attention.

I should probably shelve the "street ho" talent idea; it obviously needs more work.

I do have a problem here. I can see Area Knowledge, Connoisseur, Geography, Heraldry and Savoir-Faire fitting together, but the others... I agree that a good traveller should have them, but I can't really see them fitting all in the same Talent.

An affinity for Current Events would help the person get along with new friends; you can always talk about the news. Gambling is a social skill, an almost-universal way for travelers to interact with the locals. I suppose I was trying to attach an affinity for the info to the affinity for the social interactions; it should probably be two separate talents, and I'd put a bit more thought into them before I tried to get a GM to accept either one.