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Old 11-09-2018, 01:09 AM   #61
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Default Re: Skills and Techniques are too expensive

In keeping with the OP's request, I've been thinking of adapting the front benefits from Wildcard Skills and/or Talents as a way to make spending points on skills more useful. Specifically, I do this though Styles: every x points spent on a Style's skills and techniques gives you a +1 Reaction bonus from aficionados of that Style (similar to the +1 Reaction bonus that a level of Talent grants you), and/or an equivalent benefit (see the Talents Power-Up for ideas on equivalent benefits). Every dozen or so points spent on a Style's skills and Techniques gives you one Impulse Point per session on matters relating to that Style; and so on.
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Old 11-09-2018, 01:25 AM   #62
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Default Re: Skills and Techniques are too expensive

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Originally Posted by Refplace View Post
I find point buckets to help here, Offer a small bucket for background skills and possibly advantages for things that fit the background but are unlikely to come up in play.
Also I try to make sure they do come up once in awhile as a spotlight.
Funny you should mention the point buckets. I tend to use them to segregate Skills from Attributes, not just by dividing the points into separate pools but also by varying the rules for how you earn each pool of points.

Attributes, Talents, and most physical and mental Advantages fall into an Ability Pool that you can improve using character point rewards.

Skills, Techniques, and a handful of Advantages that represent expertise rather than raw ability fall into a Training Pool that you can improve through the Study system.

And social traits fall into a Background Pool that tends to fluctuate wildly as the twists and turns of the campaign giveth and taketh away.

Some crossover is permitted; for instance, I'm OK with a character spending some of his starting allotment of Background points on skills or even physical or mental Advantages that wouldn't otherwise be purchasable through this Bucket, so long as they flesh out the character's background but aren't likely to show up in the game very often.
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Last edited by dataweaver; 11-09-2018 at 01:30 AM.
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Old 11-09-2018, 02:48 AM   #63
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Default Re: Skills and Techniques are too expensive

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Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
What are your suggestions? I am thinking that one possible solution would be to reduce any penalties associated with a Skill by one for every 4 CP spent on the Skill and its associated Techniques. So a character who spent 40 CP on a Skill and its Techniques would reduce their penalties by ten. What do you think? How would you solve this issue?
For most characters this is very similar to simply capping skill costs at 2/level.
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Old 11-09-2018, 02:56 AM   #64
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Default Re: Skills and Techniques are too expensive

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Really, it doesn't make sense to me that a character with IQ 8 could dump 20 points into Chemistry and have Chemistry-12.
A solution to that, and to very high skill levels, is to cap skills relative to attributes. Attribute+5 and/or Attribute x 1.5 might give a reasonable result.
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Old 11-09-2018, 03:05 AM   #65
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Default Re: Skills and Techniques are too expensive

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Techniques are way too expensive though. If you want techniques to be used, one way around this is to simply have 'technique points' to go along with regular character points. They could be earned at the same rate, or they could be earned through successful technique use.
Techniques are too expensive if you expect people to have many of them. If, on the other hand, you expect a character to have one or two techniques per skill, and only for their most notable skill or two, Average techniques are fine. IMO Hard techniques should be done away with - a technique is a technique.

The biggest issue I see with techniques is players going "Ooooh! That looks cool!" and buying a technique without actually asking themselves how often they'll actually use it. Just because a player buys something shiny and never uses it (and thus 'wasted' the points) doesn't mean it was over-priced for the game or campaign as a whole.
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Old 11-09-2018, 03:07 AM   #66
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Default Re: Skills and Techniques are too expensive

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Originally Posted by PTTG View Post
In response to the OP, one reason to invest in skills at high levels is that skills float.
Or, just, you know... keep IQ and DX real close to one another...



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Originally Posted by ErhnamDJ View Post
Which is what leads to people feeling ripped off.
My point was to not base skill costs off of some subjective value.



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There gets to be too much detail for the audience's mind to retain it all.
Ummm... who is 'the audience'? I hope you don't mean 'the Players'.
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Old 11-09-2018, 03:18 AM   #67
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Default Re: Skills and Techniques are too expensive

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Originally Posted by ErhnamDJ View Post
This is what happens when you ask someone to pay four points per level for Surfing skill for their Vietnam soldier. Sure, someone might be willing to pay that price, but they feel ripped off.
In most games I run, I give a few cp (from 5 to 20 usually) at creation specially for hobby/background skills and advantages unlikely to matter in the game. That usually take care of the "Surfing skill for their Vietnam soldier"

And/or halving the cost for hobby/background skills and advantages unlikely to matter in the game.. That work well too.

An untested alternative could be to give the player access to an "informed ability" perk :
If they buy an appropriate reputation (for exemple: best surfer among US army troops in vietnam,+4) and the perk, as long as the skill use doesn't matter, they add their reputation level to the skill.
If they try to use the skill for anything else than showing off or playing around, they use their actual skill (or default as the case may be).
Opinion ?

---

Hard technique cost, otoh, I agree there is a theoretical problem in many cases. Not sure of the solution, it never mattered enough in my games.
1 Free technique point for each +4 skill purchase would seem a good start, but again this is untested.

Last edited by Celjabba; 11-09-2018 at 03:22 AM.
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Old 11-09-2018, 05:19 AM   #68
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Default Re: Skills and Techniques are too expensive

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I wonder what the percentage of people that take a CPR class are that ever actually use it.
True enough ;-). but I guess since wee talking about characters in RPG campaigns they more likely to use if they know than most.

I try and come up with reason for the Players to use the skill their characters have.

Or to address the wider topic I as the GM am in better position to make brought skills cheap or expensive in relation to their utility, than the game is.
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Last edited by Tomsdad; 11-12-2018 at 03:21 AM.
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Old 11-09-2018, 06:55 AM   #69
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Default Re: Skills and Techniques are too expensive

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Ummm... who is 'the audience'? I hope you don't mean 'the Players'.
The players are the main audience. And in my experience, it's perfectly possible for a player not to remember all of a character's traits, let alone all of the applications of those traits. Not all players are rules/game mechanics geeks; some have more the actor/storyteller mentality. But beyond that, each player is part of the audience for the other characters.
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Old 11-09-2018, 07:31 AM   #70
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Default Re: Skills and Techniques are too expensive

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Originally Posted by dataweaver View Post
Specifically, I do this though Styles....
I'd be very interested in seeing what Styles and their contents you've come up with.
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