11-07-2015, 07:37 AM | #21 |
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: South Dakota, USA
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Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Housekeeping
The main reason I have never run a PC with this skill is because I was unaware of it in 3e (if it was even around back then) and that means I got used to taking certain skills as a combination of "More useful than it looks, plus it adds some background flavor." I actually should revise some of my characters on stand by (that is, built but not yet used in any games) because this is probably a more appropriate fit for them than actually having them be a more skilled cook, tailor, etc.
I think the main reason for players to skip it is that their game isn't going for a different kind of "harsh realism": most of what this covers doesn't interest the players so until they (as the book example mentions) needs it for one of its less common uses like cleaning up a crime scene, it just becomes background material. If you're doing a campaign where you want a little more "mundane" bookkeeping in your adventure, several previous posts have highlighted problems that plague someone with poor housekeeping skills, like increased risk of infestation, which in an adventuring setting can mean increased risk of plague. ;) I would say the hypothetical "average" person lacks the skill, but that it is still common; it is just that the ones without it drag down the average to where it is less than a full CPs worth (possibly less than even a Dabbler's worth). Again if the group wants this level of detail and as an alternate means of challenging the characters, the GM might want to start throwing in actual challenges where Housekeeping may not be the only the solution, but it is the one that makes sense for most characters. For example... budget. An adventurers "household" budget might be a bit more flexible in what it includes, but if you've got a player that wants to calculate his expenses down to the penny and and encumbrance down to the ounce, Housekeeping is one of the potential skills to explain how the character is also doing it.
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11-07-2015, 07:51 AM | #22 |
Join Date: Sep 2014
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Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Housekeeping
Will be useful if someone ever decides to make a GURPS conversion for Maid RPG.
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11-07-2015, 10:06 AM | #23 |
Petitioner: Word of IN Filk
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Longmont, CO
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Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Housekeeping
One of the PCs whom I GM for is a cat burglar who regularly uses this skill to dispose of evidence. The same player runs a genetic genius in a Supers campaign and I'm just waiting for her to start using Housekeeping to collect useful skin and hair samples for experimentation ...
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11-07-2015, 10:35 AM | #24 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: U.K.
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Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Housekeeping
I'm not sure that I'd regard this as a huge problem. If a skill is never actually rolled against, but it (a) answers the question "Who's looking after X?" while (b) adding a bit of characterisation detail, then spending a point or two on it seems fine to me. Compare a Hyper-Specialisation or Shtick perk.
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11-07-2015, 12:35 PM | #25 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Housekeeping
Quote:
A datum: I recently looked at a column by Megan McArdle that estimated that women a century ago spent 30 hours a week in the kitchen; now it's 5.5 hours. Back then it was nearly a full time job.
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11-07-2015, 04:35 PM | #26 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Housekeeping
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11-07-2015, 04:46 PM | #27 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Housekeeping
When I ran my first Transhuman Space campaign, one of the PCs was raising an 11-year-old daughter. So I let him have Professional Skill: Parenting, and buy it up after resolving issues with her in play.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
11-07-2015, 05:00 PM | #28 |
Join Date: Feb 2013
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Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Housekeeping
More of a hobby.
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11-08-2015, 02:32 AM | #29 | |
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central Europe
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Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Housekeeping
Quote:
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11-08-2015, 02:38 AM | #30 | |
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central Europe
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Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Housekeeping
Quote:
Although of course, in many aristocratic cultures men would spend their late childhood and early adulthood as servants serving food and drink, tending horses, helping their master dress, etc. so they would likely have at least a default in Housekeeping for the rest of their life.
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"It is easier to banish a habit of thought than a piece of knowledge." H. Beam Piper This forum got less aggravating when I started using the ignore feature |
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