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Old 07-11-2018, 11:32 PM   #31
scc
 
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Default Re: Minimum Skill Count

Quote:
Originally Posted by SilvercatMoonpaw View Post
Since when does this apply to only women?
Society judges women a LOT harder on physical appearance.

Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
You don't need Navigation (Land) to find your way around, though it does help. But you can do it with Area Knowledge (or even with default Area Knowledge) for a place you're familiar with. Or you can ask for directions.
For a small town, maybe, but most people don't live in small towns anymore, you'll need at least a point of Area Knowledge, and following maps even from Google Maps would likely require Navigation.

Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
I think a lot of people don't have Administration; when they have to deal with government, they go in, say what they want, and are given a list of documents they need to bring. And if they make money from drug dealing, for example, they may never have occasion to deal with government for anything, at least not voluntarily.
Was the best I could do a skill for dealing with bureaucracy.

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Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
Current Affairs is a pretty definte no. See late night talk shows shows and their "Man in the street" segments.
I'm pretty sure they use the dumbest people they can find for those segments, and the people watching them defiantly qualify for a point.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
Savoir Faire is for high status people and Streetwise is for low Status types. there's no Skill for talking to people of equal Status. There isn't really a Skill thatis required jsut to talk to people anyway.
In GURPS it's used as a generic skill dealing with people, posting on this forum likely requires Savoir Faire (Internet)



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Originally Posted by Kromm View Post
The plausible minimum for me is probably three skills:[LIST=1][*]A hobby. This could imply an actual Hobby Skill, but it might be something else: Combat Sport (if you study karate at the gym), Connoisseur, Dancing, Driving (if your idea of fun is cruising around in your lowrider all day), Games, Musical Instrument, Sports, Swimming, . . . almost anything. Those old guys who sit on the park bench all day, every day would take Area Knowledge or Current Affairs of some sort as a hobby, for instance.
I'd add Carousing given how much drinking seems to be how people spend their time (Not too sure what the skill is for people who insist on spending their time stoned out of their minds) and maybe something else for knowing far too much about a sport or TV show if Hobby doesn't cover it [Games(Wrestling) is what professional wrestlers have, so fans don't have it, at least not for this.]

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Originally Posted by tanksoldier View Post
Few people I’ve encountered know who their city councilmen or aldermen are, few know who their state legislators are, a few might know federal legislators or what district they are in. Very few know any alternate route from their work to their house, even when several exist.
That's because of the way modern politics works, you have to vote by party.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tanksoldier View Post
A recent college graduate with a BS is Chemistry probably has Chemistry 12, Physics-10, and Mathematics ((Applied)-10.
Given comments by others in this thread they would definitely be a case for Urban Survival, what else do you call the dumpster diving college students have to do in the US?

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Originally Posted by Dalillama View Post
Possibly, although there's a distinct difference between a power user and someone who can actually write code or the like (I am arguably the first, and have a modicum of knowledge of the second)
No, writing computer programs is a separate skill, Computer Programing

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dalillama View Post
As with bicycling, it depends heavily on your background. Many residents of NYC or London, frex, don't drive and don't know how to.
Maybe, maybe not, in those sorts of cities it seems like it's becoming the go-to alternative to driving.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
Hiking si for people who walk all day with the seriouis intent of covering ground. You don't need the Skill jsut to walk. Bicycling the same. Driving is a maybe for people who drive every day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
From the Basic entry on Bicycling "This is the ability to ride a bicycle long distance, at high speeds or in rallies etc.". It's very likleyt he Professional Skill for a bike messenger too.
Like if your using it to get to and from work maybe?
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Old 07-11-2018, 11:39 PM   #32
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Default Re: Minimum Skill Count

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Originally Posted by scc View Post
That's because of the way modern politics works, you have to vote by party.
Not in the US.

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Given comments by others in this thread they would definitely be a case for Urban Survival, what else do you call the dumpster diving college students have to do in the US?
Stupidity.
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Old 07-12-2018, 12:31 AM   #33
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Default Re: Minimum Skill Count

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Originally Posted by scc View Post
Society judges women a LOT harder on physical appearance.
That doesn't mean that they are using Sex Appeal. Sex Appeal is specifically the skill of using (a) an apparent offer of sexual gratification (b) to get another person to give you what you want or cooperate with you. A woman can make herself attractive, as conventionally defined, without doing this. She might boost her appearance with a Makeup roll, or benefit from Fashion Sense. She might also use Savoir-Faire (to know how to dress fittingly in a respectable idiom) or Streetwise (to do the same in a jazz, rock and roll, punk, or hiphop style).
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Old 07-12-2018, 12:32 AM   #34
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Default Re: Minimum Skill Count

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Originally Posted by scc View Post
Society judges women a LOT harder on physical appearance.
That's not true.

Quote:
For a small town, maybe, but most people don't live in small towns anymore, you'll need at least a point of Area Knowledge, and following maps even from Google Maps would likely require Navigation.
A good map will give a bonus, since Google maps can give directions, that's a bonus. Most people if they are using Navigation are using it by default. Most are using Area Knowledge with a bonus for using good maps (probably also at default).

Note, I'm not one of those that mistakenly believes Navigation is for 'trackless' navigating only.

Quote:
I'm pretty sure they use the dumbest people they can find for those segments, and the people watching them defiantly qualify for a point.
They use the 'funniest' answers they get. But, here's a note, I'm pretty intelligent and my Current Affairs skills are at default. I don't pay much attention to current events.

Quote:
That's because of the way modern politics works, you have to vote by party.
I don't. I do some minimal research on the individuals (platform, history, etc), then vote, then promptly forget who they are because as long as they aren't doing a bad job, I don't care.

Quote:
Given comments by others in this thread they would definitely be a case for Urban Survival, what else do you call the dumpster diving college students have to do in the US?
Failing to make use of Food Stamps?

Quote:
Like if your using it to get to and from work maybe?
It's possible, but unless you're going more than 10 miles by bicycle or 5 miles by foot, I wouldn't apply Hiking or Bicycling. Basically if it takes around a half an hour to get somewhere, I wouldn't apply Driving, Bicycling, or Hiking as skills. Thus I wouldn't consider a 'boring work-a-day joe' user of those skills to have points in them (not beyond Dabbler anyway). I'd require about an hour or more of usage before I "go to the skill".

I used to ride 11 miles to and from work each day, it was not strenuous. Hiking and Bicycling are strenuous activities in the skill's descriptions.

(I used to bike about 20 miles every weekend day to see friends, that was strenuous)
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Old 07-12-2018, 12:40 AM   #35
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Default Re: Minimum Skill Count

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Originally Posted by scc View Post
Given comments by others in this thread they would definitely be a case for Urban Survival, what else do you call the dumpster diving college students have to do in the US?
Salvaging used furniture has been a skill for financially strained students since I was in college in the 1960s, and probably earlier than that. But I'm kind of astonished to hear about college students undergoing financial hardship. Grants and loans provide money for living expenses as well as tuition and fees.
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Old 07-12-2018, 03:00 AM   #36
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Default Re: Minimum Skill Count

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Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
Navigation(Land): is for finding your way through the trackless wilderness. Not places with street signs.
I agree. I see much of technology and infrastructure – like street signs – as niceties that do away with the need for a special skill. That's the purpose of something like a street sign.

Now, remove the signs from the streets – or require PCs to locate destinations that aren't labeled/mapped/etc. – and they'll probably have to rely on skills. Probably Area Knowledge if the destinations can be figured out from known urban landmarks, Urban Survival if the destinations can be guessed from knowledge of city layouts/features in general, and Navigation (Land) if compass directions, terrain, and other physical features would do the job.

(Or a person can just use social skills to ask for directions, if you're not the stereotyped guy with "Quirk: Would Rather Chew Off Own Limb Than Ask Directions". <checks own RL character form; yep, there it is. : > )
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Old 07-12-2018, 03:57 AM   #37
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Default Re: Minimum Skill Count

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Originally Posted by tbone View Post
Now, remove the signs from the streets – or require PCs to locate destinations that aren't labeled/mapped/etc. – and they'll probably have to rely on skills.
You don't even have to remove street signs. Just don't give someone a map, stick them in an Unfamiliar city, and keep them from asking directions and you'll get some hard skill rolls.


I use Navigation (Land) all the time in my city because the streets like to twist and wind and I sometimes like to just go exploring on bicycle (without maps). Once you get 'good and lost' you head a cardinal direction till you hit a major road, a quick Area Knowledge roll later and bob's your uncle.
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Old 07-12-2018, 07:11 AM   #38
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Default Re: Minimum Skill Count

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Originally Posted by mr beer View Post

I don't know, I have no computer skill as such but I can perform some basic tasks that you list (installation, troubleshooting etc.) by following instructions which appear in front of me when I either click the relevant icon or Google my problem. So I think that computers are easier to use and also systems support is easier, in that the internet provides a giant user manual.
The fact that you understand the instructions indicates you have the skill.

The way GURPS works, technical skills are penalized for lack of equipment, and get bonuses only for exceptional equipment. Manuals and instructions are equipment. For typical software, the instructions simply prevent you from being at -10 for "no equipment" for your technological skill, or -5 for "improvised equipment." They let you use your full skill. (Speaking as a professional writer and editor, I'd hesitate to characterize any of the writing I've seen in software instructions as "good-quality," "fine-quality," or "best possible" . . .)

As a general rule, GURPS skills don't assume you have memorized all the facts and can do all the work in your head. They assume you know where to look for information (that's why Research within a field defaults to almost anything at -2) and how to use whatever tools are usual for your TL (scratch paper, slide rule, calculator, etc.). So if you're capable of understanding the texts and using the tools, you have the skill even if you'd be lost without the texts and tools. That just means you have skill 10-12 instead of skill 15+.
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Old 07-12-2018, 07:15 AM   #39
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Default Re: Minimum Skill Count

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Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
You don't even have to remove street signs. Just don't give someone a map, stick them in an Unfamiliar city, and keep them from asking directions and you'll get some hard skill rolls.
If all that happens and you're tasked with finding the museum, the only way to succeed is to wander around until you happen to run into the museum. Your skill at Navigation isn't going to come into it.
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Old 07-12-2018, 07:26 AM   #40
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Default Re: Minimum Skill Count

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Originally Posted by whswhs View Post

Sex Appeal is specifically the skill of using (a) an apparent offer of sexual gratification (b) to get another person to give you what you want or cooperate with you.
And in many contexts it can be grounds for social cutting, shaming, disciplinary action, dismissal, a lawsuit, or even criminal charges if you do so and someone who notices opts not to let the matter drop. Most people are aware of this and avoid using Sex Appeal, even by default.



Not directed at Bill: Speaking as a moderator, I'll add that characterizing everyone of a given age, culture, faith, gender, phenotype, sex, social status, or whatever as routinely offering sex in return for favors cannot lead anywhere good. "All members of demographic X have Sex Appeal" is a troubling remark except when X is "professional sex workers" or something similar.
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