Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Soldier
 

More that fire is really bad if it happens, so they train crews a lot. However, while not disputing Soldier (Naval), it should cover the things that civilian seamen don't learn, and they do learn fire-fighting.

Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Soldier
 

As a poor, dumb, civilian, I've always considered SF (Whatever)* to be as much the unspoken rules of a given group vs. the formal rules.

For example, Soldier skill gives you a default to Law (Military) to recall military regulations, but SF (Military) lets you understand which regulations you can ignore, except for the cases where you can't ignore them, and the things that will never be in the regulations but are just "not the done thing."

A good example is that, until WW2, and even afterwards, officers and other ranks just didn't interact socially, on anything other than most superficial level, in the British military services. In the Derek Robinson Book/TV Series, "A Piece of Cake" an American pilot officer deeply embarrasses one of his NCO mechanics by insisting on playing tennis with him.

That a critical failure with SF (Military) due to penalties due to lack of Cultural Familiarity and the pilot's previous experience with the much more egalitarian forces of the Spanish Republicans.

*Streetwise would be a form of SF (Criminal) but it has to cover more than just social rules and also has to cover knowledge of different criminal groups, so it's an Average skill rather than Easy and gets broken out from SF (Mafia, Triad, Biker Gangs, whatever).

Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Soldier
 

At TL4 & 5, drill and ceremony pretty much IS soldier skill. The tactics of the era depended on moving men around in close formation, and volume and quality of firepower depended on units maintaining close formation, not flinching or breaking under fire, and firing or charging to contact as a unit.

Well-trained soldiers might not have been able to shoot accurately, but they were able to shoot fast and in unison, and maintain something like a proper formation even when visibility dropped to nothing due to black powder smoke.

All that marching in formation and manual of arms stuff that seems like BS in a TL6 or higher military organization was, once upon a time, essential battlefield survival skills.

Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Soldier
 

Law Enforcement?

Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Soldier
 

I think that there's a very good argument for a new "Airman" specialty of Crewman. That gives you all the sort of fiddly knowledge of how airplane systems work which aren't related to driving or navigating the thing. Maybe not so necessary at TL7+, but an essential part of being an air steward/ess or military aircrew member at TL6.

Air Stewardess

Primary Skills: Crewman/TL (Airman), Professional Skill (Steward).*
Secondary Skills: First Aid, Diplomacy, Leadership, Savoir-Faire (Servant).
Background Skills: Area Knowledge (Airports and surrounding areas), Fast Talk, Housekeeping, Psychology, Sex Appeal, etc.

* Air Stewards were originally recruited from stewards/porters who served aboard passenger ships or trains. Since the job basically covers the skill of politely herding and managing paying customers while stuck in close quarters aboard a vehicle, there's enough similarity between pullman porters, cruise ship pursers, "air hostesses", etc. that those jobs all share a common pro skill.

Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Soldier
 

ALL airline stewards are trained in emergency procedures. That's the main reason they're on board the plane. They just serve drinks and hand out pillows to keep the passengers happy.

Just because you never use certain elements of a skill doesn't mean that you don't practice them. A merchant seaman with a high level of Seamanship might go for his entire career without having to use essential parts of that skill, such as firefighting or lifeboat launching drills.

Air Stewards are trained to deal with medical emergencies, ditching at sea, ditching on land, evacuating the aircraft, use of oxygen and firefighting equipment, use of aircraft intercom systems, and a certain amount of "damage control" in that they can intelligently report damage to the aircraft to the flight crew. They might also be able to fix very minor aircraft problems in flight.

Except for not having to worry about keeping their oxygen masks from freezing up and their electrically-heated suits from failing, the skill set isn't that much different from what the crew of a WW2 era B-17 or Lancaster bomber learned.

Arguably, Crewman/TL (Aircrew) shouldn't be required for flight deck crew, since those jobs are covered by more difficult skills, such as Mechanic, Navigation (Aerial), or Pilot. But, for a large plane where the flight crew and "cabin crew" need to operate as a team, they might have that skill as well.

Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Soldier
 

In a situation where characters are making Leadership rolls to quickly convey orders to subordinates, perhaps a Soldier roll should allow the recipient to more rapidly understand and implement the order?

Player: Okay, I want bob and joe to provide covering fire while the rest of the guys rush the doors."

GM: You want to convey that in a one-second turn? Okay, you roll Leadership."

Player: Success by 3!

GM: Okay, each of the soldiers in your squad gets a Soldier+3 roll to understand what you meant...

Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Soldier
 

I think the basic idea here is fine, but rather than rolling each person's Soldier skill individually (which for anything larger than a squad, is a lot of rolls!), I'd roll just once against the average Soldier skill of the whole group, and let margin of failure/success determine how well the group understood and carried out the orders.