Expert Skills

[nerdvana]

I've tried searching the forums and cannot find any threads about Expert Skills. Do any exist? If not, would anyone care sharing their favoirte custom Expert Skills?

[Black Rose]

I'm fond of using it for -ologies similar to Egyptology; that is, covering a fairly specific region and its culture, history, and any tangible contributions it may (or have been perceived to) have made.

Also, I have a variant Expert: Thaumatology that is more of an "armchair sage" version: "Ah yes, Apportation. You know, it was Phillipe Poirvassie de Ste. Gerarde who first demonstrated a version which could affect multiple items at once. Of course, it was thrice as draining and had a nasty habit of hurling the subject items at whatever the caster was looking at.... But it was a foundation to build on!" Basically, it's what I would see someone like Hermione Granger having a high skill in; rather than actual Thaumatology, which would be somewhat more scary.

[Sense of Duty (Kittens)]

Symbology: Couns as Sociology, Heraldry, art, history, psychology or literature for the explanation of symbols.

[nerdvana]

Originally Posted by Sense of Duty (Kittens)

Symbology: Couns as Sociology, Heraldry, art, history, psychology or literature for the explanation of symbols.

I like that one. I think I'm going to make it require further specialization for my game (semi-Space Opera, Science Fiction)

Originally Posted by Black Rose

I'm fond of using it for -ologies similar to Egyptology; that is, covering a fairly specific region and its culture, history, and any tangible contributions it may (or have been perceived to) have made.

Expert Skill seems tailor made for that, especially with Egyptology given as an example.

Originally Posted by Black Rose

Also, I have a variant Expert: Thaumatology that is more of an "armchair sage" version: "Ah yes, Apportation. You know, it was Phillipe Poirvassie de Ste. Gerarde who first demonstrated a version which could affect multiple items at once. Of course, it was thrice as draining and had a nasty habit of hurling the subject items at whatever the caster was looking at.... But it was a foundation to build on!" Basically, it's what I would see someone like Hermione Granger having a high skill in; rather than actual Thaumatology, which would be somewhat more scary.

That seems to be a great addition to the suite of magic skills IMO. In my game ES: Psionics covers that though, but thanks for the contribution to the thread.

[Mgellis]

While we're on the subject, is this a reasonable use of the Expert skill...

Expert (France). Substitutes for specialties of Area Knowledge, Current Affairs, Geography, History, etc. relevant to France (which would include other countries when they were trading with or at war with France, French colonies, great French scientists and inventions, etc.) Appropriate penalties apply for questions about specific regions (e.g., Geography of a particular village fifty miles south of Paris, History of Avignon, etc.)

This seems like a good way to handle the kind of multidisciplinary knowledge that some people have on certain topics, and certainly avoids the problem of which of dozens of possible specialty skills one might get, and it seems like a good match for things like Egyptology. Does it seem fair?

Mark

[jacobmuller]

Expert Skill: Martial Arts; Medievil Warfare; Roman Empire; Socialism; Psycho Analysis; Soccer.
Expert Skill, as in, "know all about it" but doesn't actually do "it". Maybe that's a prereq for sports commentating (excluding those who've actually played).

[PK]

Originally Posted by Mgellis

While we're on the subject, is this a reasonable use of the Expert skill...

Expert (France). Substitutes for specialties of Area Knowledge, Current Affairs, Geography, History, etc. relevant to France (which would include other countries when they were trading with or at war with France, French colonies, great French scientists and inventions, etc.) Appropriate penalties apply for questions about specific regions (e.g., Geography of a particular village fifty miles south of Paris, History of Avignon, etc.)

This seems like a good way to handle the kind of multidisciplinary knowledge that some people have on certain topics, and certainly avoids the problem of which of dozens of possible specialty skills one might get, and it seems like a good match for things like Egyptology. Does it seem fair?

Sure, I've used something similar. One of my players took Expert Skill (Celtic Knowledge). Covered pretty much what you were just talking about, but for Ireland.

A different player thought that was unfair, at first. He pointed out that History (Ireland) was IQ/H, so why should the Expert Skill cover that and more for the same cost? That worried me at first, until I realized that a very important part of buying the History skill is all of the default history you pick up with it -- if you buy History (Colonial America), you might never get a chance to roll against that, but you might use the generous default to History (Colonial France) or History (Tribal America). The Expert Skill person doesn't get those -- he's very knowledgeable, but only in his one limited area.

[Dinadon]

Originally Posted by Mgellis

While we're on the subject, is this a reasonable use of the Expert skill...

Expert (France). Substitutes for specialties of Area Knowledge, Current Affairs, Geography, History, etc. relevant to France (which would include other countries when they were trading with or at war with France, French colonies, great French scientists and inventions, etc.) Appropriate penalties apply for questions about specific regions (e.g., Geography of a particular village fifty miles south of Paris, History of Avignon, etc.)

This seems like a good way to handle the kind of multidisciplinary knowledge that some people have on certain topics, and certainly avoids the problem of which of dozens of possible specialty skills one might get, and it seems like a good match for things like Egyptology. Does it seem fair?

Mark

Compared to Area Knowledge (France), not really. That does all the above but History, and is an Easy skill. History(France) is also a hard skill, so another hard skill that is also broader again makes for a bad comparison.

[Lord Carnifex]

Originally Posted by Sense of Duty (Kittens)

Symbology: Couns as Sociology, Heraldry, art, history, psychology or literature for the explanation of symbols.

Slight correction: 'symbology' isn't really in common use as the term for this subject. You'll probably want 'semiotics' instead.

Originally Posted by jacobmuller

What I was thinking with Expert Skill (Soccer or whatever) is not just the rules. I was a football referee - I know nothing compared to a fan of football.

Exactly. A referee has Games (Football). Expert: Football is John Madden, who knows teams, team standings, players, player stats and biography, rules, when and why the rules are the way they are, history of notable games, etc.

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

A different player thought that was unfair, at first. He pointed out that History (Ireland) was IQ/H, so why should the Expert Skill cover that and more for the same cost?

If it were my game, I'd be careful with this. I'd limit the depth and detail of historical knowledge that comes with the expert skill. For instance, I'd allow Expert: Celtic knowledge to know the dates of the Famine and how it changed Irish culture and demographics, but not necessarily the economic causes of the famine, names dates and places associated with it, what British policy was at the time and how those policies contributed to aggravating or alleviating the famine, how the famine affected U.S. immigration, and so on. Those would be the domain of a historian.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Black Rose

.... But it was a foundation to build on!" Basically, it's what I would see someone like Hermione Granger having a high skill in; rather than actual Thaumatology, which would be somewhat more scary.

Hermione IS scary. As the author's pet she casts magic at well above her grade level.