Skills, skills everywhere - Page 3

Sunrunners_Fire · 07-05-2013, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trigonomicon

How many skills do your characters usually have,

My player's characters have a few dozen skills, usually; even when I'm allowing Wildcard skills in that campaign.

I encourage them to spend about two-thirds of their points in attributes and advantages, with the remaining one-third in perks and skills. (... in campaigns that have point budgets anywise.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trigonomicon

and how do you choose which to take?

I give them a list of skills I expect everyone to be professionally competent at. They determine which skills their character needs to fulfill their core competencies, take those up to the campaign's suggested skill level and then spend the rest on fluff and background skills.

~~Figleaf23~~ · 07-05-2013, 08:54 AM

Starting skill list from a junior early-medieval noble (150pts):

Area Know. (Welsh march)
Bow
Brawling
Broadsword
Diplomacy
Disguise
Fast-draw (sword)
Hidden Lore: Family history
Leadership
Knife
Naturalist
Riding: Equine
Savoir-faire
Shield
Spear
Stealth
Streetwise
Survival (Forests)
Tactics
Tracking
Hiking
Teaching
Knife Throwing
Scrounging
Strategy (Cavalry)
Animal Handling (Equine)
Observation
Intimidation

Starting skill list from a Traveller adventure face-man (200pts):

Acting
Performance
Disguise
Prof.skill (Vid production)
Merchant
Mimic (speech)
Savoir Faire
Body Language
Carousing
Area Kn.(Sylean Federation)
Observation
Diplomacy
Leadership
Propaganda
Dancing
Singing
Beam Weapon (Pistol)
Guns (Gyroc)
Fast-draw (pistol)
Stealth
First Aid
Tactics (Space)
Knife
Computer Operation
Photography
Prospecting
Autohypnosis
Karate
Breath Control

A professor/amateur mage in a monster hunters campaign (300cp):

Acrobatics
Acting
Area Know: Europe
Area Know: Languedoc
Brawling
Carousing
Climbing
Connoisseur (Film)
Current Affairs (Headline)/TL7
Current Affairs (Pop Culture)/TL7
Diplomacy
Expert Skill (Conspiracy)
Fast-Talk
Guns/TL7 (Pistol)
Hiking
History (Classical era Gaul)
History (Roman Catholicism)
Knife
Linguistics
Naturalist
Observation
Occultism
Propaganda
Public Speaking
Savoir-faire (High Society)
Semiotics
Sex Appeal
Sleight of Hand
Sociology
Stealth
Streetwise
Teaching
Throwing
Wrestling
Archaeology
Architecture/TL7
Artist (Drawing)
Computer Operation/TL7
Computer Programming/TL7
Sewing
Math (Applied)
First Aid
Intel Analysis
Literature
Musical Instr (Lute)
Philosophy
Psychology/TL7
Research/TL7
Swimming
Writing

Xplo · 07-05-2013, 01:03 PM

Yeah, 20-30 skills to start is pretty normal for me.

If you really want to cut down on skills for some reason, you can think "what are the MOST important or frequent things the PC should be able to do?" and narrow the list down to just those skills. Of course, if you do that, you'll be relying on defaults for everything else, which is hard to do unless you have a GM willing to hand out bonuses for easy tasks, taking extra time, having helpers, etc. You can get away with that more in larger groups, too, because someone will probably have the skill you don't.

07-05-2013, 08:54 AM	#2
~~Figleaf23~~ Banned Join Date: Apr 2008	Re: Skills, skills everywhere Starting skill list from a junior early-medieval noble (150pts): Area Know. (Welsh march) Bow Brawling Broadsword Diplomacy Disguise Fast-draw (sword) Hidden Lore: Family history Leadership Knife Naturalist Riding: Equine Savoir-faire Shield Spear Stealth Streetwise Survival (Forests) Tactics Tracking Hiking Teaching Knife Throwing Scrounging Strategy (Cavalry) Animal Handling (Equine) Observation Intimidation Starting skill list from a Traveller adventure face-man (200pts): Acting Performance Disguise Prof.skill (Vid production) Merchant Mimic (speech) Savoir Faire Body Language Carousing Area Kn.(Sylean Federation) Observation Diplomacy Leadership Propaganda Dancing Singing Beam Weapon (Pistol) Guns (Gyroc) Fast-draw (pistol) Stealth First Aid Tactics (Space) Knife Computer Operation Photography Prospecting Autohypnosis Karate Breath Control A professor/amateur mage in a monster hunters campaign (300cp): Acrobatics Acting Area Know: Europe Area Know: Languedoc Brawling Carousing Climbing Connoisseur (Film) Current Affairs (Headline)/TL7 Current Affairs (Pop Culture)/TL7 Diplomacy Expert Skill (Conspiracy) Fast-Talk Guns/TL7 (Pistol) Hiking History (Classical era Gaul) History (Roman Catholicism) Knife Linguistics Naturalist Observation Occultism Propaganda Public Speaking Savoir-faire (High Society) Semiotics Sex Appeal Sleight of Hand Sociology Stealth Streetwise Teaching Throwing Wrestling Archaeology Architecture/TL7 Artist (Drawing) Computer Operation/TL7 Computer Programming/TL7 Sewing Math (Applied) First Aid Intel Analysis Literature Musical Instr (Lute) Philosophy Psychology/TL7 Research/TL7 Swimming Writing

07-05-2013, 01:03 PM	#3
Xplo Join Date: Apr 2006	Re: Skills, skills everywhere Yeah, 20-30 skills to start is pretty normal for me. If you really want to cut down on skills for some reason, you can think "what are the MOST important or frequent things the PC should be able to do?" and narrow the list down to just those skills. Of course, if you do that, you'll be relying on defaults for everything else, which is hard to do unless you have a GM willing to hand out bonuses for easy tasks, taking extra time, having helpers, etc. You can get away with that more in larger groups, too, because someone will probably have the skill you don't.