Attribute Substitution and Defaults

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by arnej

Curious if this is right, or too over the top.

Say I have a DX 10, PER 15 PC. I buy the Attribute Substitution perk "Guns/Pistol Based on PER" and drop [1] point in it. Okay, I have a Guns/Pistol skill at 15.

Now say I pick up a rifle. Guns/Rifle is a DX-based skill, but also says it defaults to Guns/Pistol-2.

So, am I shooting my new rifle at skill 13?

Possibly. Its up to the GM. Attribute Substitution is optional and when allowed the instance for what it is bought for should make sense in the setting.
What justifies that Guns/Pistol as a Per based skill? Is it intrinsic to pistols in the setting? Maybe some weird targeting mechanism where all you have to do is spot the target and point it in the general direction and some computer does the rest?
The justification may be situational (like a floating attribute) or work all the time. Even then it may not cascade to defaults, though it probably does.