Should there be a 'parenting' skill?

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by aesir23

Sounds like an Expert Skill. Alternately you could just treat it as a professional skill.

Expert skills are book knowledge types of thing. If there was ever a skill that is not reducible to book knowledge, it's parenting!

Bill Stoddard

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by lazlo_woodbine

And should people with young dependents (especially babies) have to take it?

It would consist of various elements of Science: nutrition, Psychology, Diplomacy, possibly Bard (bed time stories) and similar stuff and would be used to keep the very young dependent alive, get them to sleep and, for older ones to get them to go along with what you're doing...

I'd make it an Easy skill, though, and possibly even default to IQ.

I used it in my Transhuman Space campaign, and one of the PCs sank a fair number of points in it over the course of the campaign, to help deal with his 11-year-old daughter. I made it a standard professional skill. But it wasn't focused on household tasks (there are already skills for that) or on diagnosis. Often it was used as an influence skill.

Bill Stoddard

[Vaevictis Asmadi]

Yes, I think Parenting is something that requires skill, and no, I don't agree that it is Easy. Judging from the number of people who seem to be terrible, incompetent parents who feed their children garbage, or never discipline them, or else discipline infants by shaking them to death, or let their children wander into traffic, or leave poisonous chemicals within easy reach, or just leave their children in front of the TV 24/7, it is a skill that people need to learn from other adults.

It should probably have an IQ default.

Is it worthwhile using it as a Skill in GURPS? Only if it is important to the campaign. It might be interesting to have a campaign lasting many in-game years in which PCs are required to raise into responsible adulthood the willful, semi-divine or super-powered children who will be necessary to save humanity from some prophesied disaster.

[Xplo]

I like the idea of a Parenting skill that works like Soldier.

I'd say that in many situations, you'd roll the higher of Parenting or (appropriate skill). So if you have high Psychology or Intimidation skills, you can use those when appropriate, but they won't make you a super-parent. Likewise, Parenting should probably take penalties for the age of the subject; teens are notoriously difficult to deal with, and Parenting skill ought to be all-but-useless on adults.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Xplo

I like the idea of a Parenting skill that works like Soldier.

... Likewise, Parenting should probably take penalties for the age of the subject; teens are notoriously difficult to deal with, and Parenting skill ought to be all-but-useless on adults.

Most parents don't learn generic parenting. They learn parenting (their kids) a very limited form.
Dealing with my severe anxiety and complete social incompetence did not train my mom for my brother's promisuity and complete lack of common sense. Neither trained for my youngest brother's superb manipulation skills, or his near lack of empathy.
My mom would be completely untrained for dealing with girls.
Dealing with a specific group of people shouldn't fall under one single skill, in my opinion.

[pawsplay]

Originally Posted by Vaevictis Asmadi

Yes, I think Parenting is something that requires skill, and no, I don't agree that it is Easy.

Easy doesn't mean it's a picnic, just that it's something human beings tend to pick up with a certain level of natural readiness. I'm going to be optimistic and say most people have the capacity to learn Parenting pretty well using their common sense and instincts.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by pawsplay

... I'm going to be optimistic and say most people have the capacity to learn Parenting pretty well using their common sense and instincts.

Most parents probably simply do what their parents did, with some consciously chosen differences. That's not a skill, but more like rote repetition.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Most parents probably simply do what their parents did, with some consciously chosen differences. That's not a skill, but more like rote repetition.

Not that is a skill, the follows a sertial tradition. That like saying some that someone learning Karate does not have a skill because they jut doing what the senssei did, because they did not learn Kung-fu

[pawsplay]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Most parents probably simply do what their parents did, with some consciously chosen differences. That's not a skill, but more like rote repetition.

Not everyone develops this skill. Some people just depend on their defaults and try to skate by. But I think the majority of parents probably acquire a point or two over the course of 18 years and have at least some observations to offer the next generation.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Vaevictis Asmadi

Is it worthwhile using it as a Skill in GURPS? Only if it is important to the campaign. It might be interesting to have a campaign lasting many in-game years in which PCs are required to raise into responsible adulthood the willful, semi-divine or super-powered children who will be necessary to save humanity from some prophesied disaster.

I adopted it for my Transhuman Space campaign because one of the PCs had an eleven-year-old daughter, and we kept running into questions where it made sense to have such a skill. That's generally true of any Professional Skill.

Bill