Assumptions on High School and College Skill Levels

Mgellis · 09-28-2009, 09:15 AM

My feeling has always been that the education system in GURPS (200 hours = 25 days of work = 1 character point) is simply a useful and plausible abstraction that does not reflect the range of real world learning, which involves far too many variables to model in any playable way.

Besides, in character design, it doesn't matter if they learned the skill in a year or a week; it only matters that they have (or do not have) the skill when they enter the story.

So I just rely on skill levels and I don't worry exactly when or how the character learned them.

12- = competent professional; if this is a skill where you can make a living, you can keep a job with this level of skill.

So what does a college degree mean in GURPS? (This could be a two-year degree for some skills, by the way.) The average graduate will have one skill, possibly two, representing their major, at 12- or 11-. 12- means someone really knows their stuff, can hit the ground running or only needs minimal training, and can do the job pretty much from day one. 11- is for the guy who passed with a C+ average and knows his stuff well enough to get hired, but better learn the rest of what he needs on the job real fast or he is going to get fired eventually...or maybe arrested if he screws up badly enough. A few whiz kids, who are probably going to graduate school anyway, might have one or two skills at 13-. They will have a few other skills, representing important secondary areas of study or activity (this may include Carousing), at 11- or 10-. A typical B.A. or B.S. probably represents about 10-20 points of skills.

A high school student? Hmmm...with a few exceptions, I would assume high school students a) use most skills at default (IQ-5, etc.), b) have ONE point in a couple of skills (the subjects they are really into, hobbies or activities they spend a lot of time on), or the Dabbler perk, and c) might, if they are unusually strong in certain areas (for a high school student), have higher levels in one or two skills.

Dabbler is a great addition for low-powered games; it seems a good way to handle high school kids who are "whiz kids," local stars, perhaps, well above their peers (+2 or +3 over default in a couple of select skills), but not truly skilled in the way that GURPS means it.

Mark

09-28-2009, 09:15 AM	#8
Mgellis Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Flushing, Michigan	Re: Assumptions on High School and College Skill Levels My feeling has always been that the education system in GURPS (200 hours = 25 days of work = 1 character point) is simply a useful and plausible abstraction that does not reflect the range of real world learning, which involves far too many variables to model in any playable way. Besides, in character design, it doesn't matter if they learned the skill in a year or a week; it only matters that they have (or do not have) the skill when they enter the story. So I just rely on skill levels and I don't worry exactly when or how the character learned them. 12- = competent professional; if this is a skill where you can make a living, you can keep a job with this level of skill. So what does a college degree mean in GURPS? (This could be a two-year degree for some skills, by the way.) The average graduate will have one skill, possibly two, representing their major, at 12- or 11-. 12- means someone really knows their stuff, can hit the ground running or only needs minimal training, and can do the job pretty much from day one. 11- is for the guy who passed with a C+ average and knows his stuff well enough to get hired, but better learn the rest of what he needs on the job real fast or he is going to get fired eventually...or maybe arrested if he screws up badly enough. A few whiz kids, who are probably going to graduate school anyway, might have one or two skills at 13-. They will have a few other skills, representing important secondary areas of study or activity (this may include Carousing), at 11- or 10-. A typical B.A. or B.S. probably represents about 10-20 points of skills. A high school student? Hmmm...with a few exceptions, I would assume high school students a) use most skills at default (IQ-5, etc.), b) have ONE point in a couple of skills (the subjects they are really into, hobbies or activities they spend a lot of time on), or the Dabbler perk, and c) might, if they are unusually strong in certain areas (for a high school student), have higher levels in one or two skills. Dabbler is a great addition for low-powered games; it seems a good way to handle high school kids who are "whiz kids," local stars, perhaps, well above their peers (+2 or +3 over default in a couple of select skills), but not truly skilled in the way that GURPS means it. Mark