07-10-2015, 06:08 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Chicago
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Engineer (Mechanical)
The basic set does not list "Mechanical" as one of the example engineering specialties. I know the list isn't all inclusive, but I was wondering if it was omitted because Engineer (Mechanical) is too broad.
Is that the case? Because almost every player I've had who takes the skill wants the Mechanical specialty, and I've been telling them to take more specific versions. How would the rest of you handle it? |
07-10-2015, 07:00 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Calgary
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Re: Engineer (Mechanical)
Engineering in GURPS is the skill to design or examine the design of a certain class of objects. That's why the other specialties are stuff like Combustion Engines or Firearms, it's the skill to design such things. Mechanical Engineering is actually what GURPS seems to be talking about when we're dealing with the Engineering skill, something like civil engineering would be one of the social skills or a combination of a few.
So when your player says they want to have Engineering (Mechanical) I imagine that they want their character to have a Mechanical Engieering degree, and that's great. Your follow up question then would be "What did/do they use that degree for?" Because then that's probably going to tell you their specialty. Otherwise if they've only got the degree and haven't actually entered the workforce, maybe they're a student, they probably have an Expert Skill that you should let them respec at some point into a proper Engineering skill. |
07-10-2015, 07:50 PM | #3 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Engineer (Mechanical)
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07-10-2015, 07:55 PM | #4 | |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Engineer (Mechanical)
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Honestly, Mechanical not being there seems like an oversight. There's no example specialization suitable to building mechanical contraptions that aren't clockwork, unless they're vehicles or artillery. What? No. Civil engineering is a skill of designing things. It's also one of the specializations enumerated in the Basic Set!
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07-10-2015, 08:36 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Calgary
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Re: Engineer (Mechanical)
I just realized that I was thinking of the Armoury skill. Disregard everything I said, I r dum.
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07-11-2015, 12:30 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands
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Re: Engineer (Mechanical)
Small arms is actually a specialization of Engineering. Combusion Engine isn't, but "Vehicle Type" is. For example, Engineer (Automobile).
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07-11-2015, 09:11 AM | #7 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: Engineer (Mechanical)
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There is a missing mechanical engineering specialty though. I call it Engineering (Mechanisms) and it finishes out the progression that goes Nanotechnology, Microtechnology, Clockwork, Mechanisms. You'd use it to design stuff like machine tools, mills, pumps or siege engines, but it doesn't cover the sort of environmental interactions that would be the primary constraint on a vehicle design.
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07-11-2015, 09:50 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Engineer (Mechanical)
Quote:
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I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
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07-11-2015, 03:18 PM | #9 |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: Engineer (Mechanical)
Don't those semi-mobile fortresses used to attack castles and the like count as siege engines? I doubt they should fall under Artillery.
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07-11-2015, 03:39 PM | #10 | |
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Chagrin Falls
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Re: Engineer (Mechanical)
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q.v. microfluidics pumps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micropump Scale is a possible axis along which to divide mechanical engineering, but so is material focus (Polymer Engineering - heavily interacts with ChemE), Environmental Implementation (Biomechanical Engineering - heavily interacts with Biology) or process focus (Corrosion Engineering - heavily interacts with chemistry)
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Tags |
character creation, engineer, skill |
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