Skills and skill levels for building an army, intelligence service, bureaucracy

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Icelander

This is for evaluating psychological suitability and trustworthiness, not for professional competence?

Normally, yes, but I think it can also be used to ask the person, openly or subtly, about professional competence, to get an impression of whether he knows what he's talking about. Although simulatively, that may rely on the interviewing character being hard to fool, being hard to impress with big words, with any kind of aptitude for logic being particularly helpful (in GURPS IQ+Mathematical Talent, although that's not a perfect fit). And a sceptical attitude, although presumably any such seriously conducted interview will involve a sceptical attitude.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I discover that the leader PC has it at skill 14, which I agree is not high enough. However, he's a polymath and this is a newly acquired skill for him.*

I assumed he'd find it relatively easy to learn, with high IQ, or possibly good IQ plus some Talent that gives a bonus.

Originally Posted by Icelander

I'm considering some such methods, yes, because I definitely don't want skill in the skills being evaluated being more or less irrelevant.

If you use the roll-for-the-lowest method, then you might also use the Evaluate Character Technique that I suggested a minute ago.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Actually, someone with skill 18 against a skill 12 is often able to trounce them with a far smaller force.

How much smaller? That'd be really valuable for me to know. And to be honest, I'm more thiking about a skill 23 vs skill 14 scenario, than skill 18 vs skill 12. If that makes a difference.

[Peter Knutsen]

One important question, in terms of "choosing good suborbinates", is what tier of metal it is you're digging for?

Are you merely digging for something rare, like silver, or for something very rare and very precious, such as gold?

If it is the later, then you're going to have to look harder, and realistically, the gifteds you find will often be impure (rather messing up my analogy here...), with the qualities you seek being accompanied by deficiencies, so that you end up forced to make compromises, and having to assign workload0 carefully so as to avoid the specific ability or personality problems causing difficulties.

Your process might dig up Albert and Bob, both suitable for top posts in military engineering, but Bob has two issues:

He has a high natural aptitude (simulated with the most appropriate GURPS advantage, probably some kind of Talent, plus of course a good basis in IQ), even higher than Albert's, but he's barely trained, so you'll need to somehow educate him before you can make full use of him (he probably has 1 CP in the skill already, but you want to add 3 or preferably 7 more, plus 1 CP in at least a couple of secondary support skills).

And, rather more importantly, Albert and Bob can't stand each other, because 350 years ago, Albert's ancestors hesitated before sacrificing to the Goddess Hoola. So you're going to have to assign each of them to different projects, in different physical areas, all the freakin' time, or else the GM will make random weekly rolls to see if one of them shivs the other, and the most obvious solution to Bob's other problem, apprenticing him to Albert, is not going to work.

Albert is a gem. Bob is a piece of carbon that will turn into a gem if you spend the ressources (including management time) on a real hard squeeze.

1. Hire both.
2. Hire Albert, ignore Bob.
3. Hire Bob, ignore Albert.

?

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

Normally, yes, but I think it can also be used to ask the person, openly or subtly, about professional competence, to get an impression of whether he knows what he's talking about. Although simulatively, that may rely on the interviewing character being hard to fool, being hard to impress with big words, with any kind of aptitude for logic being particularly helpful (in GURPS IQ+Mathematical Talent, although that's not a perfect fit). And a sceptical attitude, although presumably any such seriously conducted interview will involve a sceptical attitude.

As amatter of fact, Kehlynn Darkwater, the herald*, almost never reveals skepticism and if he is forced to turn anyone away, does so with an appearance of sincere regret. Part of it is public relations, part of it is his nature.

Even Kyros Nikandros, the military chief of staff, has been encouraged to carry out all recruiting interviews with sensitivity and respect for the locals, their cultural sensibilities and their self-respect. Of course, as a lifelong mercenary with long and negative experience of the convoluted intrigues of local factional politics, this means that he has been prevailed upon to minimise growling, cursing and accusations of treachery.

Meanwhile, the chief of counterintelligence and allied wizards use their magic (and experience) to determine if a recruit is a potential security risk from (magical) hiding.

In general, seeming competent and valuable when he comes to the attention of Kehlynn through his Current Affairs skill and the recommendations of local allies are what get people such interviews. Impressing** the guard commanders or the shift bosses of the public works projects is another way.

Increasingly, though, the PCs are seeking local employees of sufficient competence and trustworthiness so that rank-and-file people can be hired without having to involve the top-level people at all. While secure, that's also a tremendous bottleneck for recruiting. They've got one popular, brilliant and sensible political and religious leader already who is hiring for their public works, but need many more.

*And spymaster, though the latter is not shouted about.
**Or bribing. No system is perfect.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

One important question, in terms of "choosing good suborbinates", is what tier of metal it is you're digging for?

[...]

1. Hire both.
2. Hire Albert, ignore Bob.
3. Hire Bob, ignore Albert.

?

As a general rule, hire both. They've got long term plans and have more wealth than they have talented people.

The major exception is that since they are in a serious war which they could not survive losing, they cannot afford any genuine liabilities, no matter how useful they might become later.

But they have room for some 10,000 barely adequate people as long as they get enough competent people to carry out the tasks they really do need right now.

Someone who makes an adequate assistant, common soldier or even labourer, but may be expected to be more valuable later will be snapped up. Having to keep him apart from a particular personal rival would be easy. They can station the in different cities or even different countries.*

Basically, I'm looking for input on how much progress they've made with such tasks as improving sewage or changing a moribund refugee economy into a thriving one that delivers orders for their armies.

They've had two months of preparations and enough resources for maybe 300-500 people working and then two months of all out effort and ca $30,000,000 in goods and $10,000,000 in cash.

They want a city which three centuries ago was a great port metropolis of some 200,000 people but had dwindled to half that size and almost stopped trading to be great again. And they want to feed, house and employ the 200,000 refugees outside it and some 500,000 in the rest of the country.

Fortunately, there is enough space and even fallow farmland and infrastructure for that population, assuming the canals, irrigation systems, sewers, aquaducts, roads and other infrastructure are repaired of the damage done by centuries of neglect and decades of war.

On the other hand, economic revival cannot be done using vital military personnel or supplies, so instead of using their own perfectly capable naval and military engineers, they'll need to hire locals (and foreign non-military experts).

And find as many loyal elite** local troops as possible, to supplement their own. Healthy people who are not elite troops may be hired as labourers or logistics troops, but are probably more likely to be conscripted into the local forces for little or no pay beyond upkeep.

*While most of their men and operations are in the theatre of war, they do still retain some purely mercantile interests elsewhere, in addition to recruiting and training posts.
**Given the need for mobility in their strategy, the PC have no need of military units which are not elite. Substituting quantity for quality is pointless if you can only carry 5,000-10,000 troops on your troopships anyway and have no other sensible way to get men to the theatre where you intend to fight intime to make a difference.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

Having a couple of Contacts within the craftsmans' "mafia" could be very useful, in particular, I think. Even if that "mafia" is largely loyal to the PC party, it's not perfect, and one of the Contact may be able to warn the PCs about internal grumblings long before real problems arise.

The Hegemony of Artisans isn't actually all that mafia-like. A better analogy would be a miner's council, district soviet or the Paris Commune, with the caveat that their writ extends only over the artisan's quarter of the city. They are allied with the Wizards who control the city center, governor's palace and most official buildings. What primarily distinguishes them from a mafia is that they lack any secrecy and their citizen's militia is usually fighting to enforce recognisable (if unofficial) law and order.

Lord Dama's Non-Slaves, however, which started as a movement against slavery and social injustice, now exerts mafia-like control over most of the docks. They are allied with the thugs of the White faction of charioteers and fans and count many former gladiators and charioteers among their leadership. It's that organisation which will supply street fighters that the PCs aim to turn into soldiers.

The Reds, Greens and Blues have their own territories, with the Greens having by far the most power due to their recent allegiance with the foreign mercenaries/mafioso/religious thugs of the Zhentarim, who are importing valuable food and using the Greens to extort protection money from independent importers.

The Blues traditionally support the clergy of Tiamat, the Nemesis of the Gods, which used to be a dangerous accusation against them, but now accords them a fair bit of underworld respect. They lack any territory on the docks, though, and instead have to try to make money through extortion of poor refugees in the camps. They also clash with Hegemony militias, over issues of craftsmen refusing to pay protection money.

The Reds are the least political and least business-like of the bunch, but have a lot of traditional supporters. They currently seethe and even occasionally riot over the fact that a year has gone by without even a single chariot race. Now that shipping is restored, they think that the city 'government', such as it is, ought to buy some good horses and donate to the teams, as a reward for the loyalty and persistence of the people. The shibutuu (council) has other priorities for their limited resources, seeing as they are still at war with an overwhelming invader.

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

Of course, one could make a Technique for Psychology (Applied) to perform such character evaluations or "vettings". It could start at Psychology (Applied)-3 and be improvably to no more than Psychology (Applied)+2. Since it's not dangerous to try, it is my understanding that it should be an Average Technique.

Sounds good. Is there any specific reason why this starts at a penalty?

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

I assumed he'd find it relatively easy to learn, with high IQ, or possibly good IQ plus some Talent that gives a bonus.

I'm sure the player will argue that his Planner Talent really ought to include Psychology (Applied) if that turns out to be the most important skill for what he wanted his character to be good at, i.e. being a statesman, organiser and ruler. After all, most of what a ruler does, at any TL past the small clan system, is picking good subordinates.

If picking good subordinates is not a function of Administration or Leadership, that would make Administration and Leadership skills possessed by good middle-managers, not actually be the supreme head of the organisation itself, who'd instead rely nearly on Psychology (Applied). Which seems odd.

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

How much smaller? That'd be really valuable for me to know. And to be honest, I'm more thiking about a skill 23 vs skill 14 scenario, than skill 18 vs skill 12. If that makes a difference.

If you outclass the opposition that badly, in intelligence, organisation and battlefield command, I'd think that being only 20% of his TS would still leave you a comfortable margin of victory. Remember, the opposite Strategy rolls are only a part of the picture.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Icelander

If picking good subordinates is not a function of Administration or Leadership, that would make Administration and Leadership skills possessed by good middle-managers, not actually be the supreme head of the organisation itself, who'd instead rely nearly on Psychology (Applied). Which seems odd.

Personally I'd use Administration in the first place for organizational level staffing and Leadership for small team leaders able to choose teamates from a pool. Pyschology might be used as a complimentary skill, I suppose.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Personally I'd use Administration in the first place for organizational level staffing and Leadership for small team leaders able to choose teamates from a pool. Pyschology might be used as a complimentary skill, I suppose.

That does seem more in line with how GURPS usually stats managers, leaders and commanders.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Sounds good. Is there any specific reason why this starts at a penalty?

Not much of a reason, but performing a "character evaluation" does seem tricky to me, especially when hiring for critical or semi-critical job positions.