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Old 04-08-2021, 09:39 PM   #1
oneofmanynameless
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Default Like we did in practice: Rehearsing bonuses for skills

It's basically my understanding that for most skills the default assumption of a skill use is unrehearsed. That is to say: for dancing or performance or singing or musical instrument you would roll unpenalized if you're asked out of the blue to give a performance and you do. Most real people, even decent performers, can't reliably bust out performances without preparation. A professional performer might have a 12 skill, but take a lot of time practicing one particular piece in preparation to give a performance. And once they move on to the next performance their ability to deliver on the first performance will fade a bit, or a lot.

That's my understanding of how skills in GURPS compare with real life skill levels. Thus a cheerleader might have a 11 dance skill, but rarely mess up a performance, as a result of having it carefully choreographed and extensively practiced ahead of time. While Itzhak Perlman probably has a much much higher skill, in the 18+ range, because he can bust out recording worthy masterful performances without preparation.

Anyways, in that context, how would you handle rehearsing giving skill bonuses? How much time for a bonus? How big can the bonus get for one particular task? Etc.
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Old 04-09-2021, 01:57 AM   #2
Celjabba
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
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Default Re: Like we did in practice: Rehearsing bonuses for skills

Quote:
Originally Posted by oneofmanynameless View Post
It's basically my understanding that for most skills the default assumption of a skill use is unrehearsed. That is to say: for dancing or performance or singing or musical instrument you would roll unpenalized if you're asked out of the blue to give a performance and you do. Most real people, even decent performers, can't reliably bust out performances without preparation. A professional performer might have a 12 skill, but take a lot of time practicing one particular piece in preparation to give a performance. And once they move on to the next performance their ability to deliver on the first performance will fade a bit, or a lot.

That's my understanding of how skills in GURPS compare with real life skill levels. Thus a cheerleader might have a 11 dance skill, but rarely mess up a performance, as a result of having it carefully choreographed and extensively practiced ahead of time. While Itzhak Perlman probably has a much much higher skill, in the 18+ range, because he can bust out recording worthy masterful performances without preparation.

Anyways, in that context, how would you handle rehearsing giving skill bonuses? How much time for a bonus? How big can the bonus get for one particular task? Etc.
perhaps borrowing from time spent ?

No rehearsing at all give a -2 improvised penalty.

1 rehearsal session (or multiples sessions but in the past with another performance rehearsal in between) : no bonus/penalty.

2 rehearsal sessions gives +1,
4 rehearsal sessions gives +2,
8 rehearsal sessions gives +3,
15 rehearsal sessions gives +4,
and 30+ rehearsal sessions gives gives +5.

Don't forget to also make a complimentary Group Performance roll for the coach, that give +2 for critical success, +1 for success, -1 for failure, or -2 for critical failure.
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Old 04-09-2021, 03:25 AM   #3
dcarson
 
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Default Re: Like we did in practice: Rehearsing bonuses for skills

You might use the Visualization rules since you are actually rehearsing it not just imagining how it would go.
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Old 04-09-2021, 06:16 AM   #4
Donny Brook
 
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Default Re: Like we did in practice: Rehearsing bonuses for skills

I would consider rehearsing to be a process that turns a normal skill use into a routine one.
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Old 04-09-2021, 08:44 AM   #5
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Default Re: Like we did in practice: Rehearsing bonuses for skills

A rehearsal progression would also justify the task difficulty bonuses in Campaigns p345, giving a +2,3 or 4 (or more!) depending on the circumstances. Fits nicely alongside time spent if you don't or can't count rehearsals.
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Old 04-09-2021, 08:44 AM   #6
oneofmanynameless
 
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Default Re: Like we did in practice: Rehearsing bonuses for skills

Quote:
Originally Posted by Celjabba View Post
perhaps borrowing from time spent ?

No rehearsing at all give a -2 improvised penalty.

1 rehearsal session (or multiples sessions but in the past with another performance rehearsal in between) : no bonus/penalty.

2 rehearsal sessions gives +1,
4 rehearsal sessions gives +2,
8 rehearsal sessions gives +3,
15 rehearsal sessions gives +4,
and 30+ rehearsal sessions gives gives +5.

Don't forget to also make a complimentary Group Performance roll for the coach, that give +2 for critical success, +1 for success, -1 for failure, or -2 for critical failure.
I like that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Donny Brook View Post
I would consider rehearsing to be a process that turns a normal skill use into a routine one.
Yeah, I agree with that. Do you know rules anywhere for how large of a bonus something being "routine" actually is? And how many repetitions / practice sessions would help get there.)
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Old 04-09-2021, 10:53 AM   #7
whswhs
 
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Default Re: Like we did in practice: Rehearsing bonuses for skills

One approach I've used is to say that while casting spells during an adventure requires a skill roll for each casting, with a chance of critical failure, casting spells as a job (for wages or salary) requires a monthly job success roll, with problems ONLY on a critical failure. That's once in 4.5 years for most professionals, and once in 18 years for the real masters.

You could also borrow the idea that you don't actually fail to play the piece on a normal failure; rather, you do an uninspired performance, one that gets only polite applause, whereas a success gets you real applause and a critical success gets you a standing ovation.
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Old 04-09-2021, 11:38 AM   #8
malloyd
 
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Default Re: Like we did in practice: Rehearsing bonuses for skills

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Originally Posted by oneofmanynameless View Post
That's my understanding of how skills in GURPS compare with real life skill levels. Thus a cheerleader might have a 11 dance skill, but rarely mess up a performance, as a result of having it carefully choreographed and extensively practiced ahead of time. While Itzhak Perlman probably has a much much higher skill, in the 18+ range, because he can bust out recording worthy masterful performances without preparation.
I think this hinges on what a success roll means for an artistic performance. You are not rolling for the piece to be recognizable, but for it to be good enough to produce a desired effect - in this case usually impress the audience.

If you are attempting to put on the piece in a middle of a raging combat, then yeah, just getting it out in recognizable form is probably more than enough to impress people. Hell "I can't tell what that song was, but it clearly had some musical bits in it" might be considered a remarkable achievement.

If you are on stage delivering a rehearsed performance "recognizable" isn't going to cut it - you likely manage that automatically, certainly on anything but a critical failure. But on a failure the audience can tell what you performed, but don't think you did it very well.

"Success" doesn't mean the same thing in the different circumstances.
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Old 04-10-2021, 09:16 AM   #9
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Default Re: Like we did in practice: Rehearsing bonuses for skills

To some degree, a rehearsal is just a type of studying, like on p.B263. If you are a musician, you cannot just study on your own in your room -- though certainly, that's part of developing your skill. You need to study with a group, too.

However, if you are rehearsing a raid on a terrorist camp, you will be walking through a mock-up of the camp. You will be walking through the coordination of the attack with air assets, making sure the various ground teams are moving into the right positions at the right time, etc. A good example is the Son Tay Raid, Operation Ivory Coast, the raid to rescue US POWs near Hanoi. The crew and SF troops practiced and rehearsed for hundreds of hours. This type of scenario might give any of the following advantages:

1. Hours of Intensive Training in assigned skills -- Piloting, Tactics, Guns, etc. (In the case of Ivory Coast, the aircrew flew over 1,000 hours in tight formation flying with C-130s and the assault helicopters).
2. It might add new skills through Education or Intensive Training.
3. It might help develop better planning through reiterative processes, providing the sort of feedback that gives Intensive Training to Admin, Tactics, Teaching, Performance, and so forth.
4. It might add study time that gives a new specialization or buys off penalties for Distance or Area, especially when it comes to Area Knowledge. One of the huge bonuses for this might be using Area Knowledge as a Complimentary skill to Navigation or Piloting.
5. It might be considered as "study" for developing Advantages or Perks, or buying off Disads or Quirks. The Skill perks in Power-Ups Perks is a good place to look for ways such things might help. Some rehearsals might develop Schticks such as Efficiency, One-Task Wonder, say. The Battle Drills Perk in Tactical Shooting is perfect for this.
6. Rehearsals might give one-time bonuses, as the OP suggested, for certain very specific tasks. I would not give a bonus for the whole skill over the course of a whole adventure. One thing to consider is that such study might buy off a penalty for Haste (p.346) for a specific task. Likewise, if you rehearse in the arctic circle for a cold weather mission, you might use the study to buy off a penalty for cold hands when lockpicking, etc.
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Old 04-10-2021, 09:36 AM   #10
Anaraxes
 
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Default Re: Like we did in practice: Rehearsing bonuses for skills

Quote:
Originally Posted by safisher View Post
However, if you are rehearsing a raid on a terrorist camp, you will be walking through a mock-up of the camp...

6. Rehearsals might give one-time bonuses, as the OP suggested, for certain very specific tasks. I would not give a bonus for the whole skill over the course of a whole adventure.
If the group is using Action! and its Basic Abstract Difficulty concept, it might make sense for the mockup training to reduce the BAD for the camp raid scene. That could be a bonus to multiple skills - but in the limited context of that which was rehearsed.

(Since plans always go awry in action movies, it might even be good to use a strict definition of "that which was rehearsed". So when the PCs have to deviate from the script and improvise, their heroism comes to the fore. It would have been an easy raid without the difficulty, but once the BAD jumps back up when they go off track, those high skills become necessary rather than overkill, showing why we needed the l33t heroes and not just any schmoes with lots of practice.)

Last edited by Anaraxes; 04-10-2021 at 09:40 AM.
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