[Basic] Skill of the week: Administration

[Ashtagon]

I find it somewhat ironic that in a thread about Administration skill, we are discussing correct procedures for discussing skills and posting skill-related threads.

[ericthered]

Which brings us back to what happens when you fail your administration roll. Underlings misinterpret instructions. Things that really ought to have been done aren't. You end up serving pork to the visiting Jewish dignitary. Administration can easily count as an 'attention to detail' skill. And the skill of 'conveying precise expectations in an organization'.

I often use a quasi-house rule to speed preparation along. If a large amount of equipment is packed for a journey, and the characters need an item, I let them roll to see if it was packed. The roll is modified for size, expense, and relation to expected trip. I allow several skills to work, but administration is probably on the top of that list, and is the most general of them. The others are task-specific: survival for packing wilderness survival supplies, Soldier or Explosives for packing bomb defusing equipment, and so forth.

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by Ashtagon

I find it somewhat ironic that in a thread about Administration skill, we are discussing correct procedures for discussing skills and posting skill-related threads.

The same thought occurred here. And I'm sure some of us are rolling at default. :)

Actually, that brings up an interesting point -- are there other skills that could reasonably give a default Administration roll besides Merchant? For example, as a reporter, I've covered governments at various levels (city, county, school board, legislature) for about 16 years. That's a lot of budgets and procedures negotiated and translated into English. But I think giving myself a point in Administration would be an overly generous assessment of my management abilities!

I see three alternatives in my own case:
1) Make me a Dabbler in Administration.
2) Set my IQ high enough for this to be covered as part of the "general knowledge" IQ default.
3) Allow a default from Professional Skill: Journalist, given the context. (Or maybe from an appropriate Current Affairs skill, instead.)

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by johndallman

My intention is to do all of the skills in Basic, except for the ones that get discussed endlessly (e.g., melee weapon skills) where another thread probably won't give much benefit. And, yes, it's going to be a long job.

Gad! Do you already have outlines for much of them? How long do you expect it to take?

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

For example, as a reporter, I've covered governments at various levels (city, county, school board, legislature) for about 16 years. That's a lot of budgets and procedures negotiated and translated into English. But I think giving myself a point in Administration would be an overly generous assessment of my management abilities!

I see three alternatives in my own case:
1) Make me a Dabbler in Administration.
2) Set my IQ high enough for this to be covered as part of the "general knowledge" IQ default.
3) Allow a default from Professional Skill: Journalist, given the context. (Or maybe from an appropriate Current Affairs skill, instead.)

Some Current Affairs specialties, perhaps (Business and Government, FREX).

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

The same thought occurred here. And I'm sure some of us are rolling at default. :)

Actually, that brings up an interesting point -- are there other skills that could reasonably give a default Administration roll besides Merchant? For example, as a reporter, I've covered governments at various levels (city, county, school board, legislature) for about 16 years. That's a lot of budgets and procedures negotiated and translated into English. But I think giving myself a point in Administration would be an overly generous assessment of my management abilities!

I see three alternatives in my own case:
1) Make me a Dabbler in Administration.
2) Set my IQ high enough for this to be covered as part of the "general knowledge" IQ default.
3) Allow a default from Professional Skill: Journalist, given the context. (Or maybe from an appropriate Current Affairs skill, instead.)

If you could interpret bureaucratic documents but not actually run an organization yourself Expert skill is an option.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

Do you already have outlines for much of them? How long do you expect it to take?

No, except for the meta-outline of "Look at what Basic and appropriate supplements currently say, and find some questions to ask." I haven't counted up how many skills there are or how many I'm going to skip. The nice thing about doing one per week is that I can do those things as we go along.

[Anders]

I'm using it for NPCs to run the big-farm-villages and, of course, to organize logistics for large raids. Raids are fun.

[nik1979]

Part of planning and any major organisation task,. The party presented a plan to emperor alexios and details of there plan is resolved with a hard administration roll against the people who would criticise the plan.
Basically take many project like tasks and use administration to affect level of efficiency and details. Without administration details trip up the PC's plans.

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by Anders

I'm using it for NPCs to run the big-farm-villages and, of course, to organize logistics for large raids. Raids are fun.

Good reminder. This skill was one of Nathanael Greene's best (along with an understanding of Fabian tactics) and probably saved George Washington's army.