What if all skills were average difficulty?

[Dingle]

Originally Posted by ericthered

• First aid and physician. Physician gives you first aid with a default of -0
• Brawling, Boxing, Karate. Karate is strictly better than brawling, and mostly better than boxing, but is hard rather than easy or average
• Wrestling vs Judo. Judo is strictly better than wrestling, but is hard rather than average.

Other than that, it really doesn't matter than much.

This is definitely something to watch out for.
For those ones at least, I think I can get away with it, because I'm only planning to use one of each set of similar skills. (First Aid, Boxing, Judo)

Survival and Naturalist could be another one to watch out for, but I don't think I have any naturalists.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Dingle

Having the full skill list is handy because I still need to distinguish the Air Force Theoretical Astrophysicist from the ex-special forces Colonel who dabbles in astronomy, who in turn needs to be distinguished from the Alien General.

A good observation. The guys on the infantry squad or spec-ops team differentiate on their specialties (marksman, demolitions, driver, security, etc), but they all have the same core package. So the core needs to avoid including the specialty differences.

In most TV shows, the sciences and engineering tend to be all lumped together. So those are often good candidates for wildcards.

Originally Posted by kirbwarrior

There's a handful of skills (I'm pretty sure exactly five) that are specifically built around how difficulty works

Which five (just so I have an idea of what you mean)? The unarmed skills with damage bonuses based on relative level?

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Wrestling vs Judo. Judo is strictly better than wrestling, but is hard rather than average.

That hasn't been my experience, I'll admit. Partly b/c of the difficulty, partly b/c no ST bonuses for Judo, and partly because of course I emphasized Wrestling over Judo in the various Technical/Dungeon Grappling supplements, which of course doesn't count.

Perhaps in a different thread, I'd be interested in other folks' take on this.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by ericthered

First aid and physician. Physician gives you first aid with a default of -0

Were there any cases where, say, O'Neal (who probably had First Aid) was better at rendering first aid then, say, Jackson (who probably lacked it, at least early on)? I suspect in a setting like SG-1, having most characters attempt first aid at default (or maybe just IQ), with the medics being the ones who invest in Physician, may be most appropriate.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Brawling, Boxing, Karate. Karate is strictly better than brawling, and mostly better than boxing, but is hard rather than easy or average

For something like Stargate, I'd be strongly tempted to just have a single unarmed skill, probably functioning roughly like Karate in terms of mechanics.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Wrestling vs Judo. Judo is strictly better than wrestling, but is hard rather than average.

Again, for Stargate, a single grappling skill - probably Judo rather than Wrestling - is probably fine.

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Were there any cases where, say, O'Neal (who probably had First Aid) was better at rendering first aid then, say, Jackson (who probably lacked it, at least early on)? I suspect in a setting like SG-1, having most characters attempt first aid at default (or maybe just IQ), with the medics being the ones who invest in Physician, may be most appropriate.

First Aid defaults to IQ-4 with bandages, or IQ-3 with a first aid kit. The average airman would be rolling against a 7. Everyone on the SG-1 team (with the possible exception of Teal'c) has higher than IQ 10, so they'd be in a slightly better position, but rolling against, say, an 8 isn't great odds for first aid. I think enlisted airmen could roll against a default, but I think any officer would take one point of First Aid. (I don't claim this represents the real Air Force, just the Stargate SG-1 version.)

For something like Stargate, I'd be strongly tempted to just have a single unarmed skill, probably functioning roughly like Karate in terms of mechanics.

Again, for Stargate, a single grappling skill - probably Judo rather than Wrestling - is probably fine.

I agree: one striking skill, one grappling skill. Probably Boxing and Judo. Teal'c would have Karate instead of Boxing. We've seen Carter being good at Knife skill, and Teal'c has Staff skill.