Char. Bonus to Gene or Not?

[Frewfrux]

I've found a note on page 76 about characteristic improvements as a result of mustering out:

Characteristic Improvements. Characteristic Improvements represent a final recognition of personal improvement based on the individual’s career and experience.

Characteristic Improvements applied to Genetic Characteristics are recessive. If the improvement is C6+1 and for the character C6= Caste, the benefit is lost.

(Underline added)

The way this is worded is a little vague and I'm wondering if others might be able to provide a little clarification.

A) Does this mean players choose whether or not to apply them to their genes, or MUST they apply them to their genes?

B) When applied to the gene, the entire value becomes recessive, right? (Nothing funny about only the improvement part being recessive or anything?)

C) This is in reference to mustering out benefits. Does it also apply to career skill rolls on the personal table? Are those handled the same or differently?

This also brings up some questions regarding the inheritance of a gene's status (recessive/standard/dominant), but I will save that for another post about genetics.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Not a genetic scientist.

I think, that being recessive means they are not added to the character's genetic dice.

If they were dominant then you would add them to the character's genetic dice, like say if in game they purchase a DNA Characteristic Upgrade.

That is my call as a Ref.

 

[Frewfrux]

I think, that being recessive means they are not added to the character's genetic dice.

If they were dominant then you would add them to the character's genetic dice, like say if in game they purchase a DNA Characteristic Upgrade.

That is my call as a Ref.

The genetics chapter defines dominant/standard/and recessive genes as ones chosen in a particular order when "passing them along" to the future generation. If the gene # is, say 5 from one parent and 3 from another, and both are the same type then it's random as to which one gets selected. If one is dominant, however, it's always selected. If one is recessive then it's never selected unless the other one is also recessive in which case it's random as to which one is selected.

"Editing" a gene is also stated to make it recessive, and by this I assume they mean editing via the character generation process, though what is meant is not defined.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Ur, um...

The genetics chapter defines dominant/standard/and recessive genes as ones chosen in a particular order when "passing them along" to the future generation. If the gene # is, say 5 from one parent and 3 from another, and both are the same type then it's random as to which one gets selected. If one is dominant, however, it's always selected. If one is recessive then it's never selected unless the other one is also recessive in which case it's random as to which one is selected.

"Editing" a gene is also stated to make it recessive, and by this I assume they mean editing via the character generation process, though what is meant is not defined.

Really?

I see I have read that chapter and not skim it, but I was going to doing that anyway later. I have this need to do Pocket Empires for T5, so I will have to get to Genetics eventually.

 

[robject]

"Editing" a gene is also stated to make it recessive, and by this I assume they mean editing via the character generation process, though what is meant is not defined.

Oh. To me, this sounds like in-game genetic tinkering.

 

[Frewfrux]

Oh. To me, this sounds like in-game genetic tinkering.

Perhaps. But the statement about it says that "for a variety of reasons (including game balance) editing a gene makes it recessive."

The fact that it refers to one of the reasons (the primary one?) as "game balance" makes me believe that the rules for doing this must already be defined somehow....but I can't find them, unless it's during character creation when players add to their stats.

 

[robject]

Perhaps. But the statement about it says that "for a variety of reasons (including game balance) editing a gene makes it recessive."

The fact that it refers to one of the reasons (the primary one?) as "game balance" makes me believe that the rules for doing this must already be defined somehow....but I can't find them, unless it's during character creation when players add to their stats.

That's true. "Game balance" sounds like a characteristic that's deliberately changed, too. You roll up a character you like, except Dex is a 2, so the referee says, "eh, make it a 7".

 

[77topaz]

Terminology

Hmm... something seems a little strange about the terminology used here. Every person of the same species has the same genes - they are basically subsections of the genetic code, each coding for some specific characteristic/trait. However, the differences between people are determined by alleles, which are effectively different options for each of the genes. A simple example is "blue eyes" and "brown eyes" alleles for the "eye colour" gene (though that particular situation is of course more complex). A gene can not be dominant or recessive; the different alleles for that gene can be dominant or recessive.

 

[Frewfrux]

Hmm... something seems a little strange about the terminology used here. Every person of the same species has the same genes - they are basically subsections of the genetic code, each coding for some specific characteristic/trait. However, the differences between people are determined by alleles, which are effectively different options for each of the genes. A simple example is "blue eyes" and "brown eyes" alleles for the "eye colour" gene (though that particular situation is of course more complex). A gene can not be dominant or recessive; the different alleles for that gene can be dominant or recessive.

Perhaps that should be mentioned in the errata discussion thread? That's a bit beyond my knowledge.

 

[Frewfrux]

That's true. "Game balance" sounds like a characteristic that's deliberately changed, too. You roll up a character you like, except Dex is a 2, so the referee says, "eh, make it a 7".

I found what I was thinking about in the rules and it sounds more like the gene editing *can be* the rolls on the personal column during character creation.

(page 115 under the heading Geneering) Genes can be edited using a variety of medical techniques. Gene editing (Geneering) is one rationale behind Acquired Characteristic Increases in Character Generation.

To me this sounds like geneering is a possible explanation for the increases to stats, and players have the choice of whether to say this is the case (and mark the gene as recessive as a result) or not.