Officer skills

[rancke]

I'm working on tweaking the MT character generation system, and I want to make up a cascade skill for officers -- you know, people in military command positions -- soldiers, sailors, spacers, marines, maybe scouts and police too (And maybe not). I'll probably call it 'Command'.

MT has two cascade skills called Inborn and Interpersonal that are something like what I'm aiming for:

Inborn (Cascade)
  Artisan
  Carousing
  Instruction
  Jack-of-all-Trades
  Leader

Interpersonal (Cascade)
  Admin
  Interview
  Liason
  Linguistics
  Steward

Neither of them are quite right, though (I don't think Artisan and Steward are appropriate, for example). So far I'd like to include Instruction, Leader, and Admin. Anything else that leaps to mind? Tactics, maybe? Or is that more an NCO type skill? I'm thinking five different skills to choose from would be best, but it could be four or six

Note that I don't want to make up new skills, just a new distribution (cascade).

Comments? Suggestions?


Hans

 

[far-trader]

Admin - naturally so imo

Blade (Sword) - an old school traditional officer sorta thing, old school dueling stuff, fits the OTU imo

Bribery - another old school though no less noble idea, buying you way in sorta, also fits the OTU imo

Carousing - seems a natural, again with the old school traditional officer idea

Computer - desk command

History - at least military history

Interview - part of recruiting and such

Leader - naturally

Legal - at least as far as military laws and regs

Liaison - junior diplomacy, within their own command if not beyond

Recruiting - maybe

Which is a few more than you wanted

If making my own Command (cascade) table it might be:


Command (cascade):

1. Admin
2. Blade (Sword)
3. Computer
4. History
5. Legal
6. Social (cascade) -see below

Social (cascade):

1. Bribery
2. Carousing
3. Interview
4. Leader
5. Liaison
6. Recruiting

I like tables of 6 because if stuck for a choice I can just roll it.

 

[samuelvss]

I would think Tactics would be appropriate for lower grade officers, "Company Grade" O1 to O3. However, I would put it as a cascading skill "tactical skill," that would be either Tactics or Ship Tactics for spacer O1 to O3; then at the "Field Grade," O4 to O6, spacers would select from Ship Tactics or Fleet Tactics. At O7 up, it's all Fleet Tactics for spacers. Really it should be Tactics all the way up for Army and Marines. In the alternative Army and Marines could elect Operations at field grade. Also in the alternative, Marines could elect Orbital Assault Tactics.

Computer is for ALL commands; talk to an O3 in Iraq right now...

 

[Major B]

Note that I don't want to make up new skills, just a new distribution (cascade).

Actually, this thread brings up some justification for adding some skills, but I'll mention them below.

I'd nominate two that have not yet been mentioned for your consideration:

Communications: whether dirtside or not, a big part of the officer's day-to-day routine will be using some form or type of communications gear.

Jack-of-all-Trades: officers will routinely face situations that were never covered in their training, so I think this is an appropriate catch-all that covers a character's ability to "figure stuff out" when necessary.

If making my own Command (cascade) table it might be:

Command (cascade):

1. Admin
2. Blade (Sword)
3. Computer
4. History
5. Legal
6. Social (cascade) -see below

Social (cascade):

1. Bribery
2. Carousing
3. Interview
4. Leader
5. Liaison
6. Recruiting

I like the incorporation of the Social cascade here. To incorporate the two extra skills I mentioned, maybe make #1 Admin OR Legal (player choice), Replace Legal with Jack-of-all-Trades, and replace Blade Combat with Communications (that last bit I guess is just better for MTU, where long blades are for dress occasions, not fighting).

I would think Tactics would be appropriate for lower grade officers, "Company Grade" O1 to O3. However, I would put it as a cascading skill "tactical skill," that would be either Tactics or Ship Tactics for spacer O1 to O3; then at the "Field Grade," O4 to O6, spacers would select from Ship Tactics or Fleet Tactics. At O7 up, it's all Fleet Tactics for spacers. Really it should be Tactics all the way up for Army and Marines. In the alternative Army and Marines could elect Operations at field grade. Also in the alternative, Marines could elect Orbital Assault Tactics.

Samuel makes a good case for a counterpart skill for Tactics in the same way that Fleet Tactics relates to Ship Tactics. I'd call that skill Operations and add another called Strategy (or Strategery) that would govern planning at anywhere above system-level, as these plans would necessarily have to incorporate surface, naval, and other forms of power (diplomatic, economic, information).

Then again, while I might find a way to incorporate these skills into MTU, I'm not sure how often they'd find use in others' TUs.

 

[samuelvss]

Bravo for Major B's points.

The Jack o'T would be well-justified as he says, but also in having to supervise a host of different specialties one gets a lot of "familiarization" training, formally and informally.

I would have the computer be either commo or computer, leave a weapons, and put the history in the mix with the tactical skills:
Operations, Strategy, History for Army O4-O6;
Operations, Strategy, Orbital Assault Operations, and History for Marine O4-O6;

History would go in the mix at all officer ranks.

Spacers would likewise get Strategy at field grade.