Skill Affinity

[bjjones37]

Optional Skill Rule
Affinity - a character with considerable experience with a specific skill can receive an affinity modifier (DM) for that skill. The character must have received a training of one or higher to have this affinity. Affinity is age related and cannot exceed +3. To claim affinity, the character must sacrifice one point in another skill, regardless how many affinity points are granted. Implication is that another skill was allowed to fade with disuse while this one was favored. Affinity can be granted for no more than two skills, with the sacrifice of one level each for two other skills. Sacrificed skill cannot be allowed to drop below 0. Skill affinity can exceed the maximum allowed skill levels. To actually get +3, you have to roll for it with a D3 roll, otherwise it is 2. Player may only invoke this optional rule once at the beginning of an adventure if the Referee permits.

Age	Affinity
18-29	0
30-41	1
42-53	2
54-65	2 to D3
66-77	2
78-89	1
90-	0

 

[McPerth]

I'm afraid I don't understand your idea here. WOuld you be so kind as to ive us an example of how would it be used?

 

[Supplement Four]

This is, really, already covered with the CT rules. You're still looking at using CT, right?

Look at the Experience Chapter in the Traveller Book. Marc even makes a comment about a sniper being at the top of his game.

Straight out of character generation, you can use those Experience rules to improve two skills by +1. It will take 8 game years to make those two skill increases permanent (which is +1 per 4-year term, just as in character generation).

The catch is, the character may lose interest in those skills (your "affinity"), allow them to be lowered to their original levels, and elevate two more skills.

A character could keep doing this, if he wanted (as long as he made the required rolls in the Experience section), changing out his focus and never getting anything permanent.

 

[bjjones37]

Did not realize CT already had it. MGT has provision for receiving additional training, but this would be just an age related function based on experience. So lets say I had, for instance, one level of Carouse and one level of Slug Weapons, and I am 40 (implying about 22 years of experience). I could request the referee to invoke skill affinity and say that I just haven't taken time to carouse but I go to the rifle range regularly. So Slug Weapons goes to 2 and Carouse goes to 0. If I am 46, Slug Weapons would go to 3.

 

[Supplement Four]

Did not realize CT already had it. MGT has provision for receiving additional training, but this would be just an age related function based on experience. So lets say I had, for instance, one level of Carouse and one level of Slug Weapons, and I am 40 (implying about 22 years of experience). I could request the referee to invoke skill affinity and say that I just haven't taken time to carouse but I go to the rifle range regularly. So Slug Weapons goes to 2 and Carouse goes to 0. If I am 46, Slug Weapons would go to 3.

I would be careful with that. I'm always hesitant to throw more modifiers on a to-hit roll with a system based on 2D6.

Are you going with MT, or are you using CT?

 

[bjjones37]

I would be careful with that. I'm always hesitant to throw more modifiers on a to-hit roll with a system based on 2D6.

Are you going with MT, or are you using CT?

The skill affinity is supposed to be a direct skill revision option before the adventure starts. It should not create any additional rolls while adventuring or modify any outside of the fact that the player chose to alter the level of a couple of skills.

I currently have the core book for MGT 2. My core books for CT are reprints of the 1977 edition and are more difficult for me to follow. The later edition will get to me eventually, but I don't have it yet. I will also soon have many of the core books for MT. But I figure whichever version of Traveller I am using, understanding CT is pretty fundamental to it. Besides, if I am to use those reprinted Adventures and Double Adventures that I have, I need to know how to make them compatible. Too much material to waste.

It appears to me that quite a few people are involved with two or three different versions of Traveller.

 

[GypsyComet]

It appears to me that quite a few people are involved with two or three different versions of Traveller.

All but the most hardened partisans start with one edition as a base and then add good bits from other editions. This can be a matter of preference, the addition of options (as in ship construction) or due to another edition having an answer to a question that goes unanswered in their base edition.

What S4 is warning of is not so much *more* rolls, as it is the potential to blow out the probabilities on a 2d6 system for the skill of the week, thus reducing or removing both the need to improvise, and much of the point of Prior Career generation in the first place.

I might suggest looking at a select few pages of T5 instead. Specifically, those covering skill chips.

 

[Supplement Four]

All but the most hardened partisans start with one edition as a base and then add good bits from other editions. This can be a matter of preference, the addition of options (as in ship construction) or due to another edition having an answer to a question that goes unanswered in their base edition.

What S4 is warning of is not so much *more* rolls, as it is the potential to blow out the probabilities on a 2d6 system for the skill of the week, thus reducing or removing both the need to improvise, and much of the point of Prior Career generation in the first place.

I might suggest looking at a select few pages of T5 instead. Specifically, those covering skill chips.

As usual, GC nails it.

My suggestion, always, is to learn one edition without outside influence from the other editions--even if you are a seasoned Ref from many other games with many years of experience under your belt.

Learn the edition of choice, as it it is written.

Once you know that game--have played it through an adventure or two--THEN start playing around with it by importing things.

The reason: You may break something and not even realize that you've broken it.

 

[bjjones37]

Point Taken!