Skills for T5

[Avery]

I am considering the following skills for inclusion in T5.

Academic (Cluster: Instruction Research )
Acting (default)
Administration
Archeology
Armor (Cascade: AFV Tactics )
Armorer
Art (default)
Artillery
Artillery (Cascade: Tactics )
Astrogation
Athletics (default)
Battle Dress
Biology
Blade (Cascade: Knife Sword Cutlass )
Bow Combat (default)
Brawling (default)
Bribery (default)
Broker (default)
Bureaucracy (Cluster: Admin Leadership )
Business (Cluster: Broker Trader )
Calculate (non-human)
Camouflage (default)
Caregiver (non-human)
Carousing (default)
Chemistry
Clandestine (Cluster: Disguise Stealth Intimidate Streetwise )
Combat Engineering
Communications
Computer (default)
Craftsman (default)
Criminology (Cluster: Forensics Interrogation Investigation Law )
Cryptography
Cutlass
Dance (default)
Demolitions
Diplomacy (default)
Discipline
Disguise (default)
Driver (Cascade: Wheeled Tracked GEV )
Electronics
Engineering
Environment Cbt (default)
Equestrian (default)
Exploration (Cluster: Navigation Recon Survey Survival )
Fast Talk (default)
Fencing
Fighter (Cascade: Gun Blade Fighting Tactics )
First Aid (default)
Fleet Tactics
Flyer (Cascade: Helo Plane Airship )
Forensics
Forgery (default)
Forward Obsvr
Gambling (default)
Geology
Grav Craft (default)
Gravitics
Ground Craft (default)
Gun (Cascade: Pistol Rifle Shotgun SMG AR )
Gunnery (Cascade: Ship's Guns Sensors )
Heal (non-human)
Heavy Weapons (default)
Helicopter
Hibernate (non-human)
History
Hunting
Hypno (non-human)
Infantry (Cascade: Gun Tactics )
Instruction (default)
Interact (Cluster: Persuade Carouse Diplomacy Befriend Bribery )
Interrogation (default)
Intimidation (default)
Intrusion (default)
Investigation (default)
Jack of All Trades
Jet Plane
Knife (default)
Language
Law
Leadership
Liaison
Linguistics
Luck (non-human)
Mechanics
Medical
Melee (default)
Memorize (non-human)
Merchant (Cluster: Pilot Engineering Steward Trader )
Military (Cluster: Tactics Strategy Discipline )
Music (default)
Naval (Cluster: Ship Tactics Fleet Strategy Discipline )
Naval Architect
Navigation (default)
Officer (Cascade: Strategy )
Perception (non-human)
Performance (Cluster: Acting Art Dance Music Writing )
Philosophy (default)
Photomem (non-human)
Physical Scien (Cluster: Biology Chemistry Geology Medical Physics )
Physics
Pilot
Pistol (default)
Prop Plane
Prospecting
Protector (non-human)
Psionicology
Psychology (default)
Recon (default)
Recruiting
Research (default)
Rifle (default)
Robotics
Sailor (Cascade: Boat Ship Sub )
Sapper (Cascade: Cbt Engineering Tactics )
Screens
Sense Danger (non-human)
Sense Life (non-human)
Sense Location (non-human)
Sense Risk (non-human)
Sense Truth (non-human)
Sensors
Ship Tactics
Ship’s Boat
Ship’s Guns
Shotgun (default)
Social Science (Cluster: Archeology History Linguistics Philosophy Psionicology Psychology Xenology)
Soldier (Cluster: Infantry Armor Artillery Sapper Staff )
Spacecraft (Cluster: Pilot Ship's Boat )
Spacer (Cluster: Ship's Boat Engineering Gunnery )
Staff (Cascade: Tactics )
Stealth (default)
Steward
Strategy
Streetwise (default)
Submachinegun (default)
Survey
Survival (default)
Sword (default)
Tactics
Technical (Cluster: Craftsman Computer Electronics Gravitics Mechanics )
Throwing (default)
Trader (default)
Vac Suit (default)
Watercraft (default)
Writing (default)
AFV
Airship
Befriend
Boat
Fighting
Fleet Strategy
GEV
Helo
Persuade
Plane
Research
Sapper
Ship Tactics
Sub
Tracked
Wheeled
Xenology

 

[T. Foster]

First impressions, in no particular order:

Some sets of skills seem to overlap to the point of redundancy; e.g. Brawling-Fighting, Sword-Cutlass-Fencing, Befriend-Diplomacy-Fast Talk-Liaison-Persuade

The 'Fighter' cascade seems absurdly broad, and a prime candidate for PC-munchkin abuse.

Three 'skills' (Artillery, Officer, Staff) are Cascades of 1 skill. More skills need to be added to these Cascades, or else they're surely redundant.

Actually, the proliferation of such meta-Cascades looks to be a potential mess, as characters will be acquiring points in some skills both independently and as part of cascades, making keeping track of which points came from where difficult and confusing -- I don't even want to think about Cascades that cascade into another Cascade (such as both Blade and Gun under Fighter!). Note that I'm using the definition of Cascade skills as I recall it from T4 - the character gets full point-value in one skill, and 1/2 value in all other skills in the Cascade. If this definition has changed or I'm misremembering it, then some or all of the above paragraph might not apply.

There are a lot of skills on this list, some of them seem borderline frivolous/meaningless. However, this does offset the inflation of skill-points given out in char-gen (1-2 per year + background skills vs. typically 1-2 per term in CT) -- make them spend some of those extra points on the likes of Discipline, Befriend, or anything in the Performance cluster.

Also, I'm glad to see the 'governing stat' has been removed, allowing far more versatility in tasks. I hope it stays that gone.

 

[DrSkull]

What skill would cover large vehicle-mounted weapons such as Tank Cannon, Fusion-X guns etc.? Would this be artillery or heavy weapons or something else?

Also, what skill would cover weaponry fired from aircraft? I remember a bit of ackwardness from Mega-Traveller whereby Flyers could get no skill that allowed them to fire their planes' weaponry.

------------------
Dave "Dr. Skull" Nelson

 

[Alan Nuss]

I have no problem with skills in more than one cluster but a skill shouldn't be in more than one cascade.

What is the difference between Demolitions and Sapper? I know one is a skill and the other is cascaded but do you really need Sapper?

Alan

 

[MJD]

I've always liked the idea of a Civil engineer skil, for those who like to build stuff instead of blowing it up.

Multiple cascades are OK by me.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Sapper as default or cascade? I prefer cascade.

Fencing: this is a twentieth century aberration which may not even be in the Olympics in ten years and be forgotten in fifty. The gentleman's sidearm Traveller calls a foil used to be called a "smallsword" and classical and historic swordsman have resurrected the art in the last twenty years. The Linacre School of Defence Call the weapon and the skill "smallsword" as that name is likely to be remembered in the future. If you want, "fencing" can be used in its old sense as a cascade of all bladed weapons.

Some suggestions for the following cascades
Armor (Cascade: AFV Tactics, AFV Tactics, Driver, Grav veh Hvy wpn)
Artillery (Cascade: Tactics, heavy weapon, Forward Obsvr)
Infantry (Cascade: Gun Tactics Recon, +1 Endurance, Gun)
Officer (Cascade: Tactics, Leadershp. Administratioon, Communication)
Sapper (Cascade: Cbt Engineering Tactics, Survey, Demolition)
Staff (Cascade: Strategy, Administration, Survey, Communication)

I am using survey as an approximation of terrain, economic and technological assessment, which is functionally Survey.

And a couple of limited skills
Bayonet (meaning Bayoneted Rifle) more common infantry skill than Gun at TL 3,4. Often taught at 5+
Combat Shovel Particularly the Russian martial art where a sharpened shovel is used as spear or axe. The informal American method a friend of mine called "E-tool jitsu," but that is really brawling with an improvised weapon.

[This message has been edited by Uncle Bob (edited 13 May 2001).]