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From: owner-traveller-digest@MPGN.COM (Traveller-digest)
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Subject: Traveller-digest V1997 #1453
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Traveller-digest      Saturday, June 21 1997      Volume 1997 : Number 1453



(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
All rights reserved.

The following topics are covered in this digest:

In PE where is...?
Re:Task System Revision
task system mess and disappointments
Re: ancients
Re: Hardware, firmware, software
Re: PBEM
Re: Rule of Man TL (was Re: Anomalies...)
MT Task System
Re: task system mess and disappointments
Re: T4.1 tasks
Re: Roll for Skills (was Re: Marc Miller--Please.)
Re: T4 Task Rationale
Re: A Plea to Marc Miller
Re: Roll for Skills

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Jun 97 01:18:00 GMT 
From: s.johnson107@genie.com
Subject: In PE where is...?

Okay, I must be blind.
    I've seen some references here on the list that it's possible to change the
Law Level, Resources and other planetary Stats in Pocket Empires.
Unfortunately I can't find the tasks for doing those I mentioned.  Therefore
since I'm obviously blind... can someone tell me where they are?  The
implications of NOT being able to change the Resources score are too scary to
contemplate. ;)

Stephen

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Jun 97 01:17:00 GMT 
From: s.johnson107@genie.com
Subject: Re:Task System Revision

On Thu, 19 Jun 1997 16:25:29, CardSharks@aol.com said:

> 1. T4 is weighted too heavily against stats.  Skills have a
> minor part in a character's success at a task throw.  These
> should be equally weighted.
> =============================================================
> 2. Spectacular Success and Spectacular Failure are hard to do
> at easy and average, and easier at harder levels.
> =============================================================
> 3.  It should be harder to roll SS the harder a task becomes.
> =============================================================
> 4.  Replace SS with SF in 3.
> =============================================================
> 5. I don't like the half-die. Get rid of it.
> =============================================================
>
> Since you have voted for a change in the task system to fix it,
> rate each of these items inorder of importance (1=most important)
> and don't be afraid to put a zero if you think it isn't important.
    With astonishing swift speed did we ALL vote for a change!  Thank you for
asking us though so I'll happily say...

#1 - Yes, Skills should be weighted more heavily (1)
#2 - Indeed, fix this (1)
#3 - Exactly (1)
#4 - Huh???
#5 - PLEASE GOD!!!! (1)

Stephen

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 20:52:35 CDT
From: Don McKinney <dmckinne@csci.csc.com>
Subject: task system mess and disappointments

Well, when I first saw Marc Miller's response to Kenneth, and his "request"
that if people agreed that changes were necessary, they should say so, I
believed that this was the opportunity to get a good change made.

However, after voting for change, I received (as many others did) a mail
from Marc about some specific skill-related issues.  It was obvious that
Marc did not understand where the issues were coming from, however, as the
first question was if STATS should be weighed heavier in the task system,
which "currently" was too skill-influenced...

Now, others are chiming in that the vote, which is overwhelmingly in favor
of change, means less than nothing, for a variety of reasons, which sum up
to "T4 is good as it is".


If it was, would we have gone to all this trouble?


I appreciate you gentlemen taking the time to interpret my vote.


DonM.
- --
============================================================================
= Donald E. McKinney, Senior CM Specialist,           (217) 351-8250 x2365 = 
= Computer Sciences Corporation, Champaign, IL       dmckinne@csci.csc.com =
= Winter War XXV Convention Chairman, Champaign, IL, February 6-8, 1998    =
= dmckinne@prairienet.org or winterwar@prairienet.org       (217) 469-9917 = 
============================================================================

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 21:00:30 -0500
From: "vanya" <vanya@partyline.net>
Subject: Re: ancients

> From: Kagehira@aol.com
>      Well considering all the talk of ancients lately, I decided to do a
> quick update of my site with some Grandfather background, so some of the
> 'facts' tossed around could be corrected (for instance he didn't
necessarily
> have 420 children, he had 20 and they had about 20, so the exact number
is
> not known, 

"Grandfather sired 20 children, each of whom had 20 children of their
own..." (MT Imperial Encyclopaedia, pg 48, para 7)

"With 420 offspring, Grandfather decided he had enough and stopped."  (MT
Imperial Encyclopaedia, pg 48, para 7)

"..a breeding program to produce 20 children, and each of them had about 20
children of their own." (AM5-Droyne, pg 45, para 11)


> however he did supposedly kill them all, but than thats what he
> thinks, one never knows). It's still missing a few minor things and
> defiinitely ain't cleaned up yet, but....


"By the end of the war, Grandfather had beaten all of the opposing factions
and destroyed all of his children (he kept careful count)."  (AM5-Droyne,
pg 45, para 11)

"By the end of the war, Grandfather had beaten all the opposing factions
and destroyed all of his descendants (he kept careful count)."   (MT
Imperial Encyclopaedia, pg 48, para 15.)  

Either way, it's quite clear that the only Ancient left is Yaskodray.


- -Vanya                                         UPP-8D9B85
Traveller ---------------- Science Fiction Adventure in the Far Future
Meyers-Briggs personality type:ENTJ          | vanya@partyline.net
"...the ENTJ is not one to be trifled with." | dmoody@bridge.com

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 11:36:50 +0930 (CST)
From: David Sarkies <oedipus@student.adelaide.edu.au>
Subject: Re: Hardware, firmware, software

> I was wondering what computers/operating systems people here use?  I've
> seen quite a few mentions of Macs and only a few Unix/Windows/Dos.

Windows '95, Pentium

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 11:53:39 +0930 (CST)
From: David Sarkies <oedipus@student.adelaide.edu.au>
Subject: Re: PBEM

On Thu, 19 Jun 1997, Brad Urwiller wrote:

> I'm seeking information on HOW to host a PBEM.  While I'm willing to
> join a campaign to learn I was hoping the list could help.  How do you
> deal with tasks and combat when there is long delays between each
> mesage.  (Combat if done by per turn could take weeks!)
> --=20

The PBEM I am involved with has three specifics. A normal, out of combat
turn comes around twice a week and the players decide what they are going
to do in a space of time that the GM specifies. If we are travelling cross
country and our destination is a month away, then the players will write
down what they propose to do while they are travelling. If we are in a
city then it is usually the players decision. Turns can go on a day by day
basis or for a week at a time, especially if the players are training.

The second thing is talking. Basically during a turn characters converse
with each other. When a turn goes around, the threads end and begin anew.
In the game that I am involved in there is ALOT of conversation. My DM has
a strict code of how the subjects are to be sent so that he can catagorise
them and put them into a journal.

Combat turns go about once a day. All conversation stops and everybody
submits a daily turn. The GM rolls all of the dice; the players, in their
turn submission, tell the GM what to roll.

I hope this is of some help for you.

>  _
>  \\=20
> )=3DO-8>
>  //
>  =AF
>=20
> Brad Urwiller
> ravyn@ptw.com
>=20

May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all
David Sarkies

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Apollo ordained my fate ... but the hand that struck my eyes were mine
alone." Oedipus Tyrannos
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 13:34:56 +1000
From: Darryl Adams <dadams@tig.com.au>
Subject: Re: Rule of Man TL (was Re: Anomalies...)

At 22:59 19/06/97 -0600, you wrote:
>These came from the Anomalies thread, but I wanted to post under the topic
>of "Rule of Man TL" to catch any specific comments from you all about this
>very specific subject, in which I have a great deal of interest. _Anomalies_


Actually I have no problems with Terran Confederacy having very warped Tech
levels. 

Why?

IMHO Tech levels are a Vilani tool to project ist supiority over every one
else. Given the overwealming power of the beauro's , the Tech level would
have been used for licencing , taxation purposes.  

eg "You want to import a Tech 10 power plant?, well since you only have a
tech level 8 base, we are going to have to inspect your new power plant
regulary, you will need to get an approval from your local governer, as
well as paying a licencing fee"

The TC however, is a technological free wheeler that was unhampered by such
thing as conservative thinking (as well as being on a war footing, look at
the tech explosion during WWI and WWII for an example of what can happen
during war). SO (again IMHO) the TC would be a hodpodge of highly
experimental technolagy and tried and tested technolagy.

An example (Thanks to discussions will Phill MacGregor), The Vilani would
build a spaceship on economic lines, designed to last for centuries to
amortise the cost, with a conservite mix of weapons and defensive features).

The Terran Confederacy would slap together a hull that woukld fall in part
in 10 years (if it survives as ling) with a nifty new power plant (that
takes up more space than normal and break down easier), some solid and
reliable weapons and defensive systems, and may be a new super dooper
experimental weapon.

The TC technolagy would be all over the place compared to Villani. Its
material sceince would proberbly be cutting edge (TL13), it medical and
computer tech vastly supior (TL13-14), its power generation slightly lower
(TL-11). 

The Rule of Man however would have slammed this back to a grinding holt.
The Terran Occupation would have a nightmare of logistics supply, so by
default they would have to fall back onto Villani tech (since it is very
widespread and have the support base to maintain it).The TC tecgh would be
more prevelant towards Terra , but in the majority of the RoM, Villani tech
would be the determining factor.

Darryl

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 22:51:24 -0500
From: "vanya" <vanya@partyline.net>
Subject: MT Task System

For those who don't know, presented below is the MT Task system.  Note
that, in the MT Players Manual, this fits on one page.  It is copyright,
trademark, etc to whomever it needs to be - Imperium Games, I presume.

Using a photocopy of the page from the Player's Manual, and about 3 minutes
of time, I have successfully introduced this task system to dozens of
players at gaming conventions.  Most pick it up real fast.

This is the system as presented on the one-page UTP summary mainly for the
use of players.  It doesn't not go into some of the minutia of the system
(mishaps), for they are the responsibility of the Ref. There are an
additional 4 pages in the Ref's Manual that detail every part of the task,
including Ex Failure and Ex Success.  I have placed some of this info into
the text below, so comparison with similar parts of T4's task system can be
made.  If anyone want the entire system from the Ref's manual, ask me for
it, and I'll email it to you.

MEGATRAVELLER UNIVERSAL TASK SYSTEM
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
UNIVERSAL TASK PROFILE FORMAT

Task Phrase
To diagnose damage done to an air/raft
Task Specification
Routine Gravitics,Edu  15 min  (uncertain)
  |     ------|------  --|---   ---|----- 
Difficulty   DMs        Time     Risk Qualifier

The Universal Task Profile (UTP) provides you with a simple (but still
comprehensive) method of codifying tasks. So how does the UTP system work?
A UTP answers these questions about a task:

	How hard is the task?
	What skills and characteristics are crucial to this task?
	How long does this task typically take?
	Does this task involve any special risks?

The UTP provides a list of answers to these questions. A task uses the
predefined answers in response to questions.
The predefined answers are specified in real-world terms. Even if you don't
know the task system, you can quickly understand a task defined by a
Universal Task Profile.


WHAT DOES A UTP LOOK LIKE?

The UTP always follows the same format. For example:

	To locate the source of the strange hum:
	Routine, Recon, Int, 1mim (hazardous, unskilled OK).
	Referee: Any Major or Destroyed mishaps automatically become Minor
mishaps.

The UTP is always separated from the surrounding text by a blank line both
above and below.


HOW HARD IS THE TASK?

When setting the difficulty, select from four difficulty levels:
Simple: 	Success is highly likely. Roll 3 + on 2D to succeed.
Routine:	Success is likely. Roll 7 + on 2D to succeed.
Difficult:		Success is unlikely. Roll 11 + on 2D to succeed.
Formidable: 	Success is rare. Roll 15+ on 20 to succeed; success is only
possible with DMs.
Impossible: 	Success cannot be achieved. Roll 19+ on 20 to succeed; success
is only possible with DMs.  More reasonable, success is possible only if
some situation or information changes the difficulty level from Impossible
to Formidable or less.

Note that the 2D roll for each level is easy to remember because it is 4
more than the prior level. If a 2 is rolled, a fumble occurs and the task
attempt fails no matter what.


WHAT IS CRUCIAL TO THE SUCCESS?

When crucial skills and characteristics are chosen as task modifiers (DMs),
a task uses related skills (like Pilot and Ship's Boat), or one skill and
one characteristic.
A skill level must be added directly as a DM on the task roll.
Characteristics are always divided by 5 (drop fractions) when used in
tasks. Never add characteristics directly.
Exceptional Success:  	If the player's task roll exceeds what is needed for
success by 2+ (including DMs), then the character has achieved exceptional
success.
For example, a player is rolling on a difficult task and has a total DM of
+3.  Since the player needs 11+ to succeed on a Difficult task, if he
manages to roll 13 or better (including hid DM of +3, so his actual roll
only needs to be 10 or better), he will have achieved exceptional success. 
Some tasks (such as combat) may state additional benefits for achieving
exceptional success.
Exceptional Failure:	If the player's task roll fails, and it is less than
what is needed by 2 or more, then exceptional failure occurred.  Following
the same example above, the player needs 11+ to succeed on the Difficult
task.  If the player fails, and his final roll (including his DM of +3) was
9 or less (an actual roll of 6 or less, since he has a DM of +3), then
exceptional failure has occurred.

HOW LONG DOES THIS TASK TAKE?

The time increment on a task profile is 10 percent of the typical task
duration. A roll of 3 dice (whose average result is 10) determines how many
increments the task takes. The increment is always one-tenth of the typical
task duration.
If the duration of the task doesn't matter, the task is Instant and that's
that. No time roll is made.
If the duration always takes the same time, the task is Absolute. No time
roll is made.
The duration of an attempt equals the increment times 3D (after any DMs are
applied). The minimum is 3 increments.


DOES THIS TASK INVOLVE ANY SPECIAL RISKS?

The standard task assumes a normal amount of risk. Other levels of risk are
possible:

Safe:		With safe tasks if a mishap occurs, it is never damaging.
Hazardous:	With hazardous tasks, there is a high likelihood of a serious
mishap if the task fails.
Fateful:		With fateful tasks, a mishap is guaranteed if the task fails.
Don't confuse this with hazardous, which indicates the severity of mishap.
"To avoid a mishap" situations are good examples of fateful tasks because
if they fail, the mishap has not been avoided.
Uncertain: 	With uncertain tasks, the result of the attempt is largely
opinion or cannot be confirmed. Those individuals associated with the task
have some idea of how successful the task attempt was; however, they are
not certain of the outcome.

Sensor readings, interchanges between characters (including any task which
might require a reaction roll), psionics, computer programming, repairs,
and research are all good candidates for uncertain tasks.
Unskilled OK: When a task states unskilled OK, the specified skills are
useful, but not required. There is no penalty for not having the specified
skills.
Confrontation: When two opposing sides are working at cross-purposes, the
task becomes a confrontation.

HASTY OR CAUTIOUS TASKS
The standard task attempt assumes the character is taking a reasonable
amount of care while performing the indicated task. The player can change
this amount of care.

Hasty:		When a player is in a hurry, he can specify that he would prefer a
hasty task. The time required is shorter, but the task becomes harder. The
task DMs are doubled before subtracting them from the time roll; the task
difficulty increases one level.

Cautious:	When it is more important to reduce danger than to finish
quickly, a player can specify a cautious task.

A determination roll is required first. If successful, the task is
cautious. If unsuccessful, the task is increased in difficulty one level. 
In a cautious task, the time roll is doubled before subtracting DMs; the
task difficulty decreases one level.

TASKS THAT FAIL
The details of handling failed tasks are the realm of the referee and are
covered more fully in this Referee's Manual.
	



Note that the 2D roll for each level is easy to remember because it is 4
more than the prior level. If a 2 is rolled, a fumble occurs and the task
attempt fails no matter what.


WHAT IS CRUCIAL TO THE SUCCESS?

When crucial skills and characteristics are chosen as task modifiers (DMs),
a task uses related skills (like Pilot and Ship's Boat), or one skill and
one characteristic.
A skill level must be added directly as a DM on the task roll.
Characteristics are always divided by 5 (drop fractions) when used in
tasks. Never add characteristics directly.


HOW LONG DOES THIS TASK TAKE?

The time increment on a task profile is 10 percent of the typical task
duration. A roll of 3 dice (whose average result is 10) determines how many
increments the task takes. The increment is always one-tenth of the typical
task duration.
If the duration of the task doesn't matter, the task is Instant and that's
that. No time roll is made.
If the duration always takes the same time, the task is Absolute. No time
roll is made.
The duration of an attempt equals the increment times 3D (after any DMs are
applied). The minimum is 3 increments.


DOES THIS TASK INVOLVE ANY SPECIAL RISKS?

The standard task assumes a normal amount of risk. Other levels of risk are
possible:

Safe:		With safe tasks if a mishap occurs, it is never damaging.
Hazardous:	With hazardous tasks, there is a high likelihood of a serious
mishap if the task fails.
Fateful:	With fateful tasks, a mishap is guaranteed if the task fails.
Don't confuse this with hazardous, which indicates the severity of mishap.
"To avoid a mishap" situations are good examples of fateful tasks because
if they fail, the mishap has not been avoided.
Uncertain: 	With uncertain tasks, the result of the attempt is largely
opinion or cannot be confirmed. Those individuals associated with the task
have some idea of how successful the task attempt was; however, they are
not certain of the outcome.

Sensor readings, interchanges between characters (including any task which
might require a reaction roll), psionics, computer programming, repairs,
and research are all good candidates for uncertain tasks.
Unskilled OK: When a task states unskilled OK, the specified skills are
useful, but not required. There is no penalty for not having the specified
skills.
Confrontation: When two opposing sides are working at cross-purposes, the
task becomes a confrontation.

HASTY OR CAUTIOUS TASKS
The standard task attempt assumes the character is taking a reasonable
amount of care while performing the indicated task. The player can change
this amount of care.

Hasty:		When a player is in a hurry, he can specify that he would prefer a
hasty task. The time required is shorter, but the task becomes harder. The
task DMs are doubled before subtracting them from the time roll; the task
difficulty increases one level.

Cautious:	When it is more important to reduce danger than to finish
quickly, a player can specify a cautious task.

A determination roll is required first. If successful, the task is
cautious. If unsuccessful, the task is increased in difficulty one level. 
In a cautious task, the time roll is doubled before subtracting DMs; the
task difficulty decreases one level.

TASKS THAT FAIL
The details of handling failed tasks are the realm of the referee and are
covered more fully in this Referee's Manual.
	

- -Vanya                                         UPP-8D9B85
Traveller ---------------- Science Fiction Adventure in the Far Future
Meyers-Briggs personality type:ENTJ          | vanya@partyline.net
"...the ENTJ is not one to be trifled with." | dmoody@bridge.com

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Jun 97 22:57:37 -0500
From: eris@pen.net (Eris Reddoch)
Subject: Re: task system mess and disappointments

On 06/20/97 at 08:52 PM,  Don McKinney <dmckinne@csci.csc.com> said:

>Well, when I first saw Marc Miller's response to Kenneth, and his
>"request" that if people agreed that changes were necessary, they should
>say so, I believed that this was the opportunity to get a good change
>made.

>However, after voting for change, I received (as many others did) a mail
>from Marc about some specific skill-related issues.  It was obvious that
>Marc did not understand where the issues were coming from, however, as the
>first question was if STATS should be weighed heavier in the task system,
>which "currently" was too skill-influenced...

Don,

I *think* you're reading Marc's first question backwards. At least, I hope
you are, because of the way I ranked it. ;->  

All the people giving question 1 a 1 raking, seem to be agreeing that skill
should have a greater influence on the target number. Some of us want skill
to dominate, some of us want skill and stats to be about 50/50, and some of
us just want skill closer to stat than it is now.  And yes, we've heard
from a couple that want things just the way they are now.  We'll just have
to see what Marc makes of all this.

Eris
- -- 
- -----------------------------------------------------------
eris@pen.net (Eris Reddoch)    using MR/2 ICE #245
- -----------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 00:32:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: CardSharks@aol.com
Subject: Re: T4.1 tasks

In a message dated 97-06-20 21:41:04 EDT, you write:

<<=20
 I agree with Kenneth and the other posters - I am increasingly uneasy ab=
out
 the dominance of attributes in the task roll. Try running a marine with =
a
 dex <6 and you'll see what I mean! Skills should be a way to counteract
 natural inabilities in an area.
=20
>>

Try running a Marine with Dex less than 6 and you have a clumsy Marine.

This is the problem I find with the discussion about dominance of attribu=
tes
over skills. When I look at a characteristic as an "aptitude" or "talent"=
 or
"potential" which can usually only be actualized through skill, then the
higher the characteristic, the higher the potential.

If we have a low Dex football player, he doesn=92t make the cut. On the o=
ther
hand, if he has a higher Int or Edu, maybe he becomes a coach.

The value of the Traveller T4 system is that it links skills with more th=
an
one characteristic (asin Dex or Int above).

And, skills are a way to counteract natural inabilities in an area... Dex=
 3
and Skill-5 is the same as Dex 5 and Skill-3. But it takes a while to bui=
ld
to skill-5; the trade off is time versus natural ability.

Now I know I am not going to change everyones=92 minds to one of the seve=
ral
possible systems, but I am looking very deeply into this matter (which al=
l of
your votes have encouraged me to do).

Marc

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 00:48:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: CardSharks@aol.com
Subject: Re: Roll for Skills (was Re: Marc Miller--Please.)

In a message dated 97-06-20 21:41:50 EDT, you write:

<< 
 I've always wondered why such rolls in chargen (like enlistment, college
 graduation, etc) arent handled as tasks?  I've done some work like this on
 the MT advanced Naval and Scout systems.  
 
  >>

I see great potential for this for a kind of role-playing advanced character
generation system.

Marc

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 00:51:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: CardSharks@aol.com
Subject: Re: T4 Task Rationale

In a message dated 97-06-20 22:21:24 EDT, you write:

<< What most of us disagree about is how much weight to give to each. In
current T4, being one of the
 top 10% in natural ability (attribute B+) with minimal training (skill 1) 
 makes you *better* than an average human (attribute 7) with many years of
 intensive training (skill 4.) 
 
  >>

I also think some of this is a reflectionof inadequate task specification...
to what extent do modifiers for tools, rehearsal, training, experience,
qualifications, team support, and other variables make someone with years of
training more likely to be successful than someone with Char-11 and Skill-1.

Marc

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 00:45:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: CardSharks@aol.com
Subject: Re: A Plea to Marc Miller

In a message dated 97-06-20 21:40:58 EDT, you write:

<< 
 I too think that skills should be more heavily weighted in task resolution
 than attributes.  I would also like to see the disappearance of the
 half-die.
 
  >>

For a Difficult task, with Characteristic-N and a default Skill (which most
clearly points out the benefit of an unskilled person), the chance of an
unskilled person succeeding is

T41                               Char/2                    Char/3
N=5  1%     Group 1        N=5  1%                 N=5  0%
N=7  4%                         N=7  3%                 N=7  1%
N=9  18%                       N=9  5%                 N=9   4%

The first level of skill Skill-1 provides an increased percentage chance of
success of

N=5  17%    Group 2       N=5  3%                 N=5  1%
N=7  39%                       N=7  5%                 N=7  3%
N=9  62%                       N=9  9%                  N=9  9%

Are you arguing that an unskilled person (who is allowed to use the default
skill with half Characteristic) shouldn't have the chances shown in Group 1?

Are you arguing that percentage chances shown in Group 2 are not a
substantial benefit for the person who has Skill-1?

Are you arguing that (in Group 2) that if this is Dex, that better Dex
shouldn't help out someone with the skill?

Or are you arguing that Skill-1 should be the same regardless of
Characteristic?

Or are you arguing that skill percentages should rise at 10% per level?

Or are you arguing that task resolution is too easy?

Marc Miller

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 00:47:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: CardSharks@aol.com
Subject: Re: Roll for Skills

In a message dated 97-06-20 21:41:50 EDT, you write:

<< > From: Eris Reddoch <eris@pen.net>
 > I agree with you that people will advance at different rates, BUT NOT AT
 RANDOM or at least not at the same random frequency as everyone else!
 That's why I don't like  the "roll +7 on 2d6 for a skill" system for CT,
 everybody has the same 58% chance of 
 
 > 
 > To raise skill level: (Controlling Stat + Current Skill - 2d6), positive
 number means a skill increase.
 > 
 
 
 I've always wondered why such rolls in chargen (like enlistment, college
 graduation, etc) arent handled as tasks?  I've done some work like this on
 the MT advanced Naval and Scout systems.  
 
 Instead of The normal:
 
 Enlistment: Throw 7+ to enlist in Scouts, DM +1 if Int 6+, DM +2 if Str 8+.
 
 I've used this:
 
 To Enlist in the Scouts:
 	Routine, (Linguistics or Space),(INT or STR), 5min Unskilled OK
 	Referee:  Character may choose which skill and which stat to use on this
 task.
 
 To Survive a Year in the Administration Office:
 	Simple, (Admin or Liason), INT, Fateful
 	Referee: If Training, Base, or Routine assignment, automatic success.
 
 To gain a skill for one Year in the Exploration Branch:
 	<Difficulty>, Admin,(INT or EDU), Unskilled OK
 	Referee: If Training, Base or Routine assignment Difficulty = Simple
 	if Mission, Spl Mission, or War Man, Difficulty = Routine
 
 
 The actual chances to enlist/survive, gain a skill are not the same, but it
 changes chargen from something that it done *to* a character, to something
 that is done *by* a character.
 
 Im waiting for the T4.1 charagen sheets from MM so that I'll be able to do
 similar things to them. 
  >>

The problem with rolling for skills is the same as the problem of people
dying during character generation...some people get short changed for no real
benefit.

Rolling for skills makes some people come up short for no real benefit.

Marc

------------------------------

End of Traveller-digest V1997 #1453
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