Specialist Judges

[FinH]

Hi. Sorry to come across as dense, but I'm having a few issues with the Judge's Handbookunderstanding the procedure for putting Judge PCs through specialist training and careers at the time of their generation.

The training period, during which the survival and event roll are made, and the Judge rolls for a special technique, only lasts a year, right? It says that it's treated as a term as far as character generation goes. Does this mean that the only benefit acquired from this training period is the special technique? If so then what happens if I wish to put the now-specialised Judge through another 4-year term on the streets to gain skills etc. pertinent to his/her new career? Do I do it as normal for a Street Judge or whatever they previously were? Do I use the relevant specialist career survival roll/mishap table for this period?

I ask because I'd like to create a specialised Judge with at least a bit of experience in their new career under their belt. Any clarification would be greatly appreciated.

[FinH]

Nobody? Damn.

[Old timer]

Your confusion might be coming from the fact that only seasoned judges can take specialist training. So a judge would be created normally, then follow the rules for starting as a seasoned judge. After that you would take one year in the training, gain the special ability, roll on the event table for the speciality, then i would assume the character starts play. The grey box on page 5 of the hand book, title example character, explains this.

[FinH]

No, I understand that a Judge has to have at least one four-year term on the streets before he/she chooses a specialisation. What I was curious about was if a Judge wanted to, say, do a term on the streets, go into specialist training for a year, and then do another four-year term on the streets before entering play. I'm not sure - maybe you're supposed to do any "seasoning" before specialisation, but in terms of back story/contacts etc. I'd like to be able to give them a bit of active time in their new chosen field before entering play.

[Old timer]

Simple answer is that does not seem to be the intent of the rule, you do the 'seasoning' first, then take a year for the specialisation, but it is your game, so nothing stops you doing another term after that.