Bryan: Please clarify Instruction skill

[CosmicGamer]

Instruction skill has been discussed before but I didn't get my hands on a copy of Mercenary until recently and would like some clarification specifically on the timing, hopefully from the author.

Teaching the skill requires an Instruction test on the behalf of the teacher, which takes between 1-6 days less than the time it would normally take (depending on Timing – see page 59 of the Traveller main rulebook).

Core Rulebook page 59 is the small section Learning New Skills which does not discuss 'timing'. Maybe timing refers to some alteration of the calculation for the number of weeks of training required?

How exactly does this 'Timing' work? Can you give a couple examples?

When I think of timing, I think of page 50 in the core rulebook and how timing alters the difficulty of the skill role and the time spent. Can you accelerate the training but use more difficult skill checks?

 

[B_Steele]

The reference to Timing was because Mercenary was written when the final Traveller rules were not fully set in stone...and unfortunately the term Timing slipped through the edit.

Effectively, a use of the Instruction skill reduces the time to train someone by 1 - 6 days per successful use of the skill. The Ref has the final say, of course.

-Bry

 

[CosmicGamer]

Thank you for the response.

Before folks repeat comments regarding how this is such a small difference, please read this thread
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=37273&highlight=instruction
and the quote

There are a lot of skills that seem like they just cannot be "learned" without having someone show you how.