Eric Zawadzki
Mongoose
Maybe I'm missing the correct page in the book, but are there any defined rules for improving skills/specialties? I remember some vague reference to 20 Pervisity points, but I can't seem to find it.
I can see a few possible ways to handle advancement.
1. Perversity Points: The characters have to spend a certain number of Perversity points to raise a skill or improve a specialty. The upside is that it similar to XP expenditures that are familiar to so many gemers but that it puts the players in something of a tight spot because they have to divide their Perversity point expeditures between survival and advancement. The downside is it reduces the incentive to spend Perversity on rolls. I know of at least one player who would positively refuse to spend Perversity on rolls if they were also essentially the same as XP.
2. Natural 1: Whenever a skill check results in a natural 1, the relavent skill check goes up by 1. On the plus side, it's ludicrously simple to adjudicate. It is, however, a fairly arbitrary system of advancement.
3. GM's Call: The skill/specialty goes up when the GM says it does, usually as a reward for a clever use of that skill or specialty. In some cases, training might also give a PC an excuse to improve a skill or specialty. This injects logic into the mix and also encourages players to curry favor with the GM based on the conditions under which she is prone to reward a character with a skill boost. It means more work for the GM, however, and it can result in dissatisfied players who feel like the GM is forgetting to let them improve their skills.
4. Training: The skill only improves if the PC can get a more skilled character to train him in it. This means that PCs can train other PCs, but Paranoia certainly makes this scenario less likely than it might be in other games. If training is provided as a reward for service to the Computer (or service firm or secret society), it becomes just another bennie. That way, if a character is getting hosed for training, the PC and player can blame it on bad luck, poor performance, or NPC unpleasantness. If a player feels he is being consistently getting hosed above and beyond the fates of other PCs, he is likely to feel more comfortable approaching the GM with his concerns.
Thoughts?
I can see a few possible ways to handle advancement.
1. Perversity Points: The characters have to spend a certain number of Perversity points to raise a skill or improve a specialty. The upside is that it similar to XP expenditures that are familiar to so many gemers but that it puts the players in something of a tight spot because they have to divide their Perversity point expeditures between survival and advancement. The downside is it reduces the incentive to spend Perversity on rolls. I know of at least one player who would positively refuse to spend Perversity on rolls if they were also essentially the same as XP.
2. Natural 1: Whenever a skill check results in a natural 1, the relavent skill check goes up by 1. On the plus side, it's ludicrously simple to adjudicate. It is, however, a fairly arbitrary system of advancement.
3. GM's Call: The skill/specialty goes up when the GM says it does, usually as a reward for a clever use of that skill or specialty. In some cases, training might also give a PC an excuse to improve a skill or specialty. This injects logic into the mix and also encourages players to curry favor with the GM based on the conditions under which she is prone to reward a character with a skill boost. It means more work for the GM, however, and it can result in dissatisfied players who feel like the GM is forgetting to let them improve their skills.
4. Training: The skill only improves if the PC can get a more skilled character to train him in it. This means that PCs can train other PCs, but Paranoia certainly makes this scenario less likely than it might be in other games. If training is provided as a reward for service to the Computer (or service firm or secret society), it becomes just another bennie. That way, if a character is getting hosed for training, the PC and player can blame it on bad luck, poor performance, or NPC unpleasantness. If a player feels he is being consistently getting hosed above and beyond the fates of other PCs, he is likely to feel more comfortable approaching the GM with his concerns.
Thoughts?
