If you cranked Specialization Grouping up to 11...

[Tenacious-Techhunter]

I wanted to see if I could group the First Edition into even more specialization groups than has already been done. The only ones I couldn't group were "Flying" and "Jack-of-all-Trades", for obvious reasons. I also polished the skill names a bit. This might be a better way to go with regards to skills, but I defer to players with more experience as to whether the groupings are appropriate. Let me know what you think.


Artistry
Acting
Dancing
Holography
Musician
Sculpting
Writing

Atmospheric Piloting
Dirigible Piloting
Gravcraft Piloting
Rotorcraft Piloting
Winged Craft Piloting

Business
Administration
Brokering
Economics

Driving
Hovercraft Driving
Mole-craft Driving
Tracked Craft Driving
Walker Craft Driving
Wheeled Craft Driving

Electronics
Communications
Computing
Robotics
Sensors Operation
Teleoperation

Engineering
Jump Drive
Life Support
Machining
Manoeuvre Drive
Power Systems

Flying

Heavy Weaponry
Explosives
Field Artillery
Launcher Weaponry
Support Weaponry

Jack of All Trades

Law
Advocating
Investigation

Life Sciences
Biology
Cybernetics
Genetics
Medicine
Psionicology
Xenology

Melee Combat
Blade Weaponry
Bludgeon Combat
Natural Weaponry
Unarmed Combat

Military
Atmospheric & Aquatic Tactics
Ground Tactics
Naval Tactics
Reconnaissance
Shipboard & Urban Tactics

Physical Sciences
Chemistry
Physics
Planetology

Planetary Survival
Animal Empathy
Navigation
Plant Identification
Riding
Stealth
Veterinarian

Professions
Civil Engineering
Composites
Farming & Hydroponics
Industrial Chemistry
Module Assembly

Ship Gunnery
Capital Ship Weaponry
Ortillery Gunnery
Screen Operation
Turret Gunnery

Skullduggery
Deception
Gambling
Streetwise

Small Arms Combat
Energy Weaponry
Slugthrowers

Social Sciences
Archaeology
History
Linguistics
Philosophy
Psychology
Sophontology

Socialize
Carousing
Language Specialties
Persuasion
Stewarding

Space Survival
Astrogation
Battle Dress
Diplomacy
Leadership
Mechanic
Zero-G Aerobatics

Spacecraft Piloting
Capital Ship Piloting
Orbitcraft
Small Ship Piloting

Surface Ship Piloting
Motorboat Driving
Ocean Ship Piloting
Sailing
Submersible Piloting

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

What percentage of those skills are acquired, in general, during your chargens? Do your campaigns make use of all those skills eventually?

 

[Tenacious-Techhunter]

... but I defer to players with more experience as to whether the groupings are appropriate. Let me know what you think.

I was mostly trying to better lump related skills together. For instance...

Administration, Brokering, and Economics used to be "unrelated" skills, in spite of their clear related application to business, of which, there is probably precisely one character per campaign whose job it is to care about that. "Economics" used to be a "Social Science" specialty... What are the real-world odds that an economist isn't working for a company or a government on the applications side, but rather than academia, on the theory side?

"Explosives", outside of commercial demolition, is a "Heavy Weapons" skill; what are the odds someone that knows about Launchers, Field Artillery, and Grenades, doesn't know about Explosives? It could be argued that "Support Weaponry" would make a better specialty for "Small Arms Combat", but I kept it consistent to last edition because I didn't think about it.

"Advocating" and "Investigation" are both matters of Law.

"Planetary Survival" seemed like an appropriate catch-all for these low-TL planetary survival skills; very garden-world appropriate.

"Skullduggery" (I suppose I could have used "Subterfuge") fits these devious skills.

"Socialize" fits these very social skills; they practically belong together.

"Space Survival" has just the sort of "ship emergency" skills you might expect it to have.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Referees don't pay much attention to how things are grouped. Maybe database programmers do. I personally do not want Traveller to play as a generic video game.

 

[Garran]

Natural Weaponry
Unarmed Combat

These are really the same thing when you get down to it - fists are 'natural weapons' for humans, etc.

 

[Tenacious-Techhunter]

Yeah, I agree with you there. It's really the damage type and damage roll that changes, not the mode of combat.