Increasing skill levels -- House Rule.
- Thread starter DFW
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Egil Skallagrimsson
Mongoose
GamerDude said:
Quite. When taken with the chargen system in MgT the system works fine, Trav is not just about acquiring numerous skill levels. (and the first time a player demands a character with 15 skills at level 4 will be the the time when they meet an aggressive NPC skilled to the same level!).
Yeah, it may not be RL (in particular, some skills are, in reality, much harder to acquire than others), but works well enough to create interesting characters who can them go and have fun exploring the universe, which, to my mind, is the point. Discouraging rather sterile attempts to build up more skills seems to be part of the system.
I tend to think that quite a bit of time that is apparently "downtime", and so available for training, is spent maintaining existing skills, if you wish to use a system that allows rapid skill acquisition, how about coupling it to one that includes "skill fade" as well?
Egil
Below is the experience/advancement/fate point system I used for a campaign that ran for about 8 months a few years ago. Worked like a charm for us:
1-3 Xp per session, playing every two weeks, average of two Xp per session. We never expected the campaign to go on forever.
Cost to increase a skill level: Your current skill level x5 or your skill total, whichever is higher.
Xp can also be used in the following ways:
Spend 1 xp for a Flashback. Once per session.
Spend 2 xp for a reroll.
Spend 1-3 xp for a piece of equipment to appear in the Ship’s Locker for 1 session.
Ship’s Locker: Items found in the ship’s locker due to Xp use is inoperable, lost, or broken at the end of the session. Cost is based on how expensive/rare/unbalancing the equipment is. Battledress, for instance, would cost 3 xp to use for an entire session and even then it will breakdown/be unusable at the end of the session.
Flashbacks: Briefly describe a moment in your character’s past that has emotionally, physically or tactically prepared them for the situation at hand. This should take no longer than 30 seconds or so. Players get a +1 bonus on the roll the Flashback has been applied to.
In practice, I found that the younger characters found it worth their while to horde some of their skill points for advancement. Characters later in their careers relied pretty heavily on the Ship's Locker and Flashbacks (which created more than a few hooks for me, in turn).
1-3 Xp per session, playing every two weeks, average of two Xp per session. We never expected the campaign to go on forever.
Cost to increase a skill level: Your current skill level x5 or your skill total, whichever is higher.
Xp can also be used in the following ways:
Spend 1 xp for a Flashback. Once per session.
Spend 2 xp for a reroll.
Spend 1-3 xp for a piece of equipment to appear in the Ship’s Locker for 1 session.
Ship’s Locker: Items found in the ship’s locker due to Xp use is inoperable, lost, or broken at the end of the session. Cost is based on how expensive/rare/unbalancing the equipment is. Battledress, for instance, would cost 3 xp to use for an entire session and even then it will breakdown/be unusable at the end of the session.
Flashbacks: Briefly describe a moment in your character’s past that has emotionally, physically or tactically prepared them for the situation at hand. This should take no longer than 30 seconds or so. Players get a +1 bonus on the roll the Flashback has been applied to.
In practice, I found that the younger characters found it worth their while to horde some of their skill points for advancement. Characters later in their careers relied pretty heavily on the Ship's Locker and Flashbacks (which created more than a few hooks for me, in turn).
I've taken a bit more of an urgent interest in the stat and skill increases lately too, as the race my players are playing start with fairly low physical stats (except dex) and begin aging a term earlier (equiv) than humans.
So, suddenly, after the FIRST round of aging rolls during the course of the campaign, the characters are suddenly aware and on edge over their mortality. Rightly so, in character at least. Out of character, they have the option to play their own offspring - but players do get attached to their characters. Nevermind the dangers of star travel, unexplored space, political upheavals and adversaries on their home planet, etc. Aging is apparently their new enemy #1.
I've kinda settled on something that approximates char-gen rates of stat and skill increases, though a little on the forgiving/generous side of things. Each year of training earns a base 7+ to increase a stat or skill, with the level of the bonus being a negative modifier to the roll (NOTE: I am using MegaTraveller's rules for stat bonuses ... ie. divide by 5 round down - but this should work for MGT as well - just don't give a "bonus" for negative modifiers - ie,. really, really low stats).
So, to raise a skill from a 2 to a 3, the character would have to a) declare he's working on that skill, b) have the opportunity available to train, experience, study, hone their abilities, and c) at the end of one year, roll a 9+ (7+ with the penalty of already having the skill to level 2).
To raise a stat from say 9 to 10, as above, but the target number would be 8+ (7+ with the penalty for having a stat with a benefit of a +1 modifier)
Only really lucky PC's will raise more than a one already high stat or skill in a 4 year period and characters attempting to stave off aging have a fighting chance, if they devote all their time to maintaining their physical status, at least until they hit that nasty wall of stats dropping 2 per missed roll - which also comes earlier for the players in my campaign, and Anagathics aren't an option - max TL available is about 12, excedingly rare, and the only known natural anagathics discovered so far only work on humans.
Throw on your own skill level limits or what have you, and it can approximate the 'progress' of character gen if played right.
So, suddenly, after the FIRST round of aging rolls during the course of the campaign, the characters are suddenly aware and on edge over their mortality. Rightly so, in character at least. Out of character, they have the option to play their own offspring - but players do get attached to their characters. Nevermind the dangers of star travel, unexplored space, political upheavals and adversaries on their home planet, etc. Aging is apparently their new enemy #1.
I've kinda settled on something that approximates char-gen rates of stat and skill increases, though a little on the forgiving/generous side of things. Each year of training earns a base 7+ to increase a stat or skill, with the level of the bonus being a negative modifier to the roll (NOTE: I am using MegaTraveller's rules for stat bonuses ... ie. divide by 5 round down - but this should work for MGT as well - just don't give a "bonus" for negative modifiers - ie,. really, really low stats).
So, to raise a skill from a 2 to a 3, the character would have to a) declare he's working on that skill, b) have the opportunity available to train, experience, study, hone their abilities, and c) at the end of one year, roll a 9+ (7+ with the penalty of already having the skill to level 2).
To raise a stat from say 9 to 10, as above, but the target number would be 8+ (7+ with the penalty for having a stat with a benefit of a +1 modifier)
Only really lucky PC's will raise more than a one already high stat or skill in a 4 year period and characters attempting to stave off aging have a fighting chance, if they devote all their time to maintaining their physical status, at least until they hit that nasty wall of stats dropping 2 per missed roll - which also comes earlier for the players in my campaign, and Anagathics aren't an option - max TL available is about 12, excedingly rare, and the only known natural anagathics discovered so far only work on humans.
Throw on your own skill level limits or what have you, and it can approximate the 'progress' of character gen if played right.
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