Let Meeeeeeeee, Ennnntttertain Yooouuuuu...!

[Klaus Kipling]

Aha, the Entertainer.

It's halfway there, I think. It does well with the Artist and Journalist, but the Performer is a bit broken.

The Performer is meant to represent both Actor types and Sportsmen. Atm it doesn't do sport very well.

One of the problems is the Art skill. It's a bit too wide. Perhaps we could separate it into Arts and Performance.

Arts would include: Writing, Music(Composing), Sculpture, Visual Arts, Holography.

Performance: Acting, Dance, Music(Instrument), Vocal, Comedy, Sports(Type).

The rationale here is that Arts skills are performed over time, in a project based setting - writing a book, composing a symphony, shooting a film, whereas Performance happens at set times, when the director shouts "Action!", on the playing field, at the gig, in front of an audience, spontaneously.

Art will mostly occur in front of a computer terminal, Performance at some kind of theatre or arena.

So we could then tweak the skill tables thus:

SERVICE
1 Arts or Performance
2 Performance or Athletics
3 Carouse
4 Deception
5 Persuade
6 erm, why Steward..? why not Admin, for doing all those tax returns?

ARTIST
1 Arts
2 Carouse
3 Computer
4 Gambler
5 Persuade
6 Trade? maybe more chance of getting Arts?

The Journalist is there, methinks.

PERFORMER
1 Performance or Tactics
2 Athletics or Melee: Martial Arts
3 Performance
4 Streetwise
5 Deception
6 Carouse

Stealth is already there under Personal Development, seems a bit odd to give to a Performer specialty too.

Any thoughts?

 

[Gruffty the Hiver]

Go on then - see if you can roll up Robbie Williams (as opposed to Robbie the Robot)

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

Dear All,

Art will mostly occur in front of a computer terminal

Visual Arts and Sculpture - only if it is unplugged first, and then still be careful with that wet sloppy paint and those sharp chisels....

Realistically, even in the future, I can't imagine that computer-art (a tiny niche fraction of the total artistic output made today), will increase greatly as a proportion. It's not what it's about.

Regards

 

[Klaus Kipling]

Realistically, even in the future, I can't imagine that computer-art (a tiny niche fraction of the total artistic output made today), will increase greatly as a proportion. It's not what it's about.

Sorry, but that's absolutely, utterly, incorrect. The vast majority of professional artists rely on computers.

Writing : universal (who uses a typewriter?)
Film-making : universal (no one splices tape or film anymore unless they're being deliberately weird)
Graphics : universal (dtp...)
Music: universal (cubase, synth, drum machine, etc etc)
Visual Arts : frequently (in all manner of ways)
Sculpture : sometimes (they use CAD, and increasingly 3D printers, along with traditional skills).

I know dozens of professional artists and not one does not use computers in their work, and most of them use them almost exclusively.

And I've not even mentioned multimedia or game design.

Art's not about computers, just as it's not about a pencil or a paintbrush, or even a chisel. An artist will use whatever tool can express his ideas.

Case in point: you can probably count the comic artists who don't work digitally on one hand.

 

[Mongoose Gar]

To be honest, Mongoose Traveller not modelling the plight of the starving artist accurately is the least of my worries. Every career is going to have one or two odd skills to make them more useful or distinctive. Steward's crammed in there mainly because it doesn't show up on many skill tables.

 

[Klaus Kipling]

To be honest, Mongoose Traveller not modelling the plight of the starving artist accurately is the least of my worries. Every career is going to have one or two odd skills to make them more useful or distinctive.

Fair enough. Actually it's pretty good at the Artist and Journalist, but doesn't work if you want to make an Athlete - they're more likely to end up an actor/dancer. I've tried really hard and those athletes/sportsman just don't emerge from chargen.

Steward's crammed in there mainly because it doesn't show up on many skill tables.

Though I'm not sure that's a good reason to have any skill in any list, sir!