Skill Specialization Question

[-Daniel-]

Creating a Navy Character last night. We rolled up Engineer twice. This prompted an interesting discussion regarding should the selection be one specialization at rank 2 or two different specializations at rank 1 each. After some conversation it ended with the Character having Engineer (Life Support) 1 and Engineer (J-Drive) 1.

This made me curious what the common thought was so, what is your normal philosophy on this? Do you prefer to spread the love out into more areas or do you prefer a more narrow focus but reaching a higher rank?

 

[GarethL]

Unless it specifies otherwise, I'd let the player decide which specialisation the level goes to - the player can focus or diversify as they wish,

 

[-Daniel-]

Unless it specifies otherwise, I'd let the player decide which specialisation the level goes to - the player can focus or diversify as they wish,

I think you misunderstand the question: I am not asking what the player in this case should do. I am asking what do you like to do. If you were rolling up a character and the dice came up with a skill that has specialization options, do you like to spread them out or do you like to push one up as high as you can.

 

[rust2]

If you were rolling up a character and the dice came up with a skill that has specialization options, do you like to spread them out or do you like to push one up as high as you can.

I have no general answer, it depends on the character concept (expert or generalist), on the setting and campaign and on the composition and needs of the party of characters. With a large party and a well defined and useful character role in the campaign I prefer the expert with high skill levels, because this character then has his individual niche where he can shine. An example would be a starship's jump drive engineer as a member of a party which includes other engineers with other specializations in a campaign where the jump drive is vital to the story. With a small party and a less clear role of the character in the campaign I prefer the generalist with many low level skills suitable for different types of situations. An example would be the only engineer in a party which has very diverse adventures in space and planetside. Overall I probably tend towards the expert.

 

[Reynard]

You made this very open. Truthfully, it depends on the randomness of Traveller generation and what my roles are to be in a campaign. Personally, I don't like maxing out specialization because it makes a character a one trick pony plus you can't go higher than 4 to start anyhow. I'd rather do several things mediocre than one thing fabulously. You can become the famous starship pilot in gameplay.

 

[Condottiere]

For Traveller, specialize.

Though you should consider which branch will prove to be most useful to your character.

 

[GarethL]

Unless it specifies otherwise, I'd let the player decide which specialisation the level goes to - the player can focus or diversify as they wish,

I think you misunderstand the question: I am not asking what the player in this case should do. I am asking what do you like to do. If you were rolling up a character and the dice came up with a skill that has specialization options, do you like to spread them out or do you like to push one up as high as you can.

I get you,

That's extremely situational,

It depends upon character concept, current skill levels and skill coverahe in the group,

 

[-Daniel-]

Interesting, I guess based on the response so far I must be odd. For me, I do have a preference. I would almost always select a wider set of skill rather than a few number of skills at a higher rank. But I know that is just my personal preference in characters. :mrgreen:

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[FentonGib]

I agree with most that I would let my players choose - however (since there's only one player main engineer) I would encourage the player to ensure he has engineer (J-Drive) 1 at least. Considering it's the most used daily engineer specialty, it's important - imo the most important engineering specialty that a player/group needs to have level 1 in.

For a tramp trader orientation I would generally advise versatility. When you normally only have 1 main engineer, that person has to be able to handle all engineering jobs that pop up. Sure, he has 0 for all engineering, but would you really want to trust your fates on not suffocating to death in the hands of someone with engineering 0?

If I was creating a crew for a naval ship, or a player who was part of a naval engineering crew, I'd actually be more likely to conceptually recommend (though not enforce) specialisation - as there I'd expect a team of engineers to work on different things, and have specialisations/responsibility positions.

In my current game, the group's engineer was a naval line/crew and ended with only Engineer (Power) 1 (he was more of a gunner than engineer - but he's the de-facto engineer as the other two were an imperial agent and a marine), so I used (or rather modified) the Traveller skill package at the end to give him Engineer (J-Drive) 1.

 

[-Daniel-]

In my current game, the group's engineer was a naval line/crew and ended with only Engineer (Power) 1 (he was more of a gunner than engineer - but he's the de-facto engineer as the other two were an imperial agent and a marine), so I used (or rather modified) the Traveller skill package at the end to give him Engineer (J-Drive) 1.

This is also a great reason to use the Connections Rule. By creating the connection and thus the player being able to select the skill they want, we can add in what is missing. :mrgreen:

 

[Condottiere]

You never really want the jump drive to malfunction.

 

[-Daniel-]

You never really want the jump drive to malfunction.

And yet, it does at the most inopportune moments. :lol:

 

[FentonGib]

And yet, it does at the most inopportune moments. :lol:

No matter how good their astrogation and engineering skill DMs may be! :lol:

 

[Condottiere]

If you install a shrine onboard ship to Davy Jones, and regularly placate him, that's a plus one modifier.

 

[-Daniel-]

If you install a shrine onboard ship to Davy Jones, and regularly placate him, that's a plus one modifier.

Daniel jots down a great idea and plans to use it with one of the NPC ships very soon. :lol: