Skills ans specialities in Traveller Starter Set

[alkibiades]

If I understand skills with specialities correctly, as long as a skill has specialities and you gain a rank 1+, this rank applies to only one speciality. What about rank 0 in such a skill? The Starter Set pregens often have skills with specialities at rank 0 without mentioning a speciality.
Aren Veight for example has Drive ( ) 0 and gun combat ( ) 0. Does that mean that he has 0 in every speciality of that skill?
On the other hand he has Pilot ( spacecraft ) 3. Does it mean he hat pilot 0 in his other Pilot specialities or does he count as untrained in specialities other than spacecraft?

 

[AndrewW]

Yes, with most that have multiple options you get them at rank 0, if you have a skill at rank 1+ you put that in a particular area, and are considered to have the other areas at rank 0. Trade is an exception where you don't automatically get the rest at rank 0.

 

[allanimal]

Andrew's reply was spot on. One other thing that I have seen new players have questions about...
Whe you get a +1 to a skill with specialities, you can choose another speciality, rather than keep putting it in the 1st choice.

For example, if you have gun combat (slug) 1, you are considered to have gun combat (energy) and gun combat (archaic) at rank 0.
If you go through another term in char gen and get a +1, you could go to gun combat (slug) 2, or put it into gun combat (energy) to have it and (slug) at one, while (archaic) stays at zero.

In other words, you can have multiple specialities, if you choose.

 

[alkibiades]

Thanks for the info How does it work with training a speciality in a skill, when I already have ranks in a different speciality of the same skill?
Let's say I have gun combat (slug) 2, meaning I have automatically gun combat (energy) 0. If I train for a new rank in a skill the rules state, it costs 8 weeks for every target rank I want to achieve. If I want to train gun combat (energy) and want to level it up to rank 1, does it just "cost" 8 weeks of training because the target level is 1 or are the 2 ranks I already have in gun combat (slug) 2 are taken into account somehow?

 

[AndrewW]

Thanks for the info How does it work with training a speciality in a skill, when I already have ranks in a different speciality of the same skill?
Let's say I have gun combat (slug) 2, meaning I have automatically gun combat (energy) 0. If I train for a new rank in a skill the rules state, it costs 8 weeks for every target rank I want to achieve. If I want to train gun combat (energy) and want to level it up to rank 1, does it just "cost" 8 weeks of training because the target level is 1 or are the 2 ranks I already have in gun combat (slug) 2 are taken into account somehow?

The specialties only count as a level 0 in the other areas. So if you have Gun Combat (slug)-2 you are considered to have Gun Combat-0 in everything else and base it on that. They don't give you anything other then the 0 level in the other areas.