The Basic Scout Skill Set

[alex_greene]

A comment thread on the CoTI boards laments the apparent lack of opportunities during chargen for a Scout character to gain Gunnery skill.

This has led me to ask what kind of a skill set a Scout would actually need in order to survive a solo scouting mission out there in the void.

Ship Operations:
Astrogation
Comms
Computer
Engineer (all specialities)
Gunner (turrets)
Mechanic
Pilot
Sensors
Vacc Suit
Zero-G

Planetside Operations:
Animals (at least two specialities)
Athletics
Drive
Flyer
Medic
Navigation
Recon
Seafarer
Stealth
Survival

Diplomatic Operations:
Advocate
Carouse
Deception
Diplomat
Gun Combat (as many specialities as possible)
Investigate
Languages (as many as possible)
Persuade
Steward

Scientific Operations:
Science (as many specialities in each branch as possible)

Even if most of these were at level-0, that basic range of competencies would permit even a freshly graduated scout straight out of boot to perform all of the essential duties of a solo scout adequately.

Most likely, for the first few missions in field, a young Scout would be accompanied by a more experienced trainer who'd help the newbie to get used to the cramped quarters, the basic rations ... the smell ...

After a while, assuming the scout has gained at least level-0 in at least two of each listed skill above in each category, he'd have to go out on his first solo missions.

I'd recommend that at least an NPC Scout of competence should have at least level-0 in many of the above skills, level-1 in a good spread of skills, and a handful at level-2 and level-3. A specialist would have at least level-4, and an instructor would have Instruction-2 at the very least, so as to get the wet eared boys up to at least level-0 in everything.

A competent Scout (read: one who comes back from his missions with his organs and mind in the same place it was when he left) embodies the Lazarus Long aphorism:

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects!

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Don't forget that you can use Expert Programs to compensate for many of the "missing" Shipboard Skills.

But, I agree, between the 18 skills that can be rolled on a Scout Specialty (including Advanced Education) they should cover what you have listed.

 

[zero]

So for piloting in space, as long as a Scout has Computer, Vacc-Suit and Zero-G theyre sorted. Thats cool.

 

[DFW]

Don't forget that you can use Expert Programs to compensate for many of the "missing" Shipboard Skills.

Yes, but one problem with that. That requires that you are running the Intellect pgm (Rating 10) and the Scout Ship specs can't handle that. So, that's a non starter when considering RAW.

 

[zero]

Lucky I modded the Seeker with a better comp then :wink:

 

[DFW]

Lucky I modded the Seeker with a better comp then :wink:

My design of the Scout/Courier (posted long ago) has a Model/4 because of this exact issue.

 

[alex_greene]

An Expert program won't help your character attempting to calm down a frightened herd of wild Morks that have been startled by a Rantidean razorcat out in the brushland, a thousand klicks from one's ship.

The nature of the Scout must include the ability to stand up for oneself and to survive in the field without so much as a spoon to his name. That takes personal skill; something no technology can hope to replace, particularly once the batteries have gone dead.

 

[DFW]

An Expert program won't help your character attempting to calm down a frightened herd of wild Morks that have been startled by a Rantidean razorcat out in the brushland, a thousand klicks from one's ship.

Right. That's why my Scout character never walks a 1000 klicks from his ship. It's faster to fly the ship there.

 

[alex_greene]

Who said anything about him having gone there voluntarily?

 

[Treebore]

In large part because of the Jack of all Trades skill, I have been thinking about having skills start out at -3 and go up from there, with zero meaning fully competent.

Then again, it would be simplest just to have a JoaT of 3, meaning you are effectively a zero skill level at anything you need to try and do.

But for GM's and people who don't buy into the Jack of All Trades, starting skills off at -3 would work better. But we would have to radically change the skill tables for a number of career paths.

Still, I think the basic premise for Scouts above is flawed. A scout would not be all things in all situations. They may just be a surveyor, they may be a zoologist, or they may be part of their diplomatic core, but they would not be one person doing all things. Unless they had an INT and EDU of 15.

Which also goes to why in my games your JoaT's skill is limited to your INT or EDU bonus, whichever is higher. So only someone with an INT or EDU of 15 would have a JoaT of rank 3, skill level zero in pretty much everything.

Still not very realistic, but it allows for a decent few strides toward realism, but keeping it a game that is fun.

 

[DFW]

Who said anything about him having gone there voluntarily?

Good reason to have a high int score.

 

[alex_greene]

Still, I think the basic premise for Scouts above is flawed. A scout would not be all things in all situations. They may just be a surveyor, they may be a zoologist, or they may be part of their diplomatic core, but they would not be one person doing all things. Unless they had an INT and EDU of 15.

Which also goes to why in my games your JoaT's skill is limited to your INT or EDU bonus, whichever is higher. So only someone with an INT or EDU of 15 would have a JoaT of rank 3, skill level zero in pretty much everything.

Still not very realistic, but it allows for a decent few strides toward realism, but keeping it a game that is fun.

While taking a mallet to your characters' knees, I see.

Game balance does not mean nerfing your players to give them equal standing with the NPCs, you know. It just means that every player has their fair turn to shine at the table.

Nothing wrong with a Scout having skill-0 across a wide range, and maybe a spread of low Skill-1s and a sprinkling of higher skills. All those skill-0 would stop them stumbling over their own shoelaces while on their way to the ship's galley for breakfast.

 

[Treebore]

I guess Mongoose Traveller doesn't limit the number of skills and skill ranks you can have like Mega Traveller did. Still, using Mongoose's training rules you would still take a long time to learn all of those skills.

Plus I do not understand why you would be taking a mallet to anyones knees.

A scout with about 9 skills at zero level and a few more at level one or two has been plenty effective in every game I have ran over the last 20 years. This idea that they must have skills in everything is simply ludicrous, IMO. That is why you have divisions in scouts.

One division is dedicated to going out and mapping and running sensor checks on every planetary and asteroid body possible.

Another division is dedicated to fully exploring the findings of the exploration division, and within this division you have Scouts who will go out and investigate the geology of whatever is found, when appropriate a qualified xeno zoologist will go out and document the life forms, and so on.

Then you will have a political division with people trained to deal with all the political mumbo jumbo, including being called in when new sentient life forms are discovered by the exploratory teams.

So this idea of every single scout being capable of doing everything listed in your OP is simply over the top , IMO. Fortunately you don't have to listen to me, and I don't have to listen to you, but that is my thoughts on what you are doing.

 

[Fovean]

I mentioned this in that CotI thread, the glaring hole in the Scout service skills tables to me in MGT is the very rare opportunity to gain any Engineering skills.

I haven't seen the MGT Scouts Book, but I understand there's only a couple more opportunities to gain some Engineering skill when using that book.

I guess I've always seen the average Scout as not exactly great at everything but at least good enough to get out of a scrape - and I firmly believe a Scout in general duty will need Engineering skills a lot more than Gunnery. YMMV.

Anyway, Scouts IMTU get Engineering-0 as a service skill (the only service to get Basic Training in 7 skills) and players may choose Engineering (any) whenever a similar 'tech' skill is rolled.

If I buy the book, I'll obviously restrict that to certain branches - maybe Gunnery skill needs a similar treatment. But then you need to detail the kind of ships that those Gunner/Scouts served on... Scout/Couriers, X-Boats and Tenders require relatively few gunners but they all require a given scout to occasionally take a look at the drives.

 

[alex_greene]

I suspect that the reason why the Scouts should depend on such a broad range of skills is precisely because they're out there on their own. They are unlikely to have a nearby base to turn to, or the comforts of a well stocked Class A Starport, if they're operating beyond the confines of their home space or spying behind enemy lines.

Even a cushy job like courier may well have its problems. Data is a valuable commodity, particularly the kinds of state secrets that states have been known to kill to keep a secret. Even the scout's own people might want to seek to steal, suppress or destroy the data the scout is carrying, to avoid it falling into enemy hands.

Or into the hands of the general public.

Just as the various armed services train their recruits to love their unit and their Service as one would love one's own family, the Scouts too must train their recruits - only the Scouts train their recruits to respect their fellow Scouts, even those belonging to another nation's Service, and to be self-reliant in all things and at all times.

Now since the Scout is likely to find himself in places where local technology is likely to be spotty at best, nonexistent at worst, the best tool any Scout can have is himself and his skills. And those skills are probably the most reliable thing he will have at his disposal, so it's a safe assumption that any Scout that wants to survive beyond his first mission will want to broaden the range of those skills as much as possible.

The good thing is, because they learn to be so flexible and adaptable, it should be very hard indeed for any given Scout to be caught flatfooted on a mission he had not done before, like a Courier doing Survey or First Contact duty.

 

[Treebore]

I think the reason we have 5 Scout Careers with 2 or 3 Specializations for each career is because even Mongoose realized that Scouts are not Superman.

I am totally within the rules when I say the Scout organizations are broken up into divisions. At least 5 of them, probably, based upon the fact that we have 5 general careers to chose from when creating a Scout. Then we are given 2 to 3 Specializations within each of those careers.

We even have Contact, which is obviously the Diplomatic arm, since the Specializations are First Contact, Diplomacy and Primary Liaison. Then we have Courier, then we have Exploration with Pathfinder and Analysis as Specializations. Then we have Special Ops with 3 interesting specializations. Finally we have Survey, and these are obviously the people who do World Analysis, Stellar Analysis and Cultural Analysis.

So the Scout services obviously know that there are not enough Superman in the known Galaxies to fill their job positions, so they broke it up into chunks that can be performed by the common person.

So no one Scout is going to have every skill set needed for every conceivable situation, they are ultimately a team effort with each Scout doing the part they are qualified to do.

 

[Gray Lensman]

I think the reason we have 5 Scout Careers with 2 or 3 Specializations for each career is because even Mongoose realized that Scouts are not Superman.

Hence, IMTU

The Terran Confederation Survey Service
Prerequisites: UPP of at least 666886 (non waiverable)
College: 4 year degree in one of the following areas –
Astronomy or Astrophysics
Botany or Biochemistry
Zoology
Anthropology
Geology
Meteorology
Linguistics
(Characters earn their degree field at level 3 and Computer 0 during college)

Survey Service Academy:

Year One: Year one students get Survival 0, Vacc Suit 0, Grav Vehicle OR Tracked Vehicle 0, Survey 0 and Gun Combat 0.

Years 2, 3 and 4:

Bridge Track – gets Pilot OR Navigation 1, Sensor Ops 1 and Mechanical OR Electrical 1

Engineering Track – gets Engineering 1 and Mechanical 1 and Electrical 1

Security Track – gets Gun Cbt +1, Tactics 1 and Turret Weapons 1

Medical Track (lasts 6 years not 4) – gets Medical 3 and Computer +1

Command Track (returns for a fifth year) – gets Survey +1 and Leadership 1

Of Course, IMTU they don't really fill the traditional Traveller role, It is all about Exploration and the smallest ship is 300 Dtons with a 7 person crew

 

[DFW]

Hence, IMTU

Interesting. A couple of questions:
1: Why the requirement for a minimum of being middle class.
2: How does one get to skill level 3 (skilled, experienced professional in field)
with only a bachelors degree?