[UA] Unknown Skills

[Hammons, Jade]

	I do find it a bit comedic that the systems where the skill
actually represents someone's ability to do something (Runequest, Call
of Cthulhu) are some of the systems I screamed loudest about not being
accurate with skill points. Almost any attempt at a balanced character
in those systems usually got me a 'Professor of Linguistics', with 20's
in most of his primary skills. Not to say I didn't enjoy playing him, or
for that matter my Discus throwing Disk-o Duck in Runequest. And I did
eventually get my ex-CIA agent in a modern game up to a 97% boxing and
99% pistol skill (The old 'shoot them in the head until your clip
empties then punch them with the gun until they die' skill combo), but
it took me a year of regular play, and I sucked at everything else.
Well... not everything. I had a decent mythos skill too, but that is
hardly something to be proud of, I had a problem with snakes... a big
problem with filthy friend-eatting snakes.

Jade Hammons



-----Original Message-----
From: uneasy at magnaspeed.net [mailto:uneasy at magnaspeed.net]
Sent: Saturday, March 08, 2003 12:40 AM
To: ua at lists.uchicago.edu
Subject: [UA] Unknown Skills


As to death by guns, that's a good point someone made.  The NPCs have to

realize how dangerous guns are too.  Sometimes I'm just too eager to
play 
my NPCs as having the knowledge I have.

But that's not what I wanted to ask about.  I know it's been brought up,

maybe by me, but I've been getting some negative feedback from my 
players.  They are griping a bit about how low their skill percentages 
are.  I tell them everyone else is in the same boat, with NPCs having
low 
skills too.

We are generally used to games that the skill actually represents their 
ability to do something (Runequest and Cthhulhu), so these 10 and 20
skills 
bother them.

I've heard the normal arguments.  Players aren't expect to roll as much
as 
other games.  etc. etc.  In a way I see that point.  Like when they have
a 
certain level of lock picking skills, I let them break into a window 
without rolling.  That's ok.  But when a fight breaks out, everyone MUST

roll.  So in a way, the game is skewed to favor people who took fighting

skills.  I prefer an honest game.  I would have added 50 to everyone's 
skill points so everyone could just roll and be done with it.

This is number 1 out of my 3 gripes on the game system.  Really that's
not 
bad for a nitpicker like me.

AL

P.S.  2 is about "sanity" and 3 is about "crow bars".

uneasy at magnaspeed.net


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