[UA] Varying skill costs . . .

[Liam Routt]

Susan Dohnim wrote:
> But I'd still like it if it was easier to create a 
> character that had two or three neat quirks, like being able to easily hold 
> your breath for long periods *and* know three or four languages -- while 
> still having some utility, like being a martial artist. But after you spend 
> 40 points into Hold-Your-Breath and 60 points in four languages (15 
> apiece). . .

Why do it that way?

Spend 40 on Holding your Breath, then spend another 40 on Multi-Linguist, 
and a bit more on Martial Arts. In my game you'd get your base Struggle 
skill in the Martial Arts, and you might fold the General Education in 
Multi-Lingual, especially if you went with "World Traveller" or something 
like that.

I think the key here is that you are not slecting skills from a pre-set 
list as you'd have in most games. You don't have a limit that says you can 
only use a skill for on thing, and indeed the most interesting are usable 
in more than one fashion, it seems to me.

I *don't* think that skills in UA are simply a way to quantify in-game 
actions so that you can roll on them. They tell you all about the 
character's knowledge and abilities. Some of those are going to be used a 
lot in mechanics-heavy situations, but some are going to be pure gold in 
other parts of the game where perhaps the dice are never touched. Simply 
knowing that a character's skill in Cat Lore is roughly a certain value 
might allow them to make some connections, or interact properly with 
someone, or any number of things that need never come down to a die roll.

That the skills are used in combat and the like is a distraction, even, to 
my mind. It tends to convince the players that such mechanics-heavy parts 
of the game are more important than other parts. They put points in such 
skills initially (bending their concepts to justify such expenditure) and 
then they put experience in such places in order to be ready for those 
moments of die rolling.

Much more important, it seems to me, are the things that make character's 
tick. The things that bring them alive and give them a unique slant on 
life. And regardless of how many times they are rolled in the game, those 
skills are the ones which define a character.

> Huh? Self-balancing? You lost me here.

Mack the Bruiser might take a skill "Pound You". That's great. Itachi the 
Master might have "Elegant Art of the Mantis". The martial arts skill 
allows him to punch, kick, and do all sorts of stuff that is appropriate 
for his character. The heavy-handed punch skill, though, allows Mack to 
thump people for a lot damage, as befits him.

The balance of points has nothing to do with how many possible ways the 
skills can be used. Instead it is a balance of importance to the 
character. Mack doesn't need variety and finesse, he needs power. Itachi 
doesn't need a big fist, he needs a variety of cool moves.

Anyway, it makes sense to me! :)

> Because "balance" is all about what one character can do relative to what 
> other characters can do. If one is relevant and useful in all situations, 
> and one isn't . . . . well, sorry, but the cat-lover might just get a 
> little bored.

See, I don't see that. For starters I don't think it is at all necessary 
that characters have the same "in-system potential". People in the real 
world do not seem to, so why should characters? If there is any parity to 
be had, it should be story-parity, and the splitting up of points does 
that. You have X points to spread around and show what your character can 
do. The points that other people have are balanced on that scale. If 
fighting is everything to your character, then you are going to have 
little else to do, and you'll be less useful, clued-in, and perhaps even a 
little bored, in the rest of the game. If fighting isn't so important to 
your character, you'll hit less often (your fights will be characterized 
less by your dominance), but you'll have more other areas that you can 
explore. That's the balance.

For me, at least, the "mechanics heavy" parts of the system come second. 
The mechanics just give me a way to randomize stuff when I want to. Some 
sorts of situations make more use that sort of thing than others. <shrug>

Take care,

Liam
--
Liam Routt                                               liam at routt.net
Darcsyde Productions                     http://www.routt.net/Caligari/

        -- still waiting for the Absolute Destiny Apocalypse --