[UA] Varying skill costs . . .

[Alex Lampros]

Yeah, my group had noticed this as well and had a simple solution: Skills 
with less use cost only 3/4 or 1/2 of a point.  You just have to be 
careful what you allow with this.  Most skills turn out to be more useful 
than you think they'll be.

On Mon, 08 Mar 2004 16:12:55 -0500, Susan Dohnim <bibadoo at hotmail.com> 
wrote:

> I don't think I've seen this mentioned before, so here goes --
>
> Do any UA GMs out there play with skill costs? Usually, 1XP = 1Skill 
> Point. The fact is, though, that some skills are incredibly more 
> valuable than others. "Distracting Breast Implants (45)" is a fun skill, 
> but in most cases it's just not going to rank up there in importance 
> with "Notice" or "Gunplay" or "Initiative" or, of course, Avatar/Adept 
> skills.
>
> Of course, I hasten to point out that a given skill's usefulness will 
> vary depending on the character of the game. In a primarly investigative 
> game, Notice and Charm will be exceedingly important. In a more 
> combat-centered game, combat skills are more important. In a lot of UA 
> games that have a decent amount of both, both will prove useful.
>
> But "Distracting Breast Implants" and "Squirrely Reflexes" and "Big and 
> Hard to Move" and "Know a Language" and "Hold Your Breath" are never 
> going to match up with any of them, except in the oddest and most 
> specialized of campaigns.
>
>
> This general skill flexibility is nice when creating NPCs, but for PCs 
> -- well, I was wondering whether anyone out there has changed the 
> system. One possibility is to make certain skills cheaper to start 
> with/buy. Another is to create a list of "lesser" skills that one only 
> needs to hit a certain level before they work all the time. If you have 
> "Spanish: 5" then you know Spanish. If you have "Big and Hard to Move: 
> 15" then you automatically succeed in resisting being moved unless your 
> opponent beat his Struggle roll to move you by 20+, or somesuch.
>
>
> I'm probably more sensitive to this because I'm playing a character 
> right now who has practically no mojo, and I feel guilty squeezing every 
> single one of my skill points into the "prime" skills -- but on the 
> other hand I kind of have to because I can't control/explode people with 
> the Power of my Mind. I'm wondering if there's a fix that doesn't 
> violate the KISS principal.
>
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