High, Just made an account because a player and I have a different rules reading on character creation and it looks like it might kill my game. can someone help? in reference to step six on page 11 of the character making guide (may, 2018, as it is the most recent we could find), the difference in opinion is on under what circumstances provided skills may be swapped out for others. excluding some field and know skills which have a built in 'choose one' mechanic, when is it appropriate to change one skill for another. anytime, or only when the skill is granted by multiple sources? if this is not the proper place for this post, can someone please direct me to it? or if this is clarified in a later edition?
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Rules interpretation question on old 2e playtest
Wed, 2019-01-30 18:31
#1
blackdex
Rules interpretation question on old 2e playtest
Wed, 2019-01-30 23:27
#2
DivineWrath
I'm under the impression that
I'm under the impression that skills can only be changed during character creation. Also, knowledge skills need to remain knowledge skills, active skills remain active skills.
I'll make a point to review the rules later.
Thu, 2019-01-31 03:03
#3
DivineWrath
I found this:
I found this:
p. 12 of character creation
Fri, 2019-02-01 09:03
#4
blackdex
We are at character creation,
We are at character creation, the concern is over the importance of class, can a genehacker for example, decide they don't like pharmacology at 40 and interface at 30 and instead grab guns at 40 and Fray at 30? the actual debate is on the order of the sentences and indention on the referenced page. does the last sentence/paragraph mean you can switch any skill at anytime during creation, or do the prior sentence/paragraphs limit you to doing so when there is skill overlap or wrap-around leading to an illegally high score?
Tue, 2019-02-05 11:47
#5
syberwasp
I feel your pain, blackdex.
I feel your pain, blackdex. I have a few guys in my gameing group that will rule lawyer to that sort of level.
Anyway the way I read it is that you can switch points at anytime during character creation. But I would rules that it has to be approved by the GM. the skill groups are created to make sure you have the right skills for the right professions. So a genehacker that doesn't have some Pharmacology is going to have some issues when its time to do some genehakeing as he wont have a clue about the drugs to do the job.
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Poe
Tue, 2019-02-19 20:39
#6
bblonski
My read is that yes, you can
My read is that yes, you can swap for any skills as long as active skills stay active and knowledge skills stay knowledge. Not only can you swap skills around, but you could freely move points into multiple skills, such as splitting a 30 skill into a 17 and 13 in two different skills. Combining skills should probably be limited by GM approval. Really the package system is just to simplify the point buy system from first edition and help players pick necessary skills.
Tue, 2019-02-26 06:02
#7
ubik2
The text in the Nov 18
The text in the Nov 18 preview on p. 43 is the same as in the May 29 release on p. 11.
I didn't think there was supposed to be any limitation. The text saying "Players should feel free..." is its own indented entry, so I think it's independent of doubled skills.
When Transhuman came out, the lifepath system was essentially an alternative character creation system that let you build a character based on bundles. That makes it easy for new players to get started, and ensures they pick up the skills needed to fill their role.
I think this new system is supposed to work the same way. Characters are balanced based on points, but if you use the bundle creation system, you'll get a character that should fill the appropriate role. Once you've done that, you should be able to shuffle things around as you see fit to better fit the character concept you had in mind. The restriction on Know vs. Active skills is a balance one, since the Active skills are generally more valuable. It's worth mentioning that the Academic bundle gets slightly shorted in this system, since it trades some Active skill for Know skill, but that's pretty thematic. If you wanted to build an Academic without that, just don't take the Academic bundle.
You can also drop and raise aptitudes, so long as these are balanced (p. 10 of the May preview or p. 42 of the Nov preview).
There's a similar note about the gear sets, where you can swap out other gear instead of the default pack, so long as the GP costs still match (p. 76 of the Nov preview).
Overall, the idea seems to be that you aren't penalized for your initial choices, and regardless of what you choose, you end up at the proper point balance.
Edit: Presuming you were a Kickstarter backer, you should have the Nov 18 update available through DriveThruRPG.