Brainstorming Space-Opera skills

[Morgenstern]

I'm house-sitting this week and armed with many, many hours of space opera anime and a spiral-bound notebook (Starship Opperators on in the background as I type, Crest/Banner of the Stars waiting in the wings). One project I want to move along is a slightly expanded selection of skills for use in Farthest Star or similar space-travel settings.

Ideally I want 2 or 4 new skills. Even numbers make setting up basic skill feat pairs easier, and I really don't want more than new skills 4, as this should run like a mostly core Mastercraft expansion. Powers (like Spellcasting ) do not count against this limit. I deal with the one set of powers I want to introduce to Farthest Star seperately.

The only new skill that's solid so far is Pilot. I can create a solid dividing line between this and Ride (which will very much stay a viable skill), that will create a number of cool opportunintes and texture.

I specifically don't want a "Computers" skill as I'll be making a big effort to have computers as a tool/kit that can assist a variety of other skills. Crafting (Software) will almost certainly be a new crafting focus.

Anyway, just thinking out loud .

[Sletchman]

I personally disagree on Pilot, I saw rename Ride and call it a day.  Ride already covers ships on the ocean in FC, what makes space ships different?  Craft can cover Mechanics, Electronics, and building / installing Security systems, just with new foci.  Not being super familiar with Space Opera [I saw star wars once], what do players need to be able to do?  Either as humans, or humans with putty on their forehead.

I agree on the computers point entirely.

[Morgenstern]

Having a seperate Ride/Drive (pilot) skill is a split I wanted all the way back to SC first edition . Ride would cover mounts and vehicles directed by bodymass (motorcycles/hanggliders/some mecha), while Pilot would control vehicles from cars on up to starships. There are specialized control rigs that would make vehicles respond to Ride (DNI that map body movelents to vehicle controls) and visa versa (nerve-puppet animals and remote controlled motorcycles for example).

One of the interesting aspects is that Pilot might be based on something other than Dex in this arangement. Probably Wisdom, though I could make a case for Intelligence also.

In any event, it'll be something peope can ignore easily enough if I fail to make it sufficiently interesting in application . For now I want to see where it leads.

[Morgenstern]

Common Star Trek skill-based activities include taking scans (Search with a tool, I'd say), medicine (nothing new required there), skulking about (Sneak), planning space battles (Tactics), etc. The existing toolbox is pretty well in place.

Live television space-opera actually tends to be pretty modest in its activites since special effects budget is a constant cap on what they can do. One reason I'm looking more at anime this week is they have a wider range of activites they can hit (like not having magical gravity deck plating everywhere).

Speaking of micro-gravity/zero-g, I'm planning on adding several weapon proficiencies that cover mobility and combat experience in unussual environments. I think even modern play (and some specialized fantasy settings) will benefit from having the option of paying a proficiency to be skilled in underwater action/combat. It's a pretty low cost from a resource that everyone has. I'm also looking at adding some origins that grant relevant proficiencies ("spacer"s get micro-gravity mobility as part of the package).

New Proficiencies:
Micro-gravity Mobility
Underwater Mobility

New Skills:
Pilot (conventional vehicluar interfaces)
Ride (redefined)

[Sletchman]

Makes sense, especially since Mastercraft seems to have done away with Spycraft style drive foci [using different skills for a specific focus, rather then just drive[dex] checks].

I'm actually having a hard time comming up with new skills that I can't fit into the existing Mastercraft framework.  Navigation is already covered by knowledge, which makes sense, it'd just be an aspect of living in those conditions [space vs terrains].  You can put technological foci into craft for most anything, which might make it too powerful, but I'm cool with it.  Even going through the Spycraft list, everything slots in fairly neatly.  Makes one appreciate the elegance of mastercraft.

[gaghiel42]

Obviously with a space opera situation, the Cultures skill would get a rather sizable increase in usefulness with aliens and the like.  

Sciences would get more interesting too.  Astrophysics, Xenobiology, Quantum Mechanics all that good stuff.

I would suggest that the electronics, computers and Security get jumbled up and reorganized as in the future most of these things would be radically different than todays world (in theory).  So, like you were saying, Computers/Security might go away but instead be replaced with a subset like Hacking.  Electronics/Security could become a Bypass situation and then security itself would cover more things along a tactical situation.  Infiltration, setting traps, building firewalls, that sorta thing.

More than anything I would love to see Profession become more useful as it would be a handy device to get those hard to cover skills or grant experiential synergy bonuses to other skills.

As for new things though hmmm....

You could add new skills depending on available tech or special powers.  Perhaps along with Electronics you might have a Biotech skill or a psychic ability skill to go with spellcasting.  Etc.    One of the problems with the Space Opera is that it is hard to come up with new ideas without the universe to back it up.  

[Wolverine]

I would add astro-navigation (Astrogation?) to the list of new skills. I'm not too sure about specific skill uses, but it would be used for things like 'jumping to lightspeed while avoiding Imperial cruisers'.

Seeing as Computers isn't a skill on its own, what would hacking into one fall under? Craft (Programming)?

[Wolverine]

One of the interesting aspects is that Pilot might be based on something other than Dex in this arangement. Probably Wisdom, though I could make a case for Intelligence also.

The skill use could be based on Wisdom, with an Int bonus (or just generic bonus) from the ship's on-board computer.

[Morgenstern]

Obviously with a space opera situation, the Cultures skill would get a rather sizable increase in usefulness with aliens and the like.

At this point I' planning on builing from a Mastercraft base, so Cultures remains divided into a set of Interests (I think I've already posted the list for Farest start at some point - there's about 10 really important ones). That makes 'cultures' a bonus to other skills (which matches Cultures' primary function in SC first ed - to provide synergy bonuses). easy enough to build a feat that grants a bunch of cultures iterest permanently or maybe an ability to intuit one on the fly during an adventure.  Daniel Jackson in space .

Sciences would get more interesting too.  Astrophysics, Xenobiology, Quantum Mechanics all that good stuff.

Crafting focuses. Star Trek is HUGELY dependant on Crafting checks to solve the crisis-of-the-week. Actually, playing up the significance of adventure critical Crafting check would be an important note for the GMing section and a reason that the futuristic Keeper is a force to be reckoned with...

Spliting response here because the window jiggling is driving me crazy.

[Morgenstern]

More than anything I would love to see Profession become more useful as it would be a handy device to get those hard to cover skills or grant experiential synergy bonuses to other skills.

With downtime and moneymaking as handled in Fantasycraft, Profession really isn't required as a skill. Good fodder for interests though.

As for new things though hmmm....

You could add new skills depending on available tech or special powers.  Perhaps along with Electronics you might have a Biotech skill or a psychic ability skill to go with spellcasting.  Etc.    One of the problems with the Space Opera is that it is hard to come up with new ideas without the universe to back it up.  

Yup. Powers will be dealt with seperately as they are very setting specific. IF they requires skill points to advance/refine it'll still be a treatment like SPellcasting in that it is not part of the chapter 2 "skills".

[Morgenstern]

Right now hacking looks like a use of Investigation + tool (computer). Investigation already covers information gathering. In this particular instance you are looking for the information that lets you control a computer system (at least enough to get it to do what you want like unlock a door or transfer some files).

I'm actually a big fan of the slightly un-glamourous reality of hacking, where its a very technical, methodical analysis and probing of a security system, rather than a pin-ball game of flashing lights, sounds, and hair-trigger reflexes. Hollywood hates real hacking - it's slow and sorely lacking in visual effects. But that doesn't make the real thing any less impressive to me.

[Krensky]

I will say Morg, me and my other friends in IT and IT Security really like the timing in the Hacking Dramatic Conflict. Things start slow and deliberate, but at the end things can get very hectic and time pressed, although not twitchy. Start out making a roll every week or more, at the end you're making one every minute or less.

[Morgenstern]

I'm glad to hear it . A lot of love went into that system. It just seems to lend a sense of realism with fairly low mechanical overhead.

I had a similar idea for space battles where the opening moves were slow, but the pace picked up as forces closed.

[Krensky]

That really depends on the style and type of handwaving going on. Some settings are really just naval engagements in space (Star Wars), some are more accurate with some naval action similarity imposed by the author's technical choices (the Honorverse), some are very good at imagining space combat (Night's Dawn's Adamist ship combat comes to mind, and some just make it all up to be exciting (most actually ).

The system you describe would work well with a somewhat 'realistic' or with a Weber-esk (eg, stylized with a nod to realism) space combat style.

Hmmm... maybe time to go write up Treecats.

[Mister Andersen]

From the most recent star wars thread:

Astrogation deals with "space stuff" like orbital physics, stellar hazards, mass-shadow dynamics, re-entry trajectories, docking procedures. A lot of the territory this covers tends to be esoteric and specialized beyond the domain of an ordinary Knowledge check, things that most folks leave to computers to work out or wouldn’t casually know.
     
Technology is a new skill, dealing with the applied use of Computers, Electronics & Mechanics. Think of it as the scientific equivalent of Spellcasting but unrestricted.