PSAs and Skills discussion

jedion357's picture
jedion357
May 14, 2023 - 11:24am
admission I think Zebs Guide skill system is fiddly, I've come full circle to AD after 40 years (AD, Zebs, SF2000, AD, then "A Skjilled Frontier", and now AD again).

So while I do say I'm back to Alpha Dawn skill system I do want to tinker with it a little:

Choose one PSA out of the four
  In PSAOut of PSA 
Level 1   
Level 2  
Level 3  
 Level 4  
 Level 5  
 Level 6  
For PSA costs I of a mind that In PSA should be 3 or 4 times the level number thus if 3 times level 1 it would be 3 EXP or if 4 times level 1 it would be 4 EXP. 
For Out of PSA I'm of a mind that it should be 4 or 5 times the level number thus if 5 times level 1 it would be 5 EXP

PSAs: Military, Tech, Science/Bio-Social, Scout

Spacer skills: star ship weapons skills go in military, Starship Engineer goes in Tech, Astrogation goes in Science, and Piloting goes in Scout

Science ie the old Bio-Social PSA is Psych-Social, Medical, Science (old environmental but with the bushcraft stripped from it) Vetrinary Science and Astrogation skills

Scout PSA is Bushcraft skill (navigatiuon, make tools, stealth, tracking and survival related actions), Animal Handling,  Operate Vehicles, Star Ship Piloting

Thoughts?
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!
Comments:

jedion357's picture
jedion357
May 14, 2023 - 12:14pm
Also I like an idea used in Stars Without Number and I already anticipate objections to this: People will react and call this feats ala D&D 3.5 and on the surface yes but I think it plays out differently

In SwoN if you take the equiv of the military PSA you get an ability to called "Tis but a scratch" and the first time or simply one time in a session you caracter can totally ignore a wound I think this is limited to one die of damage but cant fully remember the Swon Rule but that is the limit I would put on it- for Open Galactic- 

Tech PSA equiv in SwoN gets one reroll of a failed skill check once per session. 

However what I was thinking is more than these feats say 6-10 for each PSA and tailored to the PSA
and you pick one at character creation to diferentiate your character from other starting technicians or other starting scientists. and then you pick a new one at certain benchmarks like x number of levels of skill in PSA (this has the side effect of rewarding players for getting at least 1-2 levels in each IN PSA skill)    OR the benchmark wark would be When an IN PSA skill reaches 3rd level you choose a new feat and again when an in PSA skill reaches 6th level (this has the side effect of rewarding a player for pursuing a specific career with a character) 

What follows is simply brainstorming of possible feats

Feats for military might be
1. "Tis but a scratch" - 1x per session ignores a 1d10 of damage (this would not apply to "damage" to a defensive screen or suit)
2. Rapid Reload: character is so swift on reloading that he can eject a clip, reload and shoot in the same turn 
3. Quickdraw can draw a holstered weapon and use it in the same turn without the IM penalty. 
4. Immune to surprise: while a flash bang grenade may stun the character they are immune to surprise and surprise based stun effects (ie something jumping out at them) and they can always act in first turn of combat even if the rest of their party is surprised. 
5. Deadly Aim: If invoking careful aim and limiting rate of fire to 1 the character can increase damage of his shot- either +1d10 or double damage or automatic max (not sure what it should be) 
6. "Built Like a Brick Wall" Save vs Knock out, if the character takes a punch and gets a knockout result they can perform a STA Save for no knock out. 

Feats for Technicians 
1. Intuitive problem solver +5% to skill and ability checks to solve or diagnos a tech issue 
2. Always comes through in a pinch- reroll one failed skill check one time per session
3. "I'm giving her all she's got" 1x per session the technician can find a little bit more power to accomplish one thing more that would not be possible. find one more bit of ADF speed for the starship, manage to power the ships weapon despite the engines, reactor, or generator dying. etc. 
4. "Natural born"- character chooses one in PSA skill and that skill gains a +5% bonus to all actions for this character.
5. 
6.

Scout
1. Never lost- never gets lost on a planet can always find directions
2. Animal whisperer- choose one animal and always gain a +5% bonus to handling skill checks 
3. Intune with Nature- knows if being watched or stalked in the out of doors environment
4. 
5.
6.

Science or Bio-Social
1. Nerd focus choose one In PSA skill and gain a +5% bonus to its actions
2. 
3.
4.
5.
6.

Alternately the "feat" at character creation could be a bonus to an ability score based on PSA (idea stolen from Zebs)
PSA  +5 to ability 
 Military  STR or STA
 Technician DEX or RS
 Scientist LOG or  INT
 Scout PER or LDR
Admittedly this idea is nice but I'm not sure that DEX/RS really applies to technician 



I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

ExileInParadise's picture
ExileInParadise
July 4, 2023 - 5:52am
In the Myriad RPG System, these would be "Special Effects (SFX) Abilities"
The ALIEN RPG calls them Talents

All in all - many games offer these flourishes or customizations.

The only real problem to adding them is deciding:
can they only be gotten/chosen at character creation?
Or can you acquire them over time as well.