Non Card academic skills (ideas)

Klaus Von Bekk · Non Card academic skills (ideas)

iv been thinking about all the academic skills which dont use a card game (mainly because they are not there to solve problems in a time frame as such) and i realise how much time and effort it takes ref's to supply answers to ref calls about those items being studied by those skills etc..
would it not be usefull (by freeing up refs to do other things) to have a lore system for those skills? ie: each person with a skill of that kind has a card with a list of letters on it, by each combination of letters/numbers there is a description of something.

eg: (for biology skills)
EF2 - this is a photosynthising organism
GT7 - this is a arthoropod
JY4 - this creature has venemous glands
etc..

a sample plant/ animal or item would have a card on it (like the wound cards) with a series of letters on the outside

Eg:
this plant looks bright red with yellow teardrop shaped leaves
EF2 JY4 HK0 RG1 MN3

if all of the codes can be recognised by the person studying the object then the card can be ripped open for a more detailed explanation of what it does (hidden inside)

eg:
This organism uses the bright colour of its leaves to attract local widlife, when they eat the leaves the yellow teardrop shaped poison glands release a nureotoxin which paralizes the creature, thus forming a formidable defence mechanism. this allows the plant to not be subject to large amounts of predation and gives it an advantage in this wildlife
if a sample of the toxin is taken request new item card for sample from ref.

if a group of academics need to get together to fill all of the codes then they must spend 40 mins collaborating (roleplaying) about what it is before they can open the card.

obviously more detailed requests still requre ref calls but this frees up some time for refs to do other things and i think makes people really get stuck in, and something to roleplay with.

opinions? other ideas?

will x

Fenric

I do that for any missions I write - but it requires the referee's for the event to do the skill sheets, which hasn't always been done.

Klaus Von Bekk

if i write up skill sheets with letters on and print all the stuff can i do this for my event then seeing as its already partially be applied?
will x

Fenric

I'll go through the easy way to do it , no probs Will

Klaus Von Bekk

easy way to do it?
will x

Klaus Von Bekk

anyone else have opinions on this style of play?
likes/dislikes? (if everyone hates it its good to know)
will x

Meyrick

Sounds like a viable idea. A few people have mentioned it as a possibility, so I think it's worth considering.

I'll add it to the list of topics for our System Lord meeting.

Jess Parker

To be honest I do not like the idea of having a cross reference system instead of a ref as it wont always answer all the questions, and removes the chance to think outside of the box.

An attending ref could love the the idea of a hairbrained plan to solve the problem infront of the player/s, but a card cross reference system cannot have that discression or flexibility.

I know that sometimes refs need to be waited for in order to get on with a problem, but you can fill that time with roleplay discussion.

Also, some organisers may prefer the hands on aproach, but others may well like to leave the cross reference clues, so I am not saying it would never work, but it is my opinion that it should be left to the organisers as to how they want to approach the puzzles they leave the players.

Fenric

Exactly Tonya

Tempest

I think the key work is clues.

I like the idea of having a cross reference thing and can see plenty of situations where it could be used beneficially. For example if I was playing a botanist and came across an interesting looking plant i could use the clues as aids to assist roleplaying without the need for a ref to tell me that the plant im looking at looks poisonous or whatever. I cant see that a system like this could be used as a comprehensive this is all you need to know system but would give you pointers in the absence of a ref. It wouldnt stop you walking up to a ref later when there was one around/available and saying hey, I have this crazy idea...

Aslong as the cross reference system is done in vague terms and not used as an iron clad information system it wont stop anyone from being able to speak with refs and work outside the box. Using the plant as an example, the code might tell me that I can see the plant has a touch poison on its leaves, it doesnt tell me if that poison is deadly to humans or even affects humans, Id work that out later at base with a ref's presence.

Jean-Pierre

My beef with this sort of system (as I have seen in many systems that do this) is as soon as players get used to the fact that an item with a lammie on "does something" or "has some properties" they then automatically go for the lammied items and ignore everything else.

Klaus Von Bekk

i think tempest you have got exactly the idea i was trying to think of.. Smile

and i agree with mark that lammies even though OOC make player pick things up IC which is a difficult one to solve.

but yes, its an aid and guide for roleplaying, not a subsitute or law

will x

Earthbinder

Im with Tempest and Kalus on this one

i like the idea of a card system that defines the basic parameters of an item/Thing/Point.
allowing people with the right skills to gain different information.

but make it a springboard to launch ideas rather than a box to put them into.

TLA seem like good ideas for codes and allow people with different skills to know different things about the same code.

it also makes it easier to change between events to prevent OOC rune lore from letting players know what things are.

Klaus Von Bekk

after talking about it with people it seems a system like that without the 'lore' and code system is whats best,

ie instead of the codes and stuff on the sheet just

Biology:
this is a photosynthisiser
this has poision glands
this has xylem and phloem tissue

physiology:
this is a carnivore

open after 20 mins of research for more detailed information

"insert detailed information after ripping card open"

whilst im for the codes, it seems it would be too difficult to implement them.

will x

kiwi

lamies can work well, as for the Pick up everythings with a lamie problem thats easy you lamie everything, those that have some thing those lamies can be decoded, those that dont have any use you put lamies on that cant be decoded.
so intially everything will get picked up, but people will learn to spend time working out what is valuable, hence using their skills, and with the number of items it will involve everybody

bandit

to be fair we tend to have off with owt thats not nailed down lammie or no

Jess Parker

Lol true, I am surprised that the big gazebo was left standing at event 12! Laughing

Freeman

All a lammy does is give an OC flag to something as being of IC interest, thus promoting (albeit subconciously in most cases) extra interest in the item attached to the lammy.

I've seen blatent happenings of that in some systems (not Stargate I hasten to add) whereby the following conversation has happened:
"Look, that one's got a lammy, lety's look at that one first"

Whilst I readily admit that the level of player that we're blessed with at stargate is above that, there is always a worry that it can happen that way on some level, whereas the system we use at the moment removed that completely.

bandit

just don't give an item a lammie till the end of a mission

Klaus Von Bekk

thats an interesting idea.. dont give an item a lammie until you have time to study it.

ie: representing you only know its different or cool once you have had some time to figure it out.

i like that

will x

bandit

it's that or lammie everything with wound card style lammies then it's not till you get stuff back and open the lammie that you find out if it's true or bluff

Freeman

Which is largely how the current system works.
ONce an item is studied the ref looks athe skill sheet that was written about the item (part of the event prop that the plot coord makes us do so that we're covered on all eventualities - top stuff jD), and hands the relevent information over to the player.

Klaus Von Bekk

in my original post i mentiond using cards simmilar to wound cards. and it takes roleplay time before you can open it.

will x

Freeman

Why not hand a sealed envelope to the player studying the item containing the aforementioned skill sheet?
On the envelope is written the skill needed, and the time needed. Once the criteria are met the player(s) open the envelope.

Jess Parker

..which is also cheeper than extra lammies AND has room for lots more detail if needed Smile

Klaus Von Bekk

it is.. its easyer than lammieing everything as well.
i like this.. were getting places.

what about for instant information.. thats why i liked the codes, as a biologist you can tell some things instantly. others take time and research if its only a skill written on the outside then the player has nothing to RP with untill he opens it?

also how do you sort out items that would require multiple skills?

will x

Freeman

Keywords on the envelope gives skilled people a direction to RP in, while one envelop per skill per object could get around that multi-skill thing.

OR if multiple skills are needed in tandem, then one envelope that can't be opened until all skills listed on it are met.

Klaus Von Bekk

the only thing i dont like about having keywords on an envelope which is attached is it seems like anyone can read them, you would have to designate that only people with skill X can use them.
fair doo's about multiple skills Very Happy

you could do the same with language translations. what do language people think of that, i think it would be realistic to have a OOC coded sheet with a decoder inside an envelope, they have to actually spend the time decoding it, rather than just an envelope with Latin written on it and 30 mins spent then opened to get the translated document?
will x

Jess Parker

This is a rp after all, and peple are supposed to roleplay and we all have to trust each other to do that.

For example, I see a plant. I know its a plant...its green and has leaves. The envelope says I need botany and it is thorny/poisoned etc.
I say "Is there anyone who knows plants here? I have no idea what I am looking at unless it is run on batteries"

Playing ignorance of something is just as much fun as knowing what you are talking about Smile

Freeman

I think you're overcomplicating what was meant to be a simple system.

I also think that we're good enough roleplayers that when presented with an envelope that has "Botany: Solanum, tuberosum, chrysotrichum" written on it anyone that doesn't have the skill will say that it means nothing to them and find someone who knows about 'this plant I'm looking at'.