The skill system presented here is somewhat different from the original skill system. The STAR FRONTIERS Alpha Dawn game system contained 46 skills grouped in Primary Skill Areas. The new skill system has segmented these, and added more to contain over 120 skills. These new skills are not grouped in any Primary Skill Areas at all. As explained in the Professions section, a character can acquire some skills natural to his profession easier than normal skills, but, with the exception of the four "automatic" profession skills (Agility, Charisma, Endurance, and Intelligence). Any character has access to any skill. One of the primary intents of the Expert system is to allow the player to individualize his character as must as possible. This new skill system promotes that individuality.
Another difference between the two systems is how a success rate for each skill is determined. The Alpha Dawn system had a different percentage number for each skill, then usually added the players skill level times 10%. Under the PSA structure this tended to force characters of the same PSA background to "look alike"; that is, they progressed at exactly the same rate in all of their subskills. The new system uses the individual skill levels to determine the success rate, plus easy-to-remember column shifts (see the Resolution System section) as modifiers. Not only does this allow the skill system to be tied into the combat system (all on one easy table), but the individual skill success rates allow for even two characters of the same race with the same skills to have different expertises (one could be a master surgeon while the other could specialize in the treatment of diseases and poisons). As you read this section, these and other differences will be explained in detail.
After a player has decided what his character's profession and occupational standing will be, he must choose his skills.
SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE POINTS
Characters can learn skills which allow them to perform special
actions. Most skills have up to eight levels of expertise now,
instead of the six levels described in the Alpha Dawn rules.
Other skills give an automatic proficiency or fixed expertise
in the skill when it is first taken. The skill levels, sometimes
with built-in Column Shifts and other modifiers, indicate the
success rate for using a skill. The success rate for each skill
is listed after its title, as well as on the Skills List at the
end of this section. When a character uses his skill, his player
must roll a skill check. The player does this by trying to roll
the individual skill's success rate on the Resolution Table.
This is explained more fully in the Using Skills section.
A player can increase his character's individual skill levels
by spending experience points. Experience points can be traded
in to gain an introductory level skill or to increase a skill
the character already has to the next level. Experience points
are awarded at the end of the adventure or evening of play in
the same manner as in the Alpha Dawn rules.
LEARNING SKILLS
To learn new or higher-level skills, a character must spend experience
points. The number of XP (experience points) that must be traded
for each skill and skill level are shown on the Skill Cost
Table.
SKILL COST TABLE
The Skill Cost Table shows the profession and nonprofession cost
for each level of skill. This is the cost to go from one skill
level to the next, not the total cost to achieve that level.
Profession costs are for those skills included under the profession
chosen by the player for his character, nonprofession costs are
for all other skills. The Profession section lists each profession's
skills.
The revised skill system has segmented the Primary Skill Areas
and former skills into many more new skills. This is why the
skill costs are small compared to the expanded skill system, because
you now buy a single skill and not a group of them.
A character can learn only one level of a skill at a time. Skipping
levels is not allowed, even if the character has enough experience
to do so.
For example, Brango O'Bourke, a Star Law enforcer, has accumulated
6 experience points on his adventures. The player decides to
spend these experience points to increase Brango's skill level
with beam weapons from level 2 to level 3. Since Brango is an
enforcer, and Weapons: Beam Weapons is an enforcer profession
skill, it only costs Brango's Weapons: Beam Weapons skill level
from 2 to 3 on his character sheet, and subtracts 4 from his experience
point total. Brango still has 2 experience points left.
Training: When characters learn new skills or increase
a skill level, they must be trained. Three training methods are
suggested below. All three methods are optional. Some referees
may want to ignore this activity and simply allow players to pick
new skills when their characters have earned enough experience
points without role-playing the training.
Instructors: A character with enough experience points
can learn a new skill or skill level from another character.
The instructor's skill level must be at least two levels higher
than the pupil's. A character can learn a new skill or skill
level from an instructor in one month. He can learn only one
skill at a time.
Practice: Characters with enough experience points can
learn new skills or skill levels simply by practicing. This is
not always possible, however, especially with skills that require
special equipment.
Teaching Tapes: Teaching tapes are micro-cassettes with
subliminal instructions recorded on them. They are used in conjunction
with a teaching helm. A character with enough experience points
will have the helm and the tape with his new skill or skill level
on it made available to him through Star Law, his corporate employer,
or another sponsor who is interested in his advancement. Teaching
tapes teach the skill to the character in several sessions that
last a total of five days.
Temporary Learning: Sometimes characters who are sent on
special missions are temporarily trained in a skill. The character
only retains the knowledge of how to use the skill for a short
period of time. A referee may wish to use this temporary skill
knowledge in conjunction with a campaign scenario or adventure
that requires a specific skill or skill level to complete but
which no character in the party possesses. This is especially
effective in a "race against the clock" type of adventure,
since the skill will "wear off."
USING SKILLS
As explained in the skill introduction section, the new skill
system drastically changes how skills are used. It divides skills
into individually-learned skills, without primary skill areas
or subskills. The STAR FRONTIERS Resolution Table is now used
to determine whether a skill check is successfully made (see the
section on the Resolution System).
Success Rates: Each skill has a success rate. The success
rate is the basic chance for the character to succeed each time
he uses his skill. There are four types of success rates listed:
automatic success, skill level, fixed level, and modified skill
or fixed level.
Automatic success rates mean that once the skill has been taken,
the character can automatically perform the skill without having
to roll to succeed.
Skill Level success rates mean that the current level of the skill
possessed by the characters is what is used on the Resolution
Table for a skill check. No modifiers are normally added to the
skill check dice roll.
Fixed Level success rates are similar to automatic success rates
because once the skill has been taken, it need not be taken again
since a fixed level is automatically achieved. Level +X is the
most common fixed level, but others exist as well. Subsequent
selections of fixed level skills do not increase the success rate.
Modified Fixed or Skill Level success rates may have a positive
column shift built-in to improve the character's chance to make
the skill check. Skill Level +1 Column Shift is a common modified
skill level. This does not mean that a +1 column shift per level
of the skill is to be added; it means that after the skill level
of the character is located, the column is shifted once to the
right. For example, a player whose character has a level 3 in
the Machinery Operation skill (success rate: Skill Level +2 Column
Shift) would locate his base skill success column on the Resolution
Table at Level +3, then shift it two more columns to the right,
before rolling to see if the character succeeds.
Some modifications are negative, though, and usually are multipliers
of a condition (there are -1 Column Shifts that are multiplied
by the computer level, lock level, or maxiprog level to reflect
the increased difficulty at succeeding in the skill).
Some success rate may have both a positive and a negative modifier
-- a built-in positive column shift to increase the skill level,
but a negative column shift condition (-1 CS per robot level).
Certain modifications may be so varied that the term "special"
is listed for their success rate. This means the skill definition
should be read carefully and the referee may have to make a decision
as to the proper success rate.
Prerequisites: Some skills list prerequisites ("Pr")
under their success rates. This contains two different sections:
a skill requirement before the new skill can be taken, and conditions
(either items or actions) that must be used to perform the skill.
Prerequisite Skill: A skill listed as a prerequisite means
that the character must possess it before he can choose the new
skill. For example, before you can choose the Acoustics skill,
you must have the Physics skill. If more than one level of a
skill is needed as a prerequisite, it will be noted.
Prerequisite Items or Actions: Items listed as prerequisites
are needed to use the skill. Medkits or techkits are necessary
tools. If the job may be too big or too complicated for a simple
kit, the prerequisites usually adds "or proper tools and
facilities." In all cases the referee should use common
sense whether the attempted skill use can be performed with simple
tools in the field or must be completed in better-equipped surroundings.
Actions or conditions are rarely listed as prerequisites. "Animals
to be trained must be tamed" is an example of a condition
that first must exist before the skill can be attempted. In this
case it is a warning not to try the Animal Training skill on an
untamed animal. "Gain access," which is listed extensively
in the robot skills, is explained in the Robotics background section.
SKILL BACKGROUND NOTES
AUTOMATIC SKILLS
Agility, Charisma, Endurance, and Intelligence are all professional
automatic skills. When a character chooses his profession he
automatically receives is: Techex -- Agility, Explorer -- Charisma,
Enforcer -- Endurance, and Scispec -- Intelligence. There is
no other way to select these skills and their game use is only
when the character is being created.
COMPUTERS
There are three types of computers mentioned in Zebulon's Guide
to Frontier Space: mainframe computers, specialized computers,
and body computers. All three types are explained in detail later
in this book.
Mainframe computers are the type that most of the computer skills
are designed for. Mainframe computers are classified as Level
1 through 6 (6 is the most complex). They also use programs (called
maxiprogs) of Levels 1 to 6. The level of a mainframe determines
what maxiprog levels it can run.
Specialized computers are usually considered Level 2 computers
and body computers (called bodycomps) are the level of their processor
packs; Type A equals Level 1, Type D equals Level 4.
A character with a computer skill gets only one chance per day
to try it on a computer. If the computer is designed by an alien
race (other than a Frontier race) the success rate for the skill
is modified by a -2 Column Shift.
MEDICAL
Characters who do not use a medkit with skills listing it as a
prerequisite can still attempt the skill, but with a -3 Column
Shift. If a patient is treated in a hospital or sick bay, all
medical skills have an additional +2 Column Shift. If the patient
is an unfamiliar alien, all medical skills have an additional
-2 Column Shift. These two modifiers are cumulative, so the skill
check to perform a medical skill in a hospital on an unfamiliar
alien is the skill's normal success rate, although the time required
for X-rays or exploratory surgery would be longer for an unknown
alien. Animals can only be treated by Medical Treatment: Veterinary,
but the activities and alien creatures modifiers still apply.
Note that when a character has a disease, infection, infestation,
poison, or radiation introduced into his system, damage does not
begin to occur until the turn following the introduction. All
other forms of damage (weapons damage, fire, falling, etc.) occur
instantly, in the same turn they are introduced to the character.
ROBOTICS
There are eight levels of robots. A robot's level indicates how
complex it is, just like a mainframe computer. And like the mainframe
and body computers, it has programs, called roboprogs, also with
eight levels.
Robots will be discussed in great detail in future volumes of
Zebulon's Guide to Frontier Space. Until the new definitions
of robots are released, continue to use the six levels of robots
that are explained in the STAR FRONTIERS Alpha Dawn rules. The
roboprogs, detailing the robot's functions and mission, are inserted
inside the robot on a progit circuitry board. This board is usually
secured behind at least one protective plate. To reach the circuit
board, the plate or plates have to be removed. This is what is
meant, under Prerequisites, by gain access.
ROBOT MALFUNCTIONS
If a player fails his character's roll on his Robotics: Remove
Security Locks, Alter Functions, or Alter Mission skills, the
robot can malfunction. When this happens, the referee should
roll 1d100 on the Robot Malfunction Table.
ROBOT MALFUNCTION TABLE
MALFUNCTION DESCRIPTIONS
No Malfunction: The robot continues to function normally.
Function Progit Destroyed: One of the robot's function
progits (picked randomly by the referee) has been destroyed.
The robot cannot perform anything that requires that progit.
If all of a robot's progits are destroyed, the robot is deactivated.
Sensor System Failure: The robot's optical or radar/sonar
sensor system fails. This means the robot can only locate a target
by its normal audio-receivers. Since it cannot normally maneuver
by touch, it must go very slowly.
Mobility System Failure: The robot's mobility system, whether
it be hoverfan, wheels, tracks, or legs, is damaged. The referee
decides what type of limitations are placed on the robot's mobility.
Examples: can only turn in circles, can only move in reverse,
moves sluggishly at one-quarter speed, jerks forward with little
control over its speed, no movement at all.
Short Circuit: The robot is still operating, but has been
damaged (effect at referees discretion). For example, a robot
with a short circuit might rattle and spark while it works, or
suffer a severe loss of power to its weapons systems.
Level Drop: The robot suffers damage throughout which drops
it one level. This level drop is used for the purpose of combat,
skills, and intellect.
Mission Erased: The robot's mission progit has been erased.
It still maintains all of its functions, but has no purpose in
life except to survive.
Haywire: The robot is completely out of control. It might
attack at random, spin in circles, recite the Dralasitic Creed,
or do anything else which the referee thinks fits the situation.
Explosion: The robot's parabattery explodes, causing 10
points of damage multiplied by the parabattery's type to the character
attempting the skill. Damage is electrical, fragmentary, and
concussive.
SCIENCES
Science skills, such as botany, chemistry, zoology, or geophysics,
rely heavily on the character's practical experience and common
sense. Even so, each skill automatically requires a small exploration
kit containing microcircuitry equipment that assists the character
in using the skill (such as a minimicroscope), testing chemicals,
or simple analysis tools. These are sufficient for the common
uses of the skills. If the referee thinks the character wishes
to glean more information about a subject than his present tools
can provide, then sufficient time and proper scientific facilities
are required.
Skill Profession Non-Profession
Level Skill Cost Skill Cost
1 1 2
2 2 4
3 4 8
4 6 12
5 8 16
6 10 20
7 12 24
8 14 28
Die Roll Effect
01-20 No Malfunction
21-30 Function Progit Destroyed
31-40 Sensor System Failure
41-50 Mobility System Failure
51-60 Short Circuit
61-70 Level Drop
71-80 Mission Erased
81-90 Haywire
91-00 Explosion