Mistake for Operations Officers

Just realized another error (or what I perceive to be an error; perhaps someone here will clarify things for me) as I got done putting the final touches on the Operations Officer for our crew.

Per the rules (Narrator's Guide, p. 101) the way a character transfers power aboard a starship (like from the weapons to the shields) is via a "Propulsion Engineering". I thought this is one of those things that the Operations Officer aboard a ship would do. This is further confirmed by the stats on Harry Kim (an Ops Officer) who has Engineering: Propulsion Engineering (Warp Engines) +5 (p. 245).

The problem is that Engineering: Propulsion is NOT one of the Operations Officers Professional Skills (p. 71 - Player's Guide). So for each Engineering: Propulsion skill an Ops Officer buys, he/she has to pay double. If this is one of the normal functions an Operations Officer is going to be doing on a ship (and I would think it would be), then I'm thinking of changing the ability to transfer power to be based on an Engineering: Systems (Electroplasma Systems) skill test instead.

Otherwise, what is the specialty Elecroplasma Systems used for in the game? Also, why is it that BOTH Development packages for the Operations career ("Basic System Operator" and "Operations Manager" - p. 94-PG) don't include Engineering: Propulsion as one of the skills they learn?

Wow - all these views and not a single comment? :)

Let me further muddy the waters with this issue. On p. 125 of the PG, it says (in the table at the top of the page describing the basic definition of the System Operation Ship Systems for "Operations":

You are familiar with the resource management systems that track all major shipboard activities, such as library computer access, energy consumption, and sensor usage. Use this specialty to divert more power to weapons during battle, track transporter use, and prioritize sensor use among different tasks. [emphasis mine]

As I talked with one of my other players last night (who has GM'd lots of CODA), we're leaning more toward Engineering being the skill for actually doing stuff (recrystalizing dilithium, rewiring an electrical system, tinkering with the warp drive, etc.), other than when it's an Academic/knowledge issue, and then for the skills - like this - where you're simply doing it all from a console on the bridge, making System Operation (Operations Management) the skill one uses to transfer power between various systems.

All I can say, Doug, is that although it is a good/fun system to use for Trek, it is fraught with discrepancies that GM's will have to work out for their games. Obviously, you may also consult these boards to see how others have handled things, and hopefully someone will reply. ;)

As Decipher/CODA is now gone, the game is fan supported, so these kind of things are good to bring to the fore, and Patrick Goodman will add them to his ongoing errata.

In regards to this issue, it's a simple fix... change the Ops officers' starting skills based on the need.

I'll take a look into this in my copious unstructured free time, but I have to tell you this: I have two young children, I'm working on a sourcebook or two, and I'm also trying to keep my marriage healthy, so my computer and game time is...limited.

I will look into this, though, and run it up a couple of flagpoles to see who salutes.

Sounds great guys. I hear you about the other priorities; I've got five children myself, so I understand how it's important to make sure you're spending time with both wife and kids, rather than letting gaming stuff take up too much of your "free" time. :)

Thanks for the feedback, though; I do appreciate it. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't something major I was missing with the way we were evaluating it.