Skills

Back when we played Lord of the Rings regularly, one of my players/GMs came up with what I thought was a cool way of identifying (and ranking) Skills. I just recently caught that the NG errata spells out/clarifies what level of a Skill one needs in a Language to be fluent (we had it at 3, they identify it as 6), so I just amended our definitions.

Skills
Level 3 - The character is very COMPETENT in the use of this skill. They are facile in a Knowledge area, and can speak a Language clearly enough to be understood by a native speaker (though they would likely be recognized as being a non-native speaker).

Level 6 - One at this level is PROFICIENT and well advanced in their art, enough to use it as an occupation or be regularly consulted regarding knowledge of the skill. They are fluent in a Language (enough to pass as a native speaker).

Level 9 - The character is considered to be an EXPERT and displays special skill or knowledge derived from a great deal of training or many years of experience.

Level 12 - Anyone attaining this level is considered to be a MASTER of their craft. They display great skill or technique or have a command of (or knowledge about) this skill that many could learn from.

Doing this allows our characters to be able to identify the proficiency of others. In other words, the GM could say "She's clearly an expert at negotiations" or "You can tell that he's a master with the bat'leth."

If the GM, in narration, wanted to drop a hint like that - "you can tell he's an expert with the Bat'leth" - he might ask for a Perception roll, and make it something that character is able to notice.

Then again, once the PC sees the bat'leth dude in action, wielding his Klingon weapon, there would be no question of the expertise.

Or, if the player says "Is there anything about so-and-so that immediately catches the eye ?", GM can call for a Perception, or Observe (Spot) roll, and then answer as he pleases regardless of the roll if he wants to PC(s) to notice the NPC is a Bat'leth master, expert negotiator, etc.

Good points, FG. I like the idea of a Perception or Observe roll to notice such things. As one of my players has pointed out, Perception is very undervalued attribute in Trek (with Survival and some others it sees more use in LotR).

Our system would simply give the GM a way of communicating the approximate level, without the clunky "He's a 9" that is really OOC (out of character) info. :)