Questions on skill groups

Hey guys, I haven´t posted here much but hopefully someone is around and still feels interest in the coda mech.. (by the look of things you do)...

Ok, the system operations skill group seems to be a very important skill around starships, sickbay, helm control and so on. With repair there is a max TN of when you need Engineering skill for the system you are trying to repair. Now, are there some similar boundaries for system operation?

In the game I feel it difficult to know when to ask system operaitons check for navigation or some other skill. Sometimes it feels like our groups doctor is the best at all stations aboard the ship due to a high system operations skill.

Do you guys recognise the situation?

Comments and input apprechiated. I am running my next game in a couple of weeks.

The System Operation skill is hands-down one of the most broken aspects of the CODA system.

There have been numerous attempts to fix it, and a number of solutions put forth- the most common being treating it as an actual skill group (like Language or the Science skills).

The problem is that the skill mirrors the on-screen evidence in a lot of ways.

Watch DS9- anyone (except Jake and Nog) can pilot a runabout or fire the weapons systems or any number of other things. (My favorite was DS9 "Vortex" where a wanted criminal who'd spent his life raising chickens took the controls from Odo in order to outmanuever a trained mercenary crew).

My own rule-of-thumb has been two-fold: to impose a -5 circumstance penalty to any System Operations test where the character does not have an appropriate skill affinity and to double (at least) the necessary action time.

In extreme cases (such as a chicken-farmer trying to plot a course on a Galaxy class starship), I've been known to disavow all such tests out of hand.

For example: the pilot may have a +10 or more in System Operation- but that's not going to help him in Sickbay when attempting to use the sensor cluster to identify and type a new microvirus. With computer prompts, he might eventually stumble on the appropriate classification, but it's going to take time to sort through all the options.

Likewise, the doctor can undoubtedly talk the computer into plotting a basic course from here to Alpha Centauri- but it's not going to be the optimum solution nor have all the same refinements and "tricks of the trade" that a skilled helmsman will know.

There are two other aspects you need to take into account:

First, there is no such thing as a "maximum" TN. There are only recommendations.

A lot of GM's I've worked with go with the TNs straight out of the rulebook and ignore the situation modifiers (page 79 of the Narrator's Guide and 101 of the Player's Guide).

To my mind, this is quicker and easier, but it also tends to "dumb down" the challenges and rob the heroes of some of their genuine achievement.

Second, you need to consider the bonuses and benefits of the Professional Abilities.

These open up a wide field of tricks, tweaks, and bonuses to the professional that a non-professional simply does not have.

I've got a lot of players with high skill levels- and it often (as it should) comes down to the Professional Abiltiies as to who is better at a given task.

Given the degree of automation evidenced in TNG-era ships, I'd say the Systems Operations skill, as written, somewhat works for that era. Combat and navigation TNs might need to be adjusted higher to keep Tactical and Flight Control officers more effective than, say, the ship's Doctor, but otherwise I think the implication is that you can sit down at a LCARS console anywhere on the ship and figure out what does what. ("Computer, what do I press to engage the warp drive?") Piloting the ship from the captain's tiny little control panel (or a tricorder on the ground!) should impose a hefty equipment penalty, though.

TOS, however, is a different story.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by selek

A lot of GM's I've worked with go with the TNs straight out of the rulebook and ignore the situation modifiers (page 79 of the Narrator's Guide and 101 of the Player's Guide).

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I think the importance of the situational modifiers got lost somewhere in the lack of editing and clarification.

Thanks guys. Good to know others have struggled with this to. It seems like kind of a messy way to deal with the situation, penalty of -5 for not having the correct speciality ... But it is the best soulution for me.

In my campaign the characters have not yet recieved their professional abilities since they are still cadets. So this is a big thing for my game. Those abilities differntiate the characters in a good way so I think they are needed.

Again selek and ..king thanks.

Good points and discussion on this topic. It's something I've noticed in our game as well, as we've got a pretty experienced crew and most are quite good at System Operation.