Question about Character Creation

[stule]

Ok,

I am making my first character in LUG.

And here is my first question.

My character has Command (Starship Command) 0 (1).

He then gets Command (Starship Command) 1 (2).

Is his new total Command 1 (Starship Command) (3)?

[Captain Otto]

Without looking at the rule book i'd say yes.

[stule]

WHOOOOT!!!

I CAN BE TAUGHT!!

Thanks!

[LUGTrekGM]

Yes, that's the easiest way to do it.

Some on these boards complain that this is the source of something called the "dreaded skill bloat" which they say makes ICON / LUG unplayable.

In reality, yes there is a problem (not for our group), but it is solved if you look at it like this:

Each time you get a skill LEVEL, that's 3 pts of cost in character generation.

Each time you get a skill SPECIALIZATION it's a single point cost.

Figure out what your PC is getting, and then after all is said and done add up 3 points per skill and 1 point per spec pt. over the base skill, and make sure the points match, in preference over what the multiple levels of skills added boxes say.

Thus when you get weird comboes of skill and spec points, look at the cost, not the specific levels etc, combinations listed in the What if I get X specialization charts in LUG TOS NG, and DS9, which are all damn confusing as hell, I agree.

I don't agree with a lot of what is said in those sidebar boxes. My only real complaint with the ICON / LUG system, as designed.

[LUGTrekGM]

Also to clarify:

By base skill in the above post, I mean 1 (2), as the first award. All first specs with a full level attached are free.