Prerequisites Question

[IntendentKira]

I haven't played LOTR or Star Trek in a couple of years and haven't made characters in longer. I'm getting ready to start up a new Star Trek campaign set at Starfleet Academy.

In the Starfleet Officer Elite Professions, they list several prerequisites of #+. Now, I can't find this rule anymore, but I could have sworn I read somewhere that the number just means that Skill+Trait must equal that number to meet the prerequisite. Or is it the number of skill ranks that's required to meet it?

Your help would be appreciated.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

I'd assume skill rating.

[IntendentKira]

Then how do we reconcile the fact that only a small handful of the Professional Development Packages associated with the Starship Officer Elite Professions prerequisites actually pre-meet the requirements? In most situations, the player would have to spend most, if not all, of their Free 5 Picks to make sure they meet the requirement. I know these Development Packages don't have to be applied to the SOEPs, but since I'm going the SFA route, I need to make absolute certain this is the case.

[PGoodman13]

First, you should check the errata. The prereqs for Starship Officer Elite Professions show the "Starship Duty" Professional Ability from the base Starship Officer profession OR the listed skill levels. The word OR there is the errata in question. Starting characters don't need the skill levels at all because they automatically get the Starship Duty professional ability when they choose the Starship Officer profession.

To answer your original question, though: The prerequisites are only the skill levels. They do not include attribute bonuses.

[IntendentKira]

Thanks for the response. I did read the errata, but all it said was Starship Duty or...I didn't see what it said after that. I didn't have the book in front of me, so I couldn't reference what it was talking about.

But, that does answer my question and it makes me feel better about those skills.

Now, here's another question. I noticed that some of the Professional Development Packages don't add up correctly. I added the free skill ranks and the Specializations and all but four came up 20.

These came up short:
Engineering: Troubleshooter
Engineering: Specialist
Phase Control Officer (from Starfleet Operations)

One of them came up one over for 21 total, but I can't remember, atm, which one.

Should I reconcile this by giving more free points (or subtracting oen) to meet the numbers of the others? Or is there a reason they don't add up?

[PGoodman13]

But, that does answer my question and it makes me feel better about those skills.

Glad I was able to help out.

Now, here's another question. I noticed that some of the Professional Development Packages don't add up correctly. I added the free skill ranks and the Specializations and all but four came up 20.

These came up short:
Engineering: Troubleshooter
Engineering: Specialist
Phase Control Officer (from Starfleet Operations)

Really? I just counted all of those up and all three came in spot-on at 20 picks. You might check again.

One of them came up one over for 21 total, but I can't remember, atm, which one.

One of the packages for the Mystic profession came up to 21, but that was taken care of in errata by deleting a Specialization from one of the skills (I want to say Survival at the moment, but I could be misremembering).

Should I reconcile this by giving more free points (or subtracting oen) to meet the numbers of the others? Or is there a reason they don't add up?

I don't think you need to reconcile anything at all, since I can't find any of the discrepancies you mention.