Character Creation and Advancement questions

[Ivan Tretiak]

Hey there, 1st time posting here. Say hi to the new guy.

First off, a little question about Professional Abilities.

There are some Tier 2 Abilities which do not require to have a Tier 1 Ability beforehand, but some other pre-requesite. For example, the Tier 2 Diplomat ability "Power Player" lists only Politics 3+ as a requisite, and the Soldier Tier 2 Ability "Battle Hardenned" has only Vitality Vitality 8+. These are only 2 examples, there are many more.

In order to have such an ability, must one also have a Tier 1 ability as well, or must one only full out the listed requirement?

Also...

It is made clear in the Character Creation process that one cannot start the game with a character with a skill higher than 6+, or (barring racial mods) any attributes higher than 12.

Are these maximums only present for Character Generation, or can a character, using advancements, go beyond them? I assume skills have no effective maximums, but maybe Attributes *should* have...

Thanks for the help.

[tonyg]

Hi, welcome.

Answers:

Yes you can buy a Tier 2 ability without buying a Tier 1 ability if you meet the prerequsites. Note that since most professions give a Tier 1 ability free when entered, most character should have a Tier 1 ability anyway. The exceptions will be those characters who are using the Innovative edge to buy an ability from a different profession.


The +6 skill maximum only apply during character generation. After that the only limit is the 12 point maximum skill level that applies to all skills. Note that the advancement rules will limit the rate of skill improbvement, so even for a character with a 6 skill, it should take several advancmenets toreach that 12 skill.

Of course there are other ways to impove the die modifer to a skill ever after the skill is maxed out. Taking a specialty, raising the attribute that the skill is tied to, or taking certtain abilites and edges (such as Skill Focus) will all improve the effective skill value.

The species Maximum appears to be fixed at 12 plus species modifers. Of course there might be a edge that could get aro8nd this at a latter date.

[RIsaacs]

Tonyg is correct in each of his answers.

There is a difference between "effective" skill level and actual skill level. While you are limited to starting a character out with skill levels no higher than 6, you can get the total number you add to your dice roll up higher. In other words, you shouldn't start a character with more than +6 coming from your skill levels. Add to this the + for your attribute mod, and any bonuses from edges or species abilities. It's entirely possible for you to have a +10 to your test dice, with only +6 coming from the skill level. And this is okay.

The limit to your starting skill levels applies ONLY to the skill level, not the other stuff.

[Ivan Tretiak]

Thank you very much!!! I think that was all I needeed to understand 100% the PG.

Can't wait for the Narrator's book!

[tonyg]

Ivan,
Wow! 100%. I think that puts you ahead of most of us.

I think I'm at around 65% or so.

[tonyg]

Ross,

Confrimation from an official soruce! Cool.

Guess I'm getting the hang of CODA.

[Don Mappin]

Originally posted by tonyg
Guess I'm getting the hang of CODA.

Dude, you're "Coda Certified!" I already have tons of certifications but it'd be fun to put that on my résumé!

[tonyg]

You know, I could imagine that CODA certification would be worth big bugs in a job interview.

Typical interviewer-"I don't know what CODA is, so it must be some technical computer thing. This person must really know his code."