Changing Professions

[JustaGM]

This topic has come up once or twice on the Decihper Boards.

What if someone wanted to change basic professions...say from a rouge to a soldier...or a mystic to a starfleet officer?

Here's my take on it and I would like to hear your ideas.

I say it cannot be done, and here's why. A basic profession amounts to your character past actions and activities. It gives him skills and abilities that are a sum total of who he has been up until that point, professionaly that is.

Even IF I did allow changing basic professions, I certainly wouldn't give the PCs access to the skill picks, though they could have access to the skill list. As for TIER abiliteis, I would so no...again it is all about training and living a certain way to me.

NOW, going into a Elite Profession is a completely different subject and totally possible. So long as you meet the requirements.

Is there an option for a "mid-profession"...something between the basic and the eilte?


Ideas? Thoughts?

JustaGM

[Dan Stack]

I've seen posted here that you cannot officially change professions, though one could certainly allow it.

But, like you said, elite professions leave that way open - I can't imagine being unable to develop the proper type of character. Nothing prohibits you from taking a Starship Officer elite professional later in life. (It should be noted that the prerequisite for them should be "Starship Duty OR all the others", not "Starship Duty AND all the others".

[Phantom]

How easy is it to change branchs? I see that the SF professions are broken up (Command, Medical, Science, etc.) What if you make up a Security Officer and down the line he wants to break into Command? Is this covered in the rules?

[Dan Stack]

No problems changing branches. The Starship Officer is something of a special profession - it doesn't give you as much by itself as the other professions but it gives you one of the Starship Officer Elite Professions for free.

To change starship officer elite professions you either meet the prerequisites of the new one or use the starship duty professional ability.

We had a character in our game made who did something like that by going from science to command.

[pathstrider]

Dan Stack Wrote:

"(It should be noted that the prerequisite for them should be "Starship Duty OR all the others", not "Starship Duty AND all the others".) "

Is that official? It could be that Starship duty is a preresquite, rather then another alternative, which is a seperate Starship duty for each elite profession.

Thus, a Tactical officer, who has Starship Duty(Tactical) doesn't need to buy Starship duty (Cmd) to go into the class but a soldier needs innovative to buy starship duty to qaulify.

Just my two pennies (Being British )

Mark

[Dan Stack]

Don or Ross indicated that in one of the thousand threads that popped up this week. I don't know where off-hand - if anyone finds it care to link to it?

[Don Mappin]

Originally posted by pathstrider
Is that official?

Yes, it's official. I talked it over with Ross. Someone added the Starship Duty as a pre-req to all the EP while no one was looking. The whole point of Starship Duty is to bypass the pre-req for those that use the Starship Officer profession. It's always been that way.

[pathstrider]

Thanks guys. That particular issue has been been bugging me - specially since a lot of characters didn't start off in starfleet - which would have meant a lot of innovative people

Mark

[CmdrBluejeans]

Originally posted by Don Mappin

Yes, it's official. I talked it over with Ross. Someone added the Starship Duty as a pre-req to all the EP while no one was looking. The whole point of Starship Duty is to bypass the pre-req for those that use the Starship Officer profession. It's always been that way.

While spacing out in a class I'm taking (silly instructor, leaving net-access on our machines), I had just noticed this conflict, myself, and was wondering, since I'm working on a sample PC Ship's CO, a Vulcan who spent 30-40 years with V'Ket before Spock's grudging acceptance by his own father at the end of STIV, and the symbolism of a world leader like Sarek finally admitting his past misjudgement of Starfleet, made it 'more likely' for a talented Vulcan in his prime to consider SF as an option.

But I'd noticed the Starship duty recursive loop barrier, and logged in to post this very question before noting the existing thread.

Thank goodness.

But, meanwhile, the earlier question remains: Can one switch from between basic professions with advancements, and if so, how?


BJ

[Don Mappin]

Originally posted by CmdrBluejeans
But, meanwhile, the earlier question remains: Can one switch from between basic professions with advancements, and if so, how?

No, they can not.

[tonyg]

However you can get at Basic Professional abiliabiles via Innovative.

And there are plenty of ways to get at skills (worse scae scenario- take Innovative and Rounded).

Basically, if you want something from another profession there is a way to get it!

[Sea Tyger]

Don, Ross, Doug --

I know that this has been explained piecemeal in a number of threads and probably a dozen times, but would one of you please run through the exact procedure for taking an elite profession?

The things that don't seem clear to me:

1. Does it cost 5 picks to take the profession by itself (i.e., you pay five picks, get to call your self a member of the profession, and take one Tier I ability)?

2. When you acquire the elite profession, do you get anything at all from the professional development packages list?

3. (This may be similar to #1.) When you say that I must spend the next advancement on only skills and abilities from my new elite profession, does that mean the advancement after I spend the 5 points to acquire the profession itself? Or are the 5 points to acquire the profession actually spent on the new skills and abilities?

4. Specifically for characters coming from outside the Starship Officer profession and going into a Starship Officer Elite profession, are the Starship Officer professional skills considered non-professional skills (if they're not shared with one of the character's other professions, obviously)?

Thanks in advance.

[Don Mappin]

Originally posted by Sea Tyger
Don, Ross, Doug --
1. Does it cost 5 picks to take the profession by itself (i.e., you pay five picks, get to call your self a member of the profession, and take one Tier I ability)?

Correct.

2. When you acquire the elite profession, do you get anything at all from the professional development packages list?

No, unless you're taking a Starship Officer EP during character creation. If you take an EP later through play, you do not gain a free additional development package.

3. (This may be similar to #1.) When you say that I must spend the next advancement on only skills and abilities from my new elite profession, does that mean the advancement after I spend the 5 points to acquire the profession itself?

Correct.

4. Specifically for characters coming from outside the Starship Officer profession and going into a Starship Officer Elite profession, are the Starship Officer professional skills considered non-professional skills (if they're not shared with one of the character's other professions, obviously)?

Correct again.

You pretty much already knew the answers to your questions!

[Sea Tyger]

Huge thanks, Don. One final question (I thought about this one on the way home from work.... ):

How does taking the Starship Duty ability change the rules for acquiring a new elite profession?

For example, my character is a starship engineering officer (by virtue of the starship officer base profession). He purchases Starship Duty in his third advancement to become a starship security officer, costing him 3 points.

1. What restrictions, if any, does he have for the other two points in that advancement?

2. Does he still have to spend his next advancement (the one after taking the starship duty ability) soley on his security officer professional skills and abilities?

[Sea Tyger]

I hate artificially bumping things, but it looks like Don missed this thread when he was on late last night.

That said, could I get one of the Big Three to clarify just one more thing on elite professions (see the next post up)? Thanks again, guys.