I am at work and don't have my books infront of me, so Ic an't post any examples.
Besides I am asking a general question, not a specific one.
I imagine certain Pro abilites would be harder to adapt than others, and some might be just too darned powerful without requiring the qualifiers (like the Tier system).
I guess I am testing the water to see if anyone else has given this any thought
This is something my Crew and I have given some serious thought to, and as far as we're concerned, the Professional Abilities are the most positive aspect of Coda - assuming they're handled in the correct manner.
We've largely decided to treat the P.A.s as advanced skill rewards - much the way that those with a serious, long-standing interest in the martial arts can manifest abilities that look like magic to the neophyte observer. This came from a comment in one of Don's editorials on the Coda system, and how advanced skill levels would breed "cookies" that were analogous to, but somewhat less powerful than, Advantages. The whole cookie thing never materialized in Coda, but we've grasped on to it as a way to expand the rewards in Icon - alleviating some of the criticism made that, in Icon, "character advancement was an afterthought."
Our conversion from Coda to Icon is far from complete - I've got my Masters in Education to deal with for another few weeks yet, and the Crew has their own professional and personal lives to deal with (as who doesn't) - but over the summer I'm hoping to be able to start posting some of the conversions over and get some public response to them. As a brief aside, I don't think many of the Professional Abilities would translate well as Edges: they're too specific to a skill set to be generalized like that. Nevertheless, some of them may well end up fitting into that category. I'll be posting updates on the conversions we're doing as they become available.
"Besides I am asking a general question, not a specific one."
I realise that, but I'm not familiar with the exact type of abilities which fall under this category. If I had some examples, I could figure out how I'd translate them into ICON. For instance, in ICON, Zero-Gee Training is an Advantage, as is Quick Draw or Eidetic Memory. The Vulcan Nerve Pinch, however is a Skill.
Looking back, my original reply was a little brusque, but I was on my way out the door and in a hurry.
Originally posted by Owen E Oulton Looking back, my original reply was a little brusque, but I was on my way out the door and in a hurry.
Understood
Okay so here are some varied examples ...
Commanding Presence - In CODA this PA gives a bonus die (roll three, keep the best two).
Starship Tactics - Once per session reroll any one Tactics Skill and use the better roll.
Engineering Expertise - When making Engineering (skill or specilalty) roll, gain an affinty bonus of half Physical Science lvl, rounding up. Can be bought multiple times.
Commanding Presence - Treat it as a 2 point advantage that gives an extra die in leadership situations
Starship Tactics - This too is an advantage, though I don't remember the name off hand (Tactical Genius I beleive) and is 2 points and gives a bonus die
Engineering Expertise - Can be simulated with the Innovative advantage or the Engineering Genius (?) advantage. Again, 2 points and an additional die.
Considering the CODA version of Starship Tactics gives you two results to choose form and the Engineering one gives you a bonus from other skills, simply adding a die doesn't cut the mustard IMHO.
Seems to be not the same things at all, though YMMV
I'd suggest simply translating them as Advantages and using a "closest fit" filter. Sure, they don't translate exactly, but in translating a character from one system to another you're trying to get the essence of the character rather than an exact clone anyway.
Many of the Coda PAs fall in one of three categories:
1. Roll 3 dice, keep the best 2
2. Perform skill test in half time
3. Gain an affinity bonus= half level in another skill
Of course there are a lot more, but IMO they are best translated to Icon on a case by case basis. Now for the three listed above:
1. Roll 2 drama dice instead of one. If either of them comes up '6' apply the usual Icon rules for the drama die.
2. As this is most important when you are working against a time limit it should translate from one system to the other just as it is without much trouble.
3. Once you have 3 or 4 dice to roll in Icon another die more for an affinity bonus isn't so hot IMHO, so I'd give the player a bonus to the check result, but half the skill level seems a bit much to me. +1 would be okay IMO and maybe +2 if you have the "affinity skill" at level 5+.
Now how to aquire those abilities:
My suggestion would be to turn them into advantages, for the simple reason that this would give you rules on how many experience points to pay for an ability instead of having to create a new set of experience costs for PAs.
Sorry dude, no further thoughts on this from me at the moment. As you have seen I have been bussy with other things lately.
Besides, it's been a while since I played ICON, so I'd have to re-read those rules before offering any further suggestions on the Coda-to-Icon topic. Something which isn't high on my priority list right now.
Registered User
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
