A couple of question on Rifts

[Joseph Kerr]

Hey,

1. What is the average starting PPE of normal people? Coalition Soldiers?

2. A person sometimes get's two instances of the same skills. Do you get a bonus for taking two instances of the same skill?

Edit:
3. How far can someone throw? I remember seeing a table somewhere...but for the life of me I can't find the answers to these question. Sorry if they're blatantly posted somewhere.

Thanks.

[Dustin Fireblade]

1. I believe its 2d6

2. I'm not 100% sure what you mean, but there are some skills, such as Art and Cooking, that you can select it a second time to get a bonus. Anything else you simply get the highest bonus. For non-canon though, see "A Cut Above" in Rifter #30.

3. You might be thinking of WP Targeting. It's on pg 328 of RUE.

[Joseph Kerr]

1. Thanks.

2. A character wanted to take two instances of a skill, wondering if you can gain a bonus with such a selection. I.E.: Demolitions x2. If you can't do that legally, that's fine. However, Rifter #30 has rules pertaining to this? I'll take a look at that. Thanks.

3. Hah! Honestly, slap me on the forehead. Should'a had a V8 Splash. Totally over looked "Hand Grenade" listed. Thanks. If someone isn't trained in throwing, how would you handle the range they can throw? And how is strength factored in?

Thank you for the response, we're actually playing the game the moment of this writing. Another hour's worth of game play I believe.

[Danger]

For number 2, there are certain skills if selected twice, will be considered to be at 'Professional' level, such as cooking, and a few others. I assume you're referring to this.

[Joseph Kerr]

Ah, so, only domestic skills can be learned to a professional level? Demolitions can't?

What book and page numbers for reference, if I may ask.

Thanks!

[Dustin Fireblade]

Page 307 of RUE, the start of the Domestic skill selections.

[Joseph Kerr]

Thank you!

Honestly, that was something I should have noticed. Negative points for me.

Question, which you may not be able to answer, why can't someone take other (other than domestic) skills twice and gain the "professional" tag? Also what do you think of allowing a character to re-roll a roll on the skill taken twice as a sign of their "professional" skill. Does that sound fair or potentially troublesome...?

[keir451]

Ah, so, only domestic skills can be learned to a professional level? Demolitions can't?

What book and page numbers for reference, if I may ask.

Thanks!

I assume that the OCC bonuses to OCC skills and related skills reflect "professional" training, i.e.: you're a Mil.Spec. or Spec.Forces and have demolitions or demo. disposal , then you're professionally trained in said skills. This applies to ALL OCC's.
Also look under the strength rules for throwing distances, I believe that they have something on it as well.

[Shark_Force]

Thank you!

Honestly, that was something I should have noticed. Negative points for me.

Question, which you may not be able to answer, why can't someone take other (other than domestic) skills twice and gain the "professional" tag? Also what do you think of allowing a character to re-roll a roll on the skill taken twice as a sign of their "professional" skill. Does that sound fair or potentially troublesome...?

there is no unprofessional level of demolitions is the way i would view it. or, arguably, the non-professional level of skill with demolitions is the guy with no arms or legs...

(i believe the rifter article mentioned does have optional rules for expanding on skill use, btw, and is not only for domestic skills).

in general, however, if you're using the core rules, you can only take a given skill once unless that skill indicates otherwise (there's an appraisal one in the technical category that also lets you take it more than once, for example).

[keir451]

Thank you!

Honestly, that was something I should have noticed. Negative points for me.

Question, which you may not be able to answer, why can't someone take other (other than domestic) skills twice and gain the "professional" tag? Also what do you think of allowing a character to re-roll a roll on the skill taken twice as a sign of their "professional" skill. Does that sound fair or potentially troublesome...?

there is no unprofessional level of demolitions is the way i would view it. or, arguably, the non-professional level of skill with demolitions is the guy with no arms or legs...

(i believe the rifter article mentioned does have optional rules for expanding on skill use, btw, and is not only for domestic skills).

in general, however, if you're using the core rules, you can only take a given skill once unless that skill indicates otherwise (there's an appraisal one in the technical category that also lets you take it more than once, for example).

Sometimes the one w/no arms or legs WAS a professional(oops bad roll ). The training you receive makes you a professional, Why is a Chef regarded as a pro? Because of his training. The bonus to Domestic skills is only 10%, many OCC/Related skills give upwards of 20% those bonuses negate the need to select a skill twice. Rolling twice? No. Generally the bonuses to the skills reflect your "level" of professional training and it takes away from the excitment of a possible failed roll.

[Joseph Kerr]

I assume that the OCC bonuses to OCC skills and related skills reflect "professional" training, i.e.: you're a Mil.Spec. or Spec.Forces and have demolitions or demo. disposal , then you're professionally trained in said skills. This applies to ALL OCC's.
Also look under the strength rules for throwing distances, I believe that they have something on it as well.

Well, yes, an OCC get's a bonus because of their class direction and "professional" training. That makes sense. Yet a level 1 character with cooking selects it twice and is denoted as having "professional" skill. How is he/she more professional than a level 6 character with a better skill percentage in cooking? How do you differentiate between the two? Shouldn't a character willing to sacrifice another skill be entitled to more than a 10% bonus which apparently denotes "superior" quality? It's just flavor text.

As far as the strength rules, I assumed you meant weight and movement. Which told me to look at W.P. Targeting. Going back, I also looked at Attributes Beyond 30 and it stated that depending upon how far your strength is beyond Olympic, you get to throw farther. Which seems silly that a PS 9 character can throw the same distance as a character with PS 29. It seems like it would be fair to say that the effective range of a bola is 30 ft, with the character being able to add their strength bonus to that to increase the range. I.E.: PS 20 = Bola distance is 35. Or something, that's just something off the top of my head and I haven't put much thought on how potentially ridiculous or unbalanced that may be for stronger characters.

Of course, I could be wrong and missing something. Please educate me if that's the case!

there is no unprofessional level of demolitions is the way i would view it. or, arguably, the non-professional level of skill with demolitions is the guy with no arms or legs...

So there's no difference between the kid who looked up how to make explosives and the trained demolitions expert? I suppose the difference here would be OCC Skill and Secondary Skill, game wise. But still.

(i believe the rifter article mentioned does have optional rules for expanding on skill use, btw, and is not only for domestic skills).

Thanks!

in general, however, if you're using the core rules, you can only take a given skill once unless that skill indicates otherwise (there's an appraisal one in the technical category that also lets you take it more than once, for example).

Yeah, I think I might play around with some house rules to make it more interesting. Thanks!

Sometimes the one w/no arms or legs WAS a professional(oops bad roll ). The training you receive makes you a professional, Why is a Chef regarded as a pro? Because of his training. The bonus to Domestic skills is only 10%, many OCC/Related skills give upwards of 20% those bonuses negate the need to select a skill twice. Rolling twice? No. Generally the bonuses to the skills reflect your "level" of professional training and it takes away from the excitment of a possible failed roll.

So the training, I.E. the class +__%, makes you professional. It separates the un-trained (secondary) and the trained. Yet that's only a 10-20% increase. Most of it early on is also based on luck (Which, I suppose DOES go with explosives ). It just seems appropriate that a character could select a skill twice, if they so choose, to gain a more professional/talented bonus. Other than flavor text.

In any case, I appreciate all the replies!

I hope I did not come off as rude or anything, and that my thoughts weren't too jumbled to make sense of.

- Joseph.