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How do you handle this: if an O.C.C. has as O.C.C. skill selections "skills of choice" (like "two medical skills of choice"), do you require the the player to spend slots on prerequisite skills, or give them for free?

For instance, given the above "Two medical skills of choice" and one of the choices is Psychology (requires literacy, biology, and chemistry), does the character need to also spend skills on Biology , Chemistry, and Literacy, or does the player get them for free?

The reason I ask is the passage on page 299 of RUE "If an O.C.C. or R.C.C. starts off with a skill that normally has a perquisite skill(s), assume that the character has the prerequisite skill as part of their training."

So, after reading that, I could see this question being answered either way. What do you think?

Nah, if the OCC grants the higher skills for free, why penalize by making them buy the pre-reqs. I think the fact they don't get the pre-reqs is cheese on Palladiums part, why hurt your players for someone making a bad occ? Skills of choice, mean players choice, not Iron Hand of GM forcing you to take skills... IMO

I would allow them to have it ONLY if the prerequisites were selected as OCC related as my first thought, though I understand the arguments in the wording.

If it is a skill the player picks have to have the pre-requ's. However, i'd let them take them as OCCr skills.

(two med skills of choice note: I seam to remember somewhere that the Medical doctor skill takes up two skill slots.)
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As to the listed OCC skills that nominally need pre-requ's, it is normally granted that chars of that class have the pre-requ skills that go along with the skills listed.

This is one of my biggest complaints about the current education system rules used by Heroes
Unlimited. You take the Journalist/Investigation Program (that anyone with a high school
education or better can use). Your get four skills with one being Surveillance which requires you
to have have Basic Electronics or Electrical Engineering and Computer Operation. So that means
you need to select a skill program that gives it to you or select Basic Electronics as a secondary
skill.

Another irritation. Its impossible to get Computer Hacking unless journalist program twice,
criminal program, police program twice, or professional thief twice . Really all these college
geeks in the real world who are hacking into companies have these skills programs as options.
The Computer Scholastic Program doesn't come with hacking .