Topic: Free talent for Oorts...

[ReaperWolf]

Regarding this post:

http://www.ironcrown.com/ICEforums/index.php?topic=8626.msg110341#msg110341

Has anybody experienced any issues with allowing Oorts to halve training package DP costs?

>>ReaperWolf

[Cormac Doyle]

Umm -  Oorts already have massive advantages ... and TPs already have massive discounts built in.

NOONE should be able to reduce those costs further under ANY circumstances.

Even a talent cost of 150 DP would be very quickly "swallowed" by taking the discounted TPs.

[ReaperWolf]

Umm -  Oorts already have massive advantages ... and TPs already have massive discounts built in.

NOONE should be able to reduce those costs further under ANY circumstances.

Even a talent cost of 150 DP would be very quickly "swallowed" by taking the discounted TPs.

So we're in agreement here, the Oort ability to halve the DP cost of Training Packages is broken as heck.

I did notice Oorts heal slowly which isn't great but high-tech medicine will probably counter this, especially when administered by an Oort physician.

>>ReaperWolf

[Ynglaur]

Aren't Oorts just great big balls of gas?  I thought they had trouble in heavier gravities and atmospheres...

[arakish]

Although I have never used, nor plan on using, the SM: P setting, I agree with Cormac Doyle.

TPs are reduced in cost enough to never warrant a talent that further reduces the cost.

rmfr

[ReaperWolf]

Wow!

So lets back up a bit.

I was reviewing the Professions in the Privateers core rulebook and I noticed the Academic Degree and Medical Degree training packages have a notation in each of the profession entries. Paraphrasing here, the Academic Degree and Medical Degree training packages are half-priced for Oorts.

My question to this august body is: has this mechanic proven to be unbalancing in your Privateers game?

It seems that such a HUGE reduction in the TP cost would lead to EVERY Oort in the game pursuing one if not both of these TPs provided they have the dev. points. No other race has such an advantage and it looks as though just about every scientist/academic in the game will inevitably be an Oort.

So I'm not advocating Oorts receiving additional mechanical boosts, I'm asking if this has caused any problems in your Privateers games.

Sorry for any confusion. 

Regards,

>>ReaperWolf

[RandalThor]

Aren't Oorts just great big balls of gas?  I thought they had trouble in heavier gravities and atmospheres...

Hardy, har har. (I am assuming you are kidding. )

Out of all of the races of SM:P, Oorts are the one I like the most, as they seem a bit less animorphic - so I don't just get the feeling that I am playing a game of "furries." (Even though they are just big small fur-balls.)

Personally, as I think there are so many skill to have to deal with in SM (and RM, for that matter), that allowing a character to have a couple of non-combat oriented TPs at half-price is not a big deal. I can't really imagine where having good medical skills would be over-powering. Knowledge is another thing, but still not a real big deal because it is only powerful if the knowledge is used correctly.

[JimiSue]

Personally, as I think there are so many skill to have to deal with in SM (and RM, for that matter), that allowing a character to have a couple of non-combat oriented TPs at half-price is not a big deal. I can't really imagine where having good medical skills would be over-powering. Knowledge is another thing, but still not a real big deal because it is only powerful if the knowledge is used correctly.

I'm not a Privateers player, so far just sticking to 2nd edition, but I know about the issue of the skill volume. I have found that players will generally spend their development points where they want to regardless of cost (and that tends to be in combat-related skills. But, given the number of skills in the game and the very limited pool of development points, I actively encourage my players to find trainers (i.e. people who have both the skill they want, and the Education skill (which in SM2 reduces point cost for the first pick or allows you to add an intermediate training pick) in order to make their points go further. There are so many skills, it's never been an issue for me - every player struggles to be good even at the field they are meant to be good at, never mind any others!

[David Johansen]

The problem with the races is over specialization and it's not just the Oorts who are insanely min/maxed.

Why would anyone play anything but an Oort technician or scientist?  Why would anyone play an Oort warrior or recon?

[JimiSue]

I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. In SM2 some races are specifically designed for a few professions, and get steered that way either through circumstance (in my game I have people on a resource-poor planet who are trained pretty much from the moment they can walk towards mercenary-type occupations because that's how those people earn monits to trade with), or intent - the results of eugenics are heavily steered towards appropriate occupations, and replicants can be just bought to fill a role.

Roleplaying is about heroic fantasy, and while players' ideas of the role they want to play can vary greatly, it's extremely rare that a player will cripple themselves by selecting an inappropriate race, resulting in a character who is forever going to be substandard compared to others in his/her profession. I say celebrate the differences rather than homogenise. So these Oorts are brainiacs - so what? Some other race might be built as warriors - if one doesn't enslave the other either through use of tech or military aggression, then they are likely to trade and use eath others strengths to make a more complete whole.

[Usdrothek]

So these Oorts are brainiacs - so what? Some other race might be built as warriors - if one doesn't enslave the other either through use of tech or military aggression, then they are likely to trade and use eath others strengths to make a more complete whole.

The Falar did enslave the Oorts in the SM:P universe. (Well the Jeronans anyway.)