Topic: Possible Childhood Skill Ranks (Adolescent Ranks)

[arakish]

Here is the idea I came up with for Childhood Skill Ranks.  This is analagous to Adolescent Ranks.  I have always used a four step development process for creating First Level Characters: Childhood, Adolescence, Juvenile, Apprenticeship, First.  The reason for this was always due to my wife's being very Tolkienesque with her encounters (a party of 5 PCs versus 50 Orcs).  Kind of like the assault at Amon Hen in Peter Jackson's LotR trilogy.  What was that?  One hundred versus nine?

Childhood is as listed in below table.  This is a set of 20 skill ranks, regardless of DP Cost.

Adolescence and Juvenile are a set of pre-chosen skill sets on which you can spend 50DPs.  Requirement: You must apply at least 20DPs towards a "profession" such as blacksmith, farmer, rancher, orchardist, scriber, ranger (woodsmans' watch), animal healer, midwife, animal husbandry, etc., etc.  This is NOT listed below (still working on it).

Apprenticeship is a set of pre-chosen skill ranks that you must spend, leftover DPs spent as wished.  This is NOT listed below (still working on it, but close).

Then, you develop for First Level.

Abbreviations
* = new cultures I created for Onaviu
Cos = Cosmopolitan
Har = Harsh
Hig = Highland
Mar = Mariner
Nom = Nomad
Rea = Reaver
Riv = River*
Rur = Rural
Sla = Slave*
Swa = Swamp*
Syl = Sylvan
Und = Underground
Urb = Urban
C/P = Craft or Performance

Warning: Below text is Copyright © 2002-2016 by Guild Companion Publications Ltd.  All rights reserved.  Usage Permission of Copyright Material Directly Granted by Nicholas HM Caldwell.  Director, Guild Companion Publications Ltd.

Italicized text indicates my addendas for Onaviu.

Cosmopolitan: When a city gets large enough, those who dwell in it cease to be merely urban in culture.  Large cities tend to have very finely specialized craftsmen, and the majority of their economy is devoted to trade and commerce.  The combination of specialization, access to resources, and cultural experiences you only find in large urban areas, and exposure to other people via trade and travel create a culture that is cosmopolitan.

Harsh: This culture represents people living in wastelands, though the type can vary; tundra, ice shelves, lava fields, true waste deserts, or even some form of chemical or magically hostile wasteland all apply.  People in these cultures live on the edge of survival and tend to be very focused on survival skills applicable to their harsh environment.

Highland: Highlanders live in rough hills or mountainous terrain.  They are usually somewhat isolated by the local geography and limited in food sources by a lack of flat land.  They tend to engage in limited agriculture and herding.

Mariner: Mariner cultures are usually located along the shores of an ocean or large lake, usually at the mouth of a large river or protected bay, and their economies are usually fishing and trade based.  They get the majority of their subsistence from the water, though they may also engage in herding or agriculture.

Nomad: Nomadic cultures tend to center around herding, so they can drive their food supply with them as they move from location to location.  Mounts and herd animals are the core of their lives, and they tend to be far more focused on portable property and less focused on land ownership than non-nomads.

Reaver: Reavers represent a society of raiders, generally found in badlands adjacent to a more settled culture.  They live by preying on the productivity of others, though they may also engage in herding or agriculture on a limited basis.

River: Like the Mariner, this culture is usually located along the shores of inland rivers, especially at confluences, and smaller lakes.  Their economies are largely trade based, but they also fish and hunt and farm.  The majority of their subsistence can come from the water; however, they also engage in agriculture and herding.  Author's Notes: I still have maternal relatives who still live, and make livings, in the river/bayou country of Louisiana, and in Mississippi.  I know a River or Swamp culture is quite different than the Mariner culture above.  Mariner is salt water, but not always.  River/Swamp is virtually only fresh water, but not always.

Rural: Almost all cultures take place in rural environments, but specifically this culture refers to people who dwell in the rural areas of relatively open, settled lands.  Rural people are usually farmers/ranchers of some sort, and tied to the land they tend.  Some rural dwellers are engaged in crafts, but they tend to be small scale and oriented towards local use and rarely specialized.  Rural dwellers generally have a symbiotic relationship with nearby urban dwellers, exchanging food and raw materials for most of their manufactured goods.

Slave: This culture can be seen as a sub-culture to any of the other cultures.  This culture mostly found in Urban and Cosmopolitan cultures, but can be found in any.  Slaves will usually have their own culture within the culture.  Most of their time is spent performing the menial tasks and whims of their masters.  They rely wholly on their master for their subsistence.  Author's Notes: The skill ranks for this culture can be swapped for skill ranks of the main culture of residence.  Permission must be granted for such swaps.

Swamp: This can also include marshes, bayous, bogs, and other such wetlands.  Those who live within such wetlands, especially expansive wetlands, have cultures quite unlike any other water-born cultures.  Their entire subsistence is the wetlands.  Swamp cultures also tend to be wary of peoples of the other cultures.  Due to the nature of their lands, swampers rarely engage in agriculture and herding; however, they may to a limited degree on the fringes of the wetlands.  Author's Notes: I still have maternal relatives who still live, and make livings, in the river/bayou country of Louisiana, and in Mississippi.  I know a River or Swamp culture is quite different than the Mariner culture above.  Mariner is salt water, but not always.  River/Swamp is virtually only fresh water, but not always.

Sylvan: Sylvan peoples are woodland dwellers who may practice some limited herding and/or farming, but mostly live by hunting and gathering in their rich environment.  The Syvan culture tends to be spread out with low populations, as high concentrations of people often result in the forest being cleared and the culture shifting to a new type, but not always.

Underground: People who spend most or all of their time underground, or inside vast structures, are of this culture.  Some steady supply of food must be available, be it animal herds, fungus farms, or fishing, or else the culture becomes fully dependent on trade for food (those that raid for food become Reavers).

Urban: Urban dwellers are the people who live in the towns and small cities of a settled area.  They tend to mostly be skilled specialists or craftsmen, and usually live a symbiotic existence with the rural people of their region, exchanging finished goods for food and raw materials.

		Cos		Har		Hig		Mar		Nom		Rea		Riv		Rur		Sla		Swa		Syl		Und		Urb
ACADEMIC
Lore: Own Region		3		3		3		3		3		3		3		3		3		3		3		3		3
Lore: choice		2				1		1						1				1				1		1		1
Lore: choice		1						1										1				1		1		1
Science: Basic Math		1						1						1										1		1
ATHLETIC
Con Hits		1		1		2		1		1		1		1		1		1		1		1		2		1
Games: choice		1										1						1						1		1
Climbing				1		2		1														2		2
Running		1		1						1		1		1		2		1				1		1		1
Swimming				1				1						2
choice of above 3		1		1		1		1				1						1				1				1
COMBAT
Brawling		2		2		1		1		1		1		1		1		1		1		1		1		1
Melee: choice		1		1				1		1		1				1				1		1		1		1
Missile: choice				1		1		1		1		1		1						1		2		1
Thrown: choice						1				1		1
OUTDOOR
Animal: Handling				1		1				2		1				1		1								1
Animal: Riding				1		1				2		1				1		1								1
Drive/Pilot								1				1		1		2		1		2						1
Survival: Own Biome				2		1				1		1		1		1				2		1
SOCIAL
Scrounging		1										1						2								1
Streetwise		1						1										2								1
SUBTERFUGE
Hiding				1		1				1		1		1						1		1		1
Stalking				1		1				1		1		1						1		1		1
Ambush: choice												1								1		1		1
TRADES
C/P: choice		2				1		1		1				1		1		1		1		1		1		1
C/P: choice																		1
Craft: choice		1		1		1		1		1		1		1		1		1		1		1		1		1
Medical: First Aid		1		1		1		1		1				1		1				1		1		1
Vocation: choice of Farmer, Orchardist, Rancher		1												1		4
Craft: Rope Mastery								2						1						1

There may be mistakes in the table above.  Please forgive and point them out.

Anyone have any constructive criticisms?  Have alternate tables?

Post it all here.

I want to hear it, good and bad.

Remember, these are 20 skill ranks, regardless of DP Cost.  Do not worry about any Linguistic or other Lore ranks since these have already been determined.

Thanks.

rmfr

[Malleable]

Restricting some of the DP to a non adventuring 'Profession' isn't a bad idea.  My GM encourages characters to have some non-adventuring/crafting type skill that we pursue during our downtime.  And provides a few silvers for subsistence.

I definitely agree with your providing skill ranks during Childhood/Adolescence (rather than DP) and requiring it to be assigned to non-adventuring skills is an improvement.  And this makes characters more realistic in what skills they have when they start the game.
Even a kid raised by Reavers or brought up by in a Shaolin Monastery would have typical living skills.

You are being more restrictive in one sense by requiring spending in non-adventuring, but 20 ranks in a profession makes people from the same living environment more diverse and realistic.

Mal

[intothatdarkness]

If your watchword is simple, why not just package a set of skill ranks based on culture and assign it to players in addition to their normal DPs? That's what we did, and it worked quite well. Some of the rarer cultures got more skills, but that represented their more clannish/tribal nature and a lower likelihood of leaving their home region to adventure.

[Peter R]

I would say just don't over complicate things, why have 4 strata when you could just assign a single layer of x number of ranks per category per culture. That is what I have done and it sounds as if Intothatdarkness is doing pretty much the same.

I scrapped the 0th level DPs in favour of free ranks split between the categories so that may be a difference. I found it made character creation a tiny bit faster as there was one less cycle of trying to balance their DP budgets. Some of my players have a habit of over spending.