Why does a SciFi RPG "need" skills?

[finarvyn]

I've been putting a lot of thought into SciFi RPGs recently. What is it about SciFi RPGs where they feel the need to insert a skill system?

In other words, why can't we have "OD&D in Space" or "C&C in Space" or "AD&D in Space" with just a simple class system? Each character class would have a short list of things it could do, much the same way that fighters or clerics or magic-users or thieves each have a short list of things it can do.

Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems to me like there are certain things in a SciFi setting which could be universal, like piloting a ship. Kind of like in a modern setting where one can drive a car or use a computer or use a microwave oven, do we need a special skill for this?

I'll be interested in other's views on this. What am I missing?

 

[fireinthedust]

In short? Customization. If you're going to have one, that's likely an aspect of it: how to make your fighter unlike the other fighter at the table is the skills or feats.

Granted, CharOp usually directs you towards particular builds. All Wizards will take Arcane knowledge and, say, Endurance for the spell interrupts.

Still, I'd say there's customization involved. Otherwise classes can be fairly cookie cutter. What if I wanted to play a pirate rather than a knight? Or a barbarian-style fighter? Or if the campaign is set in high mountains rather than in the midst of noble family negotiations (ie: mountaineering rather than diplomacy)? Or if my fighter keeps screwing up jumps over pits and wants some extra help? Simply fighting won't do it, you need... something.

 

[Umbran]

What am I missing?

One thing you maybe missing is science fiction genre tropes. In most sci-fi fiction (books, movies, TV, or what have you) people generally have areas in which they are skilled, and areas in which they aren't. Your ship has a designated, trained pilot, and not everyone has the ability. Now, you could use a class system to model this, but the genre's got a rather long list of such things, so that having a class for each wouldn't be very simple any more.

Another thing you are missing is the fact that, outside of D&D itself and a couple d20 variants, classes aren't all that common a game design. Skill-based systems are more common in general.

 

[Morrus]

[Just a quick note - with apologies to the OP - this is a very, very old thread which was buried in the moderated posts queue for some reasons - there's a good chance the OP will never see these replies].

 

[WayneLigon]

Adding skills depends on how 'hard' you want your Sci-fi. If you're going space opera like Star Wars or Flash Gordon, then no you probably don't need anything much beyond your class skills. They usually have sharply defined roles, and your Scientist can make do with a generic Science!! class ability or something, just like pilots don't do much more than pilot.

The more realistic you get, the more you're going to want a skill system and move away from classes. People in the real world seldom have the boundaries and built-in niche protection classes give you - it comes down to money, time, and drive/ability to organize. You could get around that with skill chips and downloadable skills/memories, if you wanted; you'd likely need some kind of limit on the number of skillsets you can have.

 

[delericho]

I've been putting a lot of thought into SciFi RPGs recently. What is it about SciFi RPGs where they feel the need to insert a skill system?

I think it's to do with realism. We know that jobs in the modern world are becoming increasingly specialised, and increasingly dependent on specialised training. This tends to lend itself to a skill-based rather than class-based system.

However...

In other words, why can't we have "OD&D in Space" or "C&C in Space" or "AD&D in Space" with just a simple class system?

There's really no reason why not. If you look at the characters in "Stargate", for example, there's a pretty clear distinction between the two 'warrior' types and the two 'academic' types that could readily fit a class-based system (as, in fact, in the Stargate RPG). Likewise, for all that Star Trek would seem to have very specialised roles, the main characters always seem to have a very wide range of transferrable skills - and indeed your classes could easily be "Red Shirt", "Blue Shirt", "Gold Shirt".

So, to a certain extent, I think it may well just be a matter of taste: the people responsible for writing sci-fi RPGs have just largely favoured skill-based systems over class-based ones, and so that's what we have been given.

 

[am181d]

Well, obviously classes and skill systems are not mutually exclusive. I happen to think that a skill system is the best way to model a lot of sci-fi tasks (research, hacking, medical treatment, scanning for life signs, etc.) regardless of whether those skills are specific to individual classes.

But there are probably sci-fi genres that could do without.

 

[Umbran]

[Just a quick note - with apologies to the OP - this is a very, very old thread which was buried in the moderated posts queue for some reasons - there's a good chance the OP will never see these replies].

Ouch, yes. The OP's last activity was back in 2011.

 

[Mallus]

In most sci-fi fiction (books, movies, TV, or what have you) people generally have areas in which they are skilled, and areas in which they aren't. Your ship has a designated, trained pilot, and not everyone has the ability.

Exactly.

A lot of SF protagonists are experts in a given field, or multiple fields. Their skill sets are the primary "levers" through which they interact with & problem-solve in their environment. More importantly, the sort of problem-solving they do doesn't map to real-world players skills; they're problems that need to be handled abstractly. You can invent a riddle or physical puzzle in a fantasy game and have the players solve it. You can't ask/challenge a player to fix a broken hyperdrive, because both the problem and the solution are completely fictional. It's BS all the way down.

Sure, you could use simple ability checks to handle tasks involving the fictional science, engineering, navigation, vehicle operation, and so on, but then you lose a lot in terms of PC distinctiveness, which is exacerbated by fact SF characters are often differentiated simply by what they know how to do.

 

[Morrus]

Exactly.

A lot of SF protagonists are experts in a given field, or multiple fields. Their skill sets are the primary "levers" through which they interact with & problem-solve in their environment. More importantly, the sort of problem-solving they do doesn't map to real-world players skills; they're problems that need to be handled abstractly. You can invent a riddle or physical puzzle in a fantasy game and have the players solve it. You can't ask/challenge a player to fix a broken hyperdrive, because both the problem and the solution are completely fictional. It's BS all the way down.

I'd argue that the narrative space equal to a hyperdrive isn't a riddle or a puzzle, it's the magic. Both technobabble and magic are the same thing: fictional stuff that does stuff we can't understand.