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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BlckKnght" data-source="post: 7975004" data-attributes="member: 6958254">Some less obvious things that might be errors, oversights or just balance issues:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Different school curricula grant wildly different numbers of skills. Science Branch School (the best one) grants +2 to seven skills while Advanced Medical School (the worst one, by far) grants only one +2 and one +1.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Speaking of Advanced Medical School, it seems pretty pointless.  Even with its +2, it's a bit tough to get a medicine skill up to 10 ranks, and little need to try, since 6 ranks, which you can reach with just branch training and a few career skill choices, is good enough to get to the grade 6-7 pool cap for most medical characters (who should have decent LOG). To reach the grade 8-10 cap, getting LOG 10 is usually easier (indeed, it's often inevitable). So maybe the main value of the training is the title? If being called "Doctor" is a significant prestige thing, advanced training should probably increase REP by much more than 1!</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">It's unclear if there's a difference between marines and security officers. The two terms seem to be used interchangeably. But security officers sure aren't exactly hardened soldiers, given that they don't gain any STR, END or WILL from their tours of duty (so no extra HP or bonus melee damage from advancing in grade), and their career exploits come from the Police career in NEW. Every security officer is a redshirt maybe? Maybe ground-pounding marines should be different than shipboard security officers (even if they start with the same branch training)?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">None of the careers let characters gain armor skills (none allow [combat] which is how you get it in NEW). Even security officers won't be able to use heavy armor to full effect. Maybe armor is rare in the USFMC?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The rank table looks like it might have been designed when starting REP was 0, rather than 3 as it has become after errata. The text suggests that grade 6 PCs should be low ranking, but it's impossible to take careers from the book and not get at least +3 rep by grade 6, making it so even the weakest officers are Lieutenants and many are Lt. Commanders or better. Ensign and Lt (jg) are right out.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The rank of Lt Valor M'para doesn't match his rep. Maybe he's just overdue for promotion (which would be an interesting thing to suggest players could choose to do too, if it's intended).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">None of the pregenerated characters have any gear other than the standard stuff that all USF characters get automatically. On page 17, the book suggests that PCs might want to copy their loadouts for act 1 of the adventure from the pregens, but that seems like an extremely poor idea, since they'll have no scanners, tool kits, scientific or survival gear, and no rifles or improved armor.</li> </ol></blockquote>

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