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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9181034" data-attributes="member: 42582">I don't know Ringworld (other than by general reputation). Of the RPGs I know, none even attempts to deal with this issue. Eg Traveller has an EDU skill, but has no mechanical framework to distinguish -for instance - between EDU 15 (Einstein) and EDU 15 (AJ Ayer). In our campaign we use player-authored backstory to introduce those distinctions in an informal way.It comes up in the skill system too, which takes great care to distinguish between being (say) a crack shot with a rifle and a crack shot with a pistol, but has just a single category of surgeon (Medical-3+ together with DEX 8+).Burning Wheel has a skill list that is longer than Travellers, and comparable to RM's. The way it treats knowledge skills - particularly if one allows for the FoRKing in of applicable Wises - is perhaps defensible for a certain conception of pseudo-mediaeval levels of knowledge. But will certain break down, with no obvious way of being extended, for any setting with technical specialisation approaching the sort that you ([USER=6671663]@Autumnal[/USER]) refer to.The inference I draw from this is that most RPGers, in their game play, simply don't find technical specialisation as exciting as distinguishing rifles from pistols!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 9181034, member: 42582"] I don't know Ringworld (other than by general reputation). Of the RPGs I know, none even attempts to deal with this issue. Eg Traveller has an EDU skill, but has no mechanical framework to distinguish -for instance - between EDU 15 (Einstein) and EDU 15 (AJ Ayer). In our campaign we use player-authored backstory to introduce those distinctions in an informal way. It comes up in the skill system too, which takes great care to distinguish between being (say) a crack shot with a rifle and a crack shot with a pistol, but has just a single category of [I]surgeon[/I] (Medical-3+ together with DEX 8+). Burning Wheel has a skill list that is longer than Travellers, and comparable to RM's. The way it treats knowledge skills - particularly if one allows for the FoRKing in of applicable Wises - is [I]perhaps[/I] defensible for a certain conception of pseudo-mediaeval levels of knowledge. But will certain break down, with no obvious way of being extended, for any setting with technical specialisation approaching the sort that you ([USER=6671663]@Autumnal[/USER]) refer to. The inference I draw from this is that most RPGers, in their game play, simply don't find technical specialisation as exciting as distinguishing rifles from pistols! [/QUOTE]

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