Clarification - Survival

By bobfrankly, in Game Masters

I'm thinking of starting my unsuspecting duo off Hunger Games style, pushed out of a shuttle ten feet up, onto an Endor style planet with their starting gear. Maybe breaking something from the impact for good measure. Racing against others for the only ship off-planet, and of course there will be a hired gun sitting just inside the ship gunning people down as they try to board it (which they will of course see before they approach).

Having set the scene, here's the questions:

I'm sure Survival will largely be the skill of the day here, and I'm wondering if they were to make primitave weapons, would that all come from the survial skill? I get that gather materials would be a survival skill, but would constructing them fall under another skill that I'm missing?

I'm also presuming traps and snares would come from survival as well, but concealing them would be a stealth check, if I required them to make one (circumstances and all that). Sound right?

Survival would be the go-to skill for most of this stuff, yes. When making primitive weapons you could always opt to let them use Melee instead, since that skill does indicate a certain familiarity with sharp and pointy objects. More complicated traps could possibly go under Mechanics. Skulduggery is also an option, both for making and concealing traps.

I could see Melee being applied in the use of primative melee weapons, and heavy ranged being applied in the use of a bow and arrow set (2 handed, and they referenced the bowcaster), but I'm mainly looking at the construction\aqquiring aspect of it.

Also, is anyone aware of any planetary or artificial effects that would disable or hamper the use of blasters? I'll make something up if need be, but if there's already something in canon or EU that would make things simpler.

I agree with Krieger22 that Survival seems to be the go-to skill for the creation of survival gear on the fly, and basic weaponry would certainly qualify as survival gear.

As for planetary effects, I've heard of some, but I can't for the life of me remember where or what. A highly ionized atmosphere could potentially have disastrous effects if someone were to fire a blaster bolt. It would likely create a short lived trail of charged particles which, in turn, would draw the energy from the atmosphere back to that channel between the shooter and the target. (Imagine being hit by lightning every time you pull the trigger.)

What I like to do is leave it up to the creativity of the players. If they want to try making primitive weapons based on Survival, great. I would use whatever base difficulty I decided on. The Engineer wants to use his Mechanics skill, because he knows how to build and fix things, go ahead, but I'm going to hit you with a setback die as well, since this isn't your usual shop environment. "But I grew up on the streets and had to get by with whatever I could find." Okay, I'll let you add a boost die. What about Athletics? I could help set the traps by lifting a heavier counterbalance. Okay, I'll let you assist. Add a boost die to the primary builder. Stealth could add to the effectiveness of a hidden trap... boost die. Knowledge... Xenology could find a poison to dip an arrow into. Education covers all kinds of stuff, you could have studied primitive cultures and know something about making weapons.

If the players are creative enough in how they can contribute, I can add boost or setback dice accordingly. If the education could be used as a primary, I might add or upgrade my base difficulty due to lack of experience 'in the field'. The system allows so much creativity and imagination, and so many possibilities based on the outcome of a roll of the dice. If a player can think outside the box... reward them. The trick is, they have to tell me why it should work.

"Can I use my Melee skill?"

"Why?"

"Because it's my best skill?"

"Don't think so."

or

"Because I know about melee weapons, how a pointy stick might be more effective against an armored opponent than say a simple stick hitting him."

"Sure... here's the difficulty, upgraded for your lack of experience building the weapons you use, and some setback dice for not having proper tools to sharpen your stick."

Just some of my thoughts. Happy gaming!

The Combat Skills section in Chapter V: Gear and Equipment says that "Skills represent the ability to use, identify, maintain, and care for the weapons in each category." It doesn't necessarily say it allows someone to build a weapon.

Bren Waynero made some great suggestions, especially where it encourages different team members to contribute in their own way. (I may have to borrow this storyline, now.) Sharpening a stick may not necessarily make it a spear, lacking balance and strength etc. Too many Threat rolls while making a bow might mean that you get it just about finished, and it snaps the first time you string the bow. In addition to difficulty in creating it, the final product would probably have the Inaccurate or Inferior quality added to it. Possibly both.

My thinking was that someone who's good at sticking people with pointy sticks is probably also qualified to finding a sturdy stick and sharpening it to his satisfaction.

My point in listing several skills is that unless all your players have the Survival skill an adventure like this would let some of them do all the rolling while the others just sit and watch. This isn't very fun for those without the Survival skill, so spreading things out between a few different skills lets everyone participate.

My thinking was that someone who's good at sticking people with pointy sticks is probably also qualified to finding a sturdy stick and sharpening it to his satisfaction.

My point in listing several skills is that unless all your players have the Survival skill an adventure like this would let some of them do all the rolling while the others just sit and watch. This isn't very fun for those without the Survival skill, so spreading things out between a few different skills lets everyone participate.

Moreover, I caution against letting any skill become a "god skill" that's useful in so many situations that maxing it out at the expense of any other skill becomes a no-brainer.

I understand the "god skill" concept and wanting to avoid it. We've only got two players, one is a fallen politico twilek face man with survival ( and no combat skills ), and the other is a betrayed rodian bounty hunter beatstick. A teaming of the brains and the brawn, and this is meant to be an opening story that will help the rodian and the twilek to depend on each-other. It's also to help them get creative with role playing because they both love camping IRL. =D

Thank you all for your suggestions, and helping me refine my concepts. =D

Edited by bobfrankly

I understand the "god skill" concept and wanting to avoid it. We've only got two players, one is a fallen politico twilek face man with survival ( and no combat skills ), and the other is a betrayed rodian bounty hunter beatstick. A teaming of the brains and the brawn, and this is meant to be an opening story that will help the rodian and the twilek to depend on each-other. It's also to help them get creative with role playing because they both love camping IRL. =D

Thank you all for your suggestions, and helping me refine my concepts. =D

Good way to set it up. The teamwork issue is one that I would utilize in several cases. I have a larger group, so I will probably be more strict on allowing skill crossover. If someone in the party has the skill in question, I wouldn't allow a substitution. If you're on your own and have to make do with what you know, there'll be a couple of challenge dice added for not using the correct skill, but you can attempt it.