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garhkal
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 Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 10:55 pm Post subject: Cultures.. |
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What do YOU as gm allow the cultures skill to get used for? Have you seen many players take it for their characters? Gotten it high in skill?
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Whill
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| Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:03 am Post subject: Re: Cultures.. |
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| garhkal wrote: | | What do YOU as gm allow the cultures skill to get used for? Have you seen many players take it for their characters? Gotten it high in skill? |
I allow the skill to be used for everything it says in the skill's description. A few PCs have had it but I can't recall any PC getting too high with it.
Why do you ask? Do any GMs handle the skill differently?
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Dredwulf60
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Joined: 07 Jan 2016
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| Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:06 am Post subject: Re: Cultures.. |
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| Whill wrote: | | garhkal wrote: | | What do YOU as gm allow the cultures skill to get used for? Have you seen many players take it for their characters? Gotten it high in skill? |
I allow the skill to be used for everything it says in the skill's description. A few PCs have had it but I can't recall any PC getting too high with it.
Why do you ask? Do any GMs handle the skill differently? |
In my current game, it is a vital skill; specifically the Mandalorian Culture specialization. I use it to govern actions that are tied closely to the culture, even replacing other more typical skills.
for example, I allow a Mandalorian to roll their Mandalorian Culture skill to activate a piece of supporting equipment on their Mando armor as a free action; the fold-down rangefinder for example....or to activate a jet pack. |
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garhkal
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Joined: 17 Jul 2005
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Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:16 am Post subject: Re: Cultures.. |
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| Whill wrote: |
Why do you ask? Do any GMs handle the skill differently? |
Just had a day dream of an old module a prior dm had, that if i was to revamp, how would a few scenes go down.. It was effetively a split world. Future tech in the space port Domes, but outside it, it was all medieval like feudal level.. Including dress wear, culture, mannerisms and even dances and such.. And one of the bigger countries often used 'dance off's (local dance styles) to determine winners in certain disputes.. So if the pcs got there, and somehow got drawn into one, would they even think to use cultures to id the dance being done by an opponent, to figure out a proper counter dance to do...
Or something like that. Been almost 20 years now since i played in that game session.
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cheshire
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| Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 7:59 am Post subject: Re: Cultures.. |
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| garhkal wrote: | | What do YOU as gm allow the cultures skill to get used for? Have you seen many players take it for their characters? Gotten it high in skill? |
Just spit-balling here, but I wonder if the lack of usage of the skill in our games is a byproduct of a general lack of awareness when it comes to how to read cultural-social cues in our lives as players and GM's. That is to say, even if we know that other cultures function differently, we're largely unaware of how the rubber meets the road due to our own high degree of cultural assimilation into our own localities.
I'd never realized how much I took for granted until I'd spent several months in a different culture, and I had to spend a great deal of attention to detail trying to read between the lines of what others took for granted. Even having undergone training in workshops since, I still find myself missing the mark, and I'm told that I have a high cultural awarness (usually followed by the qualifier "for an American").
Anyway, we're far more familiar with how other skills look in their real-world equivalents, and maybe we have a harder time because we aren't so accustomed to using that skill in the real world.
As I said, just spit-balling. Feel free to pick apart the above hypothesis.
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Whill
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Joined: 14 Apr 2008
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Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy
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| Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 9:43 am Post subject: Re: Cultures.. |
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| garhkal wrote: | | Just had a day dream of an old module a prior dm had, that if i was to revamp, how would a few scenes go down.. It was effetively a split world. Future tech in the space port Domes, but outside it, it was all medieval like feudal level.. Including dress wear, culture, mannerisms and even dances and such.. And one of the bigger countries often used 'dance off's (local dance styles) to determine winners in certain disputes... |
LOL, dance offs. That's funny.
| garhkal wrote: | | So if the pcs got there, and somehow got drawn into one, would they even think to use cultures to id the dance being done by an opponent, to figure out a proper counter dance to do.. |
I think that's an appropriate use of the skill.
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Naaman
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| Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:42 pm Post subject: |
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With respect to cheshire's comment and the thread as a whole, I feel that ANY campaign that involves interstellar travel should require use of the cultures skill. But especially when travelling to planets/sectors that are not as culturally divers as, say, the core or inner systems.
A trip to Kamino, for example, would require a a cultures roll in order to pick up on the subtleties that may engraciate the denizens to be more helpful and less aloof. |
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garhkal
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Joined: 17 Jul 2005
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Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 1:54 pm Post subject: Re: Cultures.. |
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| cheshire wrote: | | garhkal wrote: | | What do YOU as gm allow the cultures skill to get used for? Have you seen many players take it for their characters? Gotten it high in skill? |
Just spit-balling here, but I wonder if the lack of usage of the skill in our games is a byproduct of a general lack of awareness when it comes to how to read cultural-social cues in our lives as players and GM's. That is to say, even if we know that other cultures function differently, we're largely unaware of how the rubber meets the road due to our own high degree of cultural assimilation into our own localities.
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Well, a lot of it also boils down to Role vs roll playing. And often the latter seems more prevalent, especially when it comes to social interactions etc.
| Whill wrote: | | garhkal wrote: | | Just had a day dream of an old module a prior dm had, that if i was to revamp, how would a few scenes go down.. It was effetively a split world. Future tech in the space port Domes, but outside it, it was all medieval like feudal level.. Including dress wear, culture, mannerisms and even dances and such.. And one of the bigger countries often used 'dance off's (local dance styles) to determine winners in certain disputes... |
LOL, dance offs. That's funny. |
Funny yes. BUT some cultures DO still do it..
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Savar
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| Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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the age old rpg question. what dose my char know that I don't.
ranks up there with my char doesn't know what I do. |
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Naaman
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| Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 5:57 pm Post subject: |
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Some GMs have a hard time distinguishing those two, as well. And that, I think, is why a lot of knowledge skills (or, the whole attribute itself) falls by the wayside... and its probably why intimidation and willpower found their way into the knowledge attribute instead of perception where they belong: because those skill actually have a tangible, usable effect that all players can understand and intuitively apply.
In other words, the cultures skill or alien species or planetary systems skills don't provide a clear, immediate means of dominating an NPC. Whereas intimidation is obvious, and willpower negates the ability of another character to dominate the PC. Without some kind of interactive skill that can allow a player to say "I win!," the knowledge attribute lacks any kind of obvious value in actual play. |
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MrNexx
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| Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 11:38 am Post subject: |
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On the other hand, how many GMs have players roll Cultures without being prompted? Like "Ok, he's started a dance. Everyone roll Cultures, specialization applicable is 'Jayne's World'."
In some ways, you actually get into the newfangled idea of "social combat"... Alpa starts a dance battle, and you can fight back using your Cultures and Dance skills. Didn't specialize in those? Well, now you know how C-3PQ's player feels when you start every conversation with "Yeah, yeah, yeah, roll for initiative."
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garhkal
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| Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 1:40 pm Post subject: |
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In sparks, i have had some (admittedly less than a dozen) instances where i have seen players ASK to roll cultures on something before waiting to get told to do so.
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Volar the Healer
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| Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 9:43 am Post subject: |
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Generally, if characters travel to a new world they've never been to before, I let the character with the highest culture skill to roll before landing. I give them one relelvent hint about the culture for every 5 points they roll.
Example: culture roll of 23 means (23/5 rounded down) = 4 hints about how the planet's culture may affect their mission.
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Last edited by Volar the Healer on Mon May 16, 2016 8:58 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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garhkal
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| Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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Do you chart out how many hints there can be and what their 'affects in game' are??
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Rusharn
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| Posted: Sun May 08, 2016 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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In my games, the moment the plays step away from a starport controlled by the Republic or Empire, they start relying on Streetwise and cultures. Step out of the the Hyperspace tech star port into the atomic age surrounding city, start your cultures check, to know where their center of government is, where the shopping districts are, and what side of the street to drive on. Also when dealing with the locals, a good cultures check reduces the difficulties for other checks such as streetwise and investigations
My groups always either bought a droid with those skills or had one or two players that increased the skill to 7 or 8D. It's a skill not all players need in my games but every group needs. |
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