Specializations at Character Start...

[keradim]

Can you spend 2d and get 6D of starting Specializations?

[vong]

that would be up to the gm, but id say since it costs half, you spend 2d to get 4d.

dont know if there is a rule about it. i always give character points to start with. you have 18 attribute dice, and about 100 character points.
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[Kayle Skolaris]

Hey Vong, run a PbP for me.

[Gry Sarth]

Oh, that would be ridiculous. Although technically 1D of specializations costs 1 pip during character creation (and thus you could buy 6D with 2D) allowing this would be a total abuse of the rules. As far as I know the only limit the official rules impose is that you can't put more than 2D in a single skill. I think the same is meant to apply for specializations, you can only add 2D to each one (at the cost of 2 pips). So if you really want to do some powerplaying, the most you can do is put 2D in a skill and another 2D in a specialization of that skill, for a total of 4D above the attribute.

Allowing a beginning human character to potentially start with a skill specialization score of 12D (4D attrib. +2D skill +6D spec.) would be ludicrous...
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[Kayle Skolaris]

I don't think anyone is suggesting allowing a player to sink all six Specialization dice into one skill. At least, I hope they aren't.

By the strict letter of the rules, you can only split 1D of your starting 7D into specialization dice. I've always allowed more than 1D to be used at the player's discretion, but I allow no more than 3D to be used in this fashion. For me, this insures that my players have at least a few 'full skills' to their name to start out with.

Also, I don't allow more than 1D to be placed in a specialization to start unless it's an advanced game with more than the basic 7D in skills. Even then, I strictly regulate what I allow.

So in a game I run, a basic character would start with 7D in skills. He could choose to spend all 7D on full skills or split 3D into 9D worth of specialized skills and have 4D left over for full skills, but could not use more than 3D in this fashion. A Jack of All Trades character may be easily created in this fashion by further splitting those dice into pips. So a starting character could choose to have twenty-one full skills at +1 pip (by chopping his starting 7D into individual pips) or he could change 3D into 9D of Specialization Skills and then split those into 27 pips with 4D or 12 pips of full skills, or any combination thereof.

Anyway, I hope that's not too confusing. I have a hard time following it myself and I'm the one who wrote it!

[masque]

I let players use 2D if they want, but not on one skill, and no more than 2D. In other words, I have no problem with letting a player take 6 different specializations. They can't munchkin blaster up to monster proportions, though, or anything like that.

I also make to sure to show them in-game the folly of too much specialization, not enough regular skill increase...
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Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.

[PsiberDragon]

I agree w/ a limit of how many dice can be split into specializations. 2D for 6 DIFFERENT specializations is about the max I would allow...

Of course, if they wanted to improve those specializations, then it would cost a FULL 1D - just like other skills.

For an example, you take: Repeating Blaster (spec.), Dodge v. Martial Arts (spec) and First Aid: Wookies (spec). You get each of those skills at 1D above your starting stats. You now have 6D for the rest of your skills. To improve any of those 3 skills further costs you an additional D.

So, to improve your Repeating Blaster Specialization still costs you 1D of the 6 remaining, meaning you now have 5D left for other skills...
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[Expendable Hero]

I feel that you should say never to players as little as possible. As for specialized skills starting of a character I make 3d the max you can have starting off above your stats. I feel that this reflects more on the realism because in general a doctor who spends 4 years studing general medicine will have an overall lower skill in a specific field than a specialzed doctor would.
The most important part of permitting specializtions is the purpose behind the char creation. If someone wants to make there character unique and uses speliazed skills to help with the feel thats fine. I had one player who wanted to make a knife fighter and had a great story behind it. I agreed to allow them to take specialized in melee parry attack and thrown weapons with the knife because he did such a good back story and I knew he wasn't doing it to try and munchkin. I did turn down another player who wanted blaster:heavy pistol Blaster rep heavy pistol armor rep:smasher. because I knew he only wanted them to power game even if he had kept his specialized dice low I still would have said no because of the intent behind it. To me that is what makes the decision.
Remember the game is about having fun for everyone so long as there is a balance between characters and everyone is having fun who cares if someone is all specialized dice and others not. I could break the system just as easy without specializing and so could most of my players. And remember a specialize is a weakness as well as a strength.

[Phalanks Balas]

Rules are clear on this point : you can split a skill die to 3 dice for specialised skills. these 3 dice can't be added together.
exemple with a character I named Joe. He has 4D in dexterity. I give him 2 skill dice in blaster then I split a die in 3D specialised skills.
Thus Joe has 6D in blaster. I choose to give him 1 specialised die in blaster pistol. Now he skilled at 7D in (S) blaster pistol. I can't add more die in this specialisation. I have to find 2 other skills to specialise (could be blaster rifle, blaster carabine, streetwise: Mos Eisley or language: wookie etc...).
I can not add 2 or 3 dice in the same specialised skill.
Player have to think to give a maximum of skills at his/her character. Specialised characters are usefull where they are good to, but it can be very boring to play in other situations.
Joe is typicaly a sniper. He can shoot everything at hundred meters away. he's also very skilled in hand to hand combat and melee combat. During fight scene he is very dangerous. BUT in an alien starport where weapons are prohibed, he is totaly useless because he is weak in alien language and social skills.
Remember star wars game is not only to shoot stormtroopers, you may also have to be good detective, diplomat or in bargain.
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Phalanks

A day you will be facing the guns of the Black Pearl. You will know what means damned pirates !

[Allst Beamem]

when i was in the army i found this great GM and this was his philosophy on making chr...

make your char how ever you want with in the rules, if you want to go outside of the regular rules and make some thing out statnding thats fine to, as long as you have a good back story explaining it. just rember that you make the chr you want to play and i make the world that he or she has to live in so if your chr is grand in scale some time the world will be to.
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We're all gona die!!

[jmanski]

If someone munchkins their blaster dice (with specializations and such) out of proportion- that character will have low dice in other skills. Take these characters and make them use those other skills.

Nothing bites like trying to climb down a wall with 3d in climb, falling because of a failed roll, and taking damage because of the fall.
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Blasted rules. Why can't they just be perfect?

[garhkal]