Some Help with Scientific Specialties...

[thedragonmaster]

I was looking over the D&R Chart when I noticed the Scientific Specialty row, which specifically says "Not General Knowledge", and was trying to figure out a reasonable charge for an Action that would use that row. At first I thought that I had just missed it, but after going through all three books several times I decided to work up a generic Action for it. Here are the iterations the thought went through, let me know which one seems best to you.

1) First I thought about finding comparably connected actions and just using the difference (specifically medical healing vs. genetic engineering) Medical Healing and General Knowledge both use information that could, conceivably, be acquired through similar paths... If we count an AN of 1 for Medical Healing to be equivalent to first aide. And given that both (now talking about the higher level Actions) would be the product of a long collegiate study program, Genetic Engineering and other Scientific Specialties would then equate to the same cost (which is to say AN + 6.

Now the problem I have with this one is it just feels too expensive for most specialties (at least off hand, possibly once play began it wouldn't feel quite so far off).

2) Next I looked at the location on the D&R Chart of comparable levels within the two different scales. Which is to say: A masters on the General Education (which I believe counts for General Knowledge) is 4, while under Scientific Specialty it is a 2; PhD is 5 under GE, while under SS it is a 3. Now it makes sense to me that if you want a Difficulty break of 2 levels, you should pay for them at character creation. So with General Knowledge being AN + 1, Scientific Specialty would be AN + 3.

This one feels more right to me, though not having tried it yet in a game I don't know how it would turn out.

3) The next method of figuring it out was to look over the Chart for any other rows that had a similar... crossover effect. The two rows I found were Running and Flying. A running speed of 75MPH, with a Difficulty of 4, falls into the flying speed range of 31 - 150 MPG for a Difficulty of 2. While the comparison isn't perfect, it is fairly consistent all the way through the Row. So we look to the difference in cost between running and Flying. Well, there isn't really a "Running" Action, we just use Speed for that, and that is charged at a CL of AN. As for the Flying Action, well that comes in at a CL of AN + 1. To carry the comparison over, since General Knowledge weighs in at AN + 1, then Scientific Specialty would be AN + 2.

To me, this one feels too cheap. Yes, the comparison is right there, but the main difference between Scientific Specialty and General Knowledge is years of study, not just some freak accident.

...

As you can see I'm leaning towards the second option, but I would like some other points of view on the matter (or even just a quick 1/2/3 looks good would work) before I implement it in play.

[malice]

I don't find any of the options adequately priced for what's going to be a mostly useless action. The scientific specialty row of the D&R refers to mostly personalized actions like Geophysics. Computers or Technology are better places to look for precedence than Genetic Engineering or inventing imo. Genetic Engineering and Inventing are actions that can't even be attempted without a pre-existing enormous amount of skill (less so with inventing in real life, but in Marvel inventions are disgustingly advanced super-science normally). Inventing even requires a technology action (a requirement that makes it tough to acquire but is reasonable).

For a basic scientific specialty action that represents training in the field I'd charge AN. If the player wanted to do things with it like make potions with alchemy, then I'd boost the cost, but not a lot.

[thedragonmaster]

So then you would charge less for a Scientific Specialty than for General Knowledge? Interesting way to handle it. I don't tend to think of any Action as useless, since it is the player telling the GM what he wants his character to have an opportunity to do during the game (i.e, Geophysics: "the PC notices that the villains footprints have a strange dust on them, takes it back to his lab and finds that it is soil found only on the small island of Microneciana"or "Waking up at the front door of an old monestary, observing the air currents, she realizes that she is in the Himalaya mountains, on the north east side if she isn't mistaken"). Not to mention that if someone has spent the time to acquire a PhD, they certainly had to make sacrifices elsewhere that would have been greater than the sacrifices made by someone who only finished college... Though I suppose if it had a requirement of General Knowledge, I could see it working.

Any other thoughts?

[malice]

That's a good point, but all characters arguably have a modest amount of General Knowledge. Taking the action means you really have a lot of it. A scientific specialty may or may not find its way into every gaming session while General Knowledge likely will (It's generall after all).

Like I said though, it's a good point. A GM should make opportunities for PCs to shine, and if you as a GM are capable of that consistently then I think pricing it at +1 like General Knowledge is plenty fair.

[pgholland]

While a Scientific speciality is more 'powerful' than General Knowledge it is also exceedingly specific, and comes under the purview of Personalised Actions, after all General Knowledge allows you wide knowledge of lots of subjects, Biology or Physics only allows you knowledge of those areas- they will never come into play in EVERY issue, that would just make for poor and contrived storylines, whereas Genearl Knowledge includes specialities for situational modifers as well as allowing you to effectively 'know' anything else. Therefore a speciality shouldn't really be priced at more than GK and I would never charge a player even +1 cost level for it.

[malice]

pgholland said:

While a Scientific speciality is more 'powerful' than General Knowledge it is also exceedingly specific, and comes under the purview of Personalised Actions, after all General Knowledge allows you wide knowledge of lots of subjects, Biology or Physics only allows you knowledge of those areas- they will never come into play in EVERY issue, that would just make for poor and contrived storylines, whereas Genearl Knowledge includes specialities for situational modifers as well as allowing you to effectively 'know' anything else. Therefore a speciality shouldn't really be priced at more than GK and I would never charge a player even +1 cost level for it.

That basically sums up what I was trying to say. The only time I'd recommend pricing specialized scientific actions more than AN is if they're getting something out of it like with inventing, or if it's generally all-encompassing of its area like Technology or General Knowledge.

[Kaimontfendo]

Yeah. The specialized actions are very limited in usefulness. In a CSI-type game, the guy with a Toxicology action isn't going to very helpful in an embezzlement case. Similarly, the Computer Forensics Specialist isn't terribly helpful in a homicide case. However, someone with a Forensic Science action could do a bit of both.

It's also similar to Masteries. Manipulation of stone isn't too great on a boat, and a master of water doesn't mean much in a desert (unless he can create water, then he's a livesaver.) But a master of Matter is only at a disadvantage if there's no matter of any type nearby, for example in the vacuum of outer space.

Alright. Rant over.