Language and Literacy Category

[Valpurgius]

What category do language and literacy officially belong to? RUE, as well as the official character generator spreadsheet has them in Communication, but numerous follow on books as well as earlier books put them in Technical?

[Grazzik]

What category do language and literacy officially belong to? RUE, as well as the official character generator spreadsheet has them in Communication, but numerous follow on books as well as earlier books put them in Technical?

They are "officially" in whatever category they are listed in as per the core book you are using. If RUE then Communication, if Chaos Earth then Technical. There is no published megaversal standard.

[desrocfc]

Yet another reason for a unified Core Rules Set. In all honesty I've never gone for the change and they remain Technical Category skills. Communications has always been about technical communications devices and related fields. Never about Barter, Performance, Singing, or Language.

I can understand why they wouldn't want so many skilled lumped into the Technical; that said, they literally belong there, and moving them in RUE mucks up a slew of previous books' classes. It just messes with the heuristic for what skill belongs where.

Because Singing somehow now goes in Communications, but Play Musical Instrument remains a Domestic skill..... <shrug>

At least it's not as bad as the Cowboy Category.....

[Warshield73]

It is a matter of when the book was published. The old books didn't even have native language and languages tended to be in the technical category. "Newer" books, and newer is highly relative here, have moved it to communications.

The problem is categories of skills is very difficult, for get the skills you listed if you have a bonus to technical you have the same bonus for masonry you do for computers.

I would prefer things like language and performance be in communication, along with public speaking and the like, while radio and laser com get moved to technical with computer. Put your lore and history into a knowledge category and so on. I do understand people who say there are too many skills but I think it would be OK to create more categories so they make a tad more sense. I also think it is OK to list skills in more than one category.

[desrocfc]

I would suggest this speaks to a broader requirement by PB to get on the revision of their Core Rules to baseline the skills properly across ALL games, rationalize away some of the skills, formalize each skill to +5% per level, and justify their placement in each Category (or more than one).

I developed a framework that did as much, and more, creating a framework for skills, skill challenges, and for adding new 'specializations' of skills as necessary. <shrug> We'll see what PB has to say (or likely not, LOL).

[Grazzik]

I would suggest this speaks to a broader requirement by PB to get on the revision of their Core Rules ...

In the meantime, I'm sure we've all house ruled our own skills lists based on our own preferences. The only significant impact is whether or not the skill % is +/- 10% or thereabouts due to bonuses and whether there are skill selection limits on technical skills. Doesn't really impact the game overall...

So, kinda doubt PB will do anything about it. More likely, in the next book they will move language/literacy into yet another category just because...

[desrocfc]

So, kinda doubt PB will do anything about it. More likely, in the next book they will move language/literacy into yet another category just because...

Well, the hope and the dream is the CRS catches their attention. Thus far, it's made it on the radar.

[Library Ogre]

Is there any reason they wouldn't be both?

[Grazzik]

Is there any reason they wouldn't be both?

None.

Just that if you pick language in one category it may get a OCC Related bonus that isn't applied in the other category. Then it would be up to the GM either to house rule that the bonus could carry over (for fairness) or play RAW and say that the nature of the OCC is such that the bonus would only apply to skill slots under the first category. The same thing comes up with skills like Prowl that is both Physical and Rogue.

[Marcethus]

Is there any reason they wouldn't be both?

That's exactly how I have done it for years.