Skill Groups, kill 'em all! Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Outline Switch to: Standard Switch to: Linear+

[Larme]

Wake up people! Skill groups are a trap set by the devs! Maybe not on purpose, but from the standpoint of character optimization, they are (almost always) horrible.

I have reviewed quite a number of noob sheets. I look at these sheets and I ask, "How the heck are they getting so few dice out of 400BP?" Sometimes, the culprit is positive qualities that cost a lot for very little benefit (Will to Live anyone?), but most of the time, it's skill groups!

First of all, skill groups do not automatically save points like people seem to think. They only save points if you actually need every skill that they come with, AND you need all of them at the same level. If you don't, you are wasting points, plain and simple. The worst are the ones with only 3 skills in them, since they only save 2 BP over normal skill selections. You'd save more points by simply dropping one of those skills and taking 2 of them only.

The worst culprits are Firearms and Close Combat. They are the #1 sheet nerfers in existence. Firearms is a boondoggle, because what possible need could you have for pistols, automatics, AND longarms, all at the same level? First of all, Automatics serve every firearms roll there is, you've got sidearms, SMGs and Machine Pistols, and you've got main combat weapons, Assault Rifles. Pistols are perhaps a bit better as sidearms because you can grab heavy pistols, but is a slightly better sidearm worth all those points? Longarms as well can cover all your bases -- you've got rifles which are very powerful semi auto weapons, good for big targets, and shotguns which can full auto, replacing assault rifles. You've even got a sidearm if you get a sawed off, short barreled Defiance. Having all three is nothing but obbsessive just-in-case-ism. "But Larme, what if I need to grab the nearest weapon and start blasting away?" "Stfu!" is my answer! When does that ever happen? When has anyone lost all of their character's weapons, then been forced to fight using someone else's weapon? Well it's never happened to me, not once, in my entire Shadowrunning career. Either I have my weapon in my hand, or I die. There's no middle ground in my experience.

Even if you do feel compelled to be a weapons expert, I ask you: can you really afford every gun at the same rating, and still be a useful character? If you take Firearms 4, that's 40 points. But if you take, say, Automatics 6, and pistols and longarms at 1(3), that's only 36 points, and you are a lot better with one class of weapons, while losing only one die in the others. Even if you feel compelled to have them all, there's no possible reason to have all of them at the unimpressive rating of 4-- especially not if shooting guns is supposed to be "your thing." The only reason is deliberate nerfing, if you're playing in a low powered campaign, or if you're one of those people who thinks weaker characters are more fun. That's fine if that's what floats your boat, just don't deceive yourself about Firearms being good in terms of sheet optimization.

If Firearms is bad, Close Combat is the worst. I will admit that each class of firearms has different abilities, and might come in handy, maybe. But close combat weapons are 100% interchangeable. It does not matter one little bit whether you're using clubs, blades, or unarmed. All can be pretty much equally powerful. There are three viable melee strategies for a streetsam, IMO -- use cyberspurs, so you don't need free hands and can't be disarmed, use fists, so even if you are disarmed you're effective, or use clubs, so you can clock people with melee hardened guns without having to swap weapons. There is no earthly reason for doing all three. If you have spurs or unarmed, you cannot be disarmed, you will never *never* be forced to pick up a club for any reason. And if you have clubs, almost anything can make an improvised club, there's no reason you'd ever need to fight with your fists or a blade. Having the close combat skill group is always a waste of points, because you absolutely do not need all of those skills.

The next worst culprit is Athletics. Don't get me wrong, there is a good skill tucked in there, and it's a 4 skill group, so you save 6 points per level. But again, it's not really savings, because who needs ever skill in that group? Running and Swimming *suck.* You can run and swim just great without them, without ever spending an action or making a roll. All these skills do is make you a teensy bit faster, if you spend a simple action to sprint. That's a horrible ability to get for all those points. And then there's climbing. Since when is that a necessary skill? I have never once climbed anything in Shadowrun. The only people who want to climb are noobs who want to climb buildings and go in through the roof, which every vet will tell you is a retarded idea. If there's a fence, you cut it, you don't climb it. Maybe, in some remote circumstances, climbing could be a necessary skill, but even if it is, just take a die or two so you don't have to default. You don't want it at full rating with your useful skill, which is Gymnastics. Gymnastics is the one valuable skill in the Athletics group. It should not be stuck at the same level as the rest of your Athletics, because it is too handy. Gymnastics handles defense, it handles balance, and it handles jumping, which are all things that Shadowrunners have to do on a fairly regular basis. But a skill group with just one good skill is not a skill group that should be taken, ever.

Now, I'm just speaking from the perspective of twinking out here. If you're trying to make a "realistic" character, where fluff matters more than power, and you think your character's background forces you to take skill groups and consequently have very low dice pools, fine. Just don't delude yourself. Skill groups, for the most part, are essentially roleplaying devices. They let you pick up broad sets of skills because you think your character would know all of those skills. Rarely, if ever, is every skill in a group something you actually need. And eliminating things you don't actually need is the one and only skill required to make a powerful build.