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[Garrowolf]

This is a variant to the specializations that I came up with for my STLPunk game.

Specialties are rated from +1 to +4. You can have as many specialties based on a skill that you want. The skills range from 1-5.

1 Trained to do this
2 You do this well
3 Professional
4 Exceptional
5 Master

+1 Specialized training
+2 Focused on this subject
+3 Few know more
+4 Fore front of the study

So a character would have
Pilot 2 (Shuttles +1, Drones +2, Starfighter +2, Transports +1)

Specialties also count toward other skills if they are relevant such as engineering and such.

[Rotbart van Dain...]

Specialisations are already close to being broken.

I honestly don't see how this makes that any better.

[lorechaser]

How are these priced?

[Eryk the Red]

This isn't actually all that far from what I wanted to do, which was to alter the structure of the skills list to emulate 2nd edition skills a little more. So skill groups are sort of the default. You can concentrate on one of the component skills in the group (which subtracts one from the group rating and adds one to the skill rating). You can specialize that skill (which, instead of the concentration mod, subtracts two from the group rating and adds two to the specialization rating). Groups, concentrations and specializations, once in play, are each raised with karma as separate ratings.

I always liked this structure. I probably won't actually implement it, since it would requiring starting a new campaign, and the one I'm doing now has been going for more than a year with no sign of stopping. Also, something would have to be done with group-less skills. I'd either discount the costs or shove them in a group. Regardless, it's all just theoretical.

[Garrowolf]

during character creation the specialties cost the same as skill ranks do. I haven't figured out how I'm going to do the xp cost yet.

The dice pools won't be as high as in SR though. Attributes tend to be lower (2 is average instead of 3 and there is no way to go over 6 without augmentation). Also there is no magic, cyberware is much less common, and equipment tends to alter thresholds instead of adding dice.

It is less of a cinematic setting.

[lorechaser]

[Garrowolf]

Actually in my STLPunk game you have to have the specialty to have access to whatever it is. The general skill will cover the most common and simplest stuff. For example I have Firearms skill that covers pistols and shotguns. Then you can get a specialty in Automatics, Longarms, etc. If you don't have the specialty then you are defaulting to attribute + skill -1. If you don't have the skill or the specialty then you either can't default or you are defaulting attribute -1.

Also when you default then all of your simple actions with that skill are complex actions and you can't make reaction checks with them.