Quick question Options

[ghostapathy]

Quick question, my character is an Enchanter. When I am doing the Gathering test it states that the test is

Animal reagents Zoology + Intuition Test

Herbal reagents Botany + Intuition Test

Metal reagents Metallurgy + Intuition Test

Mineral reagents Geology + Intuition Test

My question is, are Zoology, Botany, Metallurgy, Geology Active skills or Knowledge skills?

[Ravor]

Knowledge Skills, I think... Too lazy to check though. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cyber.gif)

[Karoline]

Knowledge. If they aren't listed in the book under the skills section as being active skills, they are knowledge skills (That includes everything with ology on the end)

[Sperethiel]

This made me question the idea behind Chemistry as an Active skill. Biology and Chemistry are pretty familiar because you had to study them in high school, and I would think they would both be knowledge skills like zoology. However, if I remember correctly chemistry can be an active skill for mixing chemicals (like making drugs). So if you're using a skill like that wouldn't it become an active skill? Even though its coming from an academic background. Maybe biology could be dissecting things or working with other biology things (cells, DNA, other things). Just a passing thought.

-ology , I'm pretty sure means "the study of", but when you have knowledge of it, it isn't just facts its some practice too. Same with Chemistry and physics, because all sciences usually involve experimentation. Maybe a person with the knowledge of 1 wouldn't have done any of that, but its hard to imagine an expert in biology with a high knowledge skill wouldn't have any of the skills that go with it. Maybe they should just be added as separate active skills and explained through role playing though...

[Karoline]

I think the main reasons they aren't made active skills include the fact that most of them really wouldn't do much. What you could accomplish with biology for example would be severely restricted within the limits of an SR game, while what you can do with chemistry is quite a bit. Secondly, there is a difference between a chemistry active skill and a chemistry knowledge skill. Chemistry active would be the ability to do lab work, to mix chemicals properly, to know the procedure that needs to be followed, to work the equipment and so on. A chemistry knowledge skill would be what you learned in lecture. It would also represent keeping up with chemistry journals and stuff like that.

It is very possible to know all the theory behind chemistry, to know how every reaction works, to be able to figure out heat exchange, work, entropy, enthalpy, and so on, but not have the slightest clue how to properly measure out 10 ml of HCl. This is especially true when your looking at self taught type people (Which SR seems to lean towards). It is also equally possible to be able to mix up any chemical in the world that you happen to know how to make, without the slightest idea as to why mixing HCl and NaOH gives you salt water.

And with things like physics and biology, there just really isn't all that much practical application. A biologist doesn't go out and make life. A physicist generally does things that involve theoretical applications to something else. While a biologist can do lab work and research and all of that, they generally don't produce a product. Chemistry on the other hand includes both a large field of knowledge and making of products, which are quite seprate from one another.

[Jaid]

arguably, the biology active skill is "medicine" (and to some extent, first aid and cybertechnology). the physics active skill comes under many names, including (but not limited to) portions of the firearms skill group (really, just about any ranged attack skill actually), gymnastics, parachuting, the various pilot skills, the various engineering skills, and most probably several others i haven't considered. likewise, the psychology active skill comes in various forms: con, negotiate, intimidation, leadership, etc.

[TheOOB]

Chemistry is an active skill because there are rules on a bunch of actions you can perform with the skill(mainly building bombs and what-not), knowledge skills are left mostly undefined, have little or no rules associated with individual skills.