These rules relate to
Shadowrun 3rd Edition.I've begun allowing players to have some Everyman Skills in addition to their starting skill points. (Note, please, that I use the standard Priority system for all characters; I've not tested this system with any other character creation system). The reason for this is simple, even a nearly unskilled person would have some basic skills they would've picked up from childhood, high school, etcetera. This is what these skills are supposed to represent.
Everyman Active SkillsQUOTE
Car 1 (Everyone would have some basic familiarity with how to drive, even if they don't use the skill on a regular basis. This represents drivers ed courses, or a parent teaching them how to drive).
I'm 28 and I still don't know how to drive a car. My brother go his license just now. Distances are long when travelling city-to-city that it is easier to take mass transit like trains. The city itself is small, so it is easier to go y bus or by bike. A car is beyond my means to keep.
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Computer 2 (In a world where computers rule everything, it's only logical to assume the character would have picked up slightly more than a basic understanding of this essential tool).
I am average in computer literacy in my own opinion, but when compared with people in my individual circle of friends I highly computer literate. Most have trouble operating Microsoft Office, let alone finding new drivers or tweaking with an operating System.
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Unarmed Combat 1 (Who didn't learn to fight growing up?).
I learned from a very early age that there was no way I could beat a full-grown man in unarmed combat. They just have far too much body mass for me to beat. Same thing with a knife. I would have to make sure they know martial arts for me to even use locks and then that is an issue where I can get charged for assault if I win. I would have to be able to clearly show that I was under clear and life threatening threat for me to fight back.
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Athletics 1 (Since Athletics covers running, jumping, climbing, etcetera, this is another logical choice given an active childhood).
I work out a little. Not enough to stay in solid physical shape. I would need to have a strong environment for me to get into good physical shape. In the past two year alone I have lost alot of my muscle tone.
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Etiquette 1 (Basic interpersonal skills are essential to survival in the Sixth World and every character should have at least this level of understanding of social interaction).
And yet looking at some people on this forum they would not know how to deal with a situation with people where they are out of their comfort zone.
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Everyman Knowledge Skills
History 1 (I've found that giving this skill to new characters, especially characters controlled by new players, tends to give them a "hook" into the character and provides an easy means of allowing them to know basic historical facts about the worlds history).
Again this make assumptions on history. For instance I find that most people have no knowledge of history, no interest in learning their own history and most what it is also reinforces certain nationally or government handed assumptions on how things went. George Washington wasn't an American, despite what conventional folklore states, he was British.
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Bushido Philosophy 1 (In a world that is heavily controlled by Japanacorps, like Mitsuhama or Renraku, it seems only logical to allow this skill to reflect the bias these corporations would have on the school systems of the countries they inhabit. Note, also, this DOES NOT imply a samurai character, or that the character is leaning towards being a samurai; it is only meant to reflect the cultural leanings of a society heavily influenced by Japanese culture).
Most of the Japanese Samurai caste even during the Tokugawa period did not subscribe to a Bushido philosophy. Today it is a gimmick to sell over priced junk to westerners and has been reinforced through many years of bad 80s movies.
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Everyman Languages
Native Tongue at Intelligence Level(Half Intelligence Rating for Read/Write Skill, rounded down, as per rules). (I see no reason to force players to spend points for their native language. It makes no sense to me).
Japanese 1 (Again, as listed for Bushido Philosophy above, the influence of Japanese culture around the world (especially in the UCAS) would allow for this language to be taught in most schools throughout the world).
Define language and literacy. If you live in Southern California, New Mexico, or Florida, the language you need to at 1 is Spanish. In some location in the United States English still is the secondary language.
Rates of literacy in the United States depend on which of the various definitions of literacy is used. Governments may label individuals who can read a couple of thousand simple words they learned by sight in the first four grades in school as literate; but the most comprehensive study of U.S. adult literacy ever commissioned by the U.S. government argues that such adults are functionally illiterate — they cannot read well enough to hold a good job (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2002, Adult Literacy in America). A study by the Jenkins Group has shown that millions of Americans never read another book after leaving school(Jackson, Robyn; 2008, Some startling statistics).
The National Center of Educational Statistics funded a five-year, $14 million study of U.S. adult literacy involving lengthy interviews of U.S. adults, the most comprehensive study of literacy ever commissioned by the U.S. government, was released in September 1993. It involved lengthy interviews of over 26,700 adults statistically balanced for age, gender, ethnicity, education level, and location (urban, suburban, or rural) in 12 states across the U.S. and was designed to represent the U.S. population as a whole. This government study showed that 21% to 23% of adult Americans were not "able to locate information in text", could not "make low-level inferences using printed materials", and were unable to "integrate easily identifiable pieces of information."
Knowing a few words in Japanese does not mean you have proficiency in the language. They are often discrete loan words, something English uses to develop its semantic construction and matrix.
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Edit: Silly me I forgot my point. I think this is a worthwhile list, but maybe instead of giving a point in each or two points in each instead you give them five points that can be spread between all the quoted skills at a maximum of 2 in the skill level.