New Skills & Professions

New Skills & Professions

Posted on Posted in ASF Additional Rules Tagged with

Experience 

Advanced Star Frontiers has added a few new aspects into the Experience system of Star Frontiers to enhance advancement. Instead of using the generic Experience Points in the old system, use the following rules:

  1. Partial Experience is experience recorded for a specific skill and is used only to advance that specific skill. It is gained when a PC successfully uses the skill at least once during an adventure.
  2. General Experience is the general XP points gained by successful attribute rolls and other non-skill roll related successes, and when the GM deems it necessary as a reward. This type of XP is used toward attributes, racial abilities, buying new skills, and any other non-skill advancement aspect.
    Both types of XP should be given out sparingly; at most 1d6 per adventure.
  3. To advance a PCs attributes with General XP, the PC can use only (100 – Attribute wanting to advance)% of his current General XP
    Ex: A PC with 5 General XP wants to advance his STA (50); (100 – 50) = 50% of 5 = 3 (rounding up) can be used making it 53.

+X RULE 

The +X column is the highest column any PC can achieve and level 8 is the highest level a PC can achieve. But in the case that any positive column shifts brings a PC beyond +X, the PC can still benefit from the extra column shifts. To get benefits from extra positive column shifts after reaching +X, if there is a possibility, the following procedure should be followed during any skill check to insure that the PC gains the maximum benefit from his advantages:

  1. Apply all negative column shifts to the Skill level
  2. Add all positive column shifts to Skill level
  3. Subtract 11 from the total.
  4. If the total is positive, then the PC has a Expertise Level (Expt. Level) and the PC’s strike column is +X. If it is negative, the PC

rolls as normal with the total equal to the PC’s strike column.

The Expt. Level is used to improve a success. A PC can subtract 3% * Expt. Level from the skill roll whether it is a success or failure. Example: A PC has a level 8 skill.. The PC receives a total of -2CS bringing him down to a +6 column on the Result Table. He also receives a total of +6 CS in the same attempt, bringing him to +X and making 1 his Expt. Level. On the roll for that attempt, the PC can subtract 3% from it.

Additional Skills

ARMORER

Prerequisites: Engineer: Military Lvl 2 & Proper tools

This skill allows the character to repair, and in some cases modify, solid armor. It allows the character to have the knowledge of proper applications of Armorgel, and other armor repair techniques. The Armorer skill can also be used with other skills as a corequisite to do special tasks. Without these co-requisite skills or with the Armorer skill alone, these tasks are impossible.

COREQUISITE USAGE

–Physics– Combined with physics of any level, the character can physically modify the armor in a way that couldn’t be done with just an Armorer skill. The character can not make this kind of attempt without both Armorer and Physics.

–Chemistry– Combined with chemistry of any level, the character can use his Armorer skill to chemically modify armor, given the proper supplies, etc. This kind of attempt can not be made without both Armorer skill and Chemistry skill.

Final Notes: This skill also includes all suits in the original Star Frontiers system, and Zebulon’s Guide. This skill is professionally available to Enforcers.

COMPUTERS: SHIP OPERATIONS

Prerequisites: Computers: Access & Operate,

Computer: Program Manip. Lvl 3

This is the skill that allows you to understand all ship computer and related systems. It does not allow detailed knowledge of the systems that are run by computers like ship propulsion systems. This does allow general knowledge of these systems, and detailed knowledge of how exactly the computers function and their purpose in these systems.

DEFENSIVE SCREENS

Prerequisites: Physics Lvl 2 or above, Armorer Lvl 2 or above, Proper materials, tools,
and equipment

This skill gives the character specific knowledge on defensive screen design and field manipulation for both ship and personal defenses. The power structure, electronics, and other specific physical information, and design features are also known. The level of the skill reflects what size ship the PC has knowledge about. The lower the level, the smaller the ship, and visa-versa. This skill can be professionally taken by Enforcer.

ENGINEERING: SHIP DESIGN

Prerequisites: Physics lvl 3, Engineering: (any) lvl 3

This is the detailed knowledge of ship systems and their design, including ship propulsion system, life support, etc. This skill can be used to solve easy, moderate and reasonably hard problems when it comes to a ship’s design. For extremely hard and pressing problems, there should be modifiers. All of this is up to the GM.

MEDICAL: CYBERSURGERY

Prerequisites: Medical: Medical Diagnosis, Cybernetics & CyberSurgery Kit

This is the ability to surgically attach and repair cybernetics. Cybernetics is just a general knowledge skill, and is usually used to identify, access, and operate cybernetics. Whereas cybersurgery is highly detailed and requires specific medical knowledge of nerve endings, this skill combines this knowledge with that of electronics to intricately combine them with cybernetic improvements, etc. This skill is available professionally to
Scispec.

ROBOTICS: DESIGN

Prerequisites: Robotics: Activate/deactivate, Robotics: Alter Mission, Robotics: Modification, proper equipment/materials

This is the skill to design one’s own robot. The level determines what level of robot the character is best at designing. If he attempts to design a robot with a level above his own, the designer has a negative CS equal to the difference between his level and the robot level he is attempting to design. This skill is not available professionally to any profession.

SECURITY SYSTEMS: SHIP SECURITY

Prerequisites: Security Sys.: Activate/operate,

Security Sys.: Deactivate

This skill gives the PC knowledge on how ship security systems and personnel work and how to set up one for a ship. It gives the PC light knowledge on how to access the security systems through ship computers. It also gives the PC knowledge on how to operate and command a boarding party.

WEAPONS: DROPPED

Prerequisites: Weapons: Grenades

This skill applies to bombs or any other weapons dropped from the air in a air vehicle or dropped from a moving ground vehicle (mines). The character, with a successful skill roll, can surgically drop these types of weapons with incredible accuracy. Laser guided or sensor guided bombs add to the PC’s level. This skill is available to the Enforcer profession.

WEAPONS: INDIRECT FIRE

This is the skill used to fire long range weapons indirectly with good or even incredible accuracy. With a spotter, the PC gets, at minimum of +1 CS. This can go higher if the spotting character has this skill also. In this case, the firing PC adds the spotting PC’s skill level to his own. This skill is available to the Enforcer and the Explorer Profession.

XENOTHEORY

Prerequisites: Exobiology

This is a knowledge skill of theories that are based around alien artifacts, cultures, and civilizations. With this skill, a PC can make accurate judgements on anything alien; technology, writing, etc. This skill is also a prerequisite to the specialization of Xeno-Specialist. This skill is available professionally to Scispecs and Explorers.

New Mentalist Disciplines

(by Wayne Delisle)

Body Weaponry

Success Rate: Discipline Level +1 CS

Pr: Density Level 2

This discipline allows a mentalist to harden his body to do more damage in unarmed combat. The only weapon allowed to be used in conjunction with this discipline are Brass knuckles. This discipline toughens the flesh and muscles of the user to provide protection like a skeinsuit that does not get destroyed and to increase punching damage equal to 2 points per level of the discipline. The effects last for Logic divided by ten in turns after which it cannot be used for a like number of minutes. This discipline can be used in hand-to-hand combat in astral space.

Expansion*

Success Rate: Discipline Level

Pr: Density Level 2

This discipline is similar to Density except that instead of changing mass, the mentalist remains the same mass while increasing his volume. The speed with which a mentalist can grow is one-tenth his height per turn, up to twice his height. Each one-tenth increase in size has the same effect as using Density to decrease a mentalist’s mass by one-tenth. See Density for details. A mentalist cannot use this discipline concurrently with Density. A character’s clothing and equipment also grow. No change in damage, mass, or range occur. This discipline doesn’t affect federanium.

Lights*

Success Rate: Level +X

This discipline allows a mentalist to psychically agitate air molecules causing them to produce light. This light can be shaped as needed. The light produced can range from very dim to as bright as a moonlit night. It will illuminate a radius of 3 meters. The light can be up to 10cm in diameter and can be mentally controlled up to a distance equal to one-half the user’s logic in meters. A mentalist can only do one other activity while moving the light. It takes no concentration to maintain the light in a stationary location. The light travels at a speed of Logic divided by 10 in meters per turn. The duration of the light is a number of minutes equal to the mentalist’s logic after which time the discipline cannot be used for an equal number of minutes. The light can be any color, but most mentalist’s prefer to choose a personal color and use it to the exclusion of all others.

Reduction*

Success Rate: Discipline Level

Pr: Density Level 2

This discipline is similar to Density except that instead of changing mass, the mentalist remains the same mass while decreasing his volume. The speed with which a mentalist can shrink is one-tenth his height per turn, down to one-tenth his height his height. Each one-tenth decrease in size has the same effect as using Density to increase a mentalist’s mass by one-tenth. See Density for details. A mentalist cannot use this discipline concurrently with Density. A character’s clothing and equipment also shrink. No change in damage, mass, or range occur. This discipline doesn’t affect federanium.

Teleportation: Objects

Success Rate: Level +X or Discipline Level minus Int mod.

Pr: Teleportation: Limited Level 3

This discipline allows the mentalist to teleport an object weighing no more than logic divided by ten in kilograms from up to 10 meters away into his hands. This discipline will not work on anything made from federanium. It takes one complete turn of concentration before this discipline can be attempted. The success rate is equal to the discipline level minus the intuition modifier of the owner if trying to take an item from another character. If the object is not in anyone’s possession the success rate is Level +X.

New Professions

Colonist

A Colonist is a profession that is basically a jack-of-all-trades. A colonist is not so much a person who likes to colonize people. They are more like the type of person that is handy to have around. They are called colonist because most do become colonists, by volunteering for colonial expeditions. Their professional skills are as follows:

Appraisal
Bluff
Bodyspeak
Chef
Climbing
Computer: Access & Operate
Concealment
Disguise
Dramatics
Entertaining
Finance
Gemology
Geology
Geophysics
Haggling
Law
Machinery Ops
Machinery Repair
Making Items/Structures
Medical Diagnosis
Medical Treatment:(Choice of 1)
Persuasion
Photography
Politics
Robotics: Identification
Robotics: Activate/Deactivate
Society
Vehicles:(Choice of two)
Weapons: Beams
Weapons: Melee
Weapons: Martial Arts

Crewman

Crewmen are the backbone of the Fleet and the workhorse of a ship. They know their duty
inside and out. They combine the agile skills of a Techex and the discipline of an
Enforcer to get things done in the controlled environment on board a starship. The
following are the Crewman professional skills:

Chemistry
Communications Devices: Operate
Communications: Repair
Computers: Access & Operate
Computers: Display Information
Computers: Interface
Computers: Program Manipulation
Computers: Program Writing
Computers: Ship Operations
Computers: Repair Mainframe
Engineer: Civil
Engineer: Mechanical
Engineer: Ship Design
Machinery: Operation
Machinery: Repair
Medical Devices
Medical Diagnosis
Medical: Wounds 1
Security Sys.: Activate& Operate
Security Sys.: Deactivate
Security Sys.: Ship Security
Vehicles: Atmospheric
Vehicles: Cars
Weapons: Beam
Weapons: Missiles
Weapons: P.G.S.

NOTE: The Colonist and the Crewman both do not have a professional skill. The PC who
wishes to enter either career can add a total of 7 point to any pair of stats.