tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464498527698996815.post5624759037386475655..comments2024-03-03T03:20:20.957-05:00Comments on Ancient Faith in the Far Future: Follow me, men! More on Skills - LeadershipRobert Weaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07917387796213598551noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464498527698996815.post-4671769079206325492023-12-24T20:14:54.607-05:002023-12-24T20:14:54.607-05:00"Bureaucrats? Bureaucrats get Leadership, whi..."Bureaucrats? Bureaucrats get Leadership, which explicitly states the PC has led troops in battle? No. Just No."<br /><br />I don't use anything beyond books 1-3, so Bureaucrats aren't an issue. However, thinking on the absence of Leadership in Naval experience, what I would suggest is that Leadership means leading a group in any situation of personal conflict - this personal conflict need not be physically violent to have important stakes. <br /><br />For example, imagine that the inhabitants of Mars are negotiating with Weyland-Yutani over mining rights on Phobos. Each has an ambassador with a team of diplomats and lawyers. The actual stakes here are quite high - and if things go wrong, could lead to armed conflict with thousands of people dying. So it's a conflict situation with high stakes. <br /><br />Naval work is necessarily more passive. Soldiers and marines make individual decisions about where to move themselves under fire, diplomats and lawyers make similar decisions, facing legal and verbal fire. But in the navy, people operate machinery - they operate machinery in peacetime, and operate machinery in battle, either way they're operating machinery. Certainly there are stakes, but they're not in their face, so to speak, the way an enemy soldier across no-man's land or a rival diplomat across the negotiating table is. Hanley Tuckshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13047638048463160737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464498527698996815.post-15536022284031795862021-09-17T13:24:42.360-04:002021-09-17T13:24:42.360-04:00Sure, and here's the Task I'd probably use...Sure, and here's the Task I'd probably use for that last bit:<br /><br />To Take Command of a Unit<br />Rout, Leader, 1 second (Unskilled OK)<br />Notes: Formal units require the highest in chain of command to perform this Task, but if that character fails a character lower in chain of command can temporarily attempt to assert command. Roll for time and subtract Leader skill as normal, and take 1 round per every six seconds or remainder to finish the attempt.faoladhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03691952430041394614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464498527698996815.post-4518684380905425962021-09-17T13:12:06.925-04:002021-09-17T13:12:06.925-04:00Please do write a post on the Bureaucrat. In the 4...Please do write a post on the Bureaucrat. In the 40 years or so I've had Supp4, I have never figured out how their Reenlistment roll is supposed to work.<br /><br />Because I do a lot of MT conversions, here's how I would write up the Morale check as an MT Task:<br /><br />To Maintain Morale<br />Rout, Leader, Tactics (Instant, Unskilled OK)<br />Notes: Check immediately once casualties have reached 25% or more, then every third round after. If casualties reach 50% or more, apply an additional -2 DM. Only use the Tactics skill of the leader. The leader is the character highest in authority by chain of command for formal units, or the character with the highest Leader skill present. If a formal unit, add an additional +1 DM. If the leader is unconscious or dead, apply a -2 DM until a new leader can take command.**<br /><br />I do prefer this format because it gives the same results as the longer writeup that classic Traveller has while also allowing a lot more easy customization, though I understand the point of view of people who think that it's too formal. That formalization, to me, is what allows for more actual flexibility at the table, since all of the various ways to approach an action are pre-designed, where the less formal structure requires reinventing them every time.<br /><br />*Because MT rounds are six seconds, I think it's worthwhile to increase the span between checks.<br /><br />**Because MT has a tendency to break actions down into finer parts than CT does, I'd probably also make a Task for this instead of just specifying a fixed number of rounds. Good leaders (high Leader skill) should be able to do it faster. And if there's nobody with Leader skill left, and it isn't a formal organization, then everything is just going to collapse into panicked individuals.faoladhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03691952430041394614noreply@blogger.com