Should players have to take a Trade?
 

I was thinking that in the post War future old Trades out of fashion now due to technology are a necessity.

Trades like:

Tinsmith, Potter, Stone mason, Timber Carpenter, Leather maker, Leather crafter, Butcher, Rope Maker, Weaver, and probably dozens more.

Does anyone else think that from the pool of points or your skills system that Players have to take ONE traditional and non electric skill?

I think that it lends to the game play if players have something like this; and fits with the intent of the Project overall plan.

This is just my opinion. It fits the 150 year time frame, but in a lot of ways not the 3-5 year one. If the Project does what it hopes those crafts will not be needed as civilization will be kept from sliding into a dark age

I think Bruce might insist on it. Given the number of "futures" where the Project doesn't succeed.

There is a need for such skills.

I propose the following:

Farming Techniques
Carpentry
Masonry
Blacksmithing
Tailoring
Architecture (more like camp planning)

I think being able to bypass vehicle electronics, shoring up bomb damage and the like would be first, BUT having a machinist knowing the basics of black, brown smithing or carpentry besides lathes and fusion forges makes sense.

The Seabees might be a good model.

Perhaps we would add Plumber and Electrician to the list of "trades"

In an "ideal" project, I would like to see a Recon Team be able to go into a village and organize the building of anything from a grain mill to a hydro power plant or something like a newspaper and printing press

I know Sgt is a 3rd edition guy, but in 4th edition all this is possible using the advanced skill Artisan. It explicitly covers things like bricklaying, blacksmith, carpenter, plumber, chef and so on. Even if you are unskilled (taken no levels) in Artisan, you can attempt it with a -10% on the base skill, which is Focus.

This would make a huge amount of sense there's only so much knowledge that can be stored in books or drives.

So having useful skills in the heads of people within the project makes a lot of sense.

Remind me of the Golgafrinchams in Hitchhikers who were wiped out by a loss of telephone cleaners and hairdressers.

Indeed in a cavalry based war having a project member who's a wizard at blacksmithing and another at making tack and saddles, could completely swing the war for the good guys.


And if one character was an amateur painless dentist their skills could be beyond value.

If Morrow industries had their own orphanages, and schools/colleges, they could easily add these skill areas to the syllabus. Morrow orphans would make ideal candidates-no family ties (except the Morrow family), a good upbringing, a good education, taught the useful skills Morrow needs in Morrow College.

So sort of survivalist Shakers? NICE!

Guilty as charged! I so wanted to be a 4th fan. We all know how I feel about the state of the 4th Rulebook though.

Seems a little to easy. These Trades are specializations. If a Carpenter doesn't have the specific knowledge for say, Masonry, then making something should take quite longer, waste material, and probably be very inferior.

It's not that bad. The average skill base is around 40%. With the -10, that put it at 30%. That means you will most likely have a success result in the teens or twenties. Using the 4th edition Degrees of Success (DoS), that means only 1 or 2 DoS. So your masonry work will stay standing, but it is low quality, not straight, and will not last more than a year or two. It's not just "Hey, less than 30! We have a perfect wall and fireplace now!"

The Projects situation would be a little like Fahrenheit 451 with all the treasure being held in the heads of the characters who know it.

Perhaps the project gets a call from Prime Base and finds out that their devil may care, team machine gunner. Is in fact the last person in the world who understands the Dewie Decimal system and must be protected at all costs. If the future is going to have any way of protecting it's knowledge?