(TFT) House Rules Survey: Learning new schtick

[Thorn <edt@dopey.ne.mediaone.net>]

Rules say to declare three things you're learning, and then as soon as
you buy the IQ, !bang! you learn one, and pick another one for the empty
'learning' slot.

OK...

Meantime, if you decide to stop learning to speak Ultrani, because your
party causes the genocide of their entire race (just as a for instance),
you lose _half_ your accumulated XP.  IF you also decide that, say,
Ultrani Ancient History no longer has the interest it once did, you lose
the other half, too.  And that Ultrani Fencing?  Well, now that your
instructor/ess/it is now dead, lose the other, other half.  150% of your
accumulated XP...

Nonsense.  Even IF such punitive measures are desired, should they not
then be constant, and not dependant on the relative chance of where in
the XP-stat-XP cycle the character happens to be when they abandon the
study?  Does anybody really _want_ players to wait until their
accumulated XP resets to zero, as they buy a stat, and then explain the
cessation of whatever the particular study is?  I can't be the only one
who is bothered by this.

Which means there's got to be some house rules out there.

Anyone?  Beuller?

I'll go first:

Keep the three slots for 'studieds'.  Keep the !bang! you learn one as
you buy the IQ, and keep the player's choice to choose a new studied at
that time.

Discard all XP penalties, and instead require a schtick (takes less
typing than 'Talent or Spell'...) be on the 'studied' list for a number
of gametime weeks equal to its IQ level, before it can be actually
learned.

What does this proposed rules change accomplish?  It keeps changes in
circumstance from crippling character development.  It avoids players
choosing 'safe bet' combat schtick over 'roleplay' language and society
schtick.  Who can say for sure you'll even ever return to Mugatuland,
let alone be there the whole time it takes to advance a stat?  Why
further limit a character which is developing in a well-rounded way, and
why _penalize_ that character with the loss of XP to no good end? 
"Well, yes, during your visit to Mugatuland, you have studied Mugatin. 
But now you return to the Old World, and you have no teacher...  Scholar
Billi, you're going to lose half your XP store, sorry.  Vlad the Blade,
looks like you have enough XP for another point of DX..."

At the _Very_ least, that 'lost' XP should be noted on the char sheet,
"120 xp squandered on Mugatin", so that if study is resumed, that XP
becomes available.  It was earned, after all.
=====
Post to the entire list by writing to tft@brainiac.com.
Unsubscribe by mailing to majordomo@brainiac.com with the message body
"unsubscribe tft"