Re: (TFT) Skill, knowledge, tricks and talents

[Dan Tulloh <dwtulloh@zianet.com>]

DMG writes:

>
>Skill, knowledge, tricks and talents.
>
>Look at the Mathematician talent for example.  It includes 
>algebra, geometry, some Trig, accounting, astrology, even 
>astronomy.  In the modern world astronomy itself is con-
>sidered a major field of study.  Including many areas of 
>specialization.  All the others are considered fields unto 
>themselves.  Accounting, geometry, astrology.  But In TFT, 
>a character gets a talent for all of them with only 2 IQ 
>points.

Yes, but only at a certain level of understanding.  A TFT 
Mathematician isn't going to know that the galaxies recede, 
about quasars, pulsars and black holes. No, at the best, 
they may be able to determine the three laws of planetary
motion, when the solstices occur, lunar phases and that the
evening star and morning star (a-la Venus) are one and the
same and calculate planetary conjunctions.

If TFT ever moved into a Sci-Fi setting, then the talents 
will have to be changed to reflect that.  Astronomy n such
will need to be broken out from the general field of math.

I *do* think its a good idea to have "macro" talents.  A
TFTer can buy SWORD, for instance and get "KNIFE" for free.
But you need to be aware of the time frame in which the
talents are being used.

That said, I think that makes a better argument for the
"SpellCasting" talent I proposed earlier.  Suppose you 
could learn a "SpellCasting" talent at IQ 8 at a cost of 4 
IQ points or maybe even 6(!).  With this talent, you can 
learn up to your IQ level of spells at no talent cost.  
Without this talent, each spell is a separate talent 
costing 1 IQ point to learn.  With this idea, it should be 
a simple matter to do away with the extra IQ costs for 
wizards or a warrior to learn a talent and you can get, for
example, shipwrights that can warp wood to match a mold 
without going through the process of wetting the wood, etc.

Good post, David!

Dan
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