[Torg] New Basic Skills

[Travis James Hall]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: torg-bounces at justintimeadventures.com 
> [mailto:torg-bounces at justintimeadventures.com] On Behalf Of 
> Benjamin Grant
> Sent: Wednesday, 12 November 2008 2:39 AM
> To: torg at justintimeadventures.com
> Subject: RE: [Torg] New Basic Skills
> 
> >>> Or to put it another way, a person with low intellect may be
> >>> easy to fool, but they are *not* necessarily easy to steamroll
> >>> over -  usually quite the opposite.
> >>
> >>In saying this, you point out a major flaw in your reasoning, but
> >>apparently
> >>fail to note it. The Willpower attribute is, in terms of effect,
> >>resistance
> >>to Charm and Persuasion. Forget "strength-of-will" - Willpower is no
> >>more
> >>nor less than a lack of susceptibility to a glib tongue.
> 
> Do you realize that the way you phrase your counterattack is debating
> nonsense ("in saying this, you point out a major flaw in your 
> reasoning, but apparently fail to note it") that adds nothing to the
> actual conversation? Is this debate tactic on purpose or just how you
> automatically and subconsciously are?
> 
> You may want to deal with it, because it seriously undercuts 
> any potential validity of the actual content of your posts.

You might have a point, had I any interest in persuading you or engaging you
socially.

But it doesn't undercut the validity of my content. It merely makes people
less likely to be swayed by it. Not persuasive <> not valid. My arguments
tend to be quite valid, hence being accepted by people who sometimes don't
like how I state them.

> The actual point I was making is that there are people that cannot be
> swayed, cannot be persuaded, cannot be charmed, and *are not* of above
> average intelligence.  And as I pointed out, these are also not people
> especially *trained* or *skilled*, these are people with a high innate
> stubbornness - such as Spirit?  

Skills don't have to represent areas of trained expertise. There are
creatures with very high Willpower which obviously do not have that to
represent a learned skill (using "skill" in the non-game-mechanical sense).
For example, the cockatrice (the very first monster in Creatures of Aysle my
gaze falls upon when I crack it open) has Mind 5, Willpower 19. Did you
expect someone to be running around Aysle holding seminars in Advanced Charm
Resistance for the Armless?

If using an advantage system, it'd be a simple matter to have an advantage
that boosts skill totals while providing a mechanical distinction between
innate qualities and learned expertise, but lacking that in the base game,
simply buying 3 skill adds at start of play gives a pretty reasonable
representation of such a character.

And again, I must point out that we are talking about resistance to charm
and persuasion here. Stubbornness doesn't greatly factor into it, as a
charming person will not be trying to push through strong mental resistance.

Travis Hall