Project Nemesis is a fan driven website for games that use the One-Roll Engine (like Nemesis, Wild Talents, Reign and Monsters) or Chaosium's Basic Roleplay System (BRP) (like Call of Cthulhu) and the Delta Green setting.
The following are the house rules I use for skills training in my Call
of Cthulhu campaign. The need for them arose when a player decided his
character ought to advantage of the further education system and become
educated. He took his character out of play for the three years of game
time, and when the character came back into play he had gained a degree
in Engineering. The suggestions are pretty much British-university
based but I imagine American universities hadn't switched to credits in
the 1920s.
There are times in an Investigator's life when circumstances change. If he or she does not die or go mad, the survivor may want to change certain things in their life. Skills are one aspect that may be reviewed. The Investigator may want to do things that he or she is not qualified or able to do. It might involve a radical career change. It is time to go back to school.
The fifth edition Call of Cthulhu rules have rules for training, but these only apply to one skill at a time and are time consuming. An investigator may want a shorter introduction to the subject, or may want to train several skills at once over a longer period. These training rules cover crash courses, night school and university
training.
SINGLE SKILL TRAINING
The Call of Cthulhu 5th edition rule book has guidelines for training a single skill on page 40. Due to the benefit one might gain from the study, a Keeper may rule the study as intensive and that it precludes investigation during the six-month training period. If the study is interrupted, the skill gain can be downgraded to a lesser amount.
A single skill may be studied less intensively, such as at night school, allowing a degree of investigation. Homework, library study, essay writing etc. must still be continued for the study to be worthwhile, so investigative activities cannot be full-time or lead to travel, etc. Every 6 months of moderate study will add 1d6% to the chosen skill being studied.
CRASH COURSE TRAINING
If a skill needs to be learned or improved quickly, existing rules for skills training cannot cope. A crash course gives intensive training in a single skill. The tuition is often full-time and one to one, but could be very expensive. There are finite limits to how much an individual can learn, as a crash course can only act as an introduction to a subject.
A crash course may last between one to four weeks. Because of the very intensive tuition, no investigative activity should be possible without penalty. A crash course successfully completed should add 1d5% to 1d20% (depending on the length of the course) to the chosen skill.
A finite limit should be set for the skill gain from crash courses, otherwise investigators will continually attend crash courses. The maximum benefit received for completing a crash course should not exceed a suitable characteristic multiplied by one (i.e. INT x 1 or DEX x 1). The skill categories on page 238 gives some indication of which skills might be influenced by a characteristic i.e. Locksmith is a manipulation skill and could be influenced by DEX. This caps the effectiveness of a crash course, yet still yields a useful gain to the skill.
TRAINING MULTIPLE SKILLS
Technical schools, polytechnics, universities, etc. are establishments which can offer courses to train multiple skills. They offer training to build or improve occupations and careers, as well as to broaden human knowledge. These establishments may well have entrance qualifications that will have to be satisfied by applicants before they gain access. In game terms these can be represented by minimum skill levels, such as 20 - 25% in the primary skill of the course. There will also be fees that will have to be paid. If the Student does not have a private income, finance for the duration of the course may become a problem. Scholarships or sponsors may have to be found, or an alternative course at a state funded institution found.
The course of study that a student follows can be based on a selection of skills from an Occupation in the rule book (5th ed. page 22), or other skills may be chosen to simulate a subject course. A list of skills that might make up a course for some subjects follows at the end of the article. All courses must be agreed upon by the Keeper, before the training starts. The investigator will be virtually retired from play during his or her studies. Occasional 1 or 2 day forays are acceptable during term time, and the summer vacation offers opportunity to the thrill seeking Student. However, any insanity or injury received may well have a detrimental effect to study in the
succeeding months.
In the 1920s there were usually 3 terms per academic year; so, for every term of study completed successfully the Student can add 1d6% to each of the chosen skills in the course, resulting in 3d6% per skill, per academic year if study was maintained. But, if study was interrupted for any cause, the Student can only 1% to each skill for each interrupted term. In extreme circumstance, the Student may not receive any gain to his chosen skills.
An interruption might be defined as a period of insanity, missing lectures for a prolonged period of several weeks, or failing to hand in project work. An interruption is also defined by the type of course studied, as some courses require greater attendance and commitment. A scientific subject requiring lots of practical experience will be easier to interrupt than a Humanities subject that involves only reading, seminars and the occasional lecture.
At the end of the course, there are exams to be sat, and qualifications to be gained. This can represented in game mechanics by a successful test of the majority of the skills studied. These can be classified as follows:
First class degree or equivalent: the test was successful, and the course's primary skill was a critical success
Second class degree or equivalent: a successful test but the primary skill was not a critical success
Pass or equivalent: the test was failed, but a minority of the skills were successfully tested
Failure: none of the skills were successfully tested, the Student fails the course.
EXAMPLES OF COURSES FOR TRAINING MULTIPLE SKILLS
The following are some examples that may be used as a basis for a course of study. Some of them are related to existing occupations. The examples are limited to four skills so that the benefits are not overpowering in game terms, even though the Investigator may have been out of play for several game years. The skill are listed as Subject: Primary skill, Secondary skills (in order of relevance to the subject).
The key difference between my suggestions and the rule book, is that several skills can be improved at once. The average difference in skill points gained from either 6d10 or 9d6 is only 1.5, but if you opt for the 6d10 option you can only train one skill over three years (unless the Keeper agrees otherwise), rather than three or four skills. I specifically designed training to reflect a student's time at college, where the student's experiences are broadened by more than just his study, hence the improvement in multiple skills with the possibility of losing skill points.
The crash course option is useful if an investigator needs to acquire a new skill quickly, or needs to refresh a skill in the light of technological improvements. The Keeper should strictly enforce the capping restriction, as this will prevent the crash course option from being exploited. Training will remove a possibly pivotal investigator from a group for a long period of game time, and may have an impact on the survivability of a group which a Keeper should point out before the decision is made. The decision to take training may have far reaching consequences for the group that is left behind or the student who is called to help his colleagues just as his or her finals start...
