[nWoD] Skill Specialties Questions

[Elricaltovilla]

So a number of questions about skill specialties and how they work.

1) How general/specific should a skill specialty be? Is Weaponry(axes) too general/specific, what about Craft(civil engineering)?

2) Can skill specialties be used outside of their associated skill? Example: does Science(explosives) give a bonus to Crafts rolls to make a bomb? Or a slasher character who has Weaponry(brass knuckles) and uses Brawl?

3) How many skill specialties can one character have? Total? Per skill?

4) Can multiple specialties be applied to the same roll? If yes, do they have to be from the same skill, or can they be crossed like in #2?

5) What about specialties for things like brass knuckles, which use the brawl skill to roll, but are a type of weapon? Or bows, which can be fired using either athletics OR firearms? Should those go in one skill over the other? If they're placed in the "wrong" skill does the bonus still applied?

Thanks! :smallbiggrin:

[Mr.Bookworm]

1) How general/specific should a skill specialty be? Is Weaponry(axes) too general/specific, what about Craft(civil engineering)?

Sort of up to the ST. Generally, if a specialty would apply the vast majority of the time, it's probably not good.

Both of the ones you listed would probably be fine in terms of specificity, but Craft has more to do with the nitty-gritty of building things than engineering.


2) Can skill specialties be used outside of their associated skill? Example: does Science(explosives) give a bonus to Crafts rolls to make a bomb? Or a slasher character who has Weaponry(brass knuckles) and uses Brawl?

No. Specialties only apply to a roll with that skill.

Incidentally, brass knuckles would be Brawl anyway.


3) How many skill specialties can one character have? Total? Per skill?

Any number for any skill.


4) Can multiple specialties be applied to the same roll? If yes, do they have to be from the same skill, or can they be crossed like in #2?

No if you're using the corebook, yes if you're using God-Machine (which I strongly feel is a very bad rule, but that's a tangent).

They also, as always, cannot apply to other skills.


5) What about specialties for things like brass knuckles, which use the brawl skill to roll, but are a type of weapon? Or bows, which can be fired using either athletics OR firearms? Should those go in one skill over the other? If they're placed in the "wrong" skill does the bonus still applied?

Place brass knuckles in Brawl, because that's what you use to roll. A bow specialty could go in Firearms or Athletics, whichever you want.

If you ended up with a brass knuckle specialty in Weaponry, it would be completely useless, as you don't roll Weaponry to use brass knuckles. Most specialties are fairly clear, though.

[SiuiS]

So a number of questions about skill specialties and how they work.

1) How general/specific should a skill specialty be? Is Weaponry(axes) too general/specific, what about Craft(civil engineering)?


By the book (rapier), (fencing) and (lunge) are all viable. A good rule of thumb is "a specialty should come up a third of the time." Dos outing trying to set it up intentionally of course.


2) Can skill specialties be used outside of their associated skill? Example: does Science(explosives) give a bonus to Crafts rolls to make a bomb? Or a slasher character who has Weaponry(brass knuckles) and uses Brawl?

No. There is a merit for this however.


3) How many skill specialties can one character have? Total? Per skill?


No limit, I believe. Specifically called out? Might be misremembering.


4) Can multiple specialties be applied to the same roll? If yes, do they have to be from the same skill, or can they be crossed like in #2?


Yes in god machine, unclear otherwise. In theory, yes. But only all on the same skill.


5) What about specialties for things like brass knuckles, which use the brawl skill to roll, but are a type of weapon? Or bows, which can be fired using either athletics OR firearms? Should those go in one skill over the other? If they're placed in the "wrong" skill does the bonus still applied?

Thanks! :smallbiggrin:

Bows have errata somewhere and don't use fire arms, I was told.

If you have brawl (brass knuckles) and you make a weaponry roll, you don't get the bonus. Just like if you have brawl (Kung fu) and you use hapkido techniques you don't get the bonus (or use brawl (Kung fu) and use a Kung fu weapon instead). You're using the item in a way you aren't specialized in.

The merit exists to fix this. It is a 1 dot merit which allows a specialty to apply to one more skill, as appropriate.

[Elricaltovilla]

What's the merit called? Or at least where can it be found?

I found another odd interaction worth asking about too:

The merit Weaponry Monomaniac has a prereq of a Weaponry Specialty with the chosen weapon. What about using brass knuckles with that? From what's been posted, you'd gain no specialty bonus for a Weaponry(brass knuckles) specialty, but could you still use that specialty to get Weaponry Monomaniac with your brass knuckles?

[SiuiS]

What's the merit called? Or at least where can it be found?

I found another odd interaction worth asking about too:

The merit Weaponry Monomaniac has a prereq of a Weaponry Specialty with the chosen weapon. What about using brass knuckles with that? From what's been posted, you'd gain no specialty bonus for a Weaponry(brass knuckles) specialty, but could you still use that specialty to get Weaponry Monomaniac with your brass knuckles?

I think you coul get the merit with that specialty, yes.

The merit is (quick search) interdisciplinary Specialty from the Free Council sourcebook.

{table]cost |
prereqs | book |
effect

(•) | pre: Two Appropriate Skills •••, Specialty (mult) | FC p132 | share Specialty between two Skills
[/table]

From here, (http://wodindex.wikispaces.com/Merits) which summarizes the basics without actually impinging on any rules. It's my go to site for when I want an effect and don't know if nWoD supports it.

[Juhn]

The entire purpose of that Merit is to save you the one XP difference between buying a skill specialty vs buying a one-dot merit, with the caveat that the new specialty has to be the same as the old specialty, just in a different skill.

The example given is someone with Drive (Motorcycles) using the merit to get Craft (Motorcycles). Or it may have been the other way around.

[Mewtarthio]

The merit is from GMC (Interdisciplinary Specialty) and it lets you apply the specialty to all skills.

[The Glyphstone]

The merit is from GMC (Interdisciplinary Specialty) and it lets you apply the specialty to all skills.

Animal Ken (Motorcycles)?

[Mewtarthio]

Animal Ken (Motorcycles)?

It's the World of Darkness. Sure, you might not need Animal Ken (Motorcycles) that often, but when you do, you'll be really glad you have it.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Animal Ken (Motorcycles)?

Empathy (Knives)
Computers (Witchcraft)
Firearms (Seduction)
Academics (Bribery)
Science (Dirty Tricks)

Endless fun with that one.


The merit is from GMC (Interdisciplinary Specialty) and it lets you apply the specialty to all skills.

I would be a little leery of this merit, although that has more to do with the stacking issues present with specialties in GMC.

[Elricaltovilla]

I think the specialty rules introduce some weird ideas already.

To my mind, if you (a real life person) has a specialty in Science(explosives) (perhaps some sort of chemical engineer?) then you ought to be pretty darn good at making explosives as well. But your science specialty doesn't apply to Crafts rolls, so...

[The Glyphstone]

Empathy (Knives)
Computers (Witchcraft)
Firearms (Seduction)
Academics (Bribery)
Science (Dirty Tricks)

Endless fun with that one.



I would be a little leery of this merit, although that has more to do with the stacking issues present with specialties in GMC.

Science (Vampires).
Animal Ken (Seduction).
Politics (Lying).Wait a second...

[Mr.Bookworm]

I think the specialty rules introduce some weird ideas already.

To my mind, if you (a real life person) has a specialty in Science(explosives) (perhaps some sort of chemical engineer?) then you ought to be pretty darn good at making explosives as well.


This Skill represents your character's understanding
of the physical and natural sciences: biology, chemistry,
geology, meteorology, physics.


Crafts represents a character's training or experience
in creating works of physical art or construction with his
hands, from paintings to car engines to classical sculpture.

A roll to create explosives would would be a Science roll in the first place (Armory, pg. 114). Craft lets you build cars, not MRI machines.

Also, as any scientist will tell you, theoretical knowledge does not equal practical knowledge. I could tell you how a microwave works, but I probably couldn't build one.

Not that there isn't some major weirdness in the skill system (a lot of it's fairly inherent in abstraction), but this "problem" isn't really a problem.


Science (Vampires).
Animal Ken (Seduction).
Politics (Lying)

The good scientists of the Cheiron Group find your accusations of vampire science being nonsense slanderous and ask that you cease and desist before Cheiron is forced to take legal action.

[Elricaltovilla]

Science (Vampires).

So... Cherion Group?


Animal Ken (Seduction).

Gangrel?


Politics (Lying).

All of them?

[Juhn]

The merit is from GMC (Interdisciplinary Specialty) and it lets you apply the specialty to all skills.
The merit's from Free Council, though it was one of the ones updated in the GMC book I think, yes. Trained Observer is another one, which is now no longer nearly as staggeringly good.

Striking Looks now costs half, I think.


I think the specialty rules introduce some weird ideas already.

To my mind, if you (a real life person) has a specialty in Science(explosives) (perhaps some sort of chemical engineer?) then you ought to be pretty darn good at making explosives as well. But your science specialty doesn't apply to Crafts rolls, so...
This is actually exactly what Interdisciplinary Specialty (as it appeared in Free Council) was meant to do. Because a lot of FC Mages are scientists or engineers in their own right.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Gangrel?

Werewolves that have forgotten about the edition change.


The merit's from Free Council, though it was one of the ones updated in the GMC book I think, yes. Trained Observer is another one, which is now no longer nearly as staggeringly good.

Striking Looks now costs half, I think.

IS is from Free Council, yeah. Trained Observer isn't, though.

And yeah, Striking Looks is half what it used to be.

[Elricaltovilla]

So people have talked about the God Machine rules update thingy, said it's free online. Anybody got a link to that?

[SiuiS]

The merit is from GMC (Interdisciplinary Specialty) and it lets you apply the specialty to all skills.

No, that's the GMC version. There's a nWoD version preGMC.


Animal Ken (Motorcycles)?

No, it does call out that the use must make some sense in the situation.

So, maybe if you're in shadow / astral?


I think the specialty rules introduce some weird ideas already.

To my mind, if you (a real life person) has a specialty in Science(explosives) (perhaps some sort of chemical engineer?) then you ought to be pretty darn good at making explosives as well. But your science specialty doesn't apply to Crafts rolls, so...

The number of people who've set themselves on fire with this idea is alarming. You'd e surprised XD.


A roll to create explosives would would be a Science roll in the first place (Armory, pg. 114). Craft lets you build cars, not MRI machines.

Good point!



IS is from Free Council, yeah. Trained Observer isn't, though.

And yeah, Striking Looks is half what it used to be.

Trained observer (no penalties on composure based perception rolls, OR rote quality on perceptions rolls, but not both (... >_>")) is from Dogs Of War.
It's counterpart, trained memory, is from Guardians of the Veil.

And they both kinda work weir in PbP, I'm not sure my ST has been remembering the "trained to observe" and "rote quality" key words...


So people have talked about the God Machine rules update thingy, said it's free online. Anybody got a link to that?

It's on drivethrurpg. It functions like an actual purchase, but it is, indeed, free.

It's also small; I emailed it to myself so is have the PDF from my phone whenever I wanted it. It has my name in it though, so I can't just send it to you. Sorry. >_<

[Mewtarthio]

So people have talked about the God Machine rules update thingy, said it's free online. Anybody got a link to that?

Here you go. (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/114078/World-of-Darkness%3A-The-God-Machine-Rules-Update)

[Friv]

My personal opinion, for what little it's worth, is that the GMC version of Interdisciplinary Specialty is a good rule, but the GMC rule about allowing specialties to stack is... not a good rule.

I really like the idea of spending a couple of experience for one or two specialties you have to be broadly applicable to various situations, as though you had a new Skill dot. I really dislike the idea of creating situations where people spam specialties and try to shoehorn them into all sorts of situations.

(Unless you add a second new rule, Specialty + Skill can never be greater than 6, but that's getting kind of fiddly...)

[SiuiS]

My personal opinion, for what little it's worth, is that the GMC version of Interdisciplinary Specialty is a good rule, but the GMC rule about allowing specialties to stack is... not a good rule.

I really like the idea of spending a couple of experience for one or two specialties you have to be broadly applicable to various situations, as though you had a new Skill dot. I really dislike the idea of creating situations where people spam specialties and try to shoehorn them into all sorts of situations.

(Unless you add a second new rule, Specialty + Skill can never be greater than 6, but that's getting kind of fiddly...)

I dunno. The odds of getting two or more specialities going at once are small enough that I'd be okay with it anyway. Can you think o any point where it would be applicable but game breaking?

[The Glyphstone]

I dunno. The odds of getting two or more specialities going at once are small enough that I'd be okay with it anyway. Can you think o any point where it would be applicable but game breaking?

Firearms: Sniping + Firearms: Rifles + Firearms: Long Range + Medicine (Anatomy) w/ IDS merit?

[SiuiS]

Firearms: Sniping + Firearms: Rifles + Firearms: Long Range + Medicine (Anatomy) w/ IDS merit?

But those just bein firearms up to about where they were pre-GMC. A sniper rifle was +5, now it's three bonus damage, right? Add +2 dice and you're about where it used to be while also shifting the norm downward.

[Eurus]

Firearms: Sniping + Firearms: Rifles + Firearms: Long Range + Medicine (Anatomy) w/ IDS merit?

I find the idea of having a (Long Range/Rifles/Sniping/Anatomy) specialty in every single skill to be very amusing.

[Elricaltovilla]

Intimidation: Sniping/Long Range/Rifles/Anatomy could be quite useful.

[Eurus]

Would seducing someone over a phone call apply (Long-range)? :smallbiggrin:

[The Random NPC]

Firearms: Sniping + Firearms: Rifles + Firearms: Long Range + Medicine (Anatomy) w/ IDS merit?

+ Firearms: Bolt action + Firearms: Barrett + Firearms: .50 caliber + Firearms: Single Shot

Face it, not only is it easy to get specialties to apply, you can get a lot of them.

[Mr.Bookworm]

I dunno. The odds of getting two or more specialities going at once are small enough that I'd be okay with it anyway. Can you think o any point where it would be applicable but game breaking?

As Glyphstone points out, it's fairly trivial, especially with the IDS merit.

The problem, therefore, is that you're now an idiot if you choose to buy Attributes and Skills instead of buying up new specialties. You can buy twice the amount of specialties for every Ability dot you buy.

Combine that with the fact that combat is now pretty whifftacular and differences in dice matter a lot more, and it's pretty ugly.

[hiryuu]

As Glyphstone points out, it's fairly trivial, especially with the IDS merit.

The problem, therefore, is that you're now an idiot if you choose to buy Attributes and Skills instead of buying up new specialties. You can buy twice the amount of specialties for every Ability dot you buy.

Combine that with the fact that combat is now pretty whifftacular and differences in dice matter a lot more, and it's pretty ugly.

It's not exactly trivial to get your specialties to apply in every combat. Considering an attribute is the cost of 4 specialties, or 2 skill dots, or 2 specialties and 2 applications of the Interdisciplinary Specialty merit? I don't know what XP you're looking at that makes you think that isn't a goddamn bargain basement price for an Attribute, considering the Attribute will always see more use.

But if you spent 10 xp on something, hey, you're going to be good at it.

Ran some test combats today, actually, because I have a guy with a lot of specialties as a player. Firearms: Bow + Forest + Short Range + Boar Killer Arrows + Changelings. Guy did great until the situation wasn't precisely in favor of all those specialties (fighting fetches in a downtown basement). Then he popped like a water balloon, had to book it. Actually this is how the majority of fights have gone down. Except the ones in the forest. Where he got to bring his bow.

One more point - snipers aren't a good thing to bring out when you're going to make claims about the odds being fixed, considering the entire point of snipers is fixing the odds. Of course your combat guy is broken when he's half a mile away from the target using an anti-vehicular weapon on unarmored human targets who can't see him. So, you know, they're going to look broken in game, too.

A better example for showing off something ridiculously specialized might be Drive: Cars + 2 wheel drive + red vehicles + plush interior + fuzzy dice +
sports vehicles + streets. Or Brawl: Martial Arts + Anatomy + Sneakers + Roundhouse Kicks + When You're a Ranger + Having a Beard + Daytime + Robots.

[The Glyphstone]

See, I think a character who gets +8 dice when he's crafting bearded anatomically correct robots by roundhouse kicking the parts together in the daytime while wearing sneakers and a Ranger outfit is the most awesome hyperspecialization ever.

[hiryuu]

See, I think a character who gets +8 dice when he's crafting bearded anatomically correct robots by roundhouse kicking the parts together in the daytime while wearing sneakers and a Ranger outfit is the most awesome hyperspecialization ever.

It is, I was being dead serious. This guy is totally my next villain.

[Elricaltovilla]

It is, I was being dead serious. This guy is totally my next villain.

I want in on this campaign.

[SiuiS]

As Glyphstone points out, it's fairly trivial, especially with the IDS merit.

I misread Glyphstone's statement as being two separate instances of two bonus dice, which is why I was confused.

As it stands, I want to point out that you as a player don't get to pick when IDS works. So all this stuff like getting sniping, rifles, long range, FMJ bullets, shooting at dusk, anatomy, left handed targets, custom rifling, etc. is just you throwing XP away; maybe three of those apply.

The general rule I've seen bandied about (unlike my usual anecdotes, this one doesn't have some nebulous Designer-Approved tag, it's just horse sense I feel :smalltongue:) is a specialty should apply in about one third of all instances. If a player spends their time setting up those instances? That counts. If more than 50% of game time goes into guaranteeing the perfect shot, I'm okay with that. Y'know?


The problem, therefore, is that you're now an idiot if you choose to buy Attributes and Skills instead of buying up new specialties. You can buy twice the amount of specialties for every Ability dot you buy.

Combine that with the fact that combat is now pretty whifftacular and differences in dice matter a lot more, and it's pretty ugly.

What? No, hon. You can't make all those specialities apply just because. Attributes are always relevant.



A better example for showing off something ridiculously specialized might be Drive: Cars + 2 wheel drive + red vehicles + plush interior + fuzzy dice +
sports vehicles + streets. Or Brawl: Martial Arts + Anatomy + Sneakers + Roundhouse Kicks + When You're a Ranger + Having a Beard + Daytime + Robots.

Red cars, fuzzy dice and streets are totally inapplicable specialties.
So is most of the chuck Norris combo.


See, I think a character who gets +8 dice when he's crafting bearded anatomically correct robots by roundhouse kicking the parts together in the daytime while wearing sneakers and a Ranger outfit is the most awesome hyperspecialization ever.

The Modthulhu makes an interesting point however.

[The Random NPC]

What? No, hon. You can't make all those specialities apply just because. Attributes are always relevant.

Why wouldn't you?


Red cars, fuzzy dice and streets are totally inapplicable specialties.
So is most of the chuck Norris combo.

Red cars and fuzzy dice I can understand being ruled against, but why not streets?

[Elricaltovilla]

Red cars and fuzzy dice I can understand being ruled against, but why not streets?

Because there are only two places you can drive a car: The Streets and Not The Streets, thus they don't meet the 30% of the time rule. :smalltongue:

[SiuiS]

Why wouldn't you?


Interdisciplinary specialty is specifically called out as being situational. That is, you get told when it does apply, not when it doesn't.



Red cars and fuzzy dice I can understand being ruled against, but why not streets?

"Streets" already exists; it's called the drive skill. That's what drive is; navigating a street while with skill.
But what if you have Drive for an off-road vehicle and get the streets specialty for it and use IDS? Drive still defaults to street, so you actually need a specialty to deviate from being used on cars in the first place. You're already using your drive skills to help your other vehicles; you can't use skill A to benefit skill Ab back around into A again.

There are fringe cases where this is wrong. There always are. But they are handled in their own unique circumstances. As a matter of course, one doesn't take a "guns" specialty in firearms. One doesn't take a "empathy" specialty for empathy. And one doesn't take basic driving as a specialty for basic driving.

[The Random NPC]

Because there are only two places you can drive a car: The Streets and Not The Streets, thus they don't meet the 30% of the time rule. :smalltongue:


Interdisciplinary specialty is specifically called out as being situational. That is, you get told when it does apply, not when it doesn't.

"Streets" already exists; it's called the drive skill. That's what drive is; navigating a street while with skill.
But what if you have Drive for an off-road vehicle and get the streets specialty for it and use IDS? Drive still defaults to street, so you actually need a specialty to deviate from being used on cars in the first place. You're already using your drive skills to help your other vehicles; you can't use skill A to benefit skill Ab back around into A again.

There are fringe cases where this is wrong. There always are. But they are handled in their own unique circumstances. As a matter of course, one doesn't take a "guns" specialty in firearms. One doesn't take a "empathy" specialty for empathy. And one doesn't take basic driving as a specialty for basic driving.

Alright, I wasn't aware of the 30% rule, but I'm still convinced that you could get a majority of specialties to apply.

[Friv]

I stand by my belief that IDS isn't the problem. The problem is that, while specialties only apply 30% of the time, it is not difficult to create specialties that apply to you 90% of the time.

If I have a Weaponry specialty in "Knives", you can bet that almost all of my Weaponry rolls are going to be knife-fights. If my Academics specialty is in Finance, and I'm an accountant, I think I can assure that I'm rolling Finance most of the time, and if my Crafts specialty is "Cars" I'm mostly fixing up cars and not making lovely sculptures.

And I think we can generally all agree that if you have IDS: Cars, it's not going to apply to your Drive rolls as a rule, because that's hilariously broad, but it would potentially apply to Academics rolls about car trivia, or Firearms rolls to offset penalties shooting guns from your car, or Persuasion rolls to sell a car to someone?


The problems are two-fold: one appears only in high-XP games, while the other appears pretty quick.

The first problem is that, if specialties stack forever, there's no ceiling to competence in very narrow fields. One thing I like about WoD is that there's a point where just getting better at your main task isn't a good plan. Flat XP reduced that effect, but I have grim feelings about geometric XP costs so I'm going to let it slide. But specialty stacking means that you can just keep buying one trait forever, and I don't feel so good about that.

The second problem is that, if a Specialty costs half as much as a Skill, and you have a pretty good idea of how to use them, you really can stack things so that your Specialties are generally applying, and it will be really hard to overcome your stupid shattering of the game's die curve. A few extra dice make a really big deal most of the time.

[Beleriphon]

There are fringe cases where this is wrong. There always are. But they are handled in their own unique circumstances. As a matter of course, one doesn't take a "guns" specialty in firearms. One doesn't take a "empathy" specialty for empathy. And one doesn't take basic driving as a specialty for basic driving.

I think taking Manhattan streets might be applicable since it doesn't apply if you're in Brooklyn or Queens. That seems like the kind of driving specialty that should be workable.

[SiuiS]

Alright, I wasn't aware of the 30% rule, but I'm still convinced that you could get a majority of specialties to apply.

It's a heuristic. It's given some words, but not laid out As A Rule in any book I've read.


I stand by my belief that IDS isn't the problem. The problem is that, while specialties only apply 30% of the time, it is not difficult to create specialties that apply to you 90% of the time.

If I have a Weaponry specialty in "Knives", you can bet that almost all of my Weaponry rolls are going to be knife-fights.

I don't see this as a problem, myself. If 100% of dice rolls end up being specialty-applicable, but that's only 30% of all possible situations which could have called for a dice roll, you're fine. That's picking your battles, and that is okay. That other 60% of the time, the set-up, is part of the story too.


I think taking Manhattan streets might be applicable since it doesn't apply if you're in Brooklyn or Queens. That seems like the kind of driving specialty that should be workable.

Hmm. Yes, yes I would have to accept that. Wouldn't that be a streetwise specialty though?

[The Glyphstone]

Hmm. Yes, yes I would have to accept that. Wouldn't that be a streetwise specialty though?

Streetwise (Manhattan Streets) would be walking them, knowing the gangs there, finding the pedestrian shortcuts. Drive (Manhattan Streets) would be knowing the roads and intersections, knowing which alleyways are wide enough to drive down, knowing which traffic cameras are usually broken and the typical pattern of red/green lights.

[Water_Bear]

Drive (Manhattan Streets) would be knowing the roads and intersections, knowing which alleyways are wide enough to drive down, knowing which traffic cameras are usually broken and the typical pattern of red/green lights.

Honestly it's more just the willingness to drive through red lights or crowds of pedestrians, lean on the horn for hours straight and remember not to drive during rush hour. That other stuff sounds useful in a city with roads built for cars, but Manhattan is a big waffle iron with good public transit so the regular rules don't really apply.

[Elricaltovilla]

Honestly it's more just the willingness to drive through red lights or crowds of pedestrians, lean on the horn for hours straight and remember not to drive during rush hour. That other stuff sounds useful in a city with roads built for cars, but Manhattan is a big waffle iron with good public transit so the regular rules don't really apply.

There isn't a city over a hundred years old that this description doesn't apply to.

[SiuiS]

Streetwise (Manhattan Streets) would be walking them, knowing the gangs there, finding the pedestrian shortcuts. Drive (Manhattan Streets) would be knowing the roads and intersections, knowing which alleyways are wide enough to drive down, knowing which traffic cameras are usually broken and the typical pattern of red/green lights.

Apologies, I had assumed this was a specialty applied through IDS.

[The Glyphstone]

Apologies, I had assumed this was a specialty applied through IDS.

It totally could be....If you had a Streetwise specialty in (Manhattan), then got IDS, Drive (Manhattan) would be a viable combo. Other skills would be a bit of a stretch....good luck trying to convince a Storyteller to allow Firearms (Manhattan) to apply any time you shoot a gun in the neighborhood.

[The Rose Dragon]

But you would know where to get guns or gun parts (legally) in Manhattan.

[Mewtarthio]

It totally could be....If you had a Streetwise specialty in (Manhattan), then got IDS, Drive (Manhattan) would be a viable combo. Other skills would be a bit of a stretch....good luck trying to convince a Storyteller to allow Firearms (Manhattan) to apply any time you shoot a gun in the neighborhood.

It'd be handy if you're setting up an ambush or a sniper nest, though.

[Mr.Bookworm]

But you would know where to get guns or gun parts (legally) in Manhattan.

An ST who makes you roll for that in the age of the Internet is kind of a ****.

[Spamotron]

I understand that the Gun Accessories market is just as much "buyer beware," as any other. A Storyteller may very well have you roll to find good quality parts at a reasonable price versus overhyped junk. With that the internet can only help so much.

[Mewtarthio]

An ST who makes you roll for that in the age of the Internet is kind of a ****.

She's probably not talking about a situation where you're rolling just to buy a gun. Think more along the lines of "Okay, we need silver bullets that have been anointed with the tears of a disgraced ex-priest. Can we even get those in Manhattan?"

[Mr.Bookworm]

She's probably not talking about a situation where you're rolling just to buy a gun. Think more along the lines of "Okay, we need silver bullets that have been anointed with the tears of a disgraced ex-priest. Can we even get those in Manhattan?"

I would think that would be Streetwise, though, given the really, really weird nature of the item. Firearms is sort of vague ("identify, maintain, and operate most types of guns") about what exactly it covers, but tracking down unusual information is more the purview of Streetwise.

Incidentally, you can't get silver bullets, period. I mean, in the WoD, VALKYRIE might have a factory somewhere cranking them out, but you can't just order those things online. You can order fake ones, but they're not actually live ammunition.

Even if you could, you wouldn't want to, unless you're guaranteed to be able to pry the bullets out of a rapidly cooling werewolf corpse. Those things would be easy as hell to track. Better to just make your own.

EDIT: Although I suppose in WoDland, there might be an enterprising Hunter out there selling them on Craigslist or something. Still, easily trackable.

[Mewtarthio]

I would think that would be Streetwise, though, given the really, really weird nature of the item. Firearms is sort of vague ("identify, maintain, and operate most types of guns") about what exactly it covers, but tracking down unusual information is more the purview of Streetwise.

Incidentally, you can't get silver bullets, period. I mean, in the WoD, VALKYRIE might have a factory somewhere cranking them out, but you can't just order those things online. You can order fake ones, but they're not actually live ammunition.

I wasn't really picturing the answer to be "Oh, yeah, you can just head over to Disgraced Dan's Silver Bullets and Freshly-Diced Onions Emporium." More like "Well, there's this guy I know who could make some for us." Though, yeah, that does sound more like Streetwise.

...Okay, so how about this: "You find an index card inside your Happy Meal. It says 'Fellow Seeker of the Truth, meet me by the bridge in one hour if you wish to learn more of the God Machine.'" "Okay, cool. Can I buy a handgun and some ammo on the way?"

NOTE: I know absolutely nothing about New York handgun laws.

[The Random NPC]

Incidentally, you can't get silver bullets, period. I mean, in the WoD, VALKYRIE might have a factory somewhere cranking them out, but you can't just order those things online. You can order fake ones, but they're not actually live ammunition.


You can get real silver bullets, but they don't have any powder in them and you'll have to reload them yourself. Additionally, silver is really inaccurate because it's too hard and won't grab the rifling of the barrel correctly.

[Water_Bear]

An ST who makes you roll for that in the age of the Internet is kind of a ****.

Actually, buying a gun in the city is pretty seriously difficult; we've got some of the toughest gun control in the country and a police force / military presence which will not take chances that anyone carrying isn't a terrorist or a criminal. Most of NYC's guns are smuggled in from Pennsylvania and other states with looser gun laws.

[SiuiS]

An ST who makes you roll for that in the age of the Internet is kind of a ****.

Using the Internet to do this is Computers with a tool bonus, one which could probably apply the specialty through IDS. So it fits, kinda.