RE: Skills
I suspect everyone has MA, but that's more a system issue than anything. James has maxed out Might because it's used for Jumping. So basically I doubt there's overlap.

IMHO Streetwise is not a skill you need much. The street has gotten a lot smaller, and you are legit now.

Subterfuge is a different story, people are still going to lie and any threats to you will likely come from below.

I have this impression, but I'm not sure were, that Streetwise is the social skill of most interactions in the post-apocalyptic world. It kind of makes sense since everything is wide open and mostly barter - the old black market.

Your post brings up a thought. Money itself is meaningless now. Paper isn't worth anything since there is no government to back it up. Most valuable things would be items in demand and useful for survival.

What I'm wondering though is whether or not Gold or Gems would maintain much value. There are completely unprotected jewelry stores out there ripe for the harvesting, but would it have any value?

Whether it did or not I think Fox would have hit a few jewelry stores in the midst of his scavenging figuring that even if it didn't have any value presently, it might again in the future. In other words he's going to have a stash of gold and gems and jewelry even if it's not part of his "resources".

Gold and gems look pretty and they used to have a lot of value. Whether they still do depends on your local situation. People like to flaunt resources. So... what did it take to get that gold?

For James' girlfriends' birthday he fights his way through a group of zombies and gets them a pair of monster rocks and gold chains. If he's the only one around who can do this then it's a way to show off wealth. If there's a store having this sort of thing in the actual enclave, i.e. available for anyone, then he'd better rethink that plan.

Intuition tells me he'd be better off getting them fur coats (rarer, harder to find, some survival value), or fresh fruit.

RE: Streetwise
AFAICT streetwise is mostly dealing with illegal economic transactions while Biz deals with the legal ones. An argument can be made that both of them do the same thing in the current environment. The current economic environment is both less organized and less restricted.

Would like to hear from Drew on this topic...anyone heard from him or his alter egos?

Ravenshire has the impression that Streetwise is the main social skill in the game because I told him so.

Gold 'n' jewels have some value still, but it's really a matter of what enclave (or whatever) you're trading at as to whether you can exchange them for items of equal predisaster value. Some people sensibly see that such "valuables" aren't worth their weight toting around.

And cash is nearly worthless unless you're talking toilet paper.

And Overload, I like Courier's idea. If you wanna go semi-coastal that's fine by me.

Assuming you still have working plumbing, cash would make horrible toilet paper. It's designed to stand up to being put through a washing machine... not good for the pipes.

Can streetwise substitute for Biz? That would save me a few dots to spend elsewhere...

Whoops. Sounds like I need to exchange my gal Friday's Biz dots for Streetwise then.

It's cool. I shoulda mentioned it anyway. Consider em Streetwised.

So is biz still good for anything or does it mean squat now that Wall Street and Nasdaq got hosed...???

I'm betting Biz will become more useful as society recovers, as Biz is also the buying and selling of goods in a normal environment. It also covers basic accounting, after all. It is kind of like having Melee in the days before Z-Day. In the proper environment, its very useful.

Unless Drew says otherwise, I would think that biz would still be very useful. Biz represents not just the actual buying and selling of things, but business savvy in general. Streetwise is good for making deals on the streets, but Biz is what tells you it is a good idea to stockpile this item or that item because it has or will have value in the future. It is the skill that makes the difference in keeping or losing those resources. After Z-day, it would have been easy for anyone with the skills to stockpile tons of goodies, but biz is what allows you to not squander those goodies and get taken in by others. It should be equal to streetwise as a skill, right now there is no 'street' or 'financial district', it's all one big equal playground or unregulated capitalism!

Kind of like stockpiling a flu vaccine for the upcoming flu season (Biz) versus being told that there is now a market in vaccines once the season starts (Streetwise), right?

Streetwise also would be knowing who to talk to in the black market to unload those vaccines and having the snap to make a good deal for it. Biz would be knowing not to unload the whole supply and flood the market thus devaluing your product. Thereby keeping you in business in the long term.

though i am now wondering....how often am I going to be asked to make a Biz roll? Honestly? Cuz...I could easily roleplay those things you just said and explain it as having a high natural Wits score and just being Savvy.

Savvy?

true, but then that's always the beauty of high stats.

My point was from an OOC perspective why bother spending precious dots on something you will never be asked to roll? Metagaming? Sure...but i am a firm believer in spending points where they will be *effective.*

For your character, it's not clear whether he'll be using Biz... but on the other hand, if he needs it he'll need it badly and often. It's sort of like taking dots in Linguistics.

If you have 5 dots handly I'd split them 2-3 and go with that.

Since you have a high Wits, cover both bases. Your most likely competitors are going to be baselines who are unlikely to have much Biz anyway.
If you opt not to take it, let me know and I'll tweek one of my Followers to get some.

On the subject of Followers, I suggest a dot or two of Resistance.

I doubt it would work against the Zombie Plague, and points are tough to come by. Beyond that, I tried to give them all superior (3+) Staminas. Only one doesn't.

I gave one of my NPC's some Biz so that we have it if we need it.

Im at a bit of a loss as to why you are trying to cover so many bass with your NPCs.

Its frustrating me. I want to play a soldier but two people take those. I want to play a civil engineer but you have two engineers. Why should I play at all when your NPCs keep trying to take over every niche I find?

Arg.

Overload, I was under the impression that you you weren't wanting to take Biz, so I was just letting people know I could cover that base if needed.

I have known from the get go that I'm going to be the least effective combatant of the group. My strenghts are elsewhere. I'm not trying to restrict anyone else's character.

If you want to cover a certain area solo, let me know and I'll make an effort to work around you. Just let me know what it is you want to do.

Given the numbers of followers around *someone* was going to have Biz, or whatever. NPC baselines usually max out at 6 dice and aren't a problem or a contest. NPC novas are a different issue.

As those are PCs, it's mostly a case of 'first come first serve'.

Build a PC in that niche, then ask that the current NPC be changed. Especially before the game starts IMHO it shouldn't be that much of a problem to squish/change/rebuild an NPC follower concept.

seriously man an NPC follower would probably never outshine a PC nova. Even low-level novas are bound to be much better at said job.

I didn't bother having any "survivors from his unit" or any other tag-a-longs he'd picked up on his trek inland because I figured he would travel alone because it's easier and in the end it's much easier to play out. It forces Dan to rely on the other PC's in at least some respect.

I spread him out really far over fairly broad base skillset, with a heavy focus in combat and survival skills. Even so there's alot of skills he simply doesn't have.

As it stands we have two confirmed former soldiers, a scavenger and his band, and what else so far?

My idea was to be a sort of post apocalyptic fixer. A former smuggler and organized criminal who in the wake of the collapse has suddenly found his services have become "legit."

With the way I've worked it out it harkens back to my original idea of being a "warlord." Not in the strict meaning but in this case refering to someone in charge of a well armed and fortified enclave...one of the new emerging powers.

Are your powers and attributes more of the "I Kick Ass" type, or the "Leader of Tomorrow" type? If you got the Social/Leadership route, you won't be stepping on anyone's toes, I'm pretty sure.

Both. Maxed phyiscals and pretty spectacular power build. In IC terms he really only has 1 "power" being a force field. He also has a sort of premonition that activates the force field whenever he is in danger. When he erupted he also demonstrated prodigous speed but has not yet been able to duplicate the effect (in other words I didnt have enough points to do everything).

He also has maximum wits and perception as well. Manip of 4 Charisma of 3. Skillwise he is also quite the people person with (as of right now) Rapport, Biz, Streetwise, Command and Diplomacy at 5. If some of these skills aren't going to be neccessary let me know. My reasoning was that with Streetwise and Diplomacy he can deal with street level enclaves as well as the remnants of government. Rapport to be genuine and command to make sure his people respect him.

Again Im not sure as to the relevancy of each..especially the Biz and Diplomacy.

But yeah...kick ass and leader type.

Urban hero.

Mysterious Drifter

Lone Wolf =D

(Yeah, Yeah I take too long. Sue me >_>)

We are a Pack of Lone Wolves!

Or, how about ...

We're a Bunch of Loose Cannon Cops that don't Play by the Rules!

Or how bout a group of surly but lovable angsty teens who deep down really just want to fit in and be loved.... Oh sorry that's the plot for every teen show ever made. My bad.

Surly teenagers ...

Who gets to be the Bad Boy always in trouble with the Law?
Who gets to be the Pretty Boy who is always in a troubled
relationship?
Who gets to be the Obnoxious, but Good Looking Boy?
Who gets to be the Sidekick?
And, who gets to be Wholesome Guy who eventually goes Bad Boy?

I can be the Sidekick. I have a neat sidekick power that really won't get explored until episode 14.

I think Courier is the Pretty boy always in a troubled relationship since he's the only one with an SO.

I'll be the Wholesome guy that eventually goes bad. It has to be because of a combination of a girl and revenge on another guy that has done me wrong though.

I'm already laying groundwork for that since I have 2.

Hi everybody I Hope You don't mind one more joining in. I just got word back from Drew, he's cool with it.

Trying to find a niche, I've decided to go for a more Defense/Tactical oriented character. I'm favoring things like force field projection, pretercognition, telepathy, mega-perception.

Reading through everything here, the story that came to me is of a school teacher, on Z-day she found herself protecting all the children who had been sent to the school for shelter, including one of her own. She now travels with a small group of kids whose parents ere never found. She has a few allies she picked who help her protect her wards, probably one baseline and one Nova. Actually Fox's base sound exactly right, she could either be a recent addition to the base, introduced by Priest, or they could meet when the game starts.

Do you have any suggestions? If there's any skills or powers that the game needs let me know, I can adjust to whatever works for the group.