Hi, Most my players, if not all, have Wafer Jacks as they are too useful to pass up. On one of the sheets I tried adding Expert/1 systems to the TL12 Jack as is required for it to function. I noticed a couple of things.
I was able to add one and was given an option to choose a skills. This skill list seemed to include all skills, not just those appropriate for the Expert system (Int & Edu skills).
Also, I was unable to add a second Expert/1 to the Jack to get a second skill bonus.
Thinking back, I believe the Wafer Jack had the option to add software that it shouldn’t be able to run as I believe it is supposed to be limited to Expert systems.
If some could look into this and clarify the situation it would be appreciated.
Thanks.
I reached out to one of our devs who knows Traveller better than I do and he clarified that all skills can be used with any characteristic and while some are more common than others there are no hard links. The rule is that the wafer jack is used for INT and EDU TASKS not specific skills.
For the second part of this he acknowledged that there isn’t currently a clean way for us to recognize the limitation at this time. So while we allow any software to be added the referee and players will need to be aware that RAW they can only select Expert.
He did ask me to file a ticket so that he can investigate ways to flag specific programs for computers.
Re: INT and EDU TASKS
Well, that is an interesting interpretation you have there. That is not how most Traveller gamers interpret “Tasks”.
The Core Rulebook states that "Every Traveller will acquire a variety of skills during creation that will indicate the tasks they perform well.
Not all Tasks require rolling a Task Check. If they do, there are two types of Task Check:
- Characteristics Checks, and
- Skills Checks
With Characteristic Checks , the characteristic (INT, EDU, etc.) is used as a Dice Modifier (DM).
With Skills Checks, the skill level AND the characteristic modifier is used as DM.
------------- so, Tasks relying upon INT or EDU checks can be stand alone characteristic checks, or they can be embedded in some skill checks, too. ------------------------------
Traveller Nexus: Skills And Tasks - Core Rulebook - traveller | Demiplane (scroll down to see individual sections on Characteristic Checks and Skill Checks.)
CRB, defines Expert Skills (page 113) as being a tool or weapon (eg. Wafer Jack) with the appropriate Expert program and an Intelligent Interface.
Traveller Nexus: Equipment - Core Rulebook - traveller | Demiplane
-------------- you would need to read through the list of individual Skill descriptions to find out which skills specifically use INT and EDU as DMs --------------------------------
Sorry, I’m confused by your response.
“A wafer jack is a computer system implanted into the base of the skull that contains a physical data socket and processor running an interface program. A Traveller with a wafer jack can use Expert programs for tasks relying on INT or EDU only.”
So I’m interpreting that to say that a wafer jack can only run Expert programs and only those for checks that would be based on the Edu and Int characteristics. If you add a TL 12 Wafer Jack to a character, then click on the wafer jack and choose Install software, you get a list that includes pretty much every type of program in the game. Agent, Database, Intellect, Interface (redundant as it is already running) , Intrusion, etc. If I choose Expert/1 (to give me a +1 to a known skill) it asks me to choose a skill (as expected). All skills appear to be listed, including the Athletic skills. I have trouble thinking of a way to make a Int based Athletics (Dexterity) check. All good, I can work around that.
When I go back to add another Expert/1 program for a different skill, the only option I have is Remove. I could add an Expert/2, but that would be a waste of bandwidth. So the device, the wafer jack, has bandwidth that the character cannot utilise.
In checking the process for this post I noticed that when an Expert/1 program is added to a TL 13 Wafer Jack, you aren’t asked what skill it is for.
I hope this clarifies the situation so that you can look into it when you get a chance.
Thanks.