Trying to understand cascade skills
Posted: Sat May 14, 2016 5:13 am
Hello all. Please forgive me as I'm a bit new to DC and am learning how to play/referee. I had obtained all the DC1 and DC2 books on DVD in PDF format. I also picked up Conspiracy Rules online. I've decided to start a DC2 campaign but I'm having trouble with character creation and the concept of cascade skills. I was hoping that someone might help explain it.
Specifically, on page 18 of the DC2 Players Handbook Masters book it says:
If the above is true, what would happen if instead of picking up just one level of Rifle he picked up 3? Using the above logic his Small Arms (Rifle) would be half of his Small Arms (Pistol) specialty of 3 plus the 3 levels in rifle: (3 / 2 = 1.5 + 3 = 4.5 rounds down to 4). So if his NEW Rifle level is 4, then that becomes his new specialty. So when his specialty changes to Rifle does that mean we have to recalculate his Pistol Score? Will his Pistol level (which WAS 3) now become half of his new Rifle level of 4 plus his levels in pistol: (4 / 2 = 2 + 3 = 5). So if THAT is true, then his recalculated Pistol level is 5, which instantly rises above the Rifle level he just increased, thus becoming his specialty once again. Its all very confusing.
Or should his rifle level be 1 (In other words, that level of rifle really didn't help him because without the level of rifle his default rifle score would have already been 1 - Half of his pistol skill of 3 rounded down to 1.
I'm confused on how its supposed to work because I see two different "ways" to interpret this. All of the character examples in the rulebook only show a character who chose a career that provided levels in ONE of the possible cascades.
Specifically, on page 18 of the DC2 Players Handbook Masters book it says:
In the example above in red, what would Scirocco's Small Arms (Rifle) be? Would it be 2.5? (In other words: His specialty is Pistol of 3 and half of that is 1.5, and then add the level he got in rifle from Basic Training for a Total Rifle score of 2.5, which rounds down to 2).Cascade Skills: A few skills are called cascade skills. A cascade skill is one that
includes several lesser skills under one broad heading. Examples of cascade skills are
Pilot, which includes Fixed-Wing, Rotary-Wing. and Shuttle, and Small Arms, which
includes both Pistol and Rifle skills.
Characters who receive a cascade skill must decide on an area of special interest
from among the subskills covered. From then on, their skill level in the chosen specialty
is considered to be the level of the overall skill. Their level in all of the other subskills
is half their level in the overall skill.
For example, Scirocco, a rock star character, receives a Small Arms skill level of 3
and decides he will specialize in pistol. His skill level with pistols is 3, while his skill
level with rifles is 1.5, rounded down to l.
Normally, no notation will have to be kept for these other subskills. However,
sometimes it is possible for characters to receive a skill level increase in a subclass other
than the one they have already chosen as their specialty. In the example above, Scirocco
has a Small Arms skill of 3 and has chosen Pistol as his specialty. If he then goes through
Army basic training, he will receive one level of Rifle skill. The Rifle skill level received
adds to his Rifle skill only, not to his overall Small Arms skill. However, if this extra skill
level would cause his Rifle skill to exceed his specialty Small Arms skill, then Rifle will
become his new specialty (and his overall skill will go up, of course). In either case, he
will have to keep track of his Rifle and Pistol skills separately from now on.
If the above is true, what would happen if instead of picking up just one level of Rifle he picked up 3? Using the above logic his Small Arms (Rifle) would be half of his Small Arms (Pistol) specialty of 3 plus the 3 levels in rifle: (3 / 2 = 1.5 + 3 = 4.5 rounds down to 4). So if his NEW Rifle level is 4, then that becomes his new specialty. So when his specialty changes to Rifle does that mean we have to recalculate his Pistol Score? Will his Pistol level (which WAS 3) now become half of his new Rifle level of 4 plus his levels in pistol: (4 / 2 = 2 + 3 = 5). So if THAT is true, then his recalculated Pistol level is 5, which instantly rises above the Rifle level he just increased, thus becoming his specialty once again. Its all very confusing.
Or should his rifle level be 1 (In other words, that level of rifle really didn't help him because without the level of rifle his default rifle score would have already been 1 - Half of his pistol skill of 3 rounded down to 1.
I'm confused on how its supposed to work because I see two different "ways" to interpret this. All of the character examples in the rulebook only show a character who chose a career that provided levels in ONE of the possible cascades.