[HOE] soldier edge seems like a waste

[Matt and Teresa Steflik <grifflik@stny.rr.com>]

Theo McGuckin wrote:

> So the soldier edge costs 5 pts.
> For that you get:
> about 6-8 pts. of skills
> double your belongin's up to your rank edge
> a MAJOR drawback that falls somewhere in between Vot Wasted West and Vot
> Weird West on the "totally hosed" meter, right?
> And you can raise your skills above 5 (good luck, you had to spend all
> your points on the soldier, rank and belongin's edge!)
> That's it, right?
> All for 5 + 8 = 13 pts.
>
Hmm.  No, I think you're looking at this wrong.  Rather, IMO, it works
more like this.  For ease of example, let's pick a specialty...let's say
Infantry:

If you just take the 5 point Background in Infantry, you get:
1.  9 points in skills
2.  0 in rank (no point gain)
3.  The bonus of doubling the effect of belongings for military gear, #
pts. = to rank (however, since rank is zero, no point gain).
4.  A pull from the soldier chart (the effect of which averages out to
be a hindrance equal to approx. a -4).

So, for 5 points you get 9+0+0-4= 5 points.  You pretty much break even.

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Now, lets say you took the Background with a point in Rank and a point
in Belongings.  Now you get:

1.  9 points in skills.
2.  1 point in rank.  The first effect of this (that of military rank)
is admitably a bit questionable as to it's usefulness - it will depend
upon your campaign and how much stress your marshal puts on it (ie. your
mileage may vary).  However, it also gives you a "free" point in
leadership or professional soldier.  This effectively is a gain of 2
points for the cost of 1.  You of course also gain the ability to raise
skills in your specialty up to six now.
3.  The doubling of the effect for belongings now kicks in.  The Rank of
one lets you double the effect of 1 point in belongings, giving you the
effect of another "free" point.  Again, this gains you 2 points for the
cost of one.
4.  A pull from the soldier chart (the effect of which averages out to
be a hindrance equal to approx. a -4).

So, for 7 points you get 9+2+2-4=9.  You've actually gained
approximately (due to averaging hindrance value) 2 points.
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One last example (but I'm sure you can see where this is going).
Suppose you take the background with Rank 2 and belongings 2.  You get:

1.  9 points in skills.
2.  2 points in rank.  Again, for the first effect of this (that of
military rank), your mileage may vary.  It now also gives you a 2 "free"
points in leadership or professional soldier.  This effectively is a
gain of 4 points for the cost of 2.  You of course also gain the ability
to raise the skills in your specialty to 7 now.
3.  The doubling of the effect for belongings again kicks in.  The Rank
of two lets you double the effect of 2 points in belongings, giving you
the effect of two "free" points.  Again, this gains you 4 points for the
cost of two.
4.  A pull from the soldier chart (the effect of which averages out to
be a hindrance equal to approx. a -4).

So, for 9 points you get 9+4+4-4=13.  You've actually gained
approximately (due to averaging hindrance value) 4 points.

I think that's more how it's supposed to work...it's my interpretation
anyway.  Doesn't seem like a waste looked at like this - in fact it
seems rather balanced.

Matt Steflik
Gimme Shelter - http://www.geocities.com/grifflik