>We use the umbrella method of dealing with Keywords and allow people
>to pretty freely define their Occupation/Expertise Keyword.
This is sort of what I am doing as well. Rather than a fixed package, it is basically an umbrella that expands as we decide stuff belongs in it.
>So we have stuff like:
>Two-Fisted Missionary
>Dream-thief
I love these.
>I really like the umbrella method since it doesn't need massaging to
>accommodate some of the "out-there" fields of Expertise people can
>come up with... like, say, "Outlaw Jedi Archivist" which might need
>two (or more!) keywords in a more prescriptive descriptive framework.
The only issue I have with this is that one must police a bit what is keyword based and what is "this character". I sometimes steal the idea from another game that a keyword has to be something that could conceivably be expandable to someone else. i.e. - If someone else had "Two-Fisted Missionary" they would get the same abilities.
I don't think it is super-crucial, but it does help a bit when you think "is this a relationship that comes out of my keyword or is it one that comes just out of being me" for example.
One of the characters in my Unfettered Space game has "Last of the Mohicans" (although he isn't actually that, he is the last of an alien culture) and that encompasses his racial traits, cultural heritage, and how some people react to him. He also wanted an ability called "Last Man Standing" to reflect his ability to survive trouble. We eventually decided it didn't belong as part of the keyword, it is unique to John, but we had to discuss it some.
LC
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