Thanks to everyone who responded. I understand the default guidlines for character creation in SKoH now.
I think there will be a strong tendency for my group to give their occupational keyword a 10 point boost to 7W, then purchase a couple of core breakout abilities at +1 (or 8W) and then put some more points in one of them to get around a 10W in one "signature" ability. I know I probably would, just because I would like to be really good at something. Not necessarily a bad thing.
In thinking about it, I really understand why you have to use one of your precious 9 ability choices to purchase a breakout ability. They are the key to avoiding the -6 modifier for a use of a general keyword ability.
I really like the idea of using the narrative method. Not sure how my group would respond. The more I think about it the more I want to create a character.
Thanks again.
>
> Ryan:
>
> I'm not sure that I'm the best person to answer, but here goes --
>
> I think your 20 points can only be used to raise abilities that you have. So,
> you can't use one of those 20 points to create a breakout ability under an
> umbrella keyword. To do that, you must use one of your 9 abilities.
>
> Yes, as a narrator, I would allow a player to put 10 points into a keyword, then
> another 10 points into its breakout ability. But I would first discourage it and
> give the player examples of why it is a bad idea. If the character takes some
> sort of combat ability, I would ask what he will do when he needs to persuade
> the chief to lend him aid. Swinging a sword around won't work. If he persisted,
> he would probably find himself in many situations where his sword was pretty
> useless.
>
> One way to rein in a munchkin is to use one of the other methods of character
> creation. Instead of the list method, you might require everyone to use the 100
> words method. I think it's less susceptible to munckinitis.
>
> Finally, if you worry about munchkins, you might reserve the right to designate
> each character's flaws. So, the guy who takes "Two-handed axe of
> super-instant-death 18w" also gets "Coward 18w" (because he's obviously
> compensating for his weakness). Or you might limit that right to any flaw with a
> value of more than 5w or so.
>
> I think that the flaws are intentionally tied to the highest abilities to make
> the characters more interesting. When creating sample characters, I noticed that
> my more balanced characters usually had several keywords tied at the top ability
> level for that character. That is, I chose some areas to develop, developed them
> to pretty much the same level, and left the other abilities at their base
> levels. That meant that all of the flaws were also at that top ability level.
> Since these main abilities, and the flaws, are what defines the character, it
> worked for me. I can't explain the apparent difference between that and the HQ
> book itself.
>
> Chris Lemens
>
>
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