Subject: Study Time-House Rule
From: "J.L.Jackson" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 98 10:16:15 CST

Here are the house rules we use in my campaign for 
learning new skills and improving old ones:

        From the GEA Campaign Handbook.
        Copyright 1998 by John Jackson

LEARNING NEW SKILLS:
1) Hire a Teacher
    This section expands on B82 and CI114 notes, adding campaign specific
info that is left for the GM. This is the standard method for learning new
skills, but can also be used to improve existing skills.
    Cost and time to learn new skills (including spells) depends on the
skill of the teacher, supply and demand, and the difficulty of the skill.
The table shows the number of days required to learn _one_ point worth of
skill from a teacher with the given "teach level". [Teach level
=MIN(teaching skill, skill level in skill being taught)].  Cost per point is
an average, and fluctuates with market demands.  Student can't learn beyond
teachers level in skill being taught. 
    Time to learn assumes a 200 hour/point  course. 10 hours/day of
instruction is the quickest a skill can be learned from a teacher, though
less intensive (and slower) study plans can be designed. At the midway
point, a roll is made versus teach level, and again at the end of the class.
Failure on either roll requires the student to go back to the previous
level, which will cost him more time and money. 
_________________________________________________________________
            TABLE FOR LEARNING 
    Days and Dollars Required to Learn One Point In A Skill.
                 | Cost  |   Days Based on Skill Difficulty    
    Teach Level  | $/Day |Easy    Average     Hard    Very Hard
    <12 or SELF;    $ 5     40      42          44      46
    12 (tutor)      $20     20      21          22      23
    14 (scholar)    $23     19      20          21      22
    16 (teacher)    $25     18      19          20      21
    18 (professor)  $30     17      18          19      20
    20+ (master) ;  $35+    16      17          18      19
_________________________________________________________________
    Spells and martial arts skills will generally cost at least an extra
$5/day. Many guilds and styles give discounts on this to members in good
standing, especially at first when they are poor. Self teaching is double
the time for a teacher with a teach level of 12, but is generally
considerable cheaper, depending on what is learned and if books etc. must be
purchased.

2) Quick Learning Under Pressure
See CI115, applies only to new skills. Costs more.

3) Intensive Training
See CI116, applies only to new skills. Costs more.
Sean Punch said: "Intensive Training automatically requires you to spend all
of your waking hours doing nothing but training at *one* skill. Quick
Learning implies that you're doing something (e.g., a job) where one or more
skills are required, you don't have them and you have to learn them quickly
"on the job." You can only use Intensive Training to learn one skill at a
time, with a teacher . . . and that's all you can do. You can Quick Learn as
many skills as the GM allows all at once, *if* they are all necessary for
your survival (physical, mental or social)."  

4)  Saturation Drills
    A character may "burn" half a point to get trained to the next skill
level in 1/4 the time. This will not reduce the expense, just the time
(assumes two instructors at 1.5 times pay). It represents intensive "drill"
in the course, very long days, little sleep, small classes, and lots of
teacher involvement. The character will be unable to accomplish anything
else but learning during this time. This method can not take the student
beyond either teachers skill level in the skill to be learned.

IMPROVING EXISTING SKILLS
A number of methods for improving existing skills are presented. 

1) Standard Method
    As spelled out on B82-83, skills already known can be improved by
spending points earned in adventuring (if the skill was used), or by putting
in the study time (at 200 hours/point). This is probably the best way to
improve existing skills. However, the skill must have been used
significantly during real adventures.

2) Hire a Teacher
    A teacher can be hired to advance existing skills, provided the teacher
knows the skill better than his student. This method is outlined in the
previous section on learning new skills, and follows the same rules and
costs. Sometimes it is difficult or impossible to find a teacher who knows a
skill better than the PC, in which case a committee must be formed, as
discussed below. 

3)  Saturation Drills
    As above.

4)  Teaching by Committee
    This is the only way to advance a skill beyond the teachers level, other
than to pay double points and double time and cost for self-training or burn
a point to find a 'master'. The character will have to form a committee by
finding three people for the committee, with skills no more than 3 levels
below the skill level the player is trying to attain (the committee chair
can only be 1 level below). This type of learning simulates the effect of
graduate research, new ground is being explored, even the committee probably
doesn't know everything you'll learn, but they can give you other
perspectives and experience to guide you. 
    Learning by committee takes a full 300 hours of research for each
character point added to the skill (100 hours can be applied to a related
skill, like Research). Each committee member will earn 1/6 as much as a
single teacher of the equivalent skill (they aren't involved full-time) for
the 300 hours, and $1000 will be spent  per point in research.

5) Diversify
In short, expand on related skills instead and improve your overall mastery.
Read the sidebar on CI114.

*) Final Note
    The standard method is the primary practice. The other methods are
generally only used in cases where the GM has ruled that the PC needs some
special training or that the skill wasn't sufficiently used in the adventure
to merit the spending of earned character points. They may all be used at
any time, however. The other methods are also useful for improving skills
that you just can't seem to use in your adventures.

- ----
Enjoy! Comments invited.
John Jackson