And I'm the one accused of not having an imagination.  And yet, none of the skills mentioned here have ever been a problem for me.

Quote from: JoeNuttall;939305Taking your examples, would being a sharp shooter help you spot a concealed pistol?

While the other examples were my own inventions, I'm pretty sure I saw that one in the actual rules.  The logic would be that familiarity with firearms makes you more able to recognize the shape of one underneath clothing, as well as giving you a better sense of where and how they could be hidden, so you know where to look.

Quote from: JoeNuttall;939305When looking for hidden doors are there multiple skills that could apply, or just one? Presumably many, so what if the character is good at two do they get a better bonus?

Just pick the best one.  It's always one stat plus one skill.  (Actually, given how complete EABA is, there probably is a rule for a high level in one skill providing a bonus to a different skill for tasks where both apply, but I don't remember such a rule offhand.)

Quote from: JoeNuttall;939305(Presumably looking for wild game is actually just Hunting, not Perception).

Nope, never "just Hunting" because that's a skill by itself, with no stat added.  But which stat to use depends on what you're doing with the skill - Perception+Hunting to spot game, Intelligence+Hunting to set a trap to catch it, Dexterity+Hunting to skin and field dress it, Charisma+Hunting to tell a convincing and entertaining story about "the one that got away", etc.

Quote from: nDervish;939409While the other examples were my own inventions, I'm pretty sure I saw that one in the actual rules.  The logic would be that familiarity with firearms makes you more able to recognize the shape of one underneath clothing, as well as giving you a better sense of where and how they could be hidden, so you know where to look.

Guys, that's the difference between narrow skills, like in GURPS, and broad skills, as in Feng Shui:).

In GURPS, "pistol" skill is for shooting it, hiding and discovering items are two different skills, unless it's the infamously expensive Wildcard Skill.
In FS, your pistol skill is knowledge about using guns, so you know how to hide them, you know where you'd hide them and know to look there during a search, and you also know people that like and/or sell guns;).

Ah, I hadn't realised that's what you meant. It's the idea that the attribute to go with the skill varies with the application, which is quite a nice idea, but it might be too much complexity (for me).

So the difference between that and mine is that perception is an attribute that can be applied to skills, whereas I've got Perception as a general skill derived from other skills.

Quote from: AsenRG;939499Guys, that's the difference between narrow skills, like in GURPS, and broad skills, as in Feng Shui:).

"Pistol" is obviously a narrow skill (a broad skill would be "shooting"). If it was e.g. "hitman" as a skill then obviously that would include spotting a hidden gun. The oddity is when "Pistol" means you can spot a hidden pistol, but not a hidden knife. But there's nothing to stop someone arguing that and the Ref giving them the bonus I suppose.

Actually, "pistols" might well include hiding and discovering pistols, but not, say, knives, and contacts with pistol collectors, and fast draw, so it could be a broad skill. GURPS uses it as a narrow skill, but that's because GURPS just workslike this, not because of the skill's name:)!

 And indeed knives tend to be hidden in different places than pistols, so that part makes sense to me;).

I'm far from convinced about the "can spot hidden pistols every time but cannot spot a hidden knife to save your life".

If skill in pistols gives you bonus on anything pistol related, would learning French give you a bonus on anything French? Would it allow you a bonus on catching a French Book someone throws at you?

Quote from: JoeNuttall;939938I'm far from convinced about the "can spot hidden pistols every time but cannot spot a hidden knife to save your life".

If skill in pistols gives you bonus on anything pistol related, would learning French give you a bonus on anything French? Would it allow you a bonus on catching a French Book someone throws at you?

Never said "can't help you", did I? I said "it doesn't help you all that much". You still have your perception to rely on, but the shapes you're used to look for and the slight changes in the way of movement when someone is packing heat are different when someone's packing steel. I mean, list the places you can stuff a blade and the places you can hide an iron, and compare...

Of course, you might as well make an argument that you could use your Pistollero skill to scan for knives, but you'd just get a penalty. The GM might well accept it. Games with broad skills allow for more negotiation.

Yes, narrow skills are more precise, but take up more space, while broad skills are more handwavy. Why is that even controversial? Just pick a game that suits your preferences!

And French Language wouldn't be a skill in a system with broad skills - at most, it would be on a list of "languages you talk". "Francophone education" might be...and having that one IRL myself, I can tell you that yes, you're likely to know surprising trivia about the culture, cuisine and history of France. Surprising to anyone but a French native, that is.
Or it might be just called "Linguist", and you'd know not just French in the deal.

The French thing was a joke ;-) French would likely be a broad skill, but it would be along the lines of french language AND culture.

The pistol comments aren't criticisisms of broad skills - I use broad skills - I'm just not convinced by that particular way of partitioning skills. But that doesn't mean it can't work for everyone else!

Quote from: JoeNuttall;939938I'm far from convinced about the "can spot hidden pistols every time but cannot spot a hidden knife to save your life".

If skill in pistols gives you bonus on anything pistol related, would learning French give you a bonus on anything French? Would it allow you a bonus on catching a French Book someone throws at you?

Detecting hidden/concealed weapon on a person: Deception skill
Spotting items in cubby holes: Perception skill
Catching a book: Athletic skill
Reading it: Language skill