Quote:
Originally Posted by Nightshade
Since neither I, nor anyone I ever played with every found a need to actually generate the abilities for an NPC farmer, I didn't find any such utility, and while I won't deny the possibility of it existing for others, I do consider those who found it so most likely in the minority.
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Perhaps you didn't generate them, but surely at some point you wanted to have some idea of what kind of skills a farmer might have? You've never played any scenario in which a combatant was anything other then a trained warrior? Sure, you could just make something up, but it certainly doesn't hurt to have some kind of tables showing what sorts of skills they get, right?
The point is that there are a whole variety of professions that different people could work in. Farmer, while not terribly exciting, is going to be pretty common (in any sort of pre-industrial campaign setting of course). It would be a bit silly and shortsighted to have a set of rules for occupation experience and leave out what is arguably the most common occupation. Whether you choose to play any characters with that starting profession or not isn't really the point. The point is that farmers exist in your game world, so you may as well have rules governing what sorts of skills they'll have. You've got them for everything else, so why not? It's not like it detracts from the game to include them, right?
Maybe in your game no one ever plays or interacts with a farmer. Seems a bit odd, but whatever. In my game, we've had numerous scenarios in which knowing the skills of a farmer is useful. Let's see. Band of bad guys raiding the local farming community. Party arrives and rallies the locals into defending their town (with the party's help of course). That's a lot "better" storywriting then just having the mighty adventurers go off by themselves to kill off the bad guys, right? And during that fight, you might just find yourself next to a farmer wielding a scythe or hoe (they're in the weapons list for a reason, right?). And maybe, just maybe as a GM, it might help to know what that farmer's skill is...
Or hey! Maybe the party has been infected with disease or poison. They stumble into a small farming village, weak and desperate. What are the odds that someone has a good enough plant lore to find the healing herbs that will save them? Gee. Would have been awfully convenient to have some kind of rules to figure that out, right? Like say a profession called "farmer" with lists of skills that they gain over time...
Or... The party is traveling through some guys fields, when suddenly they're attacked by a roving band of broos. They're in a tough fight, there's a few farm hands in the immediate vicinity. If only we knew what kind of combat skills they might have so they could lend a hand...
I'm again somewhat mystified why this is viewed as a problem. As I and several others have pointed out, you are under absolutely zero obligation to force your players to roll for their age or their occupation if you don't want. But having the tables available to do it if you want, and a fairly complete list of possible occupations complete with skills gained over time is IMO incredibly useful. Certainly, it's better then only having a set of rules for soldier types, and then only telling you what skills they gain if they start at age 25...