BRP Comprehension Problems

[rust]

There are some minor points in the BRP Zero Edition which I do not really
understand, probably due to some language comprehension problem.

It would be very nice if one of you could help me with this. Thank You !

1) According to the BRP Zero Edition, both Education and Intelligence can
rise through study and training.
Does this mean that a character will then receive additional skill points for
his higher Education or Intelligence after the successful training ?

2) I do not really understand what the BRP Zero Edition's Fine Manipulation
Skill is used for.
Does the description imply that a character with this skill can equally well
disarm traps, pick locks and tie knots and improves all of these rather dif-
ferent skills whenever he improves the Fine Manipulation skill ?

3) In the BRP Zero Edition the Heavy Machine Skill seems to have both ve-
hicles (e.g. Bulldozer) and vehicle engines (e.g. Turbines) as possible spe-
cialties.
Does this mean that I could use specialties of this skill for an entire Fishing
Boat as well as for the Hyperdrive Engine of a starship ?

4) In the BRP Zero Edition the Repair Skill has a base chance of 15 % and
proposals for various specialties, for example Electrical Repair.
Does this mean that any character has a base chance of 15 % in all of the
various Repair specialties, and that he will keep this base chance in all the
other specialties if he develops one of the specialties to more than 15 % ?

[Jason Durall]

Originally Posted by rust

1) According to the BRP Zero Edition, both Education and Intelligence can
rise through study and training.
Does this mean that a character will then receive additional skill points for
his higher Education or Intelligence after the successful training ?

At the end of Chapter Five the section on "Characteristic Increase through Training" should answer your question.

Originally Posted by rust

2) I do not really understand what the BRP Zero Edition's Fine Manipulation
Skill is used for.
Does the description imply that a character with this skill can equally well
disarm traps, pick locks and tie knots and improves all of these rather dif-
ferent skills whenever he improves the Fine Manipulation skill ?

It's a catch-all skill for all sorts of little tasks that involve hand and finger dexterity. As noted, it might cover picking locks, untying knots, disassembling mechanical devices, etc.

The difference between using Fine Manipulation to disassemble a device and using Repair to do the same task is that Repair would be required to re-assemble it.

Originally Posted by rust

3) In the BRP Zero Edition the Heavy Machine Skill seems to have both ve-
hicles (e.g. Bulldozer) and vehicle engines (e.g. Turbines) as possible spe-
cialties.
Does this mean that I could use specialties of this skill for an entire Fishing
Boat as well as for the Hyperdrive Engine of a starship ?

If you were calibrating/maintaining/repairing/tuning the engines of the fishing boat, or handling the engines of the starship, sure. Piloting either of those vessels would require the Pilot skill.

Originally Posted by rust

4) In the BRP Zero Edition the Repair Skill has a base chance of 15 % and
proposals for various specialties, for example Electrical Repair.
Does this mean that any character has a base chance of 15 % in all of the
various Repair specialties, and that he will keep this base chance in all the
other specialties if he develops one of the specialties to more than 15 % ?

Yes, just like any skill with a base skill and multiple specialties. You could put points into Repair (Electrical) to raise it above the 15% base chance, but all other specialties (Electronic, Hydraulic, etc.) would be 15% each unless you put skill points into them, trained them, or used them successfully and gained experience.

[rust]

Jason, thank you very much for this quick answer !

[frogspawner]

OK, here's another question I can't solve by looking at my Ed.Zero...

I'm fighting two opponents and both decide to desperately disengage (i.e. turn and flee!). The first one turns away and I get a free attack on it (even if I've already attacked this round), which it can't parry or dodge. (Also, I presume, attacking it's rear would be Easy, i.e. double chance). Then the other one turns away...
Do I get another free attack against this second one? (And what if there was a third, or a fourth?)

[sabre_mmc]

Originally Posted by frogspawner

OK, here's another question I can't solve by looking at my Ed.Zero...

I'm fighting two opponents and both decide to desperately disengage (i.e. turn and flee!). The first one turns away and I get a free attack on it (even if I've already attacked this round), which it can't parry or dodge. (Also, I presume, attacking it's rear would be Easy, i.e. double chance). Then the other one turns away...
Do I get another free attack against this second one? (And what if there was a third, or a fourth?)

Although living in Scotland, I have not yet seen Edition Zero. I have been playing for a long time circa 1980. I would say no you are too busy dealing with the first apponent to run. Its like the old addage from Jerry Pournells Their will be War series.

"The first to run, Dies! so the rest may live" not a direct quote"

Martin

[frogspawner]

Thanks, that would seem sensible to me too. But I was rather hoping for the official line on what the rules (will) say...

[Jason Durall]

Originally Posted by frogspawner

I'm fighting two opponents and both decide to desperately disengage (i.e. turn and flee!). The first one turns away and I get a free attack on it (even if I've already attacked this round), which it can't parry or dodge. (Also, I presume, attacking it's rear would be Easy, i.e. double chance). Then the other one turns away...
Do I get another free attack against this second one? (And what if there was a third, or a fourth?)

If you're fighting two opponents, and both of them decide to flee, here's what needs to happen if they're fighting smartly:

Each of them needs to wait for a new round and announce their intent to disengage. They can't attack this round, but instead are limited to dodges and/or parries. This can also be using the "fight defensively" action that allows forsaking an attack for an extra dodge or unmodified parry (remember that each attempt after the first is at -30%).

On the appropriate DEX rank, they can make their full movement away from the attacker.

If they successively make those dodges and/or parries and the movement, they're out of combat and are their full MOV away from the attacker. Once there, they can choose to re-engage or to continue moving away, at which point it becomes a chase or simply running away (depending on what the attacker does).

According to the spot rules on disengaging, in an act of desperation, a combatant can simply just turn around and run, but this does provoke a free attack that cannot be parried or dodged. This is not modified to Easy (the "attacking a foe trying to get the hell out of there in a hurry" aspect evens it out to a normal chance).

If multiple foes continue to take that desperate action, each should allow such a freebie attack.

Since a combat round is by default 12 seconds long, and the actual part represented in die-rolling represents only a few actual seconds of that time, it shouldn't be too difficult to imagine squeezing an extra attack or few in there.

[frogspawner]

Eminently reasonable. (It was just the 'desperate' rule I wasn't clear about, and I did wonder about the Easy bit).
You don't get much more official than that! Thanks, Mr D.