Onno Meyer wrote: > Jonathan replied to me in another mail: >>> how do push the envelope, then? >> >> You generally don't surpass the master by studying at his feet; you do so >> by going out and finding a better master, or seeking out situations that >> challenge your skill (essentially "learning on the job" while attempting >> things that are beyond your master's expertise). > > The latter was what I has described as OJT -- go out and > adventure.
Pretty much — although the way I do it, adventuring is _also_ treated as a learning source, with a cap that's based on the most consistent challenge to your skill that you face (for time-in-the-field experience, that is; skill improvement through earned character points is exempt from all caps). If a master swordsman goes adventuring and regularly faces opponents that he easily outclasses, he's not going to develop his skill as a result. > >> In short, find a learning >> source that has a higher cap than your master has. > > Another robot cruiser with the best tactics and piloting > skill programs available, to train sensors and gunnery? That would be one possibility, yes; but not the only one. > >> Eventually, the man who >> seeks continual improvement in a skill will lament because he can find no >> more challenges to help push him further. > > What happens if you have a bunch of characters, training > against each other? Can a skill-24 fencer help another > skill-24 fencer to reach skill-25? Hmm… that one has never come up, surprisingly. It's a nasty problem, because my gut instinct is that the fighters would eventually get into a rut, having learned everything about each others' little quirks — it would almost be like the aforementioned Job Training from Power-Ups 3, where instead of improving your fencing skills you end up improving your "Fencing against Larry" Job Training. You can get _really good_ at fighting against this one particular opponent; but it doesn't necessarily translate into anything more general than that. Not until you go out and diversify your challenges. _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
