Recently on the ICE Discord server I had a debate about certain rules and talents in Rolemaster Fantasy Roleplaying (RMFRP) and Talents as introduced in RMFRP Character Law.
The argument was about the rule of skills classified as Everyman (e) and Occupational (o). In RMFRP, Everyman skills are developed twice for each developed rank, and thrice for Occupational skills.
There are also Talents that change the classification of a skill, particularly weapon skills, to (e) or even (o) type. These are powerful talents. Directed Weapons Master (Minor) (from now on DWS) rendering a single weapon skill into (e) classification costs 10 talent points, while the Major version with (o) costs 15.
My disposition was and remains that this is still not necessarily overpowered in comparison to a regular character with access to these or other talents (and if you don't use talents, it's not relevant anyway).
However, a small nerf is in order.
Initial quantitative analysis
One argument against (e/o) type skills is that they make low-level characters stronger faster. You could make the same argument against any Talents or Training Packages increasing skills or adding special skill bonuses though. If those are a problem, you've probably already banned them, but if not, then there's little problem about (e/o) skills either.
Also, the rank bonus difference is quantifiable and comparable.
Using RMFRP core rules, the skill rank standard progression starts at -15 (at rank 0) and immediately jumps to 3 per rank until 10th rank. The rank bonuses scale as you gain more ranks, until rank 30, after which only every 2nd rank counts as +1. For your core skills, it is usually possible to develop ranks twice per level (thrice with certain skills like spells and/or talents like Master Warrior Friend that specifically affects a weapon skill).
I'm a physicist, so let's model it! Assume three characters who are identical by every aspect except the blue one has a regular skill, green one has a Everyman classification, and finally red one an Occupational classification for their skill. Each character starts at 0 skill ranks and develops ranks twice per level. Here's how the bonus progression looks like on graph:
A regular character reaches rank 30 (after which progression slows down considerably) by level 15. By comparison, (e) character reaches it by level 8, and occupational one by level 5. Notice that the slope stays the same after these levels, and is higher for better classifications than regular. It's useful to look at the difference of red and green characters to the blue character who's developing alongside them.
Here, notice that the character with (e) classification reaches the first peak difference of +20 by level 5. Same for (o) classification, by level 4 they reach a peak difference of +30. It is only after level 20 (for (e) type) or level 15 (for (o) type) that the power starts increasing.
Point being, before level 15, the (e) character would have gained the same amount of bonus by picking the Talent Skilled (Minor) for a default cost 10 (versus 10 of DWS), and similarly (o) character could have picked Skilled (Major) for a default talent point cost 20 (versus 15 of DWS) to gain the same benefit. DWS first only allows you to reach the skill rank bonus peak sooner.
After levels 15/20 though, the power difference increases and it becomes a bit silly.
The nerf
I understand that (e) and (o) are meant to make you quickly proficient in whatever weapon/skill/ability or alternatively at a smaller cost (if you only develop one rank per level). Having this classification allows you to reach mastery fast.
But giving an ever-increasing edge at higher levels feels wrong to me. After learning "everything" there's to know, it is supposed to be harder to become even better. Therefore, I propose a small nerf to end the infinite scaling advantage of characters with (e/o) classified skills.
Like Training Packages put a limit to how many ranks you can gain from them, I would put a limit to the effect of (e) and (o) classifications. After reaching a certain rank limit, the skills would then again develop like regular skills. I did an experiment by putting the limit to 30 or 50 ranks.
In the above figure, you see where the dashed and dotted lines separate from the solid lines. Bonuses look like this:
The cap makes the (e/o) classifications into a flat bonus at high levels, while giving initially an edge over characters without it. To illustrate this, here's the difference figure:
There! Capping causes the classification bonus to work in the character's favor (versus a character without it) at low levels, while giving a comparatively small bonus at high levels instead of a monstrous +50 (e) or even +100 (o).
I'm tending towards cap of 50, so that the bonus is recognizable and it won't affect certain rank-dependent abilities (like Magic Rituals) with occasional (e/o) classification. Assassin Training, making Ambush Everyman, is only slightly affected as the skill works in different way than other core skills.
Conclusions
Talents are a powerful mechanic and easy way to increase bonuses, particularly OB, to high values, even at fairly low levels. I tend to use them to customize characters just the way I like them to be.
This nerf is fairly easy to implement, and only becomes relevant after the first few levels. If you were to use it, it's prudent to let your players know, though.
