About items with skill influences (Example: Corellian Powersuit Armor Set, -1 Speed, +1 Strength).
It is known that your skill level may never exceed 5. Oppositely, I am assuming that it cannot get lower than 0.
Now, in another thread, Cam said:
“Helmets that give a +Perception will not give a skill bonus, but instead give a bonus to certain perception based actions. So they will give a bonus to helping find people, and it means that your level 4 is no longer equal to a level 5 with these items, instead it is equal to a level 4 + bonus, that way the person with a level 5 in that skill also gets the bonus and we don't have to worry about level 6 or higher skills.”
So, assuming what Cam said is correct, does this mean that when something grants +1 Strength (such as above mentioned armor), that it doesn't actually give you extra strength, but merely a detailed attribute within the strength skill?
If this doesn't mean that, then is the perception skill the only skill where this is the way it is?
And if it does mean this, shouldn't the rules be updated to say something into that direction?
And, assuming what Cam said is not correct, will the full skill influences be ignored at min or max skill levels (0, 5)? Using the above armor as an example, if my speed is at 0 and my Strength is at 4, will wearing the armor mean my speed will stay at 0 (as to not go to -1 or so) while my strength skill goes up?
What Cam said it the current intended implementation of items. What is on the rules pages is what the thinking was when those items were originally added to the game. The rules have not been updated because there's no firm information to replace the existing information with. Use the skill bonuses given as a guideline, knowing they will be replaced with equation bonuses/penalties to the appropriate skills.
____________
"May the Grace of Ara go with you, and His Vengeance be wrought upon your enemies."
Since these stats won't be +skills or -skills, but rather +attributes and -attributes (Example would be the BARC Trooper Armor), wouldn't this mean that the entire skill system, or at least a large part of their appearance, would have to be revamped? Since there will be sub-skills within these skills, or rather, since the skills will be more or less transformed into a "number formula", shouldn't we be able to see these same number formulas just as well as we are able to see our current skills right now? Or is that already planned as well?
Those skill bonuses that are on the rules pages now will be turned into bonuses in the equations that they are concerned with. So if you have armor on that gives you +1 strength, all equations that concern Strength will be given a bonus. I don't think there will be any "secondary skills".
I understood what he meant, what I am asking about is, when we look at our skills, how will we know what has been altered? And, since one skill can control more than just one aspect (Strength determines damage output and carrying capacity, Trading determines how much facilities make/lose per month and is good for NPC market), will all sub-skills that together make up the skill itself be heightened, or just specific ones?
Using strength as an example, if I buff myself with a stimpack to up my strength, will I get an increase in 1) HP, 2) Damage output AND 3) carrying capacity, or just one of the three?
You won't get the HP bonus - that's purely on your stats. But you should get a bonus to carrying capacity and damage. But we'll have to wait until they're implemented and the new rules go up to be certain.
____________
"May the Grace of Ara go with you, and His Vengeance be wrought upon your enemies."
When looking at the BARC armor example which gives a bonus to stealth, using the old method if you had Stealth 4 and put the armor on, you were equal to someone with stealth 5 and who didn't have the armor on. If you had stealth 5 and put the armor on, the old methods dictacted that you lost that extra point, because everything is maxed out at 5 (imaging what would happen if trading or piloting skills could go beyond 5, it may also break some equations).
Instead, what will happen is that when you go stealth, You will first calculate your stealth based off of skills and any random numbers. Then your item will give a small bonus to that number that was generated. The point of this is that no item should be worth a full skill point, and that you still will need level 5 in certain skills to max them out instead of buying armor that would do so.
For things like Strength, the way that Hal mentioned would be it. When it is working, it will raise the amount of weight you can carry and likely the damage you can do, but it won't be used to calculate anything else (HP or damage absorption).
____________
"Somewhere, there's a bullet with your name on it. The trick is to die of age before it finds you"