Journalism Skill

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7thCavalry
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Journalism Skill

Unread post by 7thCavalry »

So, I have a Rifts character concept in mind, a Merc Soldier (Scout) Power Armor Pilot, who has decided to attempt to build a reputation as a war correspondent. I've been looking for some appropriate skills, and ran across the Entertainment category in Rifter #24. The category lists the skill Journalism, but it doesn't appear in that Rifter, and I cannot find it in any of the books. I looked into Heroes, remembering the Journalism category, but again, the skill doesn't appear to exist. Am I overlooking it somewhere, or is it just a ghost?
Last edited by 7thCavalry on Thu Sep 19, 2019 6:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ShadowLogan
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Re: Journalism Skill

Unread post by ShadowLogan »

The only place I've seen the Journalism Skill is in the out of print Macross 2 RPG line. The skill is described, but no percentage.

The writing aspect of journalism is covered by the "Creative Writing" Skill (RUE pg304), a TV/Radio-style reporter would need "Performance" and "Public Speaking" (RUE pg305).
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Orin J.
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Re: Journalism Skill

Unread post by Orin J. »

it's in the TMNT book, i dunno if it's anywhere else. Says it's the ability to gather information, edit, and write interesting and informative news stories (so not a common skill in the news business i guess) and puts the percentage at 40% +8 per level.
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Warshield73
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Re: Journalism Skill

Unread post by Warshield73 »

Rifter 24 has a Media in Rifts article. I know it has a reporter OCC and I think it has some other skills for it as well.

I always just use the Creative Writing skill as a template and make that the skill.
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Re: Journalism Skill

Unread post by The Beast »

It's in 1st Ed BTS. 40% = 4% per level. It basically gives you the ability to write, edit, and report news for print, radio, and TV.
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taalismn
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Re: Journalism Skill

Unread post by taalismn »

You're reminding me of the fun I had playing Cyberpunk as a street war reporter.... 8) :bandit:

If your guy's any good, 7thcavalry, maybe I can sign him up a gig with Network Omni News?
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SolCannibal
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Re: Journalism Skill

Unread post by SolCannibal »

Not a journalist per se, but my last Rifts character, Jax, a (rogue) robot created by Archie that passed itself as a Borg, having something of a scholastic/technical background (he was made during Archie's "mostly good and trying to rebuild civilization" phase, before its first brush with Atlantis) made a series of novels as a way to acquire revenue and deal with its past as a gladiator killing sapients for Splugorth entertainment for decades before eventual escape. Made some CG & animations too, because he had the memories and computer skills to.

A NG representative in the town he lived set up a deal for him and the "Archer Phoenix/Atlantean Gladiator" series met with quite decent success. For multiple reasons - as the novels had very distinctive descriptions of both monster-fighting scenes & strategies and places like Alvurron, Ki-Talan, Dragcona and Splynn that got the attention of a number of people, for good and for ill. :wink:
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7thCavalry
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Re: Journalism Skill

Unread post by 7thCavalry »

Warshield73 wrote:Rifter 24 has a Media in Rifts article. I know it has a reporter OCC and I think it has some other skills for it as well.

I always just use the Creative Writing skill as a template and make that the skill.


Rifter 24 is where I first saw the skill, and that's what got me started on this tangent. While I could probably get the GM ok to use the Creative Writing skill (Scripting) used for the media aspect, I like to exhaust my resources of canon first. Makes a better discussion that way, and, especially when using the Forums for assistance, it might let management know that there is interst in odd skills not found in the GMG.
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7thCavalry
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Re: Journalism Skill

Unread post by 7thCavalry »

taalismn wrote:You're reminding me of the fun I had playing Cyberpunk as a street war reporter.... 8) :bandit:

If your guy's any good, 7thcavalry, maybe I can sign him up a gig with Network Omni News?


Apparently there's some interest for Stringers in Rifts....This toon is turning into a Merc Power Armor Pilot with a penchant for Northern Gun gear. He's rolling around the wilderness in the Prophet power armor (NG2: 131), surrounded by a small fleet of Robot Floater Cameras (NG2: 236). I like to remind the GM (and the party) that they are always on camera, each person gets 2 Floaters, and that footage is cut/spliced nightly. He's working on breakout material right now; 3-5 minute shorts on basic survival, 5-15 minute equipment reviews, 30 minute discussions on tactics and the like. I've tossed the thumbdrive or external idea to the GM, I figure about 250GB should be enough for a basic selection of videos, and they get passed out at various communities. As we pass through, hunt down some personalities to interview, incorporate them into a North American Travel Overview type series.
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Re: Journalism Skill

Unread post by Warshield73 »

7thCavalry wrote:
Warshield73 wrote:Rifter 24 has a Media in Rifts article. I know it has a reporter OCC and I think it has some other skills for it as well.

I always just use the Creative Writing skill as a template and make that the skill.


Rifter 24 is where I first saw the skill, and that's what got me started on this tangent. While I could probably get the GM ok to use the Creative Writing skill (Scripting) used for the media aspect, I like to exhaust my resources of canon first. Makes a better discussion that way, and, especially when using the Forums for assistance, it might let management know that there is interst in odd skills not found in the GMG.

If by management you mean PB itself that is not likely to happen. The problem is that for every one of us that wants more skills in the game, and my average games has 20 or more extra skills added in, there are people that complain that it makes it too complicated.

Hopefully your GM is good about taking a skill and giving it specializations. The Creative Writing skill in RUE does cover journalistic writing all on its own but I guess you are looking for something more than that.
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7thCavalry
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Re: Journalism Skill

Unread post by 7thCavalry »

Warshield73 wrote:
7thCavalry wrote:
Warshield73 wrote:Rifter 24 has a Media in Rifts article. I know it has a reporter OCC and I think it has some other skills for it as well.

I always just use the Creative Writing skill as a template and make that the skill.


Rifter 24 is where I first saw the skill, and that's what got me started on this tangent. While I could probably get the GM ok to use the Creative Writing skill (Scripting) used for the media aspect, I like to exhaust my resources of canon first. Makes a better discussion that way, and, especially when using the Forums for assistance, it might let management know that there is interst in odd skills not found in the GMG.

If by management you mean PB itself that is not likely to happen. The problem is that for every one of us that wants more skills in the game, and my average games has 20 or more extra skills added in, there are people that complain that it makes it too complicated.

Hopefully your GM is good about taking a skill and giving it specializations. The Creative Writing skill in RUE does cover journalistic writing all on its own but I guess you are looking for something more than that.


And, much like Creative Writing: Technical (drafting, blueprints, tech manuals) that is going to be the route that we take.
And I probably wasn't clear enough...the issue isn't adding more skills to the game, its when, like in Rifter 24, a skill gets mentioned (or an entire category gets added) but there is no information given either on the skill or where the skill can be found. In the GMG Power Armor section, we get a brief descriptor of the armor type, but it gives the location of the complete item, by book and page number. We get the same type of info scattered throughout the series, but there is no real consistency. I know that's almost been a hallmark of PB, but you have to admit that it has gotten better over the past decade or so.
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