Goodman Games

Hi- I am reading through the rules, and I have a question. [Note: I have not yet played this game, so maybe this would be obvious if I had, but...]

A Basic Die-Rank can be lower than a Specialization Die-Rank. Why? It seems to me like the base should be as strong or stronger than the branches. What was the thinking behind this decision? Am I missing something?
As far as I can tell from my reading, it doesn't really matter whether you have Base D4 > Spec D6 or Base D6 > Spec D4, right?

The game looks quite interesting, BTW!

Sure, a base die rank can be lower than a specialization die rank. Take a real world example to illustrate the idea. base: driving wheeled vehicles> driving automobiles > driving Ford Taurus. You can see there that driving a semi rig is included in the general category, but without some practice you would not drive it as well as your car.

Right, that's why you have extra dice in driving your car.

You could have Driving Wheeled Vehicles 1D12 > Driving Autos 1D6 > Driving Ford Taurus 1D4. You're only rolling 1D12 to drive a semi, but you're rolling 1D12+1D6+1D4 when driving your Taurus. This sort of dice chain represents a specialization on top of a very good general ability.

But you can also be specialized in a specific area without having much general ability. The driving example isn't the best way to represent this sort of dice chain, so let's use Knowledge instead. Take the ADC Knowledge 1D4 > History 1D8 > WWII 1D12. This person knows a lot about World War II specifically, a fair amount about history in general, and very little about fashion trends among modern Japanese teenagers, for example, or anything else not directly history related.

Or for a more combat oriented example, let's say Melee 1D6 > Swords 1D4 > Fencing weapons 1D12. This is a fencer who has spent hours upon hours fencing, and had little other experience with other weapons. Obviously, the fencing weapons specialization is the highest. To some extent knowledge with a specific weapon will carry over into combat in general, hence the 1D6 basic melee. A fencer has probably at some point in his life picked up a few other swords, or at least paid attention while watching other people use them, so Swords of only 1D4. A master fencer could very well be a total klutz when he picks up an axe.

OK, these explanations make sense. Thanks for the info.

Now here's my next question (I've read a little bit further in the rules...):

I am assuming that Advantages and Disadvantages are taken at character creation. If this is so, then how can a character take the Extra weapon Attack Advantage up to the level of Mastery, when a level-one character cannot have any Mastery branches? (it says on p9 that the character "must choose from weapon Masteries already possessed").

Maybe this Advantage is not one that has to be taken at the start? Are there others? Literacy? Underworld contacts? Addiction? Impaired Hearing/Smell/Vision? Missing limb? These could be added as a result of an in-game event.

You can purchase advantages at later levels (using CPs), so long as the story (and GM) supports the reason for having it. Some are easier than others to gain in that sense.

You can't take the Extra Weapon attack advanage up to Mastery right away, not until you've been able to bring one of the melee ADCs up to that height. You can increase the level of advantage later.

Also, the rules states that the mastery rank cannot exceed the specialization, but after reading Deiter's commentary I think allowing it works as well in some instances.

One thing is for certain; it's hard to "break" ERP, because it's like a GMs toolkit for fantasy. You can mold it into the shape that fits you.

This makes perfect sense.