1. Functional Categorization No need to distinguish between Skills and Equipment—categorizing them by function is far more practical. For instance, grouping min(-6) and MSV L2 together—since both are shooting modifiers—enhances overall readability and flow. 2. Streamlined Critical Hits Remove the rule where a critical hit grants an extra Save Roll to reduce unnecessary edge cases and memory load. If a critical hit needs to trigger an extra die, isolate it into a dedicated new skill—such as BS Critical (+1SR). This also helps reduce reliance on pure luck. 3. Removal of Martial Arts (L1–L3) Remove Martial Arts L1–L3, as these can be fully replaced by existing attributes and skills (e.g., CC Attack (-3) or CC Attack (+1SD)). Furthermore, even Martial Arts L4 and L5 can be phased out by introducing specific new skills, such as Total Reaction (CC). 4.Merge AERIAL and TECH-RECOVERY into a single skill. There is currently no need to keep them separate, as it only adds unnecessary reading load for users.
Point 3 will bloat the profiles even more, and the walls of text will be too excesive in some cases About criticals: since every crit grant an extra dice, i dont see the need to de-nest the rule. But something could be done to remember the player when the extra dice has special properties, like with T2 ammo (the crit die doesnt apply the ammo)
We actually have only 2½ (T2, Continuous Damage & Plasma) exeptions here I don't think if that's really so hard to remember. Especially if the alternative is to fill the precious space of the profiles with even more letters. Absolutely on point in terms of MA L1 for the other Levels it's again the issue of wasted space. I'd just erase Tech-Recovery and make any IMM State a cancellation clause for the Aerial Skill
Hey, this is exactly the kind of thing that requires extra memorization and is easily overlooked. I often have to remind beginners about these edge cases. There's really no logic to it at all—it's pure memorization. The core point here is removing the extra save roll, not the BS Critical (+1SR) mentioned later. Look at it from another angle: what's actually the benefit of keeping that extra save roll? MA1 can be simplified to CC Attack (-3). MA2 can also be simplified to CC Attack (-3)—just bump the base CC stat up by 3. To some extent, though, it could definitely lead to skill bloat. My main goal with this post was to reduce the amount of stuff beginners have to memorize, so I might have overlooked the issue of skill bloat. I completely agree with this.
Another thing that has bugged me since I think two or three editions is that Doctor and Engineer work differently - a small piece of mental load that could be removed if they both worked the same, jsut with different targets (STR vs WND)
