Life modules: Stage 3 - doubling down on skill fields

[solmanian]

Let's say my character chooses military enlistment. He can choose up to two additional fields aside from "Basic training". Can he choose to, for example, take the infantry field twice?

Not sure if it would be abusing the system or representing advanced training, like a Combine duelist.

[Jewelfox]

I'm just going to plug the link in my sig, here ...

It's a simplified version of the "just spend EXP on what you want" character creation method, using the skill categories in the AToW book which are based on occupations. So if you wanted to do what you're describing here, you could just buy the infantry skill category at a higher level.

Meanwhile, if you like you can still go through the life paths system, and choose traits or individual skills to represent the most important things you learned in each phase. You just get to bypass the whole "This phase gives you 50 EXP towards Illiterate" and then add it all up at the end, thing, and all the other bookkeeping AToW makes you do in order to make life paths approximate point-buy.

[Daryk]

I wouldn't allow it at my table, but I don't see an explicit ban on the practice in the rules (the "one and only one" rule only seems to apply to Basic Training).  I think most GMs would try to steer you to the Infantry/Anti-Mech or Special Forces advanced training fields if you want more infantry training.  If you want to be particularly good at the basic infantry skills, just buy them up with flex points and fluff your background as graduating at or near the top of your class.

This might be a good one for the rules and/or errata forums.

[theagent]

The only problem I see is that you get a minimal amount of "refunded" XP (6 per field skill) & added to your character's age unnecessarily. I do agree that it's not explicitly forbidden, but I do thing it's a 'letter vs. spirit' situation.