Hidden Career Abilities?

[Ymbert Montgomery]

I'm in favour of this, but thought it needed discussion rather than just putting straight in.

How do people feel about removing these from the Greasy Pole? If I did this, artists etc. could negotiate their fees without people being able to see their specific abilities.

If I did this, NPC military officers would get a broad descriptor instead, the same as other NPCs.

[Jacques Bougiedure]

I like this. Makes it a little more challenging/mysterious.

[huillaume]

Also do I.

I used to play without knowing others' abilities

[huillaume]

Another benefitial effect of this would be to reduce the cells of the Greasy Pole table, amking it more reader friendly (as now, it does not fit to my screen, and I hae to scroll it riht and left, s othat if I want to see the rightmost cell i lose the name, just to give an example)

[Alain Andre Durant]

I am definitely in favor of this.

An analogy to tabletop rpgs: In D&D, as a player I always hated knowing that the player to my left was playing a red dragonborn wizard, having just met them. I knew everything about his character, including having a 90% probability of guessing his stats and what spells he would use. I also knew that 90% about the half-orc barbarian sitting to the right of me would look like on paper. My character would not have these knowledges until we played for a while.

Having what are essentially unknowable character traits (until you get to know them through extending game-play) on the greasy pole gives me the same feeling. I prefer to learn these matters through game play.

If JKL wins 75% of his duels, something a character could know after a few duels, I don't want to fight him.

If MNO has been commissioned for five works of art and four of them were mediocre and one was just so-so, I am probably going to look for someone with a better reuptation for my commission, such as that new artist who only produced a single piece but it was very well regarded. Of course that could have been a one-off fluke, but that's the risk I take as a character.

Having just the character experienced knowledge information on the greasy pole is favorable to me. Leaving the character sheet stats off makes it more realistic.

[Monique Adelina De'Ath]

I am happy to concur with the general feelings expressed so far which supports hiding stats.....since poor Claud has 5 abilities at level 2 and several at level 1 it has always been a source of embarrassment and shame for him that others can see the desperate state of his hapless incompetence!