Posted 2024-08-11

Pet Skills in Mothership

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Pets have skills in Mothership. This can be a little confusing as the list of skills and their descriptions seem very oriented towards humans and androids.

So here is a pair of solutions: first, an interpretation of all of the default Mothership skills as they might apply to pets, and second, an alternate skill tree just for pets if you’d prefer that kind of thing.

Mothership Skills Interpreted For Pets

Trained Skills

• Archaeology: Trained to sniff out corpses
• Art: Trained to identify precious materials
• Athletics: Trained for sport/shows (running, jumping, etc.)
• Botany: Trained to sniff out certain plants
• Chemistry: Trained to detect certain chemicals
• Computers: Trained on which buttons to push or wires to pull to turn computers on or off
• Geology: Trained to identify and point out unstable rock
• Industrial Equipment: Trained to warn when someone is using equipment in an unsafe way
• Jury-Rigging: Trained to assist you when making something (e.g. hold a rope in their mouth while you tie it to something, sit on a panel to hold it still while you drill it, etc.)
• Linguistics: Obey commands in multiple languages
• Mathematics: Trained to understand basic numeric commands, e.g. “Fetch me 4 medkits”
• Military Training: Very disciplined. Trained to military standards to attack, subdue, guard, etc.
• Rimwise: Able to fend for itself, hunt, forage in urban areas, maybe trained to distract marks for pickpocketing
• Theology: Trained to nip at people making minor transgressions, e.g. falling asleep during sermons, halfheartedly mumbling prayers, fidgeting during meditation, etc.
• Zero-G: Trained to move nimbly in zero-g
• Zoology: Trained to recognize and track animals based on their spoor

Expert Skills

• Asteroid Mining: Trained to detect and warn of trace amounts of dangerous gases or other unsafe mining conditions
• Ecology: Trained to find and lead people to running water, natural shelter, etc.
• Explosives: Trained to sniff out explosives
• Field Medicine: Trained to get help or fetch a medkit when someone is injured
• Firearms: Trained to not be frightened by gunfire
• Hacking: Trained to recognize when a hacker is being attacked by counterintrusion ICE and unplug them
• Hand-to-Hand Combat: Trained to attack viciously
• Mechanical Repair: Trained to recognize various mechanic tools and fetch them by name
• Mysticism: Trained to sit and lean against someone while they are meditating to help calm and focus them
• Pathology: Trained to sniff out certain diseases
• Pharmacology: Trained to sniff out certain drugs
• Physics: Trained to catch things thrown to it
• Piloting: Trained to alert a pilot to dangers outside of their field of view
• Psychology: Trained as an emotional support animal
• Wilderness Survival: Trained to hunt, forage, and survive in the wild

Master Skills

• Artificial Intelligence: Trained to identify and ignore commands from androids, AI, etc.
• Command: Pack leader, can rally other pets
• Cybernetics: Trained to use an implanted slickware (see APOF)
• Engineering: Trained to listen for creaking and alert others to structural weak points
• Exobiology: Trained to track certain alien species
• Hyperspace: Trained to stay calm while in hyperspace
• Planetology: Trained to navigate various kinds of planets (e.g. high or low gravity, extreme wind, etc.)
• Robotics: Trained to sniff out secret androids
• Sophontology: Trained to recognize body language of certain alien species
• Surgery: Trained to recognize surgical equipment and fetch them by name
• Xenoesotericism: Trained to be sensitive to a mysterious, nigh-undetectable alien energy

A Pet Skill Tree

Here’s an idea for a pet-specific skill tree, if the above feels a bit too weird to you. Some skills may not make sense for all pets, and you may certainly want to consider expanding the tree to include abilities more catered to the critters in your game.

Trained (+10%)       Expert (+15%)          Master (+20%)
══════════════       ══════════════════     ═════════════════
Calm Under Fire ─┬─▶ Companion Training ──▶ Panic Training
                 └┐
Tooth & Claw ──┬──┴▶ Military Training ───▶ Xeno Tracking
              ┌┘
Tracking ────┬┴────▶ Hunting ─────────┬───▶ Search & Rescue
             └┐                      ┌┘
Foraging ─────┼─┬──▶ Detect ─────────┼────▶ Detect Substance
             ┌┘ │                    └┐
Rimwise ─────┘ ┌┘                     └───▶ Detect Disease
               │
Safety ────────┴─┬─▶ Zero-G Training
                ┌┘
Athletics ──────┘

Trained Pet Skills

• Calm Under Fire: Trained to keep calm in dangerous situations, around gunfire, etc.
• Tooth & Claw: Trained to fight viciously, e.g. in pit fights or to defend their owner.
• Tracking: Trained to follow spoor on command when presented with a sample.
• Foraging: Trained to find and/or retrieve edible plants, bugs, fungus, running water, etc.
• Rimwise: Trained to intimidate people, distract them to assist in pickpocketing, survive on city streets, etc.
• Safety: Trained to alert people to safety protocols not being followed (e.g. no seatbelt, no helmet, exposed wires, etc.)
• Athletics: Trained to do athletic feats, e.g. run long distances, leap high into the air, etc.

Expert Pet Skills

• Companion Training: Trained to be a comforting, helpful companion animal.
• Military Training: Very disciplined. Trained to military standards to attack, subdue, guard, etc.
• Hunting: Trained to track and kill prey.
• Detect: Trained to detect and alert owner to the presence of substances when given a sample.
• Zero-G Training: Trained to move nimbly in microgravity.

Master Pet Skills

• Panic Training: Trained to calm down a panicking person with contact and pressure.
• Xeno Tracking: Trained to track certain kinds of alien creatures. Does not require a sample. Note the type of alien creature it is trained to track.
• Search & Rescue: Trained to find people buried under rubble and in other disaster scenarios, and to alert others to their presence. Does not require a sample.
• Detect Substance: Trained to detect and alert owner to the presence of a specific substance. Does not require a sample. Note the substance it is trained to detect.
• Detect Disease: Trained to detect and alert owner that someone is infected with a specific disease. Does not require a sample. Note the disease it is trained to detect.