Scientist
| Intelligence Requirement: | Simple (1) |
| Stage Stamina: | Nil |
| Bonuses: |
Biologist: +1 medical tamper / turn |
Scientist is significantly different from most of the other occupations. With most occupations, you can advance in experience during game play. Scientist takes a significant amount of time, so unless there are large time gaps during the game, a character will usually not pick scientist as an occupation to actively pursue. It is best suited for background personnel, non-player characters, or characters that have a few stages to decide on at the start of a game.
A stage of scientist has three sub-categories: Biologist, Physicist, and Mathematician. Biologists specialise in the intricacies of life. The examination, creation, and alteration of life forms are the Biologists forte. Physicists specialise in matter and energy in all the various forms. A Mathematicians realm is in probabilities, statistics, and computers. For each stage of scientist a character gains, they must choose which type to specialise in.
You can earn a stage of scientist, and yet not go up any experience. This is because the stage of scientist you are is the highest stage of the three subcategories. Thus, for someone who is a 5th stage biologist, a 3rd stage physicist, and a 2nd stage mathematician, they will be a 5th stage scientist because that is the highest stage of scientist achieved. An increase in experience/stage (and the associated increase in will power and awareness) will only happen when your highest stage of scientist goes up.
Earning experience in Scientist
Biologist
The Biologist is focused on the science of life in every form. They have knowledge of the inner workings of most known species and will be able to quickly determine the capabilities of unknown ones. They will have a greater ability in interpreting biological sensory information, such as knowing what particular species matches a given heat signature.
A Biologist's greatest ability is in the realm of biological tampering. While a medic can quickly do alterations to biological beings, they are limited by the ceiling of their tamper ability. A biologist, given enough time, can alter a being to extents limited only by his imagination. Higher stage biologists even have the ability to engineer entirely new life forms.
Mathematician
A Mathematician's abilities lay in the realm of computers and probabilities. The mind of a mathematician is highly organised to the point of being similar to a computer. They enjoy the benefits of a photographic memory and being able to perform most calculations without any computerised aids.
One of the more useful abilities of a Mathematician is the ability to analyse probabilities in order to make predictions. In game terms, this means that a player controlling a mathematician character, can ask the referee what the probabilities of a certain situation are. The higher the stage of Mathematician the character is, the more precise the response from the referee should be. (E.g.: Q: What are the chances that this non-player-character is going to betray me? A: You think there is about a 20% chance.)
Finally, a Mathematician is able to tamper computers and security systems. They get a tamper bonus equal to their stage of Mathematician for each round of tampering. The bonus is cumulative. This tamper ability only applies to computerised devices and does not cover tampering machinery - the realm of the physicist and technician.
Aside from earning a stage in Mathematician in a similar way to the other types of scientist, there is another. Mind altering drugs which order your mind such that you can learn a stage of scientist in half the time it would require normally. These drugs can be used for any one stage of Mathematician.
Optional: Mathematician's can manipulate logic and data and controls with an action called hacking.
Physicist
As the knowledge tying energy and matter together became more fully understood, most of the physical sciences converged in terms of meaning and extrapolation. Thus, the fields of astronomy, chemistry, geology, particle physics, and many others have all been swept under the mantle "physics". Only the fields of biology and mathematics remain as separately-considered fields of science.
A physicist has a tamper ability with physical objects and items of technology, similar in scope to a technician, but with a fundamental difference. While a technician has prowess to achieve complex technological feats quickly, their tamper ability has a clear limit; a physicist on the other hand has a slower but cumulative tamper ability. This means that while they usually cannot perform any tamper feats quickly, there is no tampering that they cannot eventually accomplish. Additionally, with most high technology items, a physicist will be required to build and sometimes maintain them. In the required stages to build section of the weaponry and equipment lists, physicist is often listed in addition to technician.
