What skill levels are needed to be a Professor at Miskatonic?

[SirUkpyr]

Hello everyone,

One of the PCs in my game is a professor of Egyptology (skill 80).

He asked what other things could he teach, and I had (and still have) no idea what skill level is needed to teach various classes.

I would presume that a minimum of 51% to teach Freshman classes (the 100s), but what is needed to be teaching Sophomore (200s) or Junior (300s) or Seniors (400s) or graduate students (500-600s)?

My thanks for any assistance you can provide.

SirUkpyr

[KarlF]

I think that the easiest thing to do is refer to the "Skill points: what do they mean" table on p96 of the Investigator Handbook.
Regarding your player, it notes "75%-89% Expert: Advanced expertise: corresponds with a master's degree or PhD". So I think he could easily teach up to most of those classes but maybe not the upper graduate level (what we in NZ would refer to as "post graduate"). But the skill level should not be the only factor - I would also consider the character's age/experience. An elderly professor is probably more likely to be teaching graduate students than a young one (not necessarily a fair situation but rather a consideration of the "wisdom of age")

[Stormkhan Cogg of Pavis]

Always remember that you may be qualified, highly, to do a job, but you may not get it.

There may already be a Chair in Archaeology at XYZ University who has less skill points than an Investigator, but he has the job!

[Lloyd Dupont]

7 hours ago, Stormkhan Cogg of Pavis said:

Always remember that you may be qualified, highly, to do a job, but you may not get it.

The opposite is true as well! 😅

Edited April 29, 2020 by Lloyd Dupont

[SirUkpyr]

On 4/29/2020 at 11:36 AM, Stormkhan Cogg of Pavis said:

Always remember that you may be qualified, highly, to do a job, but you may not get it.

There may already be a Chair in Archaeology at XYZ University who has less skill points than an Investigator, but he has the job!

Which - to be honest - does *nothing* to actually answer my question. My question was (and honestly still is) what level of skill is needed to teach a Junior level (300's) class in Mathematics or Chemistry or Archaeology? A Senior level (400s)? Graduate level (500-600s)?

Yes - a 50-74% means you are a professional and are qualified to do a job, and 75-89% makes you an expert.

I would presume that at 50% you can teach Freshman level (100s) classes, and probably at the 50-74% score you can teach Sophomore (200s) classes as well. It is in the higher levels that I am seeking advise.

My thanks for the assistance.

[Dethstrok9]

3 minutes ago, SirUkpyr said:

Which - to be honest - does *nothing* to actually answer my question. My question was (and honestly still is) what level of skill is needed to teach a Junior level (300's) class in Mathematics or Chemistry or Archaeology? A Senior level (400s)? Graduate level (500-600s)?

Yes - a 50-74% means you are a professional and are qualified to do a job, and 75-89% makes you an expert.

I would presume that at 50% you can teach Freshman level (100s) classes, and probably at the 50-74% score you can teach Sophomore (200s) classes as well. It is in the higher levels that I am seeking advise.

My thanks for the assistance.

I personally think you are taking the rules too seriously. If you need a character to be a teacher at a college and they have a reasonably high skill level in the subject, they can do it. It still would be checks, and there are such things as bad teachers. When I run games, I do whatever works for the narrative. Just say if they have higher than 74% they can teach all higher grades, if you need a rule system to go off, but again the rules were made to make the game as smooth as possible for role-play and if you are ever in doubt or the system doesn't specify; you can simply make a call based on what you as Keeper think will work.

[SirUkpyr]

11 hours ago, Dethstrok9 said:

I personally think you are taking the rules too seriously. If you need a character to be a teacher at a college and they have a reasonably high skill level in the subject, they can do it. It still would be checks, and there are such things as bad teachers. When I run games, I do whatever works for the narrative. Just say if they have higher than 74% they can teach all higher grades, if you need a rule system to go off, but again the rules were made to make the game as smooth as possible for role-play and if you are ever in doubt or the system doesn't specify; you can simply make a call based on what you as Keeper think will work.

Thanks.

This all started when the player said "so how high does my skill need to be for me to be Seniors or Graduate students?". I wondered what others had done in this regard, and the idea of a person just out of college with their 53% in (college taught skill) teaching Seniors seemed crazy, but how high did it need to be.

Also love your comment about "there are such things as bad teachers". Made me think about "how low could the score go" (grins).

Thanks again.

[Stormkhan Cogg of Pavis]

On 5/1/2020 at 2:11 PM, SirUkpyr said:

Made me think about "how low could the score go" (grins).

Thanks again.

At my private secondary school, in the UK, it's amazing how unqualified teachers can be.

For instance, our physics teacher wasn't qualified to teach at all, but he had a Masters degree in Physics, so they thought it'd do.

It didn't. He was a lousy teacher. Good at physics though.

[General Kong]

Being good at what you do does not qualify you to teach it to others. Of course, you should be knowedgeable about your subject as a teacher but Einstein would probably have failed at teaching 8th graders. On the other hand, an 8th grade physics teacher would most likely be a lousy Ersatz-Einstein. 😉

Edited May 12, 2020 by Der Rote Baron