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Hello everyone,

After a about an hour of googleing I stumble upon this forum and it looks like the place where i might be able to get a question answered.

My friends and I have become board with DnD and have recently switch to playing Deathwatch and it is AWESOME! But needless to say while this is game has some amazing back story, and is very well though out when it comes to detail (particularly combat), the book isn't the best organized so finding information seems to be a struggle. Just recently we have started a bit of an internal debate and I am hoping perhaps someone with a touch more experience in this game might be able to help us.

Our question lies in the difference between Trade(technomat) and Tech-Use; though i suppose this question is applicable to most any trade skill vs tech-use
The following definitions are directly from the book.

Tech-Use
Tech-Use allows the character to use or repair complex mechanical items or fathom the workings of unknown technical artefacts. Using a basic piece of equipment under typical circumstances requires no test, such as using a voxcaster or opening a shuttle hatch. Tech-Use Tests are necessary for unusual or unfamiliar gear, malfunctioning or broken items, and any situation where conditions are less than ideal, such as attempting to use the same vox-caster near a plasma core or coaxing the machine spirit of a strange vessel’s warp drive to reignite its fires. The character can also use Tech-Use to repair damaged or defective items, using an Extended Test of duration and difficulty set by the GM depending on the item’s complexity and the extent of the damage. Tech-Use does not include building an item from scratch, which requires the relevant Trade Skill.

Trade
Trade Skills allow the character to create things, from guns to starships. Characters with this Skill can earn money or reputation plying a trade. They can identify the works of particularly famous or infamous craftsmen, or recall information concerning items of their trade. Trade Tests can represent the work of an hour, week, or month depending on the complexity of the task at hand. However, tests that involve the examination of an item to recall information require a Full Action.
Technomat:Used to maintain and repair technological devices, but through rote memorisation rather than true understanding.


These 2 skills seem to overlap particularly when it comes to Repair work. Can someone help clear up when one is used over another?

Here is a simple in-game example scenario: a data slate containing encrypted mission orders is damaged in a small skirmish and the techmarine needs to repair it before the mission can continue. Assuming of course that he has all the necessary parts and repair is possible with a reasonable skill test; what skill does he roll for? Does he roll for Tech-Use "to repair damaged or defective item" or Trade-Technomat to "to maintain and repair technological device"?

My initial though was that Trade was used for creating/crafting a new item since Tech-Use specifically says "Tech-Use does not include building an item from scratch, which requires the relevant Trade Skill." However Technomat is clearly says it is "to maintain and repair technological devices" rather then make.

*sigh* any clarification you can give would be helpful

Someone with Tech-Use can repair anything (within reason). The have technical knowledge that allows them to use, modify and understand machinery and how it functions. If something was to go wrong a character with Tech-Use could try something different, create a work-around, and so on.

Someone with Trade (Technomat) can repair only what they've been taught to repair, and they don't understand what they're doing, only the steps necessary to complete the task. Were something to go wrong a Technomat would not know what to do, as they only know the process involved in repair, not why they are doing what they are doing. Technomats are 'going through the motions', almost quite literally, .

In your example the character with Tech-Use could attempt to repair the broken item using whatever benefits or penalties the GM assigned based on difficulty, availability of parts, conditions, environment, etc. The character with Trade (Technomat) could only repair the item if he had been taught the rituals and steps required to repair such an item, and even then he would likely not know why is is doing what he is doing, only the order in which the steps must be made. If he did not know the steps to repair that item, he would be helpless.

Hmmm... Ok that makes sense. But that begs the question then of why would one want to take the Technomat trade skill over the Tech-use?

A number of reasons:

1. It fits with their characters. It's a roleplaying game after all, and taking the best skill isn't always the best thing for a characters.
2. They may not be able to get Tech-Use.
3. Both may fit - they may have a Technomat's knowledge of a wonderfully complex system that they have no understanding of, but be very handy with fixing more mundane things and improvising technical solutions on much smaller things.

It is like how it works in the military in real life, I am a systems operator, but I only "know" how to troubleshoot a system when it starts to malfunction, as I may not know exactly how the guts of the system work, but my warrant knows how the parts interact and when he is troubleshooting may remove parts and replace them because they have gone bad.

Not sure if I have explained it well enough but in my head it works, if you all do not understand then I guess I will ahve to take another swing at it....