This doesn't appear to be directly addressed in the Rulebook, but how narrow should the "flavor" of each Discipline be viewed, for role-playing and prop purposes? I have three different examples of things I am interested in doing:

1. Oscar is a Biologist/Production Expert whose player thinks he knows a thing or two about mathematics and abstraction. Is it appropriate for Oscar to use the language of graph theory and mathematical models when trying to "predict the optimal shape of the Colony following Biological trends around subunit specialization and multiple redundancy", or would that be treading too heavily on the turf of Mathematics?

2. Oscar is a Biologist/Production Expert with some Engineering, and his technological worldview is largely informed by his Biology. Is it appropriate for Oscar to teach an Engineering Modifier to another Colonist in Biological terms - for example, describing his way of making a Clean Double device by outlining a process by which two mutualistic populations of microorganisms regenerate slowly using a combination of atmospheric compounds and solar energy, which in turn powers the device?

3. Oscar is a Biologist/Production Expert with some Engineering, and his technological worldview is largely informed by his Biology. Is it appropriate for Oscar to build a Production Device with clear Biological aspects present in the prop - for example, a Clean Double device with a metallic housing but a clean panel showing a pair of bacterial cultures integrated into the power source?

1. That sounds delightfully techno-babble. Production is in some ways a reflection of Math into more concrete applications, so that sounds just fine to me.

2. Sure, Modifiers are not bound to a specific Discipline, use what examples are fun and make sense to the people engaged in the interaction.

3. Future Imperfect is a hard science setting, with a healthy dose of Futureshock. That seems reasonable to me, especially if the Device’s Base Procedure uses Biogel, Organic Resources, or the “Skilled: Biology” Autonomy Modifier.

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-Josh Marcus
Head of Plot, FI 3