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[Ihlosi]

I just looked through LCS' starting questionnaire.

Answer D to question 10 sticks out a bit. It appears to grant a substantial bonus to starting attributes (10 points compared to 4 points for all other answers to this questions), which is something that cannot be gained once the game has started. The disadvantages of this answer (starts in homeless shelter, no money) are fairly easily compensated for once the game has started. (It also grants two points of street sense, which is either very tedious to level (trying to steal cars and aborting the attempt early) or quite dangerous at low skill levels (brownies, prostitution)).

Even worse, stat gain through liberal rank depends on the starting value of the stat, so someone who answers the other questions in clever ways will also gain more stat points when leveling up.

Answering D to question 10 therefore seems like a bit of a "no-brainer" choice since it's significantly better than the four alternatives.

I would suggest toning down the benefits of this answer (maybe give more skill points in street sense and fewer attribute points) and/or give the other answers comparable bonuses that cannot be gained once the game has started (e.g. additional recruit slots for answer E, maybe additional love slave slots for one of the other answers, etc).

[Cheedows]

Answer E already gives you +50 juice, so that is an extra recruitment slot.  It depends on your playstyle I guess, since I prefer to shape my leader into a recruiter god that can practically recruit anyone (Not really hard with question D, just more grinding)

[Ihlosi]

Answer E already gives you +50 juice, so that is an extra recruitment slot.

Juice, like skills, is easily gained once the game has started. Especially 50 Juice, which can be gained with little risk just by stealing things.

The six (or possibly more, due to skill progression) extra attribute points, on the other hand, are out of reach once character creation is over.

[Jonathan S. Fox]

Q10 Answer D gives you an extra +1 to all stats except Wisdom. If your aim is to maximize your attributes and endgame potential, it is significantly better than the other options for that reason. It also gives first aid, which is a great skill to have on your founder if you're going to be doing any combat.

Question 10:

A) Professional Thief. Get two infiltration skills that are hard to acquire otherwise, extra money, and start in one of the best safehouses in the game with a major rent discount. Is perfectly suited to make your founder into a master infiltrator.
B) Gang Member. Get combat skills, an extra free safe house, and four free recruits all armed with guns. Ready to get started kicking ass and taking names with no additional preparation.
C) College Student. Get massive intelligence, tons of int-based skills, and a cheap middle of the road apartment. Will be a great writer and hacker, and has sky-high skill caps on a ton of skills, but will likely struggle with recruitment, combat, and infiltration. Probably the hardest start, but gives a selection of benefits well suited for pacifist runs or plays where you want your founder to avoid site actions.
D) Transient. Get excellent base stats, defensive skills. No safehouse benefits, no money. The most endgame potential, but the worst starting position.
E) Political Activist. Get 50 juice, a cheap apartment for even cheaper, and some persuasion. Is ready to start recruiting and building an organization from day one. Has the highest starting attributes of any option.

[Ihlosi]

Q10 Answer D gives you an extra +1 to all stats except Wisdom. If your aim is to maximize your attributes and endgame potential, it is significantly better than the other options for that reason. It also gives first aid, which is a great skill to have on your founder if you're going to be doing any combat.

It also gives street sense, which is an extremely useful (*) skill that, unlike first aid, cannot be trained just by attending university classes. Also, certain NPCs (doctor, nurse) are guaranteed to have first aid, while street sense can only occur as a random skill.

Well, let me rephrase it. The problem isn't that Q10/D is overpowered, it's that picking is is basically a no-brainer since it gives a unique advantage absent from any of the alternatives that (realistically (**)) cannot be gained after the game has started.

(*) good proficiency in street sense is basically required for graffiti/brownies, and very helpful for liberal disobedience when death squads are around.
(**) replacing the founder with a recruited super mutant, maybe?

[Capital Fish]

Q10 Answer D gives you an extra +1 to all stats except Wisdom. If your aim is to maximize your attributes and endgame potential, it is significantly better than the other options for that reason. It also gives first aid, which is a great skill to have on your founder if you're going to be doing any combat.

It also gives street sense, which is an extremely useful (*) skill that, unlike first aid, cannot be trained just by attending university classes. Also, certain NPCs (doctor, nurse) are guaranteed to have first aid, while street sense can only occur as a random skill.

Would the issue be helped by giving Street Sense to Gang Members and Prostitutes? I'm a little surprised they don't start with that skill already.

EDIT: Edited for spelling.

[Jonathan S. Fox]

I realize what you're saying, and I intentionally put that benefit into option D. If your goal is simply to turn your founder into the second coming of Jesus, then yes, it's hands down the best option. But if your goal is to win the game, then I suspect that you're actually less likely to win the game with option D than you are with options A, B, or E. You're going to start the game even weaker than usual, and that's when you're most vulnerable.

I'm not sure it's broken as it stands, but for the sake of discussion, if I were to revise them with an intent of nerfing D and buffing the other options, I would consider these changes:

10. For the past few years, I've been…
A - +2 intelligence, +3 agility (was +2 each)
B - +2 health, +2 agility, +1 strength (currently doesn't give strength)
C - +4 intelligence, +1 charisma (currently doesn't give charisma)
D - +1 heart, +2 int, +3 health, +1 agility, +1 str, +2 cha (changed by +1 cha, -1 agi)
E - +3 charisma, +2 intelligence (was +2 each)

Edit: Reduced buffs to other options, tweaked option D to move a point back to int.

[KA101]

Q10 Answer D gives you an extra +1 to all stats except Wisdom. If your aim is to maximize your attributes and endgame potential, it is significantly better than the other options for that reason. It also gives first aid, which is a great skill to have on your founder if you're going to be doing any combat.

It also gives street sense, which is an extremely useful (*) skill that, unlike first aid, cannot be trained just by attending university classes. Also, certain NPCs (doctor, nurse) are guaranteed to have first aid, while street sense can only occur as a random skill.

Would the issue be helped by giving Street Sense to Gang Members and Prostitutes? I'm a little surprised they don't start with that skill already.

EDIT: Edited for spelling.

Seconded.  Even a few points of Street Sense can improve Liberals' safety, and cross-training the first point can greatly help.

-KA101, who to date has only used ProThief or College Student

[Jonathan S. Fox]

Making the following changes:

- Question 10, answer B gets +2 strength and +2 street sense.
- Prostitutes and gang members get starting street sense.
- Edited to add: +2 charisma and -1 heart for the earlier question about trading sex for money, was just +1 charisma.

[Ihlosi]

Would the issue be helped by giving Street Sense to Gang Members and Prostitutes? I'm a little surprised they don't start with that skill already.

That would definitely be in character for the two "professions".

The proposed changes look good.

A long term goal could be to give each founder "profession" some kind of unique advantage. It might be difficult to find such advantages that are easily expressed in the current game terms (as is the attribute bonus) - additional recruit slots for the founder (possibly taking away one slot from the current founder bonus slots) are just one idea.