Mini Six: How many skill dice can you spend on specialisations?

Question

Mini Six's rules for skill specialisations aren't very specific. The example shows a character spending one skill die to get +3D in a specialisation without putting any dice into the base skill. Which is fine, under RAW.

What is not clear is whether or not the rule is specifying the "exchange rate" between skills and specialisations or placing restrictions on when and how it can be spent. My interpretation is that:

• Each pip of skill dice that a player wants to spend on specialisations is converted into three pips that can be added to specialisations.
• There is no limit on the number of skill dice pips that can be converted to specialisation pips in this way.
• The three pips to spend in specialisations do not have to be spent on the same specialisation.
• Specialisation pips are added to the base skill. So a character with Agility 3D, Driving 4D and 2 pips in Driving/Car would roll 4D+2 when making a driving check using a car.

(I have a house rule that the number of pips spent in a specialisation cannot exceed the number of pips spent on the base skill. This prevents characters from having 20D in a few specialisations and relying on base stats everywhere else.)

I base these assumptions on gut feeling more than anything. Does anyone have a citation from another D6 system book?

Answer 1

Going by the d6 Space rulebook, your interpretations are mostly correct, as from page 11:

One skill die equals three specialization dice. Of course, one specialization die still equals three pips.

The rules are written as if you are always exchanging one or more skill dice for specialisation dice, but I haven't found any rule that says you can't exchange a single skill pip for three specialisation pips.

---

No limit of the number of dice you can convert is stated, but it does limit the amount you can put in one single specialisation:

The maximum number of dice the character may start with in any base skill is 3D greater than the governing attribute, with no more than 3D greater than the base skill in any specialisation.

---

Correct, you're free to split up specialisation pips as you wish:

Once you’ve chosen at least one specialization and put one or two pips or dice in it, you have to use the remaining specialization dice and pips to either purchase more pips in the same specialization or purchase one or more pips in other specializations.

---

As the second answer implied, specialisation pips are added to the base skill:

If you give your character specializations in base skills he already has, those specializations are considered bonuses to the base skill when attempting tasks of that type.