Some places you just can't go without a suit. We're not talking snazzy restaurants or tuxedos here, though. We're talking hard vacuum, hot-house and ice-ball worlds, the fluorine atmosphere of Oiseau, and the like. For that, you need skill in a P-Suit, Vacc Suit, Hostile Environment Suit, or some other such piece of life-preserving equipment.
So what happens to the unskilled? GDW never gave any rules for what to do with unskilled characters who put on a suit and went out wandering around. Besides the need for rechargingg, refilling, checking, and general Suit Maintenance in order to avoid malfunctions, wearing a Vacc Suit also imposes certain penalties on characters. Some of the problems involved are dealt with here.
First of all, _Traveller:2300_ called this skill "Vacc Suit", while _2300 AD_ renamed it "P-Suit". You'll notice that I stuck with the older name. Why? Because a pressure suit protects you from differences in pressure, but not differences in atmosphere, radiation, or temperature. Fighter Pilots in 20th century jets wear pressure suits on a regular basis, in order to protect them from blackouts during High-G maneuvers. You'll note that they also wear oxygen masks, however, to perform the functions of atmosphere regulation, while temperature is handled by the plane's machinery.
Thus, while perhaps "Suit" or "EVA" would be a better name for the skill called "P-Suit" in the second edition, I have stuck with the first edition name of "Vacc Suit", even though you need a suit in a lot of non-vacuum situations... This skill covers the use of a spacesuit, Hostile Environment Suit, or other such attire which regulates atmosphere, pressure, temperature, and provides protection from the environment.
Putting on a suit (and doing it right) takes time, and is a Simple task for anyone with suit skill. Since it is an Unskilled task, however, for anyone unskilled in Vacc Suit, the Difficulty is not raised by two levels, as per usual. This makes it no more difficult for them to get into a suit, but the lack of skill does generally mean that it takes them longer.
To don a Vacc Suit: Simple. (Unskilled) Vacc Suit + DEX. 20 seconds. Referee: Success means the suit has been properly donned in [3D6 - (Vacc Suit Skill Level + DEX)] X 20 seconds. Thus, the minimum time is 1 minute. This includes all checks of seals, suit pressure, etc. Failures resulting in Mishaps means that the suit has been improperly sealed, or some piece of equipment is not functioning properly. Roll 1D10 on the Suit Malfunction Table.
Obviously, skilled characters (who can subtract their skill level from the time roll) will be much quicker than those who have no Vacc Suit skill, and will also fail to don the suit properly only when they Fumble. Note that, since this task is not Uncertain, PCs failing the roll will notice that there's a problem with the suit. In order to fix it, simply have them attempt to roll the task again, until they succeed. This will take even more time, and make them slower still, compared to their skilled shipmates.
The same task becomes Routine, in Near-weightless Microgravity, and the Zero-G skill may also be added to the task. Again, the skilled PCs will be quicker, and succeed more often than the Unskilled, even though they will suffer no lower a rate of malfunctions.
For the Unskilled (N)PC in a Suit, even moving around becomes a task. While this is Automatic for skilled PCs, Unskilled characters may have some problems with it:
To crawl 5 meters, walk 20 meters, trot 40 meters, or run 80 meters in a 30-second combat turn while wearing a Vacc Suit: Automatic. Vacc Suit. Absolute (1 action). Referee: Unskilled characters must increase the difficulty by two levels (to Routine), and Failures resulting in Superficial Mishaps indicate bumbling into things, perhaps knocking them over; Minor Mishaps result in stumbling (losing some movement); and Major Mishaps in tripping and falling (ending movement). Skilled PCs have no such troubles. Stumbling/tripping should be applied at the most appropriate point during movement (crossing a barrier, etc.)
For particularly encumbering suits (those with an Initiative Penalty of -2 or more), add the (N)PC's Vacc Suit Skill Level to the Initiative Penalty, and divide the movement rate of the character by the absolute value. For instance: An Unskilled character or a character with Vacc Suit Skill Level 0 would have their movement rate halved (and the Unskilled PC have to roll for a Routine task), while in a Hostile Environment Suit. A character with Vacc Suit Skill Level 1+ would have no reduction to their movement.
Likewise, while wearing a suit, the thick, heavy gauntlets make handling items more difficult than usual. Make all tasks one level tougher than normal (basically -4 to the roll), but allow skilled PCs to reduce this penalty by their Vacc Suit Skill Level (but never gain a bonus for it). For example, if an Unskilled PC and one with Vacc Suit Skill Level 6 were trying to fix a damaged Vehicle, and the difficulty of the repair task would normally be Routine, but assuming they are on a Hot-house world where suits are required, the task becomes Difficult, because of the problems involved in handling tools while wearing the equivalent of snowmobile gauntlets. The Unskilled PC has to roll for a Difficult task, and gets to add nothing but Mechanics to the task, because he has no Vacc Suit skill. The Skilled PC gets to add Mechanics for the repair task, and also has a Difficult task, but the SL 6 in Vacc Suit cancels out the -4 penalty, leaving him with the usual Routine task that he would have had without the Vacc Suit. Note that he does not gain a +2 bonus, due to high Vacc Suit skill. It cancels out the penalty, but doesn't help him fix the vehicle.
Now, assuming the Unskilled PC rolls a 7 (enough to succeed normally, but a failure, due to the suit), he rolls 2D6 on the Failure Table and gets an 11 or 12 (roll 2D6 on the Mishaps Table), followed by a 2-6 (Superficial Mishap), the Referee can describe his fumbling, dropping the tools, knocking the toolbox off the vehicle, etc. Meanwhile, the skilled PC will the same roll of 7 will have finished the job, and be on his way.
Another bonus I allow to skilled (N)PCs (only!) is the ability to overcome the Initiative Penalty (IP) of the suit they are wearing, if their Vacc Suit skill is high enough. Some Referees may not care for this rule, feeling that armor should reduce Initiative. If a character's Vacc Suit Skill Level (SL) + the IP of the suit is greater than or equal to zero, allow them to operate with no penalty to initiative. If the SL + IP is a negative number, use that as the new IP for the character, while wearing that suit. Thus, all Unskilled characters, and those with Vacc Suit SL 0, will receive an IP -1 in a P-Suit, and IP -2 in a Hostile Environment Suit (HES). A character with Vacc Suit SL 1 will receive no IP in a P-Suit, and only IP -1 in a HES. Characters with SL 2+ will have no IP in either.
The Suit Maintenance rules list several other tasks that might come in handy during a suited adventure. The tasks for finding and patching a hole in a Suit are also unskilled, but allow a skilled (N)PC to add their Vacc Suit skill to the task, making it easier to succeed in. Unskilled (N)PCs will succeed sooner or later, but will generally lose more air, before they do.
Once the adventure is done and it's time for Suit Maintenance, of course, a skilled PC becomes almost a necessity! An unskilled (N)PC can attempt the maintenance at an increase of two levels of difficulty, but a Formidable task with only their EDU added makes success unlikely. A skilled PC will succeed more often, and more quickly.
Altogether, these rules make having Vacc Suit skill much more desirable for Explorer, Ship Crew, and Space Military PCs. It also imposes quite an added bit of difficulty on the Unskilled. For that reason, I have also added the following task to my Task Library, to help out the (N)PCs who start out with no Vacc Suit skill at all:
To gain a level of Vacc Suit skill: Difficult. (Unskilled) DET. Absolute (1 week). Referee: Only unskilled characters (and those with skill level 0) who train with a more highly skilled instructor are eligible to attempt this task.
This task will allow characters who spend 40 - 56 hours (eight hours a day over five to seven days) using a suit, under the supervision of someone who is already more skilled than them, to acquire a Vacc Suit SL of 0 or 1. They can go no higher than that with this task, nor can they surpass their teacher, without expending Experience Points (XP). Thus, if a character with SL 0 is training an Unskilled PC, it is only possible to train them to SL 0. If a different teacher with (say) SL 6 were teaching them, both could be raised to SL 1 over a two-week period (assuming they made their rolls), but no higher. After acquiring basic proficiency, they can only advance by expending XP.