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Old 03-26-2014, 09:30 PM   #4
Infornific
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Default Re: Talents & Martial Arts

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter V. Dell'Orto View Post

I'm not sure you need Cosmic. A learnable talent doesn't have to cost more IMO.
That was done mostly in response to the warnings in Power Ups 3 against allowing Talents to be learned. Personally, I think allowing a character to learn a level or two of a Talent is a good way to simulate experience in a field (e.g., Healer for nurses and doctors.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter V. Dell'Orto View Post


I'd probably just straight-up make it a talent, without sticking the limitations you listed on it. Make it 5/level for any one martial art, maybe 10/level for 2-3 martial arts styles, 15/level for all martial arts. Applies only if you have the right Style Familiarity. Applies to all primary and optional skills, and therefore to any techniques built off of them. At first glance, that doesn't seem unbalanced. Reaction bonus is to fellow stylists, no alternate benefit. It would make styles more attractive, too.
That would make things simpler though I'd probably rely heavily on skill count - there are a few styles with a lot of skills, especially if you count optional skills. A Talent for Master of Defense should run 10 points. On the other hand, putting the primary skills for all the styles of Karate gives a grand total of six skills - and that's if you count Karate Art and Karate Sport as separate from Karate. Seems unfair to charge more than 5 points a level.

It adds complication but I like the idea of limiting the bonus to techniques appropriate for the style. Might be too much of a pain to keep track of.


Quote:
Originally Posted by malloyd View Post

And yes, I do have reservations about Job Training. It's *purpose* is to be unbalancing in a particular way - effectively a method of creating a character class niche.
To be honest, I think Job Training was mostly to allow for more realistic Special Forces characters. In GURPS the practical way to create such characters often involves DX and IQ of 14 or 15. Do that and you have characters who are a little too omni-competent. Don't do that and it's very hard to buy up skills to appropriate levels while being cost effective.

Quote:
Originally Posted by malloyd View Post

Applying only to subskills in the martial art, maybe, but it's going to be hard to draw the line. For example this means the talent doesn't apply to a *standard attack* with the skills covered, since that's not improvable and hence not going to be listed. And if you do allow that, well, all other techniques are just a standard attack at a penalty, and the bonus adds to that....

The more I think about it the more I think that refinement is more trouble than it's worth.

My goal here in part was to allow the creation of characters like Selmy Barristan from A Game of Thrones. He's very good at knightly skills because he's been practicing for a very long time, not because of superb reflexes and coordination. Given his age, raw speed is probably limited anyway It doesn't follow (to me) that he should also be talented at climbing or stealth. A version where he has DX of 12 or 13 but knightly combat skills around 16-18 feels right to me but isn't very practical in GURPS. Allowing a 10 point (or perhaps 15) Talent to represent his focused training and experience seems a better way of simulating the character.

Also I admit it helps make sure fighter types outlcass high DX thieves in combat skill.
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