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Old 05-16-2013, 08:01 PM   #44
Peter Knutsen
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Europe
Default Re: Alternate Talent pricing for math heads

Quote:
Originally Posted by Not View Post
Since talents are a way of discounting skills bought in bulk, which runs against the grain of GURPS' general way of doing business, I'm inclined simply not to allow talents other than those listed in the book. The text suggests a sports talent, but to me that's just DX.

Er, sorry to be down on your idea.
The reality is that many GMs desire for players to buy Talents, because the alternative to Talent is to buy up IQ and/or DX, and Talents make for more fpcused, more themed, characters, whereas just high IQ (or high DX, or both) gives the character a non-individualzied generlaist "sense" or theme.

Raise IQ, you optimize your character for half the skills in the entire freakin' game. Or raise DX, to optimize your character for the other half of the skills.

Optimizing isn't wrong, of course. If you believe that, someone ought to confiscate your GMing license. But broad optimization is less interesting than somewhat narrower optimization. Which again is more interesting than very narrow optimization.

GURPS' solution, which I find frighteningly stupid, is "Talents".

My solution is sub-Attributes based on observable understandable functions.

Both empowers players to perform the desired breath - intermediate - of optimization. Sweet spot type optimization. Leading to potentailly interesting (and possibly high-competence) characters. It's just, one of them I can't stomach, while the other one works very well and facilitates roleplaying.
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