Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jackson
You may use experience points to buy a total of 8 additional attribute points. These may all go into one stat, or they can be divided up. After the eighth additional attribute point (which gets humans to a total of 40), attributes may only be increased by magic, such as a Wish.
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I misread this on the first time through. I'm not sure what it means for character generation. Does it mean that everyone gets their starting IQ in free talents initially?
I think it's very odd to have one system for 0 to 32 attributes and another for 32 to 40 attribute points and then a third one for 40+ attributes. What is the purpose of this cut and change? Why not one system all the way through?
The idea that only wishes can allow progress after 40 attributes ... I assume most GMs will handle this by making obtaining a wish the reward of the adventure, and then the players can argue about which of them gets it, so that each player gets a wish occasionally. Or the GM will house rule away the 40 point cap.
But the PCs will still be getting experience points, so they'll still be buying talents ... and by the time they would have reached 44 or 48 attribute points, they'll be liberally festooned with talents because why not. And then talents cease to be a defining characteristic of characters.
I think this leads to some very peculiar consequences. It's the one aspect where I don't understand why Steve wants to do this.
A single system approach:
- Everyone starts with ST 8, DX 8, IQ 8 and some XPs. The number of XPs might be higher or lower according to what sort of campaign it is. Maybe 3,500 would be comparable with standard rules?
- Everyone buys talents and attributes as they see fit.
- Nonhumans have an actual attribute that depends on the attribute calculated here by some formula or other e.g. "for a dwarf add two to strength".
- No cap.
What would be the consequences of this?