Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Capping character points and further customization?

Hide · 06-18-2019, 12:07 PM

I would not cap the character points.

Once I thought it could be a good idea capping the amount of character points (CP) a player character (PC) could amass; sometimes, when PCs get “too powerful” the campaign derails or gets harder to manage. However I could not simply do that, so I decided to stablish some rules to administer PC growth. Here’s my suggestion, a “system” that has helped me:

Very roughly, I have PCs start around 200-250 CP. And I define the maximum attributes and skill levels accordingly to the campaign’s spirit. For example, it could be attributes (AL) up to 12 and skills (SL) up to 15 during character creation; as the campaign progresses, they could improve up to AL 15 and up to SL 18 (plus talents and/or other bonuses). If players exceed SL 18, the skill is capped at 18 (unless they have a talent or a special bonus).
The CPs are collected in a pool, which is open to everybody; so I keep track of a single CP number.
Each PC earns at least 1 CP per game (which goes into the pool).
The amount of games a player plays before they raise an AL or SL is called “milestone”. The milestone resets after a character raises a skill or an attribute (players can only improve a single feature per counter); the milestone is personal and non-transferable.
In order to improve attributes or skills, characters must reach a milestone (participate in a certain amount of games); this usually is ½ the CP required per level (rounded up). Example, if they want to improve DX they should play at least 10 games (it requires 20 CP). Or if they want to improve swordsmanship (broadsword), they need to play at least 2 games (one broadsword level usually requires 4 CP).
If a player wants to improve anything further than 12, they need to roll their dice 3 times and fail at least once.
You do not need to hit a milestone to raise skills which are below 12 (attributes do not apply for this feature); hence, players may raise a single-additional-skill (up to SL 12) plus either an attribute or a skill at level 12 or above. For example, a player hit milestone 10. He can raise broadsword 11 to broadsword 12, and DX 13 to DX 14. His final results are broadsword 13 and DX 14.
In order to learn new skills, players are required to employ the desired skill as many sessions as the CP needed to acquire 1 regular SL (or half the value, if it defaults to another known skill). For example, if a player wants to learn short-sword, the player needs to try short-sword at least once in 4 games, but if the player already knows broadsword, the player only needs to try short-sword in 2 games. And I would let you buy the initial level (which costs 1 CP) and the “regular” level to increase the skill another point (i.e. spending 4 CP on your new skill, this amount could differ if the difficulty is harder or lower than average).
Finally, advantages are awards for successful missions, it is best if they pick them during character creation.

06-18-2019, 12:07 PM	#15
Hide Join Date: Nov 2016	Re: Capping character points and further customization? I would not cap the character points. Once I thought it could be a good idea capping the amount of character points (CP) a player character (PC) could amass; sometimes, when PCs get “too powerful” the campaign derails or gets harder to manage. However I could not simply do that, so I decided to stablish some rules to administer PC growth. Here’s my suggestion, a “system” that has helped me: Very roughly, I have PCs start around 200-250 CP. And I define the maximum attributes and skill levels accordingly to the campaign’s spirit. For example, it could be attributes (AL) up to 12 and skills (SL) up to 15 during character creation; as the campaign progresses, they could improve up to AL 15 and up to SL 18 (plus talents and/or other bonuses). If players exceed SL 18, the skill is capped at 18 (unless they have a talent or a special bonus). The CPs are collected in a pool, which is open to everybody; so I keep track of a single CP number. Each PC earns at least 1 CP per game (which goes into the pool). The amount of games a player plays before they raise an AL or SL is called “milestone”. The milestone resets after a character raises a skill or an attribute (players can only improve a single feature per counter); the milestone is personal and non-transferable. In order to improve attributes or skills, characters must reach a milestone (participate in a certain amount of games); this usually is ½ the CP required per level (rounded up). Example, if they want to improve DX they should play at least 10 games (it requires 20 CP). Or if they want to improve swordsmanship (broadsword), they need to play at least 2 games (one broadsword level usually requires 4 CP). If a player wants to improve anything further than 12, they need to roll their dice 3 times and fail at least once. You do not need to hit a milestone to raise skills which are below 12 (attributes do not apply for this feature); hence, players may raise a single-additional-skill (up to SL 12) plus either an attribute or a skill at level 12 or above. For example, a player hit milestone 10. He can raise broadsword 11 to broadsword 12, and DX 13 to DX 14. His final results are broadsword 13 and DX 14. In order to learn new skills, players are required to employ the desired skill as many sessions as the CP needed to acquire 1 regular SL (or half the value, if it defaults to another known skill). For example, if a player wants to learn short-sword, the player needs to try short-sword at least once in 4 games, but if the player already knows broadsword, the player only needs to try short-sword in 2 games. And I would let you buy the initial level (which costs 1 CP) and the “regular” level to increase the skill another point (i.e. spending 4 CP on your new skill, this amount could differ if the difficulty is harder or lower than average). Finally, advantages are awards for successful missions, it is best if they pick them during character creation. __________________ - 画龍点睛。Ｈｉｄｅ。