Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - [Sci-Fi] Managing the player that can have any skill

weevis · 09-06-2015, 11:05 AM

(alternate title: super-memorization in an information-rich setting)

I'm a sci-fi GM running a cinematic space opera with 150 point characters. One of my players wants Modular Abilities: Super-Memorization as a defining feature of his character. He's willing to spend a lot of points on it. I've never had anyone take that advantage before, and now that I read it over carefully, I can see why he wants it! It appears to be very powerful in my setting: an information-rich future where you are surrounded by computers, libraries, network access, future versions of You-Tube videos telling you how to do things, and you have some money.

This combination makes me realize that this advantage kind of breaks the way I write adventures. I use specific skill needs a lot to manage the plot ("Since your party doesn't have a computer hacker, you'll need to try something else..." "You'd better find a fusion engineer before it's too late!" etc.). But if this player realizes his power, he can say "We need a Xenobiologist? No problem. Give me 1 second per skill point to read up on it on my phone... done."

I'm no stranger to reining in my players (cracks knuckles), therefore I can certainly come up with in-game limits to manage this advantage: the "cash cost" for reference works (p. B71), or "looks like that safe is military hardware, the reference works you need are all classified," or "unfortunately, this detonator is the toughest kind to disarm."

But I'm a little concerned about the play dynamic that this creates. I don't really want to frustrate him, after all. I feel that if you spend big points on something you should get to enjoy big benefits. He isn't trying to mess up the game or exploit the rules, he just wants to use the rules on p. B71 as written. And making many of the things that he tries have obscure, inaccessible, expensive, classified, or impossible limits attached to information about them feels wrong because I feel these limits contradict my setting -- it's an information-rich future except when this guy wants to know something?

Maybe I'm worried over nothing, I'm just not sure how to adjust adventures for a character that could have any skill -- while still allowing him to enjoy having any skill. Do any GMs have experiences or suggestions about running games with modular abilities in similar circumstances?

--

P.S. I realize that I can disallow this advantage, but as you can probably tell from the above, I'd prefer to encourage people when they are interested in a trait. Just not sure how to manage it.

P.P.S. I also read the (extensive) other forum posts on balancing modular abilities, but I didn't find something discussing this "information rich future" situation. Forgive me if I missed it.

09-06-2015, 11:05 AM	#1
weevis Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: 3.165, -3.048, -0.0818	[Sci-Fi] Managing the player that can have any skill (alternate title: super-memorization in an information-rich setting) I'm a sci-fi GM running a cinematic space opera with 150 point characters. One of my players wants Modular Abilities: Super-Memorization as a defining feature of his character. He's willing to spend a lot of points on it. I've never had anyone take that advantage before, and now that I read it over carefully, I can see why he wants it! It appears to be very powerful in my setting: an information-rich future where you are surrounded by computers, libraries, network access, future versions of You-Tube videos telling you how to do things, and you have some money. This combination makes me realize that this advantage kind of breaks the way I write adventures. I use specific skill needs a lot to manage the plot ("Since your party doesn't have a computer hacker, you'll need to try something else..." "You'd better find a fusion engineer before it's too late!" etc.). But if this player realizes his power, he can say "We need a Xenobiologist? No problem. Give me 1 second per skill point to read up on it on my phone... done." I'm no stranger to reining in my players (cracks knuckles), therefore I can certainly come up with in-game limits to manage this advantage: the "cash cost" for reference works (p. B71), or "looks like that safe is military hardware, the reference works you need are all classified," or "unfortunately, this detonator is the toughest kind to disarm." But I'm a little concerned about the play dynamic that this creates. I don't really want to frustrate him, after all. I feel that if you spend big points on something you should get to enjoy big benefits. He isn't trying to mess up the game or exploit the rules, he just wants to use the rules on p. B71 as written. And making many of the things that he tries have obscure, inaccessible, expensive, classified, or impossible limits attached to information about them feels wrong because I feel these limits contradict my setting -- it's an information-rich future except when this guy wants to know something? Maybe I'm worried over nothing, I'm just not sure how to adjust adventures for a character that could have any skill -- while still allowing him to enjoy having any skill. Do any GMs have experiences or suggestions about running games with modular abilities in similar circumstances? -- P.S. I realize that I can disallow this advantage, but as you can probably tell from the above, I'd prefer to encourage people when they are interested in a trait. Just not sure how to manage it. P.P.S. I also read the (extensive) other forum posts on balancing modular abilities, but I didn't find something discussing this "information rich future" situation. Forgive me if I missed it.