Quote:
Originally Posted by sir_pudding
Putting 1-3 points in techniques can raise your style perk cap and still have a useful effect, whereas putting points 1-3 points in primary skills does nothing at high levels (and there is also zero rules support for it).
ETA: Also having one or two techniques on the character sheet is a feature, not a bug. GURPS needs less clutter on the sheets, not more, and players need less decision paralysis (not more). Making your trademark move really effective and doing it all the time isn't just efficient, it is also a pretty realistic reflection of the way people actually train.
|
What if the rules about a style perk cap don't apply? Techniques appear in [Basic] and are supposed to apply to more than just Combat Skills. As for being intended to
reduce sheet clutter, I'm going to need something more to back that up. I recall Techniques, back in 3e when they were known as "Maneuvers" being about two things: preserving a sensible Skill level cap
and giving those without special powers (be they magic, psi, etc.) a bag of tricks like a mage often had Spells. In other words, they were intended to flesh out the character and character sheet, not streamline things. Maybe that changed, or maybe I'm remembering wrong. Even if I am, what about the settings/styles of play where having multiple Techniques is supposed to be good role-playing and sensible in character builds? I guess the Style Perk rules cover some of that (as I only know of those rules), but I can see why people would prefer it worked out differently.
Now, where I argue with myself. A nice feature of the current method is representing gradual progression a bit better. Most of the time, you have to get the full four CP invested in a Skill, bumping it to the next level before you see any return. I don't know if it is permitted via RAW, but I like the thought of investing points into Maneuvers, then - so long as nothing drops below where it was before - eventually shuffling those points over into the underlying Skill when the final point needed has been spent.
Example: Vince has DX 12 [40] and Brawling-14 [4]. The adventures keep allowing some downtime to practice, so Vince decides to work on some of his Brawling-based Techniques. After enough study time, he ends up with Elbow Strike (Brawling)-13 [1] and Kicking (Brawling)-13 [2]. Instead of investing his next 1 CP of Brawling practice into another Maneuver and getting Knee Strike (Brawling)-14 [1], the 3 CP from Brawling Maneuvers get moved over to the Brawling Skill itself, along with the latest 1 CP of Brawling practice, so that Vince now has Brawling-15 [8], Elbow Strike (Brawling)-13 [0], and Kicking (Brawling)-13 [0].
Again, without more advanced rules that would make the CP invested matter. If some of the rules in [Basic] already mess with that, let me know. I won't be surprised if I missed something. XP