Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Why does 4e give a flat cost for attribute increases?

Skarg · 07-13-2015, 02:58 PM

In all editions of GURPS before 3e, the cost difference between attribute levels went up with the attribute, and increasing attributes after character creation cost double.

In 4e, it's just 10 for ST or HT and 20 for DX or IQ, no matter what.

Why?

I can see it's simpler this way, but what were the other reasons for this change?

I tend to prefer to actually have a steeper curve than 3e did. In particular, it provides a way to naturally and smoothly make really high attributes extremely difficult to attain, which both makes more normal characters more attractive and frequent, and reduces contact with extreme values which tend to be tricky to deal with, and mitigates the "it's cheaper for me to buy up the attribute than raise all my main skills, and also raises my IQ and defaults" issue, as in the recent thread about limiting super-high attribute levels: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=136098

It also seems to fit well with 4e's added talents which make sense to use for geniuses and such.

07-13-2015, 02:58 PM	#1
Skarg Join Date: May 2015	Why does 4e give a flat cost for attribute increases? In all editions of GURPS before 3e, the cost difference between attribute levels went up with the attribute, and increasing attributes after character creation cost double. In 4e, it's just 10 for ST or HT and 20 for DX or IQ, no matter what. Why? I can see it's simpler this way, but what were the other reasons for this change? I tend to prefer to actually have a steeper curve than 3e did. In particular, it provides a way to naturally and smoothly make really high attributes extremely difficult to attain, which both makes more normal characters more attractive and frequent, and reduces contact with extreme values which tend to be tricky to deal with, and mitigates the "it's cheaper for me to buy up the attribute than raise all my main skills, and also raises my IQ and defaults" issue, as in the recent thread about limiting super-high attribute levels: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=136098 It also seems to fit well with 4e's added talents which make sense to use for geniuses and such.