GURPS Supers question

[Kromm]

Yeah, an Accessory shield is kind of lame -- it's something like a stainless-steel drink tray or an oversized flyswatter that you happen to be able to use with the Shield skill. Since you could get that for a few bucks and 0 points, paying 1 point to have it attached seems fair. Of course, it's attached . . . which means you can't throw it, are welded to it even when it breaks, and have to go around with a big plate attached to you all the time. The sort of shield that you can throw, put away, etc., and that mostly doesn't break is worth more points.

[David Johnston]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Sure, but that's going to be an ordinary shield; it's not going to be Captain Atlantis's gleaming nigh-indestructible orichalcum shield!

Bill Stoddard

That he can wear under his clothes, too.

[vitruvian]

The Man Plus has bought a shield as signature gear, and then spent character points to "attach" powers to it, such as an increased DB.

It did seem odd to me that the DB was bought as a gadget, when we also had those rules for building gadget powers *on top* of the regular items (like whips and such). It looks a little odd, though - if it's a Medium Shield (DB 2), with DB +2 bought as a Gadget-limited advantage on top of that, total effective DB should be +4. If the Man Plus is only getting the advantage of the DB bought with points, it would only be DB 2. Either way, the DB 3 listed under Features doesn't look quite right. I also presume that the DB 2 listing under the limitation value is meant to indicate that it's got the SM corresponding to DB 2, which IIRC is actually about SM -2...

Maybe Bill actually bought it based on a small shield (base DB 1) with the added bonuses, but then the weight, DR, HP are actually a little high.

The difference between a shield bought as a Perk and as Signature Gear is a slim one, since even a custom made titanium alloy shield is unlikely to exceed half of starting wealth, for 1 pt of SG.

[Ciaran]

Originally Posted by whswhs

You need to read chapter 4, which explains this. There is a section on shields there.

Bill Stoddard

I've read the bit on shields Bill (it was with a faint twinge of disappointment that I saw no mention of shields as thrown weapons). And although I may not be the brightest bulb on the marquee of life Bruno, I know what a search function is.

Forgive me guys, perhaps I'm missing something: but it's still clear as mud to me why someone would pay points for that shield in the template (which again, has typos, per my previous note). I've found the section on DB as described on pg.35 of Supers, which I guess I missed during my first reading of the PDF in the wee hours, but it's still a baffling choice to me character-creation wise.

Now if he'd made it unbreakable, or attached other powers to it (I'm making a super with a shield with buzz-saw blades that pop out when he throws it), ok that I might understand paying points for: you can't buy an unbreakable shield for $300 anywhere in the Basic Set. 25 points still seems steep even for that though.

[vitruvian]

Forgive me guys, perhaps I'm missing something: but it's still clear as mud to me why someone would pay points for that shield in the template (which again, has typos, per my previous note). I've found the section on DB as described on pg.35 of Supers, which I guess I missed during my first reading of the PDF in the wee hours, but it's still a baffling choice to me character-creation wise.

Well, it certainly only makes sense to buy DB for a shield in this manner if it's *on top* of the DB normally provided by the shield. So, by my reading, if it's a Medium Shield, that's +2 for the shield itself, +2 purchased, for a total of +4 DB. Assume another +1 to defenses from Combat Reflexes or Enhanced Time Sense (which I would allow to permit Blocks against missile weapons without an additional skill like Parry Missile Weapons), and you've got a total of +5 to all defenses. Given the likelihood of high DX, Basic Speed, and skills, you could easily be talking defenses in the 15- to 20- range - not too shabby.

[the_matrix_walker]

Originally Posted by Bruno

The Man Plus has bought a shield as signature gear, and then spent character points to "attach" powers to it, such as an increased DB. DB 2 is listed as if it were a super power because it's a metatrait introduced in GURPS Supers. I suggest reading the entire manuscript, especially the section on super equipment.

Originally Posted by vitruvian

Well, it certainly only makes sense to buy DB for a shield in this manner if it's *on top* of the DB normally provided by the shield. So, by my reading, if it's a Medium Shield, that's +2 for the shield itself, +2 purchased, for a total of +4 DB. Assume another +1 to defenses from Combat Reflexes or Enhanced Time Sense (which I would allow to permit Blocks against missile weapons without an additional skill like Parry Missile Weapons), and you've got a total of +5 to all defenses. Given the likelihood of high DX, Basic Speed, and skills, you could easily be talking defenses in the 15- to 20- range - not too shabby.

I would love it, and think it would be far more logical (and GURPS consistant) if this was the case.

My reading of handling shields from the box in Supers Page 78 seems to indicate you pay for every point of PD the shield provides and every point affects it's size.

It seems the sole benefit is that you can select your Shield's durability as you please, and use it as part of the breakable modifier to bring down the cost of paying for the PD it grants you.