01-09-2015, 05:09 AM | #31 | ||
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: South Dakota, USA
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#26): Combat Reflexes
Please pardon the sequential posts, but I was afraid my responses would run into each other too much and be more confusing in a single, larger post.
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My GURPS Fourth Edition library consists of Basic Set: Characters, Basic Set: Campaigns, Martial Arts, Powers, Powers: Enhanced Senses, Power-Ups 1: Imbuements, Power-Ups 2: Perks, Power-Ups 3: Talents, Power-Ups 4: Enhancements, Power-Ups 6: Quirks, Power-Ups 8: Limitations, Powers, Social Engineering, Supers, Template Toolkit 1: Characters, Template Toolkit 2: Races, one issue of Pyramid (3/83) a.k.a. Alternate GURPS IV, GURPS Classic Rogues, and GURPS Classic Warriors. Most of which was provided through the generosity of others. Thanks! :) Last edited by Otaku; 01-09-2015 at 05:12 AM. |
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01-09-2015, 05:15 AM | #32 | |
GURPS FAQ Keeper
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#26): Combat Reflexes
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But e.g. my current ready-to-play character focuses of not entering combat. Ambushes and stealth kills are just safer, particularly at a distance. So I wouldn't call it 'not needed'. Just there are more than one way to get an advantage against opponents, and it's often more desirable to take a different path for one reason or another. |
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01-09-2015, 05:30 AM | #33 |
Join Date: Oct 2014
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#26): Combat Reflexes
If you have HPT, my paladin I made for a Pathfinder game is going to just loooooove playing with you for the night in town... Granted, that's not most social settings, but still... :P
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01-09-2015, 06:32 AM | #34 |
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Cambridge, MA
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#26): Combat Reflexes
CR is a great deal for the points if you're playing a front-line fighter. Even in combat-heavy games (think DF), I haven't felt the need to take it on every character, and in fact I have often prioritized Luck first for its more universal applicability. For wizard-type characters, for example, the active defense bonuses are nice, but I try to not get attacked or use Blocking spells to defend myself, the IQ and Fright Check bonuses are unnecessary for a character with high IQ, and I would usually much rather spend the points on more Magery, IQ, spells, ER, etc.
Consider 5 points of ER, for example...which I could use in battle to cast Reflexes on myself and gain Combat Reflexes anyway! It's not a perfect analogy of course, since that's a spell on, requires mana, takes a second and a roll to cast, etc., but of course I could use those 5 energy points on any other spell, so the flexibility gained there is well worth it in my opinion. Long story short, CR is a good deal, but still not good enough that you have to take it for every character. Also, I think many posters here missed the point of the Krommquote. The point is that advantages are not priced based on "power level" at all! CR is the basic "I am a veteran warrior" advantage, and since that's such a common adventurer characteristic, it's cheap. Enhanced Defenses are more expensive, even though they do something similar, because it's less of a common trope for a character to have really good defenses without having the other traits that naturally go with high defenses (in GURPS, that would be the high skill and/or high attributes that "naturally" give you a good Parry, Block or Dodge). To price advantages based on power level would mean repricing everything, and even radically repricing things game by game. In a Social Engineering/Diplomacy game, for example, CR would be a perk and Charisma would cost 15 points. In a high TL game, Gizmos should cost more character points because there are so many more equipment choices. In a combat-heavy game, combat skills should cost way more than non-combat skills. And so on... |
01-09-2015, 07:45 AM | #35 | ||
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: South Dakota, USA
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#26): Combat Reflexes
Huh?
I meant to convey that my experience wasn't isolated or unique, but I don't claim its common either. Quote:
I might have been more clear if I stressed I was talking about character building in general. When you're a newbie (and the impression I still sometimes get) is that the general rule of thumb is to give your character Combat Reflexes. Playing the librarian that will mostly be there to help with puzzle solving or provide assistance via research? Find a way to justify the librarian having Combat Reflexes (...yes, I am aware of The Librarians). It is often going to be worth it for combat oriented characters, but not always. Besides possibly being a little odd on other characters, its often needed less than something else. In both cases, while there are a plethora of bonuses, not all may be especially relevant. Quote:
__________________
My GURPS Fourth Edition library consists of Basic Set: Characters, Basic Set: Campaigns, Martial Arts, Powers, Powers: Enhanced Senses, Power-Ups 1: Imbuements, Power-Ups 2: Perks, Power-Ups 3: Talents, Power-Ups 4: Enhancements, Power-Ups 6: Quirks, Power-Ups 8: Limitations, Powers, Social Engineering, Supers, Template Toolkit 1: Characters, Template Toolkit 2: Races, one issue of Pyramid (3/83) a.k.a. Alternate GURPS IV, GURPS Classic Rogues, and GURPS Classic Warriors. Most of which was provided through the generosity of others. Thanks! :) |
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01-09-2015, 07:57 AM | #36 | |
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: South Dakota, USA
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#26): Combat Reflexes
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__________________
My GURPS Fourth Edition library consists of Basic Set: Characters, Basic Set: Campaigns, Martial Arts, Powers, Powers: Enhanced Senses, Power-Ups 1: Imbuements, Power-Ups 2: Perks, Power-Ups 3: Talents, Power-Ups 4: Enhancements, Power-Ups 6: Quirks, Power-Ups 8: Limitations, Powers, Social Engineering, Supers, Template Toolkit 1: Characters, Template Toolkit 2: Races, one issue of Pyramid (3/83) a.k.a. Alternate GURPS IV, GURPS Classic Rogues, and GURPS Classic Warriors. Most of which was provided through the generosity of others. Thanks! :) |
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01-09-2015, 09:22 AM | #37 |
GURPS FAQ Keeper
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#26): Combat Reflexes
On the too-brave bit:
I meant that I don't see CR as 'unneeded' (which is how I originally understood the meaning of the statement, one way or another), and more about having other desirable traits, even for combat-related problems. |
01-09-2015, 11:10 AM | #38 | |
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Cambridge, MA
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#26): Combat Reflexes
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01-09-2015, 11:49 AM | #39 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#26): Combat Reflexes
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01-09-2015, 12:19 PM | #40 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#26): Combat Reflexes
I didn't initially mean to contribute to the weird undercurrent of kinky on this thread, but my goodness, I read this and thought "even after you've seduced him, whyever would he untie you?"
All traits are situationally dependent. Night vision only helps at night. Amphibious only helps in the water. Attractive only helps against people who can see you (and are your species, usually). Luck only helps if you're rolling something. Enhanced Defenses only helps against people who want to hurt you. I don't take this as a reason to throw up my hands and say "these things don't balance against each other at all," but rather to evaluate roughly how useful the advantage is, and roughly how often it'll be applicable, and go from there. Evaluating mathematically is nice, but even if the numbers are based on estimates, all advantages have some sort of impact under some subset of situations, so they can be compared. |
Tags |
advantage, advantage of the week, combat reflexes, enhanced defenses, enhanced time sense, week, [basic] |
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