07-16-2020, 09:34 AM | #31 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Changing advantage cost to suit campaigns
I do not see Combat Reflexes as cheap, per se, just that the equivalent traits are rather expensive (you would need to pay 40+ CP to gain the equivalent traits). I really do see Combat Reflexes and Luck as the core advantages of PCs, and PCs without either are usually not long for the world in my games. In fact, I have been playing with the idea of setting the value of both at 0 CP (and reducing the cost of ETS and higher levels of Luck by 15 CP each) and having the lack of either being a -15 CP disadvantage each.
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07-16-2020, 09:42 AM | #32 | |||
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Hmm, looks like Earth, circa CE 2020+
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Re: Changing advantage cost to suit campaigns
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And as you also pointed out, the superheroes often aren't very rational either.
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Kerry Thornley: Dwarf Planet Eris, Discordianism, and The John F. Kennedy Assassination Without Thornley, there would never have been the Steve Jackson Games edition of Principia Discordia Top 12 Clues You're a Role-Playing Old-Timer My humorous (I hope) article that also promotes SJGames/GURPS GURPS Fantasy Folk: Elves My first GURPS supplement |
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07-16-2020, 09:48 AM | #33 | |||||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
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Re: Changing advantage cost to suit campaigns
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GURPS assumes combat-capable characters are fairly common, so it makes Combat Reflexes cheap. It assumes magic-capable characters are common where magic is possible, so it makes Magery cheap. It assumes situations where being able to avoid aging are relatively rare, but the ability is very useful where it is needed, so it makes Unaging fairly expensive. If you need to change these assumptions, you can use an Unusual Background to increase the cost of these things. (You can use a Mundane Background to artificially remove access to these things per character.) Quote:
Magery is priced according to the idea that it is reasonably common where it's available at all, since that's the case in typical fantasy campaigns. If you play in a setting where magic is possible but very rare, the GM should require an Unusual Background to apply the extra cost for rarity. Character points pay for rarity as well as utility. They always have. They still do. Whether they're baked into a trait like Unaging or have to be separately applied like Unusual Background, they deal with rarity. |
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07-16-2020, 09:51 AM | #34 | |
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Hmm, looks like Earth, circa CE 2020+
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Re: Changing advantage cost to suit campaigns
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I tend to agree on the universal value of Luck, though; I think almost all my PCs have it. Personally, though, I do see having it as an Advantage rather than not having it as a Disadvantage. The heroes in stories often seem to have Luck, while the vast majority of regular people they encounter do not.
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Kerry Thornley: Dwarf Planet Eris, Discordianism, and The John F. Kennedy Assassination Without Thornley, there would never have been the Steve Jackson Games edition of Principia Discordia Top 12 Clues You're a Role-Playing Old-Timer My humorous (I hope) article that also promotes SJGames/GURPS GURPS Fantasy Folk: Elves My first GURPS supplement |
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07-16-2020, 09:54 AM | #35 | |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Changing advantage cost to suit campaigns
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07-16-2020, 10:09 AM | #36 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
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Re: Changing advantage cost to suit campaigns
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For core traits, 15 points out of a typical 100 seems to have been where the decision-making went from "that's cheap, I'll take it" to "do I really need this?" The original authors' ideas of where the sweet spot lay for the various genres they were working on is where these numbers were set. These assumptions and ideas are legacy now. They've been somewhat modified over the years with new editions and supplements, and are now guided by a more truly universal viewpoint, but the numbers are still basically based on those old ideas. |
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07-16-2020, 02:33 PM | #37 | |
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Sumter, SC
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Re: Changing advantage cost to suit campaigns
Yes it does. Though in many places it uses is uses different terms. For the ones that actually use the very word "rarity" in them:
"The base cost for Resistant depends on the rarity of the effects it counteracts" (B 80) "Valid categories appear under Limited Defenses (p. 46); the item that can kill you must be of “Occasional” rarity or higher." (B 89) "The limitation value depends on the rarity of the substance: -5% if “Rare,” -15% if “Occasional,” or -25% if “Common.”" (B 95) "Cost depends on the rarity of the Trigger" (B 115) "This is in addition to any “built-in” rarity modifier." (B 118) - Note the scare quotes here. "Point value depends on the rarity of the item you depend on:" (B 130) "Point cost depends on the rarity of this substance:" (B 132) "Find the final disadvantage value by multiplying the point value for your range to reflect the rarity of the substance, as described for Weakness (p. 161)." (B 133) "Point value depends on the rarity of the item you consume:" (B 151) "Point cost depends on the item’s rarity in the environment:" (B 158) "Point value depends on the wounding multiplier and the rarity of the attack:" (B 161) Multiply the base value to reflect the rarity of the damaging substance or condition:" (B 161) "The power modifier depends on the rarity of countermeasures against the power." (B 257) Quote:
Fantasy, Horror, Space, Horseclans, Humanx, Harkwood, Unnight, Old Stone Fort, Flight 13, Stardemon, Space Atlas all fit into that twilight area of 1e and 2e GURPS. Though the GURPS Reference Screen for 2e GURPS came out in 1989 (Print lag time I guess). So some really early 1989 stuff may still be 2e GURPS material.
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Help make a digital reference for GURPS by coming to the GURPS wiki and provide some information and links (such as to various Fanmade 4e Bestiaries) . Please, provide more then just a title and a page number. Last edited by maximara; 07-16-2020 at 04:09 PM. |
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07-16-2020, 02:45 PM | #38 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
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Re: Changing advantage cost to suit campaigns
Those aren't modifiers to change the cost based on the rarity of the trait. They are modifiers and base costs based on the rarity with which the trait will be useful. Those are not the same thing. So no, in the context in which we are speaking, GURPS does not have rarity modifiers. It does not have modifiers to traits that say "if this trait is rare to possess, it costs more."
If age-related effects are rare in your campaign, Unaging will cost 15 points. If age-related effects are common in your campaign, Unaging will still cost 15 points. How often the trait is useful does not set its price in this case. That would be pricing by utility. If people commonly have Unaging in your campaign, Unaging will cost 15 points. If it's very unusual to have Unaging in your campaign, Unaging will cost 15 points and the GM may assign some Unusual Background on top of that to explain how you can have it. THAT is pricing traits according to rarity. |
07-16-2020, 03:55 PM | #39 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Changing advantage cost to suit campaigns
It does not have explicit modifiers like that. It is, however, implicit in many prices.
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07-16-2020, 04:03 PM | #40 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
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Re: Changing advantage cost to suit campaigns
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