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Old 11-21-2019, 05:54 AM   #181
naloth
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Default Re: [Supers] Malice - A low-powered supers setting

Quote:
Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1 View Post
Signature Gear for items 2 TLs up gets very expensive. Filthy Rich just happened to be the cutoff point where he could get what he needed. I still don't feel great about it, but there's no really good way to simulate someone with High TL and a large amount of high-tech gear, but not actual wealth. The languages are just background stuff. You can afford a decent bit of that on a 1000-point character. Spaceship Piloting isn't too likely to come up either and he has 20 points in that.
I'd have to check, but I thought High TL adjusted your effective TL for pricing signature gear. Otherwise, it's almost a disadvantage since it puts his skills at a "bad" TL for the overall game he'll be in. I seldom use High TL so I'd have to read up on the rules.


Quote:
When you have different levels of Lifting and Striking ST, buying either External ST+Lifting ST or Lifting ST+Striking ST is the same amount of clutter.
Sure, if you want different levels. As a GM, I usually prefer find a value that I can be happy with for both values then use that. As it is, what ST do you think he would throw at? Neither fully cover throwing.

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I'd think he'd need a greater reason why he would scuttle it. If you arrived in the Middle Ages on a one-way trip from a TL8^ time machine, wouldn't you want to preserve as much modern tech as possible?
Presumably the reason that pods were sent out in random directions was either (a) to look for something or (b) to get away from something. In the case of (a) there's usually something to protect which means he can't be letting a bunch of high tech stuff fall into primitive hands. In the case of (b) he would be covering his tracks, perhaps even protecting the locals from whatever entity was hunting TL10 civilizations.

In either case, a pod sounds like a 1 way trip. If it's not useful for leaving, he probably won't be carrying it around or using it as a base.
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Old 11-21-2019, 06:31 AM   #182
Aldric
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Default Re: [Supers] Malice - A low-powered supers setting

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Originally Posted by naloth View Post
I'd have to check, but I thought High TL adjusted your effective TL for pricing signature gear.
Basic is quite clear in stating that your starting wealth is based on the Campaign TL, not your personal TL, on p. 27

Edit: The pod seems pretty valuable to me, and "scuttling" might not even be an option

Last edited by Aldric; 11-21-2019 at 06:38 AM.
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Old 11-21-2019, 07:14 AM   #183
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Re: [Supers] Malice - A low-powered supers setting

You can learn skills at any TL below your own, High TL allows you to use items of your TL at no penalty. So, a TL8 individual trying anything with a TL10 item would be at a -10 to skill, meaning that even routine tasks (normal +4) are very difficult (at a -6). A TL10 alien should pay more for TL10 Signature Gear in a TL8 setting because it is very valuable for the setting.
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Old 11-21-2019, 08:24 AM   #184
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: [Supers] Malice - A low-powered supers setting

Quote:
Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1 View Post
Signature Gear for items 2 TLs up gets very expensive. Filthy Rich just happened to be the cutoff point where he could get what he needed. I still don't feel great about it, but there's no really good way to simulate someone with High TL and a large amount of high-tech gear, but not actual wealth.
Signature Gear Only should be a legitimate Limitation on Wealth, although I'm not sure what it would be worth. Technically, your alien could have Dead Broke, then buy everything up to Filthy Rich with said Limitation, to represent the fact that he only has Signature Gear, and can't get a job. In addition to being more faithful to the character concept, it also has the benefit of costing fewer points (how much, of course, depends on the worth of that Signature Gear Only Limitation).

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Originally Posted by naloth View Post
In either case, a pod sounds like a 1 way trip. If it's not useful for leaving, he probably won't be carrying it around or using it as a base.
It's one of the very few things he has remaining from his destroyed homeworld and possibly-extinct species. Even if it's completely useless, chances are pretty good he'll be keeping it for sentimental reasons alone.

And the pod is far from useless - it can reliably recharge his TL10 gear, has a TL10 computer and, if fixed, could be used to travel the stars (and rendezvous with another survivor, should he discover one). I'd expect it also has comms equipment, which would be necessary if another survivor tried to contact him.
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Old 11-21-2019, 12:11 PM   #185
awesomenessofme1
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Default Re: [Supers] Malice - A low-powered supers setting

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Originally Posted by naloth View Post
Sure, if you want different levels. As a GM, I usually prefer find a value that I can be happy with for both values then use that. As it is, what ST do you think he would throw at? Neither fully cover throwing.
I actually asked about this in a thread for a different character in this setting. I ended up finding out that according to official word, neither Lifting ST nor Striking ST affect any part of throwing. So he'd throw at ST50, since that's the level he has both Lifting and Striking ST at.

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Originally Posted by naloth View Post
Presumably the reason that pods were sent out in random directions was either (a) to look for something or (b) to get away from something. In the case of (a) there's usually something to protect which means he can't be letting a bunch of high tech stuff fall into primitive hands. In the case of (b) he would be covering his tracks, perhaps even protecting the locals from whatever entity was hunting TL10 civilizations.
It's (b), but "hunting TL10 civilizations" (or just the one in this case) is not the same thing as going across the galaxy in ten thousand directions to track down every last survivor. Space is a big place. And if some existential cosmic threat shows up (it's a superhero setting, not impossible), you'd want every advantage you could get.

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Originally Posted by naloth View Post
In either case, a pod sounds like a 1 way trip. If it's not useful for leaving, he probably won't be carrying it around or using it as a base.
Not quite (I'll explain below).

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Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
Signature Gear Only should be a legitimate Limitation on Wealth, although I'm not sure what it would be worth. Technically, your alien could have Dead Broke, then buy everything up to Filthy Rich with said Limitation, to represent the fact that he only has Signature Gear, and can't get a job. In addition to being more faithful to the character concept, it also has the benefit of costing fewer points (how much, of course, depends on the worth of that Signature Gear Only Limitation).
I think the issue is that SG is linear, while Wealth is exponential. In most cases, this works out fine, but if you want a character to have high-value gear but be mostly poor in every other way, it doesn't work. I think the way I have it built is mostly functional with a bit of handwaving.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
It's one of the very few things he has remaining from his destroyed homeworld and possibly-extinct species. Even if it's completely useless, chances are pretty good he'll be keeping it for sentimental reasons alone.

And the pod is far from useless - it can reliably recharge his TL10 gear, has a TL10 computer and, if fixed, could be used to travel the stars (and rendezvous with another survivor, should he discover one). I'd expect it also has comms equipment, which would be necessary if another survivor tried to contact him.
This is pretty much all correct except for two things. First, it's not as simple as just fixing it if he wants to travel through space. The pod isn't equipped with atmospheric propulsion, so he'd need to get it to space somehow and would probably want to replace the soft-landing system. Both possible with TL8 materials and equipment, but definitely not easy. Secondly, the stardrive his pod is equipped with only goes at around 30x light speed, which is pretty slow on a galactic scale. Finding another survivor at that speed would be almost impossible. It's the kind of ridiculous coincidence that totally could happen in a superhero universe, but he wouldn't actively try to do it.
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Old 11-21-2019, 01:30 PM   #186
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: [Supers] Malice - A low-powered supers setting

Quote:
Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1 View Post
I think the issue is that SG is linear, while Wealth is exponential. In most cases, this works out fine, but if you want a character to have high-value gear but be mostly poor in every other way, it doesn't work. I think the way I have it built is mostly functional with a bit of handwaving.
This problem crops up from time to time in GURPS. With Payload, for example, with a large enough Payload it can be cheaper to just buy up ST, or Lifting ST, and take fewer levels of Payload. My solution there is what I call Payload ST - basically, Lifting ST with a Payload Only -80% Limitation. Something similar would work well for Wealth to get overall cost for a high amount of Signature Gear down, with the benefit that your character doesn't need to actually be extraordinarily wealthy to have a spaceship (or whatever you buy with your SG).

Quote:
Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1 View Post
This is pretty much all correct except for two things. First, it's not as simple as just fixing it if he wants to travel through space. The pod isn't equipped with atmospheric propulsion, so he'd need to get it to space somehow and would probably want to replace the soft-landing system. Both possible with TL8 materials and equipment, but definitely not easy. Secondly, the stardrive his pod is equipped with only goes at around 30x light speed, which is pretty slow on a galactic scale. Finding another survivor at that speed would be almost impossible. It's the kind of ridiculous coincidence that totally could happen in a superhero universe, but he wouldn't actively try to do it.
Hmmm... yes that does limit its usefulness. FWIW, I was thinking more along the lines of its FTL comms picking up a distress signal or similar from a nearby pod, with Greg (which his human friends are obviously going to shorten his name to) heading off heroically to rescue the damsel (or dude) in distress. Naturally, for a superhero story, said distress signal will undoubtedly be a fake one, or the other Ruurqzo will die during the adventure (possibly because he/she is evil and betrayed the others), or they'll decide Earth isn't for them but Greg will opt to stick it out. Y'know, whatever won't destabilize the status quo.
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Old 11-21-2019, 01:39 PM   #187
dcarson
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Default Re: [Supers] Malice - A low-powered supers setting

Can't remember if it's canon or not but I have seen Wealth(Initial Equipment Only -50%) for one that does not give the Status boost or the implicit contacts.
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