04-20-2017, 10:21 PM | #11 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
|
Re: Pyramid #3/102: Epic
I have no idea what song you're talking about. Is there a song called simply "Epic"?
__________________
Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
04-20-2017, 10:40 PM | #12 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Dobbstown Sane Asylum
|
Re: Pyramid #3/102: Epic
Quote:
Er, I feel like infracting myself for continuing a tangent, but damn the rules.
__________________
Reverend Pee Kitty of the Order Malkavian-Dobbsian (Twitter) (LJ) MyGURPS: My house rules and GURPS resources.
#SJGamesLive: I answered questions about GURPS After the End and more! {Watch Video} - {Read Transcript} |
|
04-20-2017, 11:52 PM | #13 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
|
Re: Pyramid #3/102: Epic
Well, to return to our primary topic, here's a little behind the scenes:
Of the ideas that went into Götterdämmerung, the one that makes me happiest is the Trained power modifier. This takes off from the remark in GURPS Powers that power modifiers can perfectly well work out to 0%. It has three components: a Nuisance Effect requirement for Maintenance of one session per week per ability, based on Teaching skill as used by one person (-5%); gradual fading of the ability if the requirement isn't met, too slow to endanger you (+5%); and a requirement for a week away from adventuring to regain neglected skills (+0%)—which works out to 0%. The Basic Set equates an hour of formal instruction with two hours of self-study, so I thought it was legitimate to treat two sessions a week as equivalent. What this is, is a PM for "super normals" like Zorro, the Lone Ranger, Batman, or Hawkeye. They have to train regularly, and the ones with lots of abilities have to do so almost constantly. If they slack off, they lose their edge, and then they have to work hard to get it back. This actually sort of approximates the way real training works, but fictional characters often don't seem to do it much. On the other hand, it works well to have a hero like Batman put in time keeping up his abilities. The other aspect of this is that it doesn't make you superhuman; it makes you a super normal, with traits that put you at the high end of human ability. You can go a little past that with Special Training perks, but anything that's too steep for Special Training to cover is off limits. Where other heroes of Götterdämmerung come from one or another of the submerged histories, a Trained hero could be a normal person who's just obsessed. Think about the second Hawkeye in Young Avengers, for example. Anyway, that's what this particular gimmick is for. . . .
__________________
Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
04-21-2017, 12:17 AM | #14 | ||
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lancashire, UK
|
Re: Pyramid #3/102: Epic
Quote:
Damn you, catchy advertising! Great issue, btw! Quote:
Last edited by dbm; 04-21-2017 at 01:00 AM. |
||
04-21-2017, 06:55 AM | #15 |
Join Date: May 2011
Location: London, E4
|
Re: Pyramid #3/102: Epic
I'm enjoying this issue. I would love to see a GURPS supplement that expands on "Many Lives, One Adventure" with worked examples.
|
04-21-2017, 07:09 AM | #16 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
|
Re: Pyramid #3/102: Epic
Quote:
|
|
04-21-2017, 07:11 AM | #17 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
|
Re: Pyramid #3/102: Epic
Quote:
|
|
04-21-2017, 07:29 AM | #18 |
Join Date: Aug 2007
|
Re: Pyramid #3/102: Epic
An excellent issue! The highlights for me were Pulver, Stoddard and Rice's Imbued Items article.
The two settings were rich and gameable and had useful crunch. The Imbuement piece had a useful sub-system for producing exceptional items in a setting that didn't not use standard Magic without immersion disrupting details such "as write it up as a Gadget and pay CP.". It gave me the feel of something done within the setting by real people living there and that's what I want.
__________________
Fred Brackin |
04-21-2017, 07:38 AM | #19 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
|
Re: Pyramid #3/102: Epic
Quote:
There's also the use of "abilities enhancing skills." I wouldn't allow +4 for powers in this group—nothing resulting from training should be "miraculous"—but if, for example, you have Lightning Calculator, and can make a roll vs. IQ+Talent to set up a complex problem, a +2 to a skill that requires calculations, such as Astronomy or Engineer, doesn't seem out of line. And a character with Trained powers might be allowed Special Exercises to justify training that goes slightly past normal limits. The main point is to open up some of the options in GURPS Powers to super normals—characters like Batman who can do amazing things without actually having "powers." And it's also a basis for exploring the use of +0% modifiers, which Powers hints at but doesn't really develop. On the other hand, note that I specifically am not letting the Power Talents be used as regular Talents to give direct bonuses to groups of skills. If you take Enhanced Manipulation, for example, you get +1 to +4 for levels of High Manual Dexterity, but the talent doesn't add to the bonus.
__________________
Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. Last edited by whswhs; 04-21-2017 at 07:43 AM. |
|
04-21-2017, 07:41 AM | #20 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lancashire, UK
|
Re: Pyramid #3/102: Epic
I was focussing in the -5% offsetting a +5% which you would otherwise have to pay for, but on further reflection you (and Bill) are right. It's small potatoes.
|
Tags |
gurps, pyramid, pyramid 3/102 |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|