What breaks if I apply the following template to everyone in the universe?

[WaterAndWindSpirit]

Hello! So basically I have a universe where widespread genetic engineering has been performed on humans, dwarves, elves and so on to improve everyone's health. So not only the PC, but all the NPC, friend or foe, get the following template, for free:

IQ +2
ST+2
HT+2
DX+2
Hard to Kill 2
FP+2 (physical activity only (That is, cannot be used for missed sleep, food, water, or for casting spells))
Will never grow overweight regardless of diet (perk)

Does something break if I do that? Thanks!

[robkelk]

Other than the complete disappearance of the weight-loss industry, I can't see anything breaking.

Since everybody is that much faster, that much smarter, that much nimbler, that much healthier, and that much more robust, the bell curve for each of those traits shifts a bit but doesn't radically change shape. Hand-to-hand combat becomes a little bit more damaging, but actually dying from the damage is more difficult.

[Ulzgoroth]

HT+2 and HTK2 means it's extraordinarily difficult for people to die short of the -5xHP threshold. If medical science is good, that means extraordinary amounts of physical trauma or bleeding out (from a rather severe wound) somewhere you can't get treatment. If it's bad, HT+2 still means a lot less susceptibility to deadly infections and considerably better chances of surviving internal bleeding.

That's not broken, as such, but it is quite significantly world-changing.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by WaterAndWindSpirit

Hello! So basically I have a universe where widespread genetic engineering has been performed on humans, dwarves, elves and so on to improve everyone's health. So not only the PC, but all the NPC, friend or foe, get the following template, for free:

IQ +2
ST+2
HT+2
DX+2
Hard to Kill 2
FP+2 (physical activity only (That is, cannot be used for missed sleep, food, water, or for casting spells))
Will never grow overweight regardless of diet (perk)

Does something break if I do that? Thanks!

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

HT+2 and HTK2 means it's extraordinarily difficult for people to die short of the -5xHP threshold. If medical science is good, that means extraordinary amounts of physical trauma or bleeding out (from a rather severe wound) somewhere you can't get treatment. If it's bad, HT+2 still means a lot less susceptibility to deadly infections and considerably better chances of surviving internal bleeding.

That's not broken, as such, but it is quite significantly world-changing.

As indicated, things don't exactly break, but they can stretch uncomfortably under the strain. Your Attributes all jump from a base of 10 to a base of 12 and any skills purchased have their base level jump by 2 as well. For Regular Contests this just means that it will take longer to get a decisive result (about four times longer, if I'm reading the effect on probability correctly). As base skill increases, Quick Contests are going to feel more like they were decided by luck (e.g., who slipped in the blood first) rather than by dint of superior skill (this is because the chances of failure drop significantly). Finally, unless you up the difficulties involved, some things will start to become worthless from a practical view, e.g. any lock that doesn't give at least a -2 to Lockpicking should end up in in the landfill as a waste of good money.

[whswhs]

Did you apply them to animals as well? That is, is the average chimpanzee IQ 8, the average cat IQ 6, the average alligator IQ 4, and the average wasp IQ 3? Or has the balance shifted even more decisively to favor humans (elves, dwarves, etc.) over other species?

Are there "bad" races such as orcs? If so, did they get the same boost?

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

As base skill increases, Quick Contests are going to feel more like they were decided by luck (e.g., who slipped in the blood first) rather than by dint of superior skill (this is because the chances of failure drop significantly).

Quick contests are just fine - they're decided by margin. Regular contests, as you noted, may suffer.

[Culture20]

Is it relative to size? i.e. Do Fairies and Giants each only get +2 to ST?

[weby]

Gurps systemwise that means that if you then keep the normal descriptions of how common attributes are but in effect shift then by +2 will have a high number of people with 16+(14 without the +2) in an attribute and several of the basic set rules kind of break with such.

[WaterAndWindSpirit]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Are there "bad" races such as orcs? If so, did they get the same boost?

There are no "bad" races as there is a galactic society, but well, when you get a buff to strength and a penalty to IQ you're gonna get stereotyped as a front liner grunt with a heavy machine gun unless you are on a very large deviation from average. There are two main factions separated by ideology (one that is dedicated to improve the standards of living as far as possible and if that include a new revolutionary genetic engineering procedure to make sure everyone is healthier that is fully okay by them, and the other wants to push the capabilities of sentient living beings as far as possible which wouldn't be a problem except 1) they do their research without proper safeguards, which is what back at the time people still swung swords at each other resulted in the creation of demons, and 2) Their research often break ethical codes on research (for instance an improvement on nanite resistance will be tested on live subjects against nanite-based gas, live subjects being POW executed afterward Nazi Germany style), which has resulted in the two factions being at war for centuries with no one gaining a significant or lasting advantage, and some neutral factions are either trying to stay as far away from the conflict as they can or are just edging their bets to see who comes on top.), and about chimps and dogs, pets tend to be given the health treatment and there is an affordable "age reset" therapy available that means only the war, accidents, murders, suicide, or deciding that you've lived long enough and won't take the therapy anymore are the only causes of death in civilized areas.

Thanks everyone for your input.

[ericthered]

+2 IQ makes everyone much more versatile. You go from most people making myriad newbie mistakes when they try something to most people being able to succeed at things after just reading them out of a book. You'll get something of an "encyclopedic competence" effect.