09-16-2015, 01:21 AM | #21 | |
Join Date: Dec 2006
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Re: When to homebrew and when to use the system?
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That's one of the first things to not get caught up in. Focus on the effect, not the fluff. If someone has what appears to be duplication but does not use the proper extent of what duplicates would provide then duplication might not be the right way to approach it. For instance 'making thousands of clones' ; Are they real, or just shadows (could be illusions) Can they do seprate actions or are that all linked to a single action (could be extra arms with range, with the bodies being special effects) Do they have noncombat uses (if no then a special effect on an innate attack may be applicable) Is there some way to identify the 'real' pc (if so then duplication will likely not apply at all). I would expect someone who can make thousands of course if themselves to be able to accomplish essentially any task, with just light carpentry skills they should be able to almost instantly erect massive structures and build bridges, read thousands of books simultaneously clean their house in seconds (or just build a new one when the existing one gets dirty). Via the grappkibg rules they should be unbeatable in combat against any foe they actually can damage or hold. If that's not this power I don't think it's duplication. Last edited by starslayer; 09-16-2015 at 01:27 AM. |
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09-16-2015, 11:51 AM | #22 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: When to homebrew and when to use the system?
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About the only limitation might be that the clones don't seem to have all of Naruto's hp As Naruto appears to have an epic number of hp it might actually be possible for those hp to be divided between Naruto and several hundred clones. Doesn't that mean that Naruto has to have hundreds or even thousands of hp? Yes, it's that kind of setting.
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Fred Brackin |
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09-16-2015, 12:39 PM | #23 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: When to homebrew and when to use the system?
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09-16-2015, 07:31 PM | #24 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: When to homebrew and when to use the system?
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Possible (mild) spoilers for the Naruto anime. For example in the Forest of Death section of the Chunin exams Naruto created 4 clones, used Transformationjutsu on 3 of them to make them look like the people he was with and sent them out to fight some Earth ninja for an hour while his group got some rest. Obviously the clones didn't achieve a decisive victory but it's extreme unlikely they went untouched for an entire hour either. There are other scenes where clones engage in melee without going "poof". Somehow Naruto can make them tougher if he wants to. We know he can distribute his chakra evenly throughout a dozen clones.
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Fred Brackin |
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09-17-2015, 09:33 AM | #25 | |
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Sydney
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Re: When to homebrew and when to use the system?
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In terms of GURPS main rules books there is the Basic Set Powers Thaumatology Martial Arts (and Technical Grappling introduced a significant change) And that's about it almost every other rule builds off the concepts in those books. Those that don't e.g. Low tech cover subsets or e.g. various Pyramid articles are extra/alternative rules. I don't think there is any other way to do Magic or Powers using GURPS that isn't using rules from one of those existing books. You'd just be doing a variant. If you come up with a new way your either using the rules without knowing it, or you've discovered a blindspot in the GURPS rules everyone missed. |
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09-17-2015, 10:01 AM | #26 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: When to homebrew and when to use the system?
To me this is a question not of "right" but of efficient use of my time and effort.
On one hand, whenever I run a campaign, I almost surely have house rules. These may be chosen from optional rules within an existing system (GURPS has tons of optional rules), or they may be new optional or alternate rules that I make up to get a specific effect. That takes some careful thinking to make sure I don't unbalance the system, but it doesn't take a lot of slog. On the other hand, there's the question of having mechanics to cover a set of magical practices, or superpowers, or advanced technology, or something else of that sort. Building anything like that takes a lot of time. So first I'm going to look and see if one of the existing systems already does more or less what I want (for example, my current GURPS campaign uses path and book magic). If it works right generally, I may add in a few specific new effects: new spells, new rituals, new tech, whatever. If I don't find what I want, I'm going to see if I can build what I want out of what already exists—for example, creating a magic system using the powers rules. That already has a fair bit of slog to it; see Chinese Elemental Powers for an example. Only if I can't figure out how to do that will I set out to create something entirely new. I did that once for a faerie-based campaign, defining an entire system of magical effects and ways of accomplishing them, and it was really a lot of work. You always have to trade off "how much effort is this going to cost me?" for "how vital is this to getting exactly the narrative or dramatic effect that I want?"
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
09-17-2015, 11:16 AM | #27 | |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Minneapolis, MN, USA
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Re: When to homebrew and when to use the system?
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For a GM, however, the sky is the limit. If you want to write up a new magic system, go right ahead. Be sure to make sure your players are on board, and understand what the system does. Also, be prepared to accept the idea that the players might figure out a loophole in your spiffy new system, and use it to wreak havoc all over your game. Most of the rules in my games come from the books, though I pick and choose those as I see fit. My hexcrawl rules come from outside GURPS, and I customized them for my own use as well, but the players don't directly interact with them. |
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gurps, homebrew, meta |
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