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Old 05-30-2009, 03:52 PM   #1
Gudiomen
 
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Default Perks, can we have too many?

Basic, Martial Arts, Power-Ups 2, Magical Styles, Psionic Powers... we have so many Perks it's starting to make me feel dizzy. What's worse, they're spread over several books.

Can we have too many? Are perks the GURPS version of prestige classes (something obscure and munchkiny that everyone wants)?

My players haven't sprung a bunch on me yet, actually they're simple players with clean characters, I'm the one who's likely to spring this on my GM. I'm not doing it a lot and already I'm getting the "are you sure you're not trying to pull one on me?" look.

This isn't criticism per se, if anything a variety of choices to pick from reduce the number of perks players try to invent outright. It's just something that's been nagging me and I wondered what the comunity thought...
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Old 05-30-2009, 03:55 PM   #2
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Default Re: Perks, can we have too many?

Too many options? Um, nope.
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Old 05-30-2009, 03:59 PM   #3
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Default Re: Perks, can we have too many?

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Too many options? Um, nope.
Heh, brutal and true. Good answer.

Still, it's a lot of special rules and rules exceptions to remember.
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Old 05-30-2009, 04:00 PM   #4
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Default Re: Perks, can we have too many?

It boils down to how many you want to integrate, I suppose. It's best if players know their PC concepts first, then see if there are any mechanical benefits based on that they want for sure.
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Old 05-30-2009, 04:10 PM   #5
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Default Re: Perks, can we have too many?

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Originally Posted by Gudiomen View Post
Basic, Martial Arts, Power-Ups 2, Magical Styles, Psionic Powers... we have so many Perks it's starting to make me feel dizzy. What's worse, they're spread over several books.
Actually, I feel the need to point out that PU2 completely includes all of the perks from Basic and MA. So at the moment, you've got PU2 (all general perks for normal type folks), Magical Styles (all magical perks for wizards) and Psionic Powers (all psi perks for psychics). That's not a bad division, as far as "splatbook" publishing goes. Three books, and two of them are specifically for very optional character types.

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Too many options? Um, nope.
QFT.
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Old 05-30-2009, 05:20 PM   #6
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Default Re: Perks, can we have too many?

Actually I'm having trouble convincing most of my friends to play GURPS due to how many options there are. It's a case by case on the player types.

Just to say, there is a problem with having too many options. It might be minor... and rarely noticeable... but it's there.
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Old 05-30-2009, 05:27 PM   #7
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Default Re: Perks, can we have too many?

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Actually I'm having trouble convincing most of my friends to play GURPS due to how many options there are. It's a case by case on the player types.
...
That's what templates are for... not to mention strict pre-game genre discussions with players.
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Old 05-30-2009, 05:28 PM   #8
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Default Re: Perks, can we have too many?

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Originally Posted by Gudiomen View Post
Still, it's a lot of special rules and rules exceptions to remember.
Let them remember their sweet little exceptions. You worry about their disadvantages. I've found that to be a pretty good division of labor: A player is naturally going to try to remember what gives him a tactical edge, and you're the one who's going to get the most mileage out of his disads anyway.

(There are some exceptions to this rule: Noob dramatists are going to naturally fixate on all the kewl angst that their disads give them, even being disappointed if they turn out to be "free points," and they won't know all the details of their nitty gritty little powers. Still, the division is a good way for them to learn, and you should help players like that design their characters in broad, general ways, with things like Wild Card skills rather than Perks anyway)
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Old 05-30-2009, 05:31 PM   #9
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Default Re: Perks, can we have too many?

Quote:
Originally Posted by DukeofDellot View Post
Actually I'm having trouble convincing most of my friends to play GURPS due to how many options there are. It's a case by case on the player types.

Just to say, there is a problem with having too many options. It might be minor... and rarely noticeable... but it's there.
I'd say that's a human error, not a software issue.
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Old 05-30-2009, 05:34 PM   #10
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Default Re: Perks, can we have too many?

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Originally Posted by DukeofDellot View Post
Actually I'm having trouble convincing most of my friends to play GURPS due to how many options there are. It's a case by case on the player types.
There is a solution, but it isn't easy: templates and acceptable trait lists.
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