10-21-2016, 11:13 AM | #11 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Minneapolis, MN, USA
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Re: Book Idea: GURPS Skills
First of all: this isn't the first time this book has been proposed in this forum. Same story with one for disadvantages.
Anyways, while this always sounds like a good idea, there are many, many issues here.
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10-21-2016, 11:29 AM | #12 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Book Idea: GURPS Skills
Quote:
What I'm thinking is, when I look at an Advantage and I want to know more, I pull up Powers. In 50 pages (starting on p. 39) it doesn't say everything about every Advantage, but it says a lot about a lot of them. It tells me who takes them, what they can be used to represent, what could logically power them, and presents new modifiers when reasonable (as well as a generic modifiers section after that!). I use the Existing Advantages, Modifiers, and Evaluating Power Modifiers extensively, constantly, I've spent hours with those sections of the book, and they're all in the first 112 pages. We don't need GURPS Skills to introduce new skills, and Powers has a lot of material (all of Power Games and Empowered Genres, probably) that wouldn't need an equivalent. But giving skills the treatment that Advantages get between p. 39 and p. 90 would be a damn handy supplement in my eyes. As for jumping, what's hard about jumping into a pit? Is arresting my momentum as I land to I don't bang into the wall (so a sufficiently large pit would be easier)? Is harder to land after a vertical jump that loses elevation than it would be jumping straight down? Is the problem that I'm assumed not to have line of sight to the bottom until I get right up close to the edge (so having Penetrating Vision would help)? Perhaps I'm hopelessly optimistic, but I suspect there's a level of guideline between the b. 345 / "pits are hard" level and the Arrakis approach. |
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10-21-2016, 01:28 PM | #13 |
GURPS FAQ Keeper
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
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Re: Book Idea: GURPS Skills
That's quite a strong reaction. Care to elaborate?
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10-21-2016, 03:55 PM | #14 |
Join Date: Oct 2015
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Re: Book Idea: GURPS Skills
Disagree, I think Martial Arts is more about techniques but has a lot of equipment, adventure seeds, and other things related to the skill.
The main thing I'd like to see is something on consolidating the skill list - for example, I fold Shadowing into Stealth (you just change which attribute you're basing the skill on depending on which use you're using, as an intuitive blending into crowds is more Shadowing while Stealth is more about footing control as you're going, but there's a huge amount of overlap). I also combine Area Knowledge and Geography, Jump and Acrobatics, Performance and Mimicry, Navigation with Cartography, Body Language and Detect Lies, Autohypnosis with Meditation and Mind Strength and Mind Block, Judo and Karate for games where fisticuffs aren't a focus, like an alien conspiracy investigation game. Many of those I think should be a single consolidated skill period instead of just in games where that (those) skill(s) aren't a primary focus. I also tend to fold Savoir Faire into whatever faction knowledge is appropriate, as somebody with Soldier would have to know expectations of lower ranks and etiquette when dealing with higher ranks. I know there are some wildcard skills, but having investigated Dungeon Fantasy I think that oversimplifies a huge number of skills into what amounts to a single "class skill" when something more like the skill groups of Alternity were called for. Mechanic!, Medicine! and Science! are fine, especially for cinematic games, and you could probably simplify many melee fighting skills to Martial Arts! and peripheral social influence skills in an action game to Acting! However, "everything ever done by a forest ranger!" seems a bit much for me. |
10-21-2016, 04:22 PM | #15 |
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Yukon, OK
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Re: Book Idea: GURPS Skills
A complete book of skills would IMHO be a waste.
Characters handles most skills pretty well. Some skills could use more fleshing out and this has been done with skills in books like Martial Arts, Technical Grappling, Social Engineering, Mysteries, Wild Card Skills, Underground Adventures, Wilderness Adventures and others. I think any fleshing out or expansion would best be done in that vein. I could see a Power Ups for Gadgeteering that included engineering and scientific skills as well as how various advantages and perks fit. A book on skills and advantages by theme has the advantage of being focused which makes it smaller, easier to read and reference and buyers are paying for what they want rather than a bunch of other stuff they may not. Combat skills are covered with the Martial Arts, Tactical Shooting and Gun Fu books. Social with Social Engineering and others in that series. Mysteries helps with investigation and criminal/legal skills. I can see a Sciences book and more examples of modifiers and task difficulties to some skills but they could be addressed by theme.
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My GURPS publications GURPS Powers: Totem and Nature Spirits; GURPS Template Toolkit 4: Spirits; Pyramid articles. Buying them lets us know you want more! My GURPS fan contribution and blog: REFPLace GURPS Landing Page My List of GURPS You Tube videos (plus a few other useful items) My GURPS Wiki entries |
10-21-2016, 07:07 PM | #16 | |
Untitled
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: between keyboard and chair
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Re: Book Idea: GURPS Skills
Quote:
I'm thinking it wouldn't be ~250 pages, either - that's far too small for everything you want to include.
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Rob Kelk “Every man has a right to his own opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.” – Bernard Baruch, Deming (New Mexico) Headlight, 6 January 1950 No longer reading these forums regularly. |
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10-21-2016, 07:33 PM | #17 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Book Idea: GURPS Skills
Seems to me there's already a book that talks about that, in considerable detail. In fact I wrote it. . . .
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
10-21-2016, 08:37 PM | #18 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Book Idea: GURPS Skills
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Also relevant to my interests: the Skill of the Week posts! I'm not sure I'd want to print out the whole threads, and I'm not sure "what templates has this appeared on" is the most useful information, but they're absolutely trying to do the thing I'm interested in, and I think they're heroic. Last edited by McAllister; 10-21-2016 at 08:50 PM. |
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10-21-2016, 09:01 PM | #19 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Book Idea: GURPS Skills
I don't know; I almost never look at Goodreads. But the book in question is GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School. Take a look at the free sample to see the ToC, the index, and a couple of sample pages.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
10-22-2016, 12:32 AM | #20 | |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: Book Idea: GURPS Skills
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The Path of Cunning. Indexes: DFRPG Characters, Advantage of the Week, Disadvantage of the Week, Skill of the Week, Techniques. |
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