Make contact skill great again.

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Except that the standard rules don't provide this; they allow a maximum effective skill of 21.

I know- just following up on the extrapolation suggested earlier.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Alonsua

What if you dont want to treat your PCs as little and special snowflakes?

Then you shouldn't be a GM.

That statement may sound dismissive, or even flippant. But I'm expressing a serious belief about the philosophy of gaming, just as I suppose you are with your dismissive and flippant line about "special snowflakes."

I consider RPGs, and GMing in particular, to be a literary art. And a crucial principle of all the arts is to identify your audience, and give them what they want—whether it's "what they already knew they wanted" or "what they never knew they wanted until now." And whether you're a storyteller sitting on a tree stump, or a novelist, or a GM, one of the characteristic things audiences for narrative or drama want is to see a story with a focus on the people in that story who are central to the action: who make things happen and whose choices shape the outcome. In most narrative forms, this is achieved by talking primarily about the people who are at the center of the action; in RPGs, it's achieved by having the player characters be people who can take a central role. What you call being a "special snowflake" is simply having the normal expectations of the audiences for narrative and drama.

Now, in an RPG, the players aren't ONLY "audience"; they're also fellow participants in storytelling. And so they have obligations: To make the actions of their characters entertaining to other players, and to provide those other players with the opportunity to be equally central to the narrative. But even more so, the GM has those obligations: to make the PCs central to the narrative, and to make the actions of NPCs entertaining (or challenging or dramatic) to the players. If you're a good GM, you get your satisfaction from amusing or exciting or moving the players, and helping them amuse, excite, or move each other; not from playing the starring role in the fictional world you've created. My feeling is that if the PCs aren't the stars of your campaign then something is wrong.

[Donny Brook]

Originally Posted by whswhs

That's not actually what Alonsua seems to be talking about. It appears that he's referencing the use of Contact in GURPS Boardroom and Curia to represent the personnel of an organization and the skills they can provide.

Then I don't see what the connection is to the skill levels set out under the Advantage.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

Then I don't see what the connection is to the skill levels set out under the Advantage.

Boardroom and Curia uses the same effective skill levels as the Basic Set advantage. I have to say I've never found that mysterious, so I'm a bit at a loss as to what's puzzling you.

[Alonsua]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

As in, are they paying extra for the megacorp to get these equipment and helper bonuses on its skill roll?

Would the character sheet say:
Contact Group: Megacorp, Effective Skill 21, 4 points base?
Contact Group: Megacorp, Effective Skill 31, 8 points base?
Or
Contact Group: Megacorp, Effective Skill 21, + Access to Group Bonus (+6) and TL Bonus (+4), 4 points base + X points extra?

Contact Group: "Effective" Skill 21
Complementary Bonus (Roll once per complementary skill: Up to +6; every failed roll is worth -1)
Equipment Bonus (Startup Cost x5: +1; Startup Cost x20: +2; Startup Cost x100: +TL/2)

[Donny Brook]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Boardroom and Curia uses the same effective skill levels as the Basic Set advantage. I have to say I've never found that mysterious, so I'm a bit at a loss as to what's puzzling you.

The thread's first post said "according to basic".
I assumed this referred to the Contact advantage in Basic Set.

Also, the second post of the thread made the same reference and went uncorrected by the OP as to what was intended.\

Even in the post immediately above this one, the OP is discussing an entry on a character sheet, so I think you must be mistaken about your interpretation of the intention.

[Alonsua]

Originally Posted by whswhs

That statement may sound dismissive, or even flippant. But I'm expressing a serious belief about the philosophy of gaming, just as I suppose you are with your dismissive and flippant line about "special snowflakes."

I totally agree with you, what I was referring to with "special snowflakes" is that the same rules that control the NPCs control the PCs, so if the peak of the skill score is 21 for the PCs, it is similar for NPCs. In fact, I think that the imaginative and narrative aspects are enhanced much more with mediocre characters than with "superstars". I guess that it is easier for most of us to feel identified with the problems of a professional who has to work to support her family and suddenly finds herself involved in a much bigger plot than she could ever have imagined, than with a playboy millionaire like Tony Stark.

In fact and right now, among all my players, there is only one that could be said to "stand out" for the skill of his character, and it is not that it is a brutal thing, the character simply has a few combat skills with a score of 15, since he is a member of a Japanese mafia clan that deals with advanced technology. The other characters are really regular people, such as a renewable energy sales rep, a psychologist, a computer technician, an administrative-accountant, a promoter, a biologist, a geologist, a lawyer, etc.

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by Alonsua

Contact Group: "Effective" Skill 21
Complementary Bonus (Roll once per complementary skill: Up to +6; every failed roll is worth -1)
Equipment Bonus (Startup Cost x5: +1; Startup Cost x20: +2; Startup Cost x100: +TL/2)

Right, but you didn't say which of those you think cost character points, which was my question.

[Alonsua]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

Right, but you didn't say which of those you think cost character points, which was my question.

Character points? It depends, but basically if you acquire it as Patron or Rank you do not pay anything extra, otherwise you would need to buy up Wealth and spend largest chunks of it to buy equipment. In any case and taking into account that it is not the player who has founded and built her own company, damage can be controlled as soon as the design task is handed over to the game director, and if the player has founded her own company she will need to acquire representative advantages of it, such as Wealth, or disadvantages like Debt.

[Donny Brook]

Originally Posted by Alonsua

Character points? It depends, but basically if you acquire it as Patron or Rank you do not pay anything extra, otherwise you would need to buy up Wealth and spend largest chunks of it to buy equipment. In any case and taking into account that it is not the player who has founded and built her own company, damage can be controlled as soon as the design task is handed over to the game director, and if the player has founded her own company she will need to acquire representative advantages of it, such as Wealth, or disadvantages like Debt.

Only individuals should be Contacts or members of Contact groups, not organizations.