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Old 06-24-2008, 10:15 PM   #1
Agemegos
 
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Default Scales for GURPS attributes, talents, skills, etc.

I came up with a little guide to how GURPS stats correspond to real-world people as an aid to players in my game. One of the players thought that other people might find it interesting and useful, but I don't have teh cheek to suggest it as a Pyramid article, so here it is.
  • Attributes
    The GURPS standard is that an attribute of 10 is "average". Not average including children, the old, the sick, but average for a normal healthy adult. In this campaign I am going to take the position that attribute values of 10 are the mode, the most common and typical value, but that as a result of high tech medicine and nutrition and education values below 10 are less common than values above 10. Progress has raised the average a little, but 10 is still normal and expected. The scale on B.14 still applies.
    • 10 is typical
    • 1112 is better than typical without being being so remarkable as to dominate the impression you make.
    • 13 is the level where the people who know you think of you as being qualified by the attribute. Say, something like the top 3%. A 13 makes you outstanding among amateurs, and a relevant 13 makes you eligible for elites.
    • 14 is the level where people start telling anecdotes about you on the basis of the qualilty the attribute measures "I knew this guy once who…."
    • 15 the level where people start reading stories about you. It is also the attribute value of people who have been much harassed by talent scouts and sports agents, or have been pressured to join advanced academic programs.
    • 16 is Richard Feynman and Chuck Yaeger territory, the level where acknowledged geniuses tell stories about your genius.
    The scale for ST may be slightly wider, as the measurable abilities of strong men imply that STs between 16 and 20 are not as rare as that. Call 10–11 typical, 14–15 like an IQ of 13, 16–17 "I knew a guy who once lifted one end of a car", 18–19 the strongmen of recorded prodigy.

  • Quasi-Attributes
    • Physical Appearance
      • Ugly is as remarkable as an attribute of 6 or 7
      • Unattractive is as remarkable as an attribute of 8 or 9
      • Average is as unremarkable remarkable as an attribute of 10
      • Attractive is as remarkable as an attribute of 11 or 12
      • Handsome/Beautiful is as remarkable as an attribute of 13 or 14
      • Very Handsome/Beautiful is as remarkable as a 15 or 16
      • Transcendant is beyond the human range.
    • Status
      Think of Status X as being as outstanding as an attribute of 10 + X. Status 4 is the point at which people start dropping your name. Status 5 means your publicist can get you in the tabloids. Status 6 means your lawyer can't keep you out of the tabloids.
    • Charisma
      Think of Charisma X as being as remarkable as an attribute of 11 + X

  • Skills
    • Skill level 10 is what gets called "amateurish", meaning "not really good enough" (this is, of course, a calumny against amateurs).
    • Skill level 12 is what passes for competence in run-of-the-mill occupations. This is the level that you expect of a nameless NPC plumber chosen at random from the Yellow pages.
    • Skill level 14 is expertise in the mass occupations and basic competence in intensely-trained elite occupations. This is the level of competence you expect of doctors dealing with routine cases, from commercial pilots, etc.
    • Skill level 16 is true expertise. It is the level that you expect in a main skill of a specialist, eg. a designated marksman, the specialist consultant to whom you are referred as a non-routine case.
    • Skill level 18 is advanced expertise. An intensely-trained specialist in an elite outfit might be expected to have an 18 in his or her single main skill.
    • Skill level 20 is outstanding expertise. This is the skill level of the leading expert whom all the elite outfits wish they could get to work for them.
    • Skill level 22 is the sort of thing you see in figures like Pelé, Garry Kasparov, Don Bradman, and Albert Einstein, whose performance and achievement dominates an elite discipline for a generation. Fifty years after these people retire, PhD candidates in statistics write dissertations estimating how outstanding they were.

  • Talents
    Consider a talent giving +X to be as remarkable as an attribute of 11 + X
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Last edited by Agemegos; 06-25-2008 at 07:02 PM.
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Old 06-24-2008, 10:26 PM   #2
mjj1976
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Default Re: Scales for GURPS attributes, talents, skills, etc.

I think I'm going to find your tables to be very useful, assuming there won't be any good arguments to undermine the validity of the numbers you've chosen.
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Old 06-24-2008, 10:28 PM   #3
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Default Re: Scales for GURPS attributes, talents, skills, etc.

I think this is an excellent guideline. I recommend it get stickied. ;)
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Old 06-24-2008, 10:47 PM   #4
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Default Re: Scales for GURPS attributes, talents, skills, etc.

great post! :D
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Old 06-25-2008, 05:19 AM   #5
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Default Re: Scales for GURPS attributes, talents, skills, etc.

You've done it again, Agemegos: solid stuff.
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Old 06-25-2008, 05:51 AM   #6
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Default Re: Scales for GURPS attributes, talents, skills, etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tbrock1031
I think this is an excellent guideline. I recommend it get stickied. ;)
We have too many stickies already. I'm thinking about un-stickying the uFAQ next month or so. Which, BTW, contains some notes of Kromm explaining trait comparisons.
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Old 06-25-2008, 05:57 AM   #7
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Default Re: Scales for GURPS attributes, talents, skills, etc.

It needs comments on attributes and skill levels below 10.
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Old 06-25-2008, 06:06 AM   #8
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Default Re: Scales for GURPS attributes, talents, skills, etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Agemegos
  • Talents
    Consider a talent giving +X to be as remarkable as an attribute of 12 + X
Why are Talents and Charisma both starting at 13 for remarkability purposes?
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Old 06-25-2008, 08:09 AM   #9
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Default Re: Scales for GURPS attributes, talents, skills, etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Molokh
Why are Talents and Charisma both starting at 13 for remarkability purposes?
The implication seems to be that having any level of Charisma or Talent is seen as a distinguishing feature by others.
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Old 06-25-2008, 08:12 AM   #10
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Default Re: Scales for GURPS attributes, talents, skills, etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery
The implication seems to be that having any level of Charisma or Talent is seen as a distinguishing feature by others.
Then I will take Charisma over Appearance any day. Appearance is already overpriced for what it does.

. . . Or at least I'll combine the two.
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