Perk Limit

[sir_pudding]

Should combat (and style) perks count against the suggested perk limit on page 3 of Power-Ups 2 or are they additional?

In other words if a 150 point character has 40 points in combat skills and techniques (of which 30 are in style skills and techniques of a single style) which of the following is correct?

1. He can have a total of six perks. One must be Style Familiarity (His Style). Two can be any combat perks, and three can be style perks.
2. He can have a total of twelve perks. He has Style Familiarity (His Style). He can have up to six non-style non-combat perks, three style perks, and two combat perks.
3. None of the above.

[Phantasm]

This is really a GM's call, but I think Martial Arts came out in favor of option B.

Personally, I don't use a limit on Perks. One person having 12 perks and another having only 2 doesn't really unbalance a thing.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

Personally, I don't use a limit on Perks. One person having 12 perks and another having only 2 doesn't really unbalance a thing.

It's generally not a problem for me, I generally have to twist arms to get players to take perks at all. I'd like to know what the intent of the rule was, though.

[Dinadon]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Should combat (and style) perks count against the suggested perk limit on page 3 of Power-Ups 2 or are they additional?

In other words if a 150 point character has 40 points in combat skills and techniques (of which 30 are in style skills and techniques of a single style) which of the following is correct?

1. He can have a total of six perks. One must be Style Familiarity (His Style). Two can be any combat perks, and three can be style perks.
2. He can have a total of twelve perks. He has Style Familiarity (His Style). He can have up to six non-style non-combat perks, three style perks, and two combat perks.
3. None of the above.

I wouldn't go with A. I would probably go with B, but possibly counting Style Familiarity against the limit. To be fair though, PU2 does say that the GM has final say, and the bit on combat perks says regardless of the campaigns limit on perks. So go with what you feel is right. I would say B is the most likely intent of what is said.

[Celjabba]

B for me

Celjabba

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Should combat (and style) perks count against the suggested perk limit on page 3 of Power-Ups 2 or are they additional?

In other words if a 150 point character has 40 points in combat skills and techniques (of which 30 are in style skills and techniques of a single style) which of the following is correct?

1. He can have a total of six perks. One must be Style Familiarity (His Style). Two can be any combat perks, and three can be style perks.
2. He can have a total of twelve perks. He has Style Familiarity (His Style). He can have up to six non-style non-combat perks, three style perks, and two combat perks.
3. None of the above.

As far as I understand it, B is the way it works. That's the way I've been doing it since Martial Arts and after Power-Ups.

Ghostdancer

[Gurps Fan]

I vote for B. Should A were the case . . . if a 100-point character first started out with four perks, became a disciple of a certain style, and learned 20 points' worth of that style's skills and techniques, then he could acquire neither Style Familiarity nor any of the style perks, just because his maximum possible number of perks would still be 4. This would be weird.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Gurps Fan

I vote for B. Should A were the case . . . if a 100-point character first started out with four perks, became a disciple of a certain style, and learned 20 points' worth of that style's skills and techniques, then he could acquire neither Style Familiarity nor any of the style perks, just because his maximum possible number of perks would still be 4. This would be weird.

Yeah, I was thinking along those lines too, but on the other hand PU2 page 3 specifically excludes racial perks (and says nothing about combat/style perks). Also how many characters are going to be limited by the general limit if it doesn't include "combat" perks? It seems like an almost meaningless restriction compared to the skill based one.

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

This is really a GM's call, but I think Martial Arts came out in favor of option B.

PU2 postdates MA.

[Trachmyr]

I limit combat perks as per MA, but I use no limit on other perks. In other words, I use the rule about the GM having the final say.

[Gurps Fan]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Yeah, I was thinking along those lines too, but on the other hand PU2 page 3 specifically excludes racial perks (and says nothing about combat/style perks). Also how many characters are going to be limited by the general limit if it doesn't include "combat" perks? It seems like an almost meaningless restriction compared to the skill based one.

Sorry, I was being lazy. I should have said, "I vote for C." The text in PU 2 is as follows:

Originally Posted by PU 2, p. 4 (emphasis mine)

Regardless of the campaign's limit on perks, it's recommended that the GM limit fighters to one combat perk per 20 points in combat, military, and/or police skills, and then allow one extra perk per 10 points spent on the skills and techniques of a combative character template, fighting style, or similar abilities package that offers combat perks.

Here's my take:

• "The character's point total divided by 25" (PU 2, p. 3) is the maximum allowed number of non-style, non-racial perks.
• Among the allowed perks, the number of non-style combat perks is limited to "one combat perk per 20 points in combat, military, and/or police skills" (PU 2, p. 4).
• Racial perks provided (PU 2, p. 3) by racial templates and style perks provided by "combative character template, fighting style, or similar abilities package" (PU 2, p. 4) are not restricted by the abovementioned maximum.
• The number of style perks is limited to "one extra perk per 10 points" spent on styles, etc (PU 2, p. 4).

Thus, your 150-point character who has 40 points in combat skills and techniques (of which 30 are in style skills and techniques of a single style) could have the following perks:

• Six (= 150/25) non-style perks, of which two (= 40/20) are allowed to be combat perks.
• Style Familiarity, which would be included in the 30-points style package.
• Three (= 30/10) extra perks, which must be included in the style perks provided by his style.
• Total: ten perks including Style Familiarity.