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Old 06-19-2019, 09:13 AM   #1
Mavelic
 
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Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: Amboise, France
Default Rules of : 14, 16 and 20

Hi,
I noticed an intriguing detail about the "rules of"!
For "rule of 20", an attribute of 20 is included in the rule (roll 20 or less), ditto for "rule of 16" where we roll 16 or less, BUT for "Rule of 14", this 14 is a failure!
Strange!
Why is this "rule of 14" not called "rule of 13" instead? This would avoid some confusion (which I did) and unify the rule of principle.
Thank you in advance for your comments.
Regards
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Old 06-19-2019, 09:22 AM   #2
JazzJedi
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Default Re: Rules of : 14, 16 and 20

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mavelic View Post
Hi,
I noticed an intriguing detail about the "rules of"!
For "rule of 20", an attribute of 20 is included in the rule (roll 20 or less), ditto for "rule of 16" where we roll 16 or less, BUT for "Rule of 14", this 14 is a failure!
Strange!
Why is this "rule of 14" not called "rule of 13" instead? This would avoid some confusion (which I did) and unify the rule of principle.
Thank you in advance for your comments.
Regards
There are a lot of these kinds of problems that are leftover from earlier editions of GURPS, when the rules far less unified than 4th edition. While I can't speak for the designers, I think it was just an oversight, but once the Basic Set was published, they were stuck with it. I've already made that change in my games, as I'm sure many players have.
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Old 06-19-2019, 02:56 PM   #3
Curmudgeon
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Default Re: Rules of : 14, 16 and 20

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mavelic View Post
Hi,
I noticed an intriguing detail about the "rules of"!
For "rule of 20", an attribute of 20 is included in the rule (roll 20 or less), ditto for "rule of 16" where we roll 16 or less, BUT for "Rule of 14", this 14 is a failure!
Strange!
Why is this "rule of 14" not called "rule of 13" instead? This would avoid some confusion (which I did) and unify the rule of principle.
Thank you in advance for your comments.
Regards
The Rules are named for the number limit, not for whether that number limit is a failure or not.

The Rule of 20 limits the Attribute for the purpose of figuring Default Skill levels. As such, the Rule of 20 doesn't involve a success/failure situation, i.e. you can't fail to have a Default Skill level by applying the Rule of 20.

The Rule of 16 limits your effective skill to the higher of 16 or your subject's resistance. While this does allow your resistance to be 16, that 16 is not a success. Your subject can roll a resistance of 16, or higher if his resistance is higher, tying your roll and that tie is a failure for you! [see Resisted Spells pp B241-B242, for example.]

The Rule of 14 does follow Rule of 20 and Rule of 16 in that the 14 is included in the numbers that are effective under the rule, but the Rule of 14 is explicitly about when you fail a Fright Check, not when you succeed.
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