Universal Advantages and Disadvantages

[Boyboy180]

I'm creating a new post for this question as I couldn't think of a way to search for it simply.
If there was a "Universal Advantage" that every character in the setting had access to, should it be counted in points?
The other side is then obvious, would it be a disadvantage (and thus count against the campaign disadvantage limit) to have a character without this advantage.

For context (Skip this paragraph if you are not interested) the idea came when I was working on an idea for a piece of equipment in the setting (Made as an advantage with gadget limitations) that was ubiquitous in setting, to the point where almost everyone had one. The cost for a fairly simple one was still quite high (88 points) so I began to think about a theshold of "Everyone gets up to 100 points in this tech for free and pays with their own points for anything above that" and then wondered if it would be a 100 point disadvantage if a player didn't want to use it.

Sorry for the long explanation. I was just wondering what opinions people would have about this.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Boyboy180

If there was a "Universal Advantage" that every character in the setting had access to, should it be counted in points?
The other side is then obvious, would it be a disadvantage (and thus count against the campaign disadvantage limit) to have a character without this advantage.

It is quite normal for a campaign to have "required advantages" or disadvantages for all the characters. Duty (Extremely Hazardous) for commandos, or Legal Enforcement Powers for police. For those cases, it often doesn't make sense for some characters to lack the required traits, and they can be mandatory.

For this case, I'd use a simplified version of the "Buckets of Points" method from Pyramid #3/65 Alternate GURPS III. You give the characters 100 points that can only be spent on this technology. If they don't spend those points, the capabilities of the characters are reduced, but they don't have a disadvantage as such, just a lower point value and unspent points, which they can't spend on other things.

[Stormcrow]

If absolutely every character in the setting has the trait, you don't have to write it on their character sheets. They have the advantage, you just don't bother to write it down or count it in their point totals. If such a character ever goes to another world where not every character has that trait, add the trait to the sheet and adjust the character's point total.

If you really want, you can add the trait to every character and count it in their point totals, but this is really just a lot of busy work.

[Boyboy180]

So basically set aside a bucket of points for whatever their version of the tech is and charge them advantage points if they want a particularly special piece?

[johndallman]

That's it. So if, for example, you give Paul X. Character 100 points for tech, and he takes the basic 88 points, and wants an extra piece that costs 40, he gets to use his unused 12 tech points, and pays 28 for the advantage.

[crazycaleb]

If this gadget is a universal bit of technology in the campaign world, I wouldn't see a need to add those points on the character sheets. The main reason I would stat a gadget like that out and have a player pay points for it would be to help balance out the fact that one PC has an interesting piece of technology, so they should make up for it by not having as many points to spend elsewhere. But if everyone is getting it, you aren't worried about that kind of balance. (Edit: You would of course still want to write up what the gadget does in game terms, so the players know, I just don't see the need for it to be counted as an advantage rather than just a piece of equipment.)

It strikes me a bit like trying to stat out a smart phone as an advantage in a modern campaign. The functions it provides might be worth quite a few points, but that's really something you would just have your PCs buy with money, at most, since it's commonplace technology.

If some players choose to forego that technology, they could take an appropriate disadvantage (maybe Social Stigma or Disciplines of Faith) depending on the reason why they don't have the gadget.

[Boyboy180]

I would actually have liked for it to be counted as equipment but I can't think of how to price it well.
To not go into too much detail part of the tech is modular abilities that allow physical advantages. I really couldn't think of a way to price a piece of equipment that you could use one day for increased strength and the next it could give improved sword skills.
A smart phone is a good comparison in a way (Downloading different apps) but how would you compare a phone's apps (Or the memory to store them) in a way that made sense both for points and for money in a way that wouldn't make them massively overpriced.

[AlexanderHowl]

Unless every Ally, Dependent, Enemy, and/or Patron also has the trait, it should probably be recorded and used to determine character value, as it could influence the value of those traits. This is why I count disadvantages past the campaign limit as reductions in character point value, so the proper value of those traits can be determined. Of course, one way to simplify things is to balance mandatory disadvantages with mandatory advantages, resulting in a 0 CP lens added to any occupational template.

[Boyboy180]

So as combination of different ideas I came to this, please give suggestions if you can think of anything.

All characters are built off 150 points (Or whatever else I decide for that campaign) and they get 100 "Tech points" that are meant to be used for the tech but can be traded (as per buckets of points) into other traits at a loss.

All allies, dependent and enemy are based off the 150 point base character value but they each get 100 Tech points of their own to use (Be it for Tech or for trading into other traits)

Opinions?

[crazycaleb]

So just to make sure I understand: this equipment is significantly customizable for each individual? If that's the case, i can understand how there's some value in having it be purchased with a pool of "extra" points, since it's more like this is a part of the character and less like a generic tool. But I would also consider the advice under "Gadget Limitations" in the basic set (116):

"[The GM] should charge points *only* for items that even the most advanced technology could not produce --- and even then, only if those items are not for sale at *any* price in the game world."

I'm not trying to say you're doing it wrong, especially since you're using an extra pool of points to let your players buy these, but I think it's worth bearing that advice in mind. If these gadgets can't be replaced at any price in the world (maybe there's some kind of ancient technology that people use to produce one of these for each person when they come of age, but it is impossible to make a duplicate or something), then it makes sense to use points. But if they *can* be purchased, then I would say it makes less sense.

Along those lines, if the players can replace the gadget, do they need to buy it with points again? If not, are they limited to getting one with the same features as before? If they can use cash to buy a new gadget, then you could have a situation where a player converts most of their tech points to CP at character creation, and then later buys a 100+ point gadget with cash that they earn. That isn't necessarily a problem, but it is something to keep in mind when you're thinking of how you want to do this. Are other players later going to feel like they should have just converted more of the tech points to buy skills, since they could upgrade or buy a replacement gadget in-game later?

Of course that partly depends on how much these gadgets cost in the game world. When it comes to that, I wouldn't worry so much about what the item does (in high TL worlds, you can have insanely powerful items that cost very little). That question is more a matter of balancing what makes sense with the economics of your game world and how much trouble you want the characters to have to go through to replace or repair the gadget.

So you've got to ask some questions like: If it is a universally available gadget, is that because it's actually cheap to make and buy, or does the government (or some other org) just provide a free one to everyone? When it comes to buying replacements, is this the sort of thing that would be a major purchase, like a car? Or is it expensive but something that a middle-class person could purchase without having to worry too much about it, like a cell phone? Maybe the item can't be sold in stores, but must be obtained through an official government office, with proof that the original was broken or stolen, because the government wants to tightly control the technology. There are a lot of possibilities.

Edit: One way to get around some of these questions would be to use the rules for Signature Gear, so that it's nearly impossible for the players to lose these items and thus there's no need to replace them (and, if they do lose the item, then they get their points back to spend on another one). That could work well if the technology is tightly controlled, so that PCs can only replace the item if it was actually lost or destroyed.