Do I actually need [POWERS]?

Luke Bunyip · 06-05-2009, 05:16 AM

I have been musing on working out mechanics for expending Fatigue for a short term advantage, say sprinting fast, or being able to dig through rock. This morn it occured to me that this could be one of the ways that Powers operate in GURPS. Is this so?

LoneWolf23k · 06-05-2009, 05:28 AM

Eeeeehh... No, you don't need it, in that it's not vital to the game. But it is very good, and very useful to have. It will show you ways to use existing advantages in ways you'd never have considered before, and has a lot of options for making power use more interesting.

giganerds · 06-05-2009, 05:29 AM

Not sure if I undestand what you want.

If you wanna a advantage to sprint faster, buy enhaced move. To dig throught rock you can buy tunnel.

What did you mean with POWERS? The book? All advantages above are in the Basic Set, Powers enhance the way you can set special abilities in your game with more traits, enhacements, limitations and game options.

Kelly Pedersen · 06-05-2009, 06:25 AM

In response to your original question, well, you don't need Powers for that - it's just a matter of tacking the Costs Fatigue limitation onto the advantages you want to, well, cost fatigue.

However, on your more general question, my opinion would be "Yes, yes you do". At least, if you're planning on building supernatural abilities for your campaign. Between Chapters 2 (Building Abilities) and 4 (Powers In Action), you'll have 95% of the tools you will need to model such abilities in your game. Frankly, I'd be happy to pay Powers' cover price for those two chapters alone. The fact that there are four other chapters, all extremely useful, is just gravy. Powers, as far as I'm concerned, is Basic Set Volume 3.

rcarter · 06-05-2009, 07:26 AM

i think that you'd be better off mugging a very old or very young person for a copy of the book instead of buying it yourself. IMHO

Turhan's Bey Company · 06-05-2009, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luke Bunyip

I have been musing on working out mechanics for expending Fatigue for a short term advantage, say sprinting fast, or being able to dig through rock. This morn it occured to me that this could be one of the ways that Powers operate in GURPS. Is this so?

1) No. I'm reasonably sure all you need to do those sorts of things is in Basic. You'll need to assemble the parts (frex, extra Speed with Costs Fatigue or extra ST with Costs Fatigue and some heavy limitation indicating that it's for digging only) and possibly decide for yourself how much what the relevant limitations/enhancements are worth, but you don't really need Powers for that.

2) Dear gods, no. You most definitely do not need Powers. Powers is a good book if you really want to massively fine-tune a huge range of advantages and disads for your campaigns, but it is not I repeat not necessary, any more than the equally detailed Vehicles was necessary for 3rd edition games.

whswhs · 06-05-2009, 07:55 AM

I'd think you could do a lot of this just with the Extra Effort rules in the Campaigns books. Have you examined them closely to see if they address what you want?

Bill Stoddard

Jürgen Hubert · 06-05-2009, 08:16 AM

GURPS Powers is entirely optional, and not at all needed.

That being said, it's so utterly awesome that upon reading it you will realize that it fills a hole in your gaming which you never realized that it was there before.

It's that good.

Nymdok · 06-05-2009, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

...That being said, it's so utterly awesome that upon reading it you will realize that it fills a hole in your gaming which you never realized that it was there before...

Ditto. Powers does for Advantages what Martial Arts Does for combat.

Nymdok

sjmdw45 · 06-05-2009, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luke Bunyip

I have been musing on working out mechanics for expending Fatigue for a short term advantage, say sprinting fast, or being able to dig through rock. This morn it occured to me that this could be one of the ways that Powers operate in GURPS. Is this so?

Get Powers if you're interested in Advantages. If you're interested in skill-based mechanics you'll probably be more interested in products like Martial Arts, Magic, or Thaumatology. Sprinting fast sounds like garden-variety Extra Effort from the Basic Set--I'm not sure about digging through rock. You mean with your bare hands? Do you want it to be an esoteric skill like Power Blow that anybody could learn, or do you want it to be something that only some people can do? If the latter you probably do want Powers.

-Max

06-05-2009, 05:16 AM	#1
Luke Bunyip Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: The Kingdom of Insignificance	Do I actually need [POWERS]? I have been musing on working out mechanics for expending Fatigue for a short term advantage, say sprinting fast, or being able to dig through rock. This morn it occured to me that this could be one of the ways that Powers operate in GURPS. Is this so? __________________ It's all very well to be told to act my age, but I've never been this old before...

06-05-2009, 05:28 AM	#2
LoneWolf23k Join Date: Sep 2004	Re: Do I actually need [POWERS]? Eeeeehh... No, you don't need it, in that it's not vital to the game. But it is very good, and very useful to have. It will show you ways to use existing advantages in ways you'd never have considered before, and has a lot of options for making power use more interesting.

06-05-2009, 05:29 AM	#3
giganerds Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Brazil	Re: Do I actually need [POWERS]? Not sure if I undestand what you want. If you wanna a advantage to sprint faster, buy enhaced move. To dig throught rock you can buy tunnel. What did you mean with POWERS? The book? All advantages above are in the Basic Set, Powers enhance the way you can set special abilities in your game with more traits, enhacements, limitations and game options. __________________ GigaNERDs

06-05-2009, 06:25 AM	#4
Kelly Pedersen Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada	Re: Do I actually need [POWERS]? In response to your original question, well, you don't need Powers for that - it's just a matter of tacking the Costs Fatigue limitation onto the advantages you want to, well, cost fatigue. However, on your more general question, my opinion would be "Yes, yes you do". At least, if you're planning on building supernatural abilities for your campaign. Between Chapters 2 (Building Abilities) and 4 (Powers In Action), you'll have 95% of the tools you will need to model such abilities in your game. Frankly, I'd be happy to pay Powers' cover price for those two chapters alone. The fact that there are four other chapters, all extremely useful, is just gravy. Powers, as far as I'm concerned, is Basic Set Volume 3.

06-05-2009, 07:26 AM	#5
rcarter Join Date: May 2009 Location: WA	Re: Do I actually need [POWERS]? i think that you'd be better off mugging a very old or very young person for a copy of the book instead of buying it yourself. IMHO __________________ Nothing to see here

06-05-2009, 07:55 AM	#7
whswhs Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Lawrence, KS	Re: Do I actually need [POWERS]? I'd think you could do a lot of this just with the Extra Effort rules in the Campaigns books. Have you examined them closely to see if they address what you want? Bill Stoddard

06-05-2009, 08:16 AM	#8
Jürgen Hubert Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Oldenburg, Germany	Re: Do I actually need [POWERS]? GURPS Powers is entirely optional, and not at all needed. That being said, it's so utterly awesome that upon reading it you will realize that it fills a hole in your gaming which you never realized that it was there before. It's that good. __________________ GURPS Repository • Sunken Castles, Evil Poodles - translating German folk tales into English!