Cost of "Allies" advantage with negative-point allies?

[HuManBing]

Simple question. I'm statting out a lich that can summon large amounts of skeletons, zombies, and other mindless undead. The problem is, these are all negative-point creatures (assuming I just apply the template to a normal human corpse).

Do I just stat the allies as the cheapest category in every case (25% of lich's points or lower, e.g.)?

[Sam Baughn]

Originally Posted by HuManBing

Do I just stat the allies as the cheapest category in every case (25% of lich's points or lower, e.g.)?

Yes.

What you do when the PC has a negative points total is another question.

[SuedodeuS]

Of course, with such weak allies, you might be able to convince the GM to let you tack on some modifiers (like Minion) for free.

As for pricing Allies for negative-point characters, what you could do is renormalize points such that your character is actually 150 points (GURPS average), then build off that. So, let's take a -50 point character with a -170 point Ally. Renormalizing (adding 200) gets us to a 150 point character with a 30 point ally. This falls into the "25% or less" category, so charge accordingly.

[RogerBacon]

Originally Posted by HuManBing

Do I just stat the allies as the cheapest category in every case (25% of lich's points or lower, e.g.)?

The cheapest category is "5% or less" not 25%. I believe that was updated in Supers page 68. The costs for 5%/10%/15%/20% are 0.2/0.4/0.6/0.8.

Using those numbers you could possibly create a new category of "0 points or less" for a cost multipler of 0.1.

[sir_pudding]

DF9 also has rules for fractional base cost allies and slightly buffed undead templates for necromancers to have as Allies.

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

DF9 also has rules for fractional base cost allies and slightly buffed undead templates for necromancers to have as Allies.

Though I prefer the Improved Zombie from Pyramid #3/1, to the one on DF9, If someone wishes to play a necromancer in my DF game, I'm going to allow them to pick either kind, or even mix and match.

[PK]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

DF9 also has rules for fractional base cost allies and slightly buffed undead templates for necromancers to have as Allies.

For the record, they're the exact same rules as the ones in GURPS Supers. They were copied over pretty much verbatim.

(And also for the record, fractional-cost Allies are an optional rule in GURPS, so it's up to the GM whether to use them or not. I rarely see a reason not to, but I'm sure some player could come up with an abuse that I'd have to veto.)

[PK]

Originally Posted by Perfect Organism

Yes.

What you do when the PC has a negative points total is another question.

I have a suggestion for that here (at the bottom):

http://www.mygurps.com/a_allies.html

[HuManBing]

Thanks for the tips on DF9 and Pyramid 3/1 zombies. I've already gone and bought DF9 for this and may get Pyramid 3/1 as well.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Perfect Organism

Yes.

What you do when the PC has a negative points total is another question.

Why would you give players negative points to make their character? (Bear in mind that the value of allies is not determined by a character's actual point total, but their starting point total. Unspent points count.)