10-24-2011, 09:39 AM | #21 |
Join Date: May 2008
Location: CA
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Re: how useful is Luck?
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10-24-2011, 09:41 AM | #22 | |
Doctor of GURPS Ballistics
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lakeville, MN
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Re: how useful is Luck?
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Think about any war hero who survives to win a Silver Star, Distinguished Service Cross/Distinguished Flying Cross/Navy Cross or Medal of Honor. Each tale reads like a series of "he did WHAT?" and "no way he could have survived." Think about D-Day, and some of the scenes (dramatic, to be sure) in Saving Private Ryan. Why one person never gets off the beach, while another lives to capture the Eagle's Nest? In many genres and games, the difference between "deader than hell" and "hero of the story" is one failed defense roll, and in GURPS, you usually can't "soak" damage. So, Luck exists to both mimic something that's seen in reality (heroic reality, but there you go) as well as to mimic the dramatic conventions/necessities of a game based in "yeah, if you get shot, you die" level of believability. Don't think of it as "this lets the PCs cheat!" so much as "this lets the PCs be as heroic as they wish to be." In a Horror campaign . . . no way. In anything adventure-related, I can see where Bruno would give it out to all PCs. Doug
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10-24-2011, 09:43 AM | #23 | |
Join Date: Oct 2009
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Re: how useful is Luck?
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In a gritty campaign, which your post-apocalyptic campaign could very well be, PCs often struggle to survive. That might even be the whole point of the campaign. Then it can be a very inappropriate advantage, destroying the feel of the setting. Regards Ts |
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10-24-2011, 09:44 AM | #24 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Re: how useful is Luck?
Bingo. You win a set of steak knives.
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“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...” Marcus Aurelius |
10-24-2011, 09:50 AM | #25 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Canada
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Re: how useful is Luck?
Ah, gotcha.
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An especial factor in the decision is our groups familiarity with other game systems where you get some sort of "luck point" type mechanic - my players have all expressed a fondness for the mechanic, and I kind of like it myself, so at this point I don't see why it shouldn't be a blanket rule.
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10-24-2011, 09:57 AM | #26 |
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Seattle
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Re: how useful is Luck?
Funny this should come up... In the ROS game I'm playing in, I picked luck as one of my signature abilities. Sure, I could have chosen Combat Reflexes, but the sheer utility has already saved my character's life. It has also allowed a critical hiking roll to succeed (we were hiking overland to warn another small settlement about new 'bot interest in our general area). I've also "thrown it away" sometimes on rolls that I really wanted to have succeed -- in this case, it's a huge gamble, but a good one, since 1 of 3 of these have succeeded and been very important.
In campaigns I have run in the past, I've only seen a handful of characters with it. I don't think it's "unrealistic" in the sense that there really *ARE* people who just seem lucky (hence the expression it's better to be lucky than to be good). But in a really gritty game, it could take away from the suspense.
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10-24-2011, 10:13 AM | #27 | |
Join Date: Oct 2011
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Re: how useful is Luck?
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I also like for example the willpower mechanic from World of Darkness. But willpower isn't a once/hour thing, but you have to be careful of when to use it as you generally don't have much and only get one back when you sleep. The thing that comes closest to willpower in GURPS is probably Buying Successes or Extra Effort. |
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10-24-2011, 10:29 AM | #28 | |
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Luxembourg
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Re: how useful is Luck?
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It can also be seen as being very competent, either as a cinematic hero, or just as a very skilled/gifted character(especially with aspected luck). If you don't have luck, you will by game mechanics crit fail from time to time. While this does add to the 'gaming suspense' factor, it is not always logical. With 'luck', those crit fail will occur less often, except in very stressful time (ie when you are chaining lots of rolls). celjabba |
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10-24-2011, 11:00 AM | #29 | |
Join Date: Oct 2011
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Re: how useful is Luck?
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I think that critically failing in non-combat situations, when you are not about to get seriously hurt or die, are maybe the most fun parts of the game. Heck even in combat we always loved to roll on the critical miss table and say "You trow your weapon away!", roll for direction "Of course right in the lake". :) |
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10-24-2011, 11:19 AM | #30 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: how useful is Luck?
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This isn't about preventing amusing mishaps, It's about not replacing characters.
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Fred Brackin |
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Tags |
gurps 4e, gurps 4th edition, luck, maths |
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