05-01-2016, 06:58 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Dec 2006
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GURPS PC 'roles'- a thought on pen and paper role playing in general
I have been giving this some thought, trying to distill down the 'essence' of pen and paper role playing. I know this has been attempted in books like Action, role 1 and 2 below are basically what the threat value from pyramid are built to quantify, but I'd like to stay away from that level of quantification.
Thus, I present the RPG character 'role' list (I have listed sub roles, but only the top level role is really important, the sub roles are just different ways to express that):
These roles have a tendency to pull your points in different directions. Notably there are MANY ways to achieve compotency in a given role. A psi with reliable easy to use mind control achieves the murder role, and the social and problem solving roles (sometimes everything IS a nail when you have a hammer). Notably being a standard or RPM mage makes you competent in all 5 categories, depending on how you spend your spells. Now if you HAVE 5 players this is pretty easy; someone fills each role as a primary, another roll as a secondary, and can ignore the rest, perhaps one 'can do everything but with fatigue/location limitations' like a mage. However as the number of players decreases the requirement for each PC to reliably fill multiple roles increases. My standard game is a grand total of 2 PCs and 1 GM (rotating GM with the PCs choosing a 'guest NPC' from the GM's list who they will generally direct in action). Thus it seems almost required that PCs be capable at ~4/5 above. So thoughts: What other sub roles do I need? Have I missed any of the 'core' roles? Why am I posting this: I have been speaking a lot with co GM/player Kal about role playing in general and the rock-paper-scissors approach to PC opposition/challenges, and I am hoping to build, for myself and him, a better understanding of the ultimate 'distilled' abilities that makes up a PC. Last edited by starslayer; 05-01-2016 at 07:55 PM. Reason: suggestions from thread. |
Tags |
general advice, niche, role playing |
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