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Old 01-01-2018, 04:45 PM   #61
Flyndaran
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Default Re: X-Files level characters

It can't be average male. That would include some 70 thousand years, countless sizes, populations, healths, upbringings, etc.
It's Gurps default that neither costs nor give points.
Some populations may average 10, but that is coincidence, not design.

Modern American males probably average closer to 9 if we remove the large numbers of people with handicaps and restrict masses to within the ballpark of 150 lbs.
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Old 01-01-2018, 06:23 PM   #62
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Default Re: X-Files level characters

Doing a bunch of pushups is not a good ST test. I'd say it correlates to ST but also HT and Fit. Really it would be a PITA to model in any detail in GURPS, if it came up I'd probably have a player roll against ST or HT.

If the FBI physical entry standards include running and various other HT/Fit related tests and the pushup is the main "ST" requirement, then I agree HT 11 is required and ST 10 is sufficient.
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Old 01-01-2018, 06:34 PM   #63
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Default Re: X-Files level characters

ST is an interesting attribute because we can measure it. If you can lift 80 lbs with one arm in repetition without straining, you are probably ST 14. The record for one arm lift with repetition is around 315 lbs, which could mean a ST 28, which is technically possible within GURPS since human ST can exceed 20, but it probably represents a ST 20 person with Lifting-25 and Special Training for Arm ST and Lifting ST. It is not quite so easy with the other Attributes.

Push-Ups represents relative ST. A 90 pound woman like my fiance only needs a ST 8 to do a two-handed push-up, but she would need a ST 16 to do a one-handed push-up. If you have the required relative ST, it is a matter of HT, as it would be equivalent to jogging in intensity (if two-handed) or running (if one-handed). My fiance, for example, can do push-ups for twenty minutes before she stops to take a break (around 300 or so).

Last edited by AlexanderHowl; 01-01-2018 at 06:38 PM.
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Old 01-01-2018, 07:31 PM   #64
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Default Re: X-Files level characters

iq 11 is pretty weak, i'd go with at least 12. though i was thinking my dad and i probably have the same iq in GURPS terms, but there is a pretty big difference between how well we function in daily life, so i guess iq can't predict everything about a person ... but anyway iq 11 is still dumb for someone who's supposed to be the cream of the crop.
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Old 01-01-2018, 10:37 PM   #65
Flyndaran
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Default Re: X-Files level characters

Only if you ignore talents and just how many people have minor to major disadvantages related to cognitive testing.
Gurps already assumes "adventurer" not normal person.

IQ 11 plus a talent or two and drive, but with no mental disadvantage would rise quickly to the top.
But these are TV characters, so everything should get turned to 11, or in this case, above. ;)
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Old 01-02-2018, 01:29 AM   #66
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Default Re: X-Files level characters

Scully's actress is a 5'3" woman and I don't remember her being shown doing anything particularly muscular. ST 12 seems too high. I'd say more like ST 8 or 9.

Mulder's actor is 6'0", and when they have his shirt off seems somewhat muscular. Muscles isn't Mulder's forte, either. I'd say ST 11.

I think the 90-point FBI template Kesendeja posted looks pretty good. My only quibbles would be:

* Having the FBI as a Patron seems like it would tend to be offering pretty major support (not Minimal Intervention), and in an FBI game I'd expect it to be doing so quite often... though the listed levels may be about right for X-Files as Mulder. (Though I think assigning an official Patrol and calculating points seems mainly a distracting thing to do, even just in the exercise of weighing a fictional character in this thread - "Does your estimate take into account his Patrons, Enemies, Allies, Contacts, etc...???" "Well, if it DOES, then that point total isn't much of a measure of his abilities, is it?")

* I think the skill levels are ok for levels an FBI agent might typically have in many of them, but I think they're a bit much to say all FBI agents have all of them at those levels.

* I also think the GURPS 4e "there are no 1/2-point skills" inflates the total, as I would expect many agents to have several of those skills at "I studied it enough to pass but it's not really what I do" level.

But, I have not done the research Kesendeja et al did, nor have I interviewed actual agents, so... I may be wrong.

I have watched The X-Files, though, and as a first stab, I'd probably start Mulder out in season 1 episode 1 with the listed template with maybe a few points moved around (more Writing and a gift in Psychology for his profiler specialty, less SMG, Shield, Savoire Fair (FBI), Administration). I'd assign him ST 11, DX 12, IQ 12, HT 11-12 (and with experience he'd develop his IQ to 13 after a season or two), and improved perception and some advantages.

Scully I'd start with ST 8-9, DX 10-11, IQ 13-14, HT 11-12 (some/all of those increasing from the first season to the later ones). She was picked for her severe "rational materialist skeptic" bias, so that's some sort of disadvantage or three. And of course she has a medical doctor template too, and some extra science/research skills. Probably added perception too. As shown in the show, I think the FBI let her slide on some of their usual agent requirements (Combat Driving, SMG, Tactics) because she's a doctor, and/or her IQ lets her not invest so many points in things like Administration, Criminology, Detect Lies, Diplomacy, Interrogation, Law, and Shadowing.
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Old 01-02-2018, 02:09 AM   #67
Phantasm
 
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Default Re: X-Files level characters

Quote:
Originally Posted by Skarg View Post
* Having the FBI as a Patron seems like it would tend to be offering pretty major support (not Minimal Intervention), and in an FBI game I'd expect it to be doing so quite often... though the listed levels may be about right for X-Files as Mulder. (Though I think assigning an official Patrol and calculating points seems mainly a distracting thing to do, even just in the exercise of weighing a fictional character in this thread - "Does your estimate take into account his Patrons, Enemies, Allies, Contacts, etc...???" "Well, if it DOES, then that point total isn't much of a measure of his abilities, is it?")
This is one of those times when I'd pull out GURPS Social Engineering: Pulling Rank, treating the FBI as a base 20-point Patron and giving them an FBI Rank to indicate what Assistance Roll they need in order to get aid from the agency. FBI Rank 4 at the base 5/level gives an AR of 9 or less, so Mulder and Scully would get assistance when in the field roughly 45% of the time when they need it; a higher Rank would give better Assistance Rolls. (I can actually see Mulder's FBI Rank being somewhat lower than Scully's, because of him being ostracized inside the agency, but he's also got that network of outside backup he can call on represented by Allies, Contacts, and Favors on his character sheet.)
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