DF Artillery Mages Noodling

[Bruno]

A technology dependant skill does not equate to "having the innate ability to do the same thing should cost the same points". GURPS isn't built about that principle, otherwise Flight would be a skill (Piloting: Superheroes?) instead of a 40 point advantage.

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by Bruno

A technology dependant skill does not equate to "having the innate ability to do the same thing should cost the same points".

I don't think any of us are arguing for that. An archer or rifleman might pay just 1 cp to be able to effectively kill targets many yards away. A mage will pay a minimum of 15 cp, and likely much more, to be able to cast missile spells. That's fine. All we want is a way to make a TL8 mage not substantially worse compared to a rifleman than a TL3 mage is compared to an archer.

[Sunrunners_Fire]

Originally Posted by Bruno

A technology dependant skill does not equate to "having the innate ability to do the same thing should cost the same points". GURPS isn't built about that principle, otherwise Flight would be a skill (Piloting: Superheroes?) instead of a 40 point advantage.

And I'm not asking it to.

What I'm suggesting is that if the setting's baseline for ranged damage attacks is 4d+2 pi (as per the TL 8 Assault Carbine as described in GURPS Basic; Note 1), then a mage's missile spell should do the equivalent of 4d+2 pi for one fatigue. If the setting's baseline for ranged damage attacks is 1d~, and for most low-tech muscle-powered attacks 1d~ is the baseline damage ("everyman damage"), then it should cost the mage 1 fatigue for every 1d~ it does.

This would allow a missile mage to be competitive as regards damage output with someone who picks up a ranged weapon. The difference between "costs fatigue" and "costs ammo" is something I consider to be a wash most of the time.

Leastwise this seems reasonable to me. Heh.



Note 1, The TL 8 Assault Carbine costs G$900. It costs G$60 to completely refill its' ammunition capacity. For G$900, I can do 4d+2 pi thirty times and I can do 4d+2 pi another thirty times for every G$60 I spend.

[Sunrunners_Fire]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Flight would be a skill (Piloting: Superheroes?) instead of a 40 point advantage.

Tangent:
Flight costs [40].
[40] - 80% is [8].
[8] is the cost of Attribute+0 for a Very Hard skill.

Turning the Flight advantage into a cinematic VH skill can be considered reasonable assuming an enabling trait has already been taken.

[jabarto]

Originally Posted by Anthony

It means that you can't be really good in two separate categories at once for a trivial cost. If you limit mages to one school or a really small number of spells, sure, make the damaging spells better.

That isn't really saying much since the two categories in question are:

1. Damage
2. Literally everything else

If you're talking about a character that can cast "plot-destroying information spells, mind control, buffs, and utility effects" then you're already WAY past the point of caring about specialized skill sets.