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Old 11-07-2011, 02:25 AM   #1
ZeonTheUnborn
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Default Critique/Help with my char

I was wondering if anyone would look over this character with me and give me some advice on how to make him better cause I still run into some problems here and there with the amount of points I have and plus I would like some people to give me ideas.

The game isn't very combat heavy, but the fights we get into are usually serious, as the enemies have the same point values as us and do pretty major damage.

Setting: TL 3 type game, with some TL 4 weaponry and magic.

Our GM granted us 150 points, -50 disads, 5 quirks, and 10 points for writing a background story.

Rhonin
ST: 11 HP:13
DX: 13 Will: 10
IQ: 10 Per: 10
HT: 10 FP: 12
Basic Speed: 7

So that right there is 105 points in base stats right there. (I want to at least have 13 and a basic speed of 7 or 7.5, and the 11 lets me dual-wield Katanas or some of the other broadswords)

advantages - 55 points
combat reflexes -15
Enhanced Parry 2 - 10
Striking ST 2 - 10
Weapon Master(Katana) - 20

disadvantages - 55 points
Vow (only use his mother's katana's) - 10
Sense of Duty(companions) - 5
Overconfidence - 5
Pacifism - 10
Enemy(His Rival "Donovan") -15
Light Sleeper - 5

quirks
Likes eating home cooked meals - 1
humble - 1
dislikes disorganization - 1
stubborn - 1
Likes beating his rival in combat - 1

Okay, so my disads effectively cancel out the point value of my ads. Leaving me with 55 points.

Skills
Broadsword [16] DX+3 - 12
Riding (Equines) [14] DX+1 - 4
Fast Draw(Katana) [14] DX+1 - 2
Karate [15] DX+2 -12
Stealth[13] DX+0 -2
First Aid[13] IQ+3 -8
Parry Missile Weapon [13] DX+0 - 4
Merchant [10] IQ+0 -2


Techniques
Dual Weapon Attack [14] 3
Off - hand weapon training [14] 5
Retain weapon [16] 0
Disarming(Broadsword) [16] 0
Feint(Broadsword)[16] 0
Feint(Karate)[16] 0
Counterattack [11] 0

And thats all of it. I gave him an emphasis on attack with both weapons and trying to counterattack if possible and for him to parry with his swords if he can. Any helpful advice would be appreciated.
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Old 11-07-2011, 02:45 AM   #2
Mercutio Montecchi
 
Join Date: May 2005
Default Re: Critique/Help with my char

The Vow seems pretty big.
Suppose either of your katanas gets stolen/broken, your character will be severely crippled. Suppose both get stolen/broken, you must either pay the 10 points and buy off the disadvantage, or live the rest of your life as an accountant or grocery store clerk.

Next, don't get Off-Hand Weapon Training. It costs just as much as Ambidexterity.

Also, I don't think you really need that much speed.
Play tactical, Wait, make use of your superior Parry.

13 HPs with 10 HT still means it's easy for you to get knocked unconscious, or die. I don't think investing in 2 extra FPs without getting the full Con is that useful. I would rather spend a tad more and buy full Con points.
Same goes for ST: I wouldn't buy Striking ST + HPs, I'd get the whole stat. 10 additional lbs of basic lift can be exceptionally useful... otherwise you won't be ever carrying anything (including armor) without being at least lightly encumbered, which kind of defeats the purpose of buying speed.

I'd basically get ST 13, Con 11, the Fit advantage (for a total of 105 points) and ditch the speed and the Striking ST. You end up saving 10 points.

You roll vs Death and KO at 12 instead of 10, you recover FP faster, you can carry a lot more and your speed is still 6.

Plus, you can spend the 10 points in some other skills, 'cause now you really have too few of them. Your character has basically has many skills as an arcade video game character.

I'd get Acrobatics for sure (+2 to Dodge... even if your speed is 6 instead of 7, you end up with a better Dodge score than before), then probably some backup combat skill: Knife (and Holdout), Throw Knife or whatever.

I'd also get some campaign-specific skills, depending on what you are going to do... like Survival, Area Knowledge, Languages, or whatever.
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Old 11-07-2011, 04:46 AM   #3
Witchking
 
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Default Re: Critique/Help with my char

If you have weapon master then DWA starts at -2 to skill instead of -4 (for that weapon).

If the game is not combat heavy what do you picture your character doing between the fighting?

Since I often play in a lighter combat enviorment (1 run in 3 or so breaks out the combat map)...I usually save 10-20 points for "not combat" skills when doing character design...whether it is social, scholarly, thief/rogue, craft skills etc...it means you can put an oar in when there is no fighting.

Also since there is magic involved...will your side have mages?
If they do...what is the GM's proceedure for learning spells?

In the runs I have been in spells are learned like other skills more or less...
That means the mage often would LOVE to learn more spells...now he just has to get the rest of the party to take 2-3 months of "non adventure" time so he can go learn them.

If the GM/party agree on such a 2-3 month break...what would you see your character doing...learning skills, making money, partying away his adventuring lootz?

Just a couple of possible things to keep in mind.

FYI (I often build 150+dis with a stat line about ST11 DX 12-3 IQ 12-3 HT 11 or so...with the MINIMUM skills I see as survivable...with the plan to evolve up the physical and mental skills with earned cps...usually with a non adventuring "Profession" in the build YMMV). Right now playing ST 11 DX 13 IQ 13 HT 11 DWA Rapier with WM Rapier (learned in play during a 6 mon non Adventure time break...while the wizard learned spells) who has been both a city guardsman and now a navigator/ships master when not heroing (and sometimes while heroing too...)

Good Luck!!
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Last edited by Witchking; 11-07-2011 at 04:50 AM.
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Old 11-07-2011, 06:26 AM   #4
roguebfl
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Default Re: Critique/Help with my char

Broadsword [16] DX+3 - 12,

ok your notation is a bit wired here, Normally that would read as 16 points spent to get Broadsword to DX+3 giving you base skill of 12. which of course would e wrong.

Broadsword-16 (DX+3) [12] would be the correct numbers.

You want to repalce the technique is the perk from GURPS Martial Arts Off-Hand Weapon Training (Katana) [1], and probably want Grip Mastery (Katana) [1] to switch back and forth between 1 handed and two handed grips (as well as defensive grip) without a Ready. With the 4 points saved (3 if you pick up Grip mastery) you could buy Two-handed Sword-13 (Broadsword-3) [1] or Two-handed Sword-14 (Broadsword-2) [3]. (You current level of Broadsword is equivlent of spending one free point in Two-handed Sword for buying from default)


As you have a versatile attack already with your katana, I would recommend swapping out Karate for Judo this will give defensive options like Throws and locks.
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Old 11-07-2011, 06:39 AM   #5
aesir23
 
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Default Re: Critique/Help with my char

Two things: If your group had Martial Arts, you'd be usiing the 1 point Off-Hand Weapon Training Perk.

As it is, you spent as much on the technique as it would cost to have Ambidexterity, which is better and more flexible.

I would drop your Karate way down. Unarmed combat is not that useful in Low-Tech campaigns, since every one uses weapons.

I agree with Roguebfl, Judo is both more useful to you, but also more consistent with actual samurai training.

I also feel like your character needs some more skills. What does he do for a living? What is his background? These things should be reflected on the sheet. (If he's a mercenary, he'd have Soldier and Savoir Faire (Military), if he's a thug he'd have Streetwise and Intimidation, If he has a real job he'd have a professional skill, etc...)
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Old 11-07-2011, 06:58 AM   #6
roguebfl
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Default Re: Critique/Help with my char

Quote:
Originally Posted by aesir23 View Post
I also feel like your character needs some more skills. What does he do for a living? What is his background? These things should be reflected on the sheet. (If he's a mercenary, he'd have Soldier and Savoir Faire (Military), if he's a thug he'd have Streetwise and Intimidation, If he has a real job he'd have a professional skill, etc...)
Savoir Faire (Dojo) and some art skill inluding Poetry or Calagrapy would also fit the samurai

But if your Merchant skill is a problematic of you looking building an actual building a samuari, you have to consider Shinokosho in the way they think. Which Ranks Gentry (including the Samurai) -> Farmers -> Artisan -> Merchants. Mearchat were the lowest because "they do not produce anything, only profit from others' creations"

Off course if you use of the skill is merely to prevent the lowly merchants robbing blind...
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Old 11-07-2011, 06:59 AM   #7
Celjabba
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Luxembourg
Default Re: Critique/Help with my char

Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeonTheUnborn View Post
Rhonin
ST: 11 HP:13
DX: 13 Will: 10
IQ: 10 Per: 10
HT: 10 FP: 12
Basic Speed: 7

Striking ST 2 - 10
As a fighter, you really want HT11+fit , or HT 12
Basic speed 7 is great, but very expansive and at 150cp, you have other priorities, I think.
I would drop it, and perhaps upgrade to full ST13, allowing the char to wear armor without to much enc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeonTheUnborn View Post
advantages - 55 points
combat reflexes -15
Enhanced Parry 2 - 10
Weapon Master(Katana) - 20
I like all my char having luck [15], especially since you have overconfidence, but not sure you can afford it.
Given your vow, you should buy plot protection for your family katanas :signature gear(dual fine katanas).
And weapons bond(s) perks.
Perhaps also hammerspace for them if the GM allow it.
:payload(+50% extra-dimensional,-20% only for katanas).


Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeonTheUnborn View Post
Skills
Broadsword [16] DX+3 - 12
Riding (Equines) [14] DX+1 - 4
Fast Draw(Katana) [14] DX+1 - 2
Karate [15] DX+2 -12
Stealth[13] DX+0 -2
First Aid[13] IQ+3 -8
Parry Missile Weapon [13] DX+0 - 4
Merchant [10] IQ+0 -2
I notice you don't plan to use your katana two-handed ?

off-hand weapon technique have been replaced by a perk in Gurps:martial arts. That's 4 point more to spent!

For a non-combat heavy game, you lack non combat skills.
To quote kromm:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kromm View Post
Relying on defaults -- whatever the game system calls them -- is rarely fun. In GURPS, I hint that certain skills are necessary for adventurers, true action heroes or not, to keep the story flowing without annoying breaks caused by PCs being incompetent at tasks that adventure fiction commonly treats as "everyman" skills:
  • Carousing, Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, or Interrogation -- Eventually, everybody wants to interrogate NPCs. I'm generous about what skills work, but some skill is required.
  • Climbing, Hiking, and Stealth -- The party is only as good at these things as its worst party member, and nearly every party has to move around as a unit at some point.
  • Driving or Riding -- Travel is vital to adventure, and while "every hero can drive/ride a horse" is often assumed, it isn't automatic in games that have skills for these things.
  • First Aid -- Effective bandaging isn't an unskilled activity, AD&D notwithstanding. Non-action heroes often want to do this to "contribute" to party combat effectiveness, so they especially need this skill.
  • Gesture -- Sooner or later, communication without making a sound will be vital to almost any party's survival.
  • Observation, Scrounging, or Search -- Noticing interesting things takes training, and finding clues and useful items is so central to adventures that no PC should lack at least basic training here.
  • Savoir-Faire or Streetwise -- Everybody came from somewhere. It's passing annoying when a player just assumes that her PC would "get on with folks in her element" without having any practical social skills to back up the assumption.
I further suggest -- strongly -- that action heroes have this list as well:
  • Axe/Mace, Broadsword, Knife, Shortsword, or Staff -- Wielding a stick, knife, or heavy tool to any real effect requires practice. These common improvised weapons are not idiot-proof, trivial, or safe to use without training.
  • Beam Weapons, Bow, Crossbow, or Guns -- However easy "point and shoot" looks, it's quite tough in reality. No credible action hero lacks competency at all ranged combat.
  • Boxing, Brawling, or Karate -- Fisticuffs are the worst place to be untrained. Your fists are the only weapons you always have, so learn to use them.
  • Forced Entry -- No, it isn't easy to kick in a door. Actually, unless you know how, you'll hurt yourself.
  • Holdout -- "Concealable" equipment only works if you have skill at concealment, and frustratingly few players realize this.
  • Judo, Sumo Wrestling, or Wrestling -- The number of people who think they should be able to grab others automatically is astounding. In fact, this is a difficult feat, trickier than hitting people, and absolutely requires training.
  • Throwing -- Whether you're tossing spare magazines to friends or grenades at enemies, this is a trained skill, so it pays to know it.
I think that players would be far less unhappy about surprises if more GMs made lists like this and did everything possible to get players to take them seriously. A PC with Brawling, Fast-Talk, Forced Entry, Holdout, Knife, Scrounging, Stealth, and Wrestling should be able to make and conceal a shiv, overpower a guard, steal his clothes, sneak away from the scene, talk his way past the other guards, and leave through an inadequately bolted back door.
And to round the character:
a dabbler perk
armoury to take care of his gear
one or 2 point in area knowledge.
a couple point in cooking, since the char likes eating home cooked meals.

Hope this help

Celjabba

Last edited by Celjabba; 11-07-2011 at 09:19 PM.
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Old 11-07-2011, 08:20 AM   #8
Figleaf23
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Default Re: Critique/Help with my char

Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeonTheUnborn View Post
I was wondering if anyone would look over this character with me and give me some advice on how to make him better cause I still run into some problems here and there with the amount of points I have and plus I would like some people to give me ideas.

The game isn't very combat heavy, but the fights we get into are usually serious, as the enemies have the same point values as us and do pretty major damage.

Setting: TL 3 type game, with some TL 4 weaponry and magic.

Our GM granted us 150 points, -50 disads, 5 quirks, and 10 points for writing a background story.

Rhonin
ST: 11 HP:13
DX: 13 Will: 10
IQ: 10 Per: 10
HT: 10 FP: 12
Basic Speed: 7

So that right there is 105 points in base stats right there. (I want to at least have 13 and a basic speed of 7 or 7.5, and the 11 lets me dual-wield Katanas or some of the other broadswords)

advantages - 55 points
combat reflexes -15
Enhanced Parry 2 - 10
Striking ST 2 - 10
Weapon Master(Katana) - 20

disadvantages - 55 points
Vow (only use his mother's katana's) - 10
Sense of Duty(companions) - 5
Overconfidence - 5
Pacifism - 10
Enemy(His Rival "Donovan") -15
Light Sleeper - 5

quirks
Likes eating home cooked meals - 1
humble - 1
dislikes disorganization - 1
stubborn - 1
Likes beating his rival in combat - 1

Okay, so my disads effectively cancel out the point value of my ads. Leaving me with 55 points.

Skills
Broadsword [16] DX+3 - 12
Riding (Equines) [14] DX+1 - 4
Fast Draw(Katana) [14] DX+1 - 2
Karate [15] DX+2 -12
Stealth[13] DX+0 -2
First Aid[13] IQ+3 -8
Parry Missile Weapon [13] DX+0 - 4
Merchant [10] IQ+0 -2


Techniques
Dual Weapon Attack [14] 3
Off - hand weapon training [14] 5
Retain weapon [16] 0
Disarming(Broadsword) [16] 0
Feint(Broadsword)[16] 0
Feint(Karate)[16] 0
Counterattack [11] 0

And thats all of it. I gave him an emphasis on attack with both weapons and trying to counterattack if possible and for him to parry with his swords if he can. Any helpful advice would be appreciated.
I'm curious -- you say the game isn't combat-heavy, but this character is good for almost nothing else. Is he the group's fighter?

Any, without having read other comments yet, I would suggest to improve him as a fighter:

Swap Ambidextrous for Off-Hand weapon training, sell back 0.25 points of Speed, and buy Move, add +1 DX and reduce spending on all DX skills by one level (netting 15 points) and sell back a further 0.25 Speed to cover the last 5 points.
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Old 11-07-2011, 01:20 PM   #9
ZeonTheUnborn
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Default Re: Critique/Help with my char

To Give some more info:

- I planned for Rhonin to be the group's fighter and cook. I suppose I didn't think about it when I was planning him.

- The reason why I have a lot of combat skills is that during the last few games, we've seen more combat than usual. And the foes are hyper specialized in fighting. A full 150 points towards just combat techniques and skills.

- We only have one mage, and he is the GM's NPC, so he rarely fights with us anymore, he's just there to make sure we all don't kill each other and/or do something incredibly stupid.

- He got his swords from his mother, after she grew too old to fight. Donovan and Rhonin are rivals because Donovan has a superiority complex, and Rhonin continued to beat him when they trained at the Dojo back on their homeworld.

- He lived in the rougher parts of town after his mother passed, which is why he went to live in the dojo with his teacher and some other students.

- During the breaks in combat, we usually run around town and get small things done, since the entire group has no job. We just ended up on this world because of some weird magic spell. It transported us all to a new world.


So from most the posts I should get:
Fit
Reduce Basic speed to 6
ST to 13
Remove Striking ST 2
Add Cooking, Streetwise, and Sig Gear, Savoire Fair
Remove off hand weapon training and swap it for ambidexterity/offhand weapon training perk
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Old 11-07-2011, 01:39 PM   #10
aesir23
 
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Default Re: Critique/Help with my char

Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeonTheUnborn View Post
So from most the posts I should get:
Fit
Reduce Basic speed to 6
ST to 13
Remove Striking ST 2
Add Cooking, Streetwise, and Sig Gear, Savoire Fair
Remove off hand weapon training and swap it for ambidexterity/offhand weapon training perk
Yes to all of that.

Except Streetwise and Savoire Fair can probably be an Either/Or proposition.

I would also trade Karate [12] for Brawling (DX +1) [2] and Judo DX +1 [8]. This frees up 2 points and leaves you perfectly competant in a barehanded brawl.

Judo over Karate for several reasons: Throws and Locks are effective against armored foes, Unarmed Strikes are not. Judo is effective for controling people without harming them (misguided children, mind-controlled allies, etc...). Some Judo techniques (throws, trip, evade, breakfall) are actually useful in a fight with weapons.
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