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Old 12-30-2017, 06:12 PM   #1
Alonsua
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Default Realistic Point Gains

Hi there,

I need some help backing my design, or, putting it simply, regard or disregard it as realistic.

Letīs say I am creating a setting, so I want some truly iconic characters, and start by creating an NPC in a modern setting. So this character is born at 2,000 to a lineage of geniuses and athletes, and starts with:

(Strength-13; Dexterity-13; IQ-13; Health-12)
(which turns to be (Strength-4; Dexterity-5; IQ-7; Health-11) at age 0, and increases by the years)

Advantages
(Ambidexterity; Discriminatory Hearing; Discriminatory Smell; Photographic Memory; Language Talent; Intuitive Mathematician; Sensitive Touch; Single-Minded; Versatile)

By "Back to School" she puts 150 hours/month to Education and 165 hours/month to Self-Teaching (4 hours a day from monday to friday plus 12 hours a day on weekends). Having born to a wealthy family, she is supplied with nootropics (TL8) and elite quality education, so final modifiers are as follows:

Single-Minded +30%
Elite Education +40%
Accelerated Learning +50%
Talent (from -30% to +30%, average +0% until 15)
Will (from -30% to +30%, average +0% until 15)

gaining 460.35 points by her fifteen birthday. She proceeds then to invest most of those points into "Pharmacy (Synthetic)", "Bioengineering" and "Surgery", which is roleplayed by having her following advanced programs and studying medicine, and then she research into cutting-edge nootropics (TL9, granting Accelerated Learning +100%), amphetamines (Less Sleep 4), horizontal gene transfer (ST+2; DX+1; IQ+1; HT+1; Beautiful; Combat Reflexes; Double-Jointed; High Pain Threshold; Longevity; Resistant (Acceleration+3; Disease+8; Ingested Poison+3); Voice) and surgery&biomods (HT+1; Fit, Very; Rapid Healing, Very; Pitiable) and by 2024 she has collected 1252.5 points to split among social benefits like wealth, reputation and rank, and skills. She also has (ST-15; DX-14; IQ-14; HT-14) and all of the other advantages. The maximum in any attribute is 16 (one in over a billion people, so there are six persons in the world with a 16 in any attribute).

Is this acceptable?

Last edited by Alonsua; 12-30-2017 at 06:17 PM.
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Old 12-30-2017, 06:16 PM   #2
Ulzgoroth
 
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Default Re: Realistic Point Gains

As a basic starting observation, 'points' and 'realistic' are concepts that belong in different spheres and should be brought in contact only with the most extreme caution. This does not appear to be anywhere close to extreme caution.
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I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident.
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Old 12-30-2017, 06:56 PM   #3
Alonsua
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Default Re: Realistic Point Gains

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth View Post
As a basic starting observation, 'points' and 'realistic' are concepts that belong in different spheres and should be brought in contact only with the most extreme caution. This does not appear to be anywhere close to extreme caution.
I could not find better rules for learning (increasing points) than the "Time-Based Learning" on "Social Engineering, Back to School". Thought they were fine though.
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Old 12-30-2017, 06:16 PM   #4
sir_pudding
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Default Re: Realistic Point Gains

Realistically, getting addicted to meth and doing uncontrolled genetic modifications on yourself isn't likely to be a success story.
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Old 12-30-2017, 06:53 PM   #5
Alonsua
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Originally Posted by sir_pudding View Post
Realistically, getting addicted to meth and doing uncontrolled genetic modifications on yourself isn't likely to be a success story.
So she conducted the tests on cricetids, suids and hominids first, and then on voluntary and appropriate test subjects, and instead of amphetamines she developed some kind of safe and melatonin based drug, or something like that?

*The unsuccesful story chances seem pretty interesting though.

Last edited by Alonsua; 12-30-2017 at 07:00 PM.
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Old 12-30-2017, 11:49 PM   #6
sir_pudding
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*The unsuccesful story chances seem pretty interesting though.
Maybe to an oncologist.
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Old 12-31-2017, 04:15 AM   #7
Alonsua
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Maybe to an oncologist.
Can you elaborate?
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Old 12-31-2017, 01:28 PM   #8
sir_pudding
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Originally Posted by Evadam View Post
Can you elaborate?
If you gave yourself cancer via gene hacking it would be interesting to an oncologist, who might learn something about the causes of cancer, but it wouldn't be especially interesting in a typical roleplaying game.
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Old 01-02-2018, 10:20 PM   #9
GreatWyrmGold
 
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Default Re: Realistic Point Gains

Evadam: Before reading, remember that you're the one who wants it realistic.

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Originally Posted by Evadam View Post
So she conducted the tests on cricetids, suids and hominids first, and then on voluntary and appropriate test subjects, and instead of amphetamines she developed some kind of safe and melatonin based drug, or something like that?
*The unsuccesful story chances seem pretty interesting though.
That's not the kind of thing you can do solo. About the best she could realistically do is get an internship at a professional research institute and try to smuggle home drugs and/or inject herself with tailored retroviruses or something after hours. Even that is going to have effects which are, at best, a shadow of what you envision.
Of course, you seem to be trying to make a younger, less-insane version of Lab Rat, so it might be easier to just introduce a "spark of genius" into your setting.

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Well, I want her to be like an important/main NPC, I am designing the setting based on the real world and trying to make her some kind of modern Leonardo Da Vinci/Hippocrates/Galen.
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I just want to be able to point at some hystorical character and say: "See, she is just another (insert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Shakespeare, Mozzart)..." and I want them to be able to repeat her extraordinary feats if they want.
Someone's drunk on Great Man Theory.
One great genius does not invent an insane invention in a single generation. Great geniuses just slightly accelerate the normal process of iterating on past generations' iterations. Eventually, someone makes an invention at least a little practical, or overcomes a critical but acute obstacle, and gets credited with the whole thing. (That, or someone makes something which looks on paper like something which wouldn't be figured out for decades or centuries, and almost everyone quietly ignores the practical constraints which explain why it was never used.)
Cultural geniuses (e.g, Shakespeare and Mozart) might be closer to this great-man genius innovator type, but only because their chosen fields are so ridiculously fluid.

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Well, I thought about starting this campaign in the near future and I wanted some extraordinary characters to point at and say "Hey, thatīs the girl who invented Artificial Intelligences... Oh! And there goes the cancer cure inventor and by his side the designer of the cutting-edge spaceships we enjoy today!"
A single person can't plausibly design an operating system or a car themselves (at least, not a good one and not quickly); they simply require too many man-hours in too many fields. One person is never going to be the inventor of AI or the designer of a spaceship. You might find one specific person who used pre-existing technologies to design the first AI which didn't terrify passing children, or one specific person who lead the first starship-design team, but you're not going to find one single person who invented AI or a new spaceship.
Again, not a problem if your setting includes a spark of genius. It's probably not a good idea to introduce such things into a campaign world if they're not going to be relevant...but if the PCs are going to be meeting famous inventors, your campaign is probably one in which super-intelligent people with super-science are very important.
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Old 01-02-2018, 11:26 PM   #10
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Default Re: Realistic Point Gains

What we are talking about is an Amazing invention using brand new technology at three TL higher, which is a -42 to skill for the conception roll for a 'realistic' inventor. While Gadgeteers may be cinematic because it is so broad, technology does advance much more quickly than possible by the realistic rules, so I would suggest that limited forms of Gadegeteer are realistic. A realistic form of Gadgeteer would be limited to the first level, would apply to a specific skill only, and would be purchased through the Unusual Training Perk (I would require a minimum level of 20 in the associated skill).

Even so, a realistic gadegeteer would still suffer a -23 to skill, meaning that she would have to have a skill of 25 and four assistants with skill 20+ to have even a 6 as her modified skill. Since the average time for conception for an Amazing invention is 3d months, she would probably spend seven years on her conception roll. She would also need $3.5 million worth of equipment of her own, which would be difficult to hide.
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