Accessibility: Only in one dimension?

Apollonian · 11-01-2017, 10:12 AM

I'm building some spirits for GURPS Cabal, and it seems that some of their abilities should only be available in the material realm (Assiah) - specifically, materialization and possession. Given that most of the action in the campaign is likely to take place in Assiah, does -5% seem like a reasonable discount?

Kelly Pedersen · 11-01-2017, 11:53 AM

For a Cabal game, where plane-hopping is sort of an expected activity, I'd actually allow a higher limitation. I'd go with at least -10%, comparable to "only in an altered body state" that Basic uses an example.

Anaraxes · 11-01-2017, 12:32 PM

If "most of the action" takes place in Assiah, then that means any action-oriented on-the-spot ability not usable there would be expected to be "mostly" not available, and thus considerably less valuable. Or conversely, the discount for abilities usable there would be small. Compare with the chart for Accessibility on Powers p. 99, which gives Limitation values for various percentages of time that an ability isn't available. (E.g., -40% for 5% availability; -20% for 50% of the time; -5% for 90% availability.)

The Accessibility chart always strikes me as a little stingy compared to many other Limitations that crimp your likelihood of employing an ability to your benefit when needed. But it's a starting point.

"Affects Substantial" for the Insubstantial Advantage is +100% -- but that's for an ability whose effects "cross over", without the user being substantial and thus available for mundane counterattacks.

11-01-2017, 10:12 AM	#1
Apollonian Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Shoreline, WA (north of Seattle)	Accessibility: Only in one dimension? I'm building some spirits for GURPS Cabal, and it seems that some of their abilities should only be available in the material realm (Assiah) - specifically, materialization and possession. Given that most of the action in the campaign is likely to take place in Assiah, does -5% seem like a reasonable discount?

11-01-2017, 11:53 AM	#2
Kelly Pedersen Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada	Re: Accessibility: Only in one dimension? For a Cabal game, where plane-hopping is sort of an expected activity, I'd actually allow a higher limitation. I'd go with at least -10%, comparable to "only in an altered body state" that Basic uses an example.

11-01-2017, 12:32 PM	#3
Anaraxes Join Date: Sep 2007	Re: Accessibility: Only in one dimension? If "most of the action" takes place in Assiah, then that means any action-oriented on-the-spot ability not usable there would be expected to be "mostly" not available, and thus considerably less valuable. Or conversely, the discount for abilities usable there would be small. Compare with the chart for Accessibility on Powers p. 99, which gives Limitation values for various percentages of time that an ability isn't available. (E.g., -40% for 5% availability; -20% for 50% of the time; -5% for 90% availability.) The Accessibility chart always strikes me as a little stingy compared to many other Limitations that crimp your likelihood of employing an ability to your benefit when needed. But it's a starting point. "Affects Substantial" for the Insubstantial Advantage is +100% -- but that's for an ability whose effects "cross over", without the user being substantial and thus available for mundane counterattacks.