A silly observation about Power-Ups

[dataweaver]

I'm not saying that a book along those lines doesn't have merit; it does. But just like you're not going to get Power-Ups: Shapeshifter because it's too narrowly focused for Power-Ups and works better as a Powers supplement, a book about information gathering strikes me as too narrowly focused for Power-Ups and would work better as a supplement for something more thematically relevant.

So maybe do it as a Mysteries supplement.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by dataweaver

So maybe do it as a Mysteries supplement.

Thats an interesting idea :)
With that we could also cover magic and use of science for later periods than Mysteries was written.
I dont think a Power-Ups book would be too narrow since its covering far more than the handful of Shapeshifting related advantages (Elastic Skin, Mimicry, Morph) and possibly others like Growth, Shrinking, and Stretching; but you might be right. In any case a Mysteries supplement would possibly be better in that it could cover more, though people might overlook it if just looking for info gathering things and not thinking of a mystery adventure.

[GWJ]

One more idea - Unusual Backgrounds. I never used this trait, I just completely don't know for what traits, when, and for how much...

[dataweaver]

I could see that as part of a bigger book on repricing Advantages (though as I said before, that's probably too big of a book, considering how many Advantages there are), because that's essentially what Unusual Background is all about: inflating your point cost because the GM thinks what you're buying would be overpowered otherwise.

That said, a hypothetical Power-Ups: Advantages should definitely have a section in it about Unusual Background in the same way that the Enhancements book has a whole section dedicated to Cosmic.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by GWJ

One more idea - Unusual Backgrounds. I never used this trait, I just completely don't know for what traits, when, and for how much...

I wrote a Pyramid article on how to price, assess, etc. Unusual Backgrounds that never got published. I've talked about it a lot on my blog and I use them in my own games (perhaps a bit too much at times). It's definitely worth a section in a larger book or it's own smaller book in the Power-Ups series.

[tbone]

Originally Posted by GWJ

One more idea - Unusual Backgrounds.

A good idea, I think, if expanded a little. UBs are examples of "buy-in" advantages — ones that open the door for buying other advantages, skills, spells, etc. (Buy-in? Gateway? I'm thinking there's some generic name for these that I'm missing. Just "prerequisite traits"?)

Some carry their own benefits, like TBaM. Some are also talents of a sort, like Magery and Power Investiture. Others do nothing but open that door, like UB. But lumping all those together, a book on when and how to use/create prerequisite advantages could be interesting.

[dataweaver]

Now, that sounds good!

(For what it's worth, I tend to call them “gateway advantages”.)

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by dataweaver

(For what it's worth, I tend to call them “gateway advantages”.)

I refer to them as UBAs, Unusual Background Advantages if they are Advantages in their own rights (like Trained by a Master for Chi Talent and Chi abilities).

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by tbone

(Buy-in? Gateway? I'm thinking there's some generic name for these that I'm missing. Just "prerequisite traits"?)

Tariff traits.

[dataweaver]

Or Access Traits.