Originally Posted by Molokh

I don't think "Daughter of the God of Magic" necessarily gives you a surprise advantage, no laws etc. "in any setting" (especially in settings where vampires/supers/etc. run around with Unkillable 1+). For that, it would be more correct to buy +50% Cosmic or a Patron (Mother/Father God). So no, UBG is not necessarily a rarity/surprise pricing tag.

Originally Posted by Powers184-185

Also, the point costs of GURPS powers and abilities were chosen to be as fair and internally balanced as possible; it shouldn't be necessary to charge Unusual Background costs just to stop anyone from being too powerful.
Rather, someone with an Unusual Background should have radically unusual abilities, giving the wielder an edge by virtue of their scarcity. They should be able to gain some advantage in fights (say, because they can breathe fire in a world where empty-handed combatants can't usually attack at range). Most people will fail to take simple, logical precautions against them. (If a teleporter can get into any room that he can see on live TV, people may be careful where they allow cameras - unless teleportation is thought to be a myth.)

Originally Posted by UncreativeNameMaker

Powers explicitly states that UB is for the surprise value.

Originally Posted by Molokh

Okay, then I don't understand why being some god's kid is worth any surprise value unless the Unkillable advantage has some form of Cosmic (which is a price in itself).

Originally Posted by UncreativeNameMaker

I assume that they meant that Unkilliable 2 is an unusual ability in almost any setting. If you reduce someone to a pile of bones, you except them to stay dead. I think it’s just a badly worded example.

Originally Posted by Molokh

That should already be accounted for by the Exotic/Supernatural classification, which limits what abilities are readily/easily available to (N)PCs.