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Old 07-07-2011, 09:00 PM   #36
ericbsmith
 
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Binghamton, NY, USA. Near the river Styx in the 5th Circle.
Default Re: GCA4 FAQ - GURPS Character Assistant 4 Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do you implement Alternate Form in GCA?

As an ability Alternate Form is a bit tricky, regardless of whether you're using GCA or not. Lets start out with a quick explanation of how Alternate Form works in GURPS rules, then go through how it works in GCA.

Alternate Form allows you to swap out the character's Racial Template for a different Racial Template. This essentially means that the player must keep track of multiple character sheets, one for each Form the character can turn into, marking all of the differences. For extremely simple forms this can be hand-waved away, but for templates that make significant changes, especially to attributes, it is absolutely necessary to maintain a character sheet for each form in order to properly reflect all of the changes that are made in attributes, secondary attributes, skill levels, and other calculated values such as damage.

This requirement does not change just because you are using GCA. You will need to maintain multiple copies of the character, each with a different Racial Template applied to it. Or, alternatively, you can remove one Racial Template then add the other Racial Template to the character, then print out the character once with each Racial Template applied (printing out multiple versions of the character). Either way you will wind up with multiple versions of the character.

So, step by step, to create a character with multiple forms you will need to:
  1. Create the character, including the base Racial Template (if it's Human you will not need to add a Racial Template, because GCA assumes the character is Human by default until you add another Racial Template).
  2. Add the Alternate Form advantage to the character, including the appropriate level of the Difference in Point Cost modifier. If the character is Human [0] and you are creating a Wolf that costs [40] then you will take Difference in Point Cost at level 40 for [36] points. If the base Racial Template is an Elf [30] then the Difference in Point Cost would be level 10 (40 - 30 = 10) for [9] points.
  3. Save and/or Print the character with the base Racial Template.
  4. Remove the base Racial Template (unless it's Human)
  5. Add the alternate Racial Template.
  6. Save the character under a different name and/or print the character again with the alternate template(s) abilities.

Last edited by ericbsmith; 12-08-2012 at 04:17 AM.
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