Defaults; how do they work

[Kromm]

Steve Jackson himself answered this for GURPS Second Edition (and maybe even GURPS First Edition . . . it was in Roleplayer ages ago): You don't have to buy skills in full levels, either from scratch or from default. You can invest gradually. Admittedly, this is mostly a bookkeeping convenience for gamers who like their characters to work toward long-term goals – and it was more significant back when Physical skills cost 8 points/level – but some GMs insist that points be committed to skills one at a time, at a maximum rate of a point per session, to heighten realism. That's definitely permitted in the designer's own words, and one point is enough to say you "know" the skill.

Those who find this strange should consider that default skill is like having the skill for all quantitative purposes; e.g., those with Broadsword-18 can use Rapier-14 to attack at 14, feint at 14, parry at 10, etc. just as if they had bought Rapier-14 directly. What "knowing" the skill gives above and beyond a skill level is qualitative – namely, it switches on access to special options. Those options are roughly a perk-grade benefit if you've already invested enough points in some other skill to have all the quantitative benefits by default. Thus, one point is enough.

Put another way, wouldn't it be odd if somebody with DX 10, Broadsword (A) DX+3 [12]-13, and Rapier (A) DX-1 [0]-9 could get all the benefits of Rapier by spending a point to have Rapier (A) DX [1]-10, while somebody with DX 10, Broadsword (A) DX+5 [20]-15, and Rapier (A) DX+1 [0]-11 had to spend 4 points to have Rapier (A) DX+2 [4]-12 to gain those same benefits? That would amount to saying, "The special benefits of Rapier are perk-like if you're terrible, but cost four times as much if you're good." I think most people would agree that makes no sense, and so accept that if anybody working from an inter-skill default can gain those benefits for a point, then everybody should be able to do so.