Gadgeteer bonus TL and faster skill learning: Two new advantages [Pricing? Feedback?]

[MagnetoHydroDynamics]

I have create two new leveled advantages, and I am unsure how to price them:

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Inventor TL:
The character is a super-inventor with a grasp of much more complicated technology than her fellow inventors. For each level in this advantage, consider the characters TL as one level higher for the purposes of Invention (B. 473) only.

This advantage is useful and suitable for super-inventors and mad scientists, and works well together with the Gadgeteer advantage (B. 56,) which could be a prerequisite, or the two could be alternatives of super-inventoring.

GM's approval is required for buying more than four levels of Inventor TL.

Quick Mastery:
The character has an increased ability to pick up skills. For every level, halve the number of learning hours required to increase a skill/language/learnable mental advantage by one point (B. 292.)

This advantage is suitable for characters with super-memory or super-intellect, such as high IQ, Photographic Memory (B. 51,) which could be a prerequisite. It can also at high levels serve as an alternative to Wild Talent (B. 99) or Modular Abilities (B. 71.)

GM's approval is required for buying more than two levels of Quick Mastery.

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What should these two advantages be priced at?

I am thinking Inventor TL should be equal to direct TL (5/level).

On the plus side, Inventor TL might be available when direct TL isn't (for campaigns with absence of aliens, time-travel or parachronics.)

On the negative side, if the player wishes to have the character start with high-TL inventions, they should have some social problems and issues arising from the fact that they own a power armour with rail-guns (government agencies take offence to low LC heavy weaponry significantly more advanced than existing military, just an FYI.) This can be modeled with Secret (B. 152) or Enemy (B. 135,)

Alternatively can be used as a justification for high wealth (a cure for cancer sells well; and all inventions can in theory be replicated at any TL, given that they are mundane even if the inventor isn't.)

The advantageous nature of higher-than-campaign TL is starting equipment and education. Inventor TL nixes the education and throws a spanner in the starting equipment, but has higher availability.

As for Quick Learner I am a bit at large. Low levels of Quick Learner will amount to faster language acquisition (Learning Languages, B. 25) almost to the point of absurdity (two levels of Quick Learner will result in 25 days to master a language to accented-level spoken.)

This advantage significantly improves the utility of down-time, and might lead to some unfortunate skill-monkey behaviour. Maybe it should be dialed down to 3/4 instead of 1/2, for balance.

Thoughts? Feedback?

[Bruno]

Quick Mastery - see talents, which bundle -10% through -40% with a skill bonus. I would restrict the time discount to that range, personally - GURPS's time use for 4e works with those numbers, so they're safe and reasonably munchkin-tested.

For skills I'd actually suggest sticking with talents in general, since quickly mastering things is usually expected to come with being awesome anyways. Might as well get the bundle.

That doesn't help for learnable advantages (such as languages and CFs) and it doesn't help for "broad spectrum" you just learn all skills better things, though. I see the point for a universal fast learner, although I wonder if many of those archetypes aren't better served by having high IQ and/or DX (Batman, for example, and various Pulp age "golden man" heroes).

So, experimentally, lets look at pricing such a thing. Start with the Talent, since that's where it comes from in the vanilla rules. Out of a 5 point/level talent (6 skills) the skill learning bonus on that small list of skills can't be more than 1 point per level - I suspect it's more like 0.5 points a level because we also have a small reputation bonus in there along with a bundled skill bonus (with a package discount) but I'm going to go with 1pt because the whole shebang is clearly getting an aggressive package discount for play-ability reasons.

Experimentally, let's try turning 4pts/-40% learning time on its head to "all the skills" by reversing the Accessability table from Powers (the one with the %age of stuff chart). There is a LOT of skills in GURPS, 5-6 skills sounds like right on the top line of the chart, or the -40% Accessability. That means 4pts is 60% of the full price, and we can therefore find the full price by multiplying 4pts by (1/(60%)) or 1.66, which gets us 6.66 points. Round up to 7, more or less.

But that's really only "all the skills" rather than "A tiny part of the skills". I'd say each domain it could be applied to would be a required specialty: Skills, Spells, Attributes, Learnable Advantages, Powers?

[Bruno]

So. That's a thought experiment. THe problem is that it's based on a heavily discounted trait - but regardless it still gives a lower bounds on a fair price; if about 2 points per -10% seems too cheap, that's probably symptomatic of the package deal pricing it's under. On the other hand, it would feel less unfair if it had strict attribute prerequisites: DX 11/IQ 11 for -10%, DX12/IQ12 for -20%, and so forth.

Basically +1DX and +1IQ together are an omnitalent for "All The Skills" (and the next person to bring up IQ! gets fired - there are Per and Will based skills damnit) so you'd really just be making an Ur-Talent out of it.

[MagnetoHydroDynamics]

Originally Posted by Bruno

So. That's a thought experiment. THe problem is that it's based on a heavily discounted trait - but regardless it still gives a lower bounds on a fair price; if about 2 points per -10% seems too cheap, that's probably symptomatic of the package deal pricing it's under. On the other hand, it would feel less unfair if it had strict attribute prerequisites: DX 11/IQ 11 for -10%, DX12/IQ12 for -20%, and so forth.

Basically +1DX and +1IQ together are an omnitalent for "All The Skills" (and the next person to bring up IQ! gets fired - there are Per and Will based skills damnit) so you'd really just be making an Ur-Talent out of it.

So you're saying that it should have "Limited to skills covered by your Talents" as well as some kind of "+50% Learn Any skill at all"? And pricing in the range of 7-10/level?