Are proliferating perks a danger to GURPS?

[Lupo]

Originally Posted by Bruno

You realize that Armor Familiarity is bought by hit location, right?

Where did you read that?
I own both Martial Arts and Power Ups 2: Perks and they say nothing of the sort... "For instance, two levels [of Armor Familiarity] mean you have no penalty up to Medium encumbrance, -1 at Heavy, and -2 at Extra-Heavy."

Mrugnak wears two suits of armor. I'd have to spend at least six points to prevent combat penalties, because I'd want to buy off layering over the torso and groin (general dx penalty) and both arms, and both hands. But I'd frankly want no DX penalties in any situation, so that's both legs, both feet, and neck for a total of 11 points.

You are misreading it, Mrugnak would simply spend 1 point for each level of Encumbrance he wants to ignore.
E.g. if he fights at Medium Encumbrance, 2 levels of ARmor Familiarity would cancel the -2 to attacks and parries with Judo or Karate or Fencing (the Perk requires specialization).

That's why the Perk is unbalanced - if you houserule / nerf it, of course it woun't be unbalanced anymore.

Uh. Special Exercises doesn't give you the DR. You have to buy the DR at the listed point cost. It's just an unusual background tax.

I am fully aware of that. I wrote: "Thus, if you really want to allow DR at the listed cost, Special Exercises for it should cost more - probably 3 or 4 points."
Often people assume that every disagreement on GURPS rules comes from ignorance... this is a pity because it impedes discussion.

My point was that this "unusual background tax" is too low; it should be more than 1 point since Damage Resistance is very cheap, very powerful and ordinarily it's off-limits to humans.

In GURPS 3e Toughness costed 10 points and that was about right... so I think that Special Exercises (DR) should cost 3 or 4, ON TOP of Damage Resistance (3 points if it's Tough Skin).

What do you think of the other "underpriced" Perks?
Don't you think that Perks such as Limited Energy Reserve, Shield Wall Training and Grip Mastery are unbalanced?

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

So far, it looks to me as if Lupo is failing to read the rules for the Perks that he accuses of being overpowered, and that's not a good sign...

You are mistaken. I am pretty sure I've read the rules correctly.
Of course some minor mistake is always possible, but - if they exist at all - they are NOT the ones you pointed out so far.

I would ask you to re-read what I wrote and check it with GURPS Martial Arts or GURPS Perks, before commenting on it...

The Strongbow Perk works *exactly* as I have described. It allows you to use stronger Bows (or Crossbows, in case of "Crossbow Finesse" perk). This +2 to Bow ST translates in a net +1 to damage.
That's why EACH and EVERY archer chooses this perk - because with just 1 point you get to increase the damage of your main weapon by 1.

It appears to me that some of the people who think Perks are fairly priced, in reality *do not know* how those Perks are supposed to work.
Therefore they imagine a different, fictional version of them, that fits better in their own vision of GURPS (being less powerful and therefore less unbalanced).
This looks like some sort of cognitive dissonance, like when people cannot possibly believe that somebody they know (or some institution they believe in) is responsible for questionable deeds...