09-17-2012, 04:37 PM | #11 |
Join Date: Mar 2008
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Re: Player Desires (Cinematic vs Realism)
For real but maybe not realistic people. Story Musgrave, astronaut, doctor, pilot, Marine, high school dropout. Dropped out of high school to join the marines. Went back to college. He received a BS degree in mathematics and statistics from Syracuse University in 1958, an MBA degree in operations analysis and computer programming from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1959, a BA degree in chemistry from Marietta College in 1960, an M.D. degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1964, an MS in physiology and biophysics from the University of Kentucky in 1966 and a MA in literature from the University of Houston–Clear Lake in 1987.
Was a aircraft tech in the marines and then learned to fly. He has flown 17,700 hours in 160 different types of civilian and military aircraft, including 7,500 hours in jet aircraft. He has earned FAA ratings for instructor, instrument instructor, glider instructor, and airline transport pilot, and U.S. Air Force Wings. An accomplished parachutist, he has made more than 800 free falls — including over 100 experimental free-fall descents involved with the study of human aerodynamics. Scuba dives as a hobby. |
09-18-2012, 02:21 AM | #12 | ||||
Join Date: Sep 2012
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Re: Player Desires (Cinematic vs Realism)
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I'm feeling a bit more confident now we have a few more 'outs' early on. I'm trying avoid giving out skills that might be mega awesome later, but of course that doesn't matter if they don't make it! Intuition / Danger Sense etc ... might not be too bad, and I think I could GM it easy enough. Quote:
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I think that's part of the draw of the setting for the players. I'm thinking of perhaps giving out CPs to spend on skills on critical hits to help up the number of CPs hitting the table without making it too much of a decision on my part. My table seems to not like CPs etc given out seemingly randomly, but I think I can still sneak some in here and there beyond the usual reasons for CPs. Kromm: been having a read of your play sessions. This is interesting reading since I'm in that situation of having to deal with at least one over the top player. There are two players that are on my 'most likely to get everyone killed in the first twenty minutes' list. Can I ask if there has been any particular situations that stand out where the cinema shenannigans got in the way of the realism aspects for the other players and how you handled it? Basically I'm hoping that my smart players will be able to even out the rambo aspects of the crazy one. :) That said, it should be an interesting game, and everyone's ideas have really helped. |
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09-18-2012, 09:02 AM | #13 | |
Banned
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Europe
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Re: Player Desires (Cinematic vs Realism)
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Is it by the first group of players choosing to spend their points on intrinsic abilities, apart from the mandatory (e.g. 15 CP) amount of Luck or Luck-type traits, while the 2nd group spends a lot more than that on Luck-type traits, such as 100+ points? If not, then please explain in more depth, because them I'm not seeing it at all. |
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09-18-2012, 10:01 AM | #14 |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: Player Desires (Cinematic vs Realism)
It's pretty simple, really:
Some players take skills that suit a seriously action-oriented style of play, stick to a relatively short skill list, and crank up the levels; e.g., a Parkour-martial artist type with Acrobatics, Climbing, Jumping, Karate, and Stealth at 18+, and relatively few realistic "secret agent" skills, mostly at 12-14. This lets them excel at close-to-unrealistic moves by virtue of having high enough skill to absorb penalties with skills that tend to allow flashy stuff. They also tend to pick big-ticket traits that aid showing off, from more Luck to the maximum Basic Move I allow for humans to borderline-realistic advantages like Perfect Balance. These players save Luck for their cool moves, and to attack and defend in combat. Other players spread skill points over quite a few skills that suit a fairly realistic covert-ops style of play; e.g., lots of specific equipment-oriented and technical skills at 13-15, with perhaps one narrow specialty at 16-18. This lets them excel at their technical specialty only, but function usefully in just about any low-key situation. They also tend to pick lots of small edges like perks and techniques that aid technical tasks, and a bit of Less Sleep or Acute Vision. These players save Luck for mission-critical intelligence-gathering and deception, and to survive unlucky hits in combat. Everybody is subject to the same rules. They have to live with the same decisions I've made regarding whether we use the bleeding rules, whether players can use extra effort in combat, whether players can spend points to influence outcomes, etc. They get the same skill modifiers. They face the same opponents. The difference is that players of the first type have PCs that are extremely good at high-pressure action, but little else, while the those of the second kind can deal with a broader range of stuff with slow, sure preparation. This matches the players' boredom thresholds, so everybody wins.
__________________
Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
09-18-2012, 10:25 AM | #15 |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Player Desires (Cinematic vs Realism)
Hum. Is there a DX-monkey vs. IQ-monkey split there? Because it seems like the example action-guy should be buying DX to the limit (unless there's a ninja talent on offer), whereas the covert operator's skill set is likely to skew heavily to IQ skills and beg for an IQ of 13-14.
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I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
09-18-2012, 10:29 AM | #16 | |
Banned
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Europe
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Re: Player Desires (Cinematic vs Realism)
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09-18-2012, 10:32 AM | #17 | |
Banned
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Europe
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Re: Player Desires (Cinematic vs Realism)
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To be a skill-monkey in GURPS you need some DX or IQ or usually both, but not a lot, although depending on available Talents you can reduce needed DX or IQ by a bit. I don't see any reason not to have IQ-monkey specialists too, but possibly there's not a large demographic who finds it to be as cool as being a DX-monkey. |
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09-18-2012, 12:16 PM | #18 |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: Player Desires (Cinematic vs Realism)
What I have is "specialists in just the cool stuff" vs. "generalists at lots of stuff." However, "cool" is subjective. For one player (Zhang's), it means things that benefit from high DX and HT, like running, climbing, and jumping. For another player (Anabel's), it means things that benefit from high IQ and Smooth Operator, like deception and seduction. Then there are the players who prefer to have a broad skill base; for instance, Wen's player has made Wen adept at sniping, hand-to-hand combat, explosives, forgery, threat detection, and impersonating little girls, which calls for a broad spectrum of unrelated attributes, advantages, perks, and skills . . .
This is because Zhang's player thinks of "secret agents" as being more like action heroes, Anabel's player idolizes classic 1960s femme fatale protagonists, and Wen's player likes semi-realistic spy movies better than either of the above. Then there's Vinnie's player, who appears to like low-key gangster movies from the 1940s through 1960s, and who finds that he has almost too many points, so he has deliberately spread himself thin to remain low-key.
__________________
Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
09-18-2012, 03:17 PM | #19 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: Player Desires (Cinematic vs Realism)
That's interesting. I like semi-realistic better than full-on cinematic - mt suspension of disbelief is fussy - and I've found reading your write-ups that Wen is a character who I can relate to much better than most of them.
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Tags |
cinematic, players, realism, stupid |
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