01-25-2021, 05:24 PM | #41 | ||
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Skills - maybe this game isn't what I'm looking for
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(Also, shouldn't really plug the superseded and deficient Off-Hand Weapon Training technique. It was mispriced compared to Ambidextrous, and replaced by a perk that fully buys off the penalty.) Quote:
I thought there was a thing where the price per point of skills could scale exponentially without limit? But that might be some nonsense I confabulated, my signature disclaimer about 3e ignorance is still mostly accurate.
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I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
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01-25-2021, 05:35 PM | #42 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Skills - maybe this game isn't what I'm looking for
Yes, the OHW technique was just really odd. One of the reasons why they had to get rid of it though was the Perk of Technique Mastery, as someone could have legally taken Technique Mastery and raised OHW to Skill+4 for an extra 4 CP (meaning that they could have effectively gained 16 CP of value for 10 CP of investment). Since they could have also taken Technique Master for Ground Fighting, and therefore Ground Fighting to Skill+4, you could have ended up with a character that attacked and defended better with their offhand while lying down than with their dominant hand while standing up.
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01-25-2021, 06:25 PM | #43 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
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Re: Skills - maybe this game isn't what I'm looking for
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I suggest a game where characters start at around 125 points or so, where bonus character points are easily earned by accomplishing adventuring goals, and where lots of cinematic options are used. Most exotic and supernatural traits are only allowed in racial templates, but Magery and Power Investiture should be available. Keep the disadvantage limit fairly low, maybe a maximum of 25 or 30 points or so. This should keep the character sheets fairly simple and to the point. And remember only to roll for things that matter. |
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01-25-2021, 06:54 PM | #44 | |
Join Date: Nov 2020
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Re: Skills - maybe this game isn't what I'm looking for
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01-25-2021, 10:08 PM | #45 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: Skills - maybe this game isn't what I'm looking for
Yeah, I was about to say that.
If it's not a dangerous, climactic, or other serious situation, there's no need to get serious about the roll and its mods. Or even roll at all. Like saddling up for a little ride. It's a quiet moment; the party's making dinner and inventorying their stuff. The knight says "I'm going to ride over to that ridge and see what's there." There's no raging battle, no bandit ambush, no flying lava bombs, just a bored knight and a grazing palfrey. All the GM needs to do (if anything) is note that the knight's spent a point and has a Riding skill of 12: clearly, she's been in the saddle plenty of times and can handle a mount competently. "Okay, you ride up there without incident. You see . . ." Dice can still happen, if the table's in the mood to play around. Someone - the knight's player, or the GM, or another player looking to get some banter going – might call for a quick skill roll for the fun of it. No mods, no complications, just a roll. The GM can respond to success with "Looking smooth!", or describe "failure" as "Whoa, a little shaky on the mount there, but you're fine." Even a crit fail on this zero-stress action might mean "Oops, you needed a second try to get up there. Be careful!". That gets followed by some expected ribbing from the party thief, which earns a comeback of "Yeah? How you doing with the stew there? Let's see a Cooking roll, buddy . . ." This sort of stuff happens all the time. In short: If it's not serious business, don't bother with serious mechanics; just eyeball the stat, or give it a simple roll, and make up something appropriate. (That falls under the official "Roll and Shout" rule of play, I believe. Though in practice, it's often "Roll and Make Jokes". : )
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01-25-2021, 11:36 PM | #46 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Sweden, Stockholm
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Re: Skills - maybe this game isn't what I'm looking for
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Some backstory which explains why the characters are adventuring together can help make roleplaying easier for characters even if (hypothetically) the characters are forced together and forward by some narrative. F.ex. one character being the twin sister of the other, and that character having fought in a war alongside another older character. Perhaps the twins are driven by dreams of future greatness, while the older soldier is trying to keep them safe, but also interested in seeing where it all leads. That sort of thing creates more natural-feeling party-dynamics than the typical "An elf, a dwarf, and a bard sat at an inn", in my experience.
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"Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts. Then, until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared" |
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01-26-2021, 04:35 AM | #47 | |
Join Date: Nov 2020
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Re: Skills - maybe this game isn't what I'm looking for
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01-26-2021, 07:07 AM | #48 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
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Re: Skills - maybe this game isn't what I'm looking for
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That way, the GM can decide players can choose to do things like Channeling spirits or having a Higher Purpose without them being part of a racial template, but can exclude effects not desired ("Sorry, Dominance doesn't exist in this setting"). |
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01-26-2021, 07:26 AM | #49 | ||
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: Skills - maybe this game isn't what I'm looking for
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Also be on the lookout for places where no roll is needed! Mounting Up (p. B396) calls for no roll to mount a horse normally – only if you want to "leap astride" in one turn of combat time. Lots of specific tasks work this way, and it's important to note that the specific always trumps the general (e.g., a skill description, which is as general as it comes).
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
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01-26-2021, 07:30 AM | #50 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Sweden, Stockholm
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Re: Skills - maybe this game isn't what I'm looking for
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This is just me personally, but I wouldn't permit a player to sit at my table for anything but the most mindless of dungeon delving unless they can come up with at least a basic backstory that sounds slightly interesting. I have no interest in being the GM for Adventurer McDude who just materialized in an adventuring party one day to kick goblins and solve death-trap puzzles.
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"Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts. Then, until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared" |
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