What's the highest skill level you've ever had for a PC or NPC?

[WingedKagouti]

Originally Posted by maximara

Couldn't those same feats have been handled by Techniques which, unless the Ancient Martial Arts Master™ have at least four per skill (not style), would have been more cost effective and not requires to skill to be off in orbit? Never mind even with DX at a somewhat insane 18 your are talking about 72 points for the 35 minimum in one skill.

I agree that Style! in the 18-20 range is more effective for such an NPC then sending the skill levels off into orbit.

Stuff like reliable instant 3xST Power Blow can't be done with Techniques. Same with having a near undefeatable Parry Missile Weapons against small projectiles.

And given that this was supposed to be a True Master™ type of character with many decades of perfecting their Martial Arts, stratospheric skill levels seems far more apropriate than Style! at such paltry levels as you suggest.

[AlexanderHowl]

I do not know. A true master could reach Attribute+10 in Style!, which would cost 144 CP. In addition to its standard effects, it would also give them 12 bonus points per session for buying successes, flesh wounds, player guidance, and miraculous recovery related to Style!.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

Stuff like reliable instant 3xST Power Blow can't be done with Techniques. Same with having a near undefeatable Parry Missile Weapons against small projectiles.

And given that this was supposed to be a True Master™ type of character with many decades of perfecting their Martial Arts, stratospheric skill levels seems far more apropriate than Style! at such paltry levels as you suggest.

Power Blow is, like everything requiring Trained By A Master or Weapon Master, is a Cinematic ability. And if you are already using Cinematic traits and skills why not go all in and allow the Cinematic Combat Rules?

More over bang! skills like Style! have insane abilities included. 'Success by 10+ is always a critical success' is brutal in the 18-20 range (25.9% to 50.0%) but if you go up to Style! 26 one is looking at criticals 98.1% of the time (17 and 18 always fail) So barring major penalties, many of which wildcards ignore, a Style! 26 Master is going to slap the 35-38 non wildcard skilled Ancient Martial Arts Master™ around like a red headed stepchild...or pound him like Happosai when the mob of women running after him for groping them and stealing their underwear finally catch him.

This is ignoring the fact that Style! has its own additional benefits.

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

I do not know. A true master could reach Attribute+10 in Style!, which would cost 144 CP. In addition to its standard effects, it would also give them 12 bonus points per session for buying successes, flesh wounds, player guidance, and miraculous recovery related to Style!.

As shown by the GURPSwiki page GURPS' Cinematic Rules and Wildcard Skills are major game changers. So much so that combining means two means high skill levels simply aren't really needed. And even if you feel that they are needed then Skill! 26 is about as high as you should be going.

[Icelander]

A PC capable of augmenting their abilities by allowing a not-very-nice spirit to possess them allowed that spirit nearly total control in today's session. Resulted in skill 30 for Karate and Judo and effective Knife skill 36 with the Obsidian Athame of vast and ancient power.

And that's not even her Final Form.

[Boomerang]

My current campaign has some ridiculous skill levels. Stuff the PCs know about:

* An upgraded Overmind built by a super powered genius gadgeteer. This version of Overmind has skills like Computer Progamming at 40+

* An ancient superhero possibly 60,000 years old. She has identified and hunted down problematic supers throughout history and has Observation and Stealth at 40+

* A billion year old sentient super science alien space ship, who acts as a patron to the PCs, and would have skills in the range of 50 - 60 but I can’t be bothered working out the exact stats.

[Andreas]

Originally Posted by maximara

More over bang! skills like Style! have insane abilities included. 'Success by 10+ is always a critical success' is brutal in the 18-20 range (25.9% to 50.0%) but if you go up to Style! 26 one is looking at criticals 98.1% of the time (17 and 18 always fail) So barring major penalties, many of which wildcards ignore, a Style! 26 Master is going to slap the 35-38 non wildcard skilled Ancient Martial Arts Master™ around like a red headed stepchild...or pound him like Happosai when the mob of women running after him for groping them and stealing their underwear finally catch him.

This might be a pretty good reason to avoid Style!. Getting critical hits on each other with almost every attack is not at all how fights between martial arts masters tend to go in fiction.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by maximara

More over bang! skills like Style! have insane abilities included. 'Success by 10+ is always a critical success' is brutal in the 18-20 range (25.9% to 50.0%) but if you go up to Style! 26 one is looking at criticals 98.1% of the time (17 and 18 always fail) So barring major penalties, many of which wildcards ignore, a Style! 26 Master is going to slap the 35-38 non wildcard skilled Ancient Martial Arts Master™ around like a red headed stepchild...or pound him like Happosai when the mob of women running after him for groping them and stealing their underwear finally catch him.

Using an extra-powerful optional rule from an optional book of optional rules, and ignoring the bit where it's recommended that Crit chances be capped at 8- or 9-, sure.

[DangerousThing]

Originally Posted by maximara

... but if you go up to Style! 26 one is looking at criticals 98.1% of the time (17 and 18 always fail)

That section of Girls Power Ups 7 suggests to limit critical success to 8 or 9.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by Rupert

Using an extra-powerful optional rule from an optional book of optional rules, and ignoring the bit where it's recommended that Crit chances be capped at 8- or 9-, sure.

Originally Posted by DangerousThing

That section of Girls Power Ups 7 suggests to limit critical success to 8 or 9.

Actually the Wild Criticals box says no such thing. it just says that GMs should set a maximum and that a critical success of "9 or even 8 is still generous." So if anything it is suggesting the GM limit critical successes to a 7 which is still an impressive 16.2% of the time.

The GURPS Compendium II went at high as 10 though it was far less generous then 4e about having that ability in terms of skill level ie the 19 critical success requires a skill of 35 which is likely where all these Skill 35+ masters are coming from - a vague memory of that old rule.

Originally Posted by Boomerang

My current campaign has some ridiculous skill levels. Stuff the PCs know about:

* An upgraded Overmind built by a super powered genius gadgeteer. This version of Overmind has skills like Computer Progamming at 40+

* An ancient superhero possibly 60,000 years old. She has identified and hunted down problematic supers throughout history and has Observation and Stealth at 40+

* A billion year old sentient super science alien space ship, who acts as a patron to the PCs, and would have skills in the range of 50 - 60 but I can’t be bothered working out the exact stats.

Wouldn't have certain advantages with the right enhancements and limitations rather then sending the skill off into orbit work just as well. Invisibility (cosmic+other enhancements and limitations) replacing the Stealth 40+ and Acute Senses (Vision, (cosmic+other enhancements and limitations) immediately comes to mind. And odds are they would be far cheaper in terms of points.

This is starting to remind me of the fan creation GURPS Mummy which rather then using relevant 3e advantages the author went for sending the attributes into orbit (as high as 40+).

[Boomerang]

Originally Posted by maximara

Wouldn't have certain advantages with the right enhancements and limitations rather then sending the skill off into orbit work just as well. Invisibility (cosmic+other enhancements and limitations) replacing the Stealth 40+ and Acute Senses (Vision, (cosmic+other enhancements and limitations) immediately comes to mind. And odds are they would be far cheaper in terms of points.

This is starting to remind me of the fan creation GURPS Mummy which rather then using relevant 3e advantages the author went for sending the attributes into orbit (as high as 40+).

Oh no, they have appropriate advantages in addition to the numbers I have quoted above, making their effective skill even higher!

Having ridiculously high base skills does make sense in the context of the campaign world. Overmind for example is a genius with near instant access to the sum total of all human knowledge up until the mid 21st century.