Weird notation in MH3

[cmdicely]

Originally Posted by Maz

Ok, there are some truth to this. For instance using the spells Banish to banish Demons, it's FP cost is based on the dmeons CP-total. But IMO that's a terrible outdated way of doing it, and extremely bothersome to the GM. And luckily outside of Magic (which is known for it's legacy errors) I haven't see points-total being used anywhere.

"Sacrifice Values and Character Points", Thaumatology, p. 55.

However templates are sometimes relevant. for instance if PC's can morph into them. But then you don't actually need to know it's points total

If you are going to use the actual rules for Morph, you do.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Athanbeli

I also remember this was not always the case: in Fantasy we got points value for IQ 4 monstrous creatures like the Rukh (520 pts) and the chimera (85 pts).

If someone who does like noodling around with points happens to go to all the work of calculating the point value, you might as well include it. Leaving it out even though you have it borders on active malice - both to the person who's done the work, and to the folks who would have liked to see the numbers.

It's worth noting that I do basically all my monsters in GCA, simply because I find the big shopping lists of traits good inspiration. This results in a point total naturally falling out of my work, but that's more of an accident than deliberate.

[dcarson]

Even for Morph and Alternate Form if it looks like the point total wold be less than or equal to the PC that's enough info in most cases. Only if it would be more do you need to start figuring trade offs.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by cmdicely

"Sacrifice Values and Character Points", Thaumatology, p. 55.



If you are going to use the actual rules for Morph, you do.

Neither of which exist in MH and even if they did they wouldn't apply to monsters.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by dcarson

Even for Morph and Alternate Form if it looks like the point total wold be less than or equal to the PC that's enough info in most cases. Only if it would be more do you need to start figuring trade offs.

PC's racial template, not the PC.

550 point human is still human.

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

Originally Posted by Bruno

PC's racial template, not the PC.

550 point human is still human.

Then again, that's very setting specific, after all, Morph works as necessary to fit the setting, and I for one have never allowed any concepts which only took into account a PC's racial template instead of the PC template.

In fact, I find it a pretty silly setting which would use the PC's racial template, as that'd lead to things like super-mice and wonder-dogs, but to each their and I wouldn't begrudge anyone their silly campaigns.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Ze'Manel Cunha

In fact, I find it a pretty silly setting which would use the PC's racial template, as that'd lead to things like super-mice and wonder-dogs

This-does-not-follow.

Letting people play 550 point mice and dogs will lead to super-mice and wonder-dogs, but I'm not seeing the connection to shapeshifting.

[Athanbeli]

Originally Posted by Bruno

If someone who does like noodling around with points happens to go to all the work of calculating the point value, you might as well include it. Leaving it out even though you have it borders on active malice - both to the person who's done the work, and to the folks who would have liked to see the numbers.

I still prefer stat blocks, where you don't have to calculate the actual damage for the specific attacks, or sift through a long list of mixed skills to find the relevant levels for combat.

Furthermore, what's the point of a full write-up of a mythical beast like the chimaera, that a hero like Bellerophon (300+ cps) would squash in no time?

Perhaps stat blocks should include just the points total, omitting the sub-values that compose it. For those abilities that are not available in the various books intended for characters, the authors might simply establish their values case by case, not fussing too much over them.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Athanbeli

Perhaps stat blocks should include just the points total, omitting the sub-values that compose it. For those abilities that are not available in the various books intended for characters, the authors might simply establish their values case by case, not fussing too much over them.

That still has the problem Kromm posted about in that it takes a lot more time to calculate the point total of a monster then ti just make one.

[Kromm]

Writing in the item costs isn't the work, you see . . . it's looking them up in the first place, getting all the modifiers and adjustments and special cases right, and making the totals correct. Getting a final point value means doing 95% of the work we can't justify for a pure NPC monster. And I fail to see how having that value would help you estimate threat values, as it's a long-established truth that GURPS point values do not in any way correspond to "toughness." They can rate that, with a lot of specialized assumptions, but the only thing they rate in the general case is versatility.