How to deal with Modular Abilities taking over

[Eric Funk]

Originally Posted by Lovewyrm

Unless it's cosmic, your player will need to somehow have a source for the skills/mental advantages gained this way.

If it's cosmic then either do the talk thing to remove the ability or maybe put those preparation required and limited use limitations on it, or something.

This.

GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Sages puts both limits on it that you need books and hours to use modular abilities.


Consider Regeneration's stages. Instant, 1-3 seconds are battle-ready traits.

Things that take on the order of 1min preparation are not for battle but between battles/skirmishes

1 hour prep is around what in The Other System might call per rest.

Consider also some cool-down period after changing each slot.


Plot-wise, perhaps have it known that there will be esoteric skills required that no other party member has, say Survival (Jelly planet) and Vehicle Operation (Right-hand drive underwater helicopter) and Physics (Temporal waffle iron) so idea-man can research them, hopefully with anxiety about which to spend more points on...

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

I'd love to see the build that pulls this off. Modular abilities are expensive!

Here's a relatively cheap build:

IQ+5 [100]
DX+5 [100]
Modular Ability (Slotted Cosmic) (Two slots of four points each) [54]
Overconfidence [-5]

And this daughter of the god of knowledge is here to trash any concept of niche protection in two seconds or less. Whether spending 54 points in skill would be a better move is an exercise for the reader.

[Eric Funk]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Here's a relatively cheap build:

IQ+5 [100]
DX+5 [100]
Modular Ability (Slotted Cosmic) (Two slots of four points each) [54]
Overconfidence [-5]

And this daughter of the god of knowledge is here to trash any concept of niche protection in two seconds or less. Whether spending 54 points in skill would be a better move is an exercise for the reader.

B71, you need to spend 1 second of concentration per ability to reconfigure (important to note in combat), and [54 cp] of Cosmic Power gets you 5 points of abilities (3 and 2, respectively?).

[zoncxs]

Originally Posted by Eric Funk

B71, you need to spend 1 second of concentration per ability to reconfigure (important to note in combat), and [54 cp] of Cosmic Power gets you 5 points of abilities (3 and 2, respectively?).

cosmic slotted is 7 points per slot and 5 points per point in said slot.

[sir_pudding]

254 points can do a lot. If you want a niche that doesn't invade, two levels of Altered Time Rate, would do it with 54 points left over.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Here's a relatively cheap build:

IQ+5 [100]
DX+5 [100]
Modular Ability (Slotted Cosmic) (Two slots of four points each) [54]
Overconfidence [-5]

And this daughter of the god of knowledge is here to trash any concept of niche protection in two seconds or less. Whether spending 54 points in skill would be a better move is an exercise for the reader.

That's a pretty solid Jack of All Trades build, but not one that can overwhelm a character of comparable points in their own niche - a [250] DF Swashbuckler is going to wreck her in combat, for example (if she put everything into a single DX/A combat skill, she's at skill 17). Granted, she does have up to another [51] to play with from Quirks, Disadvantages, and the remaining [1] from above, but that's only enough to boost each of those slots to eight points each (with [10] left over for some other traits - +1 HT would be worthwhile).

Which is why I'd like to see the problematic build - a character with Modular Abilities outperforming each character in their own niche is difficult to manage (certainly you can have one who can invade everyone else's niche, but generally the specialists should hold the advantage).

[TGLS]

Maybe the specialists are badly constructed or not very focused.

[Aldric]

Originally Posted by Varyon

That's a pretty solid Jack of All Trades build, but not one that can overwhelm a character of comparable points in their own niche - a [250] DF Swashbuckler is going to wreck her in combat, for example (if she put everything into a single DX/A combat skill, she's at skill 17). Granted, she does have up to another [51] to play with from Quirks, Disadvantages, and the remaining [1] from above, but that's only enough to boost each of those slots to eight points each (with [10] left over for some other traits - +1 HT would be worthwhile).

Which is why I'd like to see the problematic build - a character with Modular Abilities outperforming each character in their own niche is difficult to manage (certainly you can have one who can invade everyone else's niche, but generally the specialists should hold the advantage).

Exactly!

Plus your Jack of almost all trades is always at least 1 second behind the specialists, if he even realizes what's going on.

And there is always the GM that wants to test your rawn knowledge and makes you roll a skill against an attribute of 10.

[the_matrix_walker]

With the additional expense, the time delay, the inability to have that skill to lurk and have the character knowing what to look for off-turn when they are not expecting to need the skill, I'm just not seeing how this can be a big problem.

If someone having 4 points in each of two skills can knock you out of your niche, you really were not occupying it very well :P

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Maybe the specialists are badly constructed or not very focused.

That's certainly another possibility.

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

If someone having 4 points in each of two skills can knock you out of your niche, you really were not occupying it very well :P

Indeed. I did a quick comparison of the posted Jill of all Trades with Shigran. In his role as a frontline melee combatant, even giving Jill another [61] to play with, he's going to be markedly more effective - he's stronger (higher ST), more resilient (higher HT, as well as enough aspected DR to be largely immune to mundane fires), faster (higher Speed and Move), more skilled (skill 21 vs skill 19, assuming she puts everything in a DX/A combat skill), and harder to hit (Dodge 11 rather than Dodge 8; Parry 16 rather than Parry 12). She can get a little closer to parity on that last bit if she opts to split her skill between a one handed weapon and shield, and wields a medium shield - but that still puts her Dodge 1 lower than his and her Parry 3 lower (but she does gain Block 13, which he lacks as a defensive option, making her a bit better against ranged attackers... in a stand-up fight). Oh, and as a Weapon Master, he has markedly higher damage output (in conjunction with his higher ST), can attack more often, and deals with multiple attackers more readily. As a sneaky boi, they're closer, but I think he has the edge - while investing everything in Stealth lets her have Stealth 19 rather than his Stealth 17, his Silence 2 will generally negate that (and in some instances will put him ahead). Related to that, his Alpha Strike capability far outstrips hers - using the default rules, he's almost guaranteed to be able to basically teleport (using Backstab/Vanish, which is fluffed as "I was already hidden and in position" or similar) to the nearest foe as soon as combat starts and do a crazy-high damage sneak attack, and he can even replicate this fairly effectively during combat (a roll against 12 to vanish again; this has a bit less mobility, but his high Move means he's likely to pop up with fresh blood on his spear sooner rather than later), so long as there's a bit of cover to duck behind and break the enemy's line of sight.

Jill is better at... basically everything else. If she needs to engage a foe at range, she can shunt her points into a ranged combat skill (Shigran just has to rely on throwing great balls of fire - basically baseballs wrapped in the equivalent of oily rags and lit on fire; of course, in a ranged fight, Shigran can probably vanish, make his way over to the archers, and tear them apart). If she needs to traverse difficult terrain, she can have Acrobatics 18, much better than his Acrobatics 14. If she needs to play the role of Face, her IQ 15 plus up to [16] in an influence skill is going to do a much better job than he could manage. If things come down to a wrestling match (and she's aware of it a few seconds in advance), she can shunt her skill over to Judo or Wrestling and be much better off than he would be when relying on his DX default (of course, against many foes grappling Shigran isn't really an option, because he has no qualms about - and is completely unharmed by - setting himself on fire... which he can do in an instant if he feels like it). Her higher Per makes her better at scouting, even if she invests everything into high Stealth to avoid detection (and she could probably get to a good hidden location, then rearrange her points out of Stealth and into Observation for a greater boost). And she'll beat Shigran when it comes to any intellectual pursuits as well. But in his niches (basically, alpha strike and frontline melee), she's at a marked disadvantage.