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Old 08-13-2022, 03:55 PM   #1
johndallman
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
Default [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Perfect Balance

Perfect Balance [15] is a physical advantage that isn’t outright exotic, but is a bit good to be entirely realistic. You have an excellent sense of balance, and can do many things without any need for the skill or DX rolls that normal people would require. It first appeared in GURPS Aliens for 3e.

You can walk along stable narrow surfaces, such as high wires, ledges, and tree branches without rolling. Unstable or wet surfaces can require a roll, but you get +6 to it. In fights, you get +4 to all rolls against DX or DX-based skills (including Immovable Stance) to stay on your feet, or avoid being knocked down. You also get +1 to Acrobatics (including Aerobatics and Aquabatics), Climbing and Piloting.

Perfect Balance is widely used in GURPS supplements and stand-alone games, far more in Discworld than Girl Genius (fill in your own joke). It’s common for elves, except in Dungeon Fantasy, felines and martial artists, especially swashbucklers. In Action, it’s required for Infiltrators and Traceurs, and gives free Sure-Footed on all surfaces; similarly it’s useful for exploring old buildings in AtE. Bio-Tech treats it as a sensory biomod, and Disasters: Hurricane defines its effects in resisting strong winds. DF Thieves are required to have Perfect Balance, some animal allies can provide it, and it’s among the (huge) range of Ninja abilities.

Low-Tech describes this advantage’s uses in travel by water, and Magic has a spell to grant it, for a while. That would be valuable for defence in Martial Arts: Technical Grappling, while Power-Ups 3 has a related Talent, “Superior Equilibrioception.” Powers: Enhanced Senses has a cyberware version, and several Totems and Nature Spirits can grant it. Some Reign of Steel: Will to Live robots have it (“good gyros . . .”) as do a few SEALs in Vietnam. Zombies makes it part of specialising in Running Away.

The games I’ve played in and run haven’t featured Perfect Balance much, if at all. That doesn’t match up with GURPS canon very well, given how widely it’s used in supplements, and its presence on three of the 4e Iconic Characters. It’s nearly as expensive as +1 DX, but its usefulness definitely depends on character concept and campaign style. In a game where falling is a major trope, it would be invaluable, if it was allowed.

Have you tripped over a lack of this advantage?
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Old 08-13-2022, 05:47 PM   #2
Christopher R. Rice
 
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Portsmouth, VA, USA
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Perfect Balance

It's one of those things I see at least once on every character in a given group and sometimes more. I often see Double-Jointed/Flexibility, Perfect Balance, and Superior Equilibrioception together for the DX-mongers. Mostly because that is enough to run across a rope at full speed with no issues.

One of my current players has that combo in my AEON supers campaign and along with some Super Jumping and Super Climbing she scaled a 40 foot wall in a couple of combat rounds.

The upcoming DFD: Thieves will talk about it's usefulness some and make it less of a point sink for a few traits.
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Old 08-13-2022, 08:46 PM   #3
SydneyFreedberg
 
Join Date: May 2019
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Perfect Balance

I'm working on an alien that has it (not posted yet) -- they're centipede-like things that climb and jump and glide like flying squirrels. And yes, they've got Double-Jointed too. It seems so dramatic an advantage it's hard to conceive of a human having it outside of a cinematic campaign.
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Old 08-13-2022, 09:42 PM   #4
Dalin
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Saint Paul, MN
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Perfect Balance

In my DF campaigns, this has been a very popular advantage. The characters who have it make use of it frequently. It opens up a third dimension to characters who can’t otherwise fly. Rafters, ropes, ledges, spars, banisters, etc., are fairly commonplace.
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Old 08-13-2022, 11:08 PM   #5
Pursuivant
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Perfect Balance

It's certainly cinematic for a humans, and even many realistic creatures. Your typical arboreal creature gets by with high DX and Climbing skill, as well as (usually) lower weight which limits maximum damage from falls.

Since PB is such an old advantage there are also arguments to be made that it could have been a Talent, a leveled Trait, and/or that it overlaps with Terrain Adaptation.

Assuming Terrain Adaptation (Limitation: Only to Eliminate DX penalties, -40%), it works out to be the same cost as 5 different types of Terrain Adaptation, but TA is actually the better deal if you just want to move without being hindered because it eliminates all DX penalties for a given type of terrain, rather than just reducing them.

As a leveled trait, assuming PB effectively gives you +10 to keep your balance in normal situations, +6 in wet/slippery situations, and +4 in combat, and +1 to small set of skills it might work out as: +2 per level to Balance rolls, with each level reducing penalties for wet, slippery or unstable conditions by 1, and each two levels reducing penalties to keep your balance in combat by 1. Fair price might be 3 points per level, with the fifth level giving Perfect Balance.
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Old 08-14-2022, 07:31 AM   #6
martinl
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Perfect Balance

I expect this is great in a game where parkour like stuff is happening frequently. I have not played many such games - the nature of tabletop minis and battlemaps tends to push folks into a 2d paradigm.

I haven't done "theater of the mind" battles for important battles much, that might help.

Deliberately designing the adventure environment with lots of 3d shenanigans would help. Tall ships and tall buildings are a natural ally here.
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