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Old 07-07-2021, 11:38 AM   #1
Plane
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Default advantage for building your own Gadget-limited advantages?

IE if I want to build force field belts of various sizes that provide varying DRs...

Closest I can think is Modular Abiltities for Affliction where I can only afflict traits w/ Gadget limitations giving some kind of discount on the cost of Modular Abilities.

Powers 63 talks about this with Limited, with P64 assigning -30 for Afflictions and further discounts (-40 or -50 total) come from either "one specific form of a flexible, powerful advantage" or "one flexible advantage subject to restrictive modifiers"

There's no -40 example for affliction while the -50 example is "with Based
on Will and Malediction 1" (requiring two enhancements)

In the case of mandatory gadget limitations you're requiring at least one limitation rather than two enhancements. If it must be both destroyable (even if the DR is so high it's worth -0%) and stealable, does that sound like -40% territory or -50% territory?

Probably would also need some kind of accessibility/gadget on Modular Abilities itself like "I need a wrench to build the force field belt" where I guess the value would depend on the complexity of tools/setup needed to build the device.

If it was build from something like Cosmic Power it could explain instant-switching between different kind of designs (maybe just a brief moment to collect your thoughts) where the actual construction time could be reflected in the Takes Extra Time or Preparation Required built into Affliction itself, rather than Modular Abilities?

The only problem with Affliction for Gadgets is I can't think of anyway to prevent Healing (Afflictions Only) from making your gadgets vanish. I guess that would perhaps be prevented by having Cosmic +50% so only Cosmic Affliction-Healing could vanish the gadgets?

Or maybe rather than making the gadgets Vanish, getting hit with the Healing would just remove their capacity to impart the advantages, like de-power them?

I wonder if maybe since the gadget is the host (ie if someone steals it, they can use the advantage) maybe afflictions of Advantage (gadget -??%) would actually need to target the gadget itself (thus be usable on machines not just organics) to remove their capacity to impart powers? Otherwise if you just target the user of a gadget maybe it should only just remove the effect?
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Old 07-07-2021, 02:32 PM   #2
Anaraxes
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Default Re: advantage for building your own Gadget-limited advantages?

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Originally Posted by Plane View Post
The only problem with Affliction for Gadgets is I can't think of anyway to prevent Healing (Afflictions Only) from making your gadgets vanish.
Just rule that Healing doesn't affect beneficial Afflictions. (See Powers p40.) The Cure Afflictions modifier introduced in Powers clearly wasn't intended to be a general purpose Dispel Magic, much less Uncreate Gadgets.

If you're into RAW lawyering, then slap a +50% Cosmic on the belt-making ability, "not subject to the usual restrictions", which is to say it breaks a rule, in this case the rule that one says Healing can cure (this) Affliction. (It's actually the converse of the example of allowing Healing to cure incurable diseases -- disallow others' Healing from curing your Afflictions. And narrower than that, to boot, since it's just one Affliction, not an open-ended list like "incurable diseases".)
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Old 07-07-2021, 03:04 PM   #3
Plane
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Default Re: advantage for building your own Gadget-limited advantages?

I'm wondering though if Afflicting gadget-limited advantages ought to actually create the item though or if you also ought to have some kind of advantage which either creates matter, or else supply the matter yourself.

You can't for example get a free 10-pound helmet made of Lutetium that you could sell to buy your own country just because you buy some 5-point advantage with a gadget limitation tied to a 10-pound Lutetium helmet... you'd have to also buy the Lutetium helmet too, I would think...

So afflicting a gadget-based advantage seems like perhaps you'd have the ability to empower pre-existing matter with the ability to impart advantages?
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Old 07-08-2021, 04:27 AM   #4
Prince Charon
 
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Default Re: advantage for building your own Gadget-limited advantages?

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Originally Posted by Plane View Post
So afflicting a gadget-based advantage seems like perhaps you'd have the ability to empower pre-existing matter with the ability to impart advantages?
That's about the way I would handle it if the advantage doesn't have a further enhancement, like 'Physical, +50%' (admittedly, that enhancement is for Modular Abilities, not Affliction itself, but I think it should be allowable to port it over if the Affliction isn't already inside MA).
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Old 07-08-2021, 12:51 PM   #5
Plane
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Default Re: advantage for building your own Gadget-limited advantages?

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Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post
That's about the way I would handle it if the advantage doesn't have a further enhancement, like 'Physical, +50%' (admittedly, that enhancement is for Modular Abilities, not Affliction itself, but I think it should be allowable to port it over if the Affliction isn't already inside MA).
If I were using Modular Abilities to be able to re-arrange Affliction points then since B35 defines it as a physical advantage I think you're right you'd need the +50% enhancement on MA.

One possibly way around that might be to take a modifier on Affliction which transforms it into a mental advantage such as "requires will roll" or "requires IQ roll" since Powers talks about how that can change the nature of advantages.

If it was just Affliction but you had Variable Enhancement then this wouldn't really matter though.
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