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Old 05-15-2021, 10:51 AM   #1
Opodiphthera eucalypti
 
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Default Highly Limited Snatcher

The Basic Set version of Snatcher has the "Specialized" limitation that restricts what can be snatched. The most extreme limitation shown is "only blue things" at -25%.

What would you price it if you could only snatch a single item in a specific state?
For example you can only snatch a dagger of a specific weight, reach, cost, quality, etc. where in game terms every dagger you snatch is identical, and you always snatch it in the same grip. If you snatch a radio the channel is always the same. A gun always has it's safety on or always off. My instinct tells me this is a -80% limitation.

What if you could snatch only a single item, but it could be any type or state?
Back to the dagger, you can still only snatch a dagger in a specific grip but you can snatch any kind of dagger. Fine quality, cheap quality, a dagger made from wood, steel, titanium, ice, whatever the GM says counts as a "dagger" you can snatch.
Similar to this, let's say you can only snatch a stock Glock 18 with a 33 round magazine and 33 rounds, but it could be in any state. Switched to full or semi-auto, slide back or forward, round in the chamber or not in the chamber, totally disassembled, and so on. You can snatch the dagger in any grip you choose, standard, icepick, ideal for throwing, and so on.
This I'm less certain of the pricing. Best guess, starting from -80%, type or state would provide +10%. So "any type, one state" or "one type, any state" would be -70% and "any type, any state" would be -60%.
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Old 05-15-2021, 12:42 PM   #2
Shuckster
 
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Default Re: Highly Limited Snatcher

I would recommend using a modified "Create" (found on Powers page 92) rather than snatcher, using "Specific Item" at 5 points per level, you'd be able to create up to 10 pounds worth of the weapon at a time before they start to disappear at level 1, but they would vanish after 10 seconds. You could fix this by spending character points thrown into a creation pool. Since the dagger doesn't weigh much your pool wouldn't need to be very big to have at least one dagger constantly available. This would cost you maybe 6-7 character points instead of snatcher's much larger amount
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Old 05-15-2021, 01:05 PM   #3
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Default Re: Highly Limited Snatcher

Quote:
Originally Posted by Opodiphthera eucalypti View Post
The Basic Set version of Snatcher has the "Specialized" limitation that restricts what can be snatched. The most extreme limitation shown is "only blue things" at -25%.

What would you price it if you could only snatch a single item in a specific state?
For example you can only snatch a dagger of a specific weight, reach, cost, quality, etc. where in game terms every dagger you snatch is identical, and you always snatch it in the same grip. If you snatch a radio the channel is always the same. A gun always has it's safety on or always off. My instinct tells me this is a -80% limitation.

What if you could snatch only a single item, but it could be any type or state?
Back to the dagger, you can still only snatch a dagger in a specific grip but you can snatch any kind of dagger. Fine quality, cheap quality, a dagger made from wood, steel, titanium, ice, whatever the GM says counts as a "dagger" you can snatch.
Similar to this, let's say you can only snatch a stock Glock 18 with a 33 round magazine and 33 rounds, but it could be in any state. Switched to full or semi-auto, slide back or forward, round in the chamber or not in the chamber, totally disassembled, and so on. You can snatch the dagger in any grip you choose, standard, icepick, ideal for throwing, and so on.
This I'm less certain of the pricing. Best guess, starting from -80%, type or state would provide +10%. So "any type, one state" or "one type, any state" would be -70% and "any type, any state" would be -60%.
Looks reasonable to me.

Create makes raw matter, not processed products.
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Old 05-15-2021, 01:57 PM   #4
Shuckster
 
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Default Re: Highly Limited Snatcher

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anders View Post
Looks reasonable to me.

Create makes raw matter, not processed products.
thats true, but you could link it to a greatly discounted and modified version of control for the same substance so that you automatically shape it into the dagger when you create it (uncontrollable trigger: own created metal, for example) and cannot control it any other way or at any other time or for any other shape and youd still end up spending less points after linking them, right?
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Old 05-16-2021, 01:28 AM   #5
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Default Re: Highly Limited Snatcher

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shuckster View Post
thats true, but you could link it to a greatly discounted and modified version of control for the same substance so that you automatically shape it into the dagger when you create it (uncontrollable trigger: own created metal, for example) and cannot control it any other way or at any other time or for any other shape and youd still end up spending less points after linking them, right?
You'd have to do the build to be sure, but I always prefer easy, clean builds even if they cost a little more. Makes bookkeeping simpler.
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Old 05-16-2021, 08:49 AM   #6
ravenfish
 
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Default Re: Highly Limited Snatcher

For the first, which amounts to "always has access to one specific item", I might be tempted to base it on Signature Gear or an Accessory perk rather than Snatcher.

For the second, Characters has some examples of "specialized" limitations for snatchers- "Only Weapons" is -10%, so "Only One Specific Kind of Weapon" should be substantially more than that (and probably substantially more than "Only Blue Things" at -25%).

Note that, since snatching takes a base ten seconds of concentration, the ability to snatch a gun in any grip and safety setting compares unfavorably to just drawing a gun and adjusting the grip and safety manually.
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Old 05-16-2021, 08:57 AM   #7
ericthered
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Default Re: Highly Limited Snatcher

Quote:
Originally Posted by ravenfish View Post
For the first, which amounts to "always has access to one specific item", I might be tempted to base it on Signature Gear or an Accessory perk rather than Snatcher.

I agree, though my top option would be extradimensional cosmic payload, which matches the description quite well.
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Old 05-16-2021, 10:50 AM   #8
Polkageist
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Default Re: Highly Limited Snatcher

Create just feels clumsy, and signature gear isn't quite appropriate for what's being described as a nominally disposable item. The dagger will be thrown, the gun discarded after its magazine is exhausted, etc.

The book advises looking at pg 110 "Accessibility" for guidance of further limitations. A hyper-specialized version of snatcher probably is fine at -60% because it's a specific dagger/gun/item that's identical each time so you don't have the versatility that snatcher usually has when pulling something. However, you have unlimited access to that item, which in itself gives you a hammer (literally) you can nearly always apply. -40% is good for specific class. "Only blue things" covers blue books, blue guns, blue knives, blue screwdrivers, etc. So 'Only daggers [9mm pistols, hammers]' gets you a much more limited class of things, but at least some access to the variations in that class. Claw-hammer vs. sledge vs. tack for example. -80% is a bit much for a still very useful ability.

I'm confused about the posture state, because as pointed out Snatcher takes 10 seconds and doesn't indicate that it can (or should) be sped up. That is, it doesn't mention a malus to the IQ roll to succeed with less time, or a +X% to make it go faster. The grip or state that an item arrives in seems... incidental with a 10s delay, not worth incorporating into the discount. And if that state can be trivially changed (change grip, change station), that's definitely not worth a discount.

Anyway, speed is a neat wrinkle into the snatcher ability so I want to explore a bit on how to incorporate that. Might make a character with it, especially for a dagger chucker in DF :)

Looking at pg346, "Haste" in a task is -1 per 10% discount to time. Since snatcher is so conveniently set at 10s per attempt, it's -1 to the IQ roll per 1s less it takes to snatch an item up to a whopping -9 for a 1s snatch. We can avoid tweaking the ability cost by using that rule.
Contrariwise, +10% per 1s less it takes up to +80% for a 2s snatch. That's not quite as good, but it's on par with a wizard pumping up a good-sized fireball and 2s is still a really good pace since you're not at an IQ malus and are likely going to succeed on pulling something really fast.

2FP. Ah, yeah, that's a price too. There's probably something to play with there, give me a sec to ponder.
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