10-10-2024, 04:54 PM | #21 | ||||
Join Date: Jun 2022
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Re: High Power GURPS: Where lies the problem?
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Frex, I know GURPS GMs who think "the system breaks" if PCs have more than 100 exp, or if you start with more than 25 cp to start, or if the PC's Attributes are above 10. All of which I consider pure bunk, but it's a subjective thing. So 'breaks' for one can be 'pure joy" for another. Now, back in 3e, specifically with Supers, what I usually heard "breaks" it meant "the realism settings run counter to a 4-colour supers genre". Which is true. So you have to adjust the settings. Quote:
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10-10-2024, 05:19 PM | #22 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: High Power GURPS: Where lies the problem?
Requiring extensive customization is a legitimate complaint if a game claims to support something; it's a drawback of calling a system 'generic universal'.
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10-10-2024, 05:45 PM | #23 | ||||||
Join Date: Jun 2022
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Re: High Power GURPS: Where lies the problem?
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* I dunno know, I've always found it easy, but I'm not troubled by steamrolling PCs who aren't 'tough enough' or targeting specifically 'munchkinned' PCs with 'hard mode' enemies that basically just go after them. But I always make it clear in Sesh Zero what teh campaign expectations are and if a Player wants to optimize certain hazards out of their PC's life I'm either "okay, who cares" or "get wrecked by the NPC who has heard about the tough guy", depends on what they're trying to optimize out. Quote:
If we prefer a "Marvel Universe" to a "The Boys Universe"... well, that's on us. We set those sliders. If you mean, "the characters also have their own writers so the GM just can't willy-nilly things", well yes. But I think that's a different issue. |
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10-10-2024, 06:00 PM | #24 | |
Join Date: Jun 2022
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Re: High Power GURPS: Where lies the problem?
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I think it's a mindset thing. When I started playing rpgs back in the early 80s, I was not wed to the Rules As Written. Even in the before times, we house ruled things, we changed things to suit our fancies. We adjusted the sliders with some heavy hands. So I've never understood this idea people have of "but the rules don't allow for us to do X, Y, or Z thing that we want". I've just never been able to emotionally connect with that. Intellectually? Yeah, okay, clearly the position exists, there are people complaining about it! I've just never grokked it so I can't argue with it properly. My instinctive "adjust it to fit me" attitude is probably why I've loved GURPS since I met it*. Also why I really liked Big Eyes, Small Mouth as a generic system (I forget which edition rebranded itself as a generic universal simple system) and FATE, they just don't have the fidelity I crave (and I've never actually been able to get a crew together to play FATE, so I'm still hazy on how some things work in actual play). * The GURPS campaign I ever ran I completely built a new magic system for it since I disliked the Basic Set's Skill as Spells magic system. I still like my system better than Skills as Spells, but it's basically White Wolf's Mage The Ascension magic system ... I didn't even filed the serial numbers off. |
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10-10-2024, 10:40 PM | #25 | |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: High Power GURPS: Where lies the problem?
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I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
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10-10-2024, 11:14 PM | #26 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Orem, Utah, USA
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Re: High Power GURPS: Where lies the problem?
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1. Niche protection. Supers straight up says to use this rather than points to balance supers games. It requires the GM and players to be involved in the creation of each others characters. If you do this you can make sure that characters have the skills and abilities that will be needed in your game without having them at too high a level for your game and gives each character the chance to shine. 2. GURPS has given two ways to solve this. Supers Provides the Super ST enhancement that can allow PCs to do a lot of damage and toss around really heavy things for much more reasonable point totals. Power Ups 9 suggests dropping the cost of ST at higher Tech Levels as weapons depend less on ST. Of course if you're building to concept rather than to point totals it doesn't matter how many points it costs. If you're building to concept all you need to worry about does the character have enough ST to toss around cars, tanks or battleships not the points. 3. These are best handled by GM involvement in character creation and giving players a good expectation of what kind of game is being planned. Just because the rules say you can do a thing doesn't not mean it should be allowed in every game. The GM must vet character concepts in high power games and he needs to make sure the character created actually fits the agreed upon idea. 4. If it can be done by tech in your game maybe the PCs are better off buying it with cash rather than points. Meta Tech offers a great tool for gadget based heroes to be built on cash. Of course if you want an innate ability that's immune to breakage, theft or confiscation by the authorities it probably should be expensive. It should also include a power modifier that allows the GM to remove it at dramatically appropriate times. Alternatively, build to concept and don't worry about the point totals. They aren't great for balancing high powered games anyway. 5. Injury Tolerance: Damage Reduction exist for exactly this reason so does Hard to Kill. Supers suggests making both of these campaign settings in four color games rather than including them on character sheets. Power Ups 9 suggests reviving the third edition Stun Damage rules as another alternative. There are often solutions to every issue a detractors can bring up in the rules. It's a matter of knowing they are there and choosing which ones to use to create the style of game you want to create.
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Maxim 2: A Seargeant in motion outranks a Lieutenant who doesn't know what's going on. |
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10-10-2024, 11:14 PM | #27 | |
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central Europe
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Re: High Power GURPS: Where lies the problem?
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I think GURPS could be reinvented in the manner of some simpler generic systems IF SJG was willing to invest $100k or so in labour and risk losing the current customer base. Understandably they are not.
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"It is easier to banish a habit of thought than a piece of knowledge." H. Beam Piper This forum got less aggravating when I started using the ignore feature Last edited by Polydamas; 10-10-2024 at 11:17 PM. |
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10-11-2024, 01:51 AM | #28 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: High Power GURPS: Where lies the problem?
I hardly ever run a campaign without circulating a set of "protocols" that include my house rules for that specific campaign. This is true not just in GURPS but in the majority of systems that I use.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
10-11-2024, 02:37 AM | #29 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: High Power GURPS: Where lies the problem?
A point to consider when talking about how "expansion book X handles Y" is... competitors in the 'can do anything' market, such as BESM, Fudge, and Hero, can do it with just the base book -- expansions are nice to have but not actually needed.
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10-11-2024, 03:04 AM | #30 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: High Power GURPS: Where lies the problem?
Well, maybe not quite with BESM. If you want to play supers you're going to want to buy Absolute Power, which has the same underlying mechanics but customized for the genre, including higher top end abilities.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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