Weapon Bond and Story - Hard Roleplaying or Overpowered Perk?

[Ubiquitous]

I wrote a friggin' book but the post can be summed up with;

-Is Weapon Bond just weapon skill at sale, due to being able to be used with one weapon and thusly costing -75% to a 4-point skill buff?

-Is there a heaaavy stress on Weapon Bond? As with Quirks, do Perks have to has a solid logic behind them, like an origin story or several sessions of Roleplay with the weapon, in Weapon Bond's case?

-Am I wrong for ditching a Bond to respend the point, after my GM railroaded me into dropping the sword with no chance of recovering it should I regain consciousness.

There's a whole story behind this but I wanted the feedback from players and GMs who'd have a perspective on Character traits like Perks and point spending and risks with investing points.

[gjc8]

Originally Posted by Ubiquitous

-Am I wrong for ditching a Bond to respend the point, after my GM railroaded me into dropping the sword with no chance of recovering it should I regain consciousness.

You can't actually do this. The reason weapon bond costs one point instead of four is that it works with one weapon. If you lose the weapon, you're out of luck.

[Ubiquitous]

Originally Posted by gjc8

You can't actually do this. The reason weapon bond costs one point instead of four is that it works with one weapon. If you lose the weapon, you're out of luck.

Yes but one would imagine I need a Weapon with which to bond. No weapon, no bond...and either it's such a big deal that I should get to reinvest it or it's such a little issue that it shouldn't bug anyone, is how I see it.

Anyone but my GM. I like the guy but we disagree a lot, I know more little rules in GURPS than he does, and I suspect he thinks I make some of them up.

[Diomedes]

Originally Posted by Ubiquitous

Yes but one would imagine I need a Weapon with which to bond. No weapon, no bond...and either it's such a big deal that I should get to reinvest it or it's such a little issue that it shouldn't bug anyone, is how I see it.

Weapon Bond does not imply plot protection for the weapon; that's what Signature Gear is for.
That said, many of the newer, supernatural versions of the perk allow it to be transferred with an appropriate ritual. In the same vein, I would allow you to, if you lose the weapon covered by the Bond, transfer it to a new weapon. Time and money spent customizing a rifle, for instance, or just a lot of practice.
I would not allow you to 'reinvest' the point in something other than a new weapon bond, however.

[Ubiquitous]

Originally Posted by Diomedes

Weapon Bond does not imply plot protection for the weapon; that's what Signature Gear is for.
That said, many of the newer, supernatural versions of the perk allow it to be transferred with an appropriate ritual. In the same vein, I would allow you to, if you lose the weapon covered by the Bond, transfer it to a new weapon. Time and money spent customizing a rifle, for instance, or just a lot of practice.
I would not allow you to 'reinvest' the point in something other than a new weapon bond, however.

Which is super, because that really is what I did. I transfered weapons. The issue was how long I had the weapon for, which is...irritating because for 1 point I didn't expect to have to abide by an undefined parameter of measurement...specifically 'You have to spend more time with it in a campaign ending soon'.

...To be fair my GM's logic is easily see-able, I just expected more leniency. I'm here looking for opinions of other player/GM types to see if these sentiments are shared or if I've really just gone crazy and should stop arguing with him over it.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Ubiquitous

Yes but one would imagine I need a Weapon with which to bond. No weapon, no bond...and either it's such a big deal that I should get to reinvest it or it's such a little issue that it shouldn't bug anyone, is how I see it.

Part of the reason it's as cheap as 1 point is precisely that you can lose the weapon. And then you've lost the bond. It's precisely like spending 5 points for a Mindlink with somebody and having them killed. Or, for that matter, like having your eyes put out in a fight and not getting to buy 50 points worth of stuff to compensate for your newly acquired Blindness disadvantage. If bad stuff happens to your character, they become a lower point character; you don't get the points back to spend on something else.

Bill Stoddard

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Diomedes

Weapon Bond does not imply plot protection for the weapon; that's what Signature Gear is for.
That said, many of the newer, supernatural versions of the perk allow it to be transferred with an appropriate ritual. In the same vein, I would allow you to, if you lose the weapon covered by the Bond, transfer it to a new weapon. Time and money spent customizing a rifle, for instance, or just a lot of practice.

What newer, supernatural versions? I wrote the perk in the first place, for GURPS Fantasy, and it explicitly is not supernatural and can't be transferred to a different weapon. And the same is true of Equipment Bond in the Tech books (including Low-Tech, whose final draft I turned in late last year) and in Power-Ups 2: Perks. It does say you can acquire a new Equipment Bond in play, but that's perfectly consistent with your having to pay a point for the new perk.

Making it possible to gain a Bond without spending a point is defeating the entire logic of the trait.

Bill Stoddard

[Diomedes]

Originally Posted by whswhs

What newer, supernatural versions? I wrote the perk in the first place, for GURPS Fantasy, and it explicitly is not supernatural and can't be transferred to a different weapon. And the same is true of Equipment Bond in the Tech books (including Low-Tech, whose final draft I turned in late last year) and in Power-Ups 2: Perks. It does say you can acquire a new Equipment Bond in play, but that's perfectly consistent with your having to pay a point for the new perk.

Making it possible to gain a Bond without spending a point is defeating the entire logic of the trait.

Bill Stoddard

I was thinking specifically of the Magical Weapon Bond in Magical Styles, which is explicitly transferable.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Ubiquitous

-Am I wrong for ditching a Bond to respend the point,

Yes, you are wrong. See Basic p. 291 Traits Gained in Play and suppose that losing your Weapon Bond is functionally equivalent to getting the trait "No Weapon Bond" [-1].

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Diomedes

I was thinking specifically of the Magical Weapon Bond in Magical Styles, which is explicitly transferable.

Well, no doubt Kromm has approved it, but I think it's clearly abusive in itself, subverting the whole logic of Weapon Bond, and invites further abuses through making people think they can do the same thing without even spending the 5 points on Magery 0. I don't see any justification for it.

And in any case, doing it without the thing being magical is still an abuse, and that isn't changed by a bad call on magical weapons.

Bill Stoddard