Points value of "regular" people?

[Calvin]

If you want to keep to a d6 system 16d6 gives a good range, 16-96 with an average of 56. Not exactly 50, but then if the goal is a bit of randomness you don't want to be exactly 50 points.

[Tomsdad]

Also for randomness along another axis, the percentage of total points available for disadvantages could be varied (maybe d6x10 percent). A 50cp person with a 5cp cap on disadvantages will look different from a 50cp person with a 25cp cap on disadvantages.

[Tiggurix]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Your approach is too predictable. People differ in terms of natural aptitude and don't progress evenly. If you really want to model the array of capability in random civilian, then you should insert some randomness. In short you should roll some dice in there somewhere.

Probably wise. I'll think some more on this process.

Originally Posted by Tomsdad

Also for randomness along another axis, the percentage of total points available for disadvantages could be varied (maybe d6x10 percent). A 50cp person with a 5cp cap on disadvantages will look different from a 50cp person with a 25cp cap on disadvantages.

Eh, I don't think that's strictly necessary. People have the disadvantages that they have. Whether that's only a few or a lot depends on the person in question, and what they have gone through. For example, I, like presumably many others, have tried to model myself in GURPS, and I'm pretty sure that the total sum of all my "disadvantages" would equal more than -150 points.

[Tomsdad]

Originally Posted by Tiggurix

...

Eh, I don't think that's strictly necessary. People have the disadvantages that they have. Whether that's only a few or a lot depends on the person in question, and what they have gone through.

Yes that why in a varied world world such things vary between people. Your thinking in terms of a choice made by players creating their characters, but in real life a lot of the time there' no choice being made

Originally Posted by Tiggurix

For example, I, like presumably many others, have tried to model myself in GURPS, and I'm pretty sure that the total sum of all my "disadvantages" would equal more than -150 points.

Might well do, but what's your total point value?

Are you 300pt with 150 in disads, giving you 450 to buy with and keeping with the 50% rule of thumb) or are you 50pt with 150 in dis-ads, giving you 200 to buy with and you have 150% of starting point in disads?

[Tiggurix]

Originally Posted by Tomsdad

Might well do, but what's your total point value?

Are you 300pt with 150 in disads, giving you 450 to buy with and keeping with the 50% rule of thumb) or are you 50pt with 150 in dis-ads, giving you 200 to buy with and you have 150% of starting point in disads?

I actually see myself as 50 points in value, plus -50 in "usable" disadvantages, and the rest just reducing my points value. =P Course, I'm an especially psychologically disabled individual, so I don't see myself as "typical" in that respect, but I more or less consider all characters of 100 points or less to have -50 points in disadvantage "rebate", and the rest just being the general luggage that a person is afflicted with during their life-time.

[Tomsdad]

Originally Posted by Tiggurix

I actually see myself as 50 points in value, plus -50 in "usable" disadvantages, and the rest just reducing my points value. =P Course, I'm an especially psychologically disabled individual, so I don't see myself as "typical" in that respect, but I more or less consider all characters of 100 points or less to have -50 points in disadvantage "rebate", and the rest just being the general luggage that a person is afflicted with during their life-time.

Yeah, in RL there's seldom an exact 1:1 disad rebate to point spend. It's a game balance system, and RL is sadly not interested in game balance!

Still maybe your GM has got a bunch of points in reserve for you =P!

[Gold & Appel Inc]

[-37] here. Struggling Wealth, somewhat-below-average DX, Status -1, and a couple of quirks are all it takes.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

[-37] here. Struggling Wealth, somewhat-below-average DX, Status -1, and a couple of quirks are all it takes.

I would bet that my point total might be lower than nearly any other regular poster with or without harsh stat normalizing, pinpointing secrets, handicaps and minimal skills.

[RGTraynor]

Originally Posted by SCAR

You might also want to review this post (and perhaps the rest of the thread) from the GURPS Line Editor Sean Punch (aka Kromm).

This is a superb post, and falls right in with notions I've had about GURPS "normal" characters since Day One.

Unfortunately, SJ Games has frequently undermined the premise. From Special Ops on forward -- I'll always remember with a smile John Nowak tossing a copy down in disgust and hissing "300 pt soldiers? What, does the US Army have recruiting stations on Krypton?" -- products have come out with ongoing point inflation, and the -12 that represented a shopkeeper making a good living at his lead skill turned into a -14, the HT 10 mooks turned into HT 12 mooks, and so on.

That being said, "Don't mistake "I did this once" for "I have this skill,"" is another killer quote. I've never seen a "Stat yourself out in GURPS thread" where couch potato gamers didn't make themselves out to be he-man action heroes-in-training.

For myself? I had a bunch of skills at age 25 that I don't reasonably possess at age 55. Put me out on a hockey rink now and I'd get killed. I used to hike at least four miles a day, every day; no way I could do that now. My Singing skill's suffered from having blown out my voice in the mid-90s. I'm now asthmatic and diabetic, and my HT couldn't possibly be better than 9 now. And so on and so forth.

Even to the skills I keep honed, there are limits. For instance ... I'm an avid camper, I've been doing it all my life, and I'm no greenhorn; I've done winter camping in northern Maine.

With parkas. And sleeping bags. And Coleman stoves. And lots of wool blankets for covering and ground cloths. And plenty of food and first aid gear. And an automobile nearby just in case. Survival-15 I do not have: beyond fishing, I've never hunted for meat. I've never lived off of forage. I've never had to improvise tools out of rocks. I've never had to survive for days under emergency shelter. I've never been more than five miles away from a paved road. I've never had to start a fire without matches or lighters. I've never had to deal with a serious wound in the wilderness without having recourse to a modern trauma center no more than 45 minutes drive away.

And I very much doubt many (if any) of those reading this have either. Hell, I wouldn't give high-grade combat skills even to those reading this with military or martial arts experience: there is a huge, huge difference between training with rules and neat mats and colored belts and genuinely fighting for your life, no holds barred.

[Tomsdad]

Yes I agree with that, not forgetting that modern living (both in work and play) has basically been about "bonus farming" for a while.