05-13-2019, 06:58 PM | #21 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Combat Mastery Talent
I would find that acceptable too, though you would need some way of learning cinematic skills like Zen Archery. A more realistic version might instead have Camouflage, Bow, Fast-Draw (Arrow), Observation, and Stealth, creating archers for stealth and sniping rather than creating merry men.
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05-13-2019, 07:04 PM | #22 | |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: Combat Mastery Talent
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I don't have a problem with Talents that include combat skills or, indeed Experienced (All combat skills) at 15/level and Melee Talent or Missile Talent at 10/level. It's custom-made 5/level Talents that include every skill important to a character concept I look askance at and prefer that there is a good justification for how these skills and only these skills fit thematically together, so an aptitude for them makes sense.
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05-13-2019, 09:21 PM | #23 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Combat Mastery Talent
I do not necessarily agree. Allure is a great talent for a singer and dancer (or certain other professions...), Goodwife works well for a cook or seamstess, Talker works well for a detective, etc. Some people are going to be more talented at a particular job than others, even if they have equivalent DX or IQ, and I do think that it reflects reality to have every major character possess 20 CP in assorted 5 CP Talents.
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05-14-2019, 06:32 AM | #24 |
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Cambridge, MA
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Re: Combat Mastery Talent
To be inclusive of all play styles and game types and to avoid point crocks, I would say skills in a Talent should be either thematically or realistically connected.
It's potentially a problem if I take "My Swashbuckler Talent" for [5/level], which includes Acrobatics, Brawling, Cloak, Public Speaking, Rapier, and Stealth. These are just six skills I want to make my character, and they aren't really linked (or to the extent they're thematically linked, the "theme" should include ten or so more skills as part of that theme). But I have no problem with Fencing Talent (Fast-Draw (Sword), Main-Gauche, Rapier, Saber, Smallsword) or Slick Talker (Carousing, Fast-Talk, Intimidation, Public Speaking, Sex Appeal, Streetwise), or even Backdoor Man (Carousing, Climbing, Fast-Talk, Savoire-Faire (High Society), Sex Appeal, Stealth). Fencing Talent and Slick Talker include realistically linked skills (if you're good at one of these it makes logical sense you might be good at the others). Backdoor Man includes thematically linked skills for a Don Juan. Many published Talents include only realistically linked skills (pretty much all the ones in Basic). Many are merely thematically linked (many Talents from DF or Action, for example). But there are no published examples (as far as I know) of "these are just skills I want to have." |
05-14-2019, 01:49 PM | #25 | |
Join Date: Jan 2014
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Re: Combat Mastery Talent
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Besides that, any silly build like the one outlined in the quote is just going to run into "No", as it's clearly broken. |
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05-14-2019, 03:23 PM | #26 | ||
Join Date: Nov 2016
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Re: Combat Mastery Talent
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As pointed by eevee, the materials are kind of dissuasive around the matter; perhaps due to game balance. So when I play, such talents are often banned (if I am not the GM) because they are seen as point-crocks. When I GM, if a player makes an effort to write a decent background story, I let them have such talents. “I was destined for this” is enough justification for me if the player wrote a compelling story about their PC. I do evaluate such talents and make adjustments if required, but I would allow them; if something like this happens: Quote:
Finally, As I see it, talents including combat skills or “seemingly unrelated skills” help players build characters with less strain and perhaps non-linearly: If I had access to such talents, I could spare 20 CP in a “level 4, 5 skill talent” for the stuff which best describes the utility of my character. This would save me hours of balancing skills and attributes, and I could invest to my PC by spending CP on hobby/background skills which are not campaign related but enrich my character (i.e. jewelry if you are an astronaut in a real-world-based campaign). Also I think it is more feasible finding a group of talented people at doing something, than a group of people with DX, IQ, HT, etc. above the average.
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05-14-2019, 04:32 PM | #27 |
Banned
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
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Re: Combat Mastery Talent
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05-14-2019, 06:46 PM | #28 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Combat Mastery Talent
Talents are point crocks when they cover skills with low redundancy. A talent that covers 6 melee weapon skills for 5p/level is unlikely to be unbalanced, since melee skills are mostly redundant with one another. A talent that covers 5 melee skills and stealth is more problematic; while fighting your way past guards and sneaking past guards solve the same general class of problem, there are a bunch of situations where one or the other is nonviable. A Thief talent that covers Shortsword, Stealth, Traps, Lock-Picking, Fast-Talk, and Merchant is thematic enough but should probably get a response of throwing things at the person who suggests it (looking at the talents in DFRPG, Forest Guardian is a point crock, the other talents are decent but not broken).
Last edited by Anthony; 05-14-2019 at 06:55 PM. |
05-14-2019, 09:10 PM | #29 | |
Banned
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
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Re: Combat Mastery Talent
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This is part of the problem I have with this "point crock" nonsense. The other part is the strong stench of badwrongfunism. |
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05-15-2019, 04:54 AM | #30 | |
Join Date: Oct 2007
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Re: Combat Mastery Talent
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As I see it this for GURPS in general the issue isn't about badwrongfun, but about having a common ground to discuss things. While the basic rule is still "do what fits your group", every group is different and in threads not focused on a specific group/game style it is advantageous to keep to the more general rules and guidelines from the books. Those rules are still what every GURPS based campaign uses as their foundation for gameplay mechanics. One of the DF guidelines is "embrace your inner munchkin, class & race talents are fine" while the Basic Set guideline for Talents is essentially "'class' and race talents are probably not fine". |
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Tags |
combat talent, talents |
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