Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-18-2016, 12:56 AM   #1
(E)
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: New Zealand.
Default [Basic] Racial Templates

Is there any standard way of including traits that are common but not universal in a racial template? (outside of including them in the description that is).
For example 80% of Whitedark Goblins have Cowardice or 90% of Whitedark Goblins have Sadism.

On a related note has anyone successfully came up with a mechanic to discount advantages/disadvantages for a specific racial template. (mark-ups can be covered by unusual backgrounds in the write up) If so how do they get priced?
__________________
Waiting for inspiration to strike......
And spending too much time thinking about farming for RPGs
Contributor to Citadel at Nordvörn
(E) is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2016, 02:10 AM   #2
johndallman
Night Watchman
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
Default Re: [Basic] Racial Templates

Quote:
Originally Posted by (E) View Post
Is there any standard way of including traits that are common but not universal in a racial template? (outside of including them in the description that is). For example 80% of Whitedark Goblins have Cowardice or 90% of Whitedark Goblins have Sadism.
You could decide that this race always has X points of mental disadvantages and offer a list of choices, with a note of what's most common. It's not all that flexible, but anything else tends to break the principle that a template has a fixed total cost.
Quote:
On a related note has anyone successfully came up with a mechanic to discount advantages/disadvantages for a specific racial template. (mark-ups can be covered by unusual backgrounds in the write up) If so how do they get priced?
What do you mean by "discount" in this context? It's a general principle with GURPS that you pay for what you get: the "package deal" discounts of, e.g., Hero System are deliberately avoided. You can incorporate trait enhancements and limitations in a template: calculate the cost normally.
johndallman is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2016, 02:16 AM   #3
simply Nathan
formerly known as 'Kenneth Latrans'
 
simply Nathan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Wyoming, Michigan
Default Re: [Basic] Racial Templates

Make separate lenses and then a note on each lens for how common it is to that race.
__________________
Ba-weep granah wheep minibon. Wubba lubba dub dub.
simply Nathan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2016, 02:21 AM   #4
PK
 
PK's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Dobbstown Sane Asylum
Default Re: [Basic] Racial Templates

If the vast majority of a race has Cowardice and Sadism, I build Cowardice and Sadism into the racial template, then include a note making it clear that both can be bought off.

Actually, in general I've come to believe that racial templates are most useful when they take a moment to specify which disadvantages can be bought off and which cannot. It's the difference between "cultural conditioning" and "unwavering genetics." I did so in MH5 and would like to see that become the standard.
__________________
Reverend Pee Kitty of the Order Malkavian-Dobbsian (Twitter) (LJ)

MyGURPS: My house rules and GURPS resources.

#SJGamesLive: I answered questions about GURPS After the End and more!
{Watch Video} - {Read Transcript}
PK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2016, 02:58 AM   #5
(E)
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: New Zealand.
Default Re: [Basic] Racial Templates

Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
What do you mean by "discount" in this context? It's a general principle with GURPS that you pay for what you get: the "package deal" discounts of, e.g., Hero System are deliberately avoided. You can incorporate trait enhancements and limitations in a template: calculate the cost normally.
One way of looking at is advantages can be made more expensive with the addition of unusual background. What about the opposite can you make an advantage cheaper to encourage it's use? A usual background.

A more specific example would be "all steelhill dwarves have their of age gift" a bespoke item (dwarftech/clockpunkish) worth a non specific number of points. The racial template includes 3 points towards it but that number is just the minimum.
__________________
Waiting for inspiration to strike......
And spending too much time thinking about farming for RPGs
Contributor to Citadel at Nordvörn
(E) is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2016, 03:34 AM   #6
johndallman
Night Watchman
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
Default Re: [Basic] Racial Templates

Quote:
Originally Posted by (E) View Post
One way of looking at it is advantages can be made more expensive with the addition of unusual background. What about the opposite, can you make an advantage cheaper to encourage its use?
Well, you can make it compulsory on the template. Making a desirable advantage cheaper for one race verges on unfairness to players who want to play something else.
johndallman is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2016, 03:52 AM   #7
(E)
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: New Zealand.
Default Re: [Basic] Racial Templates

Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
Making a desirable advantage cheaper for one race verges on unfairness to players who want to play something else.
That would be the crux of the issue. . .
__________________
Waiting for inspiration to strike......
And spending too much time thinking about farming for RPGs
Contributor to Citadel at Nordvörn
(E) is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
racial templates

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:51 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.