Absurdly high skill levels

[vicky_molokh]

The flavour text for Erotic Art comes from 3e mostly, where it also had a prerequisite of Sex Appeal 13 or so, which made it a more exotic skill than Karate.

[Kromm]

Honestly, I think that most readers can guess at what Erotic Art does. Those who cannot . . . are probably people who wouldn't appreciate having it spelled out for them. It suffices to say that it isn't the "have sex" skill.

[sjmdw45]

Originally Posted by Rupert

No, you're not. I did. However, I can't see any reference to being able to make more than one extra attack using a Ranged Rapid Strike, so that means no more than two targets.

You're right, High-Tech doesn't discuss that. MA p. 120 does discuss multiple strikes with thrown weapons. "For instance, a warrior could toss two weapons at -6, three at -12, four at -18, and so on. Halve these penalties for Weapon Master." Since Rapid Strike is easier with firearms (you can buy off the full penalty) I infer that firearms should be able to do this too.

-Max

[Pmandrekar]

Originally Posted by Zed

It's friday night... I'm gonna see if I can go out and reality check some of this ... i'll let y'all know. :D

I just want to say that it's great to get people to volunteer to do field research.

Have fun!

-P.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by Victor Maxus

Social Stigma (Undeducated) is worth -5 points. I guess going to school let's a person buy this off.

nope, Social Stigma (Uneducated) is for those that are below their expected level. so minors don't have it.

BUT someone with Social Stigma (Minor) does not invest in thing like IQ as the grow up, get to swap it for Social Stigma (Uneducated) when they reach they age of majority, instead of buying it off.

[Pmandrekar]

Originally Posted by Xplo

I wouldn't expect that just having sex would ever require any kind of skill, ability, roll, or any other degree-of-success mechanic of any kind, except in a very strange game. All of our ancestors obviously managed to figure it out.
~snip~
I suspect many educators - if they spoke GURPS - would say that a lot of that time goes to raising IQ to its adult level, granting native language ability, justifying skill defaults, and so forth. A lot of what happens in school is giving kids the fundamentals of communication, socialization, logical thinking, etc. Actual skill training comes on the job, in college or a trade school, or as a side effect of day-to-day living.

I would agree with you. Should you need such an ability in your game, you could always develop a Physical/Easy characteristic, and make a skill roll, modified by the attraction of the partner to the person making the roll, yada, yada, yada...

(I am allowed to say "Yada, Yada, Yada" for this, no?!)

Second, I would agree with you, having taught both high school and college level people, that a lot of what they're being taught isn't specific skills as much as how to examine and how to grapple with a problem. In other words, the kind of thing that an IQ roll may resolve.

Nicely put. Second time in an hour I'm dropping *you* a compliment.

Cheers,

-P.

[Pmandrekar]

Originally Posted by Victor Maxus

Social Stigma (Undeducated) is worth -5 points. I guess going to school let's a person buy this off.

Alternatively, you could see this in the positive direction. People who go to school for a long, long time are also buying other advantages. Depending upon the society, for example, a Level of Status goes with some training, or a generally positive reputation "Wow, you did your graduate degree at Harvard Med School? With Professor Van Doren in the Arcane History Department?!"

"Tenure" as we think of it in a university setting, is certainly something that one purchases with a combination of long periods of time, and a lot of investment in getting that Tenure.

So, it's a continuum of character points, from being an uneducated minor to being whatever is "normal" to being a well-educated person with a lot of letters behind their name.

-P.

[Zed]

Originally Posted by sjmdw45

You're right, High-Tech doesn't discuss that. MA p. 120 does discuss multiple strikes with thrown weapons. "For instance, a warrior could toss two weapons at -6, three at -12, four at -18, and so on. Halve these penalties for Weapon Master." Since Rapid Strike is easier with firearms (you can buy off the full penalty) I infer that firearms should be able to do this too.

-Max

Rapid fire rules. B373. ROF 2+ uses recoil as a divisor of margin of success to determine number of shots that hit (you decalre how many shots are being fired). A RoF 3 pistol can potentially fire 3 times and hiot 3 times on really good roll. No rapid strike needed. the multiple shots are per Attack.

~Z

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Zed

Rapid fire rules. B373. ROF 2+ uses recoil as a divisor of margin of success to determine number of shots that hit (you decalre how many shots are being fired). A RoF 3 pistol can potentially fire 3 times and hiot 3 times on really good roll. No rapid strike needed. the multiple shots are per [i]Attack.

Only at a single target, however. To hit multiple targets (as in the example upthread) one needs either an Extra Attack (with multistrike) or to make a Rapid Strike, AFAICT.

[sjmdw45]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Only at a single target, however. To hit multiple targets (as in the example upthread) one needs either an Extra Attack (with multistrike) or to make a Rapid Strike, AFAICT.

Almost true. You can use the "Spraying Fire" rules in Basic to attack multiple targets. If you have ROF 12 and two opponents A and B who are both within your cone of fire and 4 yards away from each other, you can make an ROF 4 attack on A, waste 4 shots traversing the 4 yards in between them, and make another ROF 4 attack on B. [Edit: sorry, Sir Pudding, you're probably aware of this. I agree that the Lone Ranger is not "spraying fire" in the example upthread. I lost track of context.]

This rule is unsatisfactory to me because it 1.) means that low ROF weapons waste *more* shots, proportionately, on traversal (which is unrealistic), and more importantly, 2.) ignores cumulative Recoil.

I like High-Tech's Ranged Rapid Strike rules a lot better. If I were to use the Spraying Fire rules, I'd probably say that you make one attack roll, count the "hits," and subtract out the misses for traversal, etc., from the hits instead of the base ROF. Something like that.

-Max