From: jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim)
Subject: Re: Best Super system
Reply-To: jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim)
Organization: Columbia University
Distribution: na
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 16:10:42 GMT

doug@abby.chem.ucla.edu writes:
>Well, I haven't seen that many bad numbers in there.  Let me point out, 
>however, that it is much harder to come up with good game mechanics than
>it is to come up with good costs... that's why you should "bother" to buy
>the official system.

	Very well. (Sigh). Here's some of the problems I have with Supers
in GURPS. I am including Psionics in my discussion, since many of the powers 
in Psionics are fairly neccessary for many standard Supers powers. 

1) Supers is no longer a stand-alone set. What was in the original Supers is 
  now spread out through Supers, Psionics, and Martial Arts. In addition, 
  the Gadgeteering rules invokes alot of material from Ultratech. 

2) The Gadgeteering rules introduce a host of balance problems which are 
  rather inconsistantly dealt with. The only requirement for Ultratech items 
  appears to be money, which is relatively cheap in points. Building gadgets 
  is based on a 25pt advantage and normal mental skills (which are very cheap 
  to increase to ridiculous levels). 
	In a Supers game, there is an artificial distinction between gadgets 
  possible in non-Supers GURPS and gadgets which are only possible in the 
  Supers world - only the latter cost points. 

3) There are a host of powers with no real defense, like Exoteleport and 
  Anti-G which can be devastating to the target at high power. 

4) Telepathy is just sick in its effectiveness, and the only real way to stop 
  it is Mind Shield. The rolls are bought up at 2pts per +1, so it is easy 
  to break into someones mind and do whatever you like. 

5) Mostly they have settled on 6pts per 1d6 ranged attack, but there are still 
  some anomalies, like Laser which is impaling for free. In addition, a quick 
  check of the advantages will reveal that one can get alot of damage cheaply 
  by taking Laser with Continuous, and Rapid-Fire (like a Military Laser 
  Rifle). 

6) Reduced Range in Psionics is listed as stackable, which is ridiculous, 
  especially considering that Touch Only is -20%. Telepathy and Teleportation 
  over Power 10 are actually get cheaper by having higher power and the same 
  range according to this. 

7) There is no reason that I can determine not to link all the advantages you 
  can possibly think of to your power. That way you get the option of using 
  the advantage with limitations, or just using the base power - at no point 
  cost. 

8) Now moving into mechanics. The most mind-boggling mechanic to me was the 
  Ice Damage rule, which not only was highly complicated and confused the 
  nature of DR - it also did not work. Cutting through Ice goes very slowly 
  until the DR is gone, then suddenly you break through the remaining 
  thickness very quickly. 
	It would be much simpler and more sensible to give ice a low, fixed 
  DR and a higher, variable amount of hit points per inch. 

9) Move 12 is a *massive* breakpoint if you are using the multiple action 
  rules, which is not reflected in the costs for increased Move. 

10) Using the STUN damage rules may eliminate the 'armored creampuff' 
  syndrome, but they make normals extremely tough (which they generally 
  are not in the comics). Two average people in a fistfight will take 
  an average of 100 punches to knock each other out - and they only have 
  a 50% chance of hitting. Wiping out a bunch of armed guards can be very 
  difficult using these rules. 
	The Damage Reduction rules are a compromise, but they can get quite 
  complicated as you have to figure in effects from both HT and STUN damage. 

11) Super-ST Choking and Armlocks usually do over twice the average damage of 
  punches and similar blows. This makes it very hard to balance high ST 
  supers, because if their punches are any use at all against a foe, these 
  moves will generally wipe the floor with him. 
	Super-ST Slams will usually do roughly equal damage as punches, but 
  they have a completely different hit procedure (Contest of DX's), so they 
  will be useful under different circumstances. 

12) Throwing relies on a complicated set of charts with fairly exacting 
  values, which rather contrasts with many of the other quick, unrealistic 
  mechanics that are presented. 

	Well, that's enough for now. Since I don't own 2nd Edition, I can't 
go into much greater detail about the powers there. (This stuff is mostly 
from memory - sorry if I messed anything up.) 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Kim                    | "All the world will be your enemy, Prince with
jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu | a thousand enemies. And when they catch you, 
Columbia University         | they will kill you."         - Watership Down
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