From: CX6L@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA (CX6L000)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.advocacy
Subject: GURPS Skills
Date: 7 Oct 92 22:07:29 GMT
Organization: McGill University

There was talk (and a lot of flames :) on the game vs. reality
simulation thread, regarding high attribute levels in GURPS,
whether they really exist, and what, if anything, they represent.
I do not plan to add to this, but a comment made by one of the
writers intrigued me. In effect, he was doubting the validity
of high DX and IQ in GURPS on the basis that many skills are
based on these. If many experts in one of these skills truly
possess a really high underlying stat which the skill is based
on, then why are there not more folks noted for their expertise
in multiple fields?
     Related to the high stats problem is the old issue of
optimization in GURPS as a result of the skill system. Why
have a DX of 12 and pay dozens of points for, say, ten good
physical skills? Why not just buy a high DX, save a lot of
points, and still have the high skill levels?
     GURPS, as it stands, provides no sure-fire solution to
either problem, short of GM intervention. I offer an alternative.
This is being composed at the keyboard, and has never been play-
tested, so there are bound to be holes. Here goes...

When a character buys a skill, do not just record the final level,
but also where it stands relative to the underlying stat. Then,
in any situation where the skill is directly contested by a
skill of another character, apply these numbers as modifiers to
the skill level. This would not apply to simple "use" rolls of
the skill: just contests. The reason: a person who has a skill
at a level equal to their stat plus a large number has a lot
of points invested in the skill. These translate into hours of
study in a linear manner. Under this system, a well-studied and
experienced character can get an edge over a "natural" who has
a high stat but who has only spent an afternoon practicing.
This means that optimizers are suddenly faced with a dilemma:
buy high stats, and get high skills for a half point each,
and be at a disadvantage in contests, or be very skilled due
to training (points in the skill), and have an edge.

An example, to show how this all works:

1.Professor Brainoid has an IQ of 17. He spends a half point on
the Gambling skill (M/A), and gets it at 15. Under this system,
he records this as, say, Gambling-15(-2), the -2 meaning he has
the skill at IQ-2.

2.Jack Weasel, the long time swindler, is only IQ 12. After all,
if he were a genius, why would he be doing two-bit cons? He's
spent 20 years gambling off and on. He therefore puts 4 points into
Gambling, and gets it at 13. He records this as Gambling-13(+1),
the +1 meaning he has the skill at IQ+1.

If the Professor or Jack simply plays against a machine, or
is rolling against Gambling to remember how to calculate
odds, or to simply remember a rule by rote, they roll against
their skills: 15 for the Prof, 13 for Jack. The Prof's
superior memory and logical thought processes help him here.

However, if Jack challenges the Prof to a game, and the GM
simply says "Roll a Quick Contest of Skills", the Prof
rolls at 15 - 2 = 13, while Jack rolls at 13 + 1 = 14. This
shows that Jack's superior experience (ie, 8 times the
number of points -> 8 times the hours of experience)
will help him.

      Under the official system, Jack would have a two-
point disadvantage w.r.t to the Prof, not a one point edge.
Under the new system, it does not, hence, pay as much to
optimize, and characters who take realistic attribute
levels have an edge as a result of having a lot of points
in skills.
     As I envisage it, this would apply to all skill-vs-skill
contests between characters. This would mean that Feints
would suddenly become far more useful to skilled fighters,
and perhaps people would use them more...

Comments?

______________________________________________________________________
|      From the Most Holy Keyboard of:                               |
|      Dr Manfred Kromm, Reverend of the Temple of the Squid God,    |
|      Professor of Quantum Parapsychology.                          |
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|           )                               "This won't hurt a bit.  |
|  |========|OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO>------      Afterwards . . . you'll |
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