From: news@sifon.cc.mcgill.ca
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.advocacy
Subject: Re: Character Detail
Date: 23 Nov 92 17:00:31 GMT
Organization: McGill University

In article <17824@borg.cs.unc.edu> bell@beethoven.cs.unc.edu (Andrew Bell) writes:

>In article <1992Nov18.234110.14722@rchland.ibm.com> BillSeurer@vnet.ibm.com writes:

>[In response to what basis is there for GURPS' point costs]

>>It is consistant with a philosophy.  Things cost what Steve Jackson thought
>>they should cost.

>That's no answer.  What philosophy did Steve Jackson use?

GURPS has a fairly consistant philosophy, I think (and S.J.
is only *one* of the GURPS system's many authors -- he claims
no Gygaxian powers of authority). Basically, point costs are
based on the real-life difficulty, for skills, and the degree
to which an advantage/disadvantage is common in real-life,
for ads/disads. Nowhere does it say in GURPS that the play
balance characteristics or usefulness will determine a point
cost.
     The GURPS system emphasizes role-playing first, reality-
checks second, and play balance last. Role-playing is of premier
importance, and the use of reality-checks allows for a more
believable game, while play balance is a construct. So the rules
reflect this.

     Example: The Guns skill is physical/easy and gets a huge IQ
bonus. The Appreciate Beauty (Pottery) skill is mental/very hard.
An IQ 10, DX 10 guy gets an 11 in Guns for 1 point, while he gets
a 7 in Appreciate Beauty. Now, Guns is probably far more subject
to abuse, and gives you more raw combat ability, and is an easy
skill to ramp to absurd levels, yet it costs little. Appreciate
Beauty has very limited uses, and is, by and large, an internal
skill that will never give you "power"....but it is *expensive*.
This is because, in real-life, becoming an adequate shot with a
handgun is a bit of a joke, really. Hell: even *I* could do it.
But developing a deep sense of what art is, and how it applies
to philosophy, takes years and years. GURPS just says that since
Guns is easier to pick up, it costs less. Too bad if it is "more
useful" overall.

     Example: Eidetic Memeory costs 30 at level I, while having
Status 2 costs only 10. While being a leading citizen has far
more advantages in real-life than being able to memorize text,
the statistical occurance of Eidetic Memory, in real-life, is
**incredibly** low, while there are hoards of what I would deem
"Status 2" citizens about. Hence E.M. costs more.

     The only place where play balance is an issue in figuring
out point costs is for weird powers like magic, psi and cyberware:
where no real-life examples exist to reality-check.
     GURPS, in general, is very consistant in its philosophy. I
am surprised that the points I made above aren't apparent to all.
If, however, you feel that all that matters in a game is play
balancing combat-effective powers, then you will *not* like the GURPS
philosophy. I, for one, would rather have a Nobel Prize in physics
any day, over being a highly ranked sniper in some death-squad.
________________________________________________________________________
| So: I am a dangerous psychopath. | "Sealed with a curse, as sharp as |
| How does that justify prejudice? |  a knife: doomed is your soul and |
| Another remark like that, and I  |   damned is your life!" -Lizardo  |
| will have to murder you in cold  |___________________________________|
|              blood.              | | | | | | | Dr. Kromm | | | | | | |
| Blood.Blood. Blood. Blood.Blood. |-|-|-|-CX6L@Musica.Mcgill.ca-|-|-|-|
|__________________________________|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|