From: dfrancis@tronsbox.xei.com (Dennis Heffernan)
Subject: Re: Gurps Supers is still broken : was Re: Best Super system
Organization: Xanadu Enterprises Inc.
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 21:33:37 GMT

In article <1992Jul22.224042.3352@sco.COM> paul@sco.COM (Paul Jackson) writes:
|While I personally like GURPS a lot as a system, I also find GURPS Supers
|unplayable as written. My problem is that
|a) there are too many characters that are impossible to build without
|modifying the system

	I suppose that this is true to some extent, but to be totally honest,
the only characters I can think of that can't be built are the ones I don't
want in my game in the first place.

|b) the system is just TOO unbalanced (look at the example characters, some
|walk around doing 5 or 6 dice of damage, some to 18 dice, the vast majority
|have no reasonable defences except for the few that are unhurtable). Almost
|all of the example non brick heros would be lucky to survive an encounter
|with  a 100 pt combat monster with a gun.

	Giving the devil his due, that's not the system's fault.  It's the
fault of character designers with no brains.

|c) its just too deadly without using all sorts of optional rules.

	Oh, I don't know.  We haven't had any outright deaths in my campaign,
and I'm not using any of the Stun silliness.  OTOH, I don't subscribe to the
silly notion that supers aren't going to take advantage of everyday
technology, so amongst my PC's those without natural protection wear armor.
LOTS of it.

|d) too many of the costs are just flat out wrong in comparison with each
|other (some of the limitations are especially amusing).

	A-bloody-men.  I especially like "Reduced Range" at -10% for each
halving of range, and "Touch Only" for -20%.  Gee, I could have 1/8th range
for -30%, or no range at all for -10% LESS...bwaahahahaahahaha.

|e) there are few rules to handle the interactions of weird powers. For
|example, as far as I can recall, a "Martial Artist" sort has NO defence against
|an area effect power.

	Why should they?  Wear armor or die.  Make sure it's NBC sealed while
you're at it, or Dr. Inconsiderate is going to pop you with a CHEM
round....

|As written (using no optional rules), GURPS Supers is only going to work in
|a VERY gritty street level campaign where death is a very common occurence.
|Either that, or all of the heros are going to use some of the loop holes
|(ablative focus defenses springing to mind). I found that, as a GM, I just
|COULDN'T have my villains fight to the best of their abilities unless I was
|willing to kill half of the characters each night.

	Characters in GURPS should almost never use any kind of "focus".  This
implies that they are paying points for equipment, which is silly.  Supers
in a TL/7 campaign should have no trouble getting their claws on heavy
kevlar.  Characters in ultra-tech campaigns should be using monocrys and
bioplast.


dfrancis@tronsbox.xei.com   ...uunet!tronsbox!dfrancis     GEnie: D.HEFFERNAN1
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