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GurpForge: OC: Character Registration

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:06 pm
by Rusty
Please post here to indicate that you are playing. If you have the books and or know what you want to be, mention it here. I would request that people post PC threads and use them to exbound on their history and planet of origin. The other players would know this stuff, so it's important to keep it organized.

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:13 pm
by Rusty
200 points. If people find that it's too little for the premise of the game, let me know.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:56 am
by Rusty
I checked it out, if you choose to start at tech level zero, are flat broke, very fat, suffer from dwarfism, and have terrible body odor you could have an extra 100 points. You could spend THAT on some super powers.

As far as having your own ship is concerned, the wealth advantage seems to be the way to go. For about 50 points you get about 50,000,000, which is about enough to build a well equipped fighter it seems, (the hull alone for a fighter runs at half a mil, but you'll want state of the art everything), or perhaps a semi-well equipped scouting vessel. For 100 points you'd have more money then your starting budget. But mark my words, blowing half your character on money will get you killed and you'll have merely provided others with your gear.

But I'd rather see someone take ambidextrous and that one that gives you an opposable foot and then 360 degree vision and now you can shoot in three directions at once! God some of these advantages are hilarious! Throw in Constrictor Attack and Payload and you can not only squeeze people to death with your three limbs but also carry cargo inside your body! Maybe even people!

I can see one of you freaks building your character into a warped biological fighter jet with eyestalks and a poison stinger who can carry two people inside their stomach and shoot stinging foam into people's eyes.

I used to think those clowns at steve jackson games were all hacks. They aren't hacks. They're nutjobs.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 4:43 am
by rydi
super from a world in which supers have created a utopian, lawful good society. not sure how the points will line up though.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 10:48 am
by Thael
It would be nice if everyone contributed to the ship's cost in points/cash so that no character is gimped

I am going to go with a Wash/Solo concept but augmented body or maybe a Ghost in the Shell cyborg (brain in a bot)... so I will be able to pilot the party ship and likely just about anything smaller (mule, speeder, car, boat)... I have read the Bio-tech and Ultra Tech... going over Transhuman Space and it says the Transhuman Space 3e rules work for 4e... but I only looked at TL10 mostly... how much good is DR15 in this system... never really played a tech game in GURPS

and it is only 34 points for a bioship template and then someone can actually BE a ship

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 12:04 pm
by Rusty
I believe DR is a threshold that damage has to overcome in order to hit you. In space we deal in terms of dDR, or deca-DR, so 120 dDR is 1200 normal. I suppose every point counts.

I think ultratech and biotech have the rules you need for a robot body. You may find it cheaper to just go and be a robot, not sure really.

BTW make sure your characters aren't one trick ponies. granted, a dedicated pilot would be nice and helpful in a space fight, or any time there's a vehicle, but sometimes we won't have vehicles. So do make sure that you can keep up in a fight and have something to contribute to problem solving.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 12:07 pm
by Rusty
rydi wrote:super from a world in which supers have created a utopian, lawful good society. not sure how the points will line up though.
Consider taking flaws and limitations to your powers to mitigate the costs. A utopian society of supers could actually be low tech. You get 5 points per TL you drop. If the range of powers in your society is sufficient, you wouldn't need technology to build structures and do what it is that you do. Also, a problem may come about in space that is definitely a limiting factor for mages. If your attack power states that a beam comes from your hand, and it doesn't state that it will harmlessly pass through a glove, then you cannot wear a vacuum suit and use the power at the same time. However, I came up with a solution that should allow ranged supers, psions, and mages to play an important role in space combat. I'll elucidate in the ship thread.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 12:28 pm
by durden
How about a reptilain from a mostly low-tech world that has been colonized by the federation as a strategic outpost on the borderlands of some other empire or group? Bringing us poor savages to civilization, our kind learned quickly. After a century or so of this paternal relationship, the reptilians began making advances of their won through a mix of their old ways and the new mighty tech of the federation. Often employed on ships for their combat/security and even medical prowess, my character found his niche in engineering. Overcomming many of the impediments to his success experienced by his peers (from a remaining paternal attitude towards the lesser-advanced), he became a personal friend and advisor of his last captain and achieved a high rank before a tragic event left his in search of a new ship. Now about this vessel, acting as head engineer and part-time counselor, he does a lot to boost moralle on the ship during long and difficult missions. His creepy, perpetual smile filled with rows of sharp needle-like teeth often distracts newcomers. Despite his warm-hearted attitutude and experience, he is not a good choice for a diplomat or first contacts.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 12:48 pm
by Avilister
As I mentioned in another thread, a rising star ship's officer is one appealing option. Another may be some sort of super, I'd need to check out what they get. Still another may be an actual legit ambassador. I'd have to think on that, though, since I hate people.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:02 pm
by Rusty
Sounds pretty good, both of you. I'm guessing that your reptile, chris, is from a backwater world within the federation that has only just recently gone to the trouble of integrating into society? The basic premise is that the galactic federation unites ALL known societies and space. That's kinda why a mysterious message in an unknown language is so mysterious. Anyway, sounds totally workable. There's advantages to get a bite attack and things. and mysterious.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:11 pm
by rydi
i was confused by the powers book. i guess i need to read the basic book.

basically, i want superstrength, flight, and immunity to vacuume/ambient radiation/cold/heat (survive in space without a vac suit). other powers could come in later as my genes activate, but those are all i want for the start.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:36 pm
by Thael
just to make sure I understand things right... cybernetics are advantages that also have a cash cost added to them??

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 4:40 pm
by Rusty
Thael wrote:just to make sure I understand things right... cybernetics are advantages that also have a cash cost added to them??
I think so, they would be in basic and ultratech and possibly biotech. A lot of things that ought to be discrete are actually different flavors of the same things. Two characters could be statistically identical and one could be a cyborg and the other could be a monster. I think that at least one of the books I looked at had a bunch of cool cybernetic stuff.

As far as powers go, I think a bunch of them are in the basic book, and the powers book expands on it. any page reference that includes a B I think is to basic set. I do recall reading about powering up and turning powers on and off in basic character.

there's a character building utility out there, I have a copy I can send people if they wish. Turns out that 200 points goes a decent distance but a lot of choices have to be made.

We could go to 300 and simply say that non-super characters at that level have something else, perhaps profound skills, that makes them equally super. BTW a mage built with 300 points is going to be god, and a skills+tech character that doesn't need to dump points into wealth is going to be awesome at 200, at almost absurd at 300. Han Solo's piloting skill is probably built under 300 points, not sure though. I haven't looked too much into skills as yet, though a number of them modify combat and allow for cool things to happen.

Psionics seems really interesting in this system. You can save points by starting out 'latent' and then upgrading yourself to fully active powers later.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 4:49 pm
by rydi
what about a middle ground? 250ish.

and as far as people being powerful... well, this is a high profile mission. the best (well, maybe second or third best, but still damned good) people from countless worlds are being sent out. so being powerful doesn't seem out of the question... but i don't want to blow the system away either. i want to be able to have fun, and have room to grow. and since i know nothing about the system, i'm not sure what the points can buy me.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 4:59 pm
by Rusty
250 sounds good to me. I've run through a character builder a couple times and found that 200 winds up with characters that are powerful but limited, or not powerful and versatile. You guys need to be both powerful and versatile.

250 easily becomes 300 with a few flaws such as exotic genitalia and obscene body odor.

Oh, and cheyne:

Space Flight 60 pts
Sealed 15 pts
Vacuum support 5 pts
enhanced move (Space) 20 pts
doesn't breathe 20 pts
radiation tolerance (PF 20) 20pts
Temperature tolerance (20) 20pts
Total: 160 pts

I think super strength comes from buying your strength really high and upgrading your unarmed damage. That could be at least as expensive as your space flight power.