• Alternate technique points

    From news@zzo38computer.org.invalid@21:1/5 to All on Sat Mar 7 12:39:07 2020
    I think some people have wanted to make all techniques Average rather than Hard, although I have a different idea, which can save points if you have
    a lot of techniques for one skill, but makes some assumptions:

    * The technique is based on a skill.

    * You are not using multiple techniques at the same time. (See Martial
    Arts for some reasons this might not be valid.)

    * There is no maximum limit to the skill level. (This assumption is not
    valid for ritual magic; see page 242.)

    * The default level is based on the full skill level plus or minus some
    number; it is not based on half skill. (In other words, the technique is increased by exactly 1 if the skill level is increased by 1.)

    * Maximum effective skill level (if any) is unaffected.

    The assumptions above are usually valid (I think), but not always.

    If you only have one technique for a skill, use standard rules. If you
    have multiple techniques for a skill, use the below rules:

    * Ignore the difficulty level of techniques.

    * Sort the techniques for each skill in descending order of the level
    above default. (For example, if you have two techniques at default+1,
    one at default+5, and one at default+3, you now have [5,3,1,1].)

    * The first two techniques are worth 1 point per level above default,
    the next two techniques are worth 1/2 point per level above default, the
    next two techniques after that are worth 1/4 point per level above
    default, and then 1/8 for the next two, 1/16 for the next two, and so on.
    (For example, [6,6,6,4,3,2,1] is worth 6+6+(6/2)+(4/2)+(3/4)+(2/4)+(1/8)
    which adds up to 18.375.)

    * Round up this total.

    The above is done individually per skill.

    If someone has other ideas, please mention them here, too. The above is
    merely my own ideas. (You can also please mention any comments, questions, complaints, etc you have about the rules I mentioned above.)

    --
    Note: I am not always able to read/post messages during Monday-Friday.

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  • From John Dallman@21:1/5 to news@zzo38computer.org.invalid on Sat Mar 7 21:13:00 2020
    In article <1583611582.bystand@zzo38computer.org>, news@zzo38computer.org.invalid () wrote:

    * Sort the techniques for each skill in descending order of the
    level above default.

    Unfortunately, this assumes you know what all the techniques for the
    skill are, and there aren't going to be any new ones. This is a shaky assumption at the best of times, and definitely isn't valid, for example,
    with craft skills where a technique in making a particular kind of object
    is possible.

    --
    John Dallman. The Path of Cunning is a GURPS fanzine,
    available from https://tekeli.li/path-of-cunning/

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  • From news@zzo38computer.org.invalid@21:1/5 to John Dallman on Sat Mar 7 14:17:33 2020
    jgd@cix.co.uk (John Dallman) wrote:

    * Sort the techniques for each skill in descending order of the
    level above default.

    Unfortunately, this assumes you know what all the techniques for the
    skill are, and there aren't going to be any new ones. This is a shaky assumption at the best of times, and definitely isn't valid, for example, with craft skills where a technique in making a particular kind of object
    is possible.

    I was assuming that you would recalculate each time (e.g. by computer).
    Even if you do know what all of the techniques are, this order can change
    if you improve some of the techniques. This is also the case when you do
    not know what all of the techniques are. (Note that recalculation is only
    per skill; you need not recalculate all skills, although if you are using
    a program like I wrote, it will recalculate everything each time anyways.)

    However, there is another possible valid concern based on what you wrote,
    which is that if you add or improve techniques it requires recalculation
    which may be difficult or take some time. (However, I am assuming that you would not normally add skills/techniques during the game, but rather only between sessions. This is what I do, at least.)

    --
    Note: I am not always able to read/post messages during Monday-Friday.

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