question for the GURPS experts

buzzard · Oct 2, 2002

I am considering joining a GURPS Supers campaign. I have been told that the characters will be made with a 500 point buy.
Ok I have a couple fo questions.
First: How powerful is 500 points? A good response would be either in terms of comic books, or MEGS points. I have some feel for Champions characters, so you could describe it in those terms if more convenient.

Second: If I wanted to model a character that I'm fond of from Heroes Unlimited (yes, I played that game - Oh the Shame!), how possible is it?
The character has
Invulnerability (likely to be scaled down in Gurps since HU had ridiculous invulnerability rules)
Extraordinary Physical Prowess (dex)
Extraordinary Physical Strength
Extraordinary Speed (rather like super speed light max run of 280 MPH and one extra attack per round)
He has to change forms to activate his powers (which I imagine can give a disadvantage bonus)

Is something effective along these lines obtainable in a 500 point buy?

Thanks for any help. I need consider whether I wish to shell out for the books.

buzzard

Staffan · Oct 2, 2002

500 points might get you a character like Spiderman, minus the webs - Binding attacks are horribly expensive compared to the cost of super-strength. Not sure how far you'd get in adapting your HU character - you could definitely make a character that has exceptional Strength, DX and speed, but I'm not sure how many points would be left after that to pay for damage resistance and you would almost certainly not be able to cover Invulnerability.

buzzard · Oct 2, 2002

another question

Well just out of idle curiosity then,
how much invulnerability could one purchase if one used all the 500 points? Say in terms of what kind of weapon could one ignore.

buzzard

Sebastian · Oct 2, 2002

IIRC, and I aven't looked at the book in a long time, 300 pts is total Invulnerabillity to Kinetic & energy damage.

Mortaneus · Oct 2, 2002

Invulnerability to a general type of damage (kinetic/energy/mental) is 300 pts per type.

To make that char, I'd suggest:

ST 30
DX 20
DR 50
Accellerated Time (extra round)
Increased Speed (several levels)
Increased Move (several levels)
Super Running (several levels)

I don't have the books with me right now, but you could probably afford that on 500 pts.

BTW, to give you a good approximation of power, one suggestion I've heard is that to convert a D&D character to GURPS, take 100 pts for the 1st level, +25 points per extra level.

Therefore, a 500 pt character is approximately equivalent to a 17th level D&D character in power.

buzzard · Oct 4, 2002

Mortaneus said:
Invulnerability to a general type of damage (kinetic/energy/mental) is 300 pts per type.

To make that char, I'd suggest:

ST 30
DX 20
DR 50
Accellerated Time (extra round)
Increased Speed (several levels)
Increased Move (several levels)
Super Running (several levels)

I don't have the books with me right now, but you could probably afford that on 500 pts.

BTW, to give you a good approximation of power, one suggestion I've heard is that to convert a D&D character to GURPS, take 100 pts for the 1st level, +25 points per extra level.

Therefore, a 500 pt character is approximately equivalent to a 17th level D&D character in power.

Out of curiosity as much as anything I bought GURPS 3rd, and GURPS Supers 2nd (I hope I'm not using anything outlandishly outdated, but I am cheap). Even the above interpretation could be be bought with 500 points.

Str 30 is 175 points
Dex 20 is 175 points
dr 50 is 150 points
accelerated time is 100 points
increased speed is 25 per level
super running is 20 per level

just the stats and DR get to 500 (assuming 10s for the other stats at zero cost), and no skills (though one could take a couple of disadvantages to get some skills).

Though just to intercede a minor GURPS gripe- they really have materials strengths wrong in a big way. The one that stands out is a 2" steel wall with DR 8, and not all that many Hit points. This has it so that a .308 rifle will shoot right through it (which it won't). I suppose this might have been corrected in a later edition.

buzzard

Flexor the Mighty! · Oct 4, 2002

No need to rip on Heroes Unlimited, it's better for supers than GURPS IMO. I think it's a good system for the types of heroes it represents.

buzzard · Oct 4, 2002

Flexor the Mighty! said:
No need to rip on Heroes Unlimited, it's better for supers than GURPS IMO. I think it's a good system for the types of heroes it represents.

While I have enjoyed playing HU, I will not spend much effort defending that system.
The rules really aren't very good. Of course some of this has to do with inherent weaknesses of the Palladium system, but others are particular to that game.

Now as for whether it is better than GURPS Supers, I don't know, but that seems believable. GURPS Supers seems focused on the low end of the power scale, and even though it claims to be able to do four color heroes, the rules don't appear to reflect that.

buzzard

Darkness · Oct 4, 2002

buzzard said:
GURPS Supers seems focused on the low end of the power scale, and even though it claims to be able to do four color heroes, the rules don't appear to reflect that.

It all depends on how many points you use, you know...

So if 500 isn't four-color-like enough for you, use 600 or even 750 points instead.
Or rather, get your GM to to set the point level that high.

edit: 500 points is a starting character in GURPS Supers, BTW; it's not at all powerful for a GURPS Supers character...

buzzard · Oct 4, 2002

Darkness said:
It all depends on how many points you use, you know...
So if 500 isn't four-color-like enough for you, use 600 or even 750 points instead.
Or rather, get your GM to to set the point level that high.

edit: 500 points is a starting character in GURPS Supers, BTW; it's not at all powerful for a GURPS Supers character...

No, I beg to differ. The mechanics of the game (at least my 2nd Ed copy) do not provide for some levels of power. The stats besides strength do not give any advantage beyond 20 (well actually, health will, so I am not completely correct). Lifting capacity is on a linear scale, which makes providing for the really strong folk quite difficult.

One could, in theory make Spider Man as someone said. However, it would be far more than 500 points. His strength alone would have to be 666 (marvel universe handbook always placed him at lifting 10 tons)which will cost 493 by itself. He cannot have an effective dex better than 20 (olympic gymnast), which is bunk considering we're talking Spider Man. I bet he couldn't be made with 1000 points if you do all the details.

Good luck making Superman, Green Lantern or Flash.
Honestly I don't think the game can be bent enough to scale to the high power characters. You can keep throwing points at the problem, but in some cases I don't know if you will ever get there.

Then again this is just a few hours of evaluation, I'm no expert.

buzzard