Acid_crash
First Post
I don't know about GURPS 3e, but I do have GURPS 4e, which I bought after downloading the GURPS Lite booklet and made a character (which was one of the funnest characters I ever made).
Here is how the skills system works in GURPS 4e, which sounds similar to your complaints but I think they made it easier to work with. In 4e, there is only one chart to work with, and all skills function on this chart. I think in 3e, they had two seperate charts, one for DX and one for IQ. I think this change alone makes 4e much better because there is only one single chart to calculate how many character points to spend. This change also allowed them to split the skills to default off of more Attributes than just DX and IQ.
All skills in gurps are based on an Attribute (similar to D&D). Each skill is rated in one of four categories: Easy, Average, Hard, Very Hard (unlike D&D). The harder the skill is to learn, the more character points it costs to improve that skill (similar to D&D with the class and cross-class skills difference). The amount of points you spend on the skill will determine how well it functions, as it related to the attribute it falls under.
Most skills are IQ and DX based, but I have seen a few also based on HT, PER, and WILL. IQ = Intelligence, DX = Dexterity, HT = Health, PER = Perception, and WILL = Willpower.
The ease of learning the skill will determine how many points it costs to increase the skill, and at what level it will be...
If you spend 1 point on an Easy skill, it will be at Attribute +0. If you have a DX = 13, and spend 1 point on a DX Easy skill, then the skill will be 13-. In other words, you roll 3d6, and if you roll 13 or less, you succeed. Make sense?
If you spend 1 point on an Average skill, it will be at Attribute -1. So, for a DX 13 character, a DX/Average skill will be rated at 12-.
If you spend 1 point on a Hard skill, it is at Attribute -2. And if it's a Very Hard skill, it is at Attribute -3.
It costs more to get a Hard skill to be equal to Attribute +0 than an Easy skill, and I think Gurps does it very well that it simulates that harder skills are, in fact, harder to learn. This I like, and it's something that D&D/d20 doesn't do very well. The higher skill level you want, the more it costs you. To get a skill that is Hard to be Attribute +0, it costs 4 character points, compared to the 1 for an Easy skill.
Gurps doesn't really have a 'skills rank' system, like d20, but it is a 'skill level' system.
The skill level you want for your character is RELATIVE TO THE SKILL'S CONTROLLING ATTRIBUTE. I think that is an important distinction that a lot of people don't understand, and fundamentally different than d20. Gurps doesn't try to be exact with skill ranks, like d20 does, but it does succeed in having people spend their points on what is important for their character relative to the character's basic attributes.
I don't know if how I explained this makes any sense, but I like both games and play them both for different reasons.
Here is how the skills system works in GURPS 4e, which sounds similar to your complaints but I think they made it easier to work with. In 4e, there is only one chart to work with, and all skills function on this chart. I think in 3e, they had two seperate charts, one for DX and one for IQ. I think this change alone makes 4e much better because there is only one single chart to calculate how many character points to spend. This change also allowed them to split the skills to default off of more Attributes than just DX and IQ.
All skills in gurps are based on an Attribute (similar to D&D). Each skill is rated in one of four categories: Easy, Average, Hard, Very Hard (unlike D&D). The harder the skill is to learn, the more character points it costs to improve that skill (similar to D&D with the class and cross-class skills difference). The amount of points you spend on the skill will determine how well it functions, as it related to the attribute it falls under.
Most skills are IQ and DX based, but I have seen a few also based on HT, PER, and WILL. IQ = Intelligence, DX = Dexterity, HT = Health, PER = Perception, and WILL = Willpower.
The ease of learning the skill will determine how many points it costs to increase the skill, and at what level it will be...
If you spend 1 point on an Easy skill, it will be at Attribute +0. If you have a DX = 13, and spend 1 point on a DX Easy skill, then the skill will be 13-. In other words, you roll 3d6, and if you roll 13 or less, you succeed. Make sense?
If you spend 1 point on an Average skill, it will be at Attribute -1. So, for a DX 13 character, a DX/Average skill will be rated at 12-.
If you spend 1 point on a Hard skill, it is at Attribute -2. And if it's a Very Hard skill, it is at Attribute -3.
It costs more to get a Hard skill to be equal to Attribute +0 than an Easy skill, and I think Gurps does it very well that it simulates that harder skills are, in fact, harder to learn. This I like, and it's something that D&D/d20 doesn't do very well. The higher skill level you want, the more it costs you. To get a skill that is Hard to be Attribute +0, it costs 4 character points, compared to the 1 for an Easy skill.
Gurps doesn't really have a 'skills rank' system, like d20, but it is a 'skill level' system.
The skill level you want for your character is RELATIVE TO THE SKILL'S CONTROLLING ATTRIBUTE. I think that is an important distinction that a lot of people don't understand, and fundamentally different than d20. Gurps doesn't try to be exact with skill ranks, like d20 does, but it does succeed in having people spend their points on what is important for their character relative to the character's basic attributes.
I don't know if how I explained this makes any sense, but I like both games and play them both for different reasons.