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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Beginning of the End" data-source="post: 5495335" data-attributes="member: 55271">You've reversed one of the statements. The two proper statements are:(1) All characters with optimal killer builds will look similar.(2) Characters which aren't optimal killer builds will be left behind.Assuming, of course, that "combat balance" is the goal. (Which is usually the unstated assumption here.)Part of the problem with this discussion is that "balance" can mean many different things in an RPG. I recommend checking out <a href="http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/2500/roleplaying-games/the-many-types-of-balance" target="_blank">The Many Types of Balance</a>.You're focusing primarily on spotlight balance, but spotlight balance has very little to do with the system and relies a lot on scenario design. You may be the only cyberdecker in the group, but if your GM puts you in a deserted island scenario with no tech you're screwed (to take an extreme example).And even within the context of spotlight balance, GURPS has some issues: Some spotlights require a lot of points to actually master, while other spotlights can be mastered with fewer points (due to the disparate number of skills required for one vs. the other). Due to the complex system mastery, you can easily find that you thought you specialized in a spotlight only to discover that you missed key skills and now need to salvage or rebuild your character.GURPS also features numerous and well-documented "unequal paths" to the same result: You can spend 50 points using one build and get result X; whereas achieving result X in a different way might require 100 points. This again becomes a system mastery issues, where one player can build a character efficiently and get two or three spotlights while another player with less experience may only get one.GURPS is great for its immense flexibility. When it comes to balance, though, it's merely mediocre.</blockquote>

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