Powers, Volume 1, Why you don't actually "build" powers

[@MrMuertoloco]

For some reason I was getting a "How it's made" vibe from this video.

[@chrisnormand]

And truly, it sort of is. I really enjoy "making" powers (spells), because anything I can dream up, I can make (and then I just need to figure out the cost). And it allows my creative side to come out and hopefully make something unique and interesting for my players.

[@warmtropicalwave]

I've been playing gurps for almost 40 years and you are putting into words the way that I've been doing it. I've never been able to articulate the things that you are talking about in such a succinct way that I could get other people to understand. I love groups for the same reasons you do and I appreciate all your videos and I've learned things from them. I always liked the community and I always liked the idea of learning from other people. It expands my abilities and you are confirming my thoughts. Thank you

[@chrisnormand]

Yeah, another "Chris"! And thank you for your kind words. I am glad that they have been helpful, and may your gaming be plentiful!

[@kirkbrownridge]

Always a pleasure to listen to you passionately talk about GURPS!

[@chrisnormand]

Thank you! Talking "shop" about GURPS is really fun. And if it helps people out, then even better!

[@Deveyus]

"I'm a programmer..." "My google-fu..." My dude, as a programmer of 20 years, google-fu is a still a core job skill.

[@chrisnormand]

I know!!! I wish mine was stronger!

[@TheRyujinLP]

A very needed breakdown. I just linked this video to someone I'm trying to ease into GURPS. He's mostly played D&D so is having a very hard time breaking his ingrained habits so hopefully seeing this kind of outside the box thinking will help.

[@chrisnormand]

That's me... Mr. "Outside the box"! Also, Mr "Lazy", and Mr "Dang, I just want to play this game, why did they make it so complex". And you are welcome!

[@TheRyujinLP]

@@chrisnormand Yeah, GURPS is a very deep well if you let it be. But the thing with GURPS, any complexity you end up is your own dang fault heh. For example: I could of just made an ice spell that shoots off an super frozen spear of ice by making an impaling innate attack and be done with it. Buuut noooooo. I then thought, "Hey! What if when it hit, the spear then burst into a cloud of frost that then refreezes and encasing them in ice! "I'll just throw on a linked binding attack for +10%.... wait... hold on! What if they could also choose just to have the attack encase them in ice instead of impale them... this would add some flexibility if I let them choose if they want to just capture someone!" So I made it link +20% but then I got to thinking some more, "Well if they're frozen in a block of ice... they're gonna slowly freeze if they're not thawed out." so I added a 1pt fat attack with cyclic, 1 min and Hazard: Freezing. I could of called there and been done. I already put way more thought into this then needed. No one is gonna call me lazy for quitting here buuuut oooh no, the fact that fire attacks should melt the bindings faster then hit me so for one last tweak I added Vulnerability ×2 to fire for a nice -30% discount. Now, no one made me do that. The rules didn't require I go in that deep to make a spell so I have no one to blame but myself. But, let's be honest. THIS! This right here is why GURPS is so amazing. You don't need to go that deep, but you CAN if you want. And that's kind of awesome.

[@patatoe2124]

This makes so much sense. Normally explanations aren’t helpful but this completely changed the idea of how I’d make a power

[@chrisnormand]

I know, right?!? I was lost for years... until I came to that realization.

[@TenchiBushi]

I've been playing DnD since 1980. Much recently, I have a growing interest in GURPS due to a video about telling a story of a GURPS campaign based in the Warhammer 40K universe. I need to learn more.

[@chrisnormand]

I hope you were able to join the Unofficial GURPS Discord... you will find a LOT of knowledgeable people there. discord.gg/6xJBcYWyED

[@hansbrackhaus8017]

The "finding out the cost" really is the crux of the matter, this one, and many others (and the reason why "NPCs can just be defined as what they do without calculating costs") The costs are just there to keep things fair, otherwise, anything can be had and/or made. It's the cost that is the crux (for fairness)

[@chrisnormand]

I just was to reiterate... character point costs for a character cover so many things other than combat... so it is easy to "pay for" a 50pt NPC (that only have specialized combat skills) that can easily beat a 150pt (or even 250pt) character, depending on what the player purchased for their character. Which is why I highly recommend just assigning the traits and skills to an NPC ... since you can compare those to the player characters directly. And when I talk about "fairness"... it is the fairness between players, and it only relates to the "amount of fun" they can have with their character. I never use character points to determine if a combat would be fair between a PC and an NPC. If you really want to investigate that, I recommend checking out: gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Combat_Effectiveness_Rating

[@hansbrackhaus8017]

@@chrisnormand True, to me that was included, but unspoken (or written in this case) but of course (I hope) mind reading is not yet implemented...so...yeah ^^

[@stm7810]

@@chrisnormand it can also go the other way, something might be expensive in points but irrelevant to the players or not as big a deal, like regeneration 1HP/sec is 100 points, but when each turn that an attack is landed at least 5 damage is done it's more just a story interesting form of DR that makes a slime, advanced cyborg or troll interesting. at the same time you can technically make a way too overpowered enemy at 50 points who does like 300 damage a second at a universal range.

[@chrisnormand]

@@stm7810 True. The GURPS costs don’t always reflect the importance in your world. The best thing I can say is that they are consistent.

[@stm7810]

@@chrisnormand Yes, that stuff depends on setting, another thing I do is, increasing the amount of HP, FP and DR you gain with a purchase, (but DR above a level must be oblative for balance and because that's how physics works) so if you have 20HP spend 2 points to go up to 22, at 50, 2 points for 5HP, but that's to be able to better build powerful characters when things escalate, since the difference between 10 and 11 matters more than that between 40 and 41.

[@spuriousthought]

Very helpful! I'm looking forward to part II. One small suggestion: make it clear that accepting player-built powers is up to GM's discretion and, vis-a-vis, just because there powers and modifiers in some GURPS supplement somewhere, doesn't mean the GM is obligated to allow it.

[@chrisnormand]

Good point. I think I say that in the Characters video... the everything is "by approval only"... but that is a good point to reiterate, thank you!

[@MrAndrewGil]

Thanks for this video Nose! A very powerful video 😅😅

[@chrisnormand]

Is that a Pun? ;-) You know, I am going to milk that joke again... at least one more time. Thanks for watching!

[@MrAndrewGil]

@@chrisnormand lol

[@azTarks]

Awesome stuff

[@chrisnormand]

Wow, thank you! I am humbled by your generosity, and will endeavor to create more!

[@bendrix1932]

Thank you very much. This is exactly what I needed. I’m about to join a supers group and have been scratching my head about powers.

[@chrisnormand]

Yeah, powers are the most complex, but I think, coolest feature of GURPS. Good luck!

[@outsider8209]

I'm glad to see this cause while I'm a new GM to this system, I also like to be extremely complicated (I don't understand why) and this really helps me understand. I am running through a group of friends of what extra-ordinary kind of person they'd like to be and my friend said a which and seeing this while defining their idea helps me understand how I'll use the system to make it.

[@chrisnormand]

I appreciate the fact that you like complicated... so do I. However, as a new GURPS GM, don't let "complicated" get in the way of having a good time. I will say this, though... if you price out a complicated power, be sure to describe the power to your players in terms they will understand. They don't need to know all of the hoops that you jumped through to create the power and price it. They only need to know how to use it, and what it will do. And maybe later, if they are interested, you can show them the dazzling complexity that you brewed up for them ;-)

[@RicksPoker]

I wanted to make an Alien race that had a poison bite. I was trying to 'buy' the power, and it got pretty tough to do it right. (The poison is a linked attack, which counts as a penetration aid, but there only can be one penetration aid, so I can't give the fangs an armor divisor, etc.) THANK YOU for doing this video! It makes total sense, and makes it a lot easier. The difference would only be a point or two; I just felt I had to do it _right_. Warm regards, Rick.

[@chrisnormand]

You made my day! You are EXACTLY the person I made the video for! Thank you very much.

[@cortcall6344]

Just got into gurps and your videos are my favorite resource I have found keep up the good work

[@chrisnormand]

You are so very welcome. And I am glad you are looking into GURPS! Hopefully you will find it a "good fit".

[@Dieter-Doeddel]

I wished I could give 10 thumbs up. I highly agree!

[@Desmaenor]

Great presentation! Good job!! Hope this leads people to the system! Keep doing your great job!

[@chrisnormand]

Thank you, and I hope so too!

[@viniciusmachadomiguel7498]

YES! I've been waiting for this!!

[@chrisnormand]

And it has helped? I can only hope.

[@viniciusmachadomiguel7498]

@@chrisnormand Oh yeah, it did a lot. Mostly the part where you told us to not try to "build" the powers, just find a fair point. I do think it's absurdly good advice and I've been blaming myself when I do it, like it was a lazy shortcut that I'd have to fix it later. Now I feel much better about my games.

[@viniciusmachadomiguel7498]

@@chrisnormand The part 2 will be afflictions, right?

[@chrisnormand]

@@viniciusmachadomiguel7498 vol 2 will probably be the "math", but yes, I will probably do an Affliction's only video at some point.

[@chrisnormand]

@@viniciusmachadomiguel7498 Fantastic!

[@antondingir884]

NICE VIDEO, i really like it! keep a good work! thanks for additional gurps sites and that funny power munchiking

[@chrisnormand]

Glad you liked it! And thanks for the reminder... I meant to add the link to the description (done!)

[@strategystuff5080]

"My Power?", "Well you see I am Rich" "I use my money to hire helpers which have the skills I need"

[@JaniAndersson]

Wow, your videos are so good. I get so much inspiration from them. Thank you for all your effort!

[@chrisnormand]

You are welcome! I enjoy "spreading the word" ;-)

[@stevenfoster5217]

Another great video. Thanks and keep them coming.

[@chrisnormand]

Well, I have at least 1 more... the "Powers math" I promised... and then maybe an in-depth starting character creation video, and then the "Affliction power"... ok, I have a few more on my "to do" plate ;-)

[@Dieter-Doeddel]

@@chrisnormand Powers and templates! :D

[@Dieter-Doeddel]

Woohoo! Thank you very much for this video! Your videos will indeed make a difference to convince people taking GURPS into account!

[@chrisnormand]

That is the plan! Now if I only owned stock in SJG ;-)

[@SilntObsvr]

I've been playing GURPS (a little, when I could find other players) since *Man to Man* came out -- but Powers never made sense to me. Now I need to spend some time in the "Enhancements and Limitations" section at B110, and maybe get those two add-on PDFs from Warehouse 23 -- and I might be ready to start trying to make sense out of Ritual Path Magic and Sorcery, which builds on it. All of this because I've wanted for many years to play in a world like Lawrence Watt-Evans's Ethshar novels, with literally a dozen or more kinds of magic workers, and Sorcery, RPM, and Powers are the way to make those many kinds of magic.

[@chrisnormand]

RPM is a big chunk to learn, IMHO... and I have never. I was happy enough with Sorcery and what I could do with it. But I know Christopher Rice (author) loves RPM (and writes about it). One day, I might get into it. Just more cool things I can learn!

[@SilntObsvr]

@@chrisnormand I had understood that RPM was a prerequisite for being able to build spells in Sorcery, but even if it's not, I'd want at least one of my magic systems to operate mainly with slow casting and circles or books instead of "one second from memory" for everything.

[@Maetryx]

Fantastic video. I won't build powers--I will price them. You know, when I have time some day. :)

[@chrisnormand]

You got it! And I know the feeling... time is a tough resource to grind ;-)

[@calesr6940]

GCS (GURPS Character Sheet) program for creating characters makes this easier to handle. You can modify for the level of complexity you want and let it do the math for you.

[@chrisnormand]

Agreed! I have always been a fan of GCS. And I have a "How to use GCS" video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZfIdqWegdp6mbM

[@spuriousthought]

It is nice that you can include multiple modifiers and just enable the ones you want.

[@Parker8752]

I would note in terms of magic missile, making it a once per day ability would then reduce the cost from 40 down to 24 points. That said, I would most likely stat the AD&D magic missile as a crossbow bolt - so it's 10 points per level, for 1d+1 Imp (effectively 2d+2 against an unarmoured target). The additional 400% for no attack roll and no active defence brings this to 50 points. Then, because the intention of the spell in AD&D was for it to be effectively a magic crossbow bolt, I add an armour divisor of 2 bringing the result to 75 points. Then, we come to the limitations. First, it requires concentration, for -15%, it can only be used once per day for -40%, it requires two seconds of concentration (equivalent of two rounds of aiming) for an additional -10% and, optionally, cannot be used while wearing armour for -10%, for a total of -75%, or a final cost of 19 points rounded up.

[@chrisnormand]

I like! Yet another great example of the power and flexibility of GURPS . I appreciate how you described it, so others can follow your example as they try to build their own powers/spells.

[@Parker8752]

@@chrisnormand turns out I got the maths wrong in a couple of places (should start at 11 because you're supposed to round up, and the 25 is 50% of the 50 point running total), but it doesn't make much difference; it should be 16 (rounded up from 15.125, so I would probably round down to 15 for a nice round number). Not that big a deal though, since I could just as easily give it an armour divisor of 10 for a similar price and make it pretty close to not caring about armour at all.

[@chrisnormand]

@@Parker8752 Ahhh... you like to "tweak" like I do... Hmmm... what would it be like if I add this... I love building powers in GURPS.

[@Parker8752]

​@@chrisnormand I also screwed up by assuming limitations on advantages were applied after the enhancements. Turns out the final cost should be much higher, because the -75% is added to the +650%, not applied to the total. Oops. Total cost is 52 points, but on the bright side, it is really nasty (even if it is only once per day). Having said all that, D&D and GURPS differ in a very important way - in D&D, hit points are a measure of near misses in addition to physical damage, while in GURPS they only measure the physical damage. As such, I present the following as an alternative: We start with 11 point base for 1d+1 impaling damage, double range for +10%, 10 times 1/2 damage range for +15%, Homing for +50%, Accurate 3 for +15%, Armour Divisor 2 for +50%, Long Range 2 for +100%, then Magical for -10%, Once per day for -40%, and no armour for -10%. This conjures a magical crossbow bolt which must be aimed, but hits on a 16 or less (roughly 98%), has no range penalties to hit or damage, and can effectively deal damage through most armour. It costs 30 points, which is pretty expensive, but even against a particularly experienced warrior, taking up to 14 damage in a single hit is nothing to sneeze at. It can be dodged by experienced combatants, but then it can also be dodged in D&D; the difference is that in D&D, this is reflected through hit point inflation rather than an active defence. Remove the once per day limitation and the armour limitation, and this only brings the price up to 35 points, but at that point it's effectively a magical crossbow with infinite ammo and no need to reload. Keep the armour limitation, increase the damage by 1 (1d+2 imp, so up to 16 damage against an unarmoured target), and replace the once per day limitation with a 2 FP cost per use, and it's 40 points. This is pretty expensive (particularly for a starting character of only 150 points, who also needs to pick up Magery 1 for 15 points just to be able to use it), but on the other hand, this spell hits like a truck.

[@justinsellers9402]

For your flying, innate attack, I would use an emanation limitation rather than a melee attack limitation.

[@chrisnormand]

Interesting. I've never used an emanation limitation.... I will have to look that up, thanks!

[@Z09SS]

I've been playing since Man-To-Man and I've lost count of the people who object to GURPS by citing something wrong with Hero.

[@chrisnormand]

I'm sorry, I don't follow. Did I inadvertently say something against Hero systems?

[@the_brutal_king4314]

Could you throw a link into the description for that Create Light advantage? I want to read it!

[@chrisnormand]

Oh dang... it has been so long I no longer have the link saved. And my "google-fu" isn't good enough to find it.

[@MiniatureMashUp]

Could you do a brief walkthrough of the different editions?

[@chrisnormand]

Unfortunately, no. I've only ever used 4e. I know 3e exists, because there are a lot of people that have that version, and I know nothing about the first or second editions.

[@BlueNip]

Great video and just what I needed for my first world I am building around GURPS. One question I keep having and maybe someone here can point me in the direction is how do you put this into combat? If I want my PC's character to cast magic missile from their finger tips would this go under attack? I know in DnD you can just say im doing X spell or ability. I "cast magic missile" but from my understanding is isn't the same for gurps. And would magic missile be considered an advantage or a spell. Or is it both?

[@chrisnormand]

In combat, you can activate any "power" as a concentrate, ready or attack maneuver (depending on the power). If your "power" is a magic missle, then it was most likely built with "innate attack", which is a kind of "attack". If you are using the Basic Set or DFRPG Magic (magic as skills), then usually the effect of the spell occurs when you cast it, and you can "cast" as a concentrate maneuver. If your "power" has no activate cost (FP) and no skill check, then it is an "instant on" kind of power, but it still needs a ready maneuver to be switched on. Does that help?

[@BlueNip]

@@chrisnormand Yea it does clarify things up a bit. For my campaign the powers is the ability to control some form of element whether its thermal or even glass. I wanted to allow players the freedom to do whatever with there specific power. I do want a cost though, I was thinking each one their own unique cost but HP/FP might be just fine. If I went with GURPS FP cost could I still use something like magic missle as an attack? Or maybe utilize a different ability as a dodge even if the player has the FP to do it. One of the biggest hiccups in making the powers for my world was how to write it up GURPS style. I wasn't exactly sure if the Attack maneuver was limited to just melee or weapon based or if i could do something such as "glass burst" or "magic missle" as an attack Thanks for the video. Will probably rewatch it and have more questions later on.

[@chrisnormand]

@@BlueNip When you are “building” a power, you’re really just Trying to determine a cost. And the GURPS rules really just indicate the game action. So the advantage Innate Attack does some kind of damage. Now how are you theme it, it’s up to you. You could make it a blast of fire, or splinters of glass, or an electric bolt, or anything that does damage. The theme isn’t defined by GURPS. Only the end result, is it a Melee Attack, or ranged attack, etc., and how much damage it does.

[@saschafeld5528]

When calculating the cost of Magic Missle did you consider that it can only be cast once before needs to memorice again and that mages in D&D are rather weak in every other aspect?

[@chrisnormand]

Ohhhh... good point!!! That would definitely reduce the cost.

[@Dieter-Doeddel]

Looking forward to the following Power Volumes to expand on the groundwork you laid here. Now it makes way more sense to me. It would be nice to learn how to create different related effects within a power and how you use powers in general. For instance I want to create a Fire power with which I can create a cone of fire and a fire ray. Would I have to create two powers for each one or would it be these "talents" within a power? And how do I use powers? What do I have to roll against? And do powers cost fatigue like spells? Or do they only have costs if I implement a limitation? Questions over questions for at least two more volumes! 😊

[@chrisnormand]

These are good questions, and would make for a good video. But I don't want you to wait. Think of it this way, for every different "action" you want to perform, it most likely requires its own Advantage/Power. So you would build a cone of fire innate attack, and then a fire ray innate attack. Both start as innate attacks, but the first would have the "cone" enhancement that will make it more expensive. And maybe the fire ray attack does more damage (or however you envision it). As for "how to use", if you are in combat, you would need to execute an Attack maneuver. You would attack like any other ranged attack (minuses for range, +4 if aiming at the hex, etc.). If you hit, then you aimed your innate attack correctly, and the target can try to defend. If they don't defend, then you can roll the damage for the innate attack (which depends on the type, and how many dice you purchased). If you added "Costs Fatigue" limitation to either power, then you would spend 1 FP per "Costs Fatigue" level when you used it. If you also created a Power Talent for your fire powers... then you would add a +1 modifier (for every level of the Power Talent) to any "success" rolls that you attempt when using the associated powers. So if you had 1 level of a Fire Talent, you would add a +1 modifier to your "to hit" roll... BUT not the damage roll. If you incorporated other "success roll" checks in the usage of the power (reliability, malfunctions, etc.), then the talent modifier would affect those as well.

[@Dieter-Doeddel]

@@chrisnormand thanks for the response! As I skimmed the basic set I stumbled across the Innate Attack skill. So I assume that's the skill to utilize my Innate Attack power? As Innate Attack is inherently a Ranged Attack would I just slap the Melee Attack limitation on it, for instance if I want to use a flaming fist Innate Attack power as a melee attack and still roll the Innate Attack skill or would I use Boxing/Brawling as the according skill instead?

[@chrisnormand]

If you added the Melee limitation, then yes, the attack skill would change to Brawling.

[@Dieter-Doeddel]

@@chrisnormand Now your video inspired me so much that I'm rummaging through advantages and try to make up own powers. Like *Flaming Terror*, a power in shape of a flaming skull that instills Terror in any Target which is hit instead of the incendiary side effect combining Innate Attack 4 [20] dealing 4d burn damage and Terror [50] (-2 to Fright Checks), Limitations: No Incendiary Effect -20%. Now my question would be, as I combined two advantages, do the -20% of the limitation apply to the whole 70 pts cost or just to the 20 pts of innate attack?

[@chrisnormand]

I haven't used the Link enhancement much, but my understanding is that it is required if you want to "activate" both advantages at the same time, if both advantages require "activation" (usually some kind of attack). You would not need to link a "Damage Resistance" advantage, since it is not normally "activated". But each advantage is built with its own set of enhancements and limitations. The only enhancement they must both have is Link.

[@Leverquin]

Thank You Mr Nose. Greeting from Serbia :)

[@chrisnormand]

You are welcome! Хвала вам

[@Leverquin]

@@chrisnormand wow what a great man

[@WolfTyca]

I would really like to see the creation of powers through GCS. I don't really understand how to make skills out of traits. In my logic, I understand what powers are and how they work, but I don’t really understand how to do this on the character sheet.

[@chrisnormand]

My next video will do just that (show the math, and how it works in GCS), but also, if you watch the GCS video (kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZfIdqWegdp6mbM), I create a power for the "Witcher" character called "Witcher's Blast".

[@WolfTyca]

@@chrisnormand It was helpful. In general, I would like to hear how to do non-combat abilities.

[@jaredchinchello1760]

If the takeoff would have a knock back, why wouldn't you want it to effect you? Could you use the knock back to gain a bit of distance and speed?

[@chrisnormand]

True... but what would happen if the knockback affected the take off? Could it have knocked the hero over such that their acceleration would send them into a wall or something? But in ANY case, it goes to show that the GURPS rules are NOT made to EXACTLY define a power... they are instead designed to allow you to "price" out a power... and you get to define the specifics.

[@jaredchinchello1760]

@@chrisnormand I had not thought of that, if the player would have to roll to stabilize their flight after takeoff, maybe that could be some form of downside to reduce the cost? I have another question if you don't mind, does GURPS have rules regarding temperature and infections? Your videos are the first time I have looked into GURPS and seeing all the opportunities for customization has me thinking of campaign ideas.

[@chrisnormand]

@@jaredchinchello1760 Yes, (although I did not know this, I asked in the GURPS Discord and got an answer in 1 minute!): Check the GURPS Basic Set p. B430, B433 and B444.

[@tanelipirinen]

I would've added a small limitation to the IA, something about only when lifting off, probably not worth more than -20% or so.

[@chrisnormand]

Definitely! That would be a good way to price it. And that is my hope, that I can show people that you are just "pricing a power", not "building it".

[@crispycreammcfly4782]

This video is old but how is that munchkin ability only 53 points with all those enhancements. I feel like I'm missing something.

[@chrisnormand]

Old?!?! Well, I guess in "KZbin years", it is... :-) As for the power... it is a 1pt (not 1 dice) Toxic attack (which costs 1 character point), with + 5290% in advantages (which equals 1 * 52.9 => 53 (rounded up)).

[@crispycreammcfly4782]

@@chrisnormand Thank you, I actually did find what I was missing after I posted but thank thank you for answering. Also what is Toxic attack, I know Innate attack (toxic) but that's 4 points?

[@chrisnormand]

@@crispycreammcfly4782 You are correct, "Toxic attack" is an alias for "innate attack (toxic)", and the author is using the Partial Dice rules (Basic Set p60), where "Some attacks do only 1 point of damage. This counts as 0.25 dice.", so 4 cp * 0.25 = 1 cp.

[@crispycreammcfly4782]

@chrisnormand Wow. Amazing. GURPS really has everything you need. Glad I got into it.

[@jetproha7180]

Goat

[@chrisnormand]

Why thank you! Unless, of course, you mean the animal... and, well, I guess I would still say "Thank you". ;-)

[@motokuchoma]

7:44 this is Batman's superpower

[@chrisnormand]

Right on! And maybe some luck ;-)

[@Casper-fr]

7:40 Batman and Ironman would kinda disagree

[@chrisnormand]

My point was that you can certainly buy the Advantage "Wealth" to change your starting money. But what I wouldn't expect is that "Wealth" be part of a superhero-like power. But if you want to say that the "wealth" is the source for Batman's and Ironman's special abilities, I can certainly agree. But would that be a limitation? If either lost their wealth, their gadgets would still work. But as I said, if you or your players can describe how "Wealth" (a social advantage) could be part of a "power", then fantastic! Since social, physical and mental advantages all work the same way, mathematically. And my final point was concerning the definitions, advantages (of any type) can be called a "power", since it seems that both terms are really interchangeable.

[@Casper-fr]

@@chrisnormand I'm sorry if that sounded too seriously. I was mostly joking and kinda referencing this kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6XEf2SLotesn7M I do fully agree that "wealth" is not a superpower in a traditional sense, as well as that GURPS is great at making every advantage, be it a power, wealth or something else, fundamentally work the same way.

[@chrisnormand]

No worries... and you made a good point (and that is the perfect video!). Batman and Ironman definitely use wealth to their advantage.

[@dane3038]

5cps

[@chrisnormand]

At this rate, I will definitely be able to afford that next level of "KZbinr" skill, thank you!

[@philiphunt-bull5817]

Batman has the Wealth Power

[@chrisnormand]

That is an interesting way of looking at it.. but yeah, you are right.

[@stefane1915]

Gurps is no more and no less a copy of Hero System with simplifications.

[@chrisnormand]

While Champions was originally published in 1981 (and Fantasy Hero published in 1985), the two were NOT compatible. I know, we played a lot of Champions and were very frustrated when we bought Fantasy Hero, only to find out it didn’t mix. Champions was the first “point buy” system that we played. However, it wasn’t until Champions 4th edition (1990) when they made it a “universal” system (and released it as the Hero system). GURPS was first published in 1986, as a “universal” system. From wikipedia: “The Hero System itself was not released as an independent entity until 1990, as Steve Jackson Games' GURPS (Generic Universal Roleplaying System) became more popular.” So while I grant that the “point buy” concept occurred before GURPS, I am uncertain who copied whom. Was Hero systems moving towards a universal system before GURPS came out? Or did they see the success of GURPS, and adapt? In either case, both are now “universal” systems and you can pick whichever you like. I feel that GURPS might have more support, But I’m biased. If you prefer the HERO system, enjoy!