I'm not sure you understand my original meaning regarding point scales, so I'll try again. When I discuss the problems of point cost issues I'm not arguing that if the camapign has a potency scale where the most potent magnetic manipulator can lift 10 tons that a cause based system should let him also snuff the sun by interfering with the interplay of magnetic forces in the core. That's a scaling issue - he doesn't have that degree of power, and never will.
What I'm arguing is that point systems impose problems based on the mechanisms the designers used when determinging power cost. I don't know GURPS well enough to easily pick out specific cases, but here's an example from Tri-Stat (with the SAS costings): my hero with Power Flux (Light Powers) has a 5 Flux Points for use with Light Powers. He can, if he so chooses, turn completely invisible to normal sight (Invisibility costs out a 3 points per sense), fire lasers with more damage potential than a handgun (special attack, 4 pts for 20 damage), fly on a stream of hard photons with perfect control at 10 mph (flight, 4 pts per level) or glide on them at 50 kph (gliding, 2 pts per level), construct a hard photon shield that will block small arms fire (force field, 4 pts per level), sense the presence or absence of light in distant areas (sixth sense, 1 pt per sense) and even convert his body into a swarm of photons similar to a cloud of mosquitoes (swarm, 2 pts per level). What he can't do is absorb light (damage absorption 8 points per level, or damage conversion, 6 points per level), or craft holograms with a radius of more than 10 cm. (projection, 3 points per level, with level determing radius.) However, while he can't make a hologram that would cover his body, he could coat himself with a hard photon sheath with a varying appearance to make himself look like other people (alternate form, shapeshifting option, 2 points total).
That sort of distinction is where my problem comes in. How is it that the character can do so many other things with light but can't make a moderate sized hologram or absorb light? And the reason why he can't is not because of any appeal to the physics of the universe (if we were doing that, I would have chucked out the photon swarm idea toot sweet), but because the Tri-Stat design team decided that the ability to convert minimal amounts of energy into character points was twice as costly as being totally invisible to sight. That's my concern with point systems in Cause based power systems. It's not an insoluable one, but it is nagging.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-04-11 07:22 am (UTC)What I'm arguing is that point systems impose problems based on the mechanisms the designers used when determinging power cost. I don't know GURPS well enough to easily pick out specific cases, but here's an example from Tri-Stat (with the SAS costings): my hero with Power Flux (Light Powers) has a 5 Flux Points for use with Light Powers. He can, if he so chooses, turn completely invisible to normal sight (Invisibility costs out a 3 points per sense), fire lasers with more damage potential than a handgun (special attack, 4 pts for 20 damage), fly on a stream of hard photons with perfect control at 10 mph (flight, 4 pts per level) or glide on them at 50 kph (gliding, 2 pts per level), construct a hard photon shield that will block small arms fire (force field, 4 pts per level), sense the presence or absence of light in distant areas (sixth sense, 1 pt per sense) and even convert his body into a swarm of photons similar to a cloud of mosquitoes (swarm, 2 pts per level). What he can't do is absorb light (damage absorption 8 points per level, or damage conversion, 6 points per level), or craft holograms with a radius of more than 10 cm. (projection, 3 points per level, with level determing radius.) However, while he can't make a hologram that would cover his body, he could coat himself with a hard photon sheath with a varying appearance to make himself look like other people (alternate form, shapeshifting option, 2 points total).
That sort of distinction is where my problem comes in. How is it that the character can do so many other things with light but can't make a moderate sized hologram or absorb light? And the reason why he can't is not because of any appeal to the physics of the universe (if we were doing that, I would have chucked out the photon swarm idea toot sweet), but because the Tri-Stat design team decided that the ability to convert minimal amounts of energy into character points was twice as costly as being totally invisible to sight. That's my concern with point systems in Cause based power systems. It's not an insoluable one, but it is nagging.