Rules Nugget (GURPS): A Better Cost for ST

Intro: "What? Aren't we done now with ST cost?"

After bouncing from one hack to another in the treatment and pricing of ST, GURPS finally settled upon a happy solution in 4e. It all works fine; there's nothing outwardly broken to fix.

Yet the current scheme isn't without its quirks, namely the ever-decreasing relative return that each additional 10-point purchase of ST confers. For a 10-point purchase of +1 ST, a ST 1 rat gets +100% ST and +300% Basic Lift, a ST 10 human gets +10% ST and roughly +20% Basic Lift, and a ST 100 super gets +1% ST and about +2% Basic Lift.

While there's nothing wrong with that, one's tempted to tweak a bit more. That's where D. Weber offers an interesting alternate suggestion for ST cost. The scheme applies an ever-decreasing cost to every +1 ST that offsets the ever-decreasing relative return, and sets a nifty cost progression at the same time. It was a good idea when originally shoehorned into 3e's ST rules, and works even better under 4e.

The new ST cost progression

Apply a steadily-declining cost for ST that runs as follows:

ST 11-20: 10 pts/+1 ST

ST 21-30: 5 pts/+1 ST

ST 31-70: 2.5 pts/+1 ST

ST 71-100: 5pts/+3 ST (1.66 pts/+1 ST)

ST 101-200: 1 pt/+1 ST

ST 201-300: 1pt/+2 ST

ST 301-700: 2.5 pts/+10 ST (1 pt/+4 ST)

ST 701-1000: 5 pts/+30 ST (1 pt/+6 ST)

ST 1001-2000: 1 pt/+10 ST

ST 2001-3000: 1 pt/+20 ST

... and so on. Look carefully, and you'll see a neat pattern. What's neatest is that costs work out as follows:

ST 10 costs 0 pts

ST 15 costs 50 pts

ST 20 costs 100 pts

ST 30 costs 150 pts

ST 50 costs 200 pts

ST 70 costs 250 pts

ST 100 costs 300 pts

... and so on, where each jump in ST matches a level on the Size and Speed/Range table's progression and costs a flat 50 points. Those 50 points multiply ST by rougly 1.5, and Basic Lift by roughly 2. Meanwhile, every flat 300 points multiplies ST by 10, and Basic Lift by 100.

Applying the cost

ST for big creatures

What's useful under this scheme is the ease of buying ST for large creatures. As laid out in GULLIVER Mini, the way you want to scale ST with size in GURPS 4e is to multiply a human-sized ST score by the creature's height multiple (i.e., the multiple of its SM's "yards" to SM 0's two yards).

Under the above cost scheme, all you need to do is start with some appropriate ST for a SM 0 creature, and buy another 50 points per +1 SM.

Example: You want a ST 10 human scaled up to SM +3. Cost of ST? 50 points x 3 = 150 points. That gets you ST 30.

Starting ST doesn't need to be 10:

Example: Try the above with a starting ST of 13 (which is more reasonable anyway for a Giant). For SM +3's height multiple of x3, you want a final ST of 13 x 3 = 39, which the progression says will cost 172.5 points.

Alternately, you can pay the 30 points you'd pay for ST 13, then 50 points x 3 = 150 points for the SM, for a total of 180 points.

As in the example, the costs can turn out different depending on the exact ST bought. But the difference is small, and the latter method is certainly an easy way to build ST into a creature.

ST for supers

The other obvious change is the reduced cost of high ST in superhero games, that charming genre in which "You can lift 100 tons? Pshaw, I can throw that much" is just part of the conversation.

Here, a super pays only 300 points for ST 100, with 10 times the ST and 100 times the lifting power of a normal human, instead of the 900 points that Basic Set would charge. Whether that lower cost is good or not is of course up to you, but I think many super-game GMs would like it.

And if 300 points gets you the lifting power of 100 humans, then 600 points gets you the power of 10,000, and 900 points the power of 1,000,000, and so on... The possibilities make me giddy.

One cost to fit them all

The new suggested ST cost replaces the ST cost reduction that 4e offers for large creatures. It also replaces any special rules that the game may offer for supers' ST. Don't use any special ST cost reductions with this rule; it's one cost to fit them all, whether super, Giant, or old-fashioned steel-thewn barbarian.

(Again, whether or not this is a good thing is up to you. I myself don't like any sort of discriminatory pricing schemes, such as 10 points to add +1 ST to a super, but 2 points (10 - 80%) to add the same to a SM +8 monster. I'm happy to see those differences disappear.)

Low ST

The above scheme doesn't apply to ST under 10. That's not a flaw in the scheme; there's just no single formula possible that would provide happy results for both superhuman and subhuman ST. For low ST, stick with a simple -10 pts per -1 ST.

Status

I noted long ago that the scheme would work much better under "Quad ST" than under 3e's handling of ST. That's precisely what 4e now brings us, so it should work spiffily. Let's make sure of that, though. Test it with intent to break!

Conclusion

Very interesting stuff; my thanks again to Mr Weber. Try out the suggestion the next time you need to bulk up a super or monster!