Extremely High Characteristic Scores

[allanimal]

The characteristics table on p.8 of the core rule book shows that at 15+, the characteristic DM tops out at 3.

Underneath it states "The maximum score for a characteristic is 15 for an unaugmented human character."

Ok, let's say we have a character that rolled a 12 in DEX, then got a +3 physical augment to DEX as well as the muscular bridging augment. Then she puts on a suit of Scout Battledress giving an additional +6 to DEX, bringing her total DEX to 22.

Is the characteristic DM for DEX skill still 3?

In some cases, I can see that this hard limit makes sense, but what if the character was some sort of Giant race that regularly has 20+ strength? Should they not get Moe damage on a hit from a mere human with a puny 15 STR?

Similarly there is no room in the characteristic table for hyper-intelligent sophonts that can out-think even the most brilliant humans.

Etc.

Should the table's range be increased? If so, would you stay with the trend of +1 per 3 characteristic points? Or should the cap stay at 3 and aliens get traits that boost specific DMs?

 

[alex_greene]

Go with your +1 per 3 characteristic points, and not cap the progression. If your character has managed to augment his characteristic beyond 15, you might as well enjoy that little benefit to skill checks.

characteristic	  DM
15-17		        +3
18-20		        +4
21-23		        +5
24-26		        +6
27-29		        +7
30-32		        +8

and so on.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Suppose a character augments his intelligence by linking his brain to a computer and the computer is way smarter than he is?

 

[-Daniel-]

Suppose a character augments his intelligence by linking his brain to a computer and the computer is way smarter than he is?

The computer short circuits his brain and takes over the body and uses it as a mindless drone. :lol:

 

[DickNervous]

Suppose a character augments his intelligence by linking his brain to a computer and the computer is way smarter than he is?

The computer short circuits his brain and takes over the body and uses it as a mindless drone. :lol:

:mrgreen:

I would SOOOOO do this to my players if they ever tried it. I already have one player who has a wafer jack and was connected to a control panel trying to hack it. He rolled a 2. He took 14pts (he rolled it, not me!) of damage, lost 1 point of INT permanently, and lost a level of a random skill. It just so happened that the skill he lost was Computer-0.... now he doesn't know how to do anything more than "surf the web" and "use basic productivity apps" (aka Office). It was awesome.

 

[Solomani666]

Should the table's range be increased? If so, would you stay with the trend of +1 per 3 characteristic points? Or should the cap stay at 3 and aliens get traits that boost specific DMs?

I do +1 per 3 characteristic points but max out Dex at 15 without some sort of neural or drug augmentation for humans.

Some other races can go beyond the 15 point scale.

 

[vargr1]

The characteristics table on p.8 of the core rule book shows that at 15+, the characteristic DM tops out at 3.

Underneath it states "The maximum score for a characteristic is 15 for an unaugmented human character."

Ok, let's say we have a character that rolled a 12 in DEX, then got a +3 physical augment to DEX as well as the muscular bridging augment. Then she puts on a suit of Scout Battledress giving an additional +6 to DEX, bringing her total DEX to 22.
...
Should the table's range be increased? If so, would you stay with the trend of +1 per 3 characteristic points? Or should the cap stay at 3 and aliens get traits that boost specific DMs?

I'm more than willing to consider that someone wearing a suit of battledress should count as an 'augmented character'.

 

[allanimal]

Ok, so it sounds like most people would continue the trend of +1 DM per 3 characteristic points.

Anyone think that is a bad idea? If so, why?

 

[Condottiere]

That assumes linear improvement.

 

[-Daniel-]

That assumes linear improvement.

Yes it does. It also makes it easy to calculate on the fly so to speak. :mrgreen: