Powergamer question

[HVK]

How far is too far with a skill in terms of D, should you stop at or before 20...Any opinions? (Playing a houseruled game so we get good deals of CP...just an add-on)

[Jedi Skyler]

I can't really vote, because it differs from group to group.

Some are mature players who can handle whatever, so you can handle a game with uber points.

Some are children who can't handle having 3D in a skill.

It all depends.

[Esoomian]

The most I've ever had in a skill was 10D although the character in question had the attribute itself at 7D so it wasn't much above the attribute level.

As the skill was brawl it actually turned out in some situations not to be enough, although those were pretty rare.
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[Jedi Skyler]

I personally have a long-standing character who's got something like 19D in the Force skills. Yes, this is an EXTREMELY long-running character/group, and believe me, the adventures have changed to fit the characters.

But also once I got him to those higher ranges in the Force skills we started dealing with some very non-canon stuff in our gaming...or at least grossly semi-canon. We were dealing with alternate methods of using the Force...but with those high levels came some really steep penalties.

[Esoomian]

My character is fairly long running (three years plus) however I have to confess he started the game with 10D in brawl so I can't claim I earned it gradually.
_________________
Don't waste money on expensive binoculars.

Simply stand closer to the object you wish to view.

[Jedi Skyler]

Yeah, well this character has been around for almost 20 years now. He's definitely earned it!

[HVK]

Hmm well I started with 150 CP to use because my last character died and I'd be too far behind to make a new character with normal CP, started with lightsaber at 20D which was explained in the background, does anyone consider that too much?

[Jedi Skyler]

To start?!?! You betcha, unless (heck, even IF) you were starting in my group. Sure, you could beef your character up some...but that right there is straight corn-fed, Midwestern Hoss, alrighty...

[OtterJethro]

I would say if you had one skill real high and all the others that you are probably not role playing much. My friend only wanted to put up blaster, sneak and search and constantly complaining of us "wasting time" setting up a story and had like 8D+2 blaster before we finally had to let him loose...

My GM and I started some characters and currently look to keep balanced characters with not so extreme stats. We consider that a person who has 4D/5D in something should be pretty good and so I think getting to be over 10D would start to be time to "retire" such a character.

[HVK]

Ahh so yes I did go overboard, thanks I kept asking the other players but they'd all get caught up in something else. So thank you very much./ Well as I said it's a high powered game within two missions all other skills are at 6D - 8D with a total of like 20 skills now.

[Ray]

The best a lot of our characters had was 7D, as we needed a wide range of skills.

One of the PCs specialized, and got a little over 9D in Blaster. You've heard about him.

The problem with boosting one skill so high is that it's neglecting the rest of the skill groups. You may be the best Rifleman in the Universe, but that's useless in a Freighter that's getting nailed by Ties. All you can do is sit back with a fire extinguisher and put out the electrical fires.

[K21DUBIE]

I think it does not matter, if the Gm is willing to run the character then so be it. I have a character that has 17d in blaster and 22d in dual heavy blaster. I almost never have to use either skill now becuase of my reputation. It is amusing and much like Jedi Skyler this character has been around a long time. 15years if I remember right.

[Ankhanu]

Yeah, I think about the best I've ever had in a skill was 8D, which I thought to be pretty powerful.

I find a lot of people don't get the concept of what D levels mean in anything but difficulty numbers; they don't understand how they relate to what a person can do in the context of normal people in the universe. As such, they don't understand that, say, 4D in a skill, in relation to what most people are capable of, is pretty damn good; they simply see it as averaging around a Moderate difficulty, and think it sucks. This doesn't just apply to PCs, but also to GMs.

I'm making a gross generalization here that is FAR from universally applicable, but I'm going to say it anyway; for the most part, I've found that those who seek high D levels are more interested in equipment and stats than in a character, those who are more into characters are far more willing to have "reasonable" D levels to reflect their character's backgrounds in relation to the rest of the inhabitants of the galaxy.

Even the most prominent and powerful individuals in the official SW Universe rarely had skills above 8-12D

[Jedi Skyler]

Yeah, that's true.

We basically just had a long and VERY rich history with these characters; we couldn't stand the thought of retiring them.

Every now and again we'd play them powered down, especially if we were running them with another group...but most of the time the GM just kicked the opposition up about fourteen or fifteen notches to give us a run for our money.

Plus, at those levels, sometimes the sessions just turned into more of a comic relief time than a serious campaign. It was a blast!

[HVK]

That's what our style game is if it matters to the question, we rp to a degree but mostly it's a way to hang out with friends and feel like you're still doing something. =) Thank you all again for you're input.