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Cost: (-5%/FP)

Costs Fatigue means an ability costs FP to use. Given the correlate Costs Hit Points it is sometimes referred to as Costs Fatigue Points. Costs Action or Costs Action Points is an option if using The Last Gasp where FP regeneration is slowed down.

P100 has it increase in amount with Area Effect.

FP cost of Wild Advantages[]

Abilities and Exertion introduced the idea of FP costs for prolonged ability use for abilities which did not have this limitation in THREE categories:

  • per battle (min 10s)
  • long-term use (hourly as per hiking) including long-distance travel with MOST movement abilities
  • intensive use is minutely as per sprinting: including top-speed travel and travel through objects

Limited Use is the only condition where it's suggested to waive this: it's meant to be alternative to internal energy supply.

This shifts the balance of power slightly, but Limited Use was always pretty low-return so making it relatively slightly less bad is probably a good thing.

Reduced Fatigue could probably offset this though it's likely overpriced: +20% allows -1FP reusable once per second, so Takes Recharge as Limited Enhancement could be appropriate:

  • 10/20 percent reductions to enhancement for 5/15 seconds would make that 18%/16%
    • -15% for 10 seconds resulting in 17% probably also reasonable as house rule if wanting something specific to 10-second periods
  • there is no "per minute" rate but -25% for 60 seconds (+15% limited enhancement) could be a reasonable house rule
  • 30% reduction to 14% for "one per hour -1 to FP" would be how to offset long-term tasks.
  • further reductions might be possible, like for example Aspected if you avoid FP costs in combat but not for non-combat uses of power, or vice-versa

Ascending Limitations[]

Prior to the writeup in PU4 the Costs Fatigue, 1 FP/5points variant in Powers introduced the idea.

Falls under Partially Limited Abilities / Partly Limited Abilities

Switchability[]

Kromm in 2009 http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=340291&postcount=8

Only add Switchable if no other factor intrinsic to the ability (time, running out of FP, etc.) switches the advantage on or off. Switchable isn't required if the ability only turns on in the first place if you pay FP or trigger a limited use.

HOWEVER the P153 overview distinguishes these as Transient:

  • has a duration that the user canโ€™t control because it relies on a random roll or because the underlying advantage or one of its modifiers (e.g., Limited Use) specifies โ€œusesโ€ of finite duration

Aside from Limited Use, things like Unreliable or Costs Fatigue or Requires (Attribute) Roll or Trigger are all "finite duration" uses: fulfilling these conditions generally "switches on" (normally "always off" outside these conditions) the ability for a 'use' of ONE transient minute, before requiring the condition to be fulfilled a second time to maintain it.

"Damage Resistance with Active Defense" is one such example: Active Defense is based on R(A)R which is based on Unreliable, as PU8 explains.

You explicitly "cannot control" the duration of "Limited Use" abilities, meaning it CANNOT BE TURNED OFF... normally, unless perhaps Switchability is bought to allow that.

The definition of an active ability is "does nothing until the wielder takes a maneuver to use it .. chooses to make a die roll". Although not mentioned "chooses to spend FP" is probably a similar requirement.

"turning on a switchable ability (e.g., Growth, Mind Shield, or any attack with Aura) counts as an active use, even if the ensuing effects are passive:" could possibly be a good representation of DR. That distinction is:

  • active use v passive use
  • active effects v passive effects

with Rapid Fire[]

hether it's per shot or per attack is discussed in 2009 at http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=55566

vicky said per second, kuroshima said per attack

the Rubber Body example[]

Powers 151 includes a -15% variation called "Costs Fatigue, 1 FP/5points,"

This is applied to Modular Abilities worth 30 points, meaning doing the full 30 points would cost 6 FP, normally a -30% limitation for a transient use.

This appears to be an application of the Costs Fatigue, Variable rules used for leveled innate attacks, except used for a leveled non-attack ability.

comparison to Temporary Disadvantage[]

Consider that where a character spends 2 FP and 1 FP per minute after, this is Costs Fatigue 2 (-10%)

GURPS Thaumatology 212 allows the disadantage Dependency:

with the limitation Fatigue Only (-50%) from Weakness

1 HP per minute is "Constantly", a x5 multiplier. Something Common and legal has a base cost of -5 which is increased to -50 is needed Constantly, and "Fatigue Only" would reduce this to -25.

So "Temporary Disadvantage: Dependency: CommonThing, Constantly" would be worth -25%, and not getting access to that thing would only incur 1 FP loss per minute. Even something Very Common would still be -12%, while Rare would be worth -75%.

It should be noted that TD is only allowed for switchable abilities which take at least 1 second to switch, so this approach is not allowed for things reduced to 'free action'.

quotes[]

kromm[]

May 2005[]

hourly costs, per Ze'Manel Cunha in May 2005 http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=75802&postcount=11

Question Ze':
On pricing limitations like Scaling Costs Fatigue, what would you recommend when someone's trying to scale the cost by the hour, or by an amount of time different from 1 per second or 1 per minute?
Answer Kromm:
I wouldn't consider "by the hour" to be a meaningful limitation. If we give out even -1% for 1 FP/hour, then people will always take -5% for 5 FP/hour or 1 FP/12 minutes, and never take -5% for 1 FP/minute.
POWERS actually rules that *all* "active" abilities have a long-term FP cost, just like digging, hiking, or lifting, and declare that this is part of what you're in for when you buy an "active" advantage.
      • this is helpful for understanding how to apply GURPS Spirits rules for paying 1 FP/hour for insubstantials to travel in vehicles
Question Ze':
What if we wanted to be able to use this power for a lesser amount of time, and wanted to be able to have the chararcter pay a proportion of the fatigue for the amount of time used?
Answer Kromm:
Unless it averages at least 1 FP/minute, it's worth -0%. If it scales evenly over a minute, just take the mean between the full-minute cost and the minimum cost (1 FP). For instance, if I have an ability that costs 10 FP/minute in the form of 1 FP every 6 seconds, the minimum FP cost per minute if I use my ability is 1 (I use it for only 6 seconds of that minute) and the maximum is 10 (I use it for the full minute).

This averages 5.5 FP, so the limitation is 5.5 * -5% = -27.5%. I'd call it -25%, but round however you want. The point is, you get fewer points back than you would for plain-vanilla Costs Fatigue 10, -50%, because you have the option to get a useful ability for 6 seconds for a mere 1 FP (and in practice, will often "pulse" it this way to save FP).

June 2005[]

ongoing costs, per Nikolai in June 2005 http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=82934&postcount=26

When you take Costs Fatigue on Shapeshifting, it works just like any other continuing ability. You get -5% per FP required to stay shifted for 1 minute. You must pay this when you start to shift -- but don't count the built-in 10-second activation time against your minute.
If you *just* pay FP for the switch, perhaps you could halve the value of the limitation or something.

2007[]

instead of metatraits, per quote from vicky in 2007 http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=780435&postcount=5

  1. First, do not buy a Link unless the ability really needs it (see below).
  2. Second, chose an Advantage that gets the best discount for FP/HP Cost Limitation.
  3. Now, add Accessibility (Only while that main Advantage is active) -10% to all other Advantages in the ability.
    • Unlike switchability (of any sort), Accessibility doesn't require separate Ready manoeuvres to turn on the Advantage, so it just flips on once it is accessible.
  • Exceptions (Switchable): Static, Mana Damper, and other Advantages with a non-10% Switchable price still need to take the Switchable enhancement to benefit from this build; this makes them have a net cost of 190%. Otherwise, either the Accessibility or the FP/HP/ER cost have a free Switchability included.
  • Exceptions (Link): links are needed for transient abilities, like Shapeshifting, Attacks (incl. Binding and Afflictions) or other 'special' cases. In fact, Linking them at +10% level actually prevents you from using them unlinked (and thus negates the right to buy the -10% Accessibility).

2013[]

Regarding techniques: http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=1663167&postcount=2

Another common stipulation is that this is always a form of extra effort; this adds +1 to the default (making it easier to do) but levies a flat cost of 1 FP per use.

+1 to skill being equivalent to a -5% limitation to use a technique is a valuable thing to remember. Of course, the inverse, Reduced Fatigue Cost being +20%, might cost -4 to skill based on this pattern.

PK[]

2009 http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=864814&postcount=27 in respect to Regeneration

My house rule for Costs Fatigue takes this into account. If you have Instant Regeneration, the value of Costs Fatigue is reduced to 1/5. With Extreme Regeneration, it's 1/10.

But this is nothing more than the old, "A limitation that doesn't really limit the power is not a limitation." All I'm doing above is turning Costs Fatigue into a leveled Nuisance Effect, really, which is what it becomes if you recover FP that quickly.

See also[]

References[]

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