Cost: Variable
Allies is a social, mundane advantage used to represent partners of the PC (loyal comrades, faithful side- kicks,trusted retainers, a Familiar, or lifelong friends) who accompany the PC on adventures. Compare to Patrons.
Cost is effected by Ally’s Power, Ally Groups, and Frequency of Appearance
Animal Ally[]
Despite the name Animal Ally not a varient of the ally advantage but a package that replaces the Wild Animal trait.
fractional base cost[]
January 2010 under Hordes of Minions[1] introduced the concept of charging 0.2 base cost per 5% CP value in 4 tiers.
October 2011: Social Engineering] pg 42 reprinted the rules, and went beyond that to also deal with lower-value Dependents which can be useful when designing a Dependent Ally.
Reactions and Talent[]
P158 notes that Talent normally does not help reaction rolls except for Summonable allies and Highly Accessible tier Patrons
Appearance and Talent[]
P158 also notes that Talent does not help with appearance rolls for Associated NPCs.
when to pay[]
27 September 2004 Kromm mentioned after the 1st edition of 4e's Basic Set came out in February 2004:
- GURPS Lensman is why Allies are for PCs in 4e.
- One look at the crazy point-cost spirals there is all it takes to convince any sane designer that enough is enough.
Kromm is referencing the paragraph added prior to Ally's Power on B37 containing these instructions which are sometimes overlooked:
- Only PCs who take NPCs as Allies pay points for the privilege.
- Two PCs can be mutual “allies” for free,
- as can two NPCs
- – and NPCs never pay points for PCs as Allies.
- An Ally is specifically a skilled NPC associate for one PC
Allies are a type of Associated NPC per B31 but it's not clear if this applies to the other types of Patron or Dependent or Enemy or Contact or Contact Group.
Interestingly the pricing change from fixed to % from 3e to 4e fixes a lot of these problems on their own. The previous problem was because having an ally increased your point total, and the ally having you as an ally increased their point total, so now your own alliance was worth more... recursing forever to give infinite values.
With a % value, as your value goes up (say for gaining an ally) the CP total of your allies is also expected to go up (as a % of you) so this prevents the infinite incursion.
Rather: if your CP value went up (by gaining allies) and your allies' total did NOT go up (either by gaining you as a mutual ally, or improving their stats) then you would be losing points of your advantage, unless some other factor like FOA went up (or you got a free enhancement) to compensate and keep the value static.
Special Enhancements[]
- Minion (0% or +50%)
- Special Abilities (+50%)
- Summonable (100%)
- Adjustable (+25, +50%, +100, +150%)[2]
- can be played as PCs from Kromm at http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=31984
Special limitations[]
- Sympathy (varies)
- Unwilling (-50%)
Powers 41 changes it from a social trait to a supernatural one.
Ally’s Power[]
This table is also used for Ally groups; the point total is that of one person.
| Point Total | 5% | 25% | 50% | 75% | 100% | 150% |
| 200 pt Character | 10 pts | 50 pts | 100 pts | 150 pts | 200 pts | 300 pts |
| 300 pt Character | 15 pts | 75 pts | 150 pts | 225 pts | 300 pts | 450 pts |
| 400 pt Character | 20 pts | 100 pts | 200 pts | 300 pts | 400 pts | 600 pts |
| 500 pt Character | 25 pts | 125 pts | 250 pts | 375 pts | 500 pts | 750 pts |
| 600 pt Character | 30 pts | 150 pts | 300 pts | 450 pts | 600 pts | 900 pts |
| Cost | 0.2 pt | 1 point | 2 points | 3 points | 5 points | 10 points |
Ally Groups[]
The following table assumes the individual members are effectively identical and interchangeable. For groups with wildly different abilities and skills Patrons is the more logical advantage. Also, some Classic creatures (like Hags) have Ally groups in the 2-5 range (small) which under 4e rules would vary in terms of the multiplier (2x to 5x). To make conversion simple just assume a 4x multiplier.
Note: One way to handle the vague 'additional 10 fold increase adds +6' is to use the closest group from the Basic Set's example and times the higher number by 10 adjusting the lower number to fit:
| Size of Group | 2-5 | 6-10 | 11-20 | 21-50 | 51-100 | additional 10 fold |
101-200 | 201-500 | 501-1000 |
| Multiplier | V | x6 | x8 | x10 | x12 | original multiplier +6 | x14 (x8+6) | x16 (x10+6) | x18 (x12+6) |
| Classic size | small | medium-sized | large | 100+ | |||||
| Classic Cost
75 points |
[10] | ]20] | [30] | Not allowed. Use Classic Patron advantage instead | |||||
| Classic Cost
100 points |
[20] | [30] | [40] | Not allowed. Use Classic Patron advantage instead | |||||
Having a group with 100 points character added 10 points but that was the maximum. Beyond 100 points each person had to be purchased as an ally.
Books[]
It is the subject of the entirety of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 5: Allies™, and is referenced in a number of other works:
- GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners™, pp. 4-5, on Accessibility limitations
- Dungeon Fantasy 9, p. 14, on hordes of Allies
- Dungeon Fantasy 9, p. 20, on Spirits
- Dungeon Fantasy 9, p. 25, undead Allies
- Dungeon Fantasy 9, p. 38, on gaining advice from Allies
- Dungeon Fantasy 9, p. 39, on dealing with players becoming over-reliant on supernatural Allies
- GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 11: Power-Ups, p. 14, on familiars for spellcasters
- Dungeon Fantasy 11, p. 28, on animal Allies for holy warriors
- Dungeon Fantasy 11, p. 36, on animal Allies for unholy warriors
- GURPS Fantasy™, p. 128, on self-aware or possessed magical objects as Allies
- Fantasy, p. 132, on whether to treat animals as Allies or Signature Gear
- GURPS Mysteries, p. 107, on suitable Allies for investigators
- GURPS Powers™, p. 41, on Summonable Allies
- GURPS Thaumatology™, p. 113, on magic items allowing summonable Allies
- Thaumatology, p. 118, on magic items as Allies
- Thaumatology, p. 198, on conjuring animals or supernatural creatures
- Thaumatology, pp. 202-203, on incorporating summonable Allies into powers
- Thaumatology, pp. 209-210, on supernatural servants
- GURPS Zombies pg 105, which discusses how to deal with low or negative value characters
FAQ[]
http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/faq/FAQ4-3.html#SS3.2.31
What should I do if I want an Ally who can conjure/summon/create minions of some sort? NPCs don't pay points for Allies . . .
- At this point, it becomes an important supernatural ability (esp. due to being summonable). So yeah, this is the exception when NPCs pay for their Allies.
Kromm Quotes[]
Sean Punch has commented on Allies in the following posts to the SJG GURPS Forums:
- On their pricing [1], [2]
- On applying limitations to familiars [3]
- On their financial needs [4], [5], [6]
- On Rank versus Contact Group versus Allies [7]
- On player input in designing them [8], [9]
- On them not turning out to be evil [10]
- On their allegiance to a single player character [11]
- On their random appearance [12], [13], [14]
- On what failing an appearance roll means [15]
- On their implicit inclusion in Rank [16], [17]
- On their implicit inclusion in Wealth [18]
- On their behavior in combat [19]
- On the time required for summonable Allies to appear [20]
- On building summoned creatures for holy (or unholy) warriors [21]
- On animals as Allies versus Signature Gear [22]
- On statting animal Allies [23]
- On vehicles as allies [24]
- On Allies with IQ 0 [25]
- On their lack of disadvantage limit [26]
- On building a duplication power [27]
- On why NPCs don't pay for them [28]
- On overkill [29]
See Also[]
Links[]
- Nipping Problem Allies in the Bud
- Making Friends and Conjuring People: Summonable Allies for GURPS Fourth Edition (9/16/2005)
References[]
- Basic Set, pp. 36-38