Cost of Package Deals

[tgaptte]

Hi Steve,

 

I read through your old and new responses to 5e questions and the FAQ, as well as FRED and did not see this issue discussed, so here we go...

 

The way Package Deal cost is worded seems a bit confusing to me. Let's take the Policeman from pg. 17 of FRED as an example.

 

The Package Cost is listed at 2 pts, but the total of all his skills is 17pts. This might lead a new player to believe that all they have to pay is 2 pts to become a Policeman, when in fact they have to pay 17 pts. The 2 pts left over is really the amount of extra points in Disadvantages they have to come up with, right?

 

I'm just trying to clarify this, because I saw all too often in 4e games players and GMs alike buying packages for the "Package Cost", which creates deceptively low point characters.

 

Thanks in advance for your response.

 

Tim

[Steve Long]

You're correct, that it could be a little confusing. The cost listed just represents the points not covered by the Package Deal's Disadvantages, as you note. For Package Deals with no Disads (which is quite a lot of 'em), total cost is total cost. For Package Deals with Disads, the cost is the total cost of all the abilities in question, then the character has to take the listed Disads.