ok, so I briefly re-read the SR rules. it does appear to say that the attribute and skill caps are hard caps and not just at character creation. wow, that really makes no sense to me regarding skills, barely any for attributes.
I am removing the skill cap, post-creation, completely.
I am removing the attribute cap, post-creation, completely. you don't need to buy the "quality" for raising attributes with karma, but you do need the quality if you want to start with a 7 at creation, with BPs. I even think that paying double for an attribute is too much. raising an attribute is x5 the new level. so going from 6 to 7 already costs 35! karma.
karma is awarded per adventure (or per chapter on the forum) with an average award being 5, max 10. that would mean playing 4 different threads, or chapters and earning 20-40 karma and being able to raise 1 attribute by 1 point. I see no reason that a PC should not be able to do this or to impose any further cost.
at creation, nota bene:
Physical/Mental Attributes:
Improving a character’s Physical or Mental attributes costs 10 Build
Points to increase an attribute by +1. The final increase spent to raise
an attribute to its natural maximum (known as “maxing out”) costs
25 BP instead of the normal 10.
to get to a 7 at creation, with BPs, you also need:
Exceptional Attribute
Cost: 20 BP
The Exceptional Attribute quality allows a character to possess
a natural Physical or Mental attribute at a level above the metatype
maximum. A character with this quality has one attribute with a natural
maximum one point higher than his metatype would normally
allow (for example, a human character would have one attribute with a
natural maximum of 7). This also increases the augmented maximum
for that attribute as appropriate. This quality may only be taken once.
Active (single) Skills:
Raising a skill costs 4 BP per rating point. Skills can only be improved
to a maximum rating of 6.
The maximum skill rating for starting characters is either one skill
at Rating 6 (with the rest at Rating 4 or less) or two skills at Rating
5 (with the rest at Rating 4 or less). Your character cannot start with
both one Rating 6 skill and two Rating 5 skills.
to get to a 7 at creation, with BPs, you also need:
Aptitude
Cost: 10 BP
A character with the Aptitude quality is a prodigy in one particular
skill. Characters with this quality may improve one Active skill one
point above its natural maximum to a 7. Note that this doesn’t actually
increase a skill that’s currently at Rating 6; The Aptitude quality may be taken during character creation to
allow a beginning character to start with a skill of 7. If a character takes
advantage of this quality, the cost for raising the skill from 6 to 7 is also
twice normal, or 8 BP.
Characters may only take the Aptitude quality once.
Group Skills:
To acquire a skill group for your character, you must pay 10 BP
per level of expertise you wish to acquire. (Since skill groups contain
three or four skills together, this is actually cheaper than purchasing
each skill individually.) Starting characters may raise purchased skill
groups to a maximum rating of 4.
again, just to be clear, those caps go away after creation and only apply when spending BPs.
I am removing the skill cap, post-creation, completely.
I am removing the attribute cap, post-creation, completely. you don't need to buy the "quality" for raising attributes with karma, but you do need the quality if you want to start with a 7 at creation, with BPs. I even think that paying double for an attribute is too much. raising an attribute is x5 the new level. so going from 6 to 7 already costs 35! karma.
karma is awarded per adventure (or per chapter on the forum) with an average award being 5, max 10. that would mean playing 4 different threads, or chapters and earning 20-40 karma and being able to raise 1 attribute by 1 point. I see no reason that a PC should not be able to do this or to impose any further cost.
at creation, nota bene:
Physical/Mental Attributes:
Improving a character’s Physical or Mental attributes costs 10 Build
Points to increase an attribute by +1. The final increase spent to raise
an attribute to its natural maximum (known as “maxing out”) costs
25 BP instead of the normal 10.
to get to a 7 at creation, with BPs, you also need:
Exceptional Attribute
Cost: 20 BP
The Exceptional Attribute quality allows a character to possess
a natural Physical or Mental attribute at a level above the metatype
maximum. A character with this quality has one attribute with a natural
maximum one point higher than his metatype would normally
allow (for example, a human character would have one attribute with a
natural maximum of 7). This also increases the augmented maximum
for that attribute as appropriate. This quality may only be taken once.
Active (single) Skills:
Raising a skill costs 4 BP per rating point. Skills can only be improved
to a maximum rating of 6.
The maximum skill rating for starting characters is either one skill
at Rating 6 (with the rest at Rating 4 or less) or two skills at Rating
5 (with the rest at Rating 4 or less). Your character cannot start with
both one Rating 6 skill and two Rating 5 skills.
to get to a 7 at creation, with BPs, you also need:
Aptitude
Cost: 10 BP
A character with the Aptitude quality is a prodigy in one particular
skill. Characters with this quality may improve one Active skill one
point above its natural maximum to a 7. Note that this doesn’t actually
increase a skill that’s currently at Rating 6; The Aptitude quality may be taken during character creation to
allow a beginning character to start with a skill of 7. If a character takes
advantage of this quality, the cost for raising the skill from 6 to 7 is also
twice normal, or 8 BP.
Characters may only take the Aptitude quality once.
Group Skills:
To acquire a skill group for your character, you must pay 10 BP
per level of expertise you wish to acquire. (Since skill groups contain
three or four skills together, this is actually cheaper than purchasing
each skill individually.) Starting characters may raise purchased skill
groups to a maximum rating of 4.
again, just to be clear, those caps go away after creation and only apply when spending BPs.