On Page 39, in the section - Stat Bonuses and Development Points, it specifically reviews that there are two options for DP's. Fixed # and Stat Dependent. That is why the Table 4.2 (Stat Bonuses and Stat-Dependent Development Points) includes DP awards. The SysOp's comments offer further options and on page 40 - there is "SysOp's Choice: Why Fixed DPs per Level?" which explains why the recommendation is to use Fixed values. The Stat-Dependent version is referenced later in the book as an optional rule, as Fixed is considered the standard, and will be used as the standard in all future HARP products.
As to your question about doubling the DP's for level 1 - yes, you are correct. It is spelled out as follows (bottom of col 1 on page 39 and top of col 2).
At first level, characters gain 2x their total Development Points. This option is
provided to retain compatibility with original HARP Fantasy rules.
Multiple Professions and their costing is an often discussed issue. It was addressed carefully in HARP SF, and will be even better handled on the next release of HARP Fantasay. If you re-read the note on page 36 directly above table 3.1, it specifically talks to the issue of making Adept an Additional Profession. Please review further, and if you still have questions, just let us know and will try to clarify further. It appears that your comments are from a misunderstanding of the benefits of the additional profession, but if you have additional questions after re-reading the rules, please let us know and we'll assist where possible.
I have yet to see a 200+ DB on any character or NPC. I can create it using talents/abilities (professional and racial) and maxing out with combat armor and blast shield - but I'd be interested to see how you were able to do it without min/max as per your comments. My guess is that we may have different definitions as to what min/max'ing is, because I would not generally have a character with Tough Hide (Greater) wearing Combat Armor and carrying a Blast Shield without having major negative roleplaying results. Sure he's a monster in weapon combat... but he's also the primary target for psi attacks, magic (if present in the campaign) and disabling efforts.
As for the Virtual comment/concern - I'm unfortunately not following you. Could you explain again? Or point me to a specific rules issue from the book.
(On to your 2nd post)
Low Gravity and High Gravity Talents at the same time...
It specifically states that you can't take them together - or with Zero Gravity Adaptation.
The character is adapted to a high-gravity environment. These Talents cannot be taken in addition to Low Gravity Adaptation (Minor or Major) or Zero-Gravity Adaptation.
If you wanted to make it a talent granted by some kind of technological equipment, then sure I guess you could - but only one or the other would be in effect at any time.
Errata - Sure... as soon as we get significant amount of errors identified. I'm sure there are some errors (no book is perfect), however due to the extended length of the beta release most likely the errors were already addressed - but if you find any, please let us know. Errata is more about clarifying rules that are confusing, and correcting specific typo's, errors, omissions, etc. If there is need for a rule to changed or a new rule added it could be handled as errata, but a lot of playtesting has gone into the product to try to keep that to a minimum.
Not following what you are asking about tinkering, but feel free to explain further.
SysOp Notes are part of the tradition of Iron Crown. The standard rules are out there, but as is found throughout most Iron Crown products, there are options available and also there are comments to help you understand the game better including ways where some gamers may abuse rules to negatively impact the game. They are insights into being a better SysOp (aka GM) for HARP SF. As to the specifics that you are referencing, I couldn't find them so if you can provide more specific references I'll be glad to see what we can answer for you.
