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Friday, March 17, 2023
GURPS Speedsters
Monday, March 13, 2023
AEON Season 7, Session 7
Cast
- Amie-Belle T. W. Lee aka Whisper (Played by Curtis): Cold War era super-soldier/spy that got put in the Freezer, because she got poisoned. After getting thawed out and cured she tried to back to work, and was given an “adjustment period”. Uncle Sam called 2 years later, with work… because once you’re in, you’re in for life. Tagline: “In and out without a whisper.”
- Beauregard K. “Bo” Ratnam aka Wirerat (Played by Brice): Technopath, inventor, and hacker. He specializes in co-opting enemy systems and tech assets. Tagline: “Nice tech – I’ll borrow that.
- Stainless Steel Rat aka “Sir” (NPC Ally): Bo’s best friend and assistant. A sentient drone in the shape of a stylized shiny metal rat mindlinked to Bo. Specialties are rapid repair construction and modifications. Imagine if K-9 and R2D2 made a baby and it looks a bit like a rodent. Tagline: “Repairs and upgrades in progress”
- Derrick K. Ratnam aka Ledgerdemain (NPC Ally): Spin doctor and media liaison for Project VANGUARD. Twin to Bo. Tagline: “Well, actually that’s not how it happened.
- Rafe Hanlon aka Nyx (played by Chris D.): An umbrakinetic petty thief still on work release several years later, on his way to becoming a true agent and hero. Tagline: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
- Layla A. de Blackburn aka Nox (NPC): CIA-trained child assassin all grown up to be Daddy’s Little Monster. Maybe a little mad. Argues with her shadow often. Tagline: “No, we shouldn’t do that…should we?”
- June B. O'Neill aka Prodigy (NPC): Savant with hyper-intelligence that may have cracked the universal power-dampening conundrum. Fresh out of the Meraki Institute for the advanced and gifted. Extremely intelligent, but young (she's 16).
- Vincenzo L. dePrezzo aka Threshold (Played by Rory): Doctor, Mathematician, and Scientist (yes, capitals) and Spatial Manipulator. Threshold can bend space like a pretzel, teleport, obliterate things, and has extraordinary senses. He’d rather be in a research lab than fight. Better known for his work with Doctors Without Borders, the United Nations, and disaster relief than famous battles. Tagline: “I can be there in a snap!”
- Nawang Sonam aka Wan Shi Tong (NPC): Martial Artist with a mysterious past. Thresholds mentor, experienced and highly capable, indeterminate age.
- Grant L. Wojcik aka Fridge Boy (NPC): Can control icer/cold, but mostly the ability to create ice that explodes. 16 year old emancipated orphan, Our janitor.
- Rudy A. Coldwater aka Gimmick (NPC): Mildly hyper-intelligent savant. Stutters. Makes very accurate guesses. Typical nerd, not yet 20. Wants to make a difference, assigned to support duties.
We Last Left Off
The Subway HQ
We end up in the Hospital, Again.
Afterthoughts
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
AEON Season 7, Session 6
Cast
Amie-Belle T. W. Lee aka Whisper (Played by Curtis): Cold War era super-soldier/spy that got put in the Freezer, because she got poisoned. After getting thawed out and cured she tried to back to work, and was given an “adjustment period”. Uncle Sam called 2 years later, with work… because once you’re in, you’re in for life. Tagline: “In and out without a whisper.”- Beauregard K. “Bo” Ratnam aka Wirerat (Played by Brice): Technopath, inventor, and hacker. He specializes in co-opting enemy systems and tech assets. Tagline: “Nice tech – I’ll borrow that.
- Stainless Steel Rat aka “Sir” (NPC Ally): Bo’s best friend and assistant. A sentient drone in the shape of a stylized shiny metal rat mindlinked to Bo. Specialties are rapid repair construction and modifications. Imagine if K-9 and R2D2 made a baby and it looks a bit like a rodent. Tagline: “Repairs and upgrades in progress”
- Derrick K. Ratnam aka Ledgerdemain (NPC Ally): Spin doctor and media liaison for Project VANGUARD. Twin to Bo. Tagline: “Well, actually that’s not how it happened.
- Rafe Hanlon aka Nyx (played by Chris D.): An umbrakinetic petty thief still on work release several years later, on his way to becoming a true agent and hero. Tagline: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
- Layla A. de Blackburn aka Nox (NPC): CIA-trained child assassin all grown up to be Daddy’s Little Monster. Maybe a little mad. Argues with her shadow often. Tagline: “No, we shouldn’t do that…should we?”
- June B. O'Neill aka Prodigy (NPC): Savant with hyper-intelligence that may have cracked the universal power-dampening conundrum. Fresh out of the Meraki Institute for the advanced and gifted. Extremely intelligent, but young (she's 16).
- Vincenzo L. dePrezzo aka Threshold (Played by Rory): Doctor, Mathematician, and Scientist (yes, capitals) and Spatial Manipulator. Threshold can bend space like a pretzel, teleport, obliterate things, and has extraordinary senses. He’d rather be in a research lab than fight. Better known for his work with Doctors Without Borders, the United Nations, and disaster relief than famous battles. Tagline: “I can be there in a snap!”
- Nawang Sonam aka Wan Shi Tong (NPC): Martial Artist with a mysterious past. Thresholds mentor, experienced and highly capable, indeterminate age.
- Grant L. Wojcik aka Fridge Boy (NPC): Can control icer/cold, but mostly the ability to create ice that explodes. 16 year old emancipated orphan, Our janitor.
- Rudy A. Coldwater aka Gimmick (NPC): Mildly hyper-intelligent savant. Stutters. Makes very accurate guesses. Typical nerd, not yet 20. Wants to make a difference, assigned to support duties.
The Setup
- This Power Stunt adds Scanner for skill -5 (-16) and 2 FP so pretty reliable but checking the entire borough will take awhile. Taking another -1 to skill doubles range to 200yards.
Disobeying Doctors Orders has Consequences
Up Next and Afterthoughts
Personal Thoughts
Monday, March 6, 2023
Steve Jackson Games new webstore based on Shopify
The company moved from its old web store to a new system. Its still got some bugs and content with missing or errant tags but shows regular improvement. The thread on the forums asked for feedback and people have been giving it. I like that customers are being listened to and feedback is being implemented.
For example ago or so I asked for categories such as Settings and Adventures to be listed. Low and behold they now are! Mind you I dont know if my suggestion was the reason they did it or if it was already planned so not taking credit here.
Settings is still missing some such as Casey and Andy and Girl Genius that I do not see in this search query.
Supplement Type has the following options
- Rules Expansions
- Campaign Settings
- Adventures and Scenarios
- Abilities
- Items and Technology
- NPCs and Creatures
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
AEON Season 7, Session 5
Cast
- Amie-Belle T. W. Lee aka Whisper (Played by Curtis): Cold War era super-soldier/spy that got put in the Freezer, because she got poisoned. After getting thawed out and cured she tried to back to work, and was given an “adjustment period”. Uncle Sam called 2 years later, with work… because once you’re in, you’re in for life. Tagline: “In and out without a whisper.”
- Beauregard K. “Bo” Ratnam aka Wirerat (Played by Brice): Technopath, inventor, and hacker. He specializes in co-opting enemy systems and tech assets. Tagline: “Nice tech – I’ll borrow that.
- Stainless Steel Rat aka “Sir” (NPC Ally): Bo’s best friend and assistant. A sentient drone in the shape of a stylized shiny metal rat mindlinked to Bo. Specialties are rapid repair construction and modifications. Imagine if K-9 and R2D2 made a baby and it looks a bit like a rodent. Tagline: “Repairs and upgrades in progress”
- Derrick K. Ratnam aka Ledgerdemain (NPC Ally): Spin doctor and media liaison for Project VANGUARD. Twin to Bo. Tagline: “Well, actually that’s not how it happened.
- Rafe Hanlon aka Nyx (played by Chris D.): An umbrakinetic petty thief still on work release several years later, on his way to becoming a true agent and hero. Tagline: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
- Layla A. de Blackburn aka Nox (NPC): CIA-trained child assassin all grown up to be Daddy’s Little Monster. Maybe a little mad. Argues with her shadow often. Tagline: “No, we shouldn’t do that…should we?”
- Vincenzo L. dePrezzo aka Threshold (Played by Rory): Doctor, Mathematician, and Scientist (yes, capitals) and Spatial Manipulator. Threshold can bend space like a pretzel, teleport, obliterate things, and has extraordinary senses. He’d rather be in a research lab than fight. Better known for his work with Doctors Without Borders, the United Nations, and disaster relief than famous battles. Tagline: “I can be there in a snap!”
- Nawang Sonam aka Wan Shi Tong (NPC): Martial Artist with a mysterious past. Thresholds mentor, experienced and highly capable, indeterminate age.
- June B. O'Neill aka Prodigy (NPC): Savant with hyper-intelligence that may have cracked the universal power-dampening conundrum. Fresh out of the Meraki Institute for the advanced and gifted. Extremely intelligent, but young (she's 16).
- Rudy A. Coldwater aka Gimmick (NPC): Mildly hyper-intelligent savant. Stutters. Makes very accurate guesses. Typical nerd, not yet 20. Wants to make a difference, assigned to support duties.
The Trap
The Interrogation
Aftermath
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Magically Altering Evidence
A thread on the Steve Jackson Games Forums about using Glamor or other means to magically tamper with or remove evidence from a crime scene.
There are a lot of ways to go about this.
Obscure (Forensics) would give a penalty to the skill to analyze the crime scene. However it has a duration and though that can be bought up it adds cost and is more suited to illusions.
Telekinesis, especially with One Skill only is a good way to alter and especially move evidence.
Of course you can also destroy evidence with Innate Attack, though that is likely to be messy and just call more attention to things!
Payload is good for sneaking evidence offsite or carrying things in to frame someone else.
Ultimately my choice is Control from GURPS Powers.
Control (Evidence) is a very broad category so fair at 40/level, making it rather pricey. However that would let you manipulate solids, liquids, and gases and even a single level would handle most evidence. Even minor changes could ruin evidence for practical use, remove fingerprints, reshape bullets to hide ballistics, move chemical traces, etc. Alternatively, instead of just damaging things beyond useability or moving material the evidence could be altered to frame someone else or make it look more like an accident.. This should definitely require skills and knowledge to do but the user could change fingerprints, writing, DNA, etc. to try and match another sample if desired.
Create (Evidence) with Destruction is another way to go and fits a spell or power that simply removes evidence.
Another variant would be a cheaper version of Control (Evidence) [5/level] that required a contest of skills or a per level penalty. The tradeoff of an absolute for a minor penalty justifies a much cheaper cost.
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
AEON Season 7, Session 4 Family and Walls fall Apart
Cast
- Amie-Belle T. W. Lee aka Whisper (Played by Curtis): Cold War era super-soldier/spy that got put in the Freezer, because she got poisoned. After getting thawed out and cured she tried to back to work, and was given an “adjustment period”. Uncle Sam called 2 years later, with work… because once you’re in, you’re in for life. Tagline: “In and out without a whisper.”
- Beauregard K. “Bo” Ratnam aka Wirerat (Played by Brice): Technopath, inventor, and hacker. He specializes in co-opting enemy systems and tech assets. Tagline: “Nice tech – I’ll borrow that.
- Stainless Steel Rat aka “Sir” (NPC Ally): Bo’s best friend and assistant. A sentient drone in the shape of a stylized shiny metal rat mindlinked to Bo. Specialties are rapid repair construction and modifications. Imagine if K-9 and R2D2 made a baby and it looks a bit like a rodent. Tagline: “Repairs and upgrades in progress”
- Derrick K. Ratnam aka Ledgerdemain (NPC Ally): Spin doctor and media liaison for Project VANGUARD. Twin to Bo. Tagline: “Well, actually that’s not how it happened.
- Rafe Hanlon aka Nyx (played by Chris D.): An umbrakinetic petty thief still on work release several years later, on his way to becoming a true agent and hero. Tagline: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
- Layla A. de Blackburn aka Nox (NPC): CIA-trained child assassin all grown up to be Daddy’s Little Monster. Maybe a little mad. Argues with her shadow often. Tagline: “No, we shouldn’t do that…should we?”
- Vincenzo L. dePrezzo aka Threshold (Played by Rory): Doctor, Mathematician, and Scientist (yes, capitals) and Spatial Manipulator. Threshold can bend space like a pretzel, teleport, obliterate things, and has extraordinary senses. He’d rather be in a research lab than fight. Better known for his work with Doctors Without Borders, the United Nations, and disaster relief than famous battles. Tagline: “I can be there in a snap!”
- June B. O'Neill aka Prodigy (NPC): Savant with hyper-intelligence that may have cracked the universal power-dampening conundrum. Fresh out of the Meraki Institute for the advanced and gifted. Extremely intelligent, but young (she's 16).
- Rudy A. Coldwater aka Gimmick (NPC): Mildly hyper-intelligent savant. Stutters. Makes very accurate guesses. Typical nerd, not yet 20. Wants to make a difference, assigned to support duties.
OOC Notes
Watercooler Chat
Family Matters
Aftermath
Saturday, February 18, 2023
AEON C-Team: Season 7 Session 2 & 3
Cast
- Amie-Belle T. W. Lee aka Whisper (Played by Curtis): Cold War era super-soldier/spy that got put in the Freezer, because she got poisoned. After getting thawed out and cured she tried to back to work, and was given an “adjustment period”. Uncle Sam called 2 years later, with work… because once you’re in, you’re in for life. Tagline: “In and out without a whisper.”
- Beauregard K. “Bo” Ratnam aka Wirerat (Played by Brice): Technopath, inventor, and hacker. He specializes in co-opting enemy systems and tech assets. Tagline: “Nice tech – I’ll borrow that.
- Stainless Steel Rat aka “Sir” (NPC Ally): Bo’s best friend and assistant. A sentient drone in the shape of a stylized shiny metal rat mindlinked to Bo. Specialties are rapid repair construction and modifications. Imagine if K-9 and R2D2 made a baby and it looks a bit like a rodent. Tagline: “Repairs and upgrades in progress”
- Derrick K. Ratnam aka Ledgerdemain (NPC Ally): Spin doctor and media liaison for Project VANGUARD. Twin to Bo. Tagline: “Well, actually that’s not how it happened.
- Rafe Hanlon aka Nyx (played by Chris D.): An umbrakinetic petty thief still on work release several years later, on his way to becoming a true agent and hero. Tagline: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
- Layla A. de Blackburn aka Nox (NPC): CIA-trained child assassin all grown up to be Daddy’s Little Monster. Maybe a little mad. Argues with her shadow often. Tagline: “No, we shouldn’t do that…should we?”
- Vincenzo L. dePrezzo aka Threshold (Played by Rory): Doctor, Mathematician, and Scientist (yes, capitals) and Spatial Manipulator. Threshold can bend space like a pretzel, teleport, obliterate things, and has extraordinary senses. He’d rather be in a research lab than fight. Better known for his work with Doctors Without Borders, the United Nations, and disaster relief than famous battles. Tagline: “I can be there in a snap!”
Off Topic
Session 2: The Bridge
Session 3: Aftermath and Recruitment
Post Take
Monday, January 30, 2023
Spirit Contracts and Magic
Spirit Contracts and Magic
On the Steve Jackson Games Discord server, a question came
up. A poster wanted a magic system that represented negating with spirits for
various effects. GURPS has Spirit Assisted Magery and other options, mostly in
GURPS Thaumatology but these did not quite meet his expressed need.
So here is an initial run at addressing that. Note that
there are many ways to handle things in GURPS and it gives GMs a good
foundation to work out options and come up with specific things to address their
needs for their campaigns. So this is just one way to do it and by no means the
only way and has not been play tested by me. But it’s a fun exercise and
interesting idea, so here goes.
What System?
Book/Path Magic, Divine Favor, GURPS Magic, Realm Magic, Ritual
Path Magic, Sorcery, Syntactic Magic and more exist. I think Book/Path is the
best fit here. Default spells take longer to cast which can represent negotiating
time. Divine Favor would be good if each spirit was a Patron or if they were
taken collectively as a single Patron but this implies an existing good
relationship.
Book/Path as Spirit Bargains
I think the Effect Shaping variation is best here, though
Energy Accumulation could work too.
Effect Shaping means the result of the negotiation is from a
single die roll. Energy Accumulation provides “energy” over a period of time
and repeated rolls so could be more of a :slowly winning the spirit over” approach.
I just recommend Effect Shaping as a cleaner and less convoluted method.
Ritual Magic represents a knowledge of spirits and rituals
for entreating them for power. So we keep the core skill, perhaps elaborating
on it for the setting and different cultures may have different specialties
representing the difference between kinds of spirits.
What I would change though is the Paths or Books. Each Book/Path
should represent either a specific powerful spirit (say a book for a named
demon outlining common deals it is known to make) or a Path for a collection of
related spirits (Fire spirits, ghosts, Djinn, Nature spirits, Fairie, etc.).
Assign and create new rituals to appropriate Book/Paths,
many rituals will be in multiple paths as is the current case. In this case each ritual is pretty much a boilerplate contract for specific services rendered. The ritual may be all that is required of one or both parties or it may involve something more from one, especially the magician. Perhaps a sacrifice or promise to do something in exchange for the service provided by the spirit. This could lead to some interesting spells, though each spell would need some work by the GM to come u0p with just what the magician has to do to honor their side of the deal.
I would put the Fetish ritual into every Path and many Books
though. Or rather a variation on it that only applies to the appropriate
spirit. This represents a prearranged deal and allows casters to have some
effects be very quick because the deal was already made.
Alternatively create a new ritual for this and charms are
effectively tokens that trigger the already bargained for effects.
Using this in a Setting
I could see using this in a setting, though I would want to
make up new rituals and outline spirits to help me formulate the Paths. My
upcoming supplement GURPS Template Toolkit: Spirits as lenses for various types
of spirits with a vey brief description of personality and other traits so that
would help a GM using this system but ideally that GM would come up with more
detail.
Tuesday, January 17, 2023
GURPS Wealth Revisited
Wealth in GURPS is a weird advantage. It can influence how much money you make from a job or even transactions. It can benefit from high Rank or Status and it can be a game breaker if one PC is the group financier.
Mburr on the forums suggested a breakdown into Income, Starting Cash, Assets, and Lifestyle.
Income is currently covered by Wealth and Independent Income.
Starting cash reflected by the above (usually 20%) and possibly debt, Signature Gear, or points for cash.
Assets is covered mostly by Wealth, but Patron can also factor in here.
Lifestyle is mostly from Status level but modified by some disadvantages.
It can be a complicated and nuanced combination to get just the flavor you want.
Abstract Wealth, Pyramid #3/44 Alternate GURPS II by Jason Brick has another take. It converts Wealth into a secondary attribute. It uses a table instead of a flat number for different levels and you roll against the level by comparing the item value to wealth level to see if you can purchase said item. I kinda like the concept but the execution feels overly complicated. Its main claim to fame is to avoid having to track actual money and thus save bookkeeping.
So how could we change the current system to make something simple yet fun and useful?
Start with Wealth (p. B25)
Dead Broke [-25]
Poor [-15]
Struggling [-10]
Average [0]
Comfortable [10]
Wealthy [20]
Very Wealthy [30]
Filthy Rich [50]
Multimillionaire [+25/level] over the cost of Filthy Rich.
You have to have a job to earn this money. Independent Income lets you get money based on Wealth level without working for it and assumes passive income like an allowance, interest, royalties, etc.
Patrons do not generate revenue (though you may get a salary if employed there) but can provide equipment and other assets on a decent roll. I used Patron to handle being a ships captain/owner without having to be rich in my article The Captains Boat, Pyramid #3/71 Spaceships II. I wanted a way to get characters like Han Solo who had their own ship but were not wealthy. The idea is a ship (including a crew) can be seen as a small company.
Lets take a look at treating Wealth like most advantages and apply modifiers.
Independent Income: You get a percentage of your income without having to spend time working for it. Gives +1%/level up to +20%. Gives full income at +50%. [+1%/level up to +20%; Full income for +50%].
Supernatural Access: You can get your funds anywhere. No need to get to a bank or worry about a lost credit card! [+50%].
I used this for a submitted article (not published) for Conjurors, inspired by the Dragon Knight series.
In High Tech settings it may not be needed and is often overkill.
Liquid Wealth: Your wealth is liquid and does not include the normal assets associated with it. You may still earn the normal amount and have other perks but live a nomadic lifestyle that does not include fixed assets. Instead of the usual 20% liquid and 80% permanent fixtures it is 100% liquid and available for adventuring gear. This gets more for adventuring use but precludes assets like a house or car that you could borrow against. In some settings this may be the default and it severely cramps a stable lifestyle.[-0%]
Starting Wealth: This is a case of one use ability or ability that costs character points. Wealth is purchased at 1/5 cost but once used the money is gone! Wealth can be purchased multiple times at different levels this way to represent markers that can be called in. Impulse Points may be allowed, especially for cinematic wealthy characters.