Looking at Wealth in GURPS

 

Having more money is an advantage and less a disadvantage as it affects your starting capabilities. However, access to wealth is more complicated and will be very campaign specific. For instance, after the campaign begins how do you continue to get income? Jobs, passive income, or adventuring?

There are a number of options, but they have been expanded upon in supplements so here is an overall look.

Starting Wealth

see p. B25

You start off with a base amount of money and goods assigned by the GM, typically based on Tech Level (p. B27). Then pick your Wealth level which can be a disadvantage or advantage and modifies that base starting amount. Partial Multi-Millionaire (GURPS Spaceships 2: Traders, Liners, and Transports; p. 26) offers additional fine tuning.

This can get very expensive, but fair is fair, starting with a lot of money is a huge advantage.

Additional fine tuning can be done using one or more of the following.

Signature Gear (p. B85) gives 50% of the average (not your own) campaign starting wealth per point. There are a couple of caveats that come with this too.

Signature Assets (GURPS Spaceships 2, p. 27) I an enhancement to Wealth that multiplies starting wealth by 5% per +1% but only towards SM+2 assets, say a starship. It is capped at +20% for +100% of starting wealth (yours not the campaign average as it’s applied to the Wealth advantage).

You can also trade points for money (p. B26).

Finally, you could apply Potential Advantage (p. B33) Heir to Wealth, meaning you pay half cost but get half the starting wealth at the beginning. This one can be abusive though so GMs should be wary as Wealth increases multiplicativity you can get more than you paid for.

All of this affects how much you start the campaign with, not how much you earn on a regular basis. Though certain levels of Wealth may be a prerequisite for certain jobs.

Income During Play

Generally, you get money from working or adventuring. Independent Income and Debt (p. B26) can represent passive income or regular expenses. This is limited to 20% of your starting wealth. But unlike Trading Points for Money or Signature Gear this is affected by your Wealth level.

Ongoing Expenses

This includes Debt, Cost of Living (p. B265), and whatever comes up.

 

That it?

For most campaigns the above is probably just fine. You know how much you start with and have ways to get more money during the game, even a base line cost of living.

But there should be some other options, so here are some ideas.

Patrons and Benefactors

A Patron (p. B72) is a government, organization, or person who helps you out. Make the Appearance Roll and they offer some aid or advice. The Equipment modifier (+50% or +100%) means they will give you gear.

Hmm, asking for a loan you don’t have to pay back is rather like income, isn’t it?

So Patron (Sponsor, Fans, etc.) with Equipment, +50% can give you campaign average starting wealth. More for the +100% level! This could just as easily be a reliable supplier of goods for you to sell.

Not as dependable as Independent Income but it is another possible source of income or goods. Minimal Intervention is also an obvious limitation.

But what about say the scientist looking for help to cover inventing costs or a captain looking for a new ship?

Patron (Bank/Investor)

You have a good track record of borrowing money and paying it back. Banks or investors are willing to loan you money because they are confident, they will get it back with interest or another bonus. How much you can get is limited by the Patrons’ assets.

Equipment (+50%) gives you up to campaign starting wealth. Failing the Appearance roll means you couldn’t reach them, or they just did not want or could not offer you the money.

Minimal Intervention (-50%) You get what they think you need is a fair way to price the Patron choosing if the loan is appropriate or not.

Temporary Disadvantage (Duty or Debt) lasts until you pay them back. Debt is easy, just pay that amount each month. Duty might mean you get sent on jobs for them to pay them off, or perhaps just to cover the interest till you pay back what you borrowed.

Signature Assets (+1% and up) if it were allowed can give you +5% more money per +1%. +50% would be +250% of your Starting Wealth (up to the Patrons resource limit). Since Equipment (+100%) does not mention a limit this seems weaker or less valuable. However, I like the idea of it being tied to your Wealth advantage (normally minimally useful after the campaign start) and an actual cap the player and GM both already know rather than an arbitrary limit the GM applies if just using Equipment (+100%).

 

Lets wrap this all into a new modifier to keep things simple and avoid confusion with how the modifiers may normally work.

Enhanced Credit

This modifier to Patron (usually a bank but might be anyone willing to lend) represents your value to them as a reputable borrower. When you want to ask for equipment or money from a Patron make its Appearance roll and submit the request. Administration or other skills may help, and the Patron decides what is appropriate and reasonable as far as the loan is concerned. Success allows you to borrow up to 50% of your Starting Wealth (not the campaign average). The value of the loan should be limited to what can reasonably be expected to be paid back or written off. Resource Value (GURPS Boardroom and Curia, p. 10) is a good cap on what can be written off. Repayments should include interest or other benefits to the Patron. GURPS Spaceships 2: Traders, Liners, and Transports (p. 27) has suggestions for a space campaign, otherwise use what is appropriate for the setting.

Statistics: Enhanced Credit is a metatrait consisting of the following. Equipment, +50%; Minimal Intervention, -50%; Signature Assets, +10%; and Temporary Disadvantage, Duty, -10%. +0%.

Edited

While I like the Patron who can give equipment as an idea, the Enhanced Credit and Patron as lender just isn't good enough. I was thinking about how PCs could afford something unusually expensive but I don't see anyone wanting to pay points for this kind of thing. Not after a night sleep anyhow.

I'll leave it up for posterity and there is some decent stuff here, but this will need more pondering.

Review of GURPS Power-Ups 10: Skill Trees

 This is really an Alternate GURPS type of Supplement. I personally love skills over classes, however skill lists can be pretty long - especially in a game system designed to support all genres and settings.

GURPS Power-Ups 9: Alternate Attributes offers ideas for adding to or replacing the primary attribute set and this does something similar for skills.

In GURPS you roll against attribute + skill to accomplish most tasks. Picking a good mix of skills lets you fine tune a character to suit your tastes and needs. This lets multiple characters of the same basic type or role feel very different. However, it can be overwhelming and new players often miss important skills.

Even experienced players can do this, or misremember a skill and what it does. Wildcard skills (introduced in GURPS Basic) are one way to deal with this problem but they are very cinematic. GURPS Power-Ups 7 Wildcard Skills explores and expands upon them.

GURPS Power-Ups 10: Skill Trees is another way of handling this issue, less cinematic and more like Talents. Skills are grouped into broad categories called Trunks with subcategories of Branches, Twigs, and Leaves.

This feels more like a narrative game if used and the concept is more intuitive than a long skill list.

For example you could have a Trunk called "Animal" (listed in the supplement) and animal skills are included in it. You can do the same with Talents but they have at least two drawbacks.

1. If the affected list is large enough its often just as good to just buy the the primary attribute.
2. With a high enough Talent you can be just as good using a skill at default plus Talent as a trained person. I never really liked that myself.
3. In many cases the Talent does not cover as much as you would like, notably trivial rarely used skills are rarely explicitly included. Power-Ups 3:Talents  mentions the idea of simply including some of those for free but it can be a time taker at the game table.

It includes 26 skill trunks and enough guidance to make more that suit a specific campaign.

For example in an IOU or other college based campaign each major course of study could be its own skill Trunk. Each student would learn Scholar as a part of core academic training but also something like Natural Sciences or about half the other listed trunks would suit a Academic Divisions or Departments and each student would learn such a trunk but add detail of specific branches, twigs, and leaves that suited their interest and class schedule.

Some Examples

A specific martial style would typical be a branch and practioners could train up subcategories of twigs and leaves to represent their individual choices and flair.

This would suit Ritual Magic (optional version of the default magic system) rather nicely.

Lets say I wanted to use this for Shaman.

Shaman

Aptitude for interacting with spirits and peoples attitude towards them.

Main Skills: Autohypnosis, Diplomacy, Dreaming, Esoteric Medicine, Exorcism, Fortune-Telling†, Meditation,  Occultism, Public Speaking, Religious Ritual†, Ritual Magic†, Savoir-Faire†, Symbol Drawing†, Thaumatology, Theology†.

Other Skills: Any Current Affairs, Expert Skill, Hobby Skill, or Professional Skill relevant to gossip, rumor, paranormal activity, or anything that may be attributed to spirits.

That list took me less than 5 minutes to build using examples in the book, I took bits from two existing trunks.

It lets me build a shaman who is less cinematic than using a wildcard but results in a pretty clean sheet compared to buying and listing each skill separately.

If I wanted to give it more oomph, say in a campaign where spirits were real.

I could apply From Skills to Advantages (Pyramid #3/44 Alternate GURPS II) or simply apply modifiers to a trunk or subcategory. For example Add Cosmic and Reduced Time to do things faster. Most enhancements would likely be overpowered with a prerequisite Cosmic for each type. This might be a good thing to consider if doing this for a campaign or another edition of GURPS.

Summary

Overall I am not sure how much use this will see in my campaigns. Largely because were all used to the current method and changing will take some getting used to.

On the other hand I am considering partial implementations such as 

Skill Boosters such as some magic items and software that can enhance someone trained or not this can replace Talents in that roll. Its a bit broader but feels better to me, at least narratively.

Specific Training Programs or Martial Styles could benefit from this with no real hassle for my players or me as the GM in tracking something new. We just treat it roughly like a Talent. And I would include the Untrained Tasks section (p. 17) in this.

Offhand I would love to see this in GURPS 5e or perhaps a supplement bundled with Alternate Attributes and wildcards (which may need redoing for this as an Alternate GURPS GM Guide.

I also feel it is better for lower point campaigns where you want people to not be incompetent at related material.

 

GURPS High Dives and Cliff Diving

 I have a character in a campaign who is part water spirit and one of his gimmicks is being a great swimmer and diver, also a water mage sailor.

For reference he has Swimming -17; Amphibious; Breath Holding 2; Catfall (Accessibility, only to land in water, -50%); Temperature Tolerance 2; and the perk Smooth Diver. The latter lets him dive without making a splash.

We came across a cliff over the water outside town and he wanted to cliff dive from it. The skill penalty appeared to make this an impossible task. Since it was a 100 yard tall cliff that irked me a bit but not by much as it is a ridiculously high height to jump form. However, it appeared that normal heights also seemed way too hard to do. So I went to the forums!

After a few days reviewing the rules and discussing them on the Steve Jackson Games GURPS forums I came up with a reasonable chance at making more normal cliff dives.

The results are....

GURPS Diving

Quoth, p.B431 "When striking water or a similar fluid, a successful Swimming roll (or vehicle control roll, if “ditching” a vehicle) means a clean dive that negates all damage. This roll is at a penalty for

velocity; use the speed penalty from the Size and Speed/Range Table (p. 550)."

Normally it says to read the speed as column 3 on that table, so this wording led me to use column one instead.  At least two others feel that the normal usage is what was intended and I am going with that.

I might ask the line editor when he is back from vacation to be sure and to see if errata should be submitted.

So what is our penalty?

World Record is 60m (-36 skill original way or (-9) the other way)

Standard dive of 85-92 feet (-25 or -26) or (-7).

Reality check thus says use the more typical number.

Highest dive from a diving board is 192'10"* for (-8 to skill)

*Lazaro "Laso" Schaller (Switzerland/Brazil) in Maggia, Ticino, Switzerland, on 4 August, 2015. 

Want some video?

90' dive (Skill-7)

10m dive (about 33 feet) (Skill-5)

3m dive (Skill-4)

Standard diving boards (spring) from 1 to 3m high. (Skill -0 to -4)

If you make the skill you take no damage, fail and you take falling damage into a soft object. At these heights its unlikely to kill you, though the higher dives may very well knock you unconscious so better have someone in the water to rescue you!

Catfall subtracts 5y from falling distance, a great help[ at lower dives and about a +1 effect at higher distances. more importantly it allows a DX roll to grant half damage if you fail that clean dive Swimming roll.

Swimming is used to avoid damage and to move around in the water after your dive.

Sports (Diving) lets you know the rules for the sport, trivia such as record holders and famous diving spots, and perhaps most importantly to look good when diving. Use it or Acrobatics to do things like flips, tucks, and somersaults when diving. Modifiers as per Acrobatics, +1 for Perfect Balance, +2 for 3D Spatial Sense.

High Dive (H) is a technique that lets you buy off the penalty to Swimming when making a dive to avoid damage.

Catfall with Accessibility, only to land in water, -50% is a bit more realistic than regular Catfall so may be more easily allowed in a noncinematic game. Make no mistake, its still cinematic though!

A high diver will need Swimming and can benefit from Sports (Diving), a level of Temperature Tolerance for cold water, Fit or Very Fit, high HT and DX, and perhaps First Aid, Hiking, or even Climbing to get to out of the way spaces.

At Swimming -5 for an Olympic level athlete I think GURPS Diving is reasonably good at letting your character play a great athlete even in a realistic campaign.

Alien or non realistic campaigns may consider Amphibious, DR (Tough Skin), Breath Holding, and a few other things to spice it up.

Special Thoughts

At least 12 feet of water is advised for high dives and clear water is best to help avoid obstacles like high rocks or see other swimmers.

Telescopic Vision can help see what you are diving into from high above.

Good quality equipment and conditions such as a good platform, minimal wind, and clear area  might be good for +1 to +2 quality bonus.

Use Time Spent to help with those tougher dives. Though in a sport your unlikely to get more than a minute to set yourself up.

This is just another example of how GURPS can add to your campaign by giving players or NPCs something cool and fun to do without a lot of special rules or handwaving.

 

GURPS Golfing

Watched Rising Impact, an anime on Netflix about golfing recently and decided to stat out Golf.

Sports (Golf) is an Average DX based skill.

The goal is to hit a ball into the hole in as few shots as possible.

There are three main types of swings in golf, the Drive, Slice, and Putt respectively.

.Average driving distance is 200 to 224 yards.  (ST 10 or 11); 70% of amateur golfers hit 250 (ST 12 to ST 13), Average PGA distance in the 2020's is 300 yards (ST  15) with the longest drive in history 787 (ST 39!). Various factors, especially wind can make a big difference in distance.

So lets set Driving distance at ST*20

Putts dramatically fail outside of 10 feet. A golf hole is 4.25" in diameter (SM-7) with -1 to hit at 9 feet, so that works. Skill 12 would be 5 or less under 9 feet to hit the hole. But Aiming should apply for +3 and club quality for Acc 1 (fine clubs) or Acc 2 (Very Fine).

A professional could get the +4 routine task modifier for another +4 (newcomers might cave under pressure and not get that).

So we have target -7, Aiming bonus of +3 to +5, routine for +4 meaning against a skill 12 we get an effective skill of 12 to 14 depending on club quality.

That works out rather nicely!

 A slice is the ball curing towards the dominant hand due to a slight spin on the ball. Normally you do not want to slice, but sometimes you need to angle the shot to avoid a hazard on the course or angle it to work with the wind. Sounds more like adjusting to the situation so we will ignore this kind of stroke in favor of circumstantial penalties.

So what does this give us?

Sports (Golf) (A) DX

This is the skill to play a good golf game. Driving distance is ST*20 with a bonus to ST of +1 for Skill DX+1 or ST+2 for DX+2. Wind speed may add or subtract from a drive, each 2 MPH is 1 or 2 yards. The golf hole is -7 to hit, plus range penalties (p. B550), and additional penalties for terrain or wind may apply. Treat rough or sand as -1 to -4. Add wind speed to the range penalty when making drives with a crosswind. When driving (rather than putting) add +4 to hit the hex and use the Scatter rule (p. B414) to determine where the ball landed. When putting assume you miss the hole by 1 foot per margin of error.

Trained golfers may opt to use the Precision Aiming rules (GURPS Gun Fu, p. 12. or GURPS High Tech, p. 84)

Note that professional golfers will also invest in Games (Golf) (E) IQ for a through understanding of the rules.

Useful perks include Bank Shot, Bend the Bullet, and Deadeye from GURPS Gun Fu; and Eye for Distance (GURPS Power-Ups 2: Perks).

A new perk also seems appropriate.

Read the Green

 Grants +1 skill and allows Time Spent modifiers (base time 1 turn) when making a putt.

Looking at GURPS Streetwise

 Streetwise is one of the influence skills, meaning it can be used to replace a reaction roll in the appropriate circumstances. It is an Average skill, typical of them, though Carousing is Easy and Diplomacy is Hard, the rest are all Average skills.

What do the rules say its used for?

GURPS Basic, p. 223 says its the skill to get along in rough company and "You may substitute an Influence roll against Streetwise for any reaction roll made in an underworld or “bad neighborhood”  situation; see Influence Rolls (p. 359)."

GURPS Social Engineering, p. 30 says "Streetwise isn’t the same as Intimidation; the latter makes you seem dangerous and hostile, while the former conveys that you know your way around. "

This can be a bit risky as a failed Influence roll (p. B359) can get you a worse reaction than not using an influence skill, and the roll is resisted by Will. So if you are going to rely on it its a good idea to be very good at it.

Additionally the skill lets you ask for information among criminals and seeming like you belong there rather than are an undercover enforcement officer or perhaps a criminal rival. Specifically it helps you find the criminal element, or those catering to it (such as corrupt police), know a good bribe price, and perhaps find the local "action".

It is not used to buy things (use Merchant) but at least it can help you seem like a legitimate customer and perhaps find venders of illegal wares. Also Streetwise at 12+ cancels the normal -3 to Merchant for buying illegal goods.

Overall a decent skill, but can be risky to use and perhaps lacks flavor and oomph for that cinematic expert. So here are some additional suggestions.

1) Allow Optional Specialization (p. B169) for certain types of criminal elements. Examples Docks/Ports; Gangs; Neighborhoods; etc.

2) Add techniques such as...

Fits In (H) Streetwise-3, purchased up to Streetwise (at 4 points) to offset the penalty for obviously being a stranger in the area.

Cutting Out (H) Streetwise-4 to pick an individual out of a group to use your skill on. Social Engineering, p. 81)

Hinting (H) Streetwise+0 (up to Streetwise +6) for being subtle enough in your questions that observers might not pick up on it. (Social Engineering, p. 81).

I really like this one as its often a good idea to be discreet when asking about illegal activities!

3) Certain perks and other advantages can of course also help. "In the Know" (Social Engineering, p. 79) grants +2 to finding an illegal connection, such as a fence.

The Research Skill in GURPS

 For my Star Heist campaign I expect the Research skill to see a lot of use and wanted to add some detail. Obviously you can apply task difficulty modifiers for more difficult questions, but some research should take more or less time - especially in a world with computers and a version of the internet readily available!

So here is a version I came up with, thought I would share.

Research

see p. B217

Research is a common task in the Star Heist setting, and computers greatly speed it up. The default time for a Research roll is based on the complexity of the question.

Trivial: Summed up in a short sentence and something commonly asked. Search databases are used to these questions, making for fast and accurate answers. Time 1 turn, +4 to skill. Examples: Nearest place to eat or shop for common item.

Simple: Typically, one or two sentence questions with one or two simple qualifiers. Time, up to a minute, no task modifier. Examples: The best place in town for a good steak.

Average: A question with several parameters but not a complicated subject matter and one with plenty of data available. Time, 5 minutes, no task modifier.

Complex: Typically, on a specialized subject, often a scientific or legal question that requires precision and detail. Time 1 hour, -2 to -5 skill, complementary skill bonus.

Amazing: This is something on the level of research for an academic paper, involving multiple refinements to the search after reviewing results. Another skill is typically required to properly refine the questions. Time, 1 day, -5 to -10 skill.

Comprehensive: Sometimes more than a single answer is needed, even the top few answers might not provide enough data. For example trying to research a world to prepare for an expedition. In this case multiple people can assist. Let each researcher make a skill roll suited to their own capability and skill mix and compile everything into one neat package. Alternatively researchers may assist the overall project by taking on some of the workload, in which case each competent assistant (Skill 12+) can offer a complementary roll to the overall project. This is only applicable on large data as with small projects multiple researchers tread too much of the same ground and may even confuse things with conflicting bias.

Computer Software can be a great help here. Most computers will have search programs available; this is considered basic tools. However, a search routine and database optimized for the subject gets a quality bonus (+1 or +2) and reduces the time spent by one step.

As one might note, it is inspired by the Invention rules, with the time and penalties lowered and the addition of the Trivial category. For a cinematic campaign, or one where the person making the skill check might be an AI additional traits might apply. For example why not a variant of Gadgettering to further reduce time and penalties?

As a friend remarked, this setup can be applied to other skills, I intend to use it for science skills for example.

ST in GURPS

The ST attribute is scaled around human realistic capabilities. For most campaigns this is ideal, but super heroic campaigns it is very expensive to  preform some of the lifting feats we see in comics.

ST does not boost a lot of skills but increases damage dealt with low tech weapons and punching plus is a big help in grappling. It also increases HP, meaning you are harder to kill. Also you can carry more so its useful even in a high tech society.

Grappling

Combat in GURPS is probably among the most flexible and tactical of all RPGs out there. Grappling is a bit anemic in GURPS Basic and I would like that to change in a Fifth Edition.

GURPS Martial Arts: Technical Grappling was a very sophisticated and detailed take on improving this. The author later wrote Fantastic Dungeon Grappling a more streamlined take on the topic. I would like to see this added to a GURPS Fifth Edition, either in that version of GURPS Characters ort a Martial Art or combat supplement. I feel the material is solid but could use a little more detail for nonhumanoid's and special situations. A New Take on Grappling, Pyramid #3/34 Alternate GURPS is another effort to improve grappling and also worth a look and has several interesting articles.

Lifting Great Weights

The standard system is good enough for most purposes, even really strong humans. However for a Supers setting I recommend Knowing Your Own Strength, Pyramid #3/83 Alternate GURPS IV which offers a Logarithmic lift rating. This is a solid way to resolve the issue.

Another option is Super Effort on ST, a +300% Cosmic enhancement introduced in GURPS Supers.

I find the first better but the second is still pretty simple. Write down ST as two numbers, the base ST and the modified ST for when you pay that FP to boost it.

Privilege, an Alternate GURPS Advantage

I really like GURPS, but no system is perfect and there are some things people would like to change if they could. This series of posts would be things I would like changed in a hypothetical GURPS 5th Edition. This is purely an exercise and I have no word on if or when such an edition is being worked on, nor am I likely to be specifically asked for recommendations.

However, as a fan we all have our pet things (often contradictory, meaning a new edition cannot please everyone) I will just list some of mine.

GURPS has several social advantages that I think can be combined. Combining things can result in a less intimidating ruleset IF the consolidated material really works well together and is not too complicated.

Claim to Hospitality is tied to an organization or social construct. Diplomatic Immunity grants some protections. Legal Enforcement Powers lets you enforce the law and grants some protections. Security Clearance grants access to information. Tenure prevents you from being fired. I think these can be easily combined into a single advantage.

Privilege

You have been granted access and authority beyond what other people typically have. This may be granted by a government or private entity and is only recognized where appropriate. These privilege's can be suspended or removed at any time and are typically linked to a specific job. What is available is limited to the scope and jurisdiction of the organization, though allied organizations may extend similar "courtesy" privilege's.. Halve the cost (rounded down) for minor organizations of limited ability or importance in the campaign. The GM may build certain packages for the campaign to ease character building.

Sum the various items below and list it on the character sheet as Privilege (Organization; traits) [cost].

Clearance: Your organization provides you the information and material (weapons, computers, labs, etc.) you need to do your job, but sometimes that information or equipment has uses outside work or beyond others in the same role. Narrow range of information or equipment on a "Need to Know" or use basis [1]. Either free access to a narrow range or broad job access to relevant material. [5]. Free access to a broad range of material. [10]. Need to know requires it be strictly needed for your job as defined by your superiors. Free access has much more latitude and usually only requires signing for it.

Enforcement: Local jurisdiction, the ability to arrest suspected criminals, perform authorized searches, and possibly carry a concealed weapon. [5]. One or more of  national or international jurisdiction, or ignore civil rights, or engage in covert investigations, or kill with relative impunity. [+5 each].

Exemption: You are exempt from certain aspects of ordinary law enforcement. This often comes with another organization that applies its own rules to you. Replace ordinary laws with similar rules that are just as strict [5]. Less strict [10]. You can do nearly anything you please provided you don't injure the organization that granted you the immunity. [15]. Diplomatic Pouch [5].

Hospitality: Your organization is encouraged to assist its members, including unofficially having other members help out. Reciprocity is expected and others can call on your aid as well. You can request food, shelter, and basic aid.  A single friend in another city is worth 1 point; a small family, 2 points; a society of merchants along an important trade route, 5 points; vast alliance of wealthy figures, 10 points. Members are friendly towards each other (+3 reactions) and may provide advice, introductions, and small loans, if asked.

Investment: Your invested with basic administrative authority. This automatically includes Rank 0 and gives you the ability act as an "Official" of the organization. You could for example preside as chairperson over meetings, handle the books as a licensed accountant, preside over weddings or other religious rituals, speak on behalf of the organization, residency at a hospital, etc. 

Tenure: You can't be fired through less than extraordinary means. This may be a reward of excellence and being to hard to replace, seniority, political clout and influence, nepotism, or even blackmail. [5].

Special Modifiers

Cosmic, Brotherhood, +50%

    Normally you have to show some form of ID or uniform to exercise your privileges but with this enhancement the appropriate people automatically know you're a member in good standing. Buy this with Selectivity (p. B108) if you need to conceal your nature. This modifier suits some supernatural organizations or exotic groups like the Lensmen of Doc Smiths series.

Summary

This combines  Claim to Hospitability, Clerical Investment, Legal Enforcement Powers, Legal Immunity, Security Clearance, and Tenure with a bit of Patron thrown in. If I were writing it for a supplement, Pyramid article, or that hypothetical Fifth Edition I would expand this a bit for clarity and add some examples but it still saves a decent amount of space and page flipping. It also adds a few bits of utility, such as with the Investment section.

GURPS Bricks

 What is a Brick?

The brick is an iconic stereotype, and not just in super hero genres. Someone who is large and beefy and can shrug off damage is a fun thing to play.

The classic brick is strong and can withstand a lot of damage. I have see3n many people who think a brick is impossible to do in GURPS without a lot of house rules, I disagree.

Special Effects

Bricks usually have very tough skin, possibly made of exotic materials or armor. Many bricks are also hybrids such as a blaster  with a strong forcefield.

Some bricks are easy to damage but so tough that even though it hurts they can keep on going,

The videogame trope where they can force others to attack them is generally just a plot choice in the comics and movies but can be simulated with powers or maneuvers. Though this takes some care and perhaps a generous GM to allow things like Mind Control, 1 command "Attack me" with an Intimidation role.

Character Design

Bricks can be very complicated or very simple to build, just depends on how the specific brick is intended to work. Most of thier points should go into two areas.

Reducing Damage

Damage Resistance (DR), HT, and ST are key to most bricks. If possible its good to take some exotic defenses such as various forms of Resistance as well.

At 5 points/level DR can get pretty expensive, four color supers can easily bounce handguns but rifles require more a dedicated build and even then enough points that it may be tough on the budget. 

Armor Piercing (AP) attacks can really chew through armor and countering them means less armor. This requires good communication and acceptance of the social contract between GM and player. How often and how much AP will be in play? As a GM I prefer AP attacks over higher damage as it means a good hit is more likely to hurt a character than outright kill them for the same number of points. A high damage attack capable of slightly hurting a brick will likely kill many other characters, but an AP one can just mean the brick is hurt and the unlucky martial artist is just down for the count.

Soaking the damage rather than ignoring it generally appears more heroic, so high HP helps here and since that is based off ST its a great fit for this character type. Soakers should have Regeneration or even Healing so they can recover quickly and are not a bad choice for any kind of brick.

Injury Tolerance is a way to reduce actual injury from most attacks (Homogenous, Unliving, and Unbreakable Bones), and Injury Tolerance: Damage Reduction (GURPS Powers, p. 52 and p. 118-119) at 50+25/level is a good bet here and essential for the most powerful bricks. Consider adding that Cosmic,+50% if you can - some levels of  IT:DR with Cosmic, no minimum, +50% and Active Defense, -40% is a great fit that allows usually ignoring damage but some risk of taking injury now and then.

Active Defenses: Do not ignore a decent ability to dodge, block, or parry! This can help when facing really powerful attacks (or ones you have a vulnerability too) and also help- protect your teammates with sacrificial moves.

Speaking of Active Defense, most GMs will limit your DR to some ceiling so they can still hurt you with attacks that wont totally obliterate everyone else. However if some of your DR is on a limitation it may be allowed at a higher level. Extra DR for a fire type is logical and classic and that is just one example. But strongly consider DR with Active Defense. This can give you a boost most of the time but with the risk that you will fail a roll now and then and it wont help against surprise attacks. Because it is not a sure thing you can still look heroic and have some suspense in the game but take some impressive damage pretty reliably. This is usually done with a gadget like bracers or shields but could simply represent blocking with the arms or putting a strong side front and center

Dishing it Out

Most bricks rely on high ST to do damage. This is more expensive than Innate Attack but has several benefits. That ST also increases your HP, helping you stay in the fight and is pretty versatile.

You can punch or kick at close range but stretching or picking up a light post can extend that reach. Throwing objects also gives you some range. If you are strong enough and the area is appropriate you can pick up large objects and use them for Area Effect or even pinning an opponent to the ground (say under a car).

Learn Judo, Sumo Wrestling, or Wrestling to overrun and grapple foes. This leverages your high ST and can take out a high value target. Choke Holds take some time but are effective against most targets if you can hold them long enough, also consider Constriction Attack.

Super Jump is very cheap and effective for quick movement and Slams. You'll want high DR or IT:DR to withstand the damage from high speed slams and a variation on Active Defense (or just accessibility slams only) could help here while still keeping the normal levels at base that works better for the campaign.

Being Strong

A major complaint of brick design in GURPS is that it is very expensive to be able to lift and throw cars, much less tanks or battleships. Considering the percentage of bricks in the comics who can do the latter I personally feel this is mostly fine.

But a little more oomph is probably desirable and various options have been presented. Super Effort (GURPS Supers) is one alternative, though the FP cost is a minor limiting factor.

The article Knowing Your Own Strength from Pyramid #3/83 Alternate GURPS IV changes the Basic Lift from a linear amount to a geometric amount. This is a pretty simple method that can dramatically increase what can be lifted, yet keeping everything else pretty much in line.

Playing a Brick

Bricks need to be able to shrug off most attacks to be effective and satisfying to play but you want some risk there for the suspense. They can be very fun or boring, mostly depending on the preferred style of play and how much risk is still around.

A creative player who makes use of the environment can have a lot of fun. This is also a good choice for a new player who is still getting used to GURPS, especially combat. They generally lack the high skill levels needed for pulling off fancy tricks and risky maneuvers.

Summary

Brick design is relatively easy, though it does require a good understanding and familiarity with GURPS Basic and GURPS Powers. Bricks are also easy to play yet still allow player creativity and are one of the better choices in going up against multiple foes.

However the player and GM need to be on the same page when it comes to the damage and attack types that will come into play. Most GMs will throw in some surprises to keep up suspense and excitement but for the most part the GM should avoid bypassing and especially overwhelming the bricks defenses on a regular basis.

GURPS Speedsters

What is a Speedster?

I would say the defining trait of a speedster is mobility. Most run fast, but any movement mode is viable and speedsters often have more than one - even if the others are gimmicks or variations of thier core ability.

High mobility alone wont do damage and its of limited defensive value, mostly staying out of reach or making opponents have to deal with heavy range penalties.

Speedsters often have high reflexes (DX), Enhanced Defense (especially Dodge), and Altered Time Rate for further defenses. Damage Resistance (Crushing) is also common to help them cope with falls or being tripped. Danger Sense or 360 degree senses, even Cosmic Defense on Dodge are also helpful here or Obscure (anti-targeting) usually as a speed blur. The primary speedster defense is avoiding getting hit.. 

Offensively speedsters may rely on attacks based on momentum or a special effect of their powers. Vibration, Teleport, Throwing things, Martial arts, time powers, and more can all apply to speedsters.

Special Effects

As with most Supers builds the special effect is key to getting a good set of useful abilities.

Energy Form

Energy forms like light or electricity are often seen as fast and can give good versatility and speed. Insubstantiality, Flight, and ranged energy attacks are typical. This type usually has above average DX and agility and excellent mobility. Its a good choice for a newer player.

Examples: Lightray

Enhanced Speed

Easily the most common type is the speedster who is simply just fast. High DX, Basic Speed, and Move are standard and Enhanced Move is very common. Enhanced Move with Second Nature (GURPS Power-Ups 4: Enhancements) changes Enhanced Move to Basic Move, allowing for good combat mobility at a decent price and 1/10 the total Basic Move counts as a Step so they can avoid penalties for a Move and Attack maneuver. Certain cinematic options such as Heroic Charge, slams, or techniques are also a good option. Altered Time Rate and Enhanced Time Sense are also common here, at least for Four Color supers.

Examples: Flash, Makari, Quicksilver, Superman

Spatial Manipulation

An unusual type of speedster is one that does not have superhuman reflexes but can either bypass or alter the distance between two or more points. Most often this is based on teleportation but it can also use stretching or size alteration powers to either bring objects closer or extend your own reach and step.

Warp is the most common power, but Stretching, (Growth/Shrinking) are also seen in the comics.

This type of speedster is generally more of a challenge to build and play. They tend to be less effective in combat than the Enhanced Speed type but often more versatile and effective outside of combat.

Examples: Ant Man and Wasp, Dr. Manhattan, Mr. Fantastic, Nightcrawler, Spot

Time Manipulation

More common than spatial manipulators but far less so than enhanced speed types are those who can accelerate or slow down time.

Altered Time Rate is the goto ability here but Afflictions to slow others down, Time Stop fields (Jumper) and other abilities are typical. They may attack by aging things to dust.

Examples: Chronos and several time traveling gadgeteers.

Character Design

Speedsters tend to rely on avoiding being hit but no matter how good your dodge is a critical hit can ruin your day. Area attacks are also a vulnerability. Speedsters tend to be glass cannons, they can hit fast and often hard but cannot take a hit themselves.

Speedster bricks are an exception in that they have bodies tough enough to withstand the stress of high speed and martial artists may have learned how to toughen themselves up.

As a general rule though the speedster needs to be able to zip around the battlefield and get out of others reach while still being able to attack.

High HT, Hard to Kill, Regeneration, and even Extra Life are all useful for when things go wrong and you take that big hit meant to stop the brick!

Armor Piercing is especially useful on offense, hit often for lower base damage but good penetration - ether from accuracy or penetrating power. 

Attacks with Aura (counterpunching) or Area Effect/Emanation (rapid attacks) are effective staples of this kind of character.

Martial arts training, possibly with weapons is also effective and plausible with most speedster designs. Thrown weapons are really good choices, letting you keep your distance.

Playing a Speedster

Speedsters tend to go first and often and rely on tactical advantages and movement. Players should be very familiar with GURPS Combat and able to think fast before considering playing a speedster. No one wants to wait for their turn while you stop everything to figure out your actions. The player of a speedster thus should be prepared ahead of time and constantly paying attention to the battlefield.

Speedsters can often get to a fight faster than the rest of the team so need to have good ways to survive or reasons for delaying.  The rest of the table will generally not appreciate being left out of every fight either. On the other hand a speedster that can transport the whole party can really be an asset! 

Being the groups transporter can be very expensive but here are some ideas.

Warp or Permeation with Tunneling.

Enhanced Move or other movement power with Affects Others, +50% can carry one extra person per level of Affects Others. Optionally a group can be carried by encasing them in a Forcefield with Area Effect and just one level of Affects Others.  The latter is called out for defensive powers so may not be allowed by your GM, though many will as its a "keep the group together" power and not so effective in most combat situations.

Simply being able to carry a lot is another options, use Payload, Can Carry, Extra Carrying Capacity, or simply high ST to do this. This is generally very expensive for a whole group though.

Optionally some speedsters may invest in a vehicle to haul their friends around.

Summary

Many teams will get by without a speedster, but most have one. I have played in campaigns where every PC was a speedster with different special effects and abilities. Speedsters can be very versatile so don't limit yourself to just buying up DX and Move!

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

You can filter by multiple categories such as Format (Digital, Physical, both) (another suggestion someone made and several supported) Collections for a quick but broad sort, product type, or edition.

Steve Jackson Games has one of the longest lifespans of a gaming company around and that comes with a huge backlog.  So it will take awhile to get everything properly migrated and recategorized but overall I am pleased.

Take a look for yourself! 

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.

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.

Optional Rule: Patronage

Appropriate Patrons or Contacts (but not Allies) may be purchased as alternative abilities to Wealth. The total points in alternative abilities cannot exceed the points in Wealth. This can represent well established characters who own or have controlling interest in companies and can leverage that asset.

Summary

This is an initial thought on how to make Wealth a bit more intuitive. By applying modifiers we can tailor Wealth to meet the needs of the character or campaign without a lot of complicated and scattered rules.

Bruce Wayne would have high level Wealth + some incidents for Starting Wealth for say when he needs to buy a bank or build a space station. As Ben Affleck answered Flash, his superpower is being rich.

A super with a lab? Wealth + Patron as an alternative ability, and if they can occasionally get very expensive gear seemingly out of nowhere they may have had a use of Starting Wealth saved up/

Han Solo? Starting Wealth would be another way he started the campaign with his own starship.

Lifestyle is not addressed here, I think that is still well represented by Status and I have some ideas on that in my upcoming GURPS Template Toolkit: Spirits supplement.

Book/Path Magic

Book/Path Magic is a system that first appeared in GURPS Third Edition. It appeared in GURPS Spirits, GURPS Voodoo, GURPS Castle Falkinstein, and possibly others. In Fourth Edition it was updated and published in GURPS Thaumatology.

It forms the basis of the GURPS Settings: GURPS Thaumatology: Alchemical Baroque and GURPS Thaumatology Age of Gold

The system has two major methods of working, Effect Shaping and Energy Accumulation and variations have been posted in some Pyramid articles as well as fan blogs.

As described it is based on spirit magic but it can be used in other ways.

Naruto is an anime that has shinobi who use various forms of "Ninjitsu" that can be replicated using Book/Path magic.

The Valdemar setting by Mercedes Lackey uses ley lines and is probably best modeled in GURPS using Book/Path Magic with the Energy Accumulation method.

Imperial Magic from Steve Brusts Vlad Taltos series could be modeled using Book/Path with the Effect Shaping version, its Witchcraft would likely use the Energy Accumulation model.

Allies and Contacts

Allies, Contacts, and Patrons are a useful part of GURPS, representing a significant social advantage often ignored by other game systems. Below is a partial cost summary and breakdown, for full details you need to read GURPS Basic: Characters.

Contacts

Contacts are rated by their effective skill level in a specific skill. Wildcard Contacts make this an entire skill group, typically by profession - Business, military, police, etc. 

A Contact will answer a question or do something for the character as long as it is at least two of nonhazardous, inexpensive (or mostly paid for), or quick.

Contact -12 [1] Contact Group -12 [5]
Contact -15 [2] Contact Group -15 [10]

Contact -18 [3] Contact Group -18 [15]

Contact -21 [4] Contact Group -21 [20]

The number after Contact reflects effective skill (Contact -12 means skill 12).

It is important to note that this is effective skill and comes not just from points in a skill but access to lands, libraries, workshops, even assistants. So high skill levels are not unreasonable or cinematic.

Ally and Ally Group

Allies are based on a relevant percentage of the character. This means they are more efficient and powerful the more points the character is based on. They also are willing to take risks and go adventuring! Whereas Contacts are asked one task per session with additional tasks acquiring a cumulative penalty. Players will typically choose Allies over Contacts.

Allies 25% [1] Ally Group 6-10 [6]   Ally Group 11-20 [8]

Allies 50% [2] Ally Group 6-10 [12]   Ally Group 11-20 [16]

Allies 75% [3] Ally Group 6-10 [18]   Ally Group 11-20 [24]

Allies 100% [5] Ally Group 6-10 [30] Ally Group 11-20 [40]

So Contact -12 and Ally 25% cost the same and are pretty equivalent in most campaigns.
Contact -15 and Ally 50% cost the same, also likely equivalant in most campaigns though highly cinematic and especially supers campaigns the Ally is going to have higher skills than 15.
Contact -18 and Ally 75% cost the same. At this level the Contact likely has a superior skill level in the main skill even in a four color campaign. The Ally will however usually have more breadth and a full character sheet.

Which is Better?

.Ally seems better, you get to ask for help as often as you like and they are willing to take great risks for you.
However the part people often overlook is that the Contacts skill represents facilities and resources not on a character sheet. That Forensics-12 skill represents a lab worker in a forensics lab, while Forensics -18 or -21 likely represents a supervisor or manager who van assign people to get the analysis done.
The Ally doesn't come with a lab so one has to be provided for by him or the player character.
And if it was a Contact Group that likely means most of the labs team are willing to work for you and you can get several projects worked on at once or ask for follow-ups without having to wait.


Contacts can also do field work or research, Streetwise to ask around for you. Batman, Daredevil, and other crime fighters have Streetwise but also Contacts with Streetwise. So why buy a Contact for a skill you already have? Because if they do the offscreen legwork it saves game time (meaning GMs should encourage Contacts, even as free point awards) and lets the pc do something perhaps more interesting. Especially helpful for groups of players so they are not sitting around while the PC runs around busting bad guys chops or something and saves the GMs creativity for other tasks.
Contact (Administration -12) could work at the DMV or police station and maybe run a plate for the private investigator. This probably counts as hazardous as they risk losing their job if caught.

If that Contact worked at city hall they could likely pull city records instead.

What About Patrons?

Patrons represent very powerful individuals or organizations, even governments. They wont go on adventures with you but may send along some guys for a mission. They also can provide money and equipment or other resources. GURPS Boardroom and Curia is a great resource for Patrons.

Getting Fancy

GURPS Social Engineering: Keeping in Contact goes into more details on Contacts.

GURPS Boardroom and Curia as mentioned covers Patrons and Tomorrows Ride's is an example Patron that furnishes action heroes fancy cars.

Modular Abilities allows multiple Contacts, so purchasing Contacts as alternative abilities seem reasonable and is suggested in a few places. The main limit is a failed appearance roll disables the whole thing - including any alternate Contacts!

Patrons provide what is reasonable from the organization in question. Take Contact or Contact Group as an alternative ability for people within that organization. This represents a bigger investment but offers alternate and specific ways to get assistance from that organization.

Ally Groups could represent reinforcements or a combat team

GURPS Powers: Divine Favor deals with having God as your Patron.

GURPS Social Engineering: Pulling Rank is another way of handling Patron and Ranks.

Strategies for Monster Hunting

 Author Comment: Been sick the last moth and a half, maybe little longer. Recovered a bit after getting out of the hospital but backslid when antibiotics ran out, however think the new round is doing much better. This put me behind (again) on my supplement and other projects, but while I have not been able to stay on the computer long enough to write much I have been thinking of ideas - hence this post.

I have been working, or rather thinking about my Spirits Template supplement. One purpose of the manuscript is to give spirits a place in the campaign as something more than "monster of the week" and make them feel a part of various genres. Monster Hunters is one of those genres and I have an interesting character in a MH campaign that is on hiatus, the two things gelled in my head and here are some strategies for a Monster Hunter campaign.

The Monster Hunter Series

GURPS supports the genre with an excellent series of supplements and a few settings. GURPS Monster Hunters 2: The Mission in particular is useful for other genres, especiall6y mysteries. 

The MH genre is in fact typically a mystery, often episodic and with an overarching big bad. The genre is usually cinematic in feel, has plenty of action, and requires some strategy and tactics to cope with bad guys who are often tougher than the heroes.

This makes for an interesting campaign, though it can be challenging for the GM to run.

Discovery

Before you can fight the bad guys you need to find them, or let them find you but that is more dangerous. This is part of the difficulty for the GM and the fun for the players; at least some players. You have a mystery to solve and that requires some skills and perhaps magic or powers.

GURPS Monster Hunters 2: The Mission really does an amazing job here, but perusing GURPS Mysteries and GURPS Action will also be helpful in dealing with investigations.

Ideally everyone in the group will have a role to play, even if a small one and the group all is interested in how the investigation is going. Leaving it all up to a few die rolls is easy and good if no one really wants to spend time on this stage but can be very disappointing for the player who made a Sleuth and frankly skips a lot of potential roleplaying. However, if everyone is waiting around for the sleuth to do their work they can get bored so time management is essential for that player and the GM.

How to Play a GURPS Detective is now on my (already lengthy) proposed pitch list. However, if you play the sleuth I highly recommend reading The Mission supplement.

Combat

Most monsters use stealth and have superior senses, making combat often a close-up affair. They may get the jump on the characters and catch them off guard. Even if the party is on the offense its hard to get too close and still surprise those with superhuman senses and perhaps magic.

Combat thus calls for a variety of weaponry, cutting weapons and exotic material are typically better than standard bullets - much less fighting unarmed!

Mobility is key, often better than heavy armor that slows you down. Nightvision is good too. Expect high resistance rolls, various defensive traits, and overall toughness. Typically the monster will have a weakness so carry things to take advantage of common weaknesses, holy water, salt, wooden stakes, silver, etc. Shotguns are often the best firearms, range is typically short and often in a building so long range weapons are not needed and shotgun slugs have a lot of stopping power and custom loads easy to make. The downside is low ammo capacity but your often only fighting a few major bad's at a time and will die if the fight last long anyway.

Shotguns have a lot of different action and loading options, the two best for this kind of campaign tend to be pump and semi-automatic.

Pump shotguns are manually cycled by pulling on the ammo storage to cycle a new round into the chamber. The manual action is typically RoF 2 but a round can be ejected and a new one inserted directly, bypassing the tube. This allows changing ammo types on the fly with a Ready or Fast-Draw roll to load 1 shell. Because they are cycled manually they are very reliable and can fire less than lethal rounds without jamming.

Semi-automatic shotguns typically have RoF 3 and are either magazine or tube fed. Magazines hold more shells (5 to 20, more with a drum) and a magazine can be inserted quickly, as per a rifle. Tube fed work like pump actions above, improved RoF and loading a new round to swap ammo types. The tube is mounted under the barrel and holds fewer shells (5 to 7, more with wider revolver style tubes).

However semi-automatic shotguns are gas or inertia powered and many will not fully cycle with less than lethal loads. See the specific gun for details as some are built to handle this, though most are not.

Tube fed shotguns do not hold as much ammo and are reloaded 1 to 2 shells at a time instead of an entire magazine. A shooter can however reload during pauses in combat to top off the weapon rather than swapping out an entire magazine (which may only be half empty). Loose rounds can be carried in pouches on the side of the gun for +1 to Fast-Draw (GURPS Tactical Shooting, p. 73).

One interesting item I had pointed out to me was a shotgun revolver. Most modern ones seem to be .410, though my hunter carries an older Russian made 12 gauge (8 OTs-62 Revolver). A good machinist could probably make something effective, especially if they can get some blueprints.

Shortswords and knives, especially silver plated are also useful, but you better be very very good if using one on a vampire or werewolf! A sharp wooden stake is a classic for vampires, but awkward to use. Consider a Tonfa with a sharpened end; it can be used to parry and works with Brawling or Karate skill. If you have that machinist or a good craftsman consider adding an endcap that can take different attachments, wooden pointy end, silver pointy end, and a nice iron head for those faerie.

As many of your foes will have enhanced senses flashbang grenades or tear gas (even if they do not breath) may have a greater effect on them, giving you a few seconds to hit hard or run away. Anything that emits a strong odor is also good, even if they have Doesn't Breathe if they can track by smell it will impede them. Ultrasonic noisemakers may also be useful and that machinist friend? One can make a CO2 powered whistle pretty easily.

The whole idea is to try and get them off balance without messing with your own capabilities (so have gas masks, respirators, eyeglasses, nose plugs, and ear protection available) and then kill them fast.

When attacking high skill is vital for Deceptive Attacks and Targeted Attacks, even better if the foe is stunned from a flash bang grenade in their face.  Speaking of that, paint guns are quiet and can carry holy water, potions, or act as charms. GURPS High-Tech even has an under barrel one that can be mounted to a rifle or carbine.

Staying Under the Radar

This is another vital and interesting aspect of the genre. How do you stop a bunch of monsters and not attract the attention of the police?

Mask of Humanity, Pyramid #3/97 and Safe as Houses, Pyramid #3/58 offer some ideas, and my current project has an entry (if it makes the final cut) but this can be a very difficult task. Using heavy firepower is going to attract attention, and often there is a mess to clean up and you may not have much time to do it.

Is there a "cleaning service" you can call on? A secret government agency as a Patron? Perhaps just good police Contacts. Propaganda can also be used for disinformation campaigns ot throw people off the track.

Maybe your party has a top notch forensics specialist, all your kills are quiet ones, and the monsters cooperate by using hidden lairs far from nosey neighbors and no one notices the missing people or dead bodies piling up. However it seems much more likely you're going to need some kind of help keeping things quiet.

How this is accomplished is likely an important part of the campaign, and can add a lot of flavor and fun as well.

GURPS Vision Powers

 GURPS has several sensory powers, lets take a loot at the vision based ones.

Acute Vision

A simple bonus to the perception roll for seeing things. This is a cheap alternative to increasing Per, though if increasing more than one sense Per is a better purchase. A few levels are reasonable for normal people, higher levels require exotic explanation.

Clairsentience

A pricey power, typically magic or psychic in nature. Lets you see from a different location, including the other side of a wall. Range is just 10y but can be doubled by spending a FP or add Increased Range for about double distance at 5/level. Really its *2, *5, *10, *20, *50, etc.

Dark Vision

This is the ability to actually see even in pitch darkness with no light source at all.

Hyperspectral Vision

A combination of Infravision and Ultravision this wide spectrum vision allows good vision in very low light conditions and bonuses to certain skills for the additional details.

Infravision

This is advanced thermographic vision, allowing finer details than modern equipment, Lets see see warm objects in the dark.

Nightvision

Simply cancels the penalties for darkness, though you still must have light to see by.

Penetrating Vision

This is the classic X-ray vision, allowing you to see through or inside something as easily as you can see it. Of these its the only one I am not fully happy with. Each level allows seeing through up to 6 inches of solid matter. The first level is an incredible value, imagine being able to see inside a person your examining, looking over someone for concealed weapons, or inside a device to see what needs repair. That is a huge boost to quickly knowing what is going on!

However seeing 12" is not much more powerful than 6" and this ability goes up at 10/level with each level granting another half a foot.

It is faster and easier to use than Clairsentience and has a few other perks too, though only covers vision. That first level may be underpriced but it is an exotic ability so I am ok with that.  However I long thought it should use a log increase in range, originally using the Size and Speed/Range table but now think each level should increase range as per Increased Range. This would cost 10 points per doubling as opposed to the 5 points/level of Clairsentience so lose ground as for max distance but has certain advantages.

Compare Clairsentience [50] and Penetrating Vision 5 [50]

Clairsentience lets you see up to 10y, 20y with 1 FP but takes a minute and an IQ roll.

Penetrating Vision 5 lets you see through up to 100" (8 feet) of solid object but do so casually with no IQ roll and the intervening material is kind of a vague outline that does not interfere with your sight. You cant see through as thick a wall but that wall does not have to be close either. You need to add another sight (Darkvision, Hyperspectral Vision, Infravision, or Ultravision) to see inside a dark object, like several inches inside the human body.

Penetrating Vision is a good choice over Clairsentience when you want to see quickly and can see through a bunch of discrete separate objects if the actual thickness does not exceed your capacity. This makes it superior for seeing through smoke clouds, fog, murky water, etc. Clairsentience is superior if range is your primary concern (even with my suggested modification).

Telescopic Vision

This can be used in two ways. To focus on a distant subject and cancel range penalties with tunnel vision as a side effect; or to scan an area reducing range penalties by half as much. It also acts as a scope, increasing ACC by up to double the base ACC.

Ultravision

This lets you see in very dim light and grants bonus to certain skills because you can see in the ultraviolet. For example many insects fluoresce and can be readily spotted.

Powers Systems I have Used, Adapted, or Modified

 So the GURPS Bloggers voted on Powers that we use in campaigns. Christopher Rice went on to include magic systems as well. I play more than GM these days but I love to tinker so will include things I have planned for a campaign that hasn't run yet.

Affinity Magic

GURPS Magic is a solid system but is showing its age. I like the skills approach and the prerequisite system where you learn a basic spell before an advanced version. The limitations are the 2 page spell design rules for coming up with new spells and the college grouping of spells.

I decided to build one that had more flexibility, especially in spell groupings. This is based of Ritual magic (in GURPS Basic) and was submitted to Pyramid several years back but rejected. The initial version was more abstract to fit into an article but over time I found too many people complaining about abstract systems so I built a lengthy (almost 40 now) list of techniques that can be used to make spells.

The concept is pick an Affinity (spell grouping) and apply a given technique to create a spell.  I have playtested it in two campaigns so far and am pretty happy with it.

Book/Path

I first saw this in GURPS Voodoo and like the concept but certain things kinda bug me about it. Recently I have been playing in a campaign that uses a highly modified version (Effect Shaping) and a friend has been wanting help converting Shadowrun/Earthdawn/Equinox to GURPS and three of us have bounced a lot of ideas around.  These two things led me to outline a version I hope to pitch someday for publication. I use a lot of inspiration from Affinity Magic to create new Books and Paths and of course rituals. My current outline even includes such diverse lore as Cultivation, Tree Magic, Futhark Runes, Deaconic or hermetic Magic, and more that I will not be able to fit into one supplement.

Other Magic

I have used Sorcery, Ritual Path Magic, and some variations on those over the past few years.

Shamans

I like spirit magic and shamans in particular and it has bugged me that most RPGs treat shaman as pretty much any caster. Their magic lacks the interaction with spirits that I feel can make for good roleplaying. GURPS however has vast potential in this area and actually led to me writing for GURPS.

I have published some of my ideas for this and have at least 2 more in the works. Over the years my ideas have evolved somewhat as well.

Their are different kinds of shaman, but most can do an out of body experience (Trance or astral projection) and somehow communicate with spirits. So I built a set of systems allowing for different shamanic types.

Shamans have innate powers that they usually get from a near death experience and training. These include astral projection and the ability to see or talk with spirits.

Shaman then have external abilities that spirits lend them or represent actions spirits undertake on the shamans behalf.

Internal

Astral Projection, Channeling, and Medium each form the basis of a leveled power set. Astral Projection can build into the ability to create spirit forms, some of which are even physical. Medium is combined with Telecommunication. Channeling was the only one that was tricky but I decided it was learning to master ones Will and was able to create a leveled power for it.

External or Spirit Granted

I started off with Alternate Form as representing channeling a spirit in ones own body. This suits Voodoo and several other cultures and was done in GURPS 3e and 4e.  I authored GURPS Powers: Totem and Nature Spirits to showcase this approach.

Medium represents talking to a spirit and persuading them to do something for the shaman. My current project GURPS Template Toolkit: Spirits was primarily designed to help a GM build a variety of spirits they can use to interact with shaman. Also works for horror and fantasy where you might have ghosts, nature spirits, or other things the party has to deal with.

Its too early to know what will make the final cut but I included some ideas for how spirits do magic themselves. Spirits can be Allies, Contacts, Patrons, or simply the special effect behind other powers, say Affliction and that will get more treatment in my last planned supplement of this topic.

Chimeric Powers

In my Chalice World setting I decided that most hybrid creatures were created by a trickster god. Chimera are hybrids of two or more races (centaurs, griffins, satyrs, etc.) but have an innate wild magic that lets them tap into powers based on their parent forms. This is mostly switchable advantages and Alternate Form but can go into other things too. Advanced  practioners can even learn to tap that trickster chaos/wild magic they are born with to change into other hybrids and some other tricks as well.

Power Stunts

I never really got this until I read GURPS Psionic Powers but that one short section in GURPS Powers really has inspired most of my Powers as Magic builds (and I am not the only one!). Those rules are really what make Sorcery, Divine Favor, and other systems work. Alternative abilities, Character point powered abilities, Using Abilities at Default, Power Defenses, etc. all can be used to make for some very interesting builds and mini-systems.

Rules I don't Use, Replace, or Revise

 I really love GURPS but nothing and no one is perfect and there are a few things I do not really like. This is the topic for several bloggers this week so I shall try to chime in with a few comments.

Other posts that are up on this this week are...

Author Christopher Rice

Of Paper Men and Plastic Monsters

Of Paper Men and Plastic Monsters Guest post by Kallaz

Worlds Beyond Earth

Lair of the Chaotic GM

Mailanka's Musings - Psi Wars

My Comments

A few advantages I feel are overpriced or just kinda flakey with mechancics.

Penetrating Vision is priced well for the first level but after that you get significant diminishing returns and I would use the Size Speed Range Table to give it a logarithmic range.

The Min ST capping damage at *3 I like for most campaigns but there should be an advantage to ignore that cap, a perk is probably to low so maybe  a 5 point advantage to ignore that? Only used in highly cinematic or supers campaigns though. Unlike others I feel it is a realistic limit.

Unaging and Regrowth are overprices, though Unaging as Immunity to certain attacks can be worth it. this is a common refrain and PK posted some suggestions here.

Possession by default you die without a host.  I really wish Possession had been written differently and wish we had an Alternate GURPS Pyramid still going to propose alienate ideas. A lot of the modifiers have hidden effects that can muddle the whole thing.

Binding could use a lot of love for some modifiers. Retraction, binding a body part, etc.

As Worlds Beyond Earth by Eric the Red posts above on Jumper and Warp I would like them to be more closely aligned in how they work. In fact I would rather they were one ability with modifiers!

Maybe something like ...

Vanish

Costs 100 points.

You can disappear from one location and reappear in another! This takes 10 seconds, which can be changed using Reduced Time or Preparation Required. It takes an IQ roll to successfully appear at the desired target, this takes a penalty for range using the SSR (p. B550), apply Long-Range (Powers, p. 108) or Reliable to reduce these penalties. If you can travel to other planes of existence, time, or worlds add a modifier.

+50% to Time Travel, +0% if can only travel in time and not distance.

+50% to add World jumping, +0% if can only jump to other worlds but not go any physical distance.

+50% to add Plane Jumping, +0% if can only jump to other planes.

Then add some of the modifiers under Warp and Jumper and include limitations for how many planes you can cross. Also add IQ penalties for world jumping and plane travel, use the entry in Basic for Infinite Worlds. The author of Worlds Beyond Earth has a point on how many worlds you can get to and I would need to ponder on that if I was actually going to publish this ability or use it in a campaign but that seems rather unlikely so I'll leave the idea here.

Also I would like to see the modifiers for Lord of My Domain applied not to Jumper but to something else, say Status (probably requiring a minimum level). Owning your own dimension seems a legit use of high Status and modifying a dimension seems a poor use of Jumper which should be able to get you into any dimension.

On the other hand I at least address one of his complaints in my upcoming Spirit Template supplement.

Enthrallment and Imbuement

I like the idea of these but with no obvious mechanics they are hard ot implement and tweak in a campaign, I feel that is a waste.

Gadgeteer and Inventing

I prefer the rules in After The End but would take them farhger if I could write a supplement on Gadgeteering. Applying a consistent set of rules that apply to various TL, Magic, Medicine, Gadgets, etc.

Magical Enchanting

GURPS Magic has very time consuming enchanting rules, suitable for a low fantasy setting with few magic items. I would like a system that could be tweaked for faster enchanting and covered more options. This has been addressed somewhat in various places such as GURPS Technomancer and Pyramid but I would love it to be gathered in one place.

The Gift of Knowledge

 Supernatural Knowledge and Research

There are several advantages that can grant knowledge in GURPS, though most are going to give vague answers. Blessed and Oracle take an hour each and typically come from a deity, though other possibilities such as Oracle (Digital) are an option. Precognition and Psychometry let you see through the curtains of time. Visualization can be used for a skill bonus, possibly representing supernatural or cinematic focus. Finally Allies, Contacts and Patrons can provide valuable information.

That is all well and good and especially good for the GM who can use these abilities to create plot hooks or clue the players in on a promising lead. But waht about providing more details or answers to specific questions?  Magic has a lot of options, so why not Powers or something else?

The Akashic Records

The Akashic Records store all knowledge, events, thoughts, words, literraly everything that has or will ever occur. It originated from an Indian word Akasha found in scripture and later defined by the Theosophical Society. A similar concept comes from the Australian aboriginal people in their explanation for the Dreamtime. The 42 Tablets of Knowledge owned by Thoth (Ancient Egypt) were said to possess all knowledge of the universe. Gnositic magicians believed in a universal consciousness that could be explored. So we can see that the concept of all knowledge residing in a special place, state of being or reality, or even an object is cross cultural and actually pretty common.

GURPS Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic even has a spell called Hall of Records (p. 44) inspired by this concept and submitted by yours truly.

How to do something like this without magic though?

Blessed, Very Blessed, and Oracle give only vague information, except possibly on critical successes. Precognition has the similar problem and is limited to events.

We should probably have an enabling advantage such as Blessed, Oracle (Akashic Records), or Jumper (Spirit) to access this storehouse. Dreaming or Meditation seem like appropriate skills, possibly a special version of Research (Akashic Records) to find and interpret the information. We could then make a skill roll and the GM assign a penalty. 

Determine the penalty!

This can done by GM fiat, based off how widely known the desired information is or something else. One option is to borrow from the New Inventions rules (p. B473) using the Concept modifiers. So if the question were deemed Simple the roll is -6 (-0), Average -10 (-2), Complex -14 (-4), and Amazing -22 (-8) with the second lower penalty requiring Researcher (see below). This takes a full day per question or 1d*10 minutes with Researcher. These skill penalties can be pretty hefty so Time Spent for a bonus is often a good idea and bonuses from complimentary skills or other knowledge may be needed.

Determining the Complexity level can be pretty tough but the skill and price listings offer a decent guide. Broader questions with vague answers should be easier, especially if they forward the plot! 

Patron God of Knowledge

A god of knowledge, powerful A.I., programed database searching program, even a cooperative spirit or ghost could be purchased as an Ally, Contact, or Patron and provide information. Ally is typically for combat but even a low cost Ally can have incredible skills and abilities to find things out. Contacts are limited to one skill or wildcard, Contact groups increase cost but cover related skills GURPS Social Engineering: Keeping in Contact expands on Contacts and is useful here. In particular the modifiers Disparate, +25%; Highly Accessible, +25%; Patient, +20%; Less Helpful, varies are all useful here. Patrons should have Minimal Intervention, -50% or something similar if all they do is provide information.

Researcher

25 or 50 points

You have an innate knack when it comes to finding things out. When using Research, exploring your subconscious for clues using Meditation or Dreaming, phrasing search phrases, or even questioning supernatural powers your ability significantly reduces penalties and saves time. Use the rules for Gadgeteer or Quick Gadgeteer (p. B56, and pp. B475-477) for Analyzing a device, accessing the Akashic Records or similar things. Where those rules do not specifically apply, halve the typical penalties to find your answers. This can take the Focused, -50% limitation when applied to a single area such as questions about magic or a particular science.

Research!

This wildcard skill completely subsumes Research and replaces Computer Operation, Dreaming, Forensics, Intelligence Analysis, Interrogation, Meditation, and any other skill when it comes to sifting through data, poking through books, or even asking people the right question.

Wildcard Benefits: Exchange points for Favors in Play for information only. Powering abilities bought with Costs Character Points, or reaching Contacts for information requests. If purchased at IQ counts as Gadgeteer and Quick Gadgeteer at IQ+3 for analyzing devices or researching plans for an invention. Alternatively grants Researcher instead of Gadgeteer.

Full Bonus: Offsets penalties for Time spent when using the above skills.

Half Bonus: Apply the half bonus to IQ rolls when using Blessed, Very Blessed, Oracle, Precognition, or Psychometry to find answers.

Summary

Information abilities can short circuit mysteries and bypass obstacles so are often feared by GMs. However they can also greatly help when used appropriately, such as when players are stuck or missed a vital clue the GM wanted found. Another important consideration is that often information gathering is a time consuming task and a solitary one!  So while one player is gathering valuable information the rest are sitting idly by. If the player and the GM are entertaining about it this is typically good with the players, but if its boring, takes too long, or feel they have no stake in the results it can ruin a game session. Consequently these abilities often just come down to a few die rolls in play, where in a book or show they are often an important part of the entertainment. Also many of these advantages and skills require substantial pint investments.

A good GM needs to work with the information based player and both have mutual trust so that quick die rolls handle routine matters or speed up pacing when needed but the player still has their time in the spotlight. Remember any player who invests a lot of points in something, expects to get good value for those points and a good GM will either forbid those abilities upfront or honor the social contract.

It is also helpful to not consider this an adversarial task that bypasses the carefully set up plot or mystery but enhances it and makes it more interesting for everyone. This last bit takes practice and GM creativity, but if you can master that skill your games will be much more fun for everyone involved - including you.