GURPS General - /gurpsgen/

"Homebrew" Edition

Tell us about how you GURPS. What's your favorite way to play/run? Gritty, cinematic, somewhere in between? What books do you use?

No experience but wanted to give a bump as reading the thread is helpful
I'm just starting out with Gurps and was planning to run a cyberpunk campaign

I'm reading through the rules now and am starting to pick out ones I don't want to bother with. I'm getting the feeling like combat is going to be a bit lethal and crunchy, which I think is good for the style
I might opt for a bit more of a cinematic approach though and ease some mechanics in as the group gets accustomed

Going easy is the way to start. Don't worry if you don't get all the rules right and don't feel bad if you set things to simple mode and don't break out optional rules.

Combat's pretty lethal. There are many attacks that can kill someone in one heat.

Cyberpunk's fun stuff. A bit complex though, with hacking and cybernetics rules.

Yeah that's what I'm starting to notice as well

I'm reading the core rules still so I've yet to move onto UltraTech/Cyberpunk issue of Pyramid, but I'm hoping I can make hacking/netrunning work in combat. I know in Shadowrun Deckers are able to override security, shut down or control enemy turrets etc.
I just want to avoid one member needing to take a back seat during play. If that proves to be too difficult, I might just encourage them to pick up a couple firearms skills as well.
We'll see I guess

Making well rounded pics is never a bad idea. He could easily the best hacker in the world, but if he wants to contribute, he might also want to be capable of say, modding guns for the chrome head, or be an expert in social psychology, or capable of swinging a shockstick.

Everyone should be good at something
Nobody can be good at everything
But everyone should be able to help, most of the time.

Best of luck to you. Keeping both netrunning and streetrunning simultaneously fun and involved is a challenge in any system since it requires one party member to be off doing their own thing. Best recommendation I can have is make almost any target hackable, even the human ones; most people that get into firefights in cyberpunk settings are rocking some killer augs and are connected to the net, so let your players hack their eyes or force their gun to jam or something like that. They're technowizards that can bring in the battlefield control and shutdown enemy forces, making things easier for their buddy with the samurai sword and the other that's rocking an uzi.

Somewhere in between. I'm running a medium-hard sci-fi space opera game for my group that's been going on for the past 6 months, and a balance of cinematic and realistic keeps everybody interested. Almost everybody in the group, with the exception of one person, is new to GURPS, so I have to keep everybody interested.

I'd say the combat's the most cinematic thing about the game, but that might be because i started off the players at 125 points to get a feel for the setting. No characters have died yet, but several have come close.

Aside from that, most things are pretty realistic. My setting, a TL 8 to 10 neo-feudalistic human empire based on Dune and Fading Suns has no superscience except wormhole gates which connect star systems, so interstellar travel can be feasible in the campaign. I try to give most big actions layers and not just have the players rolling the same skills over and over again.

>I try to give most big actions layers and not just have the players rolling the same skills over and over again.
An invaluable habit to get into.
Everything should have ogre like onion layers. Alternatives and options abound!

One suggestion challenge
>add one detail/make one suggestion only! Everyone contributes

Treant: Ent-folk style

Injury tolerance: homogeneous

>Reduced time rate
Seriously, fuck their reaction time.

Vulnerable: fire x4

DR 15: Semi-Ablative

Careful quirk or Indicisive disadvantage; I don't know which fits better.

Indecisive.
If they have too many options they choose to do nothing instead

When possible, make sure they resolve things in 2-3 rolls. You should never just be rolling the same skill half a dozen times.

Alright, /gurpsgen/, I want to run Evangelion. I've already pretty much figured out how I want to do the Evas and pilots, but a sticking point is AT Fields. How can I best represent AT Fields in GURPS?

Maybe a blanket advantage with DR (Force Field, Vulnerability) as a base, and then add-ons like Super Jump and Innate Attack for some of the crazier stuff Angels can do with AT fields?

I'm no expert on either Eva or GURPS, but that's just my first thought.

DR (Force field, Requires Will roll)

What's the best hosting option for virtual character sheets for an in-person game?

You may be able to use Gurps Character Sheets or Assistant.

Maybe a fillable pdf?

Well, I mean I have 4 character sheets for my four players. I would like a system where I can update the character sheets and look at everyone's character sheet at once, but the players can also look at them. What I mean is something more like Google docs to share the saved sheets, but dunno if that is the absolute best option or not.

Google docs would do. You could also share GCS files back and fourth. That won't let you edit them and have them updated for the player in real time.

Latest update for my monster. Anyone know how much a SM+1 Fine (Balanced) Broadsword would cost?

In the Army Now, that means a budget for armor. Upgraded the leather armor to chain and got gauntlets to replace gloves. There are (poor) muskets available to use as well, something that at last means a ranged option.

>SM+1
As per low-tech companion 2, multiply damage bonus and minimum strength by 1.5, weight and cost by 2.25, and reach by 1.3
That's your new weapon.
> Fine (Balanced)
It's just +4 CF.

Ahh. I thought weight was by 1.5.

Should also reflect on the sheet aso a +1 to skill in the weapon entry. Is GCS calculating that for you already? Doesn't look like it

Also, you're in light load until 130lbs, and you're ~halfway there with Dr 6 between your advantage and chain mail. Maybe get fitted for a good helmet? Or a steel breastplate? You look set.

One thing I've seen is wearing heavy gauntlets and gloves, then using hand to hand parties to deflect blows from swords. Though, you don't look like you have the judo/karate/brawling level to abuse that right now.

Your armor already on your sheet: is that modified for sm+1? It doesn't look like it

>heavy gauntlets and gloves, then using hand to hand parries to deflect blows from swords
Muh nig

The section on Blocking in the Basic Set says you can block with an enemy, but it doesn't say how you do that. Do you just grapple them on your turn and roll against 3+Shield/2, or is your defense based on your grappling skill? Does "strong enough to grab and lift someone" mean they have to weigh less than your Basic Lift? Does the person being blocked with get a chance to not get hit?

Sure, although you'd obviously be best using it to describe specifically, the one or two clever tricks that particular Angel has. And they usually have a limited, if lethal toolbox.

For human pilots you might also get into some modular stuff for what happens if they are in bad danger and it goes Berserk, or if they push it into "Beast Mode" intentionally. They are clearly much more powerful that way, and would either automatically be activating powers, or doing it much more reliably. (The EVA that is.) Of course, they are also Bestial, and arguably more frightening to Mission Control, so if that happens your players have a problem. They won't die, probably, but they have a problem.

At BEST they will be closely examined and and what not. At worst they will be blamed for what happened, and considered unreliable/the Unfavorite pilot.

Page number? This is news to me.

B375, last sentence of the first paragraph under "Blocking".

I would rule:
-grapple a target, he needs to be within the basic lift limit of your grapple form (no bigger than black for 1 hand, no bigger than heavy for two hand, etc)
-block calc is based on grappling skill, dude you block with provides +2 db

>dat infernal lookin elf
Hnnnng
I know exactly why I have this boner

Huh
Pact limitation let's you take vows, rituals of faith, and even intolerance? Nice
Racism powers!

>What's your favorite way to play/run? Gritty, cinematic, somewhere in between?
I prefer to run realism, up to the point where rules become obtuse. So I do enjoy hit locations, but not bleeding

> What books do you use?
Depends on the game. Currently I'm running GrimWyrd; a TL4 dark and brooding fantasy world. An evil empire has arisen again, threatening invasion of the peaceful lands. The Kingdoms of men, elves and dwarves have risen to oppose the horrible beast men and their fell warlock masters!
We use a bit of low tech (guns and armor) as well as martial arts (for some expanded combat options and tehniques) as well as powers (for all magic users; no spell lists here!

Hey, only rituals of faith (obviously) is actually tied to faith. It gives the example in the Core of Pacts with all kind of thinks. But, in the end: Gurps. You want racism-fueled superpowers, you go you!

...

Yeah, I should be closer to hitting weight then it looks, I forgot to set armor to 2x weight for SM+1

Good catch on the armor, I should double it's weight in GCS.

Yeah, I set the Fine (Balanced) broadsword to give +1 to Broadsworld SL, but that also reflects in the skills area. It's annoying, but I'm not sure how to set it to give +1 SL with only that weapon.

Heavy guntlets for parrying is nice, though if you've got a shield it's less vital.

I think you can change it up in the Attacks section. Set the attack roll for the weapon to Broadsword+1

man, this is why I [illegally downloaded] GCA4

GCS is so unintuitive

If GCA is so good, why didn't you buy it?

Because I'm a dirty pleb
(also, I have half a dozen of their ludicrously priced dead tree collections, so I feel justified in saving 10$)

I can finally build my KKK themed superhero: The Grand Wizard - keeping white communities safe!

If you want to be realistic, you'd have to take some sort of Variable Limitation on your power so that it functions at less efficiency on those that aren't "purely white". Racial supremacists care about inane shit like that.

I think it'd be the same -5% limitation that Magic rocks for Mana and Holy rolls with for Sanctity; the more racially homogenous the area is, the stronger your abilities are.

Let's do a bit of world building: What would a world with racism-fueled magic look like? If a community is very racially homogeneous, would it act like a zone of very high mana, thus making a place for a lower caste to keep the magic from being too dangerous?

Racism-fueled magic can either be essentially similar to most fantasy magic system — e.g. the work of the caster — but it would make a lot of sense to do a more ceremonial system; you've got to get a rally or a pride march going to get get those mystical juices flowing. Probably using both would be best, with magicians working alone but being able to call upon their brothers and sisters for powerful workings.

Thaumatology talks about Clerical/Sanctity-powered magic not running the same risks as mages when it comes to Very High Mana/Sanctity. Instead of every failure becoming a critical failure, failures are treated as normal but critical failures instead drop the Sanctity a level permanently due to accidental desecration. For racist magic, it would be the accidental introduction of subversive idea e.g. accidentally hooking your fellow klansmen on urban rap.

For an added bit of fun, have *any* ethnic homogeneity fit the bill; all-black communities are just as magic-friendly as all-white communities for even the palest of mages, and its those ethnic rainbow neighborhoods where their power sputters. Both the Klan and the Black Panthers fought for racial segregation after all.

I'm designing a character that wields a kusari one-handed. The main problem is, you need ST 22 to wield it in that manner without suffering any drawbacks. The character in question isn't a giant as much as they are a weapon master that can handle the chain weapon with ease.

So, my question is this: is there a way to get their ST up that high without buying plain ol' regular ST or even Lifting ST (I assume this Advantage and not Striking ST is what you factor in when determining if you meet the MinST for a weapon)? Better yet: is there a melee weapon equivalent for the Handcannon Perk a la Gun Fu?

Regular ST, Arm ST, and Striking ST all contribute to your overall ST score for wielding muscle-powered weapons, such as swords or throwing axes. Huge Weapons (ST) adds +1 to ST for the purposes of avoiding insufficient ST penalties only, and can be bought twice (Power-Ups 2:6).

Only twice? That's majorly limiting :-(.

Ask your GM to let you buy more levels? Ask your GM to let your RSL raise your effective ST score for wielding the kusari? I dunno, man, work with them. Why do you want to use a kusari with one hand, anyways? I'm not gonna bother checking, but I'd think that Entangling a weapon with a kusari you only wield in one hand would give you a penalty in any resulting QC.

What happens if you get enough limitations on something to have more than a 100% reduction?

It caps at -80%, max. You always end up paying at least 1/5 the original price.

Read the book

You can have as many limitations as you want, but you can't get discount bigger than -80%

Alternatively, build a smaller kusanagi? Or an innate attack based on it?

There's always alternatives. Barriers like (this requires ridiculous st) usually mean (find an alternative way of doing it)

I did, but I suppose I missed that part. Sorry about that. Thanks anyways.

>tfw both my planned online games fail to start because of free time issues of some players

>Kusari one handed

Wait, do you mean a kusari? That's just a chain, and you could easily use one handed. A kusari-gama is what you've got pictured, it's a chain attached to a sickle and pretty much needs two hands because it's got two different parts to control. I suppose you could one handed use it as a sickle with the chain wrapped around your arm.

Devil Chickens.
Straight from the hell.

The giant chickens from Alternate Dungeons II but with a follow up affliction of Agony on their mundane attacks.

Lame

BUT NOW YOU CAN SMASH THE TWO REMAINING GROUPS TOGETHER AND GAME HARD

Slap on the Dire lens too.