GURPS General /GURPSGEN/

>what's the deal with swing damage?

>How much striking strength is TOO MUCH striking strength?

>Most unweildy enemy you ever threw at the players?

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montaguebikes.com/bicycling.html
mega.nz/#!3oNSzBgS!4WC1vY0lWX1LMBuu5cG-G2zHBAkTZxCMwjtFOpb7SDQ
beastsofwar.com/steve-jackson-games/stakeholder-report-discussed/
tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RidiculouslyAverageGuy
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Sad day; real life means Grimwyrd ain't happening this weekend.

On the upside, making mead instead!

>>Most unweildy enemy you ever threw at the players?

...Well I'm trying to figure out how to stat a planet/alternate dimension....

Though i may just go with a city/region instead

Do you mean stating them with City Stats, or as a character?

>Striking ST

When allowed I try to keep it within 20% of base ST. In general I don't allow it, it's an exotic advantage for a reason.

>Unwieldy

Gang of After the End bandits in a open topped car with weird mutant powers and crossbows. It was a headache to track reload, mutant powers, the car, damage, and everything else all at once.

As a character, gotta take on the world, litterally

>How much striking strength is TOO MUCH striking strength?

I had a player with a pneumatic fist that had it at 30% of his base strength and it became a question of "What do I have to punch through to get to the objective."

If you just want the planet itself, that would have ST 0, IQ 0, DX 0, No Manipulators, SM +40 or so, a few billion HP, a few million DR, Injury Tolerance (Homogeneous), Doesn't Eat/Breathe/Sleep, and Unaging. Pic related.

A city, region, or nation could be a character with Injury Tolerance (Swarm), thousands or millions of HP, and SM in the 20s.

Yesterday I found out about GURPSDay on gamingballistic.com/
I didn't know there are so many blogs! But is their content good enough? Can its quality be compared to the official GURPS stuff? Which blogs are the best/which ones do you read? Are they useful to you?

What D&D 5e level would a Dungeon Fantasy character be?

6-8 I'd say, that's going by when the fightin' classes get their second attacks and seeing as DF characters can pay for a 2nd attack no problem.

They don't really translate. A Dungeon Fantasy starting character can reasonably fight just about anything, though not with success. They won't be utterly, hopelessly outclassed like a level 1 D&D character fighting anything but level 1-2 threats.

You can reasonably simulate all the things a level 5 D&D character can do, though not perfectly, with a starting DF character.

What book is this from? Powers?

Link to the previous thread: >What was wrong?
Not sure really, might just be people flaking. There were a few complaints about the GM taking a bit too long to type things out (hence why one or two of the other players were pushing for voice), but I can't much empathise with that.

Will today's Pyramid be boring and useless again?

Help me GURPSGEN!

My friends want a dark fantasy/low fantasy game with few cinematic rules. One wants to play an archer/hunter and another has expressed interest in being a low fantasy mage.

My questions are..

Should I go with TL 3 or 4?

175/-40 points is okay right?

Big question, what sort of magic system should I go for something where magic isn't too powerful? A big part of the low fantasy feeling is the idea that if magic wasn't around the world would be very much like it is anyway, so I want mild rather then extra strong here.

>Should I go with TL 3 or 4?
Come on, man, TL1 is where it's at.

But seriously, I ran a TL1 campaign with low magic and dark fantasy by player request, and what I did with magic is keep it mostly out of player hands and entirely out of combat. I did have a player that had a magic-using character, but he was more like a shaman or wise man, and the spells were stuff like limited clairvoyance or other information spells (find water, identity poison, etc.), illusions, psychological warfare, animal manupulation and additionally magic phenomena were naturally occurring in the world so he focused on naturally manipulating magic through arcane means and strange rituals. For combat, he acted more like a mix of alchemist and batman, by preparing buffs, traps, having a plan and bending the environment (for example, luring the enemy into a swamp where the dead rise (naturally) and hiding the party from the zombies so they could exhaust the enemy).

I didn't use any of the GURPS systems for the magic, since every major use of magic was basically a mini-quest for the party so every time it was mostly custom.

Sadly that campaign died because the players realized they didn't want to play that type of campaign after all. Now we're playing a modern campaign.

I'm looking to run it again with a different group as soon as I have time (and find a group).

I did 200/-60 for that campaign but I put harsh caps on attributes and skills. Still it was too much, when I do it again: 150/-30.

Aside from this , you should take a look at how the Black Company handled its mages (One Eye and Goblin, not the Lady).

That was one of my inspirations for that campaign.

>Should I go with TL 3 or 4?
Whatever you want. Typical fantasy usually uses TL3 world with TL4 metalwork and no firearms.
>magic system
Disclaimer: I don't have much experience with either magic system
RPM with low level Magery is pretty weak, and without Ritual Adept you are pretty much forced to only use charms and conditional rituals. Removing normal spellcasting entirely means there are only trinkets and potions around. Also, basic assumption is that anyone can try to learn magic if they have teacher and/or books. That said RPM can be just frustrating at this power level because you have to squeeze your spells in limited budget.
Sorcery or just powers-as-magic works for magic gifted by otherworldly beings or as inborn talent, thus available only to some people. Sorcery naturally forces you to have very narrow focus, so you won't become universal puzzle solver without huge point investment.
Regardless of system, you just need to limit its power level, perhaps enforce social issues for obvious magic users and maybe introduce corruption mechanic.

Both TLs are fine; if you go with TL4, you can still disallow firearms if you feel they mess with the tone too much. That lets you keep high-quality steel and sexy plate.

Point value looks spot-on.

Lots of options here. RPM is a solid start; the system already emphasizes subtle magic via Greater/Lesser effects, and coupling that with low point values and banning Adept keeps the magic slow and low-key. Symbol magic can also be very flavorful, and disallowing tracing and rune chits keeps things very very slow; its up to you to keep the power level down, though, so be cautious when deciding on a lexicon. Lastly, I'm a fan of all magic being workings of spirits, angels, and devils; all it takes to be a mage is Medium and some cold-iron balls, though good mages should pick up Spirit Empathy, Telesend (Spirits only; Broadcast), Binding (Spirits only; Affects Insubstantial), and the skills Occultism, Exorcism, and Hidden Lore.

Is there any adv - other than Signature Gear - allowing you to keep your costume on as a Super, regardless od damage, hazards and other factors?

The closest thing I know is Supersuit.

Combine with Sartorial Integrity, which is another perk that makes your clothes never get torn or dirty, even after combat or mountain climbing.

I have three points left on my character. Name three skills and I'll take one point in each of them.

Picture unrelated.

Cryptography.

Occultism, Administration, and Hiking.

I'm going to compromise and drop Administration, seeing as someone in the party already has that.

Thanks, Anons.

Thanks, man! That from...powers, I guess? Or Supers

So, what other skills should NPC soldier have? I will hand this sheet out to the players, so I can't use my favorite tactic of "just wing it".

Observation first and foremost. A hobby skill and/or Gambling for downtime. Most pick a point or two in Savoir-Faire (Military) just by being there.

Also
>Guns/TL3
>Bicycling

Observation is good idea. I probably not going to give any social and background skills, since they are going to be a faceless cannon fodder (unless a player takes a shine to one of of the poor sods and decides to adopt him as Ally, then I will give some additional points to flesh him out).
>Guns/TL3
Forgot to change that.
>Bicycling
What's wrong with it? With no cars available, it is a valid choice of transportation - cheaper than a horse, takes less space and requires less maintenance. Granted, they will be a bit of an early adopters, but still.

>What's wrong with it?
Nothing, but putting an actual point in it seems kinda off, Bicycling is described more as a skill for someone who competes or bikes long distance, not someone who merely knows how to ride a bike, default's good enough for that.

I just can't imagine it being a reliable mode of transportation on a battlefield. The lack of even roads makes bikes a hell of a lot less useful, and the possibility of being shot at means running and ducking behind cover is preferable to long stretches of movement through an open area.

With the +4 to simply not fall off, defaulting on Bicycle gives a 50/50 chance of staying on every (I guess) minute *before* looking at any penalties for being distracted/shot at. I'd say one point is necessary but no one other than professional bicyclers has more than that.

Seems like that would be pretty inviable outside of urban terrain and traveling by road, which makes it a bit unsuited to the traditional war effort.
Of course, I'm mostly talking out my ass, so I'd be interested in seeing how actual bike - borne troops worked.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_infantry

Looks like DARPA might still be spending money towards it.

Would be nice if I added the link -
montaguebikes.com/bicycling.html

>what's the deal with swing damage?
Not a big one, IMO.
Works fine for realistic levels of ST, with "fantasy" levels of ST swing damage might feel a point or two out of proportion but duelist VS knight is hardly your biggest concern when their teammates are a fairy and a wizard.

>How much striking strength is TOO MUCH striking strength?
I generally allow a level or so of advantages like these even in realistic campaigns. So I guess 10% of ST no questions asked, 20% in a more fantastic campaign, 30% or even more seems fine if your concept is a fistfighter in a dungeoncrawl or something.

>Most unweildy enemy you ever threw at the players?
Weak but semi-organized and tactically aware group including a weak mage and a spear-wielder poking from behind teammates with shields.
Way too many separate sheets to keep track of when everyone has different stats, and on top of that keeping track of injury and initiative and trying to make tactical decisions for the whole enemy group, while also always taking shorter turns than my players to keep the action rolling.
I pulled through well enough, had to fudge a bit for simplicity and to tip the scales in my players' favor, but I learned my lesson and have never tried pulling off a battle that complex again.

Thank you so much for the advice, I think I am going to go for RPM -Adept with Thamatology limited to 8 points to start and the need to find a teacher or book to learn more.

So, any ideas for ordering RPM charms through Pulling Rank? I think it should be based on energy cost.

Can't you make monetary requests?
Doesn't the RPM book have a relatively simple way to convert charm energy to dollars?
Can you figure out the cost of a 50 energy charm, then figure out how difficult it is to request a charm that expensive?

...I say these all as questions, because to my recollection, all these things are true, but not 100% sure.

>defaulting on Bicycle gives a 50/50 chance of staying on every (I guess) minute *before* looking at any penalties for being distracted/shot at
I dunno, an unmodified roll is supposed to be in a stressful situation already. Riding around town on a nice day should give like a +5 bonus, at least.

What a lovely day

FOR WAR

I believe this is a correct answer. The average car owner doesn't have an entire point in the driving skill; and failures at driving aren't "you had a car accident" anyway. They are "You planned to get to work before 0900, unfortunately there was a traffic jam and you couldn't get around it. In the elevator you see it is 0902, and your boss has been kind of a hard ass recently; hopefully he won't notice."

Latest Pyramid

mega.nz/#!3oNSzBgS!4WC1vY0lWX1LMBuu5cG-G2zHBAkTZxCMwjtFOpb7SDQ

...

>beastsofwar.com/steve-jackson-games/stakeholder-report-discussed/
>The 2016 report was released last week and the headline figure is the just over $6 million in gross revenue the company earned, marking both the second straight year of declining revenue and a net loss for the first time in over a decade.

Apparently the delays aren't good for them either.

Average drivers have way more then the 800 hours behind the wheel you'd need to get a point in the skill. Better to just say that most drivers have 4 points, and after that their routine isn't complicated or demanding enough to count for any kind of training.

I think it's just more a slump in card game sales. They haven't really gotten anything hot or new in a while.

>Better to just say that most drivers have 4 points, and after that their routine isn't complicated or demanding enough to count for any kind of training.
I'd say you're right in this case, but 1 point instead of 4, maybe 2 if they come from a country with rigorous driving exams. Average drivers are pretty bad, even in ideal conditions.

>Average drivers have way more then the 800 hours behind the wheel
Unless they're female.

Supers p. 125

>Crafting Imbuements
Imbuements already make my dick hard, so this article is off to a good start. It also would do wonders for a fantasy settings I've had on the back burner for ages now. Putting that aside, though, the article is pretty niche; it's very cool, but from what I've seen, campaigns with lots of downtime that make crafting viable are few and far between.

>Dungeon Fantasy Goes to War
A fun little article, light in the way of crunch, but a good source of ideas on introducing and balancing having a ton of minions innadungeon. Worth a read if nothing else.

>The Harvest -- Invasion Earth
A modern-day conspiracy/ayylmao-laden setting. It's pretty in-depth and would work well for groups that want a bit of political backstabbery with their daily dose of spacebug squashing. Yeah, you're pawns in an intergalactic cold war, but hey at least your patrons aren't hell-bent on wiping your race out, and these guns are *really* nice. On that note, the writing style is fun too, jumping between standard writing and an in-universe CIA briefing.

>The German Thing
A more action-packed and less terrifying version of Horror: The Madness Dossiers. Multiple timelines have crashed together and artifacts of each timeline have stuck around, leading to a hodgepodge of supers origins and backgrounds, plus plenty of anomalies, paradoxes, and PULP ADVENTURE. The timelines covered include Substrate Alexander (ultra-tech ancient Greece), Substrate Edison (wild inventors and savants with a bit of the 'tism), Substrate Kung (Ancient Cinese wuxia and qi), and Substrate Utnapishtim (hey look, it's Madness Dossiers!). Might be fun for groups that want to run a kitchen sink supers game or that want Rifts without, y'know, Rifts.

>Many Lives, One Adventure
A systemless look at using reincarnation in campaigns. A very interesting read; I've been wanting to rip off Spirit Circle for a while now and this may help.

>RTT
Advice for keeping things FEELING epic. Good to keep in mind.

I allow 1-3 levels of striking strength in cinematic campaigns. I often link it to Weapon Master or TbaM.

The average driver probably has thousands of hours behind the wheel. I know I have at least 1500 hrs and drive infrequently at best.

In addition, Kromm said that learning the first pt of a skill is often cheaper than suggested in the Basic Set.

Finally, most people have higher skill levels than those suggested in the Basic Set. I'd say most professionals have 30-40 pts in skills with people who have achieved mastery or pursued higher education having significanlty more. Everyone here likely has at least 5pts in skills that are purely side interests at best.

Average drivers in America put 8000 miles a year on the odometer without a serious accident. I'm not saying they are great.. but this is one of the few skills you could say that nearly everyone has at 1-8 points.

I liked the advice to keep epic weird. Small but lasting, shared effects from being exposed to epic forces seems like something I'd like to try.

Most of those miles are highway miles, probably the easiest condition for driving (aside from empty parking lot or something), which contribute little to nothing to learning to drive.

At SL12 (8 points in driving with DX at 10), you would expect 74% of the people to succeed in a stressful car chase (B345 specifically lists Driving as an example, with car chase being +0, rally race is +1, normal driving is +2 to +5), which is clearly not the case.

I would expect the vast majority of the population to have around SL9, considering that a regular fail in favorable conditions is not a crash or anything, but stuff like being late or getting lost. Even a crit fail in favorable conditions probably wouldn't be an immediate crash.

A car chase isn't one check, and it's opposed. Clear day, no complicating factors you'd pass a stretch of road without trouble on a SL 12. You'd still lose out to someone in a better car that has more experienced going fast, getting chased down and caught, and you'd have a very significant chance to get into a serious accident.

>Being late or getting lost

Those really are more navigation and timing then Drive(Auto). Being Billy Badass, Mega Racer can't get you though traffic on a stretch of highway any faster then a soccer mom if all four lanes are moving 22 MPH.

>A car chase isn't one check, and it's opposed
Doesn't matter, we're not talking about the check, we're talking about the bonus. I don't see a regular average driver doing better than SL9 in a car chase, just look at regular police chase videos. Those police officers would probably have SL12.

>Those really are more navigation and timing then Drive(Auto).
These fall under IQ-based Driving rolls, actually. If you're familiar with the area you can conceivably select a less congested route.

Regardless, failing a driving roll on a clear day is not an automatic crash or anything. Positive task bonuses exist for a reason, and I'd classify driving the route you drive to work every day as trivial.

Area familiarity is a different skill. Most car chases go on for hours unless the police attempt an aggressive stop or there's dangerous complicating factors like trying to go at high speed though narrow streets at night.

>Doesn't matter, we're not talking about the check, we're talking about the bonus.

Except that's ignoring how car chases are simulated. It's a unmodified opposed roll, then you add bonuses and penalties for conditions. An average driver can go down a highway ahead of the cops for hours without failing unless the opposing force tries to do something to try and make them fail.

How car chases are simulated is beside the point, I'm not talking about that.

I'm talking specifically about the SL of an average driver. Car chase was just an example I used because it's present in the book as an example of a task thats Average difficulty (B345).

And again, straight in the book it says (B188) "Make an IQ-based Driving roll for
basic map reading, to diagnose simple
malfunctions, or to recall rules of the
road," which means that Driving applies not only to the mechanical operation of a vehicle but to other tasks related to Driving (such as navigation or knowledge of the traffic patterns, minor repairs, information about cars and driving, etc.).

Nah, I don't believe that. I noticed a significant increase in my skill level over the years. I used to get lost or make mistakes all the time when going to new places. I used to get into minor accidents frequently too. Now I don't. Just driving under difficult conditions (snow, fog, raining, poor road) used to challenge me. Now it doesn't. And for people I know who have been driving for 20+ years, they're even better.

In addition, I'm pretty sure if everyone was driving at default there would be way more accidents. I'll admit, most drivers probably have 1-2 pts. However, older people most likely have way more.

I'd put the average driver on the road at SL 9 to 10, a good driver at 11 to 12, a trained driver (policeman, long haul trucker, amateur racers) at 12 to 14, a professional stunt or race driver at 14 to 18.

Someone driving at Default would be a new driver barely out of getting a license or maybe a teen driver learning from their parents.

...

>How car chases are simulated is beside the point, I'm not talking about that.

Except you can't win a car chase just by having an SL 12. You'd still fail if the other guy has a hotter car or more skill, you just won't wipe yourself out.. 4 out of 5 times.

That's pretty reasonable. Most people on the road, in America at least, are capable of driving ten thousand hours without a serious accident.

Also >Make an IQ based roll to read a map

That's not knowing an area. You can't roll to know where the nearest gas station is without a road atlas and time to consult it.

What skills would I be rolling against if this forum post were something a character were making in game?

You don't need to roll anything for casual posting.

How would you do a race that by it's nature can be commanded by people that know it's true name?


How many points would something like being unable to cross an unbroken line of salt be worth? It makes me think of the Vampire divine curse (can't enter a house uninvited) that is wroth 10, but I'm not sure if that seems right. Is there a better way to stat that out?

>F-35 against alien invasion
We're fucked.
At least they won't take our hangars.

>divine curse (can't enter a house uninvited) [10]
Correct, but cost actually will depends on how wide spread that information.

First one is Reprogrammable.

I have some giant insects going on, but I'm afraid they may be not strong enough. How do I stat some bombardier beetle-like attack for a man-sized bug?

I would make it as two linked attacks. One is Crushing with Double Knockback, +20% (stream of water), the other is Burning with No Incendiary Effect, -10% (because it's hot). Not sure how much damage, though. Maybe even No Wounding on crushing attack, so all damage will come from high temperature.
Either add Jet for narrow stream or Cone (perhaps only 1 or 2 yards wide) and Reduced Range if you want it to cover entire body.

Does Flight with Low Ceiling slows down your fall?

Once you get into your ceiling, you get a fly speed, so presumably yeah.

You mean inside your ceiling or outside?

Inside the ceiling, yeah, it's flight, but you'd have to account for initial speed as you crossed the boundary.

Outside, would really depend on what is that ceiling exactly and GM call I guess. For example a bird could still flap its wings when falling through a thin atmosphere to slow down its fall even if it can't find purchase to fly, or a propeller plane that lost engine power due to lack of oxygen could still glide, but if it's some kind of anti-gravity flying device that needs to be a certain altitude from the ground to work, it'd drop like a rock until it reached said altitude.

If you're going to depend on a vehicle, relying on a Skill Default on the relevant vehicle operation roll to see you through potentially dangerous situations is generally foolish.

If you read through collection of their reports, you will realise three things:
1) They are under-staffed, but barely hire more people
2) Their head of marketing is an idiot and they've finally realised that 5 years too late
3) Munchkin is their main source of revenue, and they didn't publish anything new in that area for quite some time.

In short - they will bounce again with new line on Munchkin/other card games (as that's the very reason they didn't go bankrupt few years ago) and there is a chance they will finally start to market their games properly or at least stop using extremely dated marketing. 2017 and they are just about to start using internet... Sheesh.

How do I change an affliction from "1 minute per margin of failure" to "only while actively maintained, e.g. Concentration maneuver on the attackers turn Also while allowing new save once a minute or something, I guess.".

In a pinch, the value for a modifier like "reduced duration: 1 minute per margin of failure -> 1 second per margin of failure" would suffice.

There is Reduced Duration in Power Ups 8.

Ooh, didn't know there was a Power Ups 8. This will do, thanks user.

Seriously, anons? Seriously? You want this thread to die?

Cold-blooded:
>You are less susceptible to dam age from high or low body tempera ture (+2 HT to resist the effects of temperature)
Does it have any effect on freezing attacks from Cryokinesis, since it uses quick contest of Will?

Really? They can't change your mind about anything or alter your memories, they can just tell you to do something. It's almost like an automatic Duity or Vow or something.

Thanks, I'll put it all together and share what I've got so far.

No.
Cold-blooded and the somewhat similar Temperature Tolerance advantage refers to long, extended exposure to ambient cold/heat, not attacks. See p. 430 and 434 respectively in basic set.

Is there a complicated formula for the amount of breaking you can do with flight inside your ceiling?

Generally cyroblast and such deal Burning damage, so DR vs Burning works on them.

This seems odd, but remember things like big foil suits for firefighting. Stiflingly hot to wear for long, but they insulate well enough to keep sudden, intense heat from outside from killing you. They could do the same for people popping a kilogram of 0.5 Kelvin solid metallic hydrogen near you*.

*Well, the insulated suit would protect you from the tremendously endothermic reaction of the hydrogen as it phase-changed twice then expanded in every direction, absorbing more energy. It would provide little protection from the explosive force of said expansion.

Normal High Speed Movement rules apply within your flight ceiling.
Simple rule, if you enter your ceiling while traveling at 100 yards per second, and your air move is 20, you can reduce your velocity by 20 per round.
Complicated formula, you can Push the Envelope and reduce your velocity by up to 2x air move by taking a DX-roll (or aerobatics, I guess) with a penalty based on change in speed and somesuch.

Being subject to changing loyalties (i.e. changing Duty or Vow) is the most common way I've seen Reprogrammable used in published material. Also, Reprogrammable =/= Digital Mind; all Reprogrammable does is say "you can be programmed to obey a master." Yes, it fits AIs with override codes but also magical constructs, bound demons, etc.

What are some good drug-related quirks that could develop during withdrawal?

What drug?
Any symptom of drug-withdrawal that isn't a full disadvantage.

Well the drugs I had in mind are from Fallout. Mentats, Jet, etc.

Where can I find rules for irradiation? I'm planning a post-apo campaign and one of the locations is bombed air-base, so I really need some mechanics for gettin irradiated.

Just use the original Fallout de-buffs as temporary effect. Now since you appear to already be doing something about similar setting, maybe you will know the answer to my

The Basic Set covers it under Hazards, but After the End has a version that's easier to game out.

>After the End
Wait, what?
Did I miss something?

A year or so ago SJG published 2 post-apo books for 4th edition. They are pretty good and simplify a lot of things that had to be cobbled together from like half of the entire GURPS library. Also, neat looting tables.

I like RPM but I also like the default magic system for its simplicity.

>default magic system
>simplicity

For all its faults, Magic is very straightforward. "Here's your list of discrete spells; take what you want and fuck off." It's also a super-familiar format for people migrating from a D&D background (i.e. 95% of them).

The main issue with Magic is that it's restrictive, not that it's complex.

Oh, you mean Magic.
I was sure you are talking about Basic Set's way of handling magic.

Are there any advs (or maybe disadvs) that could cover this:
tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RidiculouslyAverageGuy
I need it for a spy game.