/GURPSG/

/GURPSG/

All hail GURPS!

>QUESTION
What type of book do you find to be the most useful? Setting books? 'Tech books? Genre books?

Gear porn and genre crunch (Tactical Shooting, Psionic Powers, etc.) because I don't use other people's settings. I do like Low-Tech and its companions for how informative it is on low tech societies, so I'm fine with research material. I just don't want to have to divorce it from your fluff.

I constantly reference the core books. Beyond the important rules I'd need to look up anyway, these offer a lot of solid material.

Beyond that Low Tech and High Tech offer a lot of inspiration and I enjoy gear and crunchy bits, but those are very full of that.

Interesting ideas, I can't wait to see what you do with this.

"Only while smoking pipe" limitation, -20%?

Thanks. I was also thinking of more outlandish applications for magical weapons, namely a kind of "caster gun" that uses specially crafted shells to cast spells. Magic is so rare that mages can't cast openly without carrying a heavy man-portable mana cell possibly like pic related, so instead, they implant the spell into a shell that contains a pre-measured amount of mana needed to cast. More potent spells would need larger shells, with the largest essentially functioning as artillery shells, while smaller weapons could be more similar to the gun in your pic, or a shotgun pistol. I'm still up in the air regarding these as for how to stat them out properly. I recall rules for magic ammo somewhere, and all I've told the players is that such weapons and ammo would be very rare, as there are not enough mages who actually know spells to actually make such ammo commonly found, since most mages just learn magery to manage mana forges, and those who do know spells are almost all employed by arms manufacturers to make artillery shells.

My players seem to want something less sandboxy than my campaigns usually are, so they will likely be some manner of military special operations or mercenary team, either securing sources of mana for the state, dealing with uppity colonial natives, making natives in enemy colonies uppity, or possibly dealing with sky pirates. As such I'm not sure how I should deal with costs of items, just give them a list of "standard issue" gear, or give them certain discounts for some items, or what.

Any advice from anyone who has run campaigns involving military issued gear and similar such situations?

Also bump, we're already on page 7.

I handle military equipment, lately at least, by creating a General Issue list of equipment issued to everyone. This gear serves as things they can draw normally, then allow substitutions and extra equipment based on what they can requestion.

This also gives them an idea of what is laying around in crates and armories at their force's bases.

I'd say -10% at best. Basic Set lists "only when playing a trumpet" as -20%, and smoking a pipe is both way easier and much more subtle.

Envirometal (Shadows) is Rare or Occasional?

Shadows are literally everywhere. It's Very Common.

Incantation magic showed up too powerful compared to RPM (at the same power level), but it is the only magic system which my players really fall in love to play with (actually they love RPM too, but, hey, why play with RPM, when it can be incantion magic).
So any suggestions how i can nerf incantion magic?

I haven't used incantation magic, though I do own the book.
What's OP about it
I'm going to go ahead and guess the lack of greater/lesser effects.

Why s this general so dead?

Would you rather it fell prey to the usual issues associated with generals (ie. became a circlejerk subreddit instead of a thread about GURPS)?

Time of day.

No games

Are there any enhancements or advantages that allow you to use an ability from an origin point other than yourself? Like, having TK with a range of 10 meters, but counting those 10 meters from a special amulet, or a familiar instead of from your own body.

Anything like that applicable to RPM?

I think Magic allows you to cast spells from the tip of your staff instead of your own location. Not sure if there's any rules for abilities that work remotely though.

GURPS generals ebb and flow. Nothing wrong with a little quiet time.

None that I can think of, but I'd price something like that at +50% or more.

Well, I'm running one(Grimwyrd) and speculating on creating another(Dresden files Montreal1980) but neither ever really need rules input and the AARs happen after Saturday sessions.

What we really need is a new green GM, cutting his teeth on the system, with players who don't peruse Veeky Forums. That way he can plug us for rules updates, setting background info, and full on plotting. If his advice session fall prey to rules speculation and RAW arguments, so be it. It would be a real kick in the arm for the general.

A pity, they all seem to gravitate to the Gurps Discord channel

Hey, first time GURPs GM thinking of running a one shot for other newbies.
My idea was to set it in a post-apoc world covered in mutant plants. I was planning on having 4 premade characters, A doc with some herbal knowledge, commando with a shotgun, techie with some preworld knowledge and a laser pistol, and a mutant with a innate attack and some other mutant-y stuff.

For the first session I would probably have them travel from a small mercenary encapment to a abandoned factory to retrieve some sort of data from a super-computer. The place'd be filled mostly with hostile fungi, spore spitting plants and a few zombies covered in plants. I'd like for the enemies to not have gun for the one shot due to their lethality.

Is this all okay? Should I go for a different setting? Do a different adventure? different characters?

What games have they played before?

It certainly sounds workable in a Last of Us meets Wasteland kind of way. Going to a old world lab that might have data on the mutated plants sounds good.

Maybe give the shotgun to the Doc? The ROF bonus to hit is very useful for letting a character with limited skills land hits at short range. You could also give the Doc an SMG with a generous magazine size. (FN P90 is a good choice).

Maybe give your stationary plants tentacles/tenderals that try to entangle people and drag them slowly in? This creates a teamwork situation, where the caught person can use some serious help to save themselves as the vines slowly drag them closer to a razor-thorn filled maw?

Make sure everyone has a thing to do in combat, and note that the mutant will need a pretty good Innate Attack if it has to comare with firearms.

>Is this all okay?
Sure, why not?
>Should I go for a different setting?
No? Why?
> Do a different adventure?
What you've described is an excellent smash and grab. Make use of alternate possible paths and you're golden (snaky areas in lieu of fighty areas. Opportunity for environmental effects. A chance for each player to shine with their personal ability)
>different characters?
You've covered the major tropes. Make sure each of them has a secondary ability too (knives for when guns jam, wrestling for when they get tackled, etc.)

>the mutant will need a pretty good Innate Attack if it has to compare with firearms
As in "the player of said mutant will need to feel comparable to other PC's on the team, so their abilities should be as good/comparable to a human with a gun"

Also see: give them a cool gimmick; maybe they're part mutant plant, and their symbiotic mutant spore abilities let them climb sheer walls, brachiate, or something. This also opens the door for other things, like maybe the mutant is susceptible to the pheremone spores of the other plants, and it makes him frenzy fighting them to the death!

Pretty much only D&D and a couple of Micro games. I'll try and be pretty Rules-lite.

Thanks for all the great advice! I still have a bit before we run the session, I'm only smoothing out ideas now. I'm going to give the Doc a firearm, possibly a SMG, but I don't want the Soldier to feel like the Doc is basically the same but he also has healing and plant lore shit.

I'll make the innate attack pretty good, I'll probably make it some sort of spit that can immobilize enemies or maybe add another affliction. I figure he'd be a human that survived being infected with the plants, so he'd probably also have some climbing abilities, the ability to communicate with some of the more intelligent plants, and maybe even some rad claws for good measure. I'll also probably throw in some gadgets for the techie.

Yeah, sorry, self esteem leaking. All characters will be at the very least equipped with basic armor, a basic pistol and a knife, they've probably already been doing this kind of stuff for a bit.

Yeah, it's a tough balance but I'll see if I can work it out, see the above comment for more on that. Maybe I'll post the sheet once I get the characters done.

Thanks again everyone!

Do you have some ideas for balancing monsters against a party with mostly ranged weapons? It seems like a difficult thing to manage, since if the enemies close in on the party, the players will get shrekt by the melee enemies, but at range the monsters will just get shot without doing any damage.

I've been thinking of using super tanky enemies, although the party has a bunch of high-caliber weapons that can deal ridiculous amounts of damage per shot. Another possibility would be sanic fast enemies in an area with a lot of cover, but I'm not sure how tedious that would be to run combat-wise.

Controlling line of sight and visibility is a powerful counter to strong ranged weapons. It's perfectly okay to let a gun blow apart a enemy in one shot if the player can land a hit.

Tight hallways, darkness, fog, smoke and enemies that can jump out of air vents, holes in the ground or hidden doorways can be good ways to let enemies get close.

They don't have to be very powerful. Enemies with claws that deal 1d cut on a hit can leave painful hits on unarmored characters, especally ranged characters that will need to switch to either a low Bulk firearm or go to a melee weapon.

Enemies with Super Jump can also be fun for this, gathering themselves at 20-40 yards then pounceing/slamming into targets.

Tankey monsters able to resist firearms should be rare. Maybe give one DR 40 (pi damage) and DR 10 (other) with an unarmored Face hit location with DR 0, or a monster with Injury Tolerance (unliveing, no brain)), Berserk (no resistance) and Unkillable (1) but only 10 HP, so it's nearly impossible to kill with normal gunshots that punch right though it with minimal damage as it's able to keep coming to -100 HP, but limbs you can blow off to render it helpless and defeated.

Neat ideas, thanks. Maybe I'll run an indoors scenario next. Some weak, fast enemies in a dark factory or something should be dangerous enough. Plus, they can still use swat tactics like waiting with overlapping fields of fire even against enemies with super jump, so they won't be totally helpless.

Getting knocked down and covered by a Leaper is scary, even if it doesn't do much damage. It also gives another player a chance to blow away the leaper on someone, so more teamwork.

What happens if you use a Wait action to shoot something that comes within 3 yards and it Super Jumps at you or a friend?

Do you still resolve the slam if you kill it with the shot?

Well the jump is going to hit even if the jumper is dead so I guess yes? Unless you use a cannon to kill it or something. It would probably flop dead on the ground after evaluating the slam.

Poster from After looking at After The End, I think I have an idea of what to give our mutant friend, feedback would be appreciated

Sharp Claws
Clinging
Corrosion Attack 2d (Contact Agent, Cyclic two one second cycles, Melee Attack, C, Cannot Parry)
Bellow Lungs 2d crushing ( Costs FP 1, double knockback, Cone, No wounding, No bluny Trauma)

>Anything like that applicable to RPM?
Yes? Charms. It's literally right there. The origin point of a charm's spell is the charm. That's how ammunition charms work.

You could have a charm that works like "immolate the nearest undead with 6d6 burn damage when landing after being thrown"
And it'll do that, the "nearest" target counting from the landing point.

>Familiars
Yeah it's in pyramid 3.75 for RPM

Maybe a ranged attack? You could do a close combat one like that, then give a ranged version as a relatvility cheap Alternate Ability.

Depends if you have it attack when it jumps or when it reaches the player, I guess.

I'd have them roll to hit with the slam at least on 'launch' and unless you dodge they still hit you with that as they sail past, even if you kill them. They can't pounce and claw you if you kill 'em in the air, though.

Cheap long strong buffs and even cheaper blasting spells

Halve the damage cap per level? That might work if blasting is way too powerful. For duration, would just bumping all the costs up one level work?

>Do you still resolve the slam if you kill it with the shot?
Yes, roll vs 6 to hit with dead body's slam is fair deal, and also way to find where body landed.

Does the Weapon Adaptation perk work both ways? Like, would Shortsword to Smallsword mean that I can use a Smallsword as a Shortsword in addition to using a Shortsword as a Smallsword?

Nope. Need another perk.

Righto, thanks!

how would you stat pic related’s power?

Who is that supposed to be?

Affliction (obsession (i'm on blu side), nuisance effect (wololo sound))

I see you failed your Games roll.

>putting points into Games skill
>not taking Incompetence and Delusion instead

But how to cover their ability to change people's clothes to their color?

+0& special effect of the affliction

+0% ***

Maybe vs 9 instead, seeing as that's the basis for things like missed ranged attacks hitting the wrong target accidentally? That would also reduce the scatter to something more reasonable (if it scatters at all; unless you're using vidya rules where falls are "aimable" during descent, the trajectory should t change enough in death to warrant missing the target hex by multiple yards).

It depends.
But roll vs 6 and scatter is generic as fuck way to resolve "you interrupted and kill me when i charge you" thing.
But scatter distance probably should be 2 mof per yard.

How do I make a power, who is basically an item, to be powered by sunlight?

>basically an item
Gadget modifiers.
>powered by sunlight
Enviromental -20%, if work only under daylight or like or focusing sunlight

Running a Wastelanders/Fallout game. I want to introduce domain level play eventually, with the characters taking territory and choosing factional allegiance.

I know about "Boardroom and Curia", and "Mass Combat" where appropriate, but are there any books which really support conquest or domain play?

Should I just yank the rules from ACKS and adapt it for Fallout?

Lord of the Manor article in pyramid, Low Tech Companion 2 life and economics, purveyors of the priceless+medieval sea trade from pyramid if you want gaining funding and trading to be a significant part of the game, and basically every article in pyramid 3-54 social engineering.

I would also recommend using Abstract Wealth (pyramid) at that high level resolution of play.

Oh also, see Social Engineering and especially Social Engineering: Pulling Rank.

You could also give it Energy Reserve, the power can only run off the Energy Reserve, and give the Energy Reserve the restriction that it only recharges in sunlight.

This gives you a solar power you can use anywhere, but it's still powered by the sun.

Can you apply aura to mind control?

Low-Tech Companion 3 and Pyramids 3, 33, 52 and 54 all have stuff which might be useful.

This works. thanks, guys.

Are there any concrete rules for blocking with people?

Like human shields?

Like someone attacks me while I'm holding onto someone, so I move the person I'm holding to intercept the blow.

You can probably just get a strength requirement estimate for the "weapon" from the person's weight, then use the strength penalty for a parry roll.

That means that in order to put someone in the line of someone's spear, you have to have an ST well above 20 or so.

That doesn't sound right.

Well it's probably pretty hard to move someone that precisely. It would be slow to change their position making it easy to go around them with your strike.

Maybe you could treat them as a heavy shield? Add some DB until blocking it's hard but possible to do if you're strong enough to lift them in the first place.

See Shoving People Around, MA118, and Proxy Fighting, MA132.

If you win a ST roll when grappling with them you can move them where you want. If you hold them in front of you you get Cover from attacks from the front, generally pretty good cover (total for the torso, at least) that means attacks on you are likely to hit the other guy.

Note that, as in real life, this might not provide enough protection from rifle rounds.

Does being "behind cover" apply to melee attacks? Or just ranged?

it does

righto

It seems the best way to "block" is to have taken a Wait maneuver that triggers when someone attacks at you, and transform that into the "attack" for Shoving People Around.

I have a basic Magery mage, and thinking about developing a special technique to "condense" mana in myself, like a power stone.

This would be like an Energy Reserve, but protected from Low/No-Mana zones and doesn't refill normally, I need to spend several FP to refill 1 point.

As I type this I realize it is stupid and does nothing. Really I should use the reserve specifically to power a highly limited "Mana Enhancer" to be able to cast spells properly for short periods in low/no- mana zones, isn't it?

And maybe ER without PM plus something from the ER box in Powers, p. 119?

That isn't stupid at all. Energy Reserve you have to recharge by exhausting yourself would let you keep your Energy Reserve to power your magic without worrying about knocking yourself out, and avoid limitations based on your HT on how much FP you can buy.

Let's say you have HT 12, FP 14 and Energy Reserve 20.

You can burn FP down, but start taking penalties for being exhausted if you use more then half. You are also at about the limit of what a lot of GMs will let you buy, FP wise.

Your Energy Reserve however more then triples your amount of useful power, letting you fire several spells in a row. Yeah, you need to spend hours in Recover Energy meditation to get back to full, but that isn't so bad.

>Powers, p. 119?
Very handy!

Very true! Energy Reserve seems just all around handy and something worth exploring.

I was hoping to somehow combat low/no mana zones but it seems Mana Enhancer would be prohibitively expensive as it would double to 100pt/level if it is switchable if I am reading it right

Quick question about Spaceships. I remember seeing some discussion here about missiles but I can't remember if it was about them completely useless or incredibly overpowered, does anybody have an idea?

Rokets OP, use errarta

Missiles can be hard countered by Very Rapid Fire defensive weapons, even conventional guns can shoot them down, at much lower investment then the cost of the missile launchers.

That said, on hit they do enough damage, even with the "oops, damage is an order of magnitude too high" fix to wreck a ship with a single hit. So they are useful for sneak attacks and disabled targets that can't shoot back.

A SM 5 ship shooting a projectile at 3 miles/second deals more damage then ramming the whole ship into a target at 3 miles per second.

So they're not good in a direct confrontation but during ambushes they're amazing, got it.

Just so I'm clear the errata lowers their velocity so they don't hit harder than nuclear weapons right?

oh wait, just saw the bit at the end, so damage is scaled way back for all ballistic weapons as well?

So "Energy Reserve (Magic) w/ Slow Recharge (1pt/day) -60%, Special Recharge (Normal+ Mana areas) -10%)" for 1 (0.9 really) points for every point of ER?

The errata literally divides the damage by 10 and it's still too high.

The "fix" I have seen work is just make everything use the Energy Weapon damage table and have missiles have special traits (countered by point defense, deals double damage).

>LT Companion Life and Economics
Nice!
> Social Engineering; Pyramid 3, 33, 52, 54
Noted. Thanks for the suggestions.

I remember sometimes mid- to late- '90s using GURPS Vehicles and GURPS Robots for GURPS 3e and building a space station. But to know the performance of the station's station-keeping rockets, I needed to know that actual mass of the station, so I built all the ships that were normally docked... and the smallcraft... and the space suits (built with the Robot rules), and even the little .1 cubic-foot miniature repair bots, along with figuring out the standard crew and passenger load of the station, and thus how much food needed to be grown and so on and so forth. There was no campaign attached to this exercise.

Senpai.

Oldschool hardcore autism fuck yeah

Do unarmed strikes, save for Karate, receive a -4 for off-hand punches? The off-hand weapon training technique from Basic Set implies that they don't since it doesn't list unarmed striking skills as a valid specialization (and the perk from MA does says the same). However, the Karate skill specifically mentions that there is no -4 to the off-hand.

So which is it? -4 or no?

No unarmed skill takes penalties for the off-hand, since that penalty is a rule for Harsh Realism for Unarmed Fighters from Martial Arts.

huh. weird that the basic set isn't more explicit about this

also that karate *specifically* mentions that it takes no -4.

3e's skill makes explicit mention of it, as well, so I think it's a holdover that got past editing somehow. Alternatively, it's meant to show that all off-hand unarmed attacks are made at no penalty, but it's poorly done.

Fun fact: 3e Karate says "left hand," not "off hand."

Stat me, gurpsgen

Posted this in the SR5 thread as well, but has anyone had any luck using GURPS in place of Shadowrun rules?

ST 12 HP 12
DX 10 Will 14
IQ 14 Per 14
HT 12 FP 12

Advantages
serendipity
combat reflexes
gizmos

Disadvantages
bloodlust
meglomania
quirk: likes scooters

Skills
Guns (LMG) - 12
Tactics - 16
Strategy - 16

I've run cyberpunk in GURPS, and fantasy, but never Shadowrun explicitly. It wouldn't be very hard to do so and I think the results could be very fun. Mages, because of Shadowrun giving them a grab bag of super powers, could get very expensive. I'd suggest buying cybernetics with character points.

>cybernetics with character points
Always or only at chargen?

Is there a way to account for essence loss from cybernetics negatively affecting spellcasting potential/cyberpsychosis?
Not that I necessarily care, I'm a different user than the one who asked that,
but I really don't care for the magic in shadowrun and want to have a cyperpunk setting with a lot of the same concepts,
and still other races and supernatural elements, but either rewrite or rework the way casters actually work

Sure. You can require mandatory mental and social disadvantages to accompany cybernetics or build some cybernetic advantages with Temporary Disadvantage (mental or social disadvantage).

To mirror how Shadowrun handles the loss of Essence you could have a custom Essence Loss disadvantage like this..

Essence Loss (5 points per level) (1-5 levels). Each level of Essence Loss penalizes Reaction Rolls as Odious Personal Habit and provides a penalty to Observation and Perception rolls to read human emotions, and to all rolls to cast spells.

Prerequisite: 15 points of Cybernetic advantages per level.

How much cyberware would 15 points get you? I haven't read enough of the cyberpunk book to get a feel for it yet