GURPS for beginners edition!
Previous Edition >>48111483
>>48216006
>>48211360
GURPS lite should include a few more things, and should be the core book for the system.
The other stuff in gurps basic set that doesn't get added into lite should be in separate booklets grouped by category.
Finally, gurps seriously needs something like d20pfsrd or dndtools so it's not such s pain in the ass to find three option your looking for.
>>48216023
I like the way it is now with the core book being able to cover a huge number of things.
I know you can't take "Negated disadvantages" normally but what if a situation forces them on you?
If i have acute hearing and hard of hearing (such as from wearing a helmet) do both apply?
>>48216361
Gotta admit it scares new people away the way it is now. Not accessible enough.
>>48216452
Fuck you im a new person and the only reason I'm playing this shit was that i had everything i needed in the rules. I don't want to have hit locations and shit off in some combat supplement!
>>48216477
Those would be the things I was suggesting adding into an updated gurps lite.
People seem to be put off by the game when I or to them, including people who play a variety of other games
>>48216509
Show it to them*
>>48216383
Yeah, just apply them as logically as you can. If conditions make you deaf you can't make any use of Acute Hearing, but otherwise it offsets the penalty from hard of hearing.
>>48216023
I feel like a expanded GURPS not-so-lite or GURPS lite 2.0 could be good. A condensed basic set that can work as a player's handbook, with basic but complete combat rules and character creation rules. There's no real need for another edition.
The basic rule book says on 208 that knifes have -1 to parry, is this the -1 to parry mentioned on the equipment page for some knives or is it a separate penalty?
>>48216006
Could use some brain storming ideas. I'm trying to come up with a set of optional upgrades for a war-wagon in an After The End game.
To start it's basically going to be an open frame built on an old pickup chassis with a dinky 4 cylinder engine and the most "cover" provided by a fabric top, no doors, windshield, ect.
>>48217171
It's the same penalty, so if you parry with a knife it's typically at just -1.
>>48217179
Oblivious ones are body panels, armor, a bigger engine.
A lift kit or bigger suspension too. More ground clearance should give a handling bonus to rough terrain.
Mounted weapons. Potato gun style gas gun to shoot Molotov, spears or dynamite at people, big fucking crossbows, spiked bumpers.
A wench, lots of headlights, spare tires, extra fuel cans and water tanks.
In my fantasy setting, there's a MAD-like cold war thanks to every nation magically and mysteriously getting their own pair of gigantic human beings to 'protect the land'. Just how big should they be, for them to properly induce that? I'm thinking 10 stories high might be big enough. They're also supernaturally durable, long-living, but also high-maintenance to the nations, each requires food for 20 people every (day? week? month?). I know how to make these in GURPS, but I want to make sure they're the right scale. How strong? How big? How taxing? How durable? I don't want them to be world ending, but very powerful and destructive, able to create this status-quo between the nations.
Running my first Scifi campaign with a dash of Western feel. Here's hoping it goes well.
My only worry is whether I made the right decision or not with how I'm doing equipment. TL11 is daunting with how much tech is available and I might regret letting my players have Hyperspectral glasses and the like.
So today I just joined a gurps game today the setting seems to be a modern day war. But I wanted to ask what would be some good skills and what skill level should they be at for someone who wants to be a combat medic? we have 150 points to play with and -25 for disadvantages.
I have stuff like first aid/surgery along with some weapon skills but is there anything else I should get or keep in mind?
>>48221212
Soldier(ing?). Its a skill that allows you to do things anyone whose been through basic to do.
I'd have other suggestions but I think Soldier covers it. Maybe Hiking since it helps during long forced marches.
Physician? It helps for long term care for sick and injured.
Diagnosis. Find out where and why he's bleeding on the battlefield.
So on so forth. Just give all the skills a little perusal and look up ones that seem to fit.
How would you build actual d20 style spell resistance in gurps?
A separate optional defence you have vs magic
>>48221725
Do you mean in addition or instead of any Resistance roll of the magic spells?
>>48220602
No idea what a MAD-like cold war means, but I'm going to give a shot helping you out. Which, in this case, means asking you tons of questions.
For one, what's the tech level of this setting? What's the strongest weapon besides these giants? Siege weapons? A large magical ceremony that summons Satan himself, or drops a mana nuke on a country? Are these giants meant to be able to stand up against one of these? Ten? Do these giants have supernatural powers (i.e. they have eye lasers, wide-cone fire breath, terror, etc.)?
A lot of the questions you're asking are dependent on the type of game you want to have. Look at the weapons available at the TL with the material you're using, and gauge the giants against that. Do you want them to trample cavalry? Make them big enough to do so. Do you want them to throw boulders the size of a shack? Make them strong enough to do so. Consider how expensive the infrastructure, buildings, people, etc. that these giants would invariably cause collateral damage to.
Like, really, I can't tell you how your giants should be. I hope some of those questions help narrow your answers, though.
>>48221159
Remember, as the GM, you can arbitrarily decide what tech you want to use from UT. Just allowing everything in the book is a very, very bad way to go about it. Treat equipment in UT as a privilege, not a right.
>>48221725
Static (Magic) - P98 (Powers, pg. 98). It isn't leveled, though. You could make it Reflexive and a Power Block, but that's the creature with Spell Resistance rolling a defense, instead of a static target number that the caster is trying to meet/beat. GURPS doesn't really do static defenses you need to roll over to beat.
Reposting my old question from ded thred. I'm doing some preliminary worldbuilding stuff for a setting idea, based on a post-terraformed, post-apocalyptic Mars and want a bit of help. I'm combing through both After The End and Ultra-Tech for resources, but I've got two questions I need help with:
How do I stop there being guns at TL6? I'd like guns to be artefacts of the old world, not something that can be replicated. I was thinking of some way to prevent gunpowder production being viable. Sulphur is not only abundant on Mars but also biologically necessary, so that's out. Charcoal is easy to produce from trees, coconuts or whatever. So that leaves saltpeter. Is there a way to restrict or prevent access to that? Or some other way to prevent guns being made?
What kind of advancements would TL6 give for melee weapons if there were no guns? Is it the same basic things just with better materials, or are there some new technology paths one might be able to take with the focus taken off firearms?
>>48221812
>MAD-like cold war
It means a cold war (as opposed to a shooting or 'hot' war) that came about because of the consequences. Those being M.A.D. or Mutually Assured Destruction.
>>48221860
Gunpowder is TL3, my man. Do you mean that guns stop existing at TL6, but existed beforehand? I'm not quite sure I understand your question. This might be due to my lack of knowledge on AtE.
If it's a post-terraformed, post-apocalyptic Mars, why not just say that the art of guns are long gone? Like, as a GM, just say that they're lost technology. That'll solve your problems, and if a player questions you why, just say that that's not information the players can have.
As for 'no guns', you need to remember that other, non-black powder guns existed. Air rifles and crossbows are two big alternatives that I can see would still be around and used, and the technology for them advancing.
Just as an aside, why don't you want guns? IIRC, After the End makes them heavy, their ammunition scarce, and their carrying capacity awful, not to mention very expensive. Wouldn't those already make guns much less viable compared to something like a good club?
>>48221860
>So that leaves saltpeter
Which you can get from urine.
Restricting firearms by limiting chemical precursors is a losing proposition (as are metallurgical and industrial reasons). Instead, perhaps, make it social as that doesn't have to make sense except by its own internal logic. Something like "Only degenerates and criminals would even consider them. Even the cruelest poison is less disgusting. And nobody would ever dream of crafting one anew! Aside from the penalty of death that carries the cost is their immortal soul!"
>>48221812
>No idea what a MAD-like cold war means,
You have never heard of Mutually Assured Destruction? The basics is that, in a world where every global power worth their salt has a nuke, no one wants to use it because the retaliation from the other powers (and the retaliation against those from the rest of the powers) would probably destroy the earth. The Cold War in our reality had quite a bit of that, for a while the world looked like it would end any day, one wrong move and the missiles would start flying.
My world would be a medieval fantasy setting, like I mentioned, a bit stock-fantasy if anything. TL3-TL4 and all. There's magic, but it's not at the 'summon satan'or 'magic nuke' level, the giants are the most powerful right now. And regarding the giants, they're almost like humans in almost every way beyond their size and durability. And collateral is to be expected, they're almost literally like letting an elephant loose in a porcelain shop.
>>48221936
I realise I should have mentioned that the collapse was several centuries ago, so it falls into the "ten generations or more" category of AtE. Society collapsed back to TL6 from TL9+ (haven't decided exact TL yet) and stayed there. So it's not that they never discovered gunpowder or guns, it's that all the people who knew how to make them died. I don't want NO guns, I just don't want the population to be able to make new ones. I wanted a strange mix of vaguely-modern technology but with everyone using melee or muscle-powered ranged weapons.
>If it's a post-terraformed, post-apocalyptic Mars, why not just say that the art of guns are long gone? Like, as a GM, just say that they're lost technology. That'll solve your problems, and if a player questions you why, just say that that's not information the players can have.
I was going to fall back on this if I needed to. I wanted a more robust reason to prevent that player who will take it into their own hands to try to make it. Nearly every fantasy game has someone who tries to do it. But yeah "no-one knows how to make cordite anymore" is good enough.
>As for 'no guns', you need to remember that other, non-black powder guns existed. Air rifles and crossbows are two big alternatives that I can see would still be around and used, and the technology for them advancing.
Crossbows were part of my intention. Any ideas off the top of your head what crossbows might look/act like if they're actual weapons of war, rather than purely a hunting weapon or hobby?
>>48221939
I remembered one component was made from urine and thought it was saltpeter but Wikipedia wouldn't tell me. I had considered a cultural taboo, but it feels like a cop-out to me , so I didn't want to use it.
>>48222194
>several centuries ago
And nobody's been able to reverse-engineer a gun?
>>48222073
I just wasn't familiar with the acronym, thanks (and thanks to >>48221870 as well) for explaining.
>10 stories
At SM+7, these things are practically colossi. You'd be justified in giving them a few hundred ST (making them capable of picking up and using something like a trebuchet as a weapon), plenty of DR, Supernatural Durability for whatever keeps them going. You could even make them use the Decade-scale rules for damage, HP, and DR (B470).
>almost like humans in every way
Do they have human-like intelligence? Their own free will/motivation? Can they betray their country, or are they slaves to them? Can they make alliances with other giants, or refuse to work with one even if their countries are allied?
I trust that you're already considering all of this, and it's accounted for or being made into plot points for your campaign/world.
>>48222194
>Nearly every fantasy game has someone who tries to do it.
It sounds to me like a player problem, at this point. Or, perhaps, what the player(s) want from the game isn't what you want. Have you considered asking them to not do that, just for this game? Maybe branch out and play a wise-yet-uneducated character that uses primitive inventions, like ambushes and pit traps and such, than an inventor hellbent on advancing the technology of war? Personally speaking, I find that my players are willing to have a suspension of disbelief for a game as long as the world's internally consistent.
>Crossbows as weapons of war
I just searched for compound bows and crossbows, but I... cannot find find them anywhere in GURPS. Ah! Here we go. The Deadly Spring, Pyramid #3/33 - Low-Tech, page 14. I haven't read the article, so I can't speak for it, but that would be a good place to start for stats. You could also design your own, if you're ready to do all of the work.
Con't.
>>48222344
>>48222194
Crossbows as weapons of war: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossbow Go read up.
No, really. I could repeat a lot of what the article says, but it does a good job all on its own. Stuff to consider: More efficient transfer of energy, alternative uses of projectiles such as grappling hooks, machines that can draw a poundage far above what the average citizen can to damage engine blocks of cars. Get creative!
>Cultural taboo as a cop-out
It really isn't. Every culture the world-over have taboos. Giving the cultures in your game their own taboos can work wonders for verisimilitude. Guns could easily be one of those taboos. Just make it internally consistent with the culture, and nobody will bat an eye. The characters can insult their culture, and reap the benefits of penalized reaction rolls, angering authorities, or even getting in trouble with the ruling class/caste. Don't be afraid to give consequences for actions.
>>48222216
Also, what this guy said. You'd have to make guns rare, possibly holy artifacts (or evil things that need to be sealed away/destroyed) in order to really keep those keen on rediscovery from doing so.
>>48221860
>>48221939
Saltpeter is potassium nitrate. It's potassium, nitrogen and oxygen.. if you don't have those, you don't have people.
That said, Mars is a bit nitrogen-poor, as planets go. It's not enough to keep people from making black powder.
>>48222194
Cordiete and modern smokeless powder is harder then black powder. If you don't mind switching your idea, primative black powder guns aren't that much better then crossbows.
>>48221870
I imagine with Titans being irreplaceable each group with one would be very, very careful about attacking with them, drawing them back if there seems any danger of losing one and in general deployments becoming very defensive. A kingdom without a titan would be pretty doomed.
>>48222420
Or have gun-control drones roam the sky and kill anyone seen using one. Long after they made sense for police reasons, still operational, still deadly, and still driving everyone to think of guns as a terrifying weapon used only by the desperate, willing to risk the wrath of daemons.
You could get a hell of a taboo if people think that just making a gun can summon daemons.
>>48222344
>It sounds to me like a player problem, at this point.
The players are theoretical, I'm just prepping some worldbuilding. But I've had several experiences of players who attempt to create gunpowder firearms in fantasy settings, usually with characters that aren't particularly inventive or scholarly.
>Crossbows as weapons of war: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossbow
Okay, I'm being bad at communicating today. What I meant to say was crossbows as weapons of war with modern technology. We have modern crossbows with carbon-fibre bodies and synthetic fibre strings, but those are almost always hobbyist hunting weapons as far as I've seen.
>Also, what this guy said. You'd have to make guns rare, possibly holy artifacts (or evil things that need to be sealed away/destroyed) in order to really keep those keen on rediscovery from doing so.
Given that it's been at least 300 years since society collapsed, most guns would probably not function any more. There are sure to be exceptions, like Colt Single Action Army or AK-47s, but most aerospace-grade machinery (like Mars rovers) can barely stand 10 years of the Martian dust before breaking down, let alone 300. Guns preserved in underground vaults and habitats would still work, but most would have been looted and used to the point of breaking centuries ago. So yeah, pre-collapse guns are meant to be rare.
I think I've found my answer there. Early survivors were dependent on existing stocks of firearms and ammunition and were focused more on returning the world to how it was than producing sustainable economies. As restoration became increasingly less viable and those survivors kept dying, the number people with the knowledge of how to make guns decreased. As the existing guns kept breaking and the ammunition kept being used, there were fewer and fewer examples for reverse-engineering until there were basically none left. This still leaves the possibility for rare pristine firearms in untouched vaults.
>>48222616
Martian dust would be way less a problem on a terrofirmed mars. The hydrosphere and thicker atmosphere would take all the sharp edges off fine dust, and turn a lot of it into mud and dirt that won't blow around.
If you chose to go with 'new guns are taboo because of security systems that hate them' you could have relic guns have a identification and licencing chip that the drones respond to and keeps them from attacking.
Those chips could have become holy seals now. Ones that can 'bless' even a fallen, new production weapon to keep it from summoning 'deamons'
Or.. yeah. Though a society that can't make flintlock rifles is one that has fallen a long, long way from humanity today.
>>48222616
>300 years since society collapsed
Carbon fiber and synthetic strings aren't going to last that long and be in anything resembling a usable state. You could probably find some analog that would but they crossbows aren't going to be significantly better (maybe a bit different in weight) than a contemporary one built with game appropriate TL6 materials. IIRC, the biggest advance in crossbows was the trigger and string release after the materials engineering in TL2 (don't quote me there) that made the bows heavy enough to require mechanical aid to draw.
You could pretty easily at TL6 have a repeating crossbow powered by compressed air. I haven't actually done the engineering but it should (warning, SWAG) be good for at least 3 shots if you keep the draw weight down and put compound bow cams on the arms.
You should also be able to use battery packs and an electric motor but that will drive the weight way, way up.
>>48222805
You could make a very good TL 6 bow with a mechanical pump that allowed 4 x 50 pound repetitions to draw a 200 pound bow. It would be much faster and more ergonomic then a crank. I guess you could also have a accumulator to let it cock again quickly after a, or even a spring-driven wench that could repeatedly cock the weapon several times, allowing a fast reload.
I'd refuse to use one though. Putting a spring with hundreds of pounds of stored energy near your face is a quick recepie to become 'that guy that used to have a face'.
>>48222858
Just wear plastic mask or something.
D&D Sorcery anon here.
Posting updated ToM Shadow Magic to Sorcery conversion. Just some minor fixes.
>>48221212
Switch surgery to the optional Trauma Surgery speciality which is only hard instead of very hard. That covers extracting projectiles, dealing with combat injuries and stopping people dying from mortal wounds before they can get to a hospital. First aid should be at least IQ+2 and you want a full crash kit/EMT kit. Diagnosis is good and maybe Electronic Operation (Medical) if its high tech enough.
If you want general solider template advice look at the Soldier in the Space book or the SS Raven Trooper in Infinite Worlds, ignore anything relating to TL9+/outerspace/Nazis.
>>48222926
And now something new.
ToM Truenaming to Sorcery conversion.
I don't know what I'm going to tackle next. Maybe Incarnum or just some normal Sorcery spells.
>>48222858
I wouldn't use a spring either. That's why I suggested compressed air or electric crank.
The TL5 air rifle in High-Tech says 30 shots for the rifle. 5-10 for moving the mass required for cocking is probably reasonable.
>>48217171
The penalty is inherent to some knives, but not all. If you ever use Martial Arts or Low-Tech, you will note that the Kukri and Long Knife have no penalty to Parry.
>>48217171
It's the same penalty: it does not double up. If you have Knife at 14, your parry would be (14/2) +3 -1 = 9.
>>48222344
>Do they have human-like intelligence? Their own free will/motivation?
Yes, they can decide by themselves, but are relatively docile and have little wants, for the 70~ years since their arrival none of your questions have really been answered though, but this is a plot point in the campaign, since for the first time someone does find out if a giant can be killed, which turns the cold war hot, and even all of the giants start to reevaluate their alliances and how much they do and should care about the humans.
>At SM+7, these things are practically colossi. You'd be justified in giving them a few hundred ST (making them capable of picking up and using something like a trebuchet as a weapon), plenty of DR, Supernatural Durability for whatever keeps them going. You could even make them use the Decade-scale rules for damage, HP, and DR (B470).
Thanks, friend.
>>48222459
>I imagine with Titans being irreplaceable each group with one would be very, very careful about attacking with them,
This is true as well, people are too damn afraid of losing theirs even if they don't know if they even can lose it, and the giants fighting each other always tends to end in a draw, after a fight that spans kilometers and leaves heavy casualties on both sides.
>>48222933
This is great, anon, thank you.
>>48221793
In addition to what the mage would normally roll, and your normal roll against it. So he'd have to beat not only the normal defense roll of whatever kind applies, but also your spell resistance on to of that.
>>48221812
I'll check it out and see how that would work, thanks!
>>48223575
>>48223995
Yeah the same issue has plagued spears/staves for a while, but in reverse; do staves innately have +2 to Parry as their statline implies, or does any weapon wielded as a staff have a +2 to Parry as the skill description implies?
>>48227815
Staves only get +2 when wielded that way though, the bonus disappears when you grasp it like a sword under its Two Handed Sword skill stats.
Whats the best way to make a sniper tl8 operator and shit?
>>48228665
You don't. GURPS may be able to handle operators operating operationally better than any other game I'm familiar with, but it can't make a character concept that requires being away from the party for 90% of the action work in a cooperative group-based game. You'll either end up splitting the party ("You guys storm the building, I'll be in the highrise across the freeway lining up a shot") or be forced into situations where your sniping is moot ("Man I sure am glad I decided to bring my heavy slow-firing rifle that can make shots from 10km away; it's so useful in these cramped hallways swarming with enemies!"). Best case scenario is that, occasionally, your sniping gimmick will be the intended solution for a scene, like taking the bad guy out as he escapes in a car, but that's still after entire sessions of faffing about as a character poorly suited for the vast majority of modern day adventurers.
>>48229111
>splitting the party is bad
Do people still believe this?
>>48228665
>>48229111
Be flexible. Much of the time you will be moving with the team and not setting up. Other times, the team will set up to defend you while you settle in and engage from extreme range, creating a scene where you are the star of the show and they are your backup if anything gets close.
Stay in support of your team. This doesn't mean you have to be right together, but they should be able to see you, so you can engage people targeting them and they can do the same for you.
Also, when you've got someone in your sights hum on the radio so they know what's up.
>>48229111
A sniper can work with a M14 with a decent optic. It's less then ideal for either long ranged shots or close ranged firefights, but lets you play designated marksman for the group on the move and still get your sniper on when required.
>>48229349
>>48229111
I mean perks and shit.i already figured most of that .
>>48221812
Oh I know my rights as a GM. HS Glasses are something that would logically exist in my setting.
I specifically cut them off from all lasers and rays due to in-game laws against them.
It's just I'll miss catching them unawares at night.
This probably comes up a lot but how is that online Fallout sourcebook?
>>48229405
Guns (Rifle) is your bread and butter but you also want Observation, Camouflage, Stealth and enough ST / Lifting ST to not get too slowed down carrying your kit.
Weapon Bond (your rifle) is worth it as a perk. Otherwise, get SOP (knowing where exits are) and SOP (move with stealth) so you don't have to say to your GM you are doing those all the time.
Most of your points should go into Guns (rifle). Put 4 points into Observation, then increase Perception instead (it's 1 point more then more Observation and gives you extra everything)
At creation, acute vision is a obvious choice for a sniper.
>>48229111
Really he's right though, Sniper takes a level of game and tactical awareness that you likely don't have. Play something else.
>>48229158
Don't see how it isn't true; splitting the party means splitting the DM's attention and forcing them to juggle two possibly very different scenes. It also splits screentime; it's one thing to wait for a party member to take their turn, but a split party often means waiting for a party memeber to finish an entire scene. It's a huge pacebreaker in my opinion.
>>48229405
Skills: Observation for scoping (hue) the scene; Climbing and Fast-Talk for getting to your shooting spot.
Techniques: Precision Shooting (I think; there's a blurb in High Tech about getting a higher aim bonus with more time and a penalized IQ-based Guns roll, and this technique buys off that penalty).
Perk: Deadeye (Precision Shooting -- or whatever it's called -- normally requires lots of shit to work, but not if you have this perk); the SOP perk in general is great for the little things.
Check Gun-Fu and Tactical Shooting; I think both have sniper templates, with Gun-Fu being more cinematic and TS being more realistic, and you could steal liberally from both.
>>48229510
Most 'sniping' in films, games and books is not real sniping, it won't be in RPG's either.
You will instead be a designated marksman for which any .308 rifle with a 4x optic or equivalent will more than do the job while not limiting you as much as a dedicated sniper rifle.
>>48229616
SOP?
>>48229635
Those ones have the advantage that they do normal 7.62x51mm NATO rifle damage and deal 1d+2 with 1 linked burning damage to anything standing directly to your right.
>>48230009
Standard Operating Procedure. It's a perk that lets you define a default action your character takes without you saying so.
Like "SOP: Check containers and doors for traps" or "SOP: Find out where the exits are and have a bag packed and ready to go"
They can't be big, but unless you deliberately break your SOP it applies. (IE: If you have SOP: Move Stealthy you are moving with Stealth.. unless for some reason you want to run or draw attention.
>>48230009
Standard Operating Procedure. You do something automatically without having to tell the GM. It's part scene control (I'm not supply-less, I ALWAYS have a bugout bag ready) and part insurance against the player's Absent Minded disadvantage.
What book is Eye For Distance in?
>>48229111
There really isn't much in the sniper skill-set which isn't also generally useful in adventuring situations though. Camouflage, Stealth, Observation and Guns (Rifle) are all good skills to have in general. Sniper rifles are still decent as general purpose killing tools. The precision aiming technique and a couple of perks are really all that distinguish a sniper from an elite infantryman and they will only suck up a small fraction of your points total.
>>48230417
Power Ups 2: Perks, on p13 under Mental Perks.
>>48230417
Power-Ups 2 only, I think.
Deadeye from Gun-Fu or Tactical Shooting might be a better choice for a sniper, since it covers both the rangefinder and other equipment needed for precision shooting.
>>48230602
Mechanics-wise, I totally agree. However, they would play differently, and I don't imagine someone that sets out to be an elite sniper will be content footsloggin' with standard infantry.
>>48228665
Keep the long gun in the drag bag until that one perfect scenario comes up where you can reach out and touch someone.
tldr: play designated marksman, not sniper.
Why would you want to be one of those creeps in the first place?
I like how the Symbol magic system looks, but what are it's trappings? Any words that encourage creative use?
>>48229616
Watch TV shows that split the party. The way they cut between each group. You don't have to resolve a scene to switch focus. Getting the pacing right takes a little practice but done right it works really well.
>>48232248
Transform is expensive (requires two nouns minimum) but very useful; you can remove something bad AND make something good simultaneously. I'm away from my books, so that's all that springs to mind at the moment. Note that the lexicon is up to you and the listed words are only an example.
As for trappings, that's all on you Anon. Will you go with Hermetic Decans? Chinese Elemental Cycle? Sephiroth? Or will symbol magic stem from the homestead and do away with the technical relationships and tracking of the stars in favor of something more basic like contagion, sympathy, and the law of three?
>>48232793
Actually I mean words other than the example ones. Something that encourages creative use. Magic, Transform, Move, all words that I feel really reward creativity (and tend to be expensive as a tradeoff), I was wondering if anyone had new words that did that too. The words I think of tend to be too specialized. I thought of [Advance], but it's a bit too specific, it's essentially a bundled combination of [Time] and [Move].
Is there anything I should look out for though? I'm pretty in love with the flavor and the mechanics, but what are the bad bits of it?
If I succumbed to an Affliction that applies an irritating or an incapacitating condition, or a disadvantage, do I roll every second to recover, or does this apply only to stun?
>>48233159
Only to stun.
>>48233469
Thanks. I always had doubts about that.
>>48232962
I'm basically just restating the pastebinwhich makes sense seeing as how I wrote it in the first place, but the main "drawback" of Symbol/Syntactic is the load it puts on the GM and its focus on versatility over raw power (neither of which I consider significant, hence the quotation marks).
If I had to add something to the list, I'd say that, after RPM's fine-tuned parameters list, I find Symbol/Syntactic's a little too loose and lacking for my tastes, the biggest offender being S/S's lack of Bestow a Bonus/Penalty parameter, which I find super useful (it's also great if you want magic to have a more down-to-Earth day-to-day tone; Old Man Klok may not throw fireballs, but the talisman he gave the village hunting party will be a great boon and help them find large game, and now he's going around the farmsteads, scratching runes for a good harvest onto all the fenceposts). It's an easy fix, though, and definitely one I recommend.
>>48234352
>It's an easy fix, though, and definitely one I recommend.
What's the easy fix? I don't want RPM, I want S/S.
>>48234459
Sorry, it's an easy fix to port some of the parameters from RPM over to S/S. IIRC, I halved the energy cost of a parameter and treated it as the skill penalty (though making it the FP cost or required MoS should be okay).
Anyone's got problems with Potential Advantages? My GM is pissed because instead of buying Filthy Rich [50] i bought Multi-millionaire 2 (Heir -50%) [50].
>>48236491
They create more work and stress for the GM. They have to pick when it comes up.
If they never give it to you, you are getting screwed.
If they give it to you too fast, it's too easy.
That said, they can do fun things for a story so I don't mind them much.
I love Sorcery!
>>48238225
It's a trap!
Is there any good guide to polearm fighting in Gurps? Having to take a ready to change range seems really dangerous, how am i supposed to stop people closing into 1 hex or even C?
>>48238389
Martial Arts p.106
>>48238389
>Good guide to polearm fighting
Fight with friends. Pretty much a universal combat rule for GURPS, but especially good for someone who can reach past his friends and attack.
Use Waits and stop thrusts (B366) to attack an enemy closing in on you to keep your reach advantage.
If you're using a polearm with a ‡ after the ST listed for an attack, it's going to become unready after every attack, unless you have 1.5x that ST (B270).
Make liberal usage of Defensive Attacks (MA100). It allows you to parry with an unbalanced weapon (U after the Parry modifier) for an easily eaten damage penalty, since polearms do great damage.
Have fast-draw (knife) and knife at a decent level, preferably using either a kukri or a long knife (MA228). Both are superior to a large knife (better swing damage, no parry penalty, weigh slightly more so they can parry some axes, clubs, and swords without risking breaking).
Take Wrestling or Judo or Sumo Wrestling, as the worst thing a melee fighter can be is grappled (the absolute worst being grappled with no grappling skills).
>pic related
Great perk for anyone that uses reach weapons that require a Ready maneuver to change reach.
Fight with friends, seriously. Especially someone with a shield that can do sacrificial blocks for you. You don't want to be the frontliner, you want to be the just-behind-the-frontliner.
>>48238225
I love biotech. Where else can you getamazon catgirl gangbangs
>>48238389
Martial Arts has rules for shoves with long weapons; if some dude gets up in your face, shove his punk-ass back with a sizable bonus for using a far-reaching polearm.
>>48238492
>The last paragraph
That's fucking hardcore.
Anyone got GURPS Villains? Doesn't seem to be in the OP.
>>48238632
If i wear hand armor wouldn't it be more reasonable to use unarmed skills? The penalties for parrying barehanded wont be too bad if I'm wearing plate gauntlets right?
>>48238632
>>48238492
>>48239582
Thank you very much all for your advice. I think I'll stick with my knife fighting grappler and play a polearm fighter later on when i understand melee better.
>>48230034
>>48230070
Love this perk. For one point, you can get on with the game and not get bogged down with micromanaging bullshit.
>>48239197
Transhuman Space
>>48229616
As a GM, I am completely fine with splitting the party when there's a good reason. Sure, there will be a lot of waiting between scenes, but there is nothing wrong with it narratively speaking.
>>48240757
You're still penalized unless you're using Karate to party, but gauntlets do protect you in case your parry fails and they hit your hand instead.
>>48230011
From my experience from firing an HK G3, the burning hot empty cartridges are thrown forward and to the right, not directly to the right. But otherwise, your point stands.
>>48241768
Judo and Karate are in a lot of martial arts styles and if you aren't planning to be encumbered seem very good.
Do you have to roll an active defense even if the incoming attack misses? Do you have a page reference for that? I'm trying to settle a friendly argument with another player.
>>48240377
I haven't ever seen a scan and I know it hasn't been officially released electronically.
>>48242790
B374, starting 'If a foe makes a successful attack roll against you...'
The flowchart nature of the combat sequence seems pretty clear to me.
>>48242853
That's what I feared. Damnit.
>>48242790
Why would you even defend against a miss?
The only way I see this happen is in modern ranged combat with "the bad guy shoots at you, what do you do?" without announcing a potential hit or miss and let the player decide if his character dodges and forgets about his aim bonuses or keeps aiming and possibly takes damage, or maybe his DR'll take it or cover, or maybe the opponent missed.
>>48243053
The only reason I (>>48242932) could think of were exploting Retreat with the Retreat options in MA to get free movement, and rolling the defence in hopes of critically succeeding and turning the enemies missed attack into a critical miss.
>>48243053
This is an optional rules mentioned in a Pyramid ("Do or Die Dodging") but Basic lets you wait until a ranged attack is resolved before you decide to defend.
>>48242932
>B374,
Thanks, that's exactly the reference I was looking for but failed to find.
>>48243053
Multiple parries was what originally sparked the discussion. If you have one weapon and an insanely high Parry (for the sake of argument) and are facing three attacks from a single opponent, the second of which misses, do you Parry the third attack at -4 or -8? The answer, it seems is -4 which is as I though but couldn't find the damned sentence to prove it.
He was of the opinion that the defender had to defend against an attack. Not just a hit.
>>48241799
I know a guy with a scar on his neck where his collar managed to catch one in the range. He screamed so much people though he'd been hit.
Where would I look if I want to run a sort of Indiana Jones/Dungeoneering in space type game?
The party would be a bunch of freelance treasure hunters who go after alien ruins or abandoned ships/settlements.
>>48245400
Action series is good for two-fisted adventures, just up the TL. Beyond that, Ultra-Tech and maybe Spaceships if vehicles are relevant beyond taking the party from adventure location to adventure location.
>build frontlineman
>3d sw damage
>on the edge
>daredevil
LEEEEEEEEEROOOOOOOY.....
>>48246988
ST 18 is a hell of a drug.
Remember to buy 2 extra HP. It doubles your healing rate to have 20HP rather then 19. (and means you don't heal proportionally slower)
Also, bash all the things. You pretty much always can force someone to roll vs knockdown if you run into them.
So, GURPSCalculator anyone?
I'm in fucking love, it's sexy, the app makes me want to touch myself.
>>48216006
Is there anything in gurps that lets you shift the middle of the bell curve of 3d6 rather than adding or subtracting flat numbers?
For instance, roll Nd6 and total the highest 3, or lowest 3?
I feel like this would be good for luck effects. It wouldn't change your best or worst performance, but it would shift you one way or the other.
If there's not, how would you build it? Either as a modifier to a single thing, or as a modifier to everything?
Example: bad luck curse- while it's active you roll 5d6 and total the 3 lowest, on everything.
And then you would take a power to force that on people.
>>48248996
If you want to shift the bell curve, you have to add a modifier to the result. I.e., roll 3d6 then subtract 2. You get a normal distribution from 1-16 with a mean at 8.5 instead of 10.5. As far as I can see, it would have the exact same effect that a bonus of the same magnitude to your target number does but the exact statistics are beyond my ken - the guy who runs Let's GURPS does this kind of stuff a lot though.
>>48248996
Wasn't there a really weird article to this effect at the end of one of the Pyramids? You replaced the d6 with one of three types of gimmick dice with different faces (e.g. 1-1-2-2-2-4) and the article goes into detail about how the dice interact and what they may represent (mooks or cursed individuals roll the combination of dice that favors poor results while bosses or blessed souls roll the combination that favors better results).
>>48249141
That yields a different range.
I'm talking about something that still keeps the 3-18 range, but shifts the odds of each result inside that range.
How you would get them, and the results you would get, are listed below.
http://anydice.com/program/8d52
>>48248996
I doesn't differ too much to bother with extra dice in my opinion.
>>48249682
L10 below means add 10d6, and choose the lowest 3.
H10 means add 1d6, and choose the highest 3.
Mean result
L10 4.25
L9 4.44
L8 4.65
L7 4.91
L6 5.23
L5 5.61
L4 6.10
L3 6.73
L2 7.57
L1 8.76
0 10.50
H1 12.24
H2 13.43
H3 14.27
H4 14.90
H5 15.39
H6 15.77
H7 16.09
H8 16.35
H9 16.56
H10 16.75
And that's just the averages. Seems like it could be up to a pretty big difference to me.
Adding 1 dice is almost like a +2 to your average roll, but without the benefit of the higher maximums.
The more dice you add, the smaller the difference from before you added it.
>>48249682
Oh! I see what you're saying. You mean you'd just do +/-.
I like the idea of having the other option, personally.
Does the wrestling ST bonus apply to quick contests of ST to PREVENT people breaking free, or just the one to break free?
>>48250320
I've always had them apply to all grappling-related ST contest.
Are there any rules for like bonuses to hit the head with a kick if the target is on the ground?
>>48252576
What do you mean by head? The face? The skull?
If the person on the ground is on their stomach (the back of the skull is exposed to you), you're at -5 to target the skull. If they're on the ground, they're usually at -3 to defend and -4 to attack. If they're on the ground, you can pretty safely make a Telegraphic All-Out Attack (Determined) for +8 to hit and +2 to their defenses. Targeted Attacks help reduce the penalty to targeting the skull.
>>48252643
Where do i find the rule giving me an extra +2 to hit vs the skull?
>>48252643
I think there's also rules for combat at different levels, which affects hit location at different postures in Martial Arts.
>>48252683
Martial Arts, pg. 137. Martial Arts is an essential book if you're doing a game that has combat as a main focus.
>>48252702
Probably, but I personally don't use combat at different levels rules, so I can't speak for them.
>>48252702
MA98-99
But it doesn't let you kick someone in the head more easily if you're standing and they're lying down.
Interested in GURPS but don't know where to start with it.
What books do I need to look at to learn how the game works?
>>48253508
GURPS Lite.
>>48253508
GURPS Lite. 32 pages of all the basics, and as you learn more stuff, explore other books. In general, I'd say it can be OK if the players only know the lite and the GM knows of the other books.
>>48253508
GURPS Lite for the basic introduction, then the Basic Set (made of two books, Characters and Camapaigns) is the base for the system as a whole.
>>48253508
GURPS Characters has essentially everything required to run most any sort of game, with a pared-down version of combat on B324. When you want to start using more detailed rules, such as hit locations, bleeding, and knockdown, pick up Campaigns.
>>48253531
>>48253534
>>48253566
Thanks
>>48253566
Yeah, the way that's labeled was throwing me off. Was unclear to me whether or not those two book had the engine or were just character options and gm advice.
Grappling says you cant grapple someone on the ground unless you are kneeling etc. Takedown puts the opponent on the ground. Can you go free to crouching after the takedown to maintain the grapple or do you lose it whenever you do takedown?
>>48253668
>just character options and gm advice
There's damned little GM advice in there. For that I'd recommend How to be a GURPS GM which will also help you choose from the huge pile of options.
I recommend to reading Lite then chapter 1 and maybe chapter 6 of How to be a GURPS GM. Then I'd pick up either Action 1 & 2 or Dungeon Fantasy 1 & 2 for the worked example. Anything in either of those you absolutely need you can look up in Characters or Campaigns. I'd recommend staying out of Characters and Campaigns until you have a half dozen sessions behind you except to look up specific things.
Don't worry about all the detail and the options. Just remember: point buy, 3d6 roll under, 1 second combat turns so make things quick and simple.
>>48253727
I believe Takedown is considered something like a Judo throw. Nothing in Basic Set suggests you can do thar, but maybe Martial Arts has something about it.
>>48254304
Actually, since you could change posture as a part of your step maneuver from Attack I'd say that's how you'd have to do it. Change posture so you can reach him "during" the Takedown.
Do people like monsters? I tried converting the ankheg and the aboleth from D&D. Not sure if I did the CER calculations right, and there might be some other mistakes.
>>48256111
SM +2 is likely too high for the ankheg. At 700 pounds it's considerably smaller then a SM+1 draft horse at 1,800 pounds.
Otherwise, it's an interesting monster. I could see using it with little modification as a vicious xenomorph with acid drool. It's biggest disadvantage is low-ish DR and moderate HP. A good crossbowmen, mage or archer could take one out from outside it's reach without too much trouble. It's only dangerous for a ranged-capable force that gets caught by it suddenly tunneling up under them. That's how it works in D&D, right?
The aboleth is powerful weird. It's also just powerful, and thus a big challenge to translate. The wall only has 2 dimensions?
The biggest weakness is that with DR 3 and SM +3 it's an easy target that doesn't have the hardness it might like. It's got to play it smart most of the time, with only rarely indulging in going full Eldrich Horror and rampaging on someone.
>>48256400
>SM +2 is likely too high for the ankheg. At 700 pounds it's considerably smaller then a SM+1 draft horse at 1,800 pounds.
I was using the description text from its entry in the Monster Manual.
>An ankheg has six legs, and some specimens are yellow
rather than brown. It is about 10 feet long and weighs about
800 pounds.
D&D weights are wonky. If I recall things correctly, the balor is abnormally heavy for his size.
>It's only dangerous for a ranged-capable force that gets caught by it suddenly tunneling up under them. That's how it works in D&D, right?
Yep, pretty much.
>The wall only has 2 dimensions?
B109 says "Each yard of wall has DR 3 and 1/2 HP per die of damage (round up)". I should've specified this in the description. The aboleth in general was difficult to translate properly.
>It's got to play it smart most of the time.
Shouldn't have a problem with that with its IQ 15, I think.
But anyway, thanks for the feedback. I have lots of monsters converted, but they need some polishing. Maybe I'll post some more later.
>>48256459
Oh, about the wall I was meaning..
>The wall is 24-yard-long by 8-yard-wide
How tall is it?
>>48256578
I suppose it's either 24-yard tall and 8-yard long or 8-yard tall and 24-yard long, depending on how you place it.
>>48256584
Then how thick is it?
>>48256732
1 inch.
>>48246988
German lady?
What is the reasonable upper limit for a human's HT?
A large boar gets 14. Is that possible for a real life human? My game is fantasy and cinematic so I'm sure i could go to whatever the fuck i wanted but still.
>>48258059
Most people tend to cap ST at 20 and the other three stats at 15~16. 16HT means you're basically not going to pass out until insta-death at -5xHP, however.
The descriptions in the skills page for melee weapons are general rules not hard rules right?
Like it says polearms unready after an attack, its only referring to the "unless 1.5 ST" rule on most of the swings right?
>>48258181
Yes, see stats on table. Even heavy weapons usually can thrust without become unready.
Deadeye 3 costs 3 points correct?
>>48260066
Yep, it's three levels of a 1-point perk.
>>48260825
Yep was just confirming.
Does anyone know the correct way to apply DR on all locations but one? For instance for a body-suit deal without a helmet to cover the head?
I'm building a swashbuckler for a DF game, which of Flourish/ Follow-Through would be better? I have Extra Attack and a fair bit of ST so each turn I can deal out a good chunk of damage, but I have Singing 14 so the +4 from Follow-Through wouldn't go amiss; if I do fail with the QC then bad stuff might happen.
I could always get Voice later (+2 to Singing and diplomacy if we ever need that), but I'd much rather spend those 10 points on more combat stuff, you know? We tend to run for 4 months at a time and will usually get to about 300 points before we finish up.
The other alternative is to take Sacrificial Parry and try to tank that way, but Singing can force AoAs from enemies, and can draw unparryable attacks in my direction (which I will try to block of course)
>>48261583
I'd go with Flourish; if things are so heated you need to draw away the monster's attention RIGHT NOW, things are already borked and your ally needs to spend some time retreating. Also, it only triggers after dropping a foe, so you probably have some breathing space whenever you could use it anyway.
Also, you could just take both; when you drop an enemy, you can make the choice to go instantaneous taunt or delayed (but improved) taunt.
>>48261753
I hadn't considered utility in the case of emergency, my original plan was to spam it as much as possible and pick up counterattack and technique mastery later for an easy +4 (which was much better suited to Follow-Through). Fucking up my DPR by using Flourish too often was my chief concern since that's my role in the team.
But follow-through is best versus hordes of fodder, which I should have no problem with as a swashbuckler, and Flourish best versus bosses and oh shit moments like you said where I need to draw the aggro of something incredibly dangerous (to better activate Daredevil, of course).
I wouldn't be as good for crit fishing the Singing check but I guess I can always use luck on that roll if I need to. Thanks man, the second opinion helped a lot.
>>48262681
If you're frontrow, you're already going to have the majority of badies coming after you, taunt mechanic or no; no one want to run past a dude with Saber-22 and leave their back exposed.
How expensive is the Run & Hit powerup? All else fails, if they don't come to you, you go to them.
Either way, glad to be of assistance. Home your game goes well and you can storytime it here.
>>48216006
How is gurps at dealing with social interactions and personalities and all that? Could it be played without touching combat? I was thinking of setting up a dating game of sorts, and I was wondering if GURPS would be alright for that.
>>48263944
GURPS is ok at it. It has an entire supplement called Social Engineering which dives deep into how to handle socialization in GURPS, but I think mechanics wise, it is a little simple.
>>48263944
Fantastic for personalities. IMO the social interaction rules need some work if you expect them to work completely declaratively (like combat -- you don't actually swing a sword, you just say you're going to). If you actually speak in character and let the die results guide the role play things work great.
The only combat we've seen in six months has been a court page knifed to death to tie up a loose end and that was one attack, not really a combat.
>>48264048
> but I think mechanics wise, it is a little simple.
It has been a long time since I've touched a roleplaying system, but I remember I liked GURPS because it was so simple at its core, with as many added mechanics on top as you wanted. When you say "mechanics wise, it is a little simple", do you mean to say comparatively to combat, or are you saying you don't think the core system lends itself very well to those kinds of interactions?
>>48264136
>IMO the social interaction rules need some work if you expect them to work completely declaratively...
I don't think I got your example.
>If you actually speak in character and let the die results guide the role play things work great.
This was my idea, so I should be fine, thanks; but now I'm curious: how would the "declarative" form of a conversation be played, and how would it differ from speaking in character?
>>48264335
Sounds like he wants a "social combat" system, but those are always ass IMO.
>>48263944
Pretty well. A given reaction roll is modified by your attractiveness vs the target, your charisma, your reputation, your status and your current clothing and grooming.
Social rolls can also be modified by your fluency in a lanauge and your understanding of a culture.
>>48264531
>>48264335
Both somewhat close. I mean that as far as social mechanics go, it's just a little bit more complex than any other quick contest in GURPS if you strip off all semantic meaning and fun. What >>48264531 gets wrong though is I don't specifically want a social combat system. I just mean that Reaction rolls + quick contests are a little simple, and I know this is a wishy washy thing to say, but I don't know how I'd make it better.
That said, it's good enough for me. Just wanted to be transparent and not give an overhyped, "these rules are perfect and without flaw nor blemish" response that raises expectations highly.
Social rules are *just* above par, but that makes them seem dull in comparison to all the things I think GURPS does well.
>>48263944
Pretty decently, actually. Without going to the level of the RPG known as "Burning Wheel", it manages to keep social interactions engaging.
>>48264774
Has anyone ever tried using the Regular Contest rules for social interactions? They very well might make them last longer than a single "Roll interaction Skill versus target's Will" roll.
If I am understanding the Holdout rules correctly, all of the PCs that interact with a new NPC concealing a Derringer in an ankle holster (yes, the location of the firearm is fluff, but I want to be specific) get ONE Perception/Observation/etc roll apiece at a distance to spot the weapon and, if they fail, will pretty much never pick up on it unless it is somehow exposed (accidentally or purposefully)?
>>48265368
Could an IQ/Per-based Guns roll function as a Complimentary Skill roll to aid Perception/Observation when spotting hidden firearms?
>>48264335
>I don't think I got your example.
If you're looking for social combat, it needs some work.
If it's declarative (like "I pick the lock. Rolled 12, it's a -3 difficulty. Made it by one.") you're after it'll need some work.
>>48265368
*if* they're looking or care at all.
Situational Awareness (p.11) and Threat Recognition (p. 33) in Tactical Shooting covers this sort of thing really well. Most people will have a -6 (+ range penalties) to spot that you're carrying. People with Combat Reflexes will have -2 (+ range penalties).
>>48253727
>>48254330
Pyramid 61 seems to say that you should use steps to change posture in order to follow a grappled target to the floor. The single-leg pickup and takedown sequence for example is a committed attack using two steps, one to kneel before the attack and the second to drop into a crawl or sprawl on top of the target after the takedown.
What are usually the power level of your campaing?
>>48266231
200 points
>>48265368
>Never
They get one every time they see you and you've had to take off and put back on your clothing/holster/weapon combination. So if you carry every day around someone sooner or later they will likely see.
You can generally holdout small items in apporpate clothing with relative ease.
>>48266231
150+50 disadvantages is a pretty typical power level. This is heroic, without being wild.
200 + 50 disadvantages is a lot of fun too. You get characters that tend to be quite versatile and well rounded, with more options to tackle problems.
100 + 50 is interesting too, but it starts getting hard to squeeze some builds in.
>>48266231
>>48266478
I always anted to try out 50/-50 and 25/-50 insanity.
But I go for 200/-50 because I'm a pussy who can't put his players through hell.
>>48266231
No usually. My last four have been 500/-75, 0/-25, 1000/-75, and 300/-50.
>>48266231
200 points with no disadvantages limit
>>48266231
30 points.
One 20 point cost stat with 10 and another with eleven, this emulate the average of a 3d6.
Then the same with a 10 point cost stat.
>>48267102
That's great if you are doing dungeon fantasy that's basically "Better D&D" but why limit yourself or your players?
If you want them to be venally weak and unprepared for serious adventuring just giving them the 30 points and letting them do anything that "isn't overpowered" without actually stipulating they "have to" spend such and such on very specific stats is better.
And 30 points is going to be pretty bad for dungeon fantasy D&D type games, too. You will really suck at that number of points. You will have varying combinations of "technically knows the basics and then some of their combat or magic style" and "actually has equipment that isn't terrible" along with whatever cruel disadvantages you have.
Like, you will make nasty tradeoffs and probably either sort of know what to do, but not actually have a weapon to do it with, have a weapon but know know anything, or MAYBE a middle ground, but have PTSD/One Arm/nasty old enemies, etc.
>>48266751
I played a 25 + 50 disadvantage hooker turned mob boss mistress once. It's brutal, you really have a lot of challenges and not a lot of tools to deal with them.
>>48267102
What about the skills and rest of stuff?
>>48267258
With 30 points I'd be tempted to go with 12 points in Staff, 15 points of Combat Reflexes and one point each of Wilderness Survival, Observation and First Aid.
13 SL with 12 Parry, okay damage and good reach means your defense doesn't suck and your weapon should be available, no matter how much a dick the GM is.
>>48267546
Which is exactly the kind of game I want to play. Or not. I don't know why I don't do it, really.Keep posting short girls. My girl is really short and it's adorable.
Battle mat or range ruler?
>>48268941
Mat, if only because I already have a hexgrid that works with dry erase marker and I lack 3d terrain beyond coke cans and my cat.
Mats also make facing 100% objective; you're either in one of the enemy's front three hexes, their two side hexes, or their rear hex, none of this "if I angle my mini *thiiiiiis* way, it should count as an attack from the side despite me not having enough Move to actually get there" bull.
I've gotten it into my head that it'd be fun to run a megadungeon campaign. For stocking the various levels with monsters, I'm writing up what are essentially random encounter tables I can use to speed up determining what goes where.
For the probabilities, I took a page from D&D 3.PF's encoutner tables; about 25% of the table should be below CR, 25% at CR, and 50% above CR to some degree. This is what I have so far; the N comes from the "It's a Threat" article form Pyramid #3/77 and roughly represents how much the PCs should outclass the encounter.
3-8: Fodder monsters (N=5)
9-11: Near-Worthy monsters (N=2)
12-15: Worthy monsters (N=1)
16, 17: Boss monsters (N=0.5)
18: Epic monsters (N=0.1)
Does this sound okay? On a related note, should I assume around 40-50 CER per PC? The campaign is a ways off so the characters haven't been made yet, but there's a lot to do so I want to start prepping now.
>>48268941
Battlemat with a glass pane on top so it's dry erase instead of wet erase (plus I can slip preprinted sections over the mat and under the glass to quickly reveal new stuff without having to draw).
>>48269587
30 is a very weak Dungeon Fantasy 250 point character and 70+ is a stronger 250 point character.
>>48265317
I just put this together on that thought:
http://pseudoboo.blogspot.com/2016/07/mechanics-social-combat-via-regular.html
>>48269890
So 50 is a good starting average then? Good to know, thanks!
>>48268823
Short point totals and high disadvantages tend to do interesting things to specialization as you end up with characters that don't just have different things they are very good at you also end up with characters the need help with performing basic task.
The "face" of the group might go from not being very good in a fight to being easily overpowered by average people, while the brawler in the group might go from weak on social skills to terrible at any interaction with other people that isn't physical violence or intimidation.
>>48267651
I think I like Axe/Mace(8) +Shield(4) more. There's a fuck of a lot of stuff you can't block.
>>48272228
Oops, Parry not Block.
With the DB0 dueling buckler you can't suffer from shield hits, so I might as well make the thing out of a lighter wood (Low Tech), correct?
>>48272407
Someone could still directly attack it, but in general yeah, you can make it fragile without too much danger.
It's a tradeoff, of course. A DB0 dueling buckler has some serious drawbacks.
>>48272439
Lower slam damage, greater chance to get disarmed, no easy active defence bonuses... have I missed anything?
The active defence bonuses are nice but trying to fit all of the equipment I need in on a 30lbs budget is nasty difficult -- I can just about manage it with the dueling buckler over the parrying one.
>>48269923
Personally, I always use -50 minimum, then 50% of point total. But I've never seen anyone use more that -125. I once got to -177, but a lot of those were from enemies and a dependent I got in play.
>>48273525
He's talking about CER, not disadvantage limits.
CER is like a GURPS CR, and it is based on the relative CER of the party versus their opponents. It is mostly for Dungeon Fantasy (and slightly modified for Mass Combat) and so it ties into the Dungeon Fantasy 3 guidance for bonus character points and says that for fighting an enemy around equal to you, you get 1 character point, around double, 2 character points, and around 10 times your power level, 4 character points.
>>48273624
I thought I was linking to the Char Points question. My bad. Carry on, then.
Who are some preexisting fictional characters that exhibit what GURPS players call "Brawling at Skill 20+"?
If I use Leech with Obligate Metuovore (Horror, pg. 21), do I just get HP from frightened targets, or do they lose their HP too?
>>48266231
I can't give you a usual point level, but I err on the side of more front-loaded points with a lower disadvantage limit. I find that it encourages my players to only choose relevant disadvantages to the character instead of grabbing your standard chummy/overconfident/skinny/OPH (Punmaster) [-5] disads to pad the point total out. I favor -25, with an 'additional' 25 points on a normal point total, such as 150/-50 becoming 175/-25.
I also likes to do quirks in play, instead of front-loading them onto a character. I give full points for five quirks, regardless of whether or not they've been assigned. Then, during play, I allow players to fill in the quirks for their characters that showed up during roleplay, as it's very easy to have a character play differently than you envisioned, or you get a great idea for one, but all of your slots are taken and it'd feel like the new quirk fits a lot better than one chosen at chargen.
As much as I love GURPS' frontloading of chargen, I feel like the actual character isn't fully realized until a few sessions in. Having a lower disad limit makes the character more focused, while the rest of stuff that would normally be taken as disadvantages becomes quirks (as they should be in GURPS, as the average person probably just has quirks instead of full-blown disadvantages).
>>48273750
>Obligate Metuovore: You can only feed on fear. Your total (not bonus) HP drain is equal to your victim’s margin of failure on a Fright Check, as described for Metuovore. (You can take both modifiers, meaning that you can only feed on frightened victims, but get “extra” HP from them.) -50%.
>While you maintain contact, each level of Leech lets you drain 1 HP per second from your victim. You heal 1 HP per full 3 HP you steal.
Drain is taking HP from the target (that is, they lose HP) for yourself (you gain HP). So frightened targets lose their HP from your Leech ability, but your Leech only works on frightened targets.
>>48273808
>Drain is taking HP from the target (that is, they lose HP) for yourself (you gain HP). So frightened targets lose their HP from your Leech ability, but your Leech only works on frightened targets.
Oh, I see. Thanks.
How much damage would the Thompson/Center Contender deal if chambered in .45-70 Government?
>>48273873
I'd love some more Gun tables. I myself adapted TL 9 guns to make them better than TL 8 on my Traveller game.
More Guns and Armor, in fact. I'd love something like Pyramid 3-85 did to armor, but would love TL 10+.
>>48273873
isnt there already something in High Tech in .45-70?
Damage should be comparable by the cartridge; accuracy and RCL would be factors of the gun.
>>48273940
>I myself adapted TL 9 guns to make them better than TL 8 on my Traveller game.
Willing to share?
>>48274817
They are divided by who makes then, and each company has a different 'theme'
GUNS (PISTOL) (DX-4, or most other Guns at -2)
Instellarms
TL Weapon Caliber Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl Cost LC
9 Medium Pistol 8mm 2d+2 (2) pi+ 2 160/1.800 1.9/0.6 3 19+1(3) 7 -2 2 $600/$36 3
9 Heavy Pistol 10mm 2d+2 (2) pi++ 2 170/1.900 2.1/0.7 3 15+1(3) 9 -3 2 $900/$32 3
9 Light Pistol 6mm 2d+2 (2) pi 2 150/1.700 1.8/0.4 3 15+1(3) 6 -2 2 $400/$32 3
9 Holdout Pistol 4mm 2d+2 (2) pi- 2 120/1.300 1.6/0.4 3 10+1(3) 6 -1 2 $600/$30 3
Ling-Standard Products
TL Weapon Caliber Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl Cost LC
9 Medium Pistol 6mm 2d (3) pi 2 170/1.700 1.7/0.4 3 20+1(3) 8 -2 2 $750/$38 3
9 Heavy Pistol 8mm 2d (3) pi + 2 180/1.800 2/0.6 3 17+1(3) 9 -3 2 $900/$40 3
9 Holdout Pistol 4mm 2d (3) pi- 1 100/1.000 1.4/0.2 3 9+1(3) 5 -1 2 $600/$30 3
9 Heavy Revolver 10mm 3d (2) pi++ 2 180/2.000 2.5 3 6 (3i) 10 -2 3 $600 3
Delgado Trading
TL Weapon Caliber Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl Cost LC
9 Stun Gun Stun Dart 1d-2 pi- 0 10 2/0.1 1 2 (3i) 6 -2 2 $400 4
Follow-up HT-6 (0.5) aff - - - - - - - - - -
9 Light Pistol 8mm 2d+1 pi+ 1 140/1.600 1.9/0.4 3 6+1(3) 8 -1 2 $1.275/$37 3
>>48274951
GUNS (SMG) (DX-4, or most other Guns at -2)
Instellarms
TL Weapon Caliber Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl Cost LC
9 PDW 8mm 3d-1 (2) pi+ 4 170/1.900 7.5/1.2 13 30+1(3) 8† -4 2 $1.500/$29 2
9 Machine Pistol 6mm 2d+2 (2) pi 2 160/1.800 5.6/1.2 15 30+1(3) 11 -3 2 $1.400/29 2
Ling-Standard Products
TL Weapon Caliber Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl Cost LC
9 PDW 8mm 2d+1 (3) pi+ 4 180/1.900 6.6/1 15 50+1(5) 8† -3 2 $1.650/55 2
9 Machine Pistol 6mm 2d (3) pi 3 160/1.800 5.2/0.8 28 20(3) 7† -3* 2 $1.300/$28 2
Delgado Trading
TL Weapon Caliber Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl Cost LC
9 PDW 8mm 4d+2 pi+ 4 350/3.000 4.5/1 10 100+1(5) 9† -3 2 $2.250/$55 2
9 Machine Pistol 6mm 3d pi 2 180/2.000 3/1 10 30+1(3) 10 -2 3 $1.750 2
9 Urban Assault 10mm 3d (2) pi++ 4 200/2.100 8/1 10 40+1(3) 9† -4* 3 $2.750/$55 2
Shotgun Barrel 18.5mm Slug 4d+4 pi++ 2 100/500 -/0.75 2 5+1(3i) - 4 - -
GUNS (SHOTGUN) (DX-4, or most other Guns at -2)
Instellarms
TL Weapon Caliber Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl Cost LC
9 Shotgun 18.5mm 1d+1 pi 3 40/800 8.2 3x9 7+1 (3) 10† -5 1 $1.000 3
- With Slug 18.5mm 5d (2) pi + 4 100/1.200 - 3 - - - 4 - 2
Ling-Standard Products
TL Weapon Caliber Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl Cost LC
9 Shotgun 18.5mm 2d-1 pi 3 40/800 8.9 2x13 4+1(2i) 11† -6 1 $800 3
- With Slug 18.5mm 6d (2) pi+ 4 150/1600 - 2 - - - 4 - 2
Delgado Trading
TL Weapon Caliber Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl Cost LC
9 Shotgun Pistol 18.5mm 4d pi++ 1 100/500 4/0.7 3 5+1(3) 10 -3 5 $600 3
- With Shotshell 18.5mm 1d pi 0 20/400 - 3x9 - - - 1 - 3
>>48274964
GUNS (RIFLE) (DX-4, or most other Guns at -2)
Instellarms
TL Weapon Caliber Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl Cost LC
9 Rifle 10mm 5d (2) pi++ 5+2 1.000/4.200 10.1/0.7 3 10+1(3) 10† -6 3 $900/$28 3
9 Battle Rifle 12mm 7d (3) pi++ 4 1.000/4.200 11/1.7 11 20+1(3) 10† -6 3 $1.200/31 2
9 Carbine 10mm 4d+2 (2) pi++ 4 750/2.900 8/1 9 30+1(3) 9† -4 2 $1.500/$34 2
Ling-Standard Products
TL Weapon Caliber Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl Cost LC
9 Rifle 10mm 7d (2) pi++ 5 1.000/4.200 10.9/1.6 12 20+1(3) 10† -5 3 $600/$31 3
9 Battle Rifle 12mm 6d (3) pi++ 4 800/3.500 8.8/1.6 15 20+1(3) 9† -5* 3 $950/$34 2
9 Carbine 10mm 4d (2) pi++ 4 600/2.500 6.8/1 15 30+(3) 9† -3 2 $1.200/34 2
I also noticed just now that I bumped Gauss Armor Divisor to (5) instead of the usual (3).
>>48274951
>>48274964
>>48274975
Those are super mild damage values! Is armor really low still in your setting? Even with armor divisors thats not much better penetration power than TL8 guns
>>48274727
Damage and ranges would probably be a little less for a T/C pistol than a Rolling Block rifle, but at least there's a good jumping-off point. If you're after really granular results, one of the authors has a crazy spreadsheet for calculating ballistics, as well as a really great blog at gamingballistic.blogspot.com.
>>48275029
TL 9 still kills TL 11 light armor (DR 24, I think), and are cheaper and more easily found.
>>48273940
>better than TL8
They already are though. The standard infantry rifle at late TL9 holds 50 rounds, does more damage than 7.62 NATO but its ammo weighs less than 5.56mm. The standard pistol is better than .38 super or .357 SIG but has a 30 round magazine.
>>48275266
The 5.56 weights the same as the 7mm (0.27), while the 7mm is actualy $0.04 more expensive. The M4 does weight 0.3 lbs more than the TL 9 Carbine, but it has a 0.5 lbs lighter magazine (30 versus 50), and despite having a larger 1/2D, the TL9 max beats it by a long shot. The TL 9 also wins damage (6d pi vs 4d+2 pi). The main problem the TL 9 faces... is when dealing with TL9 armor, that can easily stop its damage. So, despite them being 'better' than compared to a TL 8, when taken defence into account, they suck.
And desu, most of the stats I adapted are just TL 8 guns with different calibers and damage modifiers, plus some Armor Divisor. I now noticed that I may have to buff their maximum range.
>>48275573
TL8 guns cannot easily handle TL8 hard armour either. Though TL8 plates in High Tech are underpowered if anything compared to contemporary ones.
TL9 hardsuits. clamshells and tactical vests with plates can reliably stop non armour piercing rifles on the torso, if they couldn't why would anybody wear them? You have to hit them with AP ammo or hit them on less protected parts just like at TL8.
>>48275764
They still hold now. A Light Clamshell with its RD 30 falls to 15, that can still hold the average 14/16 damage of my carbine adaptation, instead of completely stopping any weapon. At the same time, Damage goes up thanks to pi++ instead of pi, which still makes it do a lot of damage even with AP.
>>48275764
Also, another point I don't know I did, is that despite everyone using TL 9 weapons, they can easily find TL 10 - or 11 and 12 - armor. The Imperial Army regiments use TL 9 weapons with TL 10 armors, with its guards regiments using TL 11 equipment.
>>48275830
>completely stopping any weapon
DR 30 won't 'completely' stop anything that a normal soldier would use as a primary battlefield weapon. I am talking about actual combat capable armour like the heavy clamshell backed by a ballistic bodysuit.
Also on average battlefield armour should reliably stop average weapons, that is its job. Low Tech armour forces you to bring a specialised weapon or hit them in a weaker spot, why should UT be any different?
>>48267102
there is not roll 3d6 to pick stats at random on gurps
the fact stats goes from 3 to 18 usually doenst means it follow the 3d6 problability
said that the average of the stats is 10, so you would have 0 point session.
obviously as this guy posted
>>48267580
you have the skills and etc..
>>48276029
It does completely stops the maximum damage (30, btw) of the carbine we were just using as an example. Now... it continues reliably stopping (as said carbine would be found against a 45 DR TL 10 light clamshell).
New Sorcery supplement released today. Protection and Warning spells. I'm glad to see they're supporting Sorcery.
>>48277056
Please post the pdf asap.
![GURPS_Sorcery_Protection_and_Warning_Spells_1000[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/717rDRU.jpg "GURPS_Sorcery_Protection_and_Warning_Spells_1000[1].jpg")
>>48277759
Found it!
http://www.warehouse23.com/products/gurps-sorcery-protection-and-warning-spells
>>48277759
I would if I had it.
>>48278089
Then we wait!
>>48278063
Thanks, friend!
>>48278063
The most interesting spells I saw were reverse missile, Freedom, Iron Arm, and blade turning. Didn't know how to stat up the first one, and the others feel pretty novel.
>>48275764
>Though TL8 plates in High Tech are underpowered if anything compared to contemporary ones.
Kinda. They don't have the DR they should, but also aren't ablative.
GURPS has a fetish for rifles based on the idea that energy is the primary factor in damage. It leads to rifle damage being far too high.
I've been thinking about planning a GURPS Space adventure, but I don't think I'll be able to get more than 2 PCs involved.
Does anyone know how easy or hard it is to make a spaceship captain type of a game with few players?
What are people's experiences with small 1-3 sized groups of PCs in GURPS?
What challenges did you as a player or GM face and if you overcame them, how?
>>48278677
>What are people's experiences with small 1-3 sized groups of PCs in GURPS?
It was fun.
>What challenges did you as a player or GM face and if you overcame them, how?
My character was good at a couple things and sucked at everything else.
I loved encountering things my char sucked at. That was extra fun.
>>48278677
One as the CO, one as the XO. There you go.
>>48278694
So are you suggesting I fill in the crewman roles as NPCs, or is it better to scale down the adventure?
>>48278692
cant tell if sarcasm or dwarf fortress player
>>48278722
Whatever you think it suits the game. If they are playing a Naval ship, then most of the crew (and senior officers) will be NPCs. On a Merchant/Free Trader, it might be only the two of them. On a Naval ship A LOT of people are going to be NPCs, either way. I GM'd a 'Honor Harrington'-like game once, and the PCs were just the CO, TAO, CommO, CAG and MARDET CO. Their favourite NPC ended up being the Navigator, the pilot. and the... Logistics Officer.
>>48278549
The problem is that survivable guns makes M-16's and AK's less deadly than .357 magnum which is not right either.
>>48278758
I'm hoping to keep the cast small either way, for more of a 'fireflyesque' type of adventure. Thanks for your suggestions, anon.
I'm thinking I might stat out a handful of NPCs and let the players interview and hire them, in a sort of role reversal situation
>>48278722
Having to come with solutions other than "I roll [that thing my character is good at]" was fun. So was hoping I wouldn't get caught in the web of lies I had to tell NPCs and that I wouldn't make a mistake or fail too hard and lose their favor.
>>48278677
Small groups work fine. If you look at fiction for inspiration you find that lots of protagonist groups consist of 1-3 people.
Personally I usually GM for 2 people and it works fine.
>>48278797
Yup. Watch a 'new' SyFy series, called 'Killjoys'. Their 'crew' is just three people, and before the series start, only two.
>>48278692
>My character was good at a couple things and sucked at everything else.
>I loved encountering things my char sucked at. That was extra fun.
Enlightening. I feel like I want to start engaging my players with more challenging situations that are knowingly above and beyond their competencies, but in my past experience it seemed like they were either more frustrated and didn't want to try thinking around the problem [eg, a social diplomancer opponent blew away all the PCs in debate since they all simply took 1 token point in Intimidation because "you guys need at least one point in one negotiation skill." Their response: Keep trying over and over and hope the other guy critically fails sooner or later.] I was really hoping they would get the picture and try something different or get creative and turn the situation into something where they could leverage the things they were good at.
Dunno if it was me, the players, or a combination of both.
>>48279079
The players hitting a wall can be either or both, really. Maybe they're too stubborn to consider an alternate path, or you didn't make it obvious enough that there was an alternate path. It happens.
>>48274498
The Acc should remain the same. It is the damage (and RCL, I suppose) that I am unsure about.
>>48274727
The barrel is considerably shorter than that of the Remington Rolling Block, though. If you check up on enough gun statistics in GURPS, you will note that the same firearm with a shorter/lengthier barrel deals less/more damage.
>>48274727
I looked up another handgun that DOES chamber .45-70 rounds: The BFR from Loadouts: Monster Hunters.
With a 7.5 inch barrel, it deals 4d+2 pi+ damage.
The T/C Contender, with a 10 inch barrel and chambered for .44 Magnum (a smaller caliber), deals 5d-1 pi+ damage. Why on Earth would anyone use the substantially larger and heavier caliber if it probably deals only one or MAYBE two points more worth of damage? The only other advantage I can think of is possibly a greater Range.
>>48282510
By the way, the Remington Rolling Block deals 5d pi+ damage and it has a barrel length that is between 30 to 40 inches. I know that black powder rounds were typically less powerful than what smokeless powder can achieve, but it is still ridiculous that such a rifle is putting 5d pi+ damage while a competition breechloading pistol with a barrel that is one-third the length is dealing 5d-1 pi+ with a substantially smaller cartridge.
>>48282650
putting out 5d pi+ damage*
>>48282510
Despite having a rainbow trajectory the .45-70 dose have a greater effective range.
There's minimal reason to pick it over the .44 magnum within 100 meters, however. In either case you get about the same mass and cross-section of projectile, delivered with sufficient energy to be effective. Making the projectile go a bit faster with another thousand joules of muzzle energy adds pretty much nothing to it's lethally.
>>48279079
If players are getting frustrated try to offer them other ways to get though a situation. Restate what the conflict is and things they could do to overcome them.
Hey GURPS-Gen, help me out please.
Are there rules for purchasing second-hand equipment and firearms? Thanks.
>>48285492
Maybe treat as low quality, or just lower Malf.
Alright, /gurpsgen/. I'm planning a GURPS tutorial series for TOTAL beginners to RPG systems. What do you feel are some poorly-explained, yet vital elements of the system that all players should understand?
Additionally, things that every RPG player should know, regardless of system (that most new players wouldn't know right off the bat).
Please remember to buy the pdf to support the product line.
>>48285646
There's actually a basic 'what is an rpg' in the beginning of either basic set or GURPS Lite, if not both.
For basic combat, Accuracy, and some of the other action types always screw e up.
Any good (preferebly) Session write ups or AP podcasts for gurps?
All I'm aware of is Dungeon Fantastic
>>48285531
Thanks, although it's not ideal solution.
>>48285646
Things players should know:
Ask questions if something isn't clear.
A team is stronger if they are close enough to share information and protect each other. Splitting the team also will rarely make things go faster, as the GM will have to run the scenes in sequence or shift focus back and fourth.
Observation skills will allow you to spot dangers and opportunities. Good perception is quite useful.
Running away and retreating aren't bad options. You can generally come back later and give another try.
>>48285855
I'd allow a hour spent shopping and hunting for discounts/used gear to find things at a discount along with an appropriate skill roll, up to about 10% off base price.
Used items found like this will have to be examined carefully (IQ based roll vs Guns, for a gun, for example) If you fail the roll you don't know the quality of the item. Many will be normal quality, some will be low quality, some will be dangerously poor quality.
>>48285492
Bio-Tech suggests prices of (1d+1) x 5% (p. 15).
Ultra-Tech suggests prices of (1d+1) x 10% (p. 208).
I know I saw it one other place that suggested something along the lines of 1 (minor?) for every -10% (-5%?) price. I think it had to do with buying used vehicles but I can't for the life of me remember where it was.
