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15 May 1998 (Ver. 4.5)
13 August 1998
13 February 1998 (Ver. 4.4)
The GURPS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list will be updated as needed
and posted to the following:
Usenet
rec.games.frp.gurps
rec.games.frp.archives
(Note: Follow-ups should go to rec.games.frp.gurps)
Illuminati Online
io.games.sjg.gurps
Online
On the Web: http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/faq/
Via FTP: ftp://ftp.sjgames.com/pub/sjgames/gurps/faq/FAQ.txt
CONTRIBUTORS:
Kevin J. Chase (kjc@njcc.com) -- Current Maintainer
Sean Punch (kromm@io.com) -- Backup
James Duncan (griffin@io.com) -- Founder and Former Maintainer
Kevin Wong (jahn@soda.berkeley.edu) -- Former Maintainer
Sean Barrett (sands@netcom.com) -- Contributor
Contributions from others as noted.
COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS:
If you have any suggestions for new questions or corrections, or if you feel
some additional info would be useful, please compose your question,
correction or clarification and send it to Kevin J. Chase (kjc@njcc.com).
NOTES ON ABBREVIATIONS:
HTML = Hypertext Mark-up Language
URL = Universal Resource Locator
WWW = World-Wide Web (a.k.a. "the Web")
GURPS books are abbreviated "p. AAAnnn," where AAA is a one- to three-letter
abbreviation of the title and nnn is the page number. An up-to-date guide to
GURPS book codes can be found at http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/abbrevs.html.
Some of the more common abbreviations are:
B
CI
CII
G
M
MA
P
RO
SU
UT
VE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key:
% = Seeking input
* = New entry
& = Modified entry
General
GN-01:
GN-02:
GN-03:
GN-04:
GN-05:
GN-06:
GN-07:
GN-08:
GN-09:
GN-10:
%GN-11:
GN-12:
GN-13:
What is GURPS?
What GURPS books are available?
What is required to play GURPS?
What's new in GURPS Basic Set, 3rd Edition (Revised)?
Does Steve Jackson Games publish a magazine for GURPS?
Can submissions be made to Pyramid electronically?
What other magazines have GURPS articles?
Where can I get GURPS Errata, SJ Games catalogs, and other GURPS
information?
Does Steve Jackson Games have a BBS? What's Illuminati Online?
Is there a GURPS electronic mailing list?
Where can I find an anonymous FTP site with GURPS material?
My new GURPS book is falling apart! I just bought it!
Are these answers "official"?
BS-13:
BS-14:
BS-15:
BS-16:
BS-17:
BS-18:
BS-19:
BS-20:
BS-21:
BS-22:
BS-23:
BS-24:
BS-25:
BS-26:
How does the GURPS turn sequence work? What about initiative?
What's the difference between Throwing and Thrown Weapon skills?
How does Will work?
Do you declare the use of Luck before or after a roll?
What are the rules for fighting with two weapons?
Why is crossbow damage based on ST?
What is the tachi, and how is it different from the katana?
Why are blackjacks and neko-de Reach C only when a punch is C,
1? What about knife wheels and combat fans?
What does the Fit advantage (p. CI25) provide?
How do the "Defaulting to Other Skills" and "Improving Skills
with Defaults" rules work?
How do the damage bonuses from all-out-attack Weapon Master,
Throwing Art or weapon quality affect the weapon's maximum damage?
Why does Toughness cost so much more than an equivalent amount
of Damage Resistance?
What rolls are affected by Shock due to injuries?
In a campaign with psionics, both Emapthy and Danger Sense are
supposed to be psionic powers. How does that work?
filled, and then arrange them in some other shape, like a wall?
F-08.01: If a supernatural creature such as a demon can walk through a
Force Dome (p. M78), can an Awakened creature such as a
Vampire, Garou, or Ascension Mage walk through it, too?
F-08.02: What happens to something caught at the very boundary of the
Force Dome when it is cast?
F-08.03: Can a Force Dome enclose a no mana zone?
F-08.04: What happens when two domes intersect?
F-08.05: Are Force Domes spheres or hemispheres? If they are spheres,
do they have to be half submerged to "fix" them in place?
Can the whole sphere be uncovered?
F-08.06: Is a Force Dome useless to flying characters? Can it be cast
in mid-air around yourself? Or around a flying opponent?
F-08.07: Is it useless to a swimming character?
F-08.08: Can a Force Dome be cast on the deck of a moving vehicle?
F-08.09: If the dirt under the dome is chewed away, would the dome be
subject to gravity (a physical force)? Would the sphere
and its occupants fall?
F-08.10: In the case above, if the sphere fell and hit the ground,
would the occupants be subject to appropriate falling damage?
F-08.11: How much does a Force Dome weigh?
F-08.12: Say I was levitating in my dome and I had destroyed all the
earth in the bottom half of the sphere. How much effort
would I have to put into an Apportation spell to just move
the dome itself?
F-08.13: How does a Force Dome work? Can a Force Dome absorb *any*
force, even the blast of a nuclear weapon?
F-09: What exactly is a fireball?
F-09.01: What temperature is a Fireball?
F-09.02: What kinds of wounds does a Fireball cause?
F-09.03: How does a Fireball interact with armor?
F-09.04: If a character is hit at a breastplate by an Explosive
Fireball, does the breastplate protect regardless of his
unprotected face?
F-10: How many spells can a mage cast in a turn?
F-11: The "Rule of 16" makes high-resistance characters almost immune
to resisted spells, no matter how skilled the attacker is.
What gives?
F-12: Can a mage with One-College-Only Magery learn spells with
prerequisites outside that college?
*F-13: When casting a spell, at what point does the mage have to
specify his target?
Horror
HR-01: How do you scare players?
HR-02: What is chainsaw damage in GURPS (a la "Texas Chainsaw
Massacre")?
Martial Arts
MA-01: Can Kicking be improved?
MA-02: Can a martial artist use techniques not covered under his
particular style?
MA-03: Is there a defense against Arm Lock?
MA-04: Unarmed martial artist vs. armed fighters (melee weapons).
MA-05: Are there any additional sources of martial arts rules other
than the GURPS Martial Arts source book?
MA-06: The rules for Wrestling differ in GURPS Martial Arts and
Imperial Rome. Which is correct?
Compendium I and II are now regarded as being part of the core rules as
well; you'll probably want them, too. Various source books may be useful,
depending on genre. Along with the Basic Set, the following are recommended
for the genre listed:
Alternate Dimensions:
GURPS Time Travel. Alternate Earths is a book of pre-made alternate
realities. Compendium II includes a short discussion of the subject as
well (see pp. CII180-184).
American Western/Cowboy:
GURPS Old West.
High-Tech may be useful.
Conspiracy:
GURPS Illuminati. GURPS Warehouse 23 covers a warehouse full of weird
items, while GURPS IOU presents a "silly" illuminated setting. GURPS
Black Ops covers high-powered agents combatting alien conspiracies and
the like.
Counter-Terrorism:
GURPS Special Ops. GURPS High-Tech is recommended.
Cyberpunk:
GURPS Cyberpunk. Ultra-Tech and Ultra-Tech 2 are useful for TL9+
campaigns, and Bio-Tech contains a lot of new cyberwear and biowear.
GURPS High-Tech is moderately useful. GURPS Cyberworld provides a
ready-made campaign setting. GURPS Reign of Steel presents a
post-robot-apocalypse setting with plenty of opportunity for cyberpunk
in the human-controlled areas.
Espionage/Spies:
GURPS Espionage. High-Tech is recommended and Ultra-Tech may be useful.
"James Bond"-style cars can be built with GURPS Vehicles.
Fantasy:
GURPS Magic, 2nd Edition is a must. GURPS Conan, Fantasy or Fantasy II
may be useful for a GM who wants a ready-made campaign setting. GURPS
Bestiary, Fantasy Bestiary, Fantasy Folk, Grimoire and Magic Items 1
and 2 may also be useful. GURPS Religion is useful for campaigns
featuring gods and clerics. Additional material set in Yrth -- the
world detailed in GURPS Fantasy -- includes GURPS Fantasy Adventures,
Harkwood and Tredroy.
Horror:
GURPS Horror. Magic and Psionics may be useful. Voodoo presents a magic
system that is much more subtle and better-suited to most horror
campaigns. Creatures of the Night presents a lot of nasty monsters, and
Places of Mystery covers many unusual locations. Warehouse 23 goes into
great detail about forteanism and other horror/conspiracy staples.
GURPS CthulhuPunk mixes the forces of H.P. Lovecraft's fiction into a
near-future cyberpunk setting.
Martial Arts:
GURPS Martial Arts. GURPS Japan or China may be useful as campaign
settings. GURPS Martial Arts Adventures presents some ready-made
adventures.
Modern-Day:
GURPS High-Tech covers guns, Vehicles covers vehicles, Espionage covers
spies and Special Ops covers soldiers.
Science Fiction:
GURPS Space; although Ultra-Tech, Ultra-Tech 2, and Bio-Tech are very
useful, as are Robots and GURPS Mecha. Lensman is a ready-made space
opera campaign setting, and Terradyne is a ready-made TL8 campaign
setting.
Swashbuckling:
GURPS Swashbucklers. GURPS Scarlet Pimpernel is a worldbook for GURPS
Swashbucklers, containing many adventure seeds.
Superhero:
GURPS Supers. GURPS Psionics is needed for psionic characters, Martial
Arts is needed for super martial artists and Ultra-Tech is very useful
for super gadgets. GURPS Mecha can be used to create powered armor and
mechanical super suits. Wild Cards is a setting for Supers, and Aces
Abroad is a supplement for Wild Cards. The International Super Teams
sourcebook -- and the Supertemps, Super Scum, and IST Kingston
supplements -- may be useful GMs looking for a ready-made campaign
background.
Time Travel:
GURPS Time Travel. Any of the historical books (Japan, China, Imperial
Rome, Middle Ages 1, Dinosaurs, et cetera) may prove useful.
[Maintainer's Note: in spite of what the title implies, there is no
"Middle Ages 2".]
Timeline is a summary of world history with a lot of adventure seeds.
Time Travel Adventures is a book of ready-made adventures.
GN-04: What's new in GURPS Basic Set, 3rd Edition (Revised)?
GURPS Basic Set, 3rd Edition (Revised) differs form the previous edition
(GURPS Basic Set, 3rd Edition) by the addition of an appendix of 18 pages of
fairly generic rules which were previously printed in various other GURPS
books. The appendix replaces the "Caravan from Ein Arris" adventure. Items
in the new appendix include new advantages, disadvantages, skills and other
rules.
New advantages include Ally Group, Blessed, Contacts, Dark Vision, Destiny,
Multimillionaire (used in conjunction with Filthy Rich), Perfect Balance,
Unfazeable and several others. New disadvantages include Destiny, Duty
(Involuntary), Secret, Amnesia, Weirdness Magnet, Compulsive Behavior
(Generosity), Glory Hound, Manic-Depressive, No Sense of Humor, Trademark
and a few others. The new skills include Video Production, Flight (used by
flying creatures), Boxing, Forward Observer, Intimidation and a few more.
Other rules included in this revision are rules for power cells, attacks to
vital organs and other body parts (groin, jaw, throat, kidneys, nose),
enhanced strength tables for damage and throwing, and society Control
Ratings (how restrictive governments are).
The Revised edition also includes metric conversion charts, updates
information on GURPS product support and changes some text and art in a
largely cosmetic fashion.
GN-05: Does Steve Jackson games publish a magazine for GURPS?
The SJ Games magazine, Pyramid, covers a wide variety of games, including
GURPS. Pyramid is an online (as opposed to printed-on-paper) magazine which
covers RPGs, board games, electronic games and collectible trading card
games. Although Pyramid is a general gaming magazine, GURPS is covered
extensively.
Pyramid used to be a bimonthly 80-page paper magazine. The last issue to be
published physically was #30, in May of 1998.
Information regarding Pyramid (including general information, writers'
guidelines and other links) may be found on the Web at:
* http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/
replace it, but you should call to see what we can do to make things right.
Source: Gene Seabolt (seabolt@io.com)
GN-13: Are these answers "official"?
Version 4.0 of this FAQ was overhauled from an earlier version by Sean "Dr.
Kromm" Punch, who is the GURPS Line Editor and an SJ Games employee.
However, most of the text was written long before he took over, and is
fan-authored. It is safe to assume these answers are pretty darn accurate -but this FAQ is not a SJ Games house organ and SJ Games is not bound by
anything set down in this FAQ.
The current maintainer (Kevin J. Chase, v4.1+) is not an employee of Steve
Jackson Games, but he promises he will do his best.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------GURPS FAQ: Basic Set, Compendium 1 and 2
BS-01: Does the Running skill affect Dodge score or initiative?
No! Running skill only increases your Move rating for ground movement, it
does not modify Dodge or improve your initiative or place in the turn
sequence.
Source: Steve Jackson, Roleplayer #19 (April 1990)
Enhanced Move (p. CI54), Super Running (p. CI68), and Cyberlegs (p. UT106)
won't increase Dodge or initiative, either. You need Increased Speed (p
CI26) to increase both, or Enhanced Dodge (p. CI24) to increase only your
Dodge.
Source: Kevin J. Chase (kjc@njcc.com)
BS-02: Why do you need to buy off Disadvantages?
Disadvantages taken at character creation time grant a player extra points
to use to improve his character in other areas. A disadvantage imposes some
restriction on the character. If he can get rid of a disadvantage without
buying it off, it means he's getting something for nothing and "there ain't
no such thing as a free lunch."
On the other hand, experienced GMs should feel free to relax this rule or
even do away with it -- not everyone wants to be a character point
accountant.
Here are some examples of abuse that routinely occurs if this rule is
removed without caution:
1. Only the rich rule!
1. Cyberpunk -- Take any physical disad and then buy bionics to fix
it.
2. Fantasy -- Poverty disad. If you know that your GM tends run
adventures where money can be easily acquired, this is free
points.
2. Run away!
1. Enemy -- If you take an Enemy and then go some place the Enemy
can't follow, you no longer have an Enemy. The GM should give you
an equivalent Enemy or make you pay off the disad. Otherwise, the
GM needs to confine the adventure or just let you get off free.
shock front can stop the heart and arrest breathing. Use the rules as
written, discarding damage that blows through; however, whenever
someone is shot in the torso, make HT rolls (for unconsciousness,
death, and stunning) as if he had taken the full damage.
EXAMPLE: A HT 10 character takes a 25-point bullet wound. This does
only 10 points of damage, but he must make two HT rolls to survive,
since if had taken the full 25 hits, he'd be at -15 hit points.
2. Higher Hit Location Blow-Through Multiple: Since the vitals are in the
torso and since bullets generate a shock wave and generally create a
large wound canal by keyholing, et cetera, it's unlikely the vitals
could escape harm. Treat all bullet hits to the torso as vitals hits
for blow-through purposes only; i.e., bullet wounds to the torso blow
through only after doing HTx3 damage.
3. Higher Weapon Blow-Through Multiple: A bigger round or one that deforms
to *appear* bigger will deposit more energy as it passes through the
human body. Apply all the multipliers for bullet type and weapon
caliber to HT to determine blow through.
EXAMPLE: A .45 hollowpoint (x1.5 for calibre, x1.5 for expanding) can
inflict up to HTx2.25 before blowing through.
[Maintainer's Note: This will allow a large bullet to drop someone dead
in one shot, while not having as much effect on a low calibre round,
which is very unlikely to incur the blow-through rule in the first
place. Armor-piercing rounds will have almost no chance of killing with
one shot.]
Source: Dr. Kromm (kromm@io.com)
This method [3] has the advantage that you can treat it as not being a blow
through multiple at all -- limit damage to HT before applying multipliers
for size and bullet type.
Source: Christopher M. Dicely (cmdicely@ccnet.com)
BS-05: Are there any mass combat rules for GURPS?
Yes. Mass combat has been covered in such sourcebooks as GURPS Conan,
Vikings and Japan. The latest version of those rules appears in GURPS
Compendium II, p. 112. These rules are not a set of miniatures rules, but
instead are intended to allow quick resolution of large-scale combat and
determine what happened to the PCs.
BS-06: The language rules given in GURPS Basic Set give unrealistic results
for high-IQ characters. Are there any better language rules for GURPS?
Yes. GURPS Compendium I (p. 119) presents an old Roleplayer article by
Steffan O'Sullivan, entitled "The Gift of Tongues," which offers a selection
of optional language rules. This article can also be found at
http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/Roleplayer/Roleplayer26/Optional-Language-Rule
s.html
BS-07: The firearms rules in GURPS Basic Set have several problems, are
there more expanded rules elsewhere?
Yes. GURPS High-Tech, 2nd Edition expands and improves the reality of the
GURPS firearm rules. The first chapter has a sidebar on "Flinch, Buck Fever
and Bullet Shyness" (pp. HT7-9). Flinch is responding to the gun's recoil
prior to actually firing, thus resulting in a negative modifier to gun
skill. Buck fever is a decrease in accuracy due to firing in a stressful
situation. Bullet shyness is tendency to seek cover from gunfire rather than
Science Fiction
* Standard: 100 pts.
* Space Opera: 200 pts (up to 1000 pts for GURPS Lensman)
Special Ops
* Standard: 300 pts, limit of 80 pts in attributes
* Cinematic: 300 pts, no limit on attributes
* Note: Many people feel that 300-point soldiers are unrealistic no
matter how well-trained they are, and recommend 100-200 points instead.
Supers
* "Realistic" (e.g., Watchmen): 250-350 pts
* Four-Color (e.g., Spider Man): 500-1,000 pts
* Wild Cards: 350-500 pts
Swashbucklers
* Historical: 100 pts.
* Cinematic: 200 pts
BS-11: How does feinting work?
Feinting is trying to make your foe think you'll do something other than
what you really plan to do. When you feint, you make a normal weapon skill
roll -- although you are not going to hit your foe. Then you foe rolls
against his Combat/Weapon skill. Three results are possible:
1. You failed. Nothing happens.
2. You made a successful roll, but by
did. Nothing happens.
3. You made a successful roll, and by
difference will be subtracted from
in the next turn, if you manage to
So basically, you feint if you're much better than your opponent yet he's
good enough to block/parry/dodge most of your shots (i.e. he has a 14+
defense roll).
BS-11.01: If the target of a feint loses the Quick Contest, is he considered
to have used an active defense against it?
No. A successful feint does *something* to lower or draw the defender's
guard, but the defender does not necessarily execute an active defense in
response. Not all feints are fakes. One can fake an attack, but one can also
use rhythm ("left-right, left-right, left-*left*"), stance (a kick after
shifting one's weight as if to punch), deception (look left, strike right)
and aggression (beat the foe's weapon aside) to reduce a foe's chance of
defending. GURPS abstracts all of the above into a "feint roll," so it would
not be altogether realistic to have a feint "use up" a defense.
BS-11.02: The target of a feint isn't going to *know* he's been feinted; if
he did, he wouldn't have fallen for it. However, the player will know he's
lost the contest, and may decide (for example) to run away. How do you
actually play out a feint? How do you GM it to prevent unrealistic reactions
like this?
The best way to play feints is for the GM to roll *all* combat rolls for
NPCs secretly. When an NPC feints, roll dice, ignore them and simply tell
the target "He swings at you and misses." Roll the Quick Contest that would
have taken place immediately (according to the rules as written) on the
NPC's *next* turn, just before his attack, and apply the results of the
feint normally.
BS-11.03: How do you handle feints in player vs. player combat?
Have both players make *all* of their combat rolls in secret for the course
of the duel, but make sure that the GM sees the die rolls of both players.
What's ideal is to seat the two players (or groups of players) on either
side of an upright screen that hides each side's die rolls from the other,
and let the GM and other disinterested parties watch both players from the
sides.
You can also use the solutions for NPCs in BS-11.02 -- the player attempting
the feint tells the GM what he's trying, but tells his opponent that he
swung and missed. (He *has* to tell the GM in advance to prevent cheating.)
The Quick Contest doesn't get rolled until his next turn, just before the
real attack.
BS-11.04: Does the feinter know his feint succeeded or not before he strikes
the next blow?
No! Keeping feint rolls secret ensures this. It
combat is a "mindgame." A fighter is never sure
be bad to put him off guard, or only appears to
practised a few moves to perfection, until he's
BS-11.05: Does the target of a feint know what happened and any margin of
success?
Ideally, no.
BS-12: How does recoil work for firearms (automatic versus non-automatic)?
Non-Auto:
"Rcl" number is applied to each shot after the first in a turn, but only
once in a turn. So three shots in a row are at (Modified Skill), (Modified
Skill - Rcl) and (Modified Skill - Rcl). Note that the last shot is not at
(Mod. Skill - 2 x Rcl)! However, the first shot of the next turn is at -Rcl,
and all successive shots on that turn are at -2 x Rcl, and so on . . . until
a full turn is spent not firing the gun. After that turn, Rcl penalties are
reset to 0 and the progression begins again.
Auto:
Similar to above where not indicated otherwise. The main differences are
that Rcl is applied to *groups*, not to individual rounds; it is applied
even to the first group in a burst; and it is added for each group,
cumulatively, within or between turns. So firing three groups on full auto
is done at (Modified Skill - Rcl), (Modified Skill - 2 x Rcl) and (Modified
Skill - 3 x Rcl). Next turn you start at -4 x Rcl!
Note: Rcl is doubled if the weapon is held one-handed, and is doubled for
each point of ST the firer has below Minimum ST for the gun. Also, on
unaimed shots, if Rcl takes the final, modified skill roll below the Snap
Shot (SS) number of the gun, the -4 Snap Shot penalty must be applied.
BS-13: How does the GURPS turn sequence work? What about initiative?
Overview:
Characters take their turns in succession, following the combat sequence. A
character's turn starts when he chooses a maneuver and ends when he chooses
his next maneuver. For the sake of convenience, a turn is taken to be 1
second of real time. See p. B95 for more information.
Sequence:
The sequence is a list of all the characters involved in the combat,
arranged in the order that they will act. When combat begins, the GM calls
upon the players to take their turns (or determines what the NPCs do) in the
order given by this list. Once the last character on the list has acted, the
GM moves back to the top of the list and starts over again. Thus, the
sequence is cyclical, and each character gets exactly one turn on each run
through the sequence.
The easy way to determine the sequence involves rolling dice for the
privilege of going first (see p. B95). The more realistic method -- and the
one that is more commonly misunderstood -- involves having the characters
act in order of decreasing Move.
For the sake of the combat sequence, your Move is equal to your Basic Speed
(p. B14), minus any movement penalty for your encumbrance level (p. B76),
dropping all fractions. The Running skill (p. B48) does *not* affect your
Move for this purpose. The character with the highest Move goes first, then
the character with the next-highest Move, and so on. If multiple characters
have the same Move, they act in order of decreasing Basic Speed. If two
characters have the same Move and Basic Speed, they each roll a die and the
character who rolls highest acts first.
Note that no matter which method is used to determine the sequence, once it
is determined, it stays the same for the entire battle. When using the easy
way, or when using the realistic way and breaking a tie with dice, dice are
rolled only once, at the beginning of the battle. Likewise, if Move has been
used to determine the sequence, the sequence does not change, even if the
Move of one or more characters changes during the combat.
Turn:
CY-02: The GURPS Cyberpunk source book doesn't contain any specific world
setting. Is there a GURPS Cyberpunk world sourcebook?
Yes. GURPS Cyberworld, by Paul Hume of Shadowrun fame, describes a detailed
cyberpunk setting. The emphasis is on "punk" rather than "cyber." The tech
level is early TL8, and the cyberwear is often "bleeding edge" rather than
easy-to-obtain, off-the-shelf stuff.
GURPS Terradyne is a source book for low-tech space science-fiction gaming.
This book can easily be "cyberized" [Note from Kromm: I've done it!] but
only includes a limited number of "hooks" for the cyberpunk genre.
GURPS Autoduel, Second Edition is now in print, and has many more features
of the cyberpunk genre.
You can also use the cyberpunk settings for other games as background
material for GURPS. See the Conversions section.
CY-03: Where can I get stats for additional GURPS Cyberpunk equipment and
cyberware?
Currently, you need to convert weapons and equipment from other game systems
if you want added equipment and equipment with "character." See the notes in
the Conversion section. GURPS Cyberworld does have some "chrome," however,
as does GURPS Ultra-Tech 2. GURPS Bio-Tech contains a *lot* of new body
modifications!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------GURPS FAQ: Fantasy
F-01: How should clerical magic be handled?
GURPS Religion contains several different methods of handling clerical
magic. In its simplest form, it works just like regular magic, except Power
Investiture replaces Magery, sanctity level replaces mana level and holy
items replace magic items. However, Religion presents a great deal more
detail than that for those who want it!
GURPS Compendium I also contains a number of advantages and disadvantages
appropriate to clerics, including Clerical Investment (p. CI22), Pious (p.
CI29), Blessed (p. CI34), Clerical Magic (p. CI35), Divine Favor (p. CI36),
Faith Healing (p. CI36), Power Investiture (p. CI42), True Faith (p. CI47)
and Disciplines of Faith (p. CI89).
Source: Dr. Kromm (kromm@io.com)
GURPS Magic includes guidelines for clerics on pp. 94-96. In summary:
Disadvantages
Fanaticism
Pacifism (total non-violence)
Compulsive Behavior (arguing) or Laziness
case, the dome is "anchored" using a big chunk of vehicle, and any
electrical cabling, fuel lines, et cetera that cross the boundary of the
dome will not function!
Source: Dr. Kromm (kromm@io.com)
F-08.09: If the dirt under the dome is chewed away, would the dome be
subject to gravity (a physical force)? Would the sphere and its occupants
fall?
Yes and yes. If the dome has any contents, gravity will pull them down,
bringing the dome with them.
Source: Dr. Kromm (kromm@io.com)
F-08.10: In the case above, if the sphere fell and hit the ground, would the
occupants be subject to appropriate falling damage?
No. The dome can absorb infinite physical force, so the people in the dome
would hit the wall and the dome would absorb their kinetic energy, leaving
them unharmed. In fact impact with a Force Dome is always harmless.
Source: Dr. Kromm (kromm@io.com)
F-08.11: How much does a Force Dome weigh?
Zero, except for the weight of people and dirt inside.
Source: Dr. Kromm (kromm@io.com)
F-08.12: Say I was levitating in my dome and I had destroyed all the earth
in the bottom half of the sphere. How much effort would I have to put into
an Apportation spell to just move the dome itself?
You couldn't! Apportation requires a massive, physical subject. A Force Dome
is a massless construct of mana, and it cannot be Apported. If you want to
move it, use Displace Spell (p. G70).
Source: Dr. Kromm (kromm@io.com)
F-08.13: How does a Force Dome work? Can a Force Dome absorb *any* force,
even the blast of a nuclear weapon?
A Force
nuclear
dumping
used up
*F-13: When casting a spell, at what point does the mage have to specify his
target?
When he rolls the dice. In fact, the only thing you have to declare when you
first start to concentrate is what spell you're concentrating on. The
exceptions are spells like Divination and Seeker, which are worded so as to
imply that one must to start out meditating on a specific target object or
question.
In general, the following things can be left up until the instant the dice
are rolled:
*
*
*
*
*
*
turn that the chainsaw is applied. Any time crippling damage is done to a
limb with a chainsaw, that limb is severed (either partially or fully).
Blood loss would probably be pretty bad, so GMs using blood loss rules
should assess hefty penalties to survival rolls.
Source: Robert Crawford (betel@camelot.bradley.edu)
The problem with
live long enough
steel blade with
both its wielder
That is if you are lucky. If you are unlucky, the chain will trap the blade
and pull it towards the grip of the chain saw. This happens when some poor
fool tries to block an overhead swing with a chainsaw.
Think of tree spiking. One industrial strength chain saw (probably a
circular saw, but same principle) hits a spike.
Don't try this at home kids!
Of course, wielding your Cursed Berserking Adamantine Chainsaw, some of the
deleterious consequences don't happen.
Source: Michael Sandy (mehawk@agora.rain.com)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------GURPS FAQ: Martial Arts
MA-01: Can Kicking be improved?
Yes, but it may not be raised above the level of the skill to which it
defaults. Kicking defaults to either Karate-2 or Brawling-2, and has been
changed from an Average to a Hard maneuver in Martial Arts, 2nd Edition.
MA-02: Can a martial artist use techniques not covered under his particular
style?
Yes. If he has seen the technique performed he can attempt it at his
default.
MA-03: Is there a defense against Arm Lock?
Arm or Wrist Locks can be defeated at several points. The locker may miss
his parry or grapple, or fail the initial Quick Contest. If he succeeds at
all those rolls, the victim can try to break free in following turns with
Quick Contests of ST or Judo versus Arm Lock+4 or ST -- at a cumulative -1
each round.
Source: Sean Barrett
MA-04: Unarmed martial artist vs. armed fighters (melee weapons).
Unarmed martial artists may be faster than armed and armored non-martial
arts types, but they are at a disadvantage for the following reasons:
1. Armed opponents usually strike first: Armed fighters usually have a
longer reach than unarmed ones. Using the Step and Wait maneuver, the
armed fighter will usually be able to strike first.
level than the prerequisite skill; it can only be used to offset hit
location penalties.
MA-08: Is the attack granted by the Riposte maneuver an "extra attack"?
No. A Riposte does not give an extra attack; it just replaces the
character's next attack. This has three advantages over waiting for one's
turn to attack, however:
* The foe has a penalty to his defense roll.
* The defending character can get in an attack no matter what his foe
does afterwards; e.g., a foe who attacks on the move with a Wild Swing
and who plans to run 5 yards away after attacking -- or even a foe who
plans to Teleport away! -- can be attacked before he's out of range.
* The defending character has a chance to injure, incapacitate or even
kill a foe who has multiple attacks before that foe has executed all of
his attacks. This may reduce the effectiveness of or wholly prevent the
foe's subsequent attacks.
MA-09: What is the Reach of a bare-handed attack?
Unless otherwise specified, all bare-handed attacks (including the special
maneuvers in GURPS Martial Arts) have a Reach of "C, 1." That means that
they can be used on targets who are in close combat or who are one hex away.
All *kicks* have a Reach of "1", unless specified otherwise. The Reach "C"
Karate "kick" mentioned on pp. B101,111 is really the GURPS Martial Arts
Knee Strike maneuver in disguise.
Source: Kevin J. Chase (kjc@njcc.com)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------GURPS FAQ: Science Fiction
SF-01: Where are battlesuits (power armor) described?
They are discussed in *great* detail in GURPS Mecha. Battlesuits and powered
armor are also described in GURPS Vehicles, 2nd Edition (p. 80) and GURPS
Robots (p. 52, with an example on p. 113). All three books are by David
Pulver, and use compatible systems, although the focus is different in each
of the three books.
Note: The Battlesuit skill has changed. It is now a P/A Vehicle skill, just
like Driving or Piloting, and covers only "driving" the suit. To operate the
suit's weapons and electronics, use the appropriate Beam Weapons,
Electronics Operation, Guns and Gunner skills.
Other Sources:
Challenge Magazine #50 (published by GDW). There is an article entitled
"Wearing the Steel: Powered Armor in GURPS," by David Pulver, on p. 78.
Everything is described in the standard GURPS format, and is consistent with
other ultra-tech armor described in GURPS Ultra-Tech.
Another description of power armor is given in GURPS Supers, 2nd Edition and
the GURPS IST sourcebook. Supers, 2nd Edition has a sidebar on p. 71
describing a battlesuit suitable for use in a Supers campaign. On p. 98,
there is an example of the IST powered infantryman. The IST supplement
describes the IST Battlesuit on p. 50. This is basically the same suit as on
p. 98 of GURPS Supers, but blasters replace the forearm-mounted Uzi, and the
description is more detailed.
SF-02: Is there a GURPS-compatible miniatures/boardgame starship system?
No. There are plans to revise Triplanetary to do this, but no estimate on
when this will be done.
SF-03: Will GURPS Autoduel ever be revised?
It's already happened! GURPS Autoduel, Second Edition, by Chris Burke and
Robert Garitta, is in print as of January 6, 1997.
SF-04: Are robots covered in any GURPS book?
Yes. Robots are covered in GURPS Robots, which contains extensive rules for
building and roleplaying robots, cyborgs, battlesuits and gengineered
androids, as well as some rules on nanotechnology and microbots.
Other sources:
* GURPS Cyberpunk Adventures contains an adventure, "The Medusa
Sanction," which includes some rules for gengineered androids.
* GURPS Reign of Steel, a post-robot-apocalypse world setting, where
humans have been defeated by their own AI megacomputers.
* GURPS Space Adventures contains an adventure, "Rebirth," which contains
a pair of robots but lacks extensive rules for them.
* GURPS Vehicles has been used by some people to build robots, though it
is not explicitly designed as such.
* GURPS War Against the Chtorr contains some examples of robots, with a
few rules for their use.
Source: David Pulver
David Pulver wrote an article on androids for Cyberpunk campaigns in
Roleplayer #29. This is essentially a reprint of the rules found in
Cyberpunk Adventures' "Medusa Sanction". These rules appear in GURPS Robots
(along with many more rules for androids). It can be viewed at:
http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/Roleplayer/Roleplayer29/BioAndroids.html
Source: Jeff Gaines (rabulias@io.com)
"Organic is for Wimps!" by JC Connors, in Roleplayer #28 (April 1992), has
rules for robots in GURPS Supers. The editor of Roleplayer notes: "This
article has nothing to do with the GURPS Vehicles or GURPS Robots books now
in the pipeline . . . but it looks like fun. Consider it optional and enjoy
it!" It can be viewed at:
http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/Roleplayer/Roleplayer28/SuperRobots.html
Source: Hunter Johnson
SF-05: Just how many programs can a computer run? A robot?
A normal computer can run two programs of its own complexity, or 20 of
its-complexity-minus-one, or 200 of its-complexity-minus-two, etc (p.
CII12).
A robot can only run *half* as many (one of its complexity level, 10 of
damage for the character, effectively doing double duty as Extra Hit Points.
This makes ablative DR quite a bargain!
The solution is to scrap the existing rules and use the ablative DR rules
from the latest revision of GURPS Robots instead. Under those rules, every
10 points of damage inflicted by an attack removes one point of DR,
regardless of whether or not it penetrated DR. This DR has a -15% limitation
-- just as in Robots -- and "heals" at the same rate as lost HT. Characters
who want their DR to regenerate more quickly may take Regeneration.
SU-05: How does Morph work?
You assume only the exterior physical appearance of whatever you Morph into;
you gain none of that form's special senses, movement abilities, et cetera,
unless they are purely an effect of body shape. For instance, a super in the
shape of a snake could slither; one in the shape of a bird could fly (if he
were light enough). These are issues of shape. On the other hand, most
special abilities -- unusual senses, venom, et cetera -- require special
internal organs or adaptations that Morph cannot provide.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------GURPS FAQ: Vehicles
VE-01: What's in GURPS Vehicles?
Vehicles is a 208-page sourcebook for designing and building all types of
vehicles, as well as for handling role-playing actions (exploration, travel,
combat) dealing with vehicles. Just about any vehicle can be designed, from
sports cars to hovercraft, from helicopters to submarines -- the second
edition even includes trains, mag-lev and spacecraft. Mecha and battlesuits
can also be built with Vehicles, although GURPS Mecha covers that in far
more detail.
The system presented in GURPS Vehicles, Second Edition is also the vehicle
design system for GURPS Autoduel, and is 100% compatible with both GURPS
Robots and Mecha. Note that the second-edition rules differ considerably
from the first-edition ones, and are both easier to use and more complete.
%VE-02: Where can I get sample/ready-made vehicles?
There is some talk of a compendium of vehicles built using GURPS Vehicles,
but nothing official (yet). There are many fan-authored sources, including
Happy Herb's Transdimensional New and Used Vehicle Dealership at
http://www.io.com/~ftp/GURPSnet/Vehicles/
and Onno Meyer's "Vehicle of the Week" entries from GURPSnet-L, which are
collected in the files votw*.txt at
http://www.io.com/~ftp/GURPSnet/Vehicles/Collections/
------------------------------------------------------------------------