Using Talent to tidy up GURPS statblocks

One of the downsides of GURPS is that while the system is largely "roll 3d6 under", statblocks are often fiddly. This is particularly true because GURPS likes to present lots of detail in its statblocks. You don't have First Aid 12, you have First Aid (E) IQ+1 [1]-12.

For the non-GURPSist, this is telling you First Aid, an Easy skill, with a relative level of IQ+1, on which you have spent 1 point, for a final current level of 12.

There are sometimes good reasons for this. When presenting a character template, the aim is to make it easy for you to adjust by moving or adding points, so you need to know how many points have been spent on things already. I'm less sure about the necessity for including skill difficulty and both final levels and relative levels. It comes up if your attributes change, though.

It occurred to me that, for many trope-based character concepts (which covers a great deal, for my characters at least), the Talents generally cover all the skills you need, particularly if you smash two together. Medic? Healer covers the treatment skills, with Empath if you're the friendly intuitive sort, and Academic if you're a research-minded doctor. Couldn't we present simplified statblocks that simply list Talents instead of skills?

A slight complication is that unless you've put points into a skill, you rely entirely on defaults (if any). The first point in a skill (making it "known") allows us to use the skill level derived from its difficulty class (Easy, Average, Hard, Very Hard).

But if we want every skill covered by a Talent, spending 1 point in each of them is more-or-less the same price as the first level of Talent (required specialties aside). So why not simplify character sheets by allowing the first level of Talent to count as the first point in the skill, and by removing the 4-level restriction on Talent?

This has the effect of making groups of related skills much cheaper to raise to a high level. Taking five Very Hard skills to IQ+4 costs 35 points via Talent, rather than 120 when bought individually. Isn't this a problem?

If all the skills are highly desirable, that may be a concern. A slight counterpoint is that Talent rarely covers a set of highly desirable skills without "dead weight" - if paying for skills normally, would the player choose to buy up Connoisseur to the same level as Two-Handed Axe/Mace?

Of course, a player who wants to raise twenty or more skills can simply buy up IQ or DX, with the same effective cost as above - and raise every other IQ- or DX-based skill into the bargain, #emph[and] every default based on the attribute, #emph[and] attribute rolls. For 100 points, the character has every IQ-based, Per-based, or Will-based skill - that is, the vast majority of non-combat skills - at 12 or better, resists Will-based attacks with 15, and excels at Fright Checks. Talent would raise twenty skills to the same level for the same price, without creating an all-round genius.

In general, consider that a player could legitimately spend a single point in every skill they want, then buy up an attribute and appropriate Talent. Unless it would be considerably cheaper to achieve the same effect by buying high levels of Talent and allowing Talent-as-improvement, there's little risk.

This is, in fact, exactly how spellcasters usually operate. Because spells are IQ-based and Magery raises all spells, the standard expectation is to put 1 point in each spell, buy as much Magery as permitted (because it's cheaper than IQ), and raise IQ. The cost of a single spell is negligible; as soon as you spend that first point, you have it at IQ+Magery-2. The side effect is indeed that spellcasters tend to be very good at every IQ-based skill, both due to high defaults, and because it's extremely cheap to spend 1 point per skill to get them at 12 or better, so you might as well. Building such a character is simply more efficient than other options.

Of course, standard spellcasters do need to spend points on individual spells, because prerequisite chains mean we need to know which spells they have learned. The same doesn't apply to skills. There seems to be no major downside to permitting Talent 1 to count as 1 point in each skill, triggering the difficulty-based level instead of defaults.

If a Talent applies to all specialties of a skill, and a character is likely to want several specialties rather than relying on defaults, this can result in significant discounts. Of course, there are often other routes to savings. For example, a mechanic aiming for IQ+2 in every specialty of power plants would need to buy up ten or more skills, at a cost of 160 points. Far cheaper to spent 32 points raising one specialty to IQ+6 and then rely on the skill-4 defaults, even though this isn't what the player really wants.

Still, the GM and player might agree to have one specialty as the lynchpin of the Talent, and rely on defaults for others. This doesn't always work, though; for example, Theology specialties don't default to one another. An alternative is to raise the price of a Talent that covers many specialties if they are relevant. In a game set entirely within a remote Buddhist monastery where foreigners never set foot, a monk's (frankly inexplicable) expertise in Malagasy animism and Norse Neo-Paganism are unlikely to crop up.

Isn't this just Wildcard Skills?

Not quite. Wildcard skills have a #emph[single] level, while this option for Talent still gives disparate skill levels based on difficulty and controlling attribute. Moreover, it doesn't have the cinematic aspect that wildcard skills often do, and doesn't require any GM attention to ensure it remains balanced compared with those using "standard" skill purchases. It just makes bookkeeping easier by removing the need to track how many points have been allocated to individual skills.

Isn't this just wildcard skills with the numbers filed off?

Not quite. Wildcard skills have a single level, while this option for Talent still gives disparate skill levels based on difficulty and controlling attribute. Moreover, it doesn't have the cinematic aspect that wildcard skills often do, and doesn't require any GM attention to ensure it remains balanced compared with those using "standard" skill purchases. It just makes bookkeeping easier by removing the need to track how many points have been allocated to individual skills. It still requires the player (or GM, for NPCs) to calculate the actual skill level as and when necessary - or to turn the compact Talent-based statblock into a more comprehensive one for play.

For truly simplified and compact statblocks, wildcard skills are superior.

An Example

Judy creates Professor Smedgewick, a slightly sinister occult detective. Rather than purchase any skills, she buys Close to Hell 6 and Natural Copper 3, for a total of 55 points. To create a keen-eyed detective, she raises Per to 12.

With Smedgewick's default IQ of 10, this gives Body Language-13, Criminology-11, Detect Lies-12, Exorcism-13, Hidden Lore (Demons)-14, Intelligence Analysis-10, Interrogation-11, Observation-13, Occultism-14, Psychology (Demons)-13, Religious Ritual-13, Savoir-Faire (Police)-12, Search-13, Shadowing-11, Streetwise-11, and Theology-13. He also has a useful default of Ritual Magic-7.

Smedgewick's background is Scottish Presbyterian, so Judy opts for his Religious Ritual and Theology to have the Christian specialisation. His Ritual Magic default has the corresponding specialisation ("Ritual Magic (The sort of occult shenanigans loosely inspired by Christian-derived folk belief that the Medieval clergy got up to)").

He is not otherwise particularly intellectual, and has no general academic expertise. If Judy wants him to remember facts easily, she buys Eidetic Memory.

What she actually writes down is: Per 12; Damage 1d-2/1d; BL 20; Basic Speed 5; Move 5; Close to Hell (Christian) 6; Natural Copper 3; Eidetic Memory; Higher Purpose (Solve occult crimes); Reputation -2 (Sceptics; 10 or less); Sense of Duty (Victims of occult crimes).

She doesn't particularly need to write down other stats, which are staying at 10. An experienced player could dispense with the default derived values (damage, lift, speed and move) as well. If we were adding the Professor to a scenario or NPC collection, we could similarly exclude them on the basis that the GM can trivially work them out.

On nude teleportation

There's an occasional debate in GURPS-related circles (I can already see some of you pulling hats down and turning abruptly away; I promise this will have some broader relevance) about teleporting people out of their clothes.

The Path of Cunning, issue #5

Just a quick note to flag up that The Path of Cunning #5 has been released, including not one, but two contributions by yours truly!

One of these was sufficient to get my metaphor privileges officially revoked by the editor. I cannot imagine why.

GURPS Ranges

For various reasons, I've been messing about with GURPS abilities, and finding the multiple, incompatible types of range a bit of a pain. There's standard ranges, spell ranges, scrying ranges, scanning sense ranges, melee ranges, hard-cutoff ranges, and of course, Warp. They all work differently, too. Sometimes - especially for linked abilities, or alternate abilities - you want to make things with one type of range work like another. So let's give that a try.

Let's say we want to reduce our range to 10 - the same as Telekinesis and a convenient range for other fixed-range modifications. For a generic ability, range is 100 and 1/2D is 10. We need these to be the same. Reduced Range (p. B115) bans us from reducing Max independently for some reason, while Increased Range is happy to let us increase 1/2D alone at half cost. This will cost us +15%. We also reduce range overall to 10 yards, for -30%. Thus, switching from a standard range to a flat 10-yard range is a net +0%.

If we ignore the "no reducing Max" rule, we could simply reduce Max at half cost, for an overall -15% modifier. So it works out the same. Nice.

What about Maledictions and spells, the other common pattern? These have no maximum range, but a -1 penalty per yard. For this, we can add Long-Range (+50%) to switch it to using the standard range modifiers. This gives a net +35% for switching to a 10-yard range.

Those spells that use the Long-Range Modifiers instead get Short-Range, which at -10% will give us a net -25%.

....okay, so what about Warp? Warp has its own unique range table, because of course it does! On closer inspection, the first few steps of each table are wildly different, but they end up virtually the same.

• Long-Range Modifiers begin at 200 yards, then go 1/2 mile (880 yards), 1 mile, 3 miles, 10 miles, 30 miles, 100 miles, 300 miles, 1000 miles, and then in multiples of 10.
• Warp goes 10, 20, 100, 500, then 2 miles, 10 miles, and then im multiples of 10.

We hit 1,000 miles at -7 for the Warp table, and -8 for the Long-Range table. After that it's plain sailing. So... Warp has a steeper initial curve, but flattens out sooner than Long-Range. It's more challenging at short ranges, but less challenging at long ranges. Honestly, I'm inclined to say these are functionally equal. In theory allowing someone to switch to the Warp ranges would make very long-range activity slightly easier. Realistically speaking, though, I'd be far more worried about better accuracy for short-to-mid-range abilities, especially attacks - which would be a case of switching from the Warp table to the Long-Range table. Since no attack abilities use the Warp modifiers, that's not a concern. The fact that someone could switch to be better at (say) scrying on someone from 10,000 miles away, at the cost of being much worse at doing so from any lesser distance, doesn't seem like a huge deal to me.

The only real issue I can see is that allowing Warp to switch to Long-Range modifiers would open the door to adding Long-Range 1 (from Power-Ups 4: Enhancements) and removing the range penalties altogether. Is that really a problem, though? It'll cost you +50%, which is generally 50 points. For the same price, you could buy a +10 to your rolls, or +5 and No Strain to avoid the risk of critical failures. We could also simply forbid the use of Long-Range on Warp, if we're that worried.

But there's an easier way to deal with our actual challenge here, which is the range limits. Range Limit lets us cap our Warp. It's -50% for a 10-yard range. Perfect.

So, we conclude that you can make a standard Innate Attack or Affliction into a 10-yard effect at -15%, a Malediction or spell for -+35%, and a Long-Range ability for -25%, while Warp gets -50%.

If we want a fixed radius with no range penalties, we can add Reliable 4 (Only to cancel range penalties, -50%) for +10%.

If we'd like to use something like the Psionic Range Table (GURPS Psionic Powers, p. 22) we can adjust the multipliers.

Wall Smashing Heroes

A staple of certain cinematic action films, particularly the superheroic type, is the environmental demolition attack. Rather than simply smacking someone round the face, you hurl them bodily into some major piece of infrastructure. What makes this distinct from grittier action is that our super-tough characters don't just crash painfully into the wall - they smash through it. In extreme examples of this trope, caped weirdos fling one another through half a dozen office blocks, leaving the victim briefly discombobulated and the buildings in a state of collapse.

In this clip, for example, Hellboy is smashed into the ground (and later through an assortment of historic artefacts and their displays, a window, and a dumpster) by Samael. Hellboy, being supernaturally durable, is lightly inconvenienced by the experience. The smashees, however, are absolutely wrecked.

I don't claim to be an expert in physics, but I don't think that's how it works. But if it did, how would we do it in a game?

Article in The Path of Cunning

The latest issue of sporadic GURPS fanzine The Path of Cunning is out, and I'm in it! My article looks at libraries, and how to model them in GURPS - which makes it sound more complicated than it is.

Deeply mediocre GURPS abilities

Sometimes when I'm out running my mind goes wandering. Here are some powers you could have in a GURPS game. They are arguably useful, but deeply questionable nonetheless.

X-Ray Vision Vision

6 points. You see distinct traces whenever someone views an area with their X-ray vision. This power doesn't reveal people, but the extent of their X-ray vision is clearly visible to you, and you can use it to deduce their location.

Detect (Rare; X-Ray Vision; Reflexive, +40%; Vision-Based, -20%) [6]

Ringtone Replication

6 points. You can accurately mimic any ringtone you've heard, and have an extensive repertoire of memorized ringtones to call on. If you have the Mimicry (Electronics) skill, you can roll against Mimicry rather than IQ to use this ability.

Mimicry (Accessibility, Only ringtones, -90%; Voice Library, +50%) [6]

Recover Teaspoons

6 points. By calmly concentrating for 30 seconds, you can cause lost and 'borrowed' teaspoons within 32 yards to teleport to your location. The ability is subtle enough that colleagues don't notice anything; however, the strain it puts on your body leaves you paralyzed for 1 minute, with an HT roll to recover once per minute thereafter. As such, it's best used when you can guarantee some privacy.

Affliction 1 (Accessibility, only misplaced teaspoons, -100%; Accessibility, Useless under stress, -60%; Advantage, Spoon Warp, +1%; Area effect, 32 yards, +250%; Backlash, Paralysis, -150%; Emanation, -20%; Malediction 1, +100%; No Signature, +20%; Requires Concentration, -15%; Takes Extra Time (x32), -50%) [6].

Spoon Warp is Warp (Anchored, afflictor only, -40%; Blind Only, -50%; Exoteleport, -50%; Modified Carrying Capacity, 0.05 lb, -90%) [20], reduced to [1] by GM fiat to represent its realistic value.

Detect, Evil

60 points. You are capable of supernatural feats of deduction and preternetural sensitivity, but drawing on your gifts risks imperilling your very soul. When you activate your detective powers, you gain a +4 bonus on Body Language, Criminology, Detect Lies, Intelligence Analysis, Interrogation, Observation, Savoir-Faire (Police), Search, Shadowing, and Streetwise. Displays of talent also gain a +5 reaction bonus from police officers and PIs. Alternatively, by meditating for a few seconds, you can attune your mind to virtually any substance or object of interest, and sense them at a distance. However, each use of your powers is a diabolical bargan that requires a Will roll to activate - for good reason!

When you use your powers, you are wreathed in a choking fog of sulphurous brimstone, and a withering aura of evil. Your eyes glow red, teeth sharpen, and bony spines extend from your temples and vertebrae. All reaction rolls incur a -4 penalty from anyone who can observe these; animals react at -8 instead, while those who see animals' reactions or have Animal Empathy take a further -1. Your presence causes grass to wither and insects to curl up dead.

Thanks to your diabolical appearance, while channeling these powers, you suffer -1 to your Disguise and Shadowing skills, and others gain +1 on attempts to identify or follow you (including their Observation and Shadowing rolls), or +3 in outdoor environments. They also gain a +2 on rolls to deduce the truth behind your abilities.

Cruelty seeps into your mind, making you cold to the emotions of others (see Callous, p. B125) and bestowing 20 points of Corruption each time you accept your infernal bargain (see GURPS Horror, pp. 146-8).

While you channel evil power, you are vulnerable to "turning" by particularly holy individuals. Worse, if you perish under its influence, your soul will go straight to the Hells! Even at the best of times, your aura is steeped in second-hand evil - you can stride unharmed through the shrines of dark gods and wield their artefacts, but you balk at the powers of goodness as though you were yourself an agent of Evil.

Functions and Detects as Evil [0] + Natural Copper 4 (Corrupting, -20%; Temporary Disadvantage, Bad Smell, -10%; Requires Will, -5%; Temporary Disadvantage, Callous, -5%; Temporary Disadvantage, Damned, -1%; Temporary Disadvantage, Detect as Evil, -1%; Temporary Disadvantage, Frightens Animals, -10%; Temporary Disadvantage, Lifebane, -10%; Temporary Disadvantage, Unnatural Features 3, -3%) [34] + Modular Abilities 30 (Divine Inspiration; Trait-Limited, Only Detect, -50%; Corrupting, -20%; Temporary Disadvantage, Bad Smell, -10%; Requires Will, -5%; Temporary Disadvantage, Callous, -5%; Temporary Disadvantage, Can be Turned by True Faith, -1%; Temporary Disadvantage, Damned, -1%; Temporary Disadvantage, Frightens Animals, -10%; Temporary Disadvantage, Lifebane, -10%; Temporary Disadvantage, Unnatural Features 3, -3%) [26].

Anti-Material Rifle

Take the stress out of mortal combat by imaginging your enemies nude? Not content with laser cannons and monomolecular blades, you have sought out or invented the ultimate weapon. Roll against Guns (Rifle) to attack a target within 100 yards, with normal range penalties (p. B550). You can aim to benefit from Acc 3. On a successful attack, you deal 5d corrosion to creatures and objects made of cloth. The weapon doesn't harm other targets, but any fabric they wear has its DR reduced by 1 for every 5 points of damage rolled.

Since it's a weapon, your rifle can be destroyed (DR 10) or stolen (with a Quick Contest of DX or ST).

Corrosion Attack 5 (Only fabric, -80%; Based on Guns (Rifle), Own Roll, +0%; Breakable, DR 6-15, -10%; Size -1 or -2, -20%; Can be stolen, Quick Contest of DX or ST, -30%; Superscience, -10%) [10].

Curse of Inevitable Death

You can afflict your enemies with a terrible curse, if you're willing to pay the price. If your enemy loses a Quick Contest of HT vs. your Will, they are subject to constant misfortune - the first to suffer, the last to benefit, and always at the GM's whim. However, you die immediately and unpreventably from natural causes.

Affliction 1 (Disadvantage, Cursed, +75%; Malediction 1, +100%; Temporary Disadvantage, Terminally Ill (One Month) (Time-Spanning (One Month Prior) +50%), -150%) [13].

Questionable styles for GURPS

Through relentless questioning and furtive research, I have unearthed the secrets of two heretofore obscure martial arts and brought them, quivering, into the light. These rare traditions are presented below in the GURPS format for the interest of hoplologists.

If you'll excuse me, I need to phone up and find out why my life insurance policy has been abruptly cancelled.

Bibliokration

6 points

This style claims to have originated in the Great Library of Alexandria, where weapons were forbidden. It was first documented in Byzantium in the 9th century, and slowly spread across Christendom as literary culture did. The books of the period were both immensely valuable and often heavily bound, making them effective improvised weapons and even shields for monks who rarely carried weaponry. It has persisted in academic institutions, benefiting from the secrecy and heavy traditionalism that lingers in library circles. Tight-lipped librarians don't discuss the style with outsiders, and usually profess ignorance.

In other worlds, Bibliokration is one secret style amongst many. The stern librarians of arcane universities or secretive institutes may use this style to defend their collection from thieves, black-ops assault teams, and brawling students. Proprietors of occult bookshops meld it with psychic talent and magical defences.

Because the style revolves around wielding books, practitioners may learn the Improvised Weapons (Books) perk as soon as they have a point in Brawling (instead of the usual 10 points in skills and techniques).

Skills: Brawling; Intimidation; Professional Skill (Librarianship); Stealth; Throwing. At appropriate TLs, add Computer Operation/TL.

Techniques: Disarming; Ear Clap; Fighting While Seated; Hammer Fist; Kicking; Papercut; Two-Handed Punch; Uppercut.

Cinematic Skills: Invisibility Art; Kiai; Light Walk; Mental Strength.

Cinematic Techniques: Focus Kiai; Hand-Clap Parry (Only with an open book); Shush.

Perks: Extra Option (Rapid Fire with thrown weapons, Only with books); Fearsome Stare; Grip Mastery (Books); Form Mastery (Books); Hefty Tomes; Improvised Weapons (Books); One-Task Wonder (Spot book theft); Professional Quiet; Sure-Footed (Ladders and kickstools); Unusual Training (Hand-Clap Parry, Only with an open book); Unusual Training (Invisibility Art, Only in libraries); Unusual Training (Kiai, Only against noisy targets); Unusual Training (Light Walk, Only in libraries); Weapon Adaptation (Melee weapons to Brawling, Only with books).

Optional Traits

Secondary Characteristics: Improved Perception.

Advantages: Contact Group (librarians); Eidetic Memory (Only book details, -80%); Higher Purpose (Curate knowledge); Language (any); Rank (Academic or Company); Silence; Single-Minded; Trained By A Master.

Disadvantages: Callous; Focused or Single-Minded; Odious Personal Habit (Pedantry); Phobia (Fire); Vow (Silence, Only in libraries); Workaholic.

Skills: Detect Lies; Fast-Draw (Book); Lip Reading; Speed-Reading; Research; Shield; Teaching; any appropriate subject-matter skill.

Techniques: Attack from Above; Low Fighting; Memory Palace.

White Hall

6 points

This style arose amidst the brutal wrangling of parliamentary lobbies. It is a patchwork style above all else, shamelessly stealing from other traditions without heed for anything other than brutal effectiveness.

The style’s distinctive feature is its seamless fusion of self-defence and self-aggrandisement, blending one-to-one brawling with mass media offensives. Few White Hall practitioners survive long without acquiring an array of scars, though they are typically ethical rather than physical. No known schools exist for White Hall, and even the style’s name is more a matter of popular association than a formal title. It’s perpetuated through exposure and apprenticeship.

Skills: Brawling; Carousing; Fast-Talk; Savoir-Faire (Parliament); Sleight of Hand (Rhetorical).

Techniques: Coordinated Attack; Counterattack; Evade; Pig in a Poke; Reverse-Sacrificial Block; Short Change; Spinning Attack; Targeted Attack.

Perks: Dirty Fighting; Drunken Fighting; Technique Adaptation (Coordinated Attack defaults to Propaganda); Technique Adaptation (Evade defaults to Fast-Talk); Technique Adaptation (Feint defaults to Makeup, Only during interviews); Technique Adaptation (Projection defaults to own guilt, Only when lacking moral high ground); Technique Adaptation (Short Change defaults to Public Speaking, Only against the general public); Technique Adaptation (Spinning Attack defaults to Propaganda); Technique Adaptation (Staying Seated defaults to Propaganda); Technique Adaptation (Strangle Hold defaults to Propaganda, Only against the Overton Window).

Optional Traits

Advantages: Administrative Rank; Contact Group (Media Proprietors); Contact Group (CEOs); Contact Group (Disgraced Millionaires); Political Rank; Status; Wealth.

Disadvantages: Alcoholism; Bully; Callous; Compulsive Liar; Cowardice; Greed; Lecherousness; Low Empathy; Megalomania; Obnoxious Personal Habit (Braying Laughter); Selfish.

Skills: Connoisseur (Wine); Current Affairs (Business); Diplomacy; Finance; Law; Makeup; Politics; Propaganda; Public Speaking; Savoir-Faire (High Society); Scrounging; Shadowing (Only when “in the wilderness”).

Techniques

Bookmark Face*

Hard

Default: Prerequisite skill-3.

Prerequisite: Brawling or Judo, the Improvised Weapons (Books) perk, and Trained By A Master; can't exceed prerequisite skill.

You can snap an open book closed around an opponent’s face. You must first take a Ready action to open the book; a successful Fast-Draw (Book) roll can negate this.

While their face is trapped, your victim can’t use bites and similar attacks (except to attack your weapon) and is blinded. Targets with unusual anatomy may be affected differently.

You suffer a -5 penalty on Quick Contests when your target tries to break free, or if you attempt a takedown (+0 if you are using both hands).

This technique may be used defensively to parry a bite, headbutt or similar attack; base it on the prerequisite skill’s Parry.

Focus Kiai*

Average

Default: Kiai-2.

Prerequisite: Kiai.

You can channel your chi more tightly, preventing anyone other than the victim from hearing it.

Papercut*

Average

Default: Brawling-3.

Prerequisite: Brawling and the Improvised Weapons perk; cannot exceed Brawling.

You deftly rake the edge of a document across an opponent’s skin, creating a shallow – but painful – cut. Roll Papercut and note the margin of success, minus any DR. Instead of injury, your victim suffers moderate pain (p. B428) for a number of seconds equal to this total. On a critical success, your victim suffers severe pain instead!

Shush*

Average

Default: Prerequisite skill-1.

Prerequisite: Intimidate or Kiai.

Instead of inflicting mental stun, this technique renders a target temporarily speechless, preventing them from talking or even crying out.

Under-Bus Block*

Hard

Default: Politics-8.

Prerequisite: Politics and appropriate Rank; cannot exceed Politics-3.

This technique allows you to interpose a subordinate between yourself and physical or professional danger. To use it, a subordinate must be within stepping distance of you. This is a type of Block; roll this technique instead of your normal Block. On a success, your subordinate becomes the target instead of you; he can defend himself as normal. You can attempt this technique even with a superior, but any failure is treated as a critical failure!

Modifiers: A modifier equal to the difference between your own relevant Rank and your proxy's; this is a bonus if you have higher Rank, and a penalty if you have lower Rank.

Perks

Hefty Tomes*

This perk combines the benefits of Huge Weapons (SM) and Huge Weapons (ST), but only for using books as improvised weapons.

Professional Quiet

You can use a specific Professional skill instead of Stealth to move quietly and avoid drawing attention. Typical examples are servants, waiting staff, librarians, and duty nurses. This only applies in the course of your duties or in similar circumstances, e.g. eavesdropping on customers’ conversations, or exploring a library without being noticed.

It’s not appropriate for professions that revolve around stealth, or for sneaking up on people; assassins, snipers, and the like must raise Stealth instead.

31 days of chargen: day 3, Solar Investigator (GURPS)

At Whartson Hall's suggestion, I'm doing something a little different today - making the same character in different systems. Now, to be clear, I'm not trying to make exactly the same person with the same abilities. Rather, I want to make a character with the same themes, outlook and broad skillsets.

Since there's a LOT of variation in what different games permit, I want something that's generic enough to be very flexible. However, I also want something specific enough to make this a meaningful exercise! I decided to plump for this:

"A brave sun-themed investigator who brings light into dark places."

Those features might vary from being a solar-powered superhero to a priest of Ra to an explorer with a sun aesthetic who literally wanders around with a torch.

I'm starting with GURPS because I had it open at the time, okay?

GURPS: Ardent Helion

In a near-future setting, Ardent Helion is an agent of the Extrajudiciary, who travel between the worlds to deal with cold cases, legal mysteries and tricky situations.

This is a sci-fi setting, so I'm deliberately excluding magic.

Ardent begins with Expert Skill (Heliology), being deeply knowledgeable about suns: physics, mythology, roles in popular culture, he knows it all.

Let's throw in a bunch of investigative skills. He'll want high Perception for those, plus a little IQ. I'm also allocating some Strength, since sometimes he needs to roll up his sleeves to get the job done.

Most of those skills handily come under the Natural Copper talent, which I'll give him a couple of levels in.

Annoyingly, Ardent's Heliology is going to be expensive. I'd like him to have it at a good level, but don't want him to have particularly high IQ - he gets there by sharp eyes, guts and grit, not genius. There's probably a way to boost it, but I can't immediately think of one.

Disadvantages seem appropriate now as I'm starting to run low on points (I opted for the default GURPS Character Assistant values of 150pts, max 75pts of disadvantages). He needs a Duty (almost always), plus a Code of Honour (I used the Private Investigator one), and some Workaholic to fit the zealous detective mould. Let's also make him Overconfident, because those genre investigators are always getting into trouble, and he's always sure that justice and the Extrajudiciary will prevail. Since he's a law-upholding type, and importantly also not American, he's taking Pacifism (Cannot Kill). Finally, throw in some Flashbacks (Mild) for a bit of extra characterisation and to leaven his determination a little.

Now for some more skills. An investigator will definitely get into some brawls. Let's make Ardent a student of Space Jujutsu. He learns a reasonable amount of Judo, plus some Boxing, and refines his skills in tripping and arm-locking suspects. Uppercuts are necessary too, for the 'clean blow to the jaw' beloved of Dick Barton.

Perks time! I'm giving him an Accessory (Nanite Torch); he has 'solar nanites' in his body that he can activate to produce some light. Next, a custom variant: Sure-Footed (Low Gravity) for brawling on spacecraft and the like. This is just equivalent to the existing Naval Training perk, only for spaceships instead of ships. I'll follow that with Acceleration Tolerance for dealing with space travel, and Standard Operating Procedure (Sleeps With One Eye Open) so he's alert to possible danger.

I decide to boost his solar credentials by adding a blinding flash ability to his nanites. Once per hour, he can overcharge it to dazzle anyone nearby, though it's a big drain on his energy. I'd have liked a less drastic alternative than inflicting Blindness, but while there's probably something complicated I could have done with Obscure or penalties to Per, I can't be bothered...

OK, maybe I can. I steal the Flash power from Psionic Powers, removing the Environmental limitation and turning it into an Emanation (centred on him) with Dissipation (it's less overwhelming the further away you are). I also end up adding some Obscure Vision as an alternative ability, when he just wants to dazzle people without actually blinding them, perhaps as an intimidation tactic.

I like the idea of 'the cleaning power of daylight', so I'll throw in some Resistance against Disease and Poison, plus Healing (Disease and Afflictions, Contact Agent) - though the nanites require at least a minute to work, so it's not useful in combat. The healing ability is another Alternative Ability, but not the resistances - even if he's sending his nanites out to treat someone, he retains enough to protect himself.

I'd probably round him out with some actual Rank in an appropriate organization, a couple of hobby skills and another disadvantage, but I think I'm done for today.

---

Name: Ardent Helion

Race: Human

 

Attributes [70]

ST 12 [20]
DX 10
IQ 11 [20]
HT 10
 
HP 12
Will 14 [15]
Per 14 [15]
FP 10
 
Basic Lift 29
Damage 1d-1/1d+2
 
Basic Speed 5
Basic Move 5
 
Ground Move 5
Water Move 1

Advantages [49]

Natural Copper (2) [20]
Solar Nanites [29], which consists of:
--Affliction (Blinding) (1) (Area Effect (4 yd); Based On ST (Own Roll); Costs FP (+4); Blindness (+50) (Secondary, Variable); Dissipation; Emanation; Malediction (Receives -1/yd range); Nanotech; Reduced Duration (1/60 duration); Vision-Based (with Malediction) (One sense)) [17]
--Healing (Alternative Ability; Contact Agent; Cure Affliction; Disease Only; Nanotech; Takes Extra Time (x64)) [2]
--Obscure (Vision) (3) (Alternative Ability; Nanotech) [2]
--Resistant to Disease (+3 to resist) [3]
--Resistant to Poison (+3 to resist) [5]

Perks [4]

Acceleration Tolerance [1]
Sol Tattoo (Lantern) [1]
Standard Operating Procedure (One Eye Open) [1]
Sure-Footed (Low Gravity) [1]
 

Disadvantages [-60]

Code of Honor (Private Investigator) [-10]
Duty (Extrajudiciary Agent) (15 or less (almost always)) [-15]
Flashbacks (Mild) [-5]
Overconfidence (6 or less) [-10]
Pacifism (Cannot Kill) [-15]
Workaholic [-5]

Quirks [-2]

Delusion (I'm a Great Singer) [-1]
Responsive [-1]

Skills [86]

Arm Lock (Judo) Tech/A -  13 [2]
Body Language (Human) Per/A - Per+3 17 [4]
---includes: +2 from 'Natural Copper'
Boxing DX/A - DX+0 10 [2]
Breakfall (Judo) Tech/A -  13 [2]
Criminology/TL9 IQ/A - IQ+3 14 [4]
---includes: +2 from 'Natural Copper'
Detect Lies Per/H - Per+2 16 [4]
---includes: +2 from 'Natural Copper'
Diplomacy IQ/H - IQ+0 11 [4]
Escape DX/H - DX-2 8 [1]
Expert Skill (Heliology) IQ/H - IQ+4 15 [20]
Forced Entry DX/E - DX+0 10 [1]
Free Fall DX/A - DX+2 12 [8]
Holdout IQ/A - IQ-1 10 [1]
Interrogation IQ/A - IQ+3 14 [4]
---includes: +2 from 'Natural Copper'
Judo DX/H - DX+1 11 [8]
Judo Throw (Judo) Tech/H -  11 [2]
Law (Galactic) IQ/H - IQ-2 9 [1]
Lip Reading (Human) Per/A - Per+0 14 [2]
Observation Per/A - Per+2 16 [2]
---includes: +2 from 'Natural Copper'
Research/TL9 IQ/A - IQ-1 10 [1]
Search Per/A - Per+3 17 [4]
---includes: +2 from 'Natural Copper'
Shadowing IQ/A - IQ+2 13 [2]
---includes: +2 from 'Natural Copper'
Sweeping Kick (Judo) Tech/H -  11 [4]
Trip (Judo) Tech/H -  8 [2]
Uppercut (Boxing) Tech/A -  10 [1]

Stats [70]
Ads [49]
Disads [-60]
Quirks [-2]
Skills [86]
= Total [147]

31 Days of Chargen: day 1, GURPS and bees

Kaye recently posted a character creation challenge thing, so I'm going to give that a go.

Today's themes are... GURPS and 'bees'.

Let's start with the fundamentals - no, not stats. We're going to want the Good With Bees perk, as well as an Immunity to Specific Poison (Bee and Wasp Stings). Arguably that's two poisons, but I think it's justifiable. If the setting features giant and monstrous bees and wasps, some negotiation with the GM would be appropriate.

Next, the Speak With Animals (Bees only) advantage, of course.

I'm deliberately not going the route of becoming a swarm, but I will adopt some bee-like traits. Those include Magnetic Field Sense from Powers: Enhanced Senses, and both Discriminatory Scent and Acute Taste and Smell, because bees have incredible olfactory abilities (they have been used to detect mines).

Skillswise, I'll start off with Profession (Beekeeper) and Veterinary (Bees). I also want Gardening, to keep my bees well-fed

I'm envisioning this as a sort of folklore-powered bee-master, so I'm going to take the Green Thumb* talent as well as Cunning Folk. This hints at other skills I should take: Animal Handling, Fortune-Telling, Herb Lore, Naturalist, Occultism, Poisons, and Weather Sense. As Poisons is an IQ-based skill, I opt for an optional specialty in 'Garden poisons' - the idea being to cover things plants that grow in gardens, poisons used by gardeners, and of course, bee venom.

*Green Fingers, for those of us in the UK...

Now it's time to gain some abilities. Let's have our beekeeper able to call up a cloud of buzzing, distracting bees. This seems like Obscure (Vision and Hearing), with Defensive and Ranged. I'm not entirely happy with that - Obscure has a special expensive version of Ranged:

Unlike the usual Ranged enhancement (p. 107), this modifier lets you use your ability again before its duration has expired (e.g., to simulate multiple smoke grenades); thus, it is more expensive.

Looking at the rules in the normal Ranged enhancement:

Duration is 10 seconds, unless the ability lists another duration (like Neutralize or Possession) or is instantaneous (like Healing), and you cannot use the ability again until all existing effects have worn off.

Yeah, that's much more appropriate - I've only got one cloud of bees, after all! So I'll make the GM call here and allow the normal version of Ranged. I'm also going to add the limitation Environmental (Not in strong wind), and the Homing enhancement, since my bees can zero in on their target.

Let's throw in a couple of disadvantages. Odious Personal Habit (attracts bees) seems right, and let's add Absent-Mindedness - our hero tends to drift off into musings. Since they're just a regular beekeeper, let's also include Pacifism (Self-Defence Only).

Throw in a few 'everyman' skills for being part of the community - talking to neighbours, selling honey and flowers, and so forth - and we're about done.

---

Name: Beemaster
Race: Human

Attributes [60]

ST 10
DX 10
IQ 12 [40]
HT 11 [10]
HP 10
Will 12
Per 14 [10]
FP 11

Basic Lift 20
Damage 1d-2/1d

Basic Speed 5.25
Basic Move 5
Ground Move 5
Water Move 1

TL: 7 [0]

Advantages [95]

Acute Taste and Smell (3) [6]
Cunning Folk (3) [30]
Detect (Magnetic Fields) (Occasional) (Biological (Passive); Reflexive) [14]
Discriminatory Smell (Biological (Passive)) [15]
Green Thumb (2) [10]
Obscure Vision (3) (Defensive; Environmental (Not in strong wind) (Occasional); Extended (Hearing) (+1); Homing (+1); Ranged) [15]
Speak With Bees (Specialized: one species) [5]

Perks [2]

Good with (Bees) [1]
Immunity to Bee and wasp stings [1]

Disadvantages [-40]

Absent-Mindedness [-15]
Code of Honor (Beekeeper's) [-5]
Odious Personal Habit (Attracts bees) (-1) [-5]
Pacifism (Self-Defense Only) [-15]

Quirks [-1]

Humble [-1]

Skills [33]

Animal Handling (Bees) IQ/A - IQ+2 14 [1]
---includes: +3 from 'Cunning Folk'
Area Knowledge (local) IQ/E - IQ+1 13 [2]
Astronomy/TL7 (Observational) IQ/A - IQ-1 11 [1]
Body Language (Human) Per/A - Per+0 14 [2]
Carousing HT/E - HT+0 11 [1]
Current Affairs/TL7 (local region) IQ/E - IQ+0 12 [1]
Current Affairs/TL7 (People) IQ/E - IQ+0 12 [1]
Detect Lies Per/H - Per-2 12 [1]
Diplomacy IQ/H - IQ-2 10 [1]
Farming/TL7 (Horticulture) IQ/E - IQ+2 14 [1]
---includes: +2 from 'Green Thumb'
Fortune-Telling (Augury) IQ/A - IQ+2 14 [1]
---includes: +3 from 'Cunning Folk'
Gardening IQ/E - IQ+3 15 [2]
---includes: +2 from 'Green Thumb'
Herb Lore/TL7 IQ/VH - IQ+2 14 [1]
---includes: +2 from 'Green Thumb', +3 from 'Cunning Folk'
Hiking HT/A - HT-1 10 [1]
Housekeeping IQ/E - IQ+0 12 [1]
Merchant (Honey and Flowers) IQ/E - IQ+0 12 [1]
Naturalist (Earth) IQ/H - IQ+3 15 [1]
---includes: +2 from 'Green Thumb', +3 from 'Cunning Folk'
Occultism IQ/A - IQ+3 15 [2]
---includes: +3 from 'Cunning Folk'
Pharmacy/TL7 (Herbal) IQ/H - IQ-2 10 [1]
Poisons/TL7 (Garden) IQ/A - IQ+3 15 [2]
---includes: +3 from 'Cunning Folk'
Professional Skill (Beekeeper) IQ/A - IQ+1 13 [4]
Public Speaking (Storytelling) IQ/E - IQ+0 12 [1]
Tracking Per/A - Per-1 13 [1]
Veterinary/TL7 (Bees) IQ/H - IQ+1 13 [1]
---includes: +3 from 'Cunning Folk'
Weather Sense IQ/A - IQ+2 14 [1]
---includes: +3 from 'Cunning Folk'

Costs Summary

Stats [60]
Ads [95]
Disads [-40]
Quirks [-1]
Skills [33]
= Total [149]

GURPS perks for recognition

As I was wandering round the supermarket today, I was struck by the idea for this GURPS perk, so here we are.

We've all seen those films where someone can identify a gun from the sound of its shot, a car from its tracks, or an aircraft from its silhouette. Maybe we know someone who can do that. At least it's likely we know someone who's really good at knowing what bird they've seen or what car went past, even on a moment's glance. Armed forces famously released (maybe still do?) playing cards featuring the silhouettes of friendly and enemy ships or planes to train this very capability. There are still sets like this - I used to love the Heritage ones featuring the natural world.

I thought this very specific trick - knowing what something is, without necessarily having any further insight or any practical application of that knowledge - was a good shot for a perk.

Expert Identification

You've developed a knack for distinguishing a particular category of things, granting you a bonus on rolls to identify them accurately and with increasing specificity.

You can select a specific type of organism, object, substance, or a cultural marker. The bonus ranges from +2 to +4, depending on the scope of the category. Any category can be limited by type, region or era.

Examples: Pet cats, domestic sheep, American cars, early C21st cars, collectible card games, WW1 military aircraft, swords, Chinese architecture, cigarettes, mobile messaging app stickers, 1990s French slang, silent comedies, Japanese makeup patterns, seabirds, sharks, citrus plants, grain, synthetic fabrics, cheese, roses.

There is no prerequisite for this perk; your ability could come from rote memorisation or from a deep knowledge of the subject.

Expert Recognition

Prerequisite: Expert Identification with the chosen type of object or creature.

You're so familiar with your area of expertise that you can recognise individuals as readily as human faces. You can remember and distinguish individual objects or creatures in the same way as recognising a human. Anything that hampers your facial recognition impedes this capability in the same way.

This perk is most suited to categories with individuality, such as animals, castles, vintage cars or rare books. Objects that are mass-produced (like cars or guns) may need further examination and interaction to reveal their individual qualities. The GM determines whether this park is appropriate (or even logically possible).

Note:Even this second perk is a genuine phenomenon, with the brain's facial recognition capabilities expanding to include another category where we're exposed to countless variations on a theme. Farmers can recognise individual animals, and mechanics learn to identify specific vehicles from the details indistinguishable to non-experts.

Examples

Pigeon Fancier

You have an expert eye for the many varieties of doves and pigeons. You gain a +4 bonus on rolls to identify domestic and feral doves and pigeons of all kinds.

Dinosaurophile

You delight in dinosaurs of all kinds, and have spent hundreds of hours poring over illustrations. You gain a +4 bonus on rolls to identify dinosaurs, pteradons, and similar creatures that appear in dinosaur books.

(this is, as the text suggests, intended for a game NOT set in a dinosaur era! In a game where dinosaurs are ubiquitous, reduce the bonus or narrow the focus)

Shepherd's Eye

Extensive experience makes it trivial for you to recognise every member of your flocks. You gain a +4 bonus on rolls to distinguish breeds of domestic sheep, and you can identify individual sheep as easily as humans.

(this is just both perks combined because domestic sheep are a pretty niche group)

Firearm Connoisseur

You've seen countless firearms of all kinds, and understand their idiosyncrasies. You gain a +2 bonus on rolls to identify firearms. You can recognise an individual weapon if you've spent enough time using or observing it to gain familiarity (p. B169) - for example, a companion's trusty revolver, or your battered lasrifle from your days in the Corps - or have the Photographic Memory advantage.

Hun Spotter

All that time playing cards wasn't wasted; you've memorised the outlines of every plane you might encounter. You gain a +4 bonus on rolls to identify WW1 military aircraft.

GURPS Conversion: Charity Shrinesdaughter

Charity Shrinesdaughter was a much-loved character in one of our (many) Pathfinder campaigns. As often happens, I found something unsuitable for a player character and was inspired to work out how to use it for a player character.

In this case, the culprit was the Site-Bound oracle curse; a feature that keeps the oracle within a short distance of a particular spot to avoid wasting away to death within a few hours. Clearly, wildly inappropriate for a player character, who will need to bod about the countryside seeking adventure and excitement.

...a particular 10-foot square, you say.

A series of shenanigans followed, involving the mass of various kinds of soil, careful scrutiny of rules, and a painstaking exploitation of every single carrying capacity-boosting ability I could cram into a single penniless 1st level character. Charity Shrinesdaughter was up and running; or rather trudging, given she had to carry 1,000 cubic feet of earth around on her back. Possessed of phenomenal strength, blinding charisma, boundless energy and an absolutely monstrous appetite, she made up for it with a lack of common sense and a tendency to trip over her own feet.

If one curse wasn't enough, the gods also afflicted Charity with Legalistic, compelling her to try and fulfil any promises she made - and the aforesaid lack of common sense, plus being very kind and helpful, meant she made an awful lot of promises. There were hints throughout the campaign that those gods were probably the passionate, kindly Sarenrae and the Asmodeus, influencing poor Charity each in their own way. She did get fire magic out of the deal, though.

But how to do this in GURPS?

Let's start with some basics. We're looking at a Tech Level 3 setting, with Normal Mana (some people have the capability to cast spells, but most don't). Pathfinder PCs are significantly above human average, and I'll reflect that by choosing a 200-point limit for the character.

(I would also like to point out that I invented Charity looooong before hearing about Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon! I had the idea in October 2017, according to my chat history with Nathan! But it's good and I recommend it, and yes, Charity is similar to Lammis in many ways, although she was actually inspired by Miyako from Hidamari Sketch (right).)

The easy stuff

The first problem is that Site-Bound curse. It seems logical to model this with a Dependency (Rare, Hourly) for a mighty -120 points.

Yes, that dependency all by itself is smashing through the normal disadvantage limits and careening down the highway like an out-of-control rhinoceros. But don't worry; it'll soon get cancelled out, and something like Charity would need a forgiving GURPS GM in the first place.

Surprisingly Heavy

A 10-foot cube of soil weighs approximately 75,000 lb., or just shy of 38 tons. Soil is, it turns out, surprisingly heavy. To lift this much with only moderate impairment (Medium encumbrance), Charity will need an effective Strength of 354. The human norm, for what it's worth, is 10. In reality, we'll want her to be able to carry something other than her sacred earth cube, so let's go for ST 360 as a target.

Basic Lift is calculated as (STxST)/5 lb., while Medium encumbrance allows up to 3xBL. This means we need a BL of 25,000 lb., and we're looking for a Strength equal to the square root of (5 x 25,000) = 125,000. That calls for a ST of 353.5 and a bit.

Now, actually buying that Strength has three problems.

The first is that it would cost 3500 character points, from a typical budget of 150. Tricky under your conventional, earthly mathematics.

The second is that it would mean she had a ST of 360. That's enough to do 37 dice of damage with a single punch, for 130 points: obliterating a bus or a WW1 Renault FT17 tank, killing two-and-a-half full-grown elephants, or knocking a suddenly-deceased wild boar 10 yards away.

The third is that in GURPS, hit points (how much injury you can absorb) is directly based on Strength, for... presumably some reason. Giving Charity 350+ hit points would put her on par with light military vehicles, and give her good odds of taking a sniper rifle shot to the eyeball without serious injury.

Do you even lift, sis?

GURPS has an answer in the form of Lifting ST, an advantage costing 3 points per +1 ST for lifting things only. Buying that up would cost a mere 1,080 points - a bargain! But I don't actually need it for anything other than the shrine; in fact, in our game, Charity's incredible strength was bestowed specifically so she could carry the shrine around.

We can add a limitation: Accessibility (Only to carry shrine), which is specific enough that I feel justified in making it -80% cost (the maximum). She can't use this incredible lifting capacity for anything else; only what the gods demand. That's still 216 points, though.

What about looking into superheroes? Feats of strength are abundant in that genre. Sure enough, they have Super-Effort: a modifier specifically for Basic Lift, which allows you to vastly increase your strength when you use the Extra Effort rules. It modifies the cost of an ability by a massive 400%, though; and you always have the base amount of extra Basic Lift, which I don't want.

Extra Effort involves spending Fatigue Points to boost a specific action.

Despite a lot of searching, I can't find anything on adding Super-Effort without the constant benefit. The intuitive way to do this is with Accessibility (Only to carry shrine, -80%) on the Lifting ST, but because of the way modifiers are calculated, that's traded off with the cost of Super-Effort for an overall +320% cost. That may be right(?), but it doesn't feel right; the very strict restriction on the entire power barely reduces the overall cost very much.

I'm going to do something controversial (and possibly horrify poor Roger) by applying the limitation to both Lifting ST and Super-Effort. Reducing the cost of both by 80% brings it down to a manageable 66 points. This still doesn't help with the unwanted Basic Lift, though...

OK, judgement call time. I've just remembered that the "maximum -80%" mitigation applies to the overall cost of an advantage, not to a specific mitigation! I do not want the Basic Lift to apply anywhere except when lifting the shrine, and the Super-Effort is restricted to that use as well, making both of very limited use. I therefore decide to apply a -400% limitatation to the entire advantage; this cancels out the cost of Super-Effort and leaves us with an acceptable 66 points for the whole thing, without (I hope) doing violence to Roger's feelings.

Oh, and I need to tag on Cosmic (+50%) to allow me to take Reduced Fatigue Cost (+20%), otherwise carrying the shrine around will cost me 1 FP per minute! The final tally is 113 points. That's pleasingly close to cancelling out the disadvantage. Thankfully, the Super-Effort rules supersede the ordinary Extra Effort rules, so I don't need to worry about failing the Will roll to pick up my luggage and getting a serious injury.

Charity ends up with Lifting ST 22 (Accessibility, Only to lift shrine; Cosmic; Divine; Reduced Fatigue Cost 1; Super-Effort) [113].

Edit: shortly after writing this section, I realised that I'd messed up the rules for Super-Effort. For some reason I'd got it into my head that I needed to hit effective ST of 36; I don't know why. So I don't need Lifting ST +22, only +14.

The scaling on Super-Effort means the closest I can get is Lifting ST +14, which will turn into +500 when Charity uses Extra Effort. This makes her very good at lifting, with a BL of 156 allowing her to wander around with a motorbike on her shoulder - but not so good at lifting that it feels completely ridiculous.

Since the only use for all this strength is to lift the shrine, I add Accessibility (Only to carry shrine) to the Super-Effort modifier, at -90%. That seems like a reasonable way of handling that, since I'm okay with letting the rest of the Lifting ST make her good at carrying things.

Oh, and I need to tag on Cosmic (+50%) to allow me to take Reduced Fatigue Cost (+20%), otherwise carrying the shrine around will cost me 1 FP per minute! The final tally is 114 points. That's pleasingly close to cancelling out the disadvantage. Thankfully, the Super-Effort rules supersede the ordinary Extra Effort rules, so I don't need to worry about failing the Will roll to pick up my luggage and getting a serious injury.

There's more. I suddenly remember that Lifting ST is slightly more complicated than it sounds: it also enhances your ability to grapple and choke! Super-Effort explicitly doesn't contribute, but I don't particularly want Charity to be a brutal wrestler either. Let's slap on an Accessibility (Not for combat, -40%).

Charity ends up with Lifting ST +14 (Accessibility, not for combat -40%; Cosmic +50%; Divine; Reduced Fatigue Cost 1 +20%; Super-Effort +400% (Accessibility, only to lift shrine, -90%)) [89].

That seems... okay? And it does allow the enormous penalty from Site-Bound to give Charity a few bonus points, which is nice. Carrying around 38 tons of soil in a 10-foot cube causes challenges that aren't really accounted for by Dependency, and which I'm not entirely sure how to model. For example: very few doors are big enough for you to carry a 10-foot cube inside.

Lighten Burden

On reflection, it strikes me that another way to handle Charity's carrying capacity would be to reduce the weight of the soil itself. A version of Lighten Burden, maybe?

The 10' cube would have a SM of +4, making it a royal pain to cast spells on. 2 levels of the Huge Subjects perk reduce that to +2, so the cost of Lighten Burden would be 15 to cast, 8 to maintain. That's a lot.

Also, the spell only has a duration of 10 minutes. Since FP can only be recovered while not walking around, that's a big problem for maintainance.

Well, we can do this. It's not pretty, but we can. Let's take Lighten Burden Will-50 (Accessibility, Only to carry shrine -90%).* The high skill will reduce our cost by -1 at 15, and an additional -1 every 5 levels thereafter. This works out at 28 points. We can now maintain the spell as we walk around, while the initial cost is reduced to only 7 FP.

The Accessibility discount here is basically a wild guess. I cannot find any guidance on the appropriate pricing for "spell only effective on a single object and with no combat or social utility". I think it's going to be completely down to the GM.

You're also not meant to put enhancements and limitations on skills, but that ship has sailed, my friends. It is invisible over the distant horizon.

A kindly GM might allow Huge Subjects 4, reducing the cost of the spell to 5 to cast, 3 to maintain, and requiring only Lighten Burden Will-25 to be maintained without extra cost. This would cost only 8 for the spell and 4 for the perks.

With the weight of the shrine reduced to a mere 37,500 lb., we need only 250 ST. Aaaand... the overall effect of that extremely convoluted plan is to reduce the amount of Lifting ST needed for our original plan by a mighty... 1 level. This saves 6 points, making the plan overall cost 6 points more than simple Lifting ST.

If there were an enhanced version of Lighten Burden, we could pay more to reduce the weight further. Unfortunately, nothing like that seems to exist. Adjustable Spells from Thaumatology won't do it, as besides the cost, I can't find any enhancements that would increase the weight reduction anyway. Except possibly Cosmic.

Supernatural Strength?

What if we built this as a power instead?

The most logical option looks like Control Gravity (from Powers). This has a base cost of 20, and we'd need to hit 10 levels to reduce the weight by 100% - reducing it by 90% would leave 7,500 lb. which remains impossible to lift. So we're looking at 200 points, plus the need to make it Independent (+40%) so Charity doesn't need to concentrate all the time. 280 points then. Here, the cost would depend entirely on the GM's verdict on how much Accessibility discount applies. It's essentially a fiat cost. I have honestly no idea. Somewhere between 56 and 280 points is within easy GURPS tolerance, but this is a hyper-specific power.

Workarounds

An alternative to this is to deal with the fatigue another way entirely. OK, so using Super-Effort is going to soak up 1 FP per minute? Fine. I'll just have to regenerate it.

Regeneration (Fast) (Accessibility, Only to carry shrine -90%; Divine, -10%) allows regeneration of 1 FP/minute, exactly the rate of FP loss from Super-Effort. This costs 10 points.

It allows us to drop Cosmic and Reduced Fatigue Cost from the Lifting ST, leaving Lifting ST 14 (Accessibility, Only to carry shrine -90%; Divine -10%; Super-Effort (AOtcs -90%)) for 34 points.

The whole package costs 44 points, and allows Charity to spend 1 FP and a turn to lift her cube of earth, then carry it around as a Medium load for...

actually, you know what? I'm wrong. Lifting ST 14 (Super-Effort) gives her an effective +500 to ST, which means she can lift the cube as light encumbrance. Fantastic!

...as a Light load without taxing her energy at all, and without requiring any rolls that might awkwardly fail. She can lift as much as a normal strong person (ST 14) but doesn't have any preposterous ability beyond the shrine.

Promises, promises

Charity's next problem is that pesky probably-Asmodean secondary curse, which leaves her sickened whenever she breaks her word.

Honestly, this one is a poser. The obvious approach seems to be a version of Chronic Pain, except there doesn't seem to be a way to trigger it. Vows are treated as purely social in nature and don't discuss hard consequences. Pact requires adherence to a supernatural agreement, but takes away benefits when broken rather than imposing harm.

I scour Steve Jackson Games forums for quite a while, discovering interesting ideas like Weakness (Affliction) and this alternative that seem like they should have been in the rules all along, or John Dallman's discussion of Chronic Pain which has some useful ideas.

In the end, I opt for a Chronic Pain (Severe) (Constant; 24 hours; Mitigator (Keep Word) -70%) for -36 points. The 24-hour duration is a custom one as the longest in the book is 8 hours for 2x cost; I decided to be conservative and put it as a 3x cost.

Spellcasting

As an Oracle, in Pathfinder Charity is a Charisma-based spellcaster. This means her spellcasting capabilities depend on her "personality, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and appearance" (that last one is well dodgy, like).

Here I run into a problem, because GURPS magic plants its flag firmly in the camp of the scholarly wizard. Spellcasting is based on IQ, the mental statistic, which also governs overall intelligence and ability with a huge range of skills. It's "brainpower, including creativity, intuition, memory, perception, reason, sanity, and willpower".

The problem is, that isn't like Charity at all. She has very little schooling and isn't studious at all. Boosting her IQ will make her good at a whole host of skills I don't want her to have, as well as giving her reasoning prowess that the original Charity lacked.

Doesn't GURPS have a way to make a mage who isn't a genius?

The obvious answer is Magery, an advantage which specifically boosts magical ability alone. Or rather, in Charity's case, Power Investiture, which is the same thing but for divine magic. It seems all well and good, except that GURPS suggests capping these at a maximum of 3 levels. As Roger taught me, for spellcasting you really want to aim for Magery + IQ - 2 >= 15 as hitting the 15 mark makes a couple of useful rules kick in. If I'm reliant only on Power Investiture, I'd need 7 levels to hit that point, which many GMs wouldn't allow.

Thaumatology has many suggestions for variant magic, including basing it on other attributes. There isn't really a Charisma-like thing in GURPS at all. I mean, there's the advantage Charisma, which helps you get on with and impress people, but you can't base magical ability on an advantage; it needs an attribute.

To be fair, you could base magical ability on an advantage. Arguably Magery does this, especially in the "10 + Magery" version suggested in Thaumatology.

If I were implementing a really charismaticness-based magic system, I'd want it to require some kind of attribute and also levels of GURPS!Charisma. The obvious one seems to be Will, which is a secondary attribute of IQ. Will governs a few skills, but not many; it wouldn't make a decent mage automatically a leading scholar, which is an improvement already.

Thaumatology and the SJG forums alike point out that using Will makes it much cheaper for mages to buy up their key attributes. This is true; but it's also worth pointing out that the reason IQ is so expensive is that a huge number of skills are IQ-based (most of the others are DX-based). Buying up IQ to be a better wizard is expensive because it makes you good at about half the skills in the game, as well as all of your spells. Will is a lot less expensive because it won't improve many skills.

It doesn't entirely make sense to argue that IQ is expensive because it boosts spellcasting, either, because the cost of IQ doesn't seem to change in campaigns without magic. The cost of IQ includes its benefits to both skills and spellcasting. The price of IQ possibly should vary in those campaigns, but it doesn't.

I decide to do exactly that. Will-based spellcasting, with the requirement of equal levels of Charisma. Charity gains Charisma 4, which gives her the naive charm and inspirational presence of the Pathfinder original.

Spell systems

If I want to mimic Oracle spellcasting, is the default spell system from GURPS the way to go? Pathfinder oracles can learn any of the clerical spells, and use them without preparation, but know very few spells (whereas clerics know all of them, but need to pray for them in advance). Default magic gives access to any spell, but also means learning numerous spells as prerequisites. Clerical magic greatly limits the selection of spells to fit a deity - oracles specifically don't serve a particular deity, so that isn't ideal.

However, Pathfinder clerics get multiple overlapping spells - healing spells of different potencies, stronger or weaker protective spells, and so on. Oracles also get a limited set of spells themed to their 'mystery' - in Charity's case, this is fire, of course. I think what I'll do is make several small groups of spells that she's eligible for, and she can pick from those.

Divine Spells: Final Rest, Sense Spirit, Turn Spirit, Affect Spirits, Turn Zombie, and Banish allow a servant of the gods to manage unholy influences. Purify Air, Purify Earth, Purify Food and Purify Water provide for the people when other things are scarce. Deities might also grant Armour to protect their oracle, and Light (and its variants) to guide the way.

Oracular Spells: Great Voice seems perfect for making public proclamations. History, Ancient History, and Prehistory will reveal secrets, as will Compel Truth. Divination is obviously appropriate. Lend Language and Borrow Language allow communication.

Healing Spells: oracles automatically learn to heal. Most of these are appropriate, but not Share Energy.

Fate Spells: blessings and curses, great and small, are thematic for an oracle. Since GURPS doesn't have much in the way of luck spells, let's go for spells that have similar results. Compel Lie, Spasm, Tanglefoot, and Fumble are good minor curses, while Curse is the big one. Boost spells are a good option for 'lucky chance', and Bless is a generic blessing. Suspend Curse and Remove Curse represent an oracle's ability to free people from divine punishments. Bladeturning and Turn Blade seem appropriate for the oracle's defences. Madness and Permanent Madness are mythologically appropriate.

Law Spells:

Mystery of Fire: this is the distinctive sphere of Charity's gifts. In Pathfinder, it grants both spells and supernatural powers. I give Charity a minor Innate Attack (Burning, Melee C), as well as Extra Basic Move for the quickness of flame; the whole package gets Divine (-10%).

Stuff

Signature Gear: 75,000 tons of very specific soil

Since Charity's life depends on staying near her cube of soil, we need to make it Signature Gear.

You know, I have absolutely no idea how to price this. The thing is, it's a completely irreplaceable item, but also one that's got no particular inherent value.

For want of a better idea, I'm going to call this a perk.

I'll also go ahead and spend the points for her to have a Signature Gear heirloom staff with elaborate carvings, a gift from her unknown parents (who dropped her off at the shrine and disappeared).

Wrapping Up

To my surprise, I can actually build Charity at 150 points (including skills and spells) - assuming, of course, that my version of the carrying-75,000-lb. ability gets past the GM.

Here's a draft character sheet. I've grouped Charity's abilities for convenience in the Character Builder - this means both the groups and the abilities show up on her sheet, so the costs don't look right. Anything beginning with - (like -Mystery of Flame) is just a group name.

GURPS and large-scale spellcasting

I've been thinking about how you'd set up magical precautions against natural disasters in GURPS. It seems like exactly the sort of system where you could do that sort of thing. Hurricanes, earthquakes and so on are devastating, so it's reasonable that a benevolent government would pour effort into effective countermeasures. Even an actively malevolent ruler might do so, because the economic impact and infrastructure damage is really inconvenient.

This post examines the case of Seismia, a country prone to various disasters.

One of the troubles is the sheer area natural hazards affect. GURPS generally handles area spells with a fixed cost ("base cost") per radius in yards.* This cost is the amount of Fatigue Points you need to spend (basically, how tiring it is). A meagre half-mile radius with a base cost of 1/2 clocks in at 440 Fatigue Points. That's roughly one noble estate or village.

*they also measure things in miles per hour, degrees Fahrenheit, pounds of weight, feet and inches, making the system an absolute ruddy nightmare for the sort of scientific realism it's meant to support. For those wondering why the game isn't more popular, this is probably a factor. Yes, I know Americans have an abiding love for their imperial measurements (and I use plenty of them myself in everyday life), but they are wildly inconvenient when calculations come in. Put out a metric version, for the love of all that's holy.

I'm not a great judge of typical capabilities in GURPS, but human capabilities hover around the 10 mark; I'd guess an experienced mage would buy up Health and buy extra Fatigue Points, so they might be able to throw in 20FP or so. Far short of our total.

Ceremonial casting might help. This is much slower (one-tenth of normal speed), but that isn't a problem. It allows other mages, and even random bystanders, to contribute some of their own energy. We're still limited, though...

• Each mage who knows the spell at level 15+: as much energy as he wishes to contribute.
• Each non-mage who knows the spell at level 15+: up to 3 points.
• Each mage who knows the spell at level 14 or lower: up to 3 points.
• Each unskilled spectator who supports the casting (by chanting, holding candles, etc.): 1 point, to a maximum of 100 points from all spectators.

"Mages" are those who have the inherent power of Magery, rather than merely having learned a spell; they're better, faster, stronger and more wizardly.

So a 440-point spell to keep rainstorms out of a 1/2-mile radius would require the full exertion of 22 mages who know the spell at a high level. That's a tough order for one village.

If we have all the villagers come along to chant, they can add up to 100 points to our total. Let's say we can find 100 of them. Let's also say our Head Wizard can rustle up extra energy from magic items, contributing 40 points and leaving us a nice simple 300.

To make up the 300 points, we'd need 100 lesser spellcasters - mages who don't know the spell in question, or non-mages who know it very well. Mages are generally in short supply, though. Perhaps Seismian government compels everyone to study certain spells for national defence against hazards, the same way they might require longbow practice?

That 1/2-mile radius is 0.78 square miles, or about 2km². The population density of Scotland is 70/km², so that would give us 140 inhabitants or thereabouts. Conceivably, if all of them had been forced to learn Protection From Hazard at 15+, and we made all of them participate in the ritual alongside our Head Wizard (20 FP), we could get the energy we need: 3 FP x 140 = 420 FP.

Of course, learning those spells requires investment of time and effort. Most spells are Hard skills, and expensive to learn. For those Seismians lucky enough to have average IQ 10, learning the skill at IQ+5 will cost a mighty 24 points. Those down at IQ 8 have to spend 32 points! Considering ordinary folks tend to have 100-150 points in total, that is a very significant investment in one niche skill.

Looking through Thaumatology, not many options help with spellcasting costs. The obvious one is, of course... sacrifices.

Sacrifice

This section of rules is deliberately fluid, giving no specific set of rules, but a set of ideas and discussion of their implications - for example, how the value of a sacrifice is calculated will determine the kind of sacrifices that happen.

Fantasy, however, gives some useable guidelines.

The basic currency of sacrifice is hit points. If the victim is sapient and consents to the sacrifice, use his full HP. If he does not consent, divide his HP by 3. For nonsapient victims, always divide HP by 3; they are presumed not capable of consent. At the GM’s discretion, offerings of material goods worth 20% of a campaign’s starting wealth count as 1 HP. Offered wealth may be cast into the sea, burned at a shrine, ritually consumed by someone possessed by a god or spirit, or otherwise destroyed or made inaccessible... Each HP of sacrifice could be exchanged for two energy points of magic.

According to Low-Tech Companion 3, sheep have 10 HP. They can therefore be sacrificed for the equivalent of 6 FP.

Wales supposedly contains around 1500 sheep per square mile (I resist my inclination to fact-check this in detail). Let's assume this is a reasonable figure for our hypothetical country, and that whatever sheep-equivalents it might farm (potentially including crops) are fungible in terms of density and sacrificial potency.

With a modest 1% tithe of livestock, Seismia can gather 15 sheep per square mile for sacrifice each year annually, providing 90 energy towards spells of various kinds.

Putting it together

We have to make some assumptions about mage density here. Let's say that there is one high-class mage per 10 square miles, able to contribute 20 energy. There are 2 decent wizards per square mile, who can contribute 3 energy. Assorted inhabitants can give us another 100, and we have 90 energy per square mile from sheep.

Putting all that together... we don't have enough. Our half-mile radius can produce 306 energy, far short of the 440 required. To protect the village from storms, we'd need to increase the Seismian sheep-tithe to 4% of livestock, which is a fair chunk considering it'll be on top of other taxes.

It only gets worse when I reveal that the actual cost for protection from storms (Weather Dome) is 3, not 1/2. We'd need 2640 energy to protect the village!

Thankfully, this sort of thing works better at scale. In a 10-mile radius, we have 31 top-flight mages, 628 decent ones, and a 2% sacrifice will net us 9420 sheep. This gives us 59132 energy, more than our target of 52800.

Sticking with Wales as our current example, it's roughly 170 miles from top to bottom, so we need to cover an 85-mile radius. That will cost us 448800 Fatigue Points to bespell against storms. However, we can muster an impressive army of mages: 2270 top-class mages for 20 FP each, and 45396 decent ones giving 3 energy apiece. There's frankly no point getting the ordinary folks involved for a mere 100 energy. We'll make up the difference with sacrifices: a mere 2 sheep per square mile will suffice and to spare.

Of course, we'll probably want to cast some other protective spells on the whole country, so I'd better stick with that 1% tithe. Plus... with ceremonial spellcasting, any roll of 16+ on 3d6 is a failure! We might need to give this a few goes, lads. Still, it's not a bad outcome.

Base FP cost of spell
Radius (Miles)	1/2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1/2	440	880	1760	2640	3520	4400	5280	6160	7040	7920	8800
1	880	1760	3520	5280	7040	8800	10560	12320	14080	15840	17600
2	1760	3520	7040	10560	14080	17600	21120	24640	28160	31680	35200
3	2640	5280	10560	15840	21120	26400	31680	36960	42240	47520	52800
4	3520	7040	14080	21120	28160	35200	42240	49280	56320	63360	70400
5	4400	8800	17600	26400	35200	44000	52800	61600	70400	79200	88000
6	5280	10560	21120	31680	42240	52800	63360	73920	84480	95040	105600
7	6160	12320	24640	36960	49280	61600	73920	86240	98560	110880	123200
8	7040	14080	28160	42240	56320	70400	84480	98560	112640	126720	140800
9	7920	15840	31680	47520	63360	79200	95040	110880	126720	142560	158400
10	8800	17600	35200	52800	70400	88000	105600	123200	140800	158400	176000
85	74800	149600	299200	448800	598400	748000	897600	1047200	1196800	1346400	1496000

 

Top mages	OK mages	Sacrifices	Top mage energy	OK mage energy	Others	Sacrifices	Sum	Without sacrifices
1	2	30	20	6	100	180	306	126
1	6	90	20	18	100	540	678	138
1	24	360	24	72	100	2160	2356	196
3	56	840	56	168	100	5040	5364	324
5	100	1500	100	300	100	9000	9500	500
8	156	2340	156	468	100	14040	14764	724
11	226	3390	226	678	100	20340	21344	1004
15	306	4590	306	918	100	27540	28864	1324
20	402	6030	402	1206	100	36180	37888	1708
25	508	7620	508	1524	100	45720	47852	2132
31	628	9420	628	1884	100	56520	59132	2612
2270	45396	45396	45396	136188	100	272376	454060	181684

Have I missed something? If you know of an energy-saving technique that would help Keep Seismia Safe, contact your local Hazard Dispelling Bureau immediately.