GURPS - 4th Edition - Basic Set

level in mind and come in under the Secondary Example: A knight requires Status 2
point budget for PCs, leaving enough Characteristics [10]. His Wealth should be at least
unspent points (and enough unused Comfortable [10], to cover his cost of
points in disadvantages, if you are It is usually best to leave Hit Points, living and buy his expensive equip-
enforcing such a limit) that the player Will, Perception, Fatigue Points, Basic ment. This costs 20 points.
can customize his character. If a tem- Speed, and Basic Move at their base
plate absolutely must tie up a lot of values. Tweaking these numbers is Disadvantages
points, make it “interactive” (see likely to confuse new players. Unless
p. 449). the concept absolutely requires excep- For the most part, follow the advice
tional talent in one of these areas (e.g., given for advantages. In the case of
Example: We’ll design our heroic high Perception for a detective), just occupational templates, avoid disad-
knight for a 150-point game with a choose attributes that give fair sec- vantages that are liable to inhibit job
-75-point disadvantage limit. This ondary characteristics and leave fine- performance (e.g., Honesty for a
means we’ll try to spend fewer than tuning to the adventurous player. thief). Focus instead on those that are
150 points total, and take less than the likely to help with the chosen career
full -75 points of disadvantages. (e.g., Fat for a sumo wrestler) and
those that are expected (e.g.,
The character templates you offer your players Disciplines of Faith or Vows for a
will affect their view of the game world and the priest). Some professions tend to lead
type of campaign you intend to run. to disadvantages, a few of which
might be so common that they merit a
SELECTING Advantages place in the template (e.g., Social
TRAITS Stigma for a thief).
For occupational templates, list the
The next few sections offer job’s requirements (e.g., Languages for Dramatic templates are often
concrete advice on selecting the actu- a translator) or benefits (e.g., Clerical defined almost entirely by their men-
al traits that appear on character Investment for a priest). Other possi- tal disadvantages, and frequently have
templates. bilities include “tricks of the trade” “good” disadvantages or tragic flaws –
(e.g., Combat Reflexes for a soldier) see Disadvantages for Heroes (p. 119).
Attributes and talents that would lead a person to
select this particular career (e.g., Example: Our knight owes fealty to
The 9-13 range is suitable for most Night Vision for a thief). his liege lord, so we give him Duty
characters. “Adventuring” templates (Liege lord, 9 or less) [-5]. Since he’s a
should have one or two above-average For cultural templates, also consid- heroic knight out of fantasy, we also
scores, but those for most normal jobs er genetic and cultural traits (e.g., “All give him Code of Honor (Chivalry)
should leave everything at 10. Northerners have Temperature [-15], Honesty (6) [-20], and Vow
Remember that an 11 or 12 is note- Tolerance”), as well as Cultural (Never refuse a request for aid) [-15].
worthy, and that a 13 or 14 is excep- Familiarity (p. 23), Languages (p. 23), This comes to -55 points.
tional – see How to Select Basic and Social Regard (p. 86).
Attributes (p. 14). Dramatic templates Skills
are a special case, as it often serves the For dramatic templates, include
purposes of drama for an archetype to traits that are invariably found in liter- Pick the skills needed for the char-
have extreme attributes. Still, try to ary and cinematic examples of the acter to be competent at the role the
avoid excessive stereotyping. archetype (e.g., Charisma or template describes. Avoid excessive
Handsome appearance for a swash- numbers of skills, but include all nec-
Example: We see our knight as a buckler). essary skills, a few skills that are com-
capable warrior, so we give him supe- plementary but not vital, and perhaps
rior physical attributes: ST 12 [20], Justify each advantage using an one or two skills that serve mostly to
DX 12 [40], and HT 12 [20]. To reflect argument similar to one of those provide background color.
his wisdom and resolve, we give him above – which means that most advan-
IQ 11 [20] – he is supposed to be a tages on a character template should When assigning skill levels,
wise leader, not a genius. This comes be learned or social in nature. Also, try assume that skill 12 suffices for “safe”
to 100 points. to avoid unusual advantages. If every jobs (e.g., accountant or librarian)
single character of a given type has a and that skill 14 is plenty for “risky”
rare advantage, it will dilute the value jobs (e.g., assassin or surgeon) –
of the advantage and possibly strain including most “adventuring profes-
the suspension of disbelief. sions.” Save skill 16+ for those who
truly stand out in their field; don’t
water down the value of high skill by
making it commonplace.

Of course, these guidelines assume
relatively realistic characters. Many
larger-than-life heroes have dozens of
skills at high levels. It is up to the GM
whether he wishes to encourage this
pattern of skill buying in his campaign.

CREATING TEMPLATES 447

1. Select attribute levels that mini-

mize the cost of the chosen skills. For

Listing Skills instance, an Average skill at DX+2
level costs 8 points; six such skills

When listing skills, include all relevant information in the following would cost 48 points. An Average skill

format: at DX+1 costs 4 points; six skills at this

Skill Name (Difficulty) Relative Level [Point Cost]-Actual Level level would cost only 24 points. By
lowering six skills from DX+2 to

For instance, “Broadsword (A) DX+2 [8]-14.” This might look odd DX+1, you could free up 24 points –
now, but it makes things much more transparent when the time comes and if you then spent 20 points on DX,
to customize the character! you could raise DX by one level,
regain the original skill levels, and
It can also be helpful to break down skill listings as follows: save 4 points!

Primary Skills: Vital skills, at level 12+ – or at 14+, if they are likely 2. Add advantages that give skill
to matter in life-or-death situations. bonuses at discount rates – notably
Talents (see p. 89).
Secondary Skills: Helpful skills that it’s hard to imagine the charac-
ter not having, at level 11+. If you have trouble justifying this,
remember: templates are blueprints
Background Skills: Anything else that fits, chosen for descriptive rea- for adventurers – exceptional charac-
sons rather than utility, usually at a lower level than primary and sec- ters built with more points than the
ondary skills.

average person – so high attributes

and rare advantages are going to be

Examples: Our knight is an adven- Example: Our knight has spent 100 more common than in the general
turer first, so we make his primary points on attributes, 20 on advantages, population.

skills Broadsword-14 [8], Lance-14 -55 on disadvantages, and 30 on skills. WRITING IT UP
[8], Riding (Horse)-12 [2], and That’s 95 points, which is well within
Shield-14 [4]. We make his leadership the recommended 90% limit for a 150- Use the following format for the
abilities secondary: Leadership-11 [2] point campaign (135 points). final character template (illustrated
and Tactics-11 [4]. Finally, we add here using our heroic knight):
Armoury (Melee Weapons)-10 [1] and Optimization

Heraldry-10 [1] as background skills, Experienced players usually Heroic Knight
to cover his knowledge of arms and attempt to minimize the point cost
armor. Total cost is 30 points. and maximize the effectiveness of 95 points
their characters. New players are
SETTING unlikely to do so; therefore, it is a good You are a brave knight out of fan-
THE PRICE idea to optimize templates so that tasy or fairy tales – strong, honorable,
characters built with them are not less a wise leader, and a skilled warrior.
Total the cost of everything on efficient than scratch-built PCs. There
the character template. This is the are two main methods for doing this: Attributes: ST 12 [20]; DX 12 [40]; IQ
“template cost”: the number of 11 [20]; HT 12 [20].

Secondary Characteristics: Dmg 1d-
1/1d+2; BL 29 lbs.; HP 12 [0]; Will

points the player must pay to pur-

chase the template.

If template cost comes to more

than 90% of the campaign’s starting Discounts
points (see Starting Points, p. 10), play-
ers are liable to find it restrictive. To Avoid the temptation – often carried over from other RPGs – to offer
remedy this, lower attribute levels, a discount on template cost. A character built using a template should
remove noncritical advantages and be indistinguishable from an equivalent character designed from the
skills, or add a few appropriate disad- ground up.

vantages. Alternatively, you can try to Adjusting for Player Experience
optimize the template (see below).
When designing character templates, be sure that they take into
If you still can’t get template cost account the character-creation habits of your experienced players. For
down to a reasonable level, it is likely instance, if all their warriors have Combat Reflexes and all their wiz-
that the starting points you’ve selected ards have Magery 3, your templates should follow suit – even if the
are less than ideal for the heroes you “typical” warrior or wizard in the setting lacks this level of talent. This
see working well in the game world. It puts the characters of inexperienced players who use your templates on
might be a good idea to revise the an equal footing with those of more experienced players.
campaign power level! See Power

Level (p. 487) for advice.

448 CREATING TEMPLATES

11 [0]; Per 11 [0]; FP 12 [0]; Basic Lenses Interactive Templates
Speed 6.00 [0]; Basic Move 6 [0].
Advantages: Status 2 [10]; Wealth You can treat common variations Along with fixed character traits,
(Comfortable) [10]. on templates as “lenses” through you may wish to include a number of
Disadvantages: Code of Honor which to view the basic design. A lens choices with identical point costs.
(Chivalry) [-15]; Duty (Liege lord; 9 is a package of advantages, disadvan- These can be specific (e.g., High Pain
or less) [-5]; Honesty (6) [-20]; Vow tages, and skills that adds to the base Threshold or +1 ST; Chemistry-14 or
(Never refuse a request for aid) template, changing its emphasis. It Mathematics-14) or general (e.g., any
[-15]. might be specific to just one template DX/Average weapon skill at 15; any
Primary Skills: Broadsword (A) or applicable to several (or all) tem- three IQ/Hard sciences at 14), as long
DX+2 [8]-14; Lance (A) DX+2 plates in your campaign. Some lenses as the point cost is the same. A good
[8]-14; Riding (Horse) (A) DX are mutually exclusive; others can compromise is to set aside a pool of
[2]-12; Shield (E) DX+2 [4]-14. “stack.” points that the player can spend on a
Secondary Skills: Leadership (A) IQ specific list of options however he
[2]-11; Tactics (H) IQ [4]-11. A lens should not add traits that sees fit.
Background Skills: Armoury (Melee oppose or that are redundant with
Weapons) (A) IQ-1 [1]-10; Heraldry those on the base template(s). If this is Once you are comfortable with
(A) IQ-1 [1]-10. inevitable, explain what to do when template design, consider using this
conflict occurs. A lens should also be option for all your templates. It sim-
CUSTOMIZATION compatible with all other lenses the plifies the player’s choices without
NOTES player can select at the same time (but eliminating them and is an effective
don’t worry about mutually exclusive stepping-stone to unassisted character
Give the player a few thoughts on lenses). design. It is especially useful for men-
how he can make his character differ- tal disadvantages, because it gives the
ent from other PCs built using the The player adds the cost of any player more latitude in defining his
same character template. For lenses selected to the cost of the base character’s personality.
instance, you might include a brief list template and writes down both sets of
of useful traits to buy with leftover abilities. Example: Not all knights use
points, advice on how to flesh out the broadswords; many prefer the mace.
player-defined traits in the template Example: It is possible to represent On our heroic knight template, we
(e.g., self-imposed mental disadvan- the “heroic knight” in our example as could replace “Broadsword (A) DX+2
tages, Patrons, and the details of Ugly a “warrior” template modified by [8]-14” with “Axe/Mace or Broad-
appearance), or thoughts on appropri- “heroic” and “knight” lenses: sword, both (A) DX+2 [8]-14” and let
ate or necessary equipment. the player choose.
Warrior
Example: We mention that the We could also offer a choice of
player should specify his knight’s coat 101 points mental disadvantages. Instead of
of arms and liege lord. He also needs requiring Code of Honor, Honesty, and
weapons, armor, and a mount! Since You are a fantasy warrior – a bar- Vow, we could say: “A total of -50
Wealth (Comfortable) cannot cover all barian, knight, swashbuckler, or points chosen from Charitable [-15*],
that, we suggest using a few leftover someone else who lives by the sword. Code of Honor (Chivalry) [-15],
points to purchase additional Wealth – Honesty [-10*], Selfless [-5*], Sense of
or to buy his liege lord as a Patron Attributes: ST 12 [20]; DX 12 [40]; IQ Duty [-2 to -20], Truthfulness [-5*],
who can provide these things. 10 [0]; HT 12 [20]. and Vow [-5 to -15].” Note how disad-
vantages with variable values offer a
For an occupational template, this Secondary Characteristics: Dmg 1d- range of point costs, and how disad-
is the place to note the job roll, month- 1/1d+2; BL 29 lbs.; HP 12 [0]; Will vantages that require self-control rolls
ly pay, and wealth level for the job – 10 [0]; Per 10 [0]; FP 12 [0]; Basic are marked (*) to indicate that they
see Jobs (p. 516). Job prerequisites Speed 6.00 [0]; Basic Move 6 [0]. might be at ¥.5, ¥1, ¥1.5, or ¥2 value,
should appear in the template; there is depending on the self-control number.
no need to reiterate them here. Skills: Armoury (Melee Weapons) (A)
IQ-1 [1]-9; Shield (E) DX+2 [4]-14;
ADDITIONAL and two weapon skills, each (A)
OPTIONS DX+2 [8]-14.

Character templates need not be Lenses
“set pieces.” With a little extra effort,
you can greatly expand the versatility Heroic (-9 points): You are wise, hon-
of templates by building in tools that orable, and a leader of men. Add +1
let the player customize his character IQ [20], Honesty (6) [-20], Vow
in the course of buying the template. (Never refuse a request for aid)
[-15], Leadership (A) IQ [2], and
Tactics (H) IQ [4].

Knight (+3 points): You are an invest-
ed knight, with all the attendant
privileges and duties. Add
Comfortable [10], Status 2 [10],
Code of Honor (Chivalry) [-15],
Duty (Liege Lord, 9 or less) [-5],
Heraldry (A) IQ-1 [1], and Riding
(Horse) (A) DX [2].

CREATING TEMPLATES 449

RACIAL TEMPLATES

The baseline character in GURPS What Is a Race? Be sure to distinguish between
is human, but nonhumans are com- purely cosmetic features and those
mon in many game worlds. The col- A “race” is normally a biological that actually affect play. Outward
lection of traits that differentiate a species – human, tiger, elf, Gray alien, appearance is often just a “special
nonhuman species from humanity is etc. – but you need not limit yourself effect,” and special effects should not
called a “racial template.” to this definition. A race might be a cost points – see Features and Taboo
genetically engineered subspecies, a Traits (p. 452). Only genuine differ-
Unlike character templates, racial particular category of fantastic crea- ences in function, relative to a human,
templates are not normally optional or ture (for instance, “faerie” or “vam- call for definition in terms of attrib-
customizable – every member of a pire”), or a specific make or model of utes, advantages, and disadvantages.
species must purchase its racial tem- construct (golem, robot, sentient Assigning point values to racial char-
plate, exactly as written. Furthermore, computer program, etc.). What mat- acteristics unnecessarily is a sure-fire
racial templates are subject to a num- ters is that every member of the group way to make a multiracial campaign
ber of special rules that have ramifica- possesses a common set of identifi- confusing, if not unbalanced.
tions in play, and may even include able traits.
“hidden features” that can affect out- How Do They Think?
comes in the game. What Do They
Look Like? Decide how members of the race
CONCEPT act, and lend some thought to the
A race’s appearance suggests many race’s dominant cultural background.
Before building a racial template, of its racial traits. For instance, a These things determine the race’s
you should develop a clear idea of species with four arms needs to pur- mental traits, including racial skills.
what it is you are designing. A racial chase Extra Arms, because it has two Here again, be careful to distinguish
concept is not a character concept – more arms than a human, which is an features that affect play from those
you are creating an entire species, and advantage. Likewise, a species with that do not.
must consider morphology, survival one eye should have One Eye, as its
strategies (biological, technological, or lack of binocular vision puts it at a dis- The most challenging problem is to
magical), group behavior, and culture. advantage next to a human. determine how the race thinks. This is
crucial if you expect people to roleplay

450 CREATING TEMPLATES

members of the race! Humanity’s two PC Races vs. NPC Races
primary motivations seem to be sex
and material comfort. Other races A “player character race” is one that the PCs can belong to at the
might not share these drives. Of time of character creation. A “nonplayer character race” is one reserved
course, any biological creature must for NPCs under the GM’s control. There is no rule distinction between
feel some instinct to preserve its young a PC race and an NPC race. As the GM, you are free to assign a race to
and itself, or the race will vanish. either category – or even to move a race from one category to the other
Races that lack this drive would have during the course of the campaign.
psychologies that humanity would
find truly alien. Try not to be too restrictive, however. GURPS, being a generic sys-
tem, has rules for most situations. This makes it feasible to allow PCs
SELECTING to belong to races reserved for NPCs in other games (ghosts, monsters,
TRAITS robots, etc.) if the players and GM are up to the roleplaying challenge.

A racial template consists of attrib- Player-Created Races
ute modifiers, secondary characteris-
tic modifiers, advantages, disadvan- It is the GM’s job to design the racial templates for his campaign.
tages, quirks, and skills that apply to The rules given here have fewer arbitrary limitations and balancing fac-
every member of the race. A race may tors than do those for creating individual characters, because this is
also have features that do not have a intended to be a GM’s system, and the GM is free to decide what is bal-
point cost but that do have in-game anced in his campaign.
effects.
That said, the adventurous GM might allow an especially good play-
Most of the mental and physical er or group to design races for their characters. This can be a major
traits in Chapters 1-3 are suitable as time-saver for the GM in a campaign that calls for a plethora of non-
racial traits. More rarely, social traits human species!
are appropriate – for instance, an
entire race might enjoy Social Regard A few tips for GMs who wish to allow player-created races:
or suffer from Social Stigma.
• Watch out for abuse. The lack of balancing factors in these rules
As the GM, you are free to assign makes it possible to create a race that has a significant advantage in
exotic (1) and supernatural (5) traits effectiveness over the human race. Do not allow such races – at least,
to racial templates as needed – even if not as PCs.
such traits are otherwise forbidden (in
which case nonhumans are likely to • Do not allow abilities (or combinations of abilities) that you do not
be the only ones who have such traits). want in the PCs’ hands, however balanced they may be. In particular,
A few traits explicitly note that they keep an eye on exotic and supernatural traits. If a trait is strictly off-lim-
are reserved for racial templates, and its to all PCs, then the race of the PC should be unimportant.
cannot occur otherwise.
• Player-generated races work best in game worlds that already have
In all cases, make sure that the many different races, because “yet another race” will rarely upset the
traits you choose are in line with the campaign. Be sure to have a few ready-made PC races on hand for play-
racial concept and, more importantly, ers who do not wish to create their own, however – and to serve as
make sense. examples for those who do.

Racial Attribute • Be leery of player-created NPC races. In most game worlds, NPC
Modifiers races are supposed to be somewhat mysterious. Mystery is hard to
maintain when the creator is a member of the party!
If the ST, DX, IQ, or HT of an aver-
age member of a race differs from the A member of this race buys a per- Example: A racial -0.75 to Basic
human norm of 10, that race has a sonal ST 9 [-10], IQ 14 [80]. He then Speed would cost -15 points. A racial
“racial attribute modifier.” This costs applies his racial attribute modifiers: template with this modifier would
±10 points per ±1 to racial average ST ST+10 gives ST 19, and IQ-1 gives IQ note “Basic Speed-0.75 [-15].”
or HT, or ±20 points per ±1 to racial 13.
average DX or IQ. A member of a race with such
Racial Secondary modifiers calculates his basic second-
A member of a race with such Characteristic Modifiers ary characteristics from his attributes
modifiers pays for his personal scores as usual, after applying all racial
as usual, and then applies his racial These work much as do racial attribute modifiers. He may buy these
modifiers to find his final scores. attribute modifiers. The main differ- characteristics up or down, as usual.
ence is the point cost: ±1 to HP costs After that, he applies racial secondary
Example: A racial +10 to ST costs ±2 points; ±1 to FP costs ±3 points; characteristic modifiers to find his
100 points, while a racial -1 to IQ costs and ±0.25 to Basic Speed or ±1 to Will, final scores.
-20 points. A racial template with Perception, or Basic Move costs ±5
these modifiers notes “ST+10 [100]” points.
and “IQ-1 [-20].”

CREATING TEMPLATES 451

Example: A member of a race with capabilities. Such traits cost 0 points, bonus allowed). Write this as, for
DX+2, HT+1, and Basic Speed-0.75 and fall into two categories: instance, “+1 to Forgery [2]” or “+3 to
buys a personal DX 12 [40], HT 12 Fast-Talk [6].” This trait does not actu-
[20]. His racial attribute modifiers Features: A “feature” is just a note ally grant the skill – it gives a bonus
make this DX 14, HT 13. These attrib- on how the race differs cosmetically or whenever a member of the race rolls
utes give Basic Speed 6.75. Next, he physiologically from humanity when against that skill or its default.
buys his Basic Speed up to 7.75, for 20 that difference does not grant an
points. At the very end, he applies his advantage or a disadvantage. For Treat a racial knack for a group of
racial Basic Speed-0.75 to get a final instance, a human subspecies geneti- related skills as a Talent (see p. 89).
Basic Speed 7.00. cally modified to lack an appendix has Each +1 to those skills costs 5 points
a feature; so does a fantasy race that for six or fewer skills, 10 points for
Racial Advantages bears a magical mark from birth. seven to 12 skills, or 15 points for 13
and Disadvantages Faster and slower maturation are fea- or more skills. The maximum bonus is
tures as well. A race’s native environ- +4. If this is not a standard Talent,
A nonhuman race could conceiv- mental conditions are also features, if note which skills get the bonus. (Keep
ably possess almost any advantage or they differ from the human norm an open mind – some unusual things
disadvantage that an individual could (humans are adapted to 1G of gravity, might be “closely related” for a race
. . . within reason. When in doubt, the have a temperature “comfort zone” of that thinks nothing like humanity!)
GM should exercise common sense. 35° to 90°, and breathe 78% nitro-
gen/21% oxygen at 1 atm of pressure). Racial ineptitude at one skill is a
Traits related to build – Skinny, A race that can tolerate a broader spec- flat -1 point for -4 to skill. This is just
Overweight, Fat, Very Fat, Dwarfism, trum of conditions than humanity has a racial Incompetence quirk (see
and Gigantism (see Build, p. 18) – are an advantage, however! p. 164), and is subject to all the usual
relative to the racial norm. They’re rules for Incompetence. To keep
valid for individuals, not races. To cre-
ate an entire race that is smaller or Any biological creature must feel some instinct
larger than humanity, assign an to preserve its young and itself, or the race
appropriate Size Modifier (see Size would vanish. Races that lack this drive would
Modifier, p. 19). This has no point cost have psychologies that humanity would find
– the advantage of longer reach can- truly alien.
cels out the disadvantage of being a
large target, while the disadvantages Taboo Traits: A specific advantage, things balanced, no race can be
of being short balance the advantage disadvantage, or skill might be off- incompetent at more than five individ-
of being hard to hit. Individual mem- limits (“taboo”) for the race – that is, ual skills (-5 points), and the affected
bers of such races can have any build; no member of the race can possess skills must be important in the game
e.g., an ogre with racial SM +1 could that trait. Given the number of possi- world to qualify for points.
take Dwarfism and have a personal ble choices, and the small odds that a
SM of 0. given character would actually take a Evaluate racial incompetence at a
particular trait, this is not considered group of related skills like a Talent, but
Note that racial disadvantages do a disadvantage. Often, “taboo traits” put a minus sign in front of the cost.
not count against the campaign disad- result from racial disadvantages; for For instance, -2 with 7-12 skills
vantage limit (see Disadvantage Limit, instance, No Legs (Sessile) logically would be a -20-point racial disadvan-
p. 11). This limit applies only to per- forbids movement-related traits. To tage. A race can have only one “group
sonal disadvantages. For instance, a keep a race fun to play, do not assign incompetence.”
player in a campaign with a -75-point excessive numbers of taboo traits,
disadvantage limit may take up to -75 and give a plausible cultural, psycho- The bonuses and penalties above
points in disadvantages, regardless of logical, or physiological reason for apply to all specialties of any affected
which race he selects for his PC. each one. skills.

Racial Quirks Racial Skill Bonuses Effects of Experience: When an indi-
and Penalties vidual improves a racially modified
It can be useful to assign a few skill, disregard the racial modifiers
quirks on a racial basis to define a A race with a particular gift for a and calculate the new level based sole-
race’s minor disadvantages or person- skill or a set of skills has an advantage, ly on the points he spent. Apply the
ality traits. Use these sparingly, how- while a race that is unusually inept racial skill bonus to his final skill level.
ever – players are obligated to roleplay has a disadvantage. For example, a member of a race with
their quirks, and too many racial +1 to Fast-Talk would pay only 1 point
quirks can result in a complicated, Racial talent for one skill costs 2 to have Fast-Talk at IQ. If he wanted to
unplayable character. points for +1 to skill, 4 points for +2, improve Fast-Talk to IQ+1 later on, he
or 6 points for +3 (the maximum would pay 1 more point.
Racial quirks do not count against
the normal limit of five quirks.

Features and
Taboo Traits

Many traits distinguish a race with-
out actually increasing or reducing its

452 CREATING TEMPLATES

Racially Learned Skills 453

A “racially learned skill” is an auto-
matic level of proficiency acquired by
every member of the race. It is usually
innate or instinctive. For instance, a fly-
ing race might possess racial Flight
skill, while a race with padded feet
might have Stealth skill on a racial
basis.

Price racially learned skills just as if
an individual character were learning
them; see the Skill Cost Table (p. 170).
Write them in the format used on char-
acter templates (see Listing Skills,
p. 448), calculating the final skill level
based on the racial average attribute
score. For instance, a race with DX+4,
HT-1 would have racial average DX 14,
HT 9, and would write “Flight (A) HT
[2]-9” and “Stealth (A) DX+1 [4]-15.”
The actual skill levels that an individual
member of the race enjoys vary accord-
ing to his personal attribute scores.

Effects of Experience: Members of a
race may improve racially learned skills
just as they would any other skill. For
instance, if a race has Flight at HT, it
would cost an individual member of
that race 2 points to increase his skill to
HT+1.

Racial Magic

Many races of fantasy and horror
are magical. Below are two possible
ways to handle magical powers.

Advantages: Any advantage might
stem from the race’s magical nature as a
“special effect” (see Advantage Origins,
p. 33). Such advantages require mana
to work. If regions without mana are
common in the campaign world, apply
the limitation “Mana Sensitive,” worth
-10%, to the cost of such abilities.

Racially Innate Spells: Every member
of the race might have the inborn abili-
ty to cast one or more spells; see
Chapter 5. Ignore the usual prerequi-
sites and buy the spells using the rules
for racially learned skills (above). Add
racial Magery, if any, to the race’s skill
level. Magery is not required for racial-
ly innate spells – but without Magery,
the race’s magic only works in areas of
high or very high mana (see Mana,
p. 235). A race that can only cast racial-
ly innate spells pays the usual 5 points
for Magery 0, but may buy Magery 1+
with a -40% Accessibility limitation:
“Racially innate spells only.”

CREATING TEMPLATES

SETTING race to the players and help them role- gregarious, do they favor large cities,
THE PRICE play members of that race! small villages, or family groups?

The point cost of a racial template • What do they look like? How big? • How do they think? Do they have
– called the “racial cost” – is the sum How tall? What shape? What color? a racial philosophy? Do they have a
of the point values of its constituent Do they have hair? What color? Do religion? Do they have many religions?
traits. Anyone who wishes to play a they have eyes? Do they have distinc- How do they react in an emergency?
member of the race must pay its tive markings? Do they have hands or Do they like new things, or are they
racial cost. If racial cost is 0 points or claws? What direction do their joints complacent? Can they be trusted?
more, treat the template as an advan- bend?
tage; if racial cost is negative, treat it • How do they get along with oth-
as a disadvantage. (It costs 0 points to • Were they created or did they ers? Do they fight among themselves?
play a human, but there is no need to evolve? Where? What environmental How do they react to new races?
note this, as characters are assumed pressures combined to give them their Suspiciously? Enthusiastically? Do
to be human unless they buy a racial advantages and disadvantages? they trade with other races? Are there
template.) other races they particularly like or
• How do they live? How do they dislike?
A template with a negative racial govern themselves? Are they gregari-
cost does not count against the cam- ous or solitary in nature? If they are
paign disadvantage limit, if any (see
Disadvantage Limit, p. 11). Individual Character Cost vs. Racial Strength
mental, physical, and social problems
are as likely for members of low-pow- Many GMs will want to create at least a few races with powers far
ered races as they are for humans and beyond those of normal humans. In game terms, this means a high
members of high-powered races! racial cost. This may create an apparent contradiction in the campaign:
“If these guys are so great, why don’t they control the whole world?”
Players must normally purchase all
elements of a racial template as a unit, The most obvious answer is “They do!” There’s no reason why
and may only “opt out” of a given trait humanity has to be the dominant race of the campaign. Mankind could
with the GM’s permission. Opting out be an insignificant minor race or an audacious upstart to the ancient
of an advantageous trait saves points, civilizations of the nonhumans!
while opting out of a disadvantageous
one costs points. In both cases, pay However, the GM needn’t forsake superhuman races in an anthro-
racial cost normally and note the pocentric campaign. The factors that allow individuals to excel are
changes separately – for instance, “No quite different from those that allow one race to dominate another. An
Infravision [-10]” or “No Bad Sight anthropocentric story or campaign usually assumes that humanity has
[25].” See Omitting Racial Traits several advantages, relative to other races, that would never show up on
(p. 262) for additional details. a character sheet.

SUB-RACES Humans are prolific. A woman can easily bear six to 12 children in
her lifetime; a man can father children with a huge number of women.
A “sub-race” is a sizeable portion of Other races might be strictly monogamous, tied to a complex fertility
a race that differs significantly from cycle, or generally infertile, allowing humanity to dominate them
the racial norm. Examples include through sheer numbers. This is borne out in nature, where extremely
extreme sexual dimorphism, true bio- capable species – such as the dominant carnivores – inevitably have
logical subspecies, half-breeds, and smaller populations than “lesser” species.
radical mutations (or even upgrades,
in the case of robots). Humans are aggressive. They tend to want money, property, and
power for its own sake. A pragmatic race might let the humans move
Sub-races should share most of the in and assume the burden of running things! They might insist on a few
parent racial template, but with a few basic rights, but not necessarily political power. Of course, an extreme-
important differences (and a match- ly powerful or supernatural race might pursue goals that humans can-
ing adjustment to racial cost). Write not comprehend, leaving humanity to do as it pleases.
up sub-races exactly as you would
“lenses” for a character template – see Humans are organized. A super-race might never need to band
Lenses (p. 449). together for protection from nature as humanity’s ancestors did. Such
a race might be unable to withstand an organized human military cam-
FILLING IN paign or political program. Indeed, such a race might find real eco-
THE BLANKS nomic and cultural benefit in accepting organization by humanity.

After finalizing any racial template, This discussion applies equally to extremely low-powered races vis-
try to answer the following questions. à-vis humanity. The members of a hive mind or primitive horde might
The answers will help you present the be no match for us individually, but be more prolific, aggressive, and
organized than we are as a race!

454 CREATING TEMPLATES

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

ANIMALS AND
MONSTERS

An “animal” is any nonsapient natural
creature; for instance, a rhinoceros or a
tiger. A “monster” is any fantastic or unnat-
ural creature – either sapient, like a drag-
on, or nonsapient, like a flesh-eating slime
– that lacks a civilization. Both are consid-
ered characters, with racial templates (see
Chapter 15) that show how they differ
from human beings.

Since animals are normally nonsapient
and have few or no skills, and since mon-
sters are most often intended as adver-
saries for the PCs, the GM need not create
them as fully fleshed-out characters. If the
GM controls a creature, he can simply
refer to its unmodified racial template – or
just list a few combat statistics, if the thing
is intended as an opponent.

However, animals and monsters intend-
ed as PCs always require full statistics. The
GM might wish to create some animal and
monster NPCs as fully realized characters,
too. This is the difference between “a wolf”
and “the canny old wolf that terrorized the
village”!

COMMON
ANIMALS

Below are descriptions of a few com-
monly encountered beasts. Use these as
guidelines when assigning statistics to ani-
mals not listed here.

Apes

Apes are intelligent – too intelligent to
be really predictable. Animal Handling
rolls are at -1 with such creatures. Apes
attack in close combat by grappling and
biting, rather than by punching or kicking.

ANIMALS AND MONSTERS 455

Chimpanzee A bear walking or running on four Traits and Skills: As grizzly bear, plus
legs is a two-hex creature. When it Swimming-13.
A peaceful plant-eater. A chimp stands on its hind legs to fight, it is a
won’t fight unless it or its young are one-hex creature. Cave Bear
threatened.
Black Bear A prehistoric creature.
ST 11; DX 12; IQ 6; HT 12.
Will 10; Per 10; Speed 6; Dodge 9; A small, omnivorous bear. ST 23; DX 11; IQ 4; HT 13.
Will 11; Per 10; Speed 6, Dodge 9;
Move 7. ST 14; DX 11; IQ 4; HT 13.
SM 0; 140 lbs. Will 12; Per 10; Speed 6; Dodge 9; Move 7.
SM +1; 1,400 lbs.
Traits: Arm ST +3; Bad Grip 2; Move 7.
Brachiator; DR 1; Sharp Teeth; SM 0; 300 lbs. Traits and Skills: As grizzly bear.
Wild Animal.
Traits: Blunt Claws; DR 2; No Fine Cats
Skills: Climbing-14. Manipulators; Semi-Upright; Sharp
Teeth; Temperature Tolerance 2; Cats are only domesticated in the
Gorilla Wild Animal. sense that they tend to hang around
human settlements. It is a very rare
A great ape. Skills: Brawling-13. trainer who can teach a cat a trick it
doesn’t feel like learning . . .
ST 15; DX 12; IQ 6; HT 12. Grizzly Bear
Will 10; Per 10; Speed 6; Dodge 9; House Cat
ST 19; DX 11; IQ 4; HT 13.
Move 7. Will 11; Per 10; Speed 6; Dodge 9; A domestic feline, kept as a pet,
SM +1; 400 lbs. familiar, or mouser.
Move 8.
Traits: As chimpanzee. SM +1; 800 lbs. ST 4; DX 14; IQ 4; HT 10.
Skills: Climbing-14. Will 11; Per 12; Speed 6; Dodge 10;
Traits and Skills: As black bear, plus
Bears Bad Temper (9). Move 10.
SM -3; 10 lbs.
When making reaction rolls for Polar Bear
bears, remember that grizzly, polar, Traits: Catfall; Combat Reflexes;
and cave bears are mostly carnivorous ST 20; DX 11; IQ 4; HT 13. Domestic Animal; Night Vision 5;
and ill-tempered. Any mother bear Will 11; Per 10; Speed 6; Dodge 9; Quadruped; Sharp Claws; Sharp
with cubs will be aggressive: -3 to Teeth.
reactions! Move 7 (Water Move 3).
SM +1; 1,000 lbs. Skills: Brawling-16; Jumping-14;
Stealth-14.
Animal and Monster Statistics
Lion
Creature statistics in this chapter appear in an abbreviated form.
A big, lazy cat, found in both plains
Attributes: These are racial averages, suitable for a typical encounter. and jungle. Lions hunt in small
The GM might wish to increase ST for especially large specimens, or groups.
decrease it for young or scrawny examples. Find racial attribute modi-
fiers for templates by subtracting 10 from the racial average score; e.g., ST 16; DX 13; IQ 4; HT 11.
the ST 14 listed for a black bear means its racial template would have Will 11; Per 12; Speed 6; Dodge 9;
ST+4.
Move 10.
Secondary Characteristics: These, too, are racial averages. They are SM +1 (2 hexes); 500 lbs.
derived from attributes using the usual formulas – but note that many
animals have racial Will, Perception, and Move modifiers. For damage, Traits: DR 1; Laziness; Night Vision 5;
see Damage for Animals (p. 460). Calculate Basic Lift normally, if need- Quadruped; Sharp Claws; Sharp
ed. Assume that HP equal ST and FP equal HT, unless noted otherwise. Teeth; Temperature Tolerance 1;
Dodge is based on Basic Speed, and includes the +1 for Combat Wild Animal.
Reflexes, if applicable. Size Modifier (SM) and average weight also
appear here. Skills: Brawling-15; Running-13.

Traits: A summary of the creature’s most important meta-traits, Tiger
advantages, and disadvantages, from the perspective of interacting with
humans. Most creatures have other traits, but these only matter when A solitary hunting cat, usually a
creating a full-fledged racial template. jungle dweller.

Skills: The creature’s significant skills, at racial average levels. ST 17; DX 13; IQ 4; HT 11.
Assume that a creature with the Wild Animal meta-trait will also have Will 11; Per 12; Speed 6; Dodge 10;
Survival skill in its native habitat at a level equal to its Perception.
Move 10.
SM +1 (2 hexes); 500 lbs.

Traits: Combat Reflexes; DR 1; Night
Vision 5; Quadruped; Sharp Claws;
Sharp Teeth; Temperature
Tolerance 1; Wild Animal.

Skills: Brawling-15; Stealth-13;
Swimming-13.

456 ANIMALS AND MONSTERS

Individualizing Animals

The GM is not bound by the statistics given to ani- FP: May vary by up to 20% either way.
mals, which describe typical creatures. Individuals Speed and Move: May vary a little bit. Even a one-
may vary! point increase can grossly inflate the price of a horse or
other mount.
Attributes
Traits
ST: May vary significantly – perhaps by as much as
20%, for large creatures. High ST is extremely valuable Advantages and Disadvantages: These rarely vary
for draft animals. much – but feel free to give an animal mental disad-
vantages and quirks that reflect its personality. Unique
DX: Rarely varies by more than a point either way. beasts might have other mundane traits; e.g., a horse
IQ: Realistically, this is fixed, as noted in the Domestic with Danger Sense or Luck.
Animal and Wild Animal meta-traits (see Mentality Meta-
Traits, p. 263). Even a one-point increase in IQ makes a Meta-Traits: Morphology meta-traits should never
beast a genius of its kind. However, allowing an occa- change. However, Domestic Animal and Wild Animal
sional animal of any species to be IQ 6 makes for some are interchangeable for a few species.
interesting pets!
HT: May vary by one or two points in either direction. Skills

Secondary Characteristics These are unlikely to vary much without training –
see Animal Training (p. 458).
Any change in attributes will affect these scores nor-
mally. In addition: Cost

HP: May vary by up to 20% in either direction, espe- Any improvement in an animal’s stats will increase
cially on a large creature. its market value. ST and FP are valuable for draft ani-
mals, Will for war beasts, Per for hunting animals,
Will: May vary by one or two points either way. Move for mounts, and IQ and skills for any trained ani-
Strong-willed creatures tend to be ornery but hard to mal. Likewise, inferior stats will decrease value. In the
spook – which is desirable for war beasts, less so for absence of specific formulas, details are up to the GM.
pets. A normally wild animal with Domestic Animal and
Mount skill would be worth a small fortune!
Per: Rarely varies by more than a point either way.
High Per is greatly prized in hunting animals!

Deer Large Guard Dog Traits: Acute Vision 3; Domestic (or
Wild) Animal; Enhanced Move 1
Deer are swift herbivores, frequent- ST 9; DX 11; IQ 4; HT 12. (Air Speed 24); Flight (Winged; Air
ly hunted for food. Will 10; Per 12; Speed 5.75; Dodge 8; Move 12); No Fine Manipulators;
Sharp Beak; Sharp Claws.
Red Deer Move 10.
SM 0; 90 lbs. Skills: Brawling-16.
A large deer, common in medieval
Europe and still widespread today. Traits: Chummy; Discriminatory Sharks
Smell; Domestic Animal; Quadru-
ST 12; DX 13; IQ 3; HT 12. ped; Sharp Teeth. Some sharks are almost docile,
Will 10; Per 10; Speed 6.25; Dodge 9; feeding primarily on whatever fish
Skills: Brawling-13; Tracking-13 happen to swim by at the wrong
Move 9. (bloodhounds have Tracking-15 or moment. Those sharks aren’t any fun
SM +1 (2 hexes); 200 lbs. better!). at all.

Traits: Hooves; Impaling Striker Falcons Tiger Shark
(Antlers); Quadruped; Weak Bite;
Wild Animal. These birds of prey are commonly A large, aggressive shark.
used for sport hunting. A trained fal-
Skills: Running-13. con – or one disturbed by a stranger – ST 19; DX 13; IQ 2; HT 12.
might attack a human. A diving falcon Will 10; Per 12; Speed 6.25; Dodge
Dogs can reach Move 70!
10; Move 7 (Water).
Domesticated dogs are used for Large Falcon SM +2 (4 hexes); 900 lbs.
hunting or as pets (or, if large enough,
as draft animals). There are many ST 3; DX 14; IQ 3; HT 10. Traits: Bad Temper (9); Combat
breeds; statistics can vary greatly. Cost Will 10; Per 12; Speed 6; Dodge 9; Reflexes; Crushing Striker (Snout);
ranges from negligible to $10,000+. A Discriminatory Smell; Doesn’t
healthy, trained dog – even a mongrel – Move 2 (Ground). Breathe (Gills); Enhanced Move 1
is always worth at least $200. SM -4; 5 lbs. (Water Speed 14; Costs Fatigue 2);

ANIMALS AND MONSTERS 457

Ichthyoid; Pressure Support 2; Skills: Stealth-12; Wrestling-13. Large Boar
Sharp Teeth; Subsonic Hearing;
Vibration Sense; Wild Animal. Rattlesnake ST 15; DX 12; IQ 5; HT 14.
Skills: Brawling-15; Survival (Open Will 12; Per 12; Speed 6.5; Dodge 10;
Ocean)-14. A common poisonous snake. Even
little ones are dangerous; the gigantic Move 8.
Great White Shark diamondback described here (8’ long) SM +1 (2 hexes); 400 lbs.
is deadly. Modifiers to HT roll for
An apex predator! venom: +1 if venom is immediately Traits: Bad Temper (9); Combat
sucked out; +2 if antivenin (TL6+) is Reflexes; Cutting Striker (Tusks);
ST 38; DX 10; IQ 2; HT 12. used. DR 2; Quadruped; Wild Animal.
Will 10; Per 10; Speed 5.5; Dodge 9;
ST 5; DX 13; IQ 2; HT 11. Small Boar
Move 7 (Water). Will 10; Per 10; Speed 6; Dodge 9;
SM +3 (7 hexes); 7,000 lbs. A javelina or peccary.
Move 4.
Traits: As tiger shark, plus Hard to SM -1; 15 lbs. ST 8; DX 12; IQ 5; HT 12.
Kill 2. Will 12; Per 12; Speed 6; Dodge 10;
Traits: Cold Blooded (50°); Fangs;
Skills: Brawling-12; Survival (Open Toxic Attack 2d (Cyclic, 1 day, 4 Move 7.
Ocean)-14. cycles; Follow-Up, Fangs; SM -1; 45 lbs.
Resistible, HT-4); Vermiform; Wild
Snakes Animal. Traits: As large boar, but only DR 1.

Snakes are among the most com- Skills: Brawling-15; Stealth-13. Wolves
mon reptiles on Earth; they are found
in temperate or warmer climates on Wild Boars These wild carnivores hunt in
six of the seven continents. packs. They can be domesticated,
Wild hogs are hunted for food – but more or less, but never like a dog.
Python they’re dangerous game. Boars are
smart, evil-tempered, and likely to Timber Wolf
A large constrictor. Statistics are attack even when encountered by
for a 15’ Indian python, but lengths accident. They try to knock a man ST 10; DX 12; IQ 4; HT 12.
can reach 30’! down with a slam and gore him while Will 11; Per 14; Speed 6; Dodge 9;
he’s down. Sows are less aggressive
ST 13; DX 12; IQ 2; HT 11. and smaller (give them lower ST and Move 9.
Will 10; Per 10; Speed 5.75; Dodge 8; weight). SM 0; 120 lbs.

Move 4. Traits: Discriminatory Smell; DR 1;
SM 0; 225 lbs. Night Vision 2; Quadruped; Sharp
Teeth; Temperature Tolerance 1;
Traits: Cold-Blooded (50°); Constric- Wild Animal.
tion Attack; Vermiform; Wild
Animal. Skills: Brawling-14; Tracking-14.

PETS AND TRAINED ANIMALS

Ordinary trained animals are prop- IQ 2 – Average reptile. It can learn to IQ 5 – Average monkey. As above, but
erty purchased with cash, not advan- come when called for food and rec- with more complexity. The GM
tages bought with points. The GM ognize its master, and not to attack may allow anything he ever saw a
controls their actions – but the better him (usually!). trained animal do in the movies . . .
a beast’s training, the more likely it is
to do what its owner wishes. IQ 3 – Average horse or hawk. It can Find training time by comparing
learn commands appropriate to its the IQ level of the training to the ani-
These rules do not apply to unique work – hunting commands for a mal’s actual IQ score on the table on
animal companions, such as familiars. hawk, riding or pulling commands p. 459. These times assume the train-
For a creature like that, determine its for a riding or draft animal, etc. – er works with the creature for about
point total as a character, and then see and general tolerance for all four hours a day, in a pair of two-hour
Allies (p. 36) to find its point cost as an humans or for specific masters sessions.
advantage. (trainer’s choice). It knows its
name and comes when called (if it This table gives the time needed to
ANIMAL feels like it). train the animal to the general level
TRAINING given above. To teach a specific new
IQ 4 – Average dog. As above, plus trick – if the GM agrees the animal can
To train an animal, you must know “fetch,” “attack,” “find,” “sit,” etc., learn it – allow 14 days for an IQ 5
the appropriate specialty of Animal as appropriate for the species. It creature, 30 days for one of IQ 4, or 90
Handling skill (p. 175). The level of tries to warn its owner of dangers it days for an IQ 3 animal.
training an animal can absorb perceives, and fights – and even
depends strictly on its IQ: dies – for its master.

458 ANIMALS AND MONSTERS

IQ of IQ Level of Training Camels
Animal
2 34 5 A dry-plains native, the camel can
2 60 days Imp. go for four days without drinking. Its
3 30 days Imp. Imp. Imp. stubborn temper gives -4 to Animal
4 7 days Imp. Handling rolls.
5 2 days 360 days Imp. 720 days
ST 22; DX 9; IQ 3; HT 12.
180 days 360 days Will 11; Per 12; Speed 5.25; Dodge 8;

90 days 180 days Move 7.
SM +1 (3 hexes); 1,400 lbs.
Imp.: Training to this IQ level is impossible.
Traits: Bad Temper (12); Domestic
Value of is intelligent or ferocious. Details are Animal; Enhanced Move 1
Trained Animals up to the GM. All Animal Handling (Ground Speed 14); Hooves;
rolls to train wild beasts are at -5. Peripheral Vision; Quadruped;
Training may affect the value of a Reduced Consumption 3 (Water
domestic animal, as follows: RIDING AND Only); Stubbornness; Weak Bite.
DRAFT ANIMALS
IQ 2 creatures can learn so little Skills: Survival (Desert)-12.
that training doesn’t enhance their Below are descriptions of several Cost: $1,500.
value. domestic animals kept for riding and
draft purposes. If you are using minia- Donkeys, Horses,
IQ 3 creatures are of little use tures, a horse is considered a three- and Mules
unless trained. Decrease the value of an hex figure, with the rider in the middle
IQ 3 domestic animal by 1/3 if it is hex. Donkeys and small mules are These animals were domesticated
“unbroken” (that is, untrained). Any two-hex figures. For mounted combat in Europe and Asia before recorded
young specimen is automatically rules, see p. 396. history. They were introduced to the
unbroken and therefore cheaper. Americas in the late 15th and 16th
Cost: The costs listed assume a centuries.
IQ 4 creatures are assumed to be beast trained to IQ 3 level (see above).
trained to IQ 3 level when bought; if Several factors can increase this price: Cavalry Horse
not, decrease price by 1/3, as above.
When an IQ 4 creature is fully trained • Increases in ST raise cost by a A light warhorse.
to IQ 4 level, increase its base value by percentage equal to the ST increase.
50%. (Very strong specimens might be ST 22; DX 9; IQ 3; HT 11.
worth more than this formula would Will 11; Per 12; Speed 5; Dodge 9;
IQ 5 creatures follow the IQ 4 rule. indicate!)
In addition, when an IQ 5 creature is Move 8.
fully trained to IQ 5 level, double its • Increases in IQ raise cost as SM +1 (3 hexes); 1,400 lbs.
base value. described under Value of Trained
Animals. Traits: Combat Reflexes; Domestic
If a domestic animal (anything with Animal; Enhanced Move 1
the Domestic Animal meta-trait) has • Increases in Move drastically (Ground Speed 16); Hooves;
higher IQ than normal for its species, it raise a riding animal’s value! Double Peripheral Vision; Quadruped;
is worth much more when fully cost for +1 Basic Move, and quadruple Weak Bite.
trained: multiply by 4 for +1 IQ or by it for +2 Basic Move. Remember to
10 for +2 IQ. For example, an IQ 5 multiply Basic Move for Enhanced Skills: Brawling-10; Mount-12.
horse is worth 10 times base value. Move, if any. Cost: $4,000.

If a wild animal (anything with Other changes are up to the GM. Donkey
the Wild Animal meta-trait) is cap-
tured and trained, its value goes up Sturdy, but too small for an adult
markedly – especially if the creature to ride.

War-Trained Mounts ST 15; DX 10; IQ 3; HT 11.
Will 11; Per 12; Speed 5.25; Dodge 8;
War-trained riding animals are worth more than other mounts.
Before TL4, they are taught to enter battle and fight savagely, even if Move 5.
their rider is unhorsed. A trained warhorse is likely to attack anyone SM +1 (2 hexes); 500 lbs.
other than its owner who approaches it! At TL4+, they are not taught
to fight, but to be reliable transportation, not afraid of gunfire or Traits: Domestic Animal; Enhanced
screams. Move 1/2 (Ground Speed 8);
Hooves; Quadruped; Weak Bite.
At any TL, it takes a year of war training (after “basic” training to IQ
3 level) to get the mount fit to ride into battle. This doubles its value. Cost: $1,000.
The statistics and cost given for the cavalry horse and heavy warhorse
under Riding and Draft Animals assume a beast with this training. Draft Horse

Up to three more years of training are possible, giving +1 per year ST 25; DX 9; IQ 3; HT 12.
on all Riding and Animal Handling rolls in combat, and increasing base Will 10; Per 11; Speed 5.25; Dodge 8;
value by 50% per year.
Move 6.
SM +1 (3 hexes); 2,000 lbs.

ANIMALS AND MONSTERS 459

Traits: Domestic Animal; Enhanced Traits: As draft horse, but Enhanced Elephants
Move 1 (Ground Speed 12); Move 1 (Ground Speed 14).
Hooves; Peripheral Vision; Often domesticated. Intelligent,
Quadruped; Weak Bite. Cost: $1,500. loyal, and hardworking.

Cost: $2,000. Racehorse ST 45; DX 12; IQ 5; HT 12.
Will 10; Per 10; Speed 4; Dodge 7;
Heavy Warhorse Some are faster!
Move 4.
ST 24; DX 9; IQ 3; HT 12. ST 20; DX 9; IQ 3; HT 11. SM +3 (10 hexes); 12,000+ lbs.
Will 11; Per 12; Speed 5.25; Dodge 9; Will 11; Per 11; Speed 5; Dodge 8;
Traits: Crushing Striker (Tusks);
Move 7. Move 9. Domestic (or Wild) Animal; DR 4;
SM +1 (3 hexes); 1,900 lbs. SM +1 (3 hexes); 1,100 lbs. Enhanced Move 1 (Ground Speed
8); Peripheral Vision; Quadruped
Traits: As cavalry horse, but with Bad Traits: As draft horse, but Enhanced (but replace No Fine Manipulators
Temper (12) and Enhanced Move 1 Move 1 (Ground Speed 18). with One Arm); Trunk (Extra-
(Ground Speed 14). Flexible; Long, +1 SM; Weak, 1/4
Skills: Mount-12; Running-12. ST); Weak Bite.
Skills: Brawling-12; Mount-13. Cost: $4,000+.
Cost: $5,000. Cost: $10,000.
Saddle Horse
Large Mule Oxen
An ordinary riding horse.
ST 22; DX 10; IQ 3; HT 12. Oxen are steers trained to work in
Will 12; Per 12; Speed 5.5; Dodge 8; ST 21; DX 9; IQ 3; HT 11. the fields. They are hardier and easier
Will 10; Per 12; Speed 5; Dodge 8; to keep than horses.
Move 6.
SM +1 (2 hexes); 1,400 lbs. Move 6. ST 27; DX 8; IQ 3; HT 12.
SM +1 (3 hexes); 1,200 lbs. Will 12; Per 10; Speed 5; Dodge 8;
Traits: As donkey, but Enhanced
Move 1/2 (Ground Speed 9) and Traits: As draft horse. Move 4.
sterile. Skills: Mount-11. SM +2 (3 hexes); 2,500 lbs.
Cost: $1,200.
Cost: $2,000. Traits: Domestic Animal; DR 2 (Skull
Small Mule only); Enhanced Move 1 (Ground
Pony Speed 8); Impaling Striker (Horns);
ST 18; DX 10; IQ 3; HT 12. Neutered; Quadruped; Weak Bite.
ST 18; DX 10; IQ 3; HT 11. Will 12; Per 12; Speed 5.5; Dodge 8;
Will 11; Per 12; Speed 5.25; Dodge 8; Cost: $1,500.
Move 5.
Move 7. SM +1 (2 hexes); 800 lbs.
SM +1 (3 hexes); 800 lbs.
Traits: As donkey, but sterile.
Cost: $1,000.

FANTASY MONSTERS
Here are three sample monsters from
Damage for Animals fantasy. If the GM changed the names and
filed off the serial numbers, they could
Basic damage for a beast is thrust for its ST, found by consulting the work equally well in a science-fiction
Damage Table (p. 16). Modify this as follows: background!

A bite does thrust-1. Weak Bite, common for large herbivores, gives Basilisk
an extra -2 per die. A bite is crushing unless the creature has Sharp
Teeth (cutting) or Fangs (impaling). This creature resembles a small snake
with a hideous face and a crested head. It
A claw does thrust-1, like a punch. Blunt Claws give +1 per die, attacks with a “death gaze”: if it meets its
and damage is crushing. Sharp Claws give no bonus, but inflict cutting victim’s eyes, it can kill using the power of
damage. its mind.

A kick does thrust. Blunt Claws or Hooves give +1 per die, and inflict ST 2; DX 12; IQ 3; HT 12.
crushing damage; Sharp Claws give no bonus, but cause cutting dam- Will 10; Per 10; Speed 6; Dodge 9; Move 4.
age. The Quadruped meta-trait includes Horizontal (p. 139), which
gives -1 per die to kicking damage to creatures without Claws. For large SM -3; 2 lbs.
herbivores, this cancels out the +1 per die for Hooves. Traits: DR 1; Toxic Attack 3d (Maledic-

Most other attacks (horns, tusks, etc.) are Strikers (p. 88). These tion 1; Psychokinetic; Vision-Based);
inflict thrust damage, at +1 per die. Damage type depends on the Striker. Vermiform; Wild Animal.

Predators and combat-trained animals often have Brawling at Gryphon
DX+2 level or better. This adds +1 per die to basic thrust damage for
any of these attacks! The gryphon is a beautiful creature,
with the head, wings, and forefeet of an
eagle, and the hindquarters of a lion. It is
immune to abilities that affect

460 ANIMALS AND MONSTERS

only mammals or only birds, as it is Traits: Acute Vision 3; Combat Striges have excellent aim, and can
neither! Reflexes; DR 2; Enhanced Move 1 even attack through the eyeslits of a
(Air Speed 24); Flight (Winged; Air helm. Only two striges can strike thus
A gryphon can be tamed if cap- Move 12); Quadruped; Sharp Beak; in a second, but a successful hit can
tured young, but at -3 to Animal Sharp Claws; Wild Animal. also blind the eye!
Handling skill. An untamed gryphon
in good health might sell for $5,000; a Skills: Brawling-14. ST 5; DX 15; IQ 4; HT 11.
tame one is priceless, and will not Will 10; Per 10; Speed 6.5; Dodge 9;
cooperate with anyone except its Strix
trainer. Move 2 (Ground).
A strix (plural striges) is a blood- SM -1; 18 lbs.
ST 17; DX 12; IQ 5; HT 12. sucking, birdlike creature about the
Will 11; Per 12; Speed 6; Dodge 10; size of a crow, with a long beak and Traits: Bloodlust (9); Flight (Winged;
large eyes. Striges are nocturnal. A Air Move 12); Night Vision 5; No
Move 6 (Ground). strix attacks with its long, barbed Fine Manipulators; Vampiric Bite;
SM +1 (2 hexes); 600 lbs. beak. If the attack penetrates armor, Wild Animal.
the strix sucks its victim’s blood.
Skills: Brawling-17.

ANIMALS IN COMBAT

To play animals realistically, Swarm Attack Examples
remember that:
Bats. A “swarm” is about a dozen carnivorous bats. Flies at Move 8.
• Most animals fear man and flee Does 1d cutting damage per turn. Armor protects with its normal DR.
rather than attack. Exceptions include Dispersed after losing 8 HP.
a mother defending her young; an
insect swarm defending its nest; an Bees. A “swarm” is about 1,000 common bees. Flies at Move 6.
old or wounded “man-eater” predator; Stings for 1 HP of injury per turn unless the victim is completely pro-
a creature so stupid it doesn’t realize tected. Dispersed after losing 12 HP. Will give up the attack if foe is
men are dangerous; a creature so chased 50 yards from hive. Note that bothering a hive may get several
powerful men aren’t dangerous; or a such swarms after you!
large herbivore (bison, rhino,
Triceratops), which might charge any- Rats. A “swarm” is about a dozen rats. It has Move 4. Does 1d cut-
thing out of sheer orneriness. ting damage per turn. Armor protects with its normal DR. Dispersed
after losing 6 HP.
• In a balanced ecology, predators
are comparatively rare, prey species Armor: A creature’s hide, shell, fur, protection becomes worthless!
common. etc. may give DR, as indicated in its Against larger creatures like rats,
Traits entry. armor protects indefinitely with its
Use the combat rules in Chapters normal DR.
11-13 for animals, just as you would Swarm Attacks
for humans, with special attention to Special tactics may work on some
Multi-Hex Figures (p. 392) and Treat a group of small creatures as types of swarms. For instance, one can
Trampling (p. 404). A few other notes: a unit when it attacks. This “swarm” destroy bees with insecticide or baffle
fills one hex on a combat map. A them by leaping into a pond. This is
Reach: A beast’s reach is “C” (“close swarm attacks the victim(s) in its own up to the players’ cleverness and the
combat only”) unless its description hex (if you are not using a combat GM’s common sense.
notes otherwise. Most animals initiate map, it attacks one person per sec-
combat with a grapple or a slam, fol- ond), and will not change victims Attacking a Swarm: Any attack
lowed by an attempt to crush the foe without a good reason. against a swarm hits automatically.
or tear him to pieces in close combat. The swarm gets no defense roll. (A
A swarm attack hits automatically – swarm of hard-to-hit creatures just
Defense: Animals usually defend by there is no attack or defense roll. requires more damage to disperse.) A
dodging. Dodge is Basic Speed + 3, Every turn until it is dispersed, it does swarm takes damage as if it were
dropping all fractions. Most animals the listed damage to its victim(s). Diffuse – see Injury to Unliving,
have No Fine Manipulators (included Homogenous, and Diffuse Targets
in Ichthyoid, Quadruped, and Special clothing (a wetsuit or bee- (p. 380). Shields can crush flying crea-
Vermiform) and, therefore, cannot keeper’s suit, or high-tech airtight tures; a shield does 2 HP per turn, and
parry. Those with manipulators (e.g., armor) may protect against some can attack at the same time as a
apes) can parry. Unarmed Parry is types of swarm. Against tiny creatures weapon. Stomping does 1 HP per turn
(DX/2) + 3 or (Brawling/2) + 3. No nat- like insects, ordinary clothing gives to nonflying vermin, and can be done
ural animal can block. Many animals complete immunity for two seconds, while attacking with a weapon.
have Combat Reflexes, which adds +1 while low-tech armor protects for five
to defenses. seconds; then the bugs get in and the

ANIMALS AND MONSTERS 461

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

TECHNOLOGY
AND ARTIFACTS

462 Nearly every game world features gad-
getry of some kind, ranging from primitive
to futuristic . . . and often including things
which are magical or just weird. These
rules describe how to create and use all
kinds of devices, what happens when they
are damaged, and how to fix them.

VEHICLES

A vehicle might be little more than a
means of getting somewhere. But it could
be a source of extra firepower . . . or even
part of a character concept! A fighter
plane or mecha might be the high-tech
equivalent of a knight’s trusty steed, and a
party on the move might call a pirate ship
or star cruiser “home” for adventure after
adventure.

VEHICLE
STATISTICS

The tables in this section give statistics
for common vehicle types, and note the
skills required to operate them. Some vehi-
cle systems, such as sensors or weapons,
may require additional skills not listed
here.

ST/HP: The vehicle’s ST and HP. These
are equal for a powered vehicle: the vehi-
cle’s mass determines both how powerful
its engine must be (ST) and how hard it is
to destroy (HP). For an unpowered vehicle,
this score is marked with a †, and repre-
sents HP only; ST is 0. Unpowered vehicles
have Injury Tolerance (Homogenous); oth-
ers have the Machine meta-trait (p. 263),
which includes Injury Tolerance
(Unliving).

Hnd/SR: The first number is Handling;
the second is Stability Rating. See Control
Rolls (p. 466) for details.

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS

HT: The vehicle’s HT, a measure of Cost: The vehicle’s cost, in $. separate description will detail
reliability and ruggedness. Fragile “K” means thousands; “M” means weapons and equipment.
vehicles have an additional code: “c” millions.
for Combustible, “f” for Flammable, BASIC VEHICLE
or “x” for Explosive. Locations: The vehicle’s hit loca- MOVEMENT
tions, besides its body. If a vehicle has
Move: The first number is multiple instances of a location, a When adventurers use a vehicle for
Acceleration and the second is Top quantity precedes the abbreviation; transportation, it is usually enough to
Speed, in yards/second (double this to e.g., “3M” for a three-masted ship, or know how fast it can move (Top Speed,
get mph). These statistics are equiva- “14D” for 14 draft animals. A vehicle’s in yards/second) and how far it can
lent to a character’s Move and his top hit locations determine both how it travel (Range, in miles). The rules
speed with Enhanced Move. For moves (see Basic Vehicle Movement, below are for those occasions when
ground vehicles, a * indicates a road- below) and what parts can be hit in the details become important.
bound vehicle, while a ‡ indicates one combat (see Vehicle Hit Location
that must follow rails. For spacecraft, Table, p. 554).
divide Acceleration by 10 to find it in
Earth gravities (G), and note that c “Are you telling me that you built a time
means the speed of light (186,000 machine . . . out of a DeLorean?”
miles/second).
“The way I see it, if you’re going to build a
LWt.: Loaded Weight, in tons (1 ton time machine into a car, why not do it with
= 2,000 lbs.), with maximum payload some style?”
and a full load of fuel. Actual weight is
often lower. – Marty McFly and Doc Brown,
Back to the Future
Load: The weight, in tons, of occu-
pants and cargo the vehicle can carry, Code Location Long-Distance
including the operator. To find cargo A arm Movement
capacity, subtract the weight of occu- C caterpillar tracks
pants (for simplicity, assume 0.1 D draft animals When covering significant dis-
ton/person, including gear). To find E exposed rider tances, the following factors can be
“curb weight” (with fuel but no other G large glass windows more important than Top Speed and
payload), subtract Load from LWt. g small glass windows Range.
H helicopter rotors
SM: The vehicle’s Size Modifier. L leg Cruising Speed: Travel conditions,
Occ.: The number of occupants the M mast and rigging safety considerations, and the need to
vehicle can carry in reasonable com- O open cabin conserve fuel or energy mean that in
fort, given as “crew+passengers”; e.g., R runners or skids practice, ground and air vehicles typi-
2+6 means two crew and six passen- r retractable cally use only 60-70% of Top Speed
gers. “A” indicates a vehicle built for S large superstructure when traveling long distances. An ani-
long-term accommodation, with room or gondola mal-drawn or rowed vehicle can only
to sleep, cook, etc. If the vehicle s small superstructure use its Top Speed for a few minutes –
affords the occupants special protec- T main turret for the beasts or rowers, this is as
tion, there is an additional code: “S” t independent turret fatiguing as running! The highest sus-
for Sealed (p. 82), “P” for Pressure W wheel tainable speed is about 75% of this,
Support (p. 77), or “V” for Vacuum Wi a pair of wings which is as fatiguing as hiking. If the
Support (p. 96). X exposed weapon mount beasts or rowers drop below 1/3 FP,
DR: The vehicle’s DR. Some vehi- halve Top Speed.
cles have different DR on various faces Draft: For a watercraft, the mini-
or locations. The table lists the two mum depth of water, in feet, it can Endurance: Divide Range in miles
most important DR scores – for safely operate in. by cruising speed in mph to determine
ground vehicles, this is usually the endurance in hours for situations
front DR and the average of side and Stall: For an aircraft, the minimum where “loiter” capability matters more
rear DR. speed, in yards/second, it must main- than range. The vehicle must carry
Range: The travel distance, in tain to take off and stay airborne. “0” provisions in order to take advantage
miles, before the vehicle runs out of means it can hover. of endurance in excess of one day.
fuel. For unpowered or exotic vehi- Food and water are about 12 lbs. per
cles, “–” means only provisions (food Notes: Any special capabilities or person per day, but won’t keep for
and water) limit range. “F” means the problems the vehicle has. If the vehicle more than a month before TL5 (at
FP of the rowers or draft animals, and has complex systems, footnotes or a TL5+, canned goods and similar
stored provisions, limit range. rations are available).
Spacecraft either omit this statistic or
use the entry to give faster-than-light
drive capabilities.

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS 463

Ground Vehicle Table

TL Vehicle ST/HP Hnd/SR HT Move LWt. Load SM Occ. DR Range Cost Locations Notes

TEAMSTER 27† 0/2 12c 6/6 0.29 0.14 +1 1 2 F $400 14DER [1]
22† 0/2 11c 4/9* 0.29 0.2 +1 1+1 1 F $330 2DE2W [1]
0 Dogsled 35† -3/4 12c 4/8* 0.84 0.5 +2 1 2 F $680 2DE4W [1]
1 Chariot 53† -2/3 12c 4/9* 2.4 1.2 +3 1+9 2 F $11K 4DO4W [1]
3 Wagon
4 Coach

DRIVING/TL (LOCOMOTIVE)

5 Locomotive 152 -2/5 11 1/35‡ 28 0.2 +5 1+1 8 700 $45K 8W

DRIVING/TL (AUTOMOBILE)

6 Roadster 42 -1/3 9f 2/22* 0.85 0.25 +2 1+1 4 200 $3.6K O4W
5 360 $8K G4W
6 Sedan 46 0/4 10f 3/30* 1.3 0.5 +3 1+3 4 375 $10K O4W
5 450 $20K G4W
6 Jeep 52 0/3 11f 2/32 1.6 0.4 +2 1+3 5 500 $15K G4W
4 650 $25K g4W
7 Pickup Truck 55 0/4 11f 3/50 2.2 0.85 +3 2 4 500 $85K GW4
5 500 $30K G4W
7 Sedan 53 0/4 11f 2/55* 1.8 0.6 +3 1+4 5 400 $45K G4W

7 Van 68 -1/4 11f 2/45* 3.5 1 +4 1+7

7 Sports Car 57 +1/4 10f 5/75* 1.8 0.4 +3 1+3

8 Luxury Car 57 0/4 11f 3/57* 2.1 0.6 +3 1+4

8 SUV 68 -1/4 11f 3/50 4 1.5 +3 1+4

DRIVING/TL (HEAVY WHEELED)

6 2 1/2-Ton Truck 88 -1/4 11f 1/24* 8.5 3 +4 1+2 5 375 $17K G6W
11f 1/30* 14.7 6.7 +6 1+66 4 400 $120K G4W
7 Bus 100 -2/4 12f 2/55* 10.3 0.3 +4 1+2 5 1,200 $60K G6W

8 Semi-Truck 104 -1/5 [2]

DRIVING/TL (MOTORCYCLE)

6 Hvy. Bike 33 +1/2 10f 5/32* 0.4 0.1 01 4 200 $1.5K E2W
10f 3/27* 0.3 0.1 01 3 190 $1K E2W
7 Scooter 29 +1/2 11f 8/55* 0.5 0.2 0 1+1 4 200 $8K E2W
10f 9/78* 0.42 0.2 0 1+1 3 150 $11K E2W
7 Hvy. Bike 33 +1/2

8 Sports Bike 30 +2/2

DRIVING/TL (TRACKED)

7 APC 111 -3/5 11f 1/20 12.5 1.6 +4 2+11S 50/35 300 $120K 2CX [3]

[1] Draft animals are dogs for the dogsled, and horses for the [3] “APC” means “armored personnel carrier.” The higher DR
chariot, wagon, and coach. applies only to attacks from the front. Mounts a machine gun
(7.62mm or .50) on an external mount on the roof.
[2] Hauls a 48’ semi-trailer. With the trailer, Hnd/SR is -3/4 and
Move is 1/30*. Trailer is HP 100†, Load 24, SM +5, and DR 3.

Watercraft Table

TL Vehicle ST/HP Hnd/SR HT Move LWt. Load SM Occ. DR Range Cost Loc. Draft Notes
2/2 0.3 0.2
BOATING/TL (UNPOWERED)

0 Canoe 23† +1/1 12c +1 2 2 F $200 O 3

BOATING/TL (MOTORBOAT)

7 Inflatable

Boat 20 +2/2 11 2/12 0.6 0.5 +1 1+4 2 100 $2K O 2
11f 3/20 2 1 +2 1+9 3 200 $18K O 3
7 Speedboat 50 +1/3

SHIPHANDLING/TL (SHIP)

2 Penteconter 85† -4/3 11c 1/5 12.5 7.5 +8 55 3F $14K MO 6 [1, 2]
12c $23K M 13 [1, 3]
3 Cog 147† -3/4 11f 0.1/4 85 60 +7 18 5– $15M g2S 25

6 Tramp Steamer 750 -3/6 0.01/6 14,000 9,000 +10 41+29A 30 7,200

[1] A “penteconter” is a Greek war galley with a sail and a [2] Using oars, with 50 rowers. Under sail, Range is “–” and
single bank of oars, favored by raiders and pirates. A “cog” (or Move is 1/4 in a fair wind. Has a bronze ram, which adds +1 per
“roundship”) is a single-masted medieval sailing ship. die of collision damage.

[3] Wind-powered. Weight includes ballast.

464 TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS

Aircraft Table

TL Vehicle ST/HP Hnd/SR HT Move LWt. Load SM Occ. DR Range Cost Loc. Stall Notes

PILOTING/TL (LIGHT AIRPLANE) +3 1+1
+4 1+1
6 “Barnstormer”
+10 10A
Biplane 43 +2/3 10f 2/37 0.9 0.2 3 85 $55K O2WWi 23
3/70 1.15 0.3 +7 2+21 3 500 $150K G2WWi 25
7 Light Monoplane 45 +2/3 10f +6 2+6P

PILOTING/TL (LIGHTER-THAN-AIR) +4 1+3
+5 2+12
6 Blimp 120 -4/3 10 1/38 18 4 +5 3+14 1 2,300 $3M S 0

PILOTING/TL (HEAVY AIRPLANE) +3 1+3P

6 Twin-Prop 0 1+1
+4 1+5
Transport 100 -2/3 12f 2/114 12.8 3 4 1,500 $340K g3WWi 34
5 1,300 $10M G3WWi 55
7 Business Jet 84 0/3 11f 4/275 9.2 1.6

PILOTING/TL (HELICOPTER) 10f 2/90 1.5 0.5 3 225 $400K GH3Wr 0
10f 2/65 4.7 1.4 3 300 $2M gH2R 0
7 Light Helicopter 47 +2/2 11f 3/110 10 3.5 5/20 370 $8M gH3W 0 [1]
7 Utility Helicopter 70 0/2
8 Utility Helicopter 87 +1/2

PILOTING/TL (VERTOL)

9 Air Car 45 +2/3 11f 4/190 1.2 0.4 4 900 $500K G4W 0

PILOTING/TL (CONTRAGRAVITY)

^ Grav Bike 30 +4/2 11 20/80 0.4 0.2 3 1,000 $25K E 0
10/100 2 1 4 2,000 $400K O 0
^ Grav Jeep 50 +3/3 12

[1] Rotors have DR 20; all other locations have DR 5.

Spacecraft Table

TL Vehicle ST/HP Hnd/SR HT Move (G) LWt. Load SM Occ. DR Cost Locations Notes

PILOTING/TL (AEROSPACE) 10 +9 2+4SV 4 $350M – [1]

9 Orbital Clipper 170 -2/3 10fx 30/9,000 (3G) 515 25 +6 $35M
400 +9 $100M
PILOTING/TL (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)

^ Shuttlecraft 136 +2/4 12 20/c (2G) 100 1+10SV 100 3Rr [2]
2+18ASV 100 3Rr2t [2, 3]
^ Star Freighter 500 0/5 11 15/c (1.5G) 1,000

[1] The orbital clipper is a Space Shuttle replacement that can [3] Has hyperspectral sensors (Hyperspectral Vision, with
boost to Earth orbit and make reentry. Uses ordinary Newtonian 360° Vision and Telescopic Vision 10) and radar (Radar, 500,000
space flight. Cost drops to M$70 at TL10+. yards, Targeting). Its two independent turrets can, at extra cost
($0.5M apiece), mount laser cannon: Damage 6d¥5(2) burn, Acc
[2] Uses reactionless or gravitic thrusters to accelerate to light 10, Range 100,000/300,000, RoF 4, Rcl 1.
speed (c) – or whatever fraction of c the GM sets as a limit. Star
drives and force fields, if any, are up to the GM.

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS 465

Convoys: Multiple vehicles travel- definitions of terrain and weather mph, depending on the current. Heavy
ing in convoy or formation move at conditions. seas (caused by high winds) usually
80% of the speed of the slowest vehi- reduce speed. An unpowered vessel
cle, due to the need for station keep- Terrain: Figure cruising speed in faced with a storm may require
ing. On a successful Leadership roll, mph from Top Speed in yards/second Shiphandling and Seamanship rolls
use 100% of the speed of the slowest as follows: by captain and crew to avoid being
vehicle. For long journeys, roll daily. blown off course or worse.
• Very Bad (deep snow, swamp):
Control Rolls Top Speed ¥ 0.1 mph on wheels or Draft: “Draft” is the distance
runners, Top Speed ¥ 0.15 mph on between the vessel’s waterline and its
A vehicle operator must make a tracks, Top Speed ¥ 0.2 mph on legs. keel. In water shallower than this, it
“control roll” – against Boating, will run aground. Re-floating it
Driving, Piloting, etc., as appropriate – • Bad (hills, woods): Top Speed ¥ requires waiting for a change in tide,
in any potentially hazardous situation. 0.25 mph on wheels, Top Speed ¥ 0.5 or jettisoning ballast or payload. In
The GM may require a roll every few mph otherwise. waters of unknown depth, it is best to
hours in an ongoing situation such as proceed slowly and cautiously! (Roll
a fierce storm, or every few seconds in • Average (dirt road, plains): Top against Area Knowledge to recall
combat! Speed ¥ 0.5 mph on wheels, Top Speed depth, or against Navigation (Sea) to
¥ 1 mph otherwise. read charts.)
Modifiers: The vehicle’s Handling
(Hnd) statistic modifies all control • Good (paved road, salt flats): Top Air Travel
rolls. For sudden deceleration or tight Speed ¥ 1.25 mph.
turns, see Pushing the Envelope An aircraft’s cruising speed is about
(p. 395). Visibility modifiers (-1 to -9 For a road-bound vehicle (e.g., a Top Speed ¥ 1.6 mph. Powered air-
for darkness, fog, etc.; -10 for total normal car), use Top Speed only when craft can reach Top Speed ¥ 2 mph at
darkness) apply if there is risk of colli- traveling on a road. Off road, use the the cost of burning 50% more fuel,
sion; they aren’t important when try- lower of Top Speed and 4 ¥ reducing Range. Supersonic aircraft
ing to weather a storm at 30,000 feet Acceleration in these formulas. (Move 360+) can only use their full
or in the mid-Atlantic, but they’re cru- Top Speed at high altitudes where the
cial if you’re zigzagging through Example: A luxury car with Move air is thin (15,000’ and above). At low
mountains, landing or taking off in an 3/57 gets an average travel speed of 57 altitudes, Top Speed rarely exceeds
aircraft, sailing just off a rocky coast, ¥ 1.25 = 71 mph on a paved road 350-400 (700-800 mph).
etc. See the relevant vehicle skill for (Good). On a dirt road (Average), it
other modifiers. The GM may assess could manage 57 ¥ 0.5 = 28 mph. But The GM should require control
situational modifiers as he sees fit. off road in Average terrain, it would rolls for landings during bad weather
drop to 3 ¥ 4 ¥ 0.5 = 6 mph! or visibility, and when traveling at
On a failure, the operator does not high speeds at very low altitudes or
perform the maneuver properly, or For a vehicle that follows rails (e.g., through mountains. Winds and
fails to avoid the hazard. Failure by no a locomotive), treat the rails as Good storms affect balloons and airships
more than the vehicle’s Stability terrain. However, the vehicle cannot much as they do sailing vessels.
Rating (SR) is a minor problem; e.g., a move at all off the rails!
car skids off the road, or a ship loses a Ground Speed: A powered air vehi-
few hours of travel. More severe fail- These rates assume sustained trav- cle can usually taxi at up to 2/3 its stall
ure means a major problem; e.g., a el at a safe cruising speed. A vehicle speed.
crash. The GM may allow a second going flat out can move up to 60%
control roll, at a hefty penalty, to keep faster (e.g., Top Speed ¥ 2 mph over Space Travel
a major problem from becoming a Good terrain, like a road), but the GM
total disaster; the modifiers should may require hourly control rolls to It takes about (0.10 ¥ velocity in
depend on the exact action(s) the avoid a mishap, such as a collision. yards/second)/(Acceleration in G) sec-
operator takes. On a critical failure, onds to reach a given cruising velocity.
disaster is inevitable! Weather: This affects ground vehi- A spacecraft moving at that velocity
cles just as it does hikers. Treat sleds takes roughly (0.5 ¥ distance in
Large vehicles may require a and snowmobiles as skates on ice and miles)/velocity hours to travel a given
roll against both the master’s as skis on snow. distance. For comparison, the moon is
Shiphandling skill and the crew’s aver- around 0.25 million miles from Earth,
age Crewman skill. Use the average Water Travel and Mars is 34 million miles away at
margin of success or failure. its closest approach.
A powered vessel moves at Top
Ground Travel Speed ¥ 2 mph. A sailing craft moves Example: To accelerate to a veloc-
at Top Speed ¥ 2 mph in ideal wind ity of 90,000 yards/second in a space-
A ground vehicle moves on wheels, conditions; actual speed can drop to a craft with an acceleration of 1.5G
runners, tracks, or legs, as indicated fraction of this – or even zero – would take (0.1 ¥ 90,000)/1.5 = 6,000
by the notation in its Locations entry. depending on wind direction and seconds, or about 1.7 hours. At a
The average speed it can sustain on a strength. A rowed vessel can only sus- velocity of 90,000 yards/second, you
journey depends on the terrain and tain a speed of Top Speed ¥ 1.5 mph would reach Mars in (0.5 ¥
the weather. See Hiking (p. 351) for (and even this will eventually fatigue 34,000,000)/90,000 = 189 hours.
the crew).

Currents can increase or reduce
speed directly – typically by a few

466 TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS

It is common to give interplanetary Vehicle Weapon Mounts
distances in “astronomical units”
(AU). One AU is 93 million miles, the Any weapon built into a vehicle is considered “mounted.” The type
average distance from the Earth to the of mount determines the weapon’s stability and arc of fire. For the
Sun. Interstellar distances are often effects of these mounts on ranged attacks from moving vehicles, see
given in light-years (5.865 trillion Ranged Attack Modifiers (p. 548).
miles) or parsecs (3.26 light-years).
Earth’s nearest stellar neighbor, Alpha Arm Mount (TL8): If a vehicle has arms or strikers, these may con-
Centauri, is 4.3 light-years away. tain weapons or have hands to carry them. They attack using the rules
for handheld weapons.
For a spacecraft that uses a
Newtonian reaction drive (e.g., any Carriage (TL3): Some ships have weapons on wheeled carriages or
real-life rocket), Top Speed is really sleds, either on deck or firing through ports. Treat these as fixed
“delta-v”: the maximum change of mounts, but skill is not limited to control skill, as the gun crew can use
velocity it can perform before running ropes to aim the weapon.
out of reaction mass (rocket fuel, etc.).
Each acceleration or deceleration External Open Mount (TL1): Also called a pintle mount, deck gun,
“costs” a fraction of this delta-v. etc. Such a weapon can elevate to fire upward or swivel to fire in other
directions. However, it isn’t actually in the vehicle; the weapon and its
To lift into low Earth orbit requires crew have no protection.
Move 8,700. To achieve planetary
escape velocity and leave orbit requires External Stabilized Open Mount (TL7): As above, but with gyro-sta-
an extra Move 3,600. For other planets, bilization to reduce penalties for firing on the move.
multiply these velocities by the square
root of (M/R), where M is planetary Fixed Mount (TL1): You aim the gun by aiming the vehicle; e.g., a
mass in Earth masses and R is plane- cannon in the nose of a jet fighter. The weapon can only shoot in one
tary radius in Earth radii. In addition direction. The mount specifies which: [F] to the front, [R] to the right,
to having sufficient delta-v, the space- and so on. The operator rolls against the lower of his Gunner skill or his
craft’s acceleration must exceed the control skill to hit.
planet’s gravity (1G, for Earth).
Hardpoint (TL6): Aircraft often mount weapon pods, bombs, or mis-
Travel through interplanetary space siles on pylons under their body or wings. Treat these as fixed mounts,
requires using up the required delta-v but apply a -1 to Accuracy. External weapon loads like this count as
to achieve the desired velocity, coasting encumbrance.
as described above, then using delta-v
to slow to the velocity needed to enter Stabilized Turret (TL7): As below, but with gyro-stabilization to keep
orbit at the destination. the weapon aimed at the target regardless of the vehicle’s motion.

Example: A spacecraft in Earth Turret (TL5): This is a turret (or head) with weapons built into it. It
orbit has a delta-v of 200,000. It uses can swivel to change facing independently of the vehicle. Large turrets
3,600 to break orbit and 90,000 to are usually powered.
accelerate to a cruising velocity (Move
90,000). It drifts at that speed for 1.5 Hyperjump enhancement on the Warp or on the vehicle – operator, crew, or
hours to reach the moon, and then use advantage (p. 97) for one possibility. passenger.
another 88,500 to decelerate to the
moon’s orbital velocity. Its remaining BASIC VEHICLE Tactical Combat with Vehicles:
delta-v is 200,000 - 3,600 - 90,000 - COMBAT When using the rules in Chapter 12
88,500 = 17,900. with vehicles, you can represent vehi-
“Vehicle combat” is any combat cles with models or multi-hex coun-
Some superscience space drives that involves handheld weapons fired ters drawn at three feet to the inch.
don’t have to worry about delta-v – the from within a vehicle (e.g., bank rob-
spacecraft can accelerate constantly! bers shooting from a getaway car), Maneuvers
The only requirement for such a weapons mounted on a vehicle (such
spacecraft to leave a planet is that its as a fighter jet, tank, mecha, or spy Treat a vehicle as an extension of
acceleration exceeds the planet’s grav- car), or attacks that use the vehicle its operator. It moves on the operator’s
ity. When it travels long distances, it itself as a weapon (ramming, punch- turn, at his place in the turn sequence
requires time in hours equal to the ing and kicking with the arms and legs (as determined by his Basic Speed). To
square root of (50.8 ¥ distance in mil- of a mecha, etc.). control his vehicle, the operator must
lions of miles/Acceleration in G) to take a Move or Move and Attack
complete the trip. In the rules below, a vehicle’s “oper- maneuver on his turn – but it’s the
ator” is the person at the controls. A vehicle that moves or attacks, while
If a spacecraft is capable of faster- “control skill” is the skill the operator the operator remains at the controls. If
than-light travel, its performance uses to direct his vehicle; e.g., Driving the operator takes any other maneu-
depends on what kind of superscience or Piloting. An “occupant” is anyone in ver, or is stunned or otherwise inca-
exists. The GM should design a drive pacitated, his vehicle plows ahead
to suit his campaign. See the with the same speed and course it had
on the previous turn.

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS 467

468 The vehicle’s other occupants take
their turns at their place in the turn
sequence. They may use vehicle sys-
tems, provided they are stationed next
to the appropriate controls and take a
suitable maneuver: Concentrate to use
instruments or electronics, Attack or
All-Out Attack to fire vehicular
weapons, etc.

Occupants leaning out windows,
standing on a deck, etc. may find
Attack or even All-Out Defense prefer-
able to All-Out Attack, as they will
have a defense if someone attacks
them instead of the vehicle. This mat-
ters most for vehicles with an exposed
rider (E), glass windows (G or g), or
open cabin (O), and for crew manning
exposed weapon mounts (X).

Bailing Out of a Moving Vehicle:
Anyone who jumps or falls from a
moving vehicle and hits the ground
suffers a collision with an immovable
object, at the vehicle’s speed. If the
vehicle was flying, add falling damage
as well. For details, see Collisions and
Falls (p. 430). To jump between two
moving vehicles, make a DX or
Jumping roll. Apply the penalty for
relative speed given on the Size and
Speed/Range Table (p. 550).

Movement During
Combat

As explained under Vehicle
Statistics (p. 462), a vehicle’s Move
score is split into two numbers:
Acceleration and Top Speed.
Acceleration functions just like Basic
Move for a character; at this speed or
less, the vehicle has no special restric-
tions on movement. At higher speeds –
anything up to Top Speed – use the
High-Speed Movement rules (p. 394),
but substitute control rolls (see
Control Rolls, p. 466) for DX rolls.

Acceleration: A vehicle can acceler-
ate up to its Acceleration each turn. A
diving flyer may add 10 ¥ local gravity
in Gs (1G on Earth) to this.

Deceleration: A powered, wheeled
ground vehicle can decelerate by 5
yards/second per turn. An animal-
drawn or tracked, walking, or slither-
ing ground vehicle can decelerate by
10 yards/second per turn. Most air and
water vehicles can decelerate by (5 +
Handling) yards/second per turn
(minimum 1 yard/second). These rates
assume safe deceleration. It is possible

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS

to decelerate further with a successful way, on subsequent turns, the operator Water Vehicle: Failure by SR or less
control roll, as explained under must make a Piloting-5 roll to pull out! means exactly what it does for a
Pushing the Envelope (p. 395); failure ground vehicle. In addition, anyone
means a loss of control. Ground Vehicle: Failure by SR or standing on an open deck must make
less means the vehicle skids and fails a ST or ST-based Seamanship roll to
Control Rolls to go in the intended direction if you hold on or be washed overboard.
were trying to turn – or veers random- Failure by more than SR, or critical
The operator must make a control ly left or right otherwise. The GM failure, means the vehicle capsizes!
roll whenever he attempts a risky determines if it hits something. Those on deck are tossed overboard
maneuver or encounters an obstacle, Failure by more than SR, or critical automatically. An “unsinkable” vehicle
and whenever his vehicle suffers failure, means it rolls or spins out and like a surfaced sub, rubber raft, or
knockback or major damage. On a crashes. It skids or rolls for a distance canoe can be righted. Other vehicles
failure, he loses control of the vehicle. equal to 1/3 its current velocity before simply sink.
If you are using a rulebook that sup- coming to a stop, and suffers falling
plies a “crash table” for that type of damage based on the velocity it had
vehicle, roll on the table; otherwise, when it lost control.
see the applicable paragraph below. In
addition to these results, a failed con- Shooting through a window is unwise
trol roll always erases any accumulat- if the vehicle is sealed, pressurized, or has
ed bonuses for Aim maneuvers, and vacuum support.
gives a penalty equal to the margin of
failure to any attack from the vehicle
until the operator’s next turn.

Air Vehicle: Failure by the vehicle’s Space or Underwater Vehicle: Failure Attack
Stability Rating (SR) or less means the by SR or less means the vehicle charges
vehicle loses 5 yards of altitude and ahead or veers randomly instead of per- Mounted Weapons: Vehicle occu-
decelerates by 10 yards/second. If it forming the intended maneuver; if it pants can attack with the vehicle’s
was flying dangerously low or slow, it was trying to avoid an obstacle, it fails built-in weapons, provided they are
could hit the ground or stall; other- to do so. A submarine also loses 5 yards manning weapon stations. At TL6+,
wise, it just blunders ahead. Failure by of depth, which might lead to a crash. many armed vehicles have targeting
more than SR, or critical failure, Failure by more than SR, or critical fail- systems (optical sights, radar, com-
means an uncontrollable dive, tailspin, ure, results in severe stress. Make a HT puters, etc.) that add a bonus to the
etc. If the vehicle was climbing, it roll for the vehicle; on a failure, it suf- gunner’s effective skill, just like a tel-
stalls, then starts to fall; otherwise, it fers stress-related damage: a leak, escopic sight. Most of these systems
dives at Top Speed each turn. Either engine failure, etc. only work if the gunner takes an Aim
maneuver. A good TL6 optical sight
Weapon Fire from a Moving Vehicle might add +2 to skill. A typical TL7-8
system, with computerized laser- or
When using a weapon from a moving platform – be it a Tommy gun radar-directed fire control, would
from a getaway car, or a javelin from atop one of Hannibal’s elephants give +3.
– it’s usually harder to hit your target than when you’re standing still or
moving yourself. The penalty depends on how rough the ride is and Ramming: The vehicle operator
whether you’re using a weapon mount or a handheld weapon – see can use the vehicle itself as a weapon;
Ranged Attack Modifiers (p. 548). see Collisions and Falls (p. 430).

It’s even harder to shoot straight if you don’t know when the vehicle Melee Attacks: If the vehicle has
will weave or dodge! If the vehicle dodged and you aren’t the operator, arms or legs, the operator can use it to
you have an extra -2 to hit, or -4 if flying. punch, kick, grab, etc. as if it were an
extension of his body.
Aiming on the move is particularly difficult. The combined bonuses
from aiming (Accuracy, extra turns of Aim, targeting systems, and brac- Handheld Weapons: The viability of
ing) cannot exceed the SR of a moving vehicle unless the sights or handheld weapons depends on the
mount are stabilized. Also apply this limit when firing from a station- vehicle and the situation. Shooters in
ary vehicle that is bobbing in the water or floating in turbulent air. In or on open vehicles, like jeeps and
space, only apply this limit when maneuvering, not when moving in a motorcycles, can fire in almost any
straight line. direction. Occupants of enclosed vehi-
cles must shoot through or lean out of
It is also important to consider apparent relative speed. If two cars an open window, door, hatch, port, or
are rushing toward each other on a collision course, the speed of one, firing slit. Shots fired through a glass
relative to the other, may be over 120 mph . . . but the apparent relative windscreen “star” it, rendering it
speed is zero. Only apply speed penalties for crossing targets. Ignore the opaque; it takes a Ready maneuver to
speed of targets moving more or less directly toward or away from you. clear away the broken glass. Shooting
through a window is unwise if the
vehicle is sealed, pressurized, or has
vacuum support – it may result in a
leak or explosive decompression!

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS 469

If the operator fires a handheld

weapon, he must take a Move and Scaling Damage
Attack maneuver. This gives him -2 to
hit or a penalty equal to his weapon’s Large vehicles such as tanks, warships, and starships can have huge
Bulk, whichever is worse – his atten- DR and HP scores, and their weapons can inflict massive amounts of
tion is divided between driving and damage. To avoid excessive die rolling, it is best to adjust the damage
shooting. Do not apply this penalty to scale.
mounted weapon attacks, ramming

attempts, or vehicular melee attacks. Decade Scale (D-Scale): Use this for battles involving tanks or ships

Defense – or even supers. Divide DR, HP, and damage dice by 10 before combat
starts. Round fractions of 0.5 or more up. (Exception: If the converted
A vehicle’s operator may maneuver damage is under 1d, treat fractions up to 0.25 as 1d-3, fractions up to
evasively to avoid attacks on his vehi- 0.5 as 1d-2, and larger fractions as 1d-1.) Convert damage multipliers
cle. Treat this as a dodge; see Dodging to dice first; e.g., 6d¥25 becomes 150d, which scales to 15d. Do not
(p. 374). A vehicle’s Dodge score is divide armor divisors.
(operator’s control skill/2) + vehicle’s
Handling, rounded down. For exam- Century Scale (C-Scale): Use this for combats involving huge vehi-
ple, a biker with Driving (Motorcycle)- cles, such as giant space battleships. Follow the rules above, but divide
14 on a motorcycle with Handling +1 by 100 instead of by 10.
has a Dodge of 14/2 + 1 = 8.
Example: A tank has DR 700 and 300 HP; its main gun does
The GM may require Dodge rolls to 6d¥30(2) and its machine gun does 7d. In D-scale, it would have dDR
avoid other hazards, such as baby car- 70 and dHP 30; its main gun would do 6d¥3(2) and its machine gun
riages and potholes, or to maneuver would do 1d-1.

through tight spots. These could be After the battle, multiply remaining HP by 10 or 100, as appropriate,
instead of control rolls, or to avoid dis- to convert back.
aster after failed control rolls!

Occupants who are free to move

(not strapped in, etc.) may dodge

attacks specifically targeted on them, An attacker can sometimes target a Who’s at the Wheel?
but they get no defense against stray vehicle’s occupants directly. This is
shots or attacks that penetrate the only possible if the vehicle has an There are usually dire conse-
vehicle and go on to strike them. exposed rider (E), glass windows (G or quences when a vehicle’s operator is
g), or an open cabin (O), or if the occu- taken out of action (killed, fell off,
Combat Results pants are on a ship’s deck, cargo bed, abandoned the controls, etc.). A one-
and Hit Location etc. A rider has no cover; someone in or two-wheeled vehicle, or a mecha
an open or glass-windowed vehicle walking on two or three legs, rolls over
A vehicle suffers damage like any has partial cover (legs, groin, and half as if it had lost control. Other types of
other artifact. Certain hit locations the torso). There is an extra -1 to shoot vehicle just charge ahead until they hit
have special damage effects – see the into or out of a window unless the something – but roll 1d each turn. On
Vehicle Hit Location Table (p. 554) for occupant is actually leaning out. a 6, or any roll greater than the vehi-
details. cle’s SR, the vehicle goes out of con-

trol. Someone else can regain control,

There are usually dire consequences when a but may need a few seconds to reach
the controls, depending on where he

vehicle’s operator is taken out of action. was. If the former operator is incapac-
itated, skill rolls will be at -2 or worse

while his body remains in the way!

Hit locations for a given vehicle Collisions Leaking
appear in the Locations column on the
relevant vehicle table, or in the vehi- For the purpose of attack and A leak occurs when a floating vehi-
cle’s text description. Assume that defense rolls, any attempt to use a cle suffers penetrating damage to the
attacks are aimed at the vehicle’s body vehicle as a weapon is a slam (see body below its waterline, a balloon or
(equivalent to the torso on a living Slam, p. 368), with the operator airship takes any penetrating damage
being) unless the attacker specifically rolling against control skill to hit. If to the body, or a submerged vehicle
stated that he was targeting another the intent is to ram, calculate collision takes penetrating damage to any loca-
location. Alternatively, roll randomly damage normally. If the intent is to tion but an external mount. Use the
for hit location. In all cases, only force another vehicle off the road, Bleeding rule (p. 420), but replace the
exposed locations can be hit; e.g., if a assess damage for a “side-on” colli- First Aid roll to stop bleeding with a
tank is behind a hill and only its turret sion, but damage is knockback only. Crewman roll to patch the hole.
is visible, the turret is the only valid For details, see Collisions and Falls
target. (p. 430).

470 TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS

ELECTRONICS

There is a wide variety of electron- Hands-Free Sensors: Sensors worn ordinary telescope, but a large astro-
ic gadgets in most TL6+ game worlds. as goggles, glasses, helmet visors, etc. nomical telescope might require an
Among the most important of these – They require a Ready maneuver to Astronomy roll.
for adventurers, at least – are commu- switch on or off, and function con-
nicators, sensors, and computers. stantly once activated. Visual sensors Passive Visual Sensors
replace unaided vision while active,
COMMUNICATORS but typically restrict peripheral vision. These systems work like normal
To get around this, take a Ready vision, but extend the limits of human
Standard communicators are maneuver to switch off or remove the sight. They are available in all four cat-
radios. They transmit signals by mod- sensor. egories described above.
ulating the intensity, frequency, or
phase of long-wavelength electromag- Manual Sensors: Binoculars, hand Telescopic Optics: Telescopes,
netic radiation. This limits them to the telescopes, metal detectors, radar binoculars, electro-optical scopes, etc.
speed of light (186,000 miles per sec- guns, and similar handheld devices give Telescopic Vision (p. 92):
ond); as a result, they are effectively are generally more powerful and
instantaneous for planetary commu- longer-ranged than hands-free units, Magnification Level
nications but have a noticeable delay but require one or two hands to oper- 2-3¥ 1
over interplanetary distances. Note ate. To use the sensor, the operator 4-7¥ 2
also that ordinary radio frequencies must take continuous Aim maneuvers, 8-15¥ 3
cannot penetrate more than a few which prevents him from moving 16-31¥ 4
yards of water. quickly or attacking.
Further levels follow the same
Depending on the TL and equip- Sights: Sensors attached to a progression.
ment, communicators can send code, weapon, camera, etc. – usually to help
voice, text, video, or data. Many TL8+ aim it. To use the sights, the device to Image Intensifiers (TL7): Most
communicators incorporate satellite which they are attached must be ready often called “night vision” devices,
links or computer systems as well. (occupying one or two hands). If the these electronically amplify ambient
See Communications and Infor- sensor is attached to a weapon, the light to generate a monochrome (usu-
mation Gear (p. 288) for the range, user benefits from it only while mak- ally green) picture. They do not work
cost, and weight of some sample ing an aimed attack. To observe in total darkness, fog, etc. They grant
communicators. through the sights without firing Night Vision (p. 71); the level varies
requires Aim maneuvers, just as for a from 7 at early TL7 to 9 at TL8+.
Communicators use the rules manual sensor. Better systems include electro-optical
under the Telecommunication advan- magnification, giving Telescopic
tage (p. 91), except that Electronics Vehicular or Mounted Sensors: Vision 1-4 on portable systems, more
Operation (Communications) skill Long-range sensors mounted in a on vehicular systems.
rolls replace IQ rolls. To extend range, vehicle or on a tripod. Most display
make an Electronics Operation information on a screen or similar Thermal Imaging Sensors (TL8):
(Communications) roll at -1 per 10% readout. The user must sit, kneel, or These detect the infrared spectra emit-
added to range, to a maximum exten- stand next to the sensor to operate it. ted by objects at different tempera-
sion of 100%. Some such sensors are “manual” (e.g., tures, and use this information to
TL6-7 “analog” radar and sonar sets); build up a false-color television image
The Telecommunication rules also the user must operate the controls by of the environment. They do work in
give several alternatives to radio, hand. Others are “hands-free” (e.g., total darkness, smoke, etc. The user
including laser and infrared commu- digital sensors that display data on a sees as if he had Infravision (p. 60),
nications. More exotic options are head-up display); the user can take often with Telescopic Vision 1-3. Most
available in some settings. other actions while using them. are two to three times as heavy and
four to six times as costly as image
SENSORS Using Sensors intensifiers.

Sensors grant the operator one or If a sensor provides the user with a Hyperspectral Imaging Sensors
more sensory advantages (Infravision, completely new sense (e.g., radar, for a (TL9): These sensors process infrared,
Telescopic Vision, etc.) while used. human), he must roll against visible, and ultraviolet light to create a
Statistics for a number of sensors Electronics Operation (Sensors). If it single image. This makes them
appear in Chapter 8; see Law just augments a sense he already pos- extremely effective at picking out cam-
Enforcement, Thief, and Spy Gear; sesses, he need only make an ordinary ouflaged objects. They give
Optics and Sensors; and Weapon and Sense roll – although an unusually Hyperspectral Vision (p. 60) and
Combat Accessories (all p. 289). complex sensor might call for a roll Telescopic Vision. These devices are
against Electronics Operation or rare and expensive at TL8, but become
Sensors fall into four broad another skill. For example, a human standard vehicular sensors at TL9+,
categories: would make a Vision roll to use an replacing thermal imaging sensors.

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS 471

Active Sensors Complexity 1 programs – or one them via cable or communicator. The
Complexity 2 program and 10 person trying to establish contact
“Active” sensors detect objects by Complexity 1 programs. must know the “address” of the other
bouncing energy off them and analyz- computer (telephone number, num-
ing the returned signal. Radar (TL6), The best mid-TL8 (2004-era) desk- bered location on a network, etc.) and
imaging radar (TL7), and ladar (TL8) top systems are Complexity 4; more any relevant passwords. Once in con-
emit electromagnetic radiation, while typical systems are Complexity 2-3. tact, two computers with suitable soft-
sonar (TL6) uses sound. ware can share data, and the less-pow-
Data Storage erful computer can act as a terminal
Active sensors never suffer dark- for the more capable one.
ness penalties. They can sense objects Every computer has a data-storage
out to their rated maximum range at capacity, rated in megabytes (MB), Finally, any TL8+ computer
no range penalty; each doubling of gigabytes (GB), or terabytes (TB). One equipped with a microphone or cam-
range beyond that gives -2 to skill. The GB is about 1,000 MB; one TB is era can act as a digital recorder, to the
major limitation of all such sensors is roughly 1,000 GB or 1 million MB. limit of its data-storage capacity.
that specialized but inexpensive detec- Some computers have removable
tors can detect the scanning pulse at media (e.g., disks) as well; their capa- Software
up to twice their range. Each technol- bilities depend on the setting.
ogy also has a number of specific capa- The programs available depend on
bilities and drawbacks; for details, see Data Storage Table the setting. Some general notes:
the Scanning Sense advantage (p. 81).
Data Size • Complexity: Every program has a
Before TL9, only vehicular or Complexity rating, as defined above.
mounted units are likely to provide an Lengthy novel 10 MB
actual picture of the surroundings. At • Capabilities: Some programs sim-
TL6-8, a portable active sensor (e.g., a Complete national ply provide entertainment (e.g., a
police radar gun) usually only gives video game) or a practical function
the range and speed of objects it road atlas 100 MB (e.g., e-mail).
detects.
Navigation charts Others give the user a bonus to per-
COMPUTERS form a specific task. For instance,
of entire ocean financial software might give +1 to
The programmable digital com- Accounting when preparing taxes.
puter first appears at TL7 and rapid- or country 1,000 MB (1 GB) Treat such bonuses identically to those
ly becomes smaller, cheaper, and for good equipment (see Equipment
faster at higher TLs. In some settings, Plans of 100 small Modifiers, p. 345).
computers might even attain suffi-
cient computing power to achieve or 10 complex Still others are mandatory for some
sentience! tasks – notably technical tasks at
vehicles 1 GB TL8+. Without them, the user’s skill
Complexity will operate at a lower TL. For exam-
Detailed global ple, an engineer might require a
Every computer has a Complexity 3 CAD/CAM program to
“Complexity” rating. This is an navigation charts 100 GB design a jet; without it, his
abstract measure of processing power. Engineer/TL8 (Aircraft) skill might
Each Complexity level represents Public or school function as Engineer/TL7. These pro-
roughly a tenfold increase in overall grams are generally Complexity 2 at
capability over the previous level. A library 100 GB TL7, Complexity 4 at TL8, Complexity
computer’s Complexity determines 6 at TL9, and so on. A program of
what programs it can run. Each piece City or college higher than minimum Complexity
of software has a Complexity rating, provides a bonus or reduces the time
too, and can only run on a computer library 1,000 GB (1 TB) required.
of that Complexity level or higher; e.g.,
a Complexity 2 program requires a Big city or Programs intended for robots may
Complexity 2 computer or better. grant advantages, disadvantages,
university library 10 TB skills, or even pre-programmed per-
Complexity also determines how sonalities! These can be hardwired or
many programs a computer can run Large university or modular (see Modular Abilities, p. 71).
simultaneously. It can run two pro-
grams of its own Complexity, 20 pro- copyright library 100 TB • Cost: Most programs have a cost
grams of one Complexity level less, in $. This is the price of a single, legal
200 programs of two Complexity lev- Human mind 100 TB copy, with documentation. Each com-
els less, and so on. For instance, a puter requires its own copy. It is possi-
Complexity 2 computer could run Other Capabilities ble to copy software for free, but this
two Complexity 2 programs or 20 is often illegal. But a computer can
A computer requires at least one run as many instances of a program as
“terminal” if humans are to use it. The its Complexity allows; it does not
computer may be integrated into this require a separate copy per instance.
terminal or located remotely. At TL7-
8, a terminal is, at minimum, a key-
board and monitor. At late TL8 and
beyond, voice recognition, virtual-
reality glasses and gloves, neural inter-
faces, etc. might replace such clumsy
hardware.

It is possible to connect a single ter-
minal to multiple computers, giving
the user access to them all. Without
special hardware, however, the user
can only work with one computer at a
time, and must take one second to
switch between computers.

If two computers are compatible
(GM’s decision), it is possible to link

472 TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS

NEW INVENTIONS

The GM may wish to let PCs invent They laughed at me at the university, the fools!
new technology in the course of the But I’ll show them! I’ll show them all!
campaign. The rules below cover real-
istic innovation at the inventor’s tech COMPLEXITY Modifiers: -6 if the invention is
level – or one TL in advance of that, at Simple, -10 if Average, -14 if Complex,
most. For rules governing larger-than- Next, determine the “complexity” or -22 if Amazing (for a computer pro-
life inventors who can build more fan- of the invention. This is entirely up to gram, apply a penalty equal to twice
tastic gadgets, see Gadgeteering the GM, who can assign complexity the Complexity rating instead). +5 if
(p. 475). arbitrarily, base it on the minimum you have a working model you’re try-
skill level required to come up with ing to copy, or +2 if the device already
Before starting, the player must the invention, or relate it to the retail exists but you don’t have a model; +1
describe to the GM what he wants to price of the item (especially for gadg- to +5 if the item is a variant on a exist-
invent and how he thinks it will work. ets listed in worldbooks or real-world ing one; -5 if the basic technology is
This will help the GM determine the catalogs). Use the following table for totally new to the campaign (regardless
skills and equipment required, the inspiration: of TL); -5 if the device is one TL above
cost and time involved, and the diffi- the inventor’s TL.
culty of the task. If the player’s
description is especially clear or Complexity Required Skill Level Retail Price
clever, the GM should give +1 or +2 to Simple 14 or less Up to $100
all invention-related skill rolls. Average 15-17 Up to $10,000
Complex 18-20 Up to $1,000,000
REQUIRED Amazing 21 or more Over $1,000,000
SKILLS
For computer programs, use the Each inventor may roll once per
First, the GM decides on the numerical Complexity rating instead. day. Complexity doesn’t affect the time
“invention skill” needed for the task, If a cost or time calculation requires required – the basic concept for an
based on the player’s description of one of the four ratings above, treat Amazing device is often a simple
the invention. The inventor must Complexity 1-3 as Simple, 4-5 as insight . . . it’s the implementation that
know this skill to have any chance of Average, 6-7 as Complex, and 8+ as can get tricky.
success. Armor, vehicles, weapons, Amazing.
etc. require the relevant Engineer spe- On a success, proceed to the next
cialty. Other inventions might call for CONCEPT step. On a failure, the inventor makes
different skills: Alchemy for magic no breakthrough but may try again
potions, Bioengineering for biotech- After determining complexity and the next day at no additional penalty.
nology, Computer Programming for required skills, the GM makes a secret On a critical failure, the inventor
software, Thaumatology for magic “Concept roll” against the inventor’s comes up with a “flawed theory” that
spells, and so on. invention skill to see whether he looks good but that will never work in
comes up with a testable theory. This practice – go on to the next step, but
At the GM’s discretion, a particular requires no special equipment – note that it is doomed to failure.
invention might also require skill in except perhaps a tablecloth to draw on
one or more related subjects. For and several gallons of coffee! Of course, if the inventor has
instance, inventing a new telescope somehow obtained actual blueprints
might require Astronomy skill. If so, for the device, he can skip this stage
the inventor rolls against the lower of altogether!
this skill or his invention skill in the
rules below.

Reinventing the Wheel PROTOTYPE

Adventurers may wish to “invent” devices of a lower TL than their A success – or critical failure – on
own. Reduce complexity by one step per TL by which the inventor’s TL the Concept roll gives the inventor a
exceeds that of the invention, to a minimum of Simple. If suitable his- theory he can test in the laboratory.
torical reference materials are available, use the higher of the inventor’s The next step is to construct a proto-
Research skill or his invention skill for the Concept roll. type (working model). This requires a
second roll against invention skill. The
GM makes this “Prototype roll” in
secret.

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS 473

Modifiers: All modifiers listed for TESTING Bugs that remain after testing sur-
Concept rolls; +1 per assistant with AND BUGS face on any operation skill roll that
skill 20+ in one of the skills required fails by 5 or more. A major bug always
for the invention, to a maximum of +4; The majority of prototypes have surfaces on a critical failure.
-1 to -10 (GM’s discretion) if the inven- shortcomings, or “bugs.” Critical suc-
tor must make do with anything less cess on the Prototype roll means there PRODUCTION
than the most advanced tools and are no bugs; success by three or more
facilities for his TL. gives 1d/2 minor bugs; and any other Building a copy of the invention
success gives 1d/2 major bugs and 1d costs 20% of the retail price if you only
On a success, the inventor proves minor bugs. Minor bugs are annoying, need to buy parts, or full retail price if
his theory and creates a prototype. On but not critical. Major bugs are cata- you must pay for parts and labor. Time
a failure, he may try again, provided strophic to the function of the device – required to produce each copy is half
he has the time and money (see and sometimes to the user as well! that required for a Prototype roll. For
below). On a critical failure, an explo- instance, each copy of a Complex item
sion or accident occurs. This inflicts at To find bugs requires testing. Once takes 1d/2 months.
least 2d damage to the inventor and per week of testing, roll vs. operation
each assistant – and destroys the facil-
ities, which must be rebuilt at full cost Funding
before making another attempt.
As explained under Tech Level and Starting Wealth (p. 27), the high-
If the inventor was working with a er the tech level, the greater the starting wealth. However, the cash out-
flawed theory, he will never create a lay required for inventing and gadgeteering doesn’t scale with TL – it’s
working prototype (this is why the GM fixed. Thus, the lower the TL, the higher the relative cost of innovation.
rolls in secret!), but a critical success
on the Prototype roll lets him realize This might model reality well, but it takes a lot of the fun out of
that his theory was bad. being a low-tech gadgeteer. The GM may use these optional (but realis-
tic) rules to remedy this:
Time Required
Patrons: Historically, many inventors had wealthy patrons to pay
Each Prototype roll requires 1d-2 their way. If you have a Patron with the +100% “Equipment” enhance-
days if the invention is Simple, 2d ment, you may attempt a single roll against your Patron’s frequency of
days if Average, 1d months if appearance when you start a new invention. On a success, the Patron
Complex, or 3d months if Amazing. foots the bill. Most Patrons will demand access to the invention; if you
Physically huge items (e.g., spaceships deny this, you are likely to lose your Patron!
and military vehicles) may take longer,
at the GM’s discretion. Divide time Professional Inventors: You can pay the costs gradually by building
required by the number of skilled peo- the tools, facilities, etc. yourself. You must pay at least 10% “up front.”
ple working on the project. Minimum Divide the remainder by your monthly income and add that many
time is always one day. months to the time required. You earn no money during this time, but
you must still pay your monthly cost of living. Independent Income
Cost (p. 26) can be helpful here – it might represent royalties from your last
invention.
The facilities required to build a
prototype cost $50,000 if the invention Investors: If your invention promises to be profitable, others might
is Simple, $100,000 if Average, be willing to cover your costs. Make a Finance roll with the same mod-
$250,000 if Complex, or $500,000 if ifiers as your Concept roll (this represents perceived risk). On a success,
Amazing. Triple these costs if the you receive funding. Note that your investors own shares of your inven-
invention is one TL above the inven- tion and any profits!
tor’s TL. Divide costs by 10 if the
inventor has appropriate facilities left skill (e.g., Driving for a car, Electronics A production line is more efficient.
over from a related project of equal or Operation for a radio) at -3. Each suc- To set up a production line costs 20
higher complexity. Each inventor who cess finds one bug; a critical success times the retail price of the item. The
wishes to attempt a Prototype roll finds all bugs. A failure triggers a production line makes one copy of the
must pay the facilities cost “up front” major bug, if present, or finds nothing. item in 1/7 the time it took to build a
before making his first attempt. A critical failure causes a problem prototype or in (retail price/100)
similar to a major bug without hours, whichever is less. Each copy
In addition, each attempt to pro- encountering any real bugs; alterna- costs 20% retail price for parts, or 50%
duce a prototype has a cost equal to tively, the tester is convinced, erro- for parts and labor.
the retail price of the item being built, neously, that no bugs remain.
as given in the appropriate game sup-
plement or real-world source, or as
set by the GM. Triple this cost if the
invention is one TL in advance of the
inventor’s TL.

474 TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS

GADGETEERING

Fiction is full of inventors who can Complexity Base Cost TL Increment
design devices that are far ahead of Simple $50,000 $100,000
their time. Below is advice on how to Average $100,000 $250,000
relax the requirements and restric- Complex $250,000 $500,000
tions of the New Inventions rules for Amazing $500,000 $1,000,000
such “gadgeteers.” These benefits
apply only to inventors with the (not twice Complexity). Ignore the -5 price of the item. For a device from
Gadgeteer advantage (p. 56). for a technology that is totally new to above that TL, start with the item’s
the campaign. retail price at its native TL, double this
INVENTING for each TL of difference, and accu-
GADGETS A gadgeteer is not limited to inven- mulate the cost!
tions only one TL advanced. He may
Before beginning, the player must attempt to create a device of any TL, at Example: A gadgeteer working on
describe the proposed gadget to the a flat -5 per TL above his own. an invention with a $4,000 retail cost
GM in a logical manner, and offer an would pay $4,000 per attempt to cre-
explanation of how it is supposed to Prototype ate a prototype if the device were at
work. The item should not actually the campaign TL. If it were three TLs
violate physical laws (which elimi- All the benefits listed for Concept more advanced, he would double the
nates FTL travel, antigravity, telepor- rolls apply equally to Prototype rolls. cost three times and add: $4,000 +
tation, etc.) unless the GM rules that Furthermore, the GM may choose to $8,000 + $16,000 + $32,000 = $60,000!
such “superscience” is possible in the waive the penalty for questionable
game world. equipment. Many fictional gadgeteers
work out of a basement or a garage!
The GM is free to accept or reject
the design, depending on its feasibility. Time Required: This is unchanged.
If he accepts the item, he assigns it a However, the times under New
tech level (see Tech Levels, p. 511). The Inventions assume an eight-hour day,
stronger, smaller, or more effective the which might not be enough for a cine-
gadget is, relative to an item that per- matic gadgeteer! If the inventor pulls
forms a similar function at the cam- long shifts, he must make daily HT
paign’s TL, the higher its TL should be. rolls as described under Long Tasks
(p. 346). On a failure, he has no skill
Required Skills penalty – he just loses FP. If he reach-
es 0 FP, he collapses and must rest for
This is unchanged from New 1d days to recover. Add this to the time
Inventions. A gadgeteer must have a required.
good understanding of the field in
which he is working. The Gadgeteer Cost: Calculate the cost of the nec-
advantage represents a broad, intu- essary facilities using the table above.
itive capacity for inventing – it does Use Base Cost for an item at the cam-
not grant specific scientific or techni- paign TL, and add the amount under
cal knowledge. Most gadgeteers focus TL Increment for each TL beyond that.
on one or two skills to start out with. A gadgeteer may divide these costs by
10 if he has already paid for facilities
Complexity for a similar project of equal or higher
complexity and tech level.
Use the usual complexity levels,
but do not confuse complexity with Example: A gadgeteer working on a
tech level. A ray gun that sells for Complex item must pay a Base Cost of
$1,000 at TL10 is most likely an $250,000 for the necessary facilities. If
Average item, however amazing it his invention is a device three TLs
might be in a TL8 setting. above the campaign TL, he must add
three times the TL Increment for a
Concept Complex gadget, or $1,500,000, bring-
ing the total to $1,750,000.
Gadgeteers have far milder penal-
ties on their Concept rolls. There is no As with regular inventions, there is
penalty at all for a Simple invention, also a cost for each attempt to build a
and only -2 for an Average one, -4 for prototype. For an invention at the
a Complex one, or -8 for an Amazing campaign TL, this is just the retail
one. For software, use Complexity

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS 475

Gadget Bugs Table

When a gadgeteer invents a gadget of a higher TL 10 – The gadget is twice as large, twice as heavy, and
than his own, the GM should roll 3d on the following uses twice as much power as it should. If it’s a
table for each bug (or simply pick something appro- weapon, halve its damage, range, and Accuracy
priate). instead.

3 – Roll 3d per use or hour of constant use. On a 6 or 11 – The gadget gets too hot to handle after being used,
less, the gadget attracts the unwelcome attention of and must cool down for 10 minutes before it can be
aliens, time travelers, Men in Black, Things Man used again. (If used before it cools off, it burns out
Was Not Meant To Know, etc. (GM’s choice.) in a shower of sparks and inflicts 1d burning dam-
age on the user.)
4 – The gadget is huge! If it would normally be hand-
held, it is so large that it needs a vehicle to move it 12 – Each use or hour of constant use consumes $25
around; if it would normally be vehicle-borne, it worth of resources.
must be mounted in a really big vehicle (like a bat-
tleship) or a building; and so on. 13 – The gadget is unreliable, and fails on any opera-
tion skill roll of 14 or more.
5 – Each use or hour of constant use consumes $250
worth of resources – exotic chemicals, radioactives, 14 – The gadget requires minor repairs after every use,
etc. and does not work until repaired.

6 – The device has 1d+1 side effects; see the Random 15 – The device recoils like a heavy projectile weapon
Side Effects Table (p. 479). (even if it isn’t a gun). The user must make a DX roll
for every use or be knocked down.
7 – Anyone carrying the gadget is so inconvenienced by
its awkward shape and balance that he has -2 to DX. 16 – The gadget is very unreliable, and fails on any
Vehicles or vehicular gadgets give -2 to vehicle con- operation skill roll of 10 or more.
trol rolls.
17 – The device is overly complicated. If it is a weapon,
8 – The gadget has 1d-2 (minimum one) side effects. it takes five seconds to ready (this represents push-
9 – A powered device requires a big power supply – for ing buttons, setting dials, etc.). Other gadgets
require two hours of painstaking preparation before
instance, a vehicle power plant. If it would normal- each use.
ly require this much power, it needs to be tied into a
continental power grid, and causes brownouts 18 – On any critical failure using the device, it self-
whenever used. If the device is unpowered, treat this destructs . . . spectacularly. The user must make
result as 10. a DX roll at -2 or suffer 2d injury as a result.
The gadget is gone – it cannot be repaired or canni-
balized for parts.

Testing and Bugs random glove compartment. This tal- Prototype
ent is completely unrealistic; most
For a gadgeteer, success by 3 or GMs will want to restrict it to highly Apply the modifiers given for regu-
more results in no bugs, while a lesser cinematic campaigns! lar gadgeteering to the Prototype roll.
success gives 1d/2 minor bugs. There
is no chance at all of a major bug. If Quick gadgeteers use the Time Required: A Simple gadget
the device is above the gadgeteer’s TL, Inventing Gadgets rules (p. 475) like takes only 2d minutes to assemble, an
roll once on the Gadget Bugs Table regular gadgeteers, with the follow- Average one calls for 1d-2 hours (a roll
(box) for each “minor” bug. ing modifications. of 1 or 2 indicates a 30-minute assem-
bly time), a Complex one requires 1d
Production This talent is hours, and an Amazing one takes 4d
completely hours.
The standard rules apply, but use unrealistic.
the tech level-adjusted retail price in Cost: The quick gadgeteer is a
all calculations. In the example above, Concept master at cannibalizing parts and
retail price would be $60,000 (not scrounging for equipment. If there
$4,000) for production purposes. Apply the favorable modifiers are many sources of parts, the GM
given for regular gadgeteering, but should allow a Scrounging roll to
QUICK each Concept roll requires only 1d locate usable components. If the
GADGETEERING minutes! available resources are more limited,
the GM may require a roll against a
Inventors with the Quick specialized skill; e.g., if the only
Gadgeteer advantage require very little thing available is a wrecked ’65
time or money to do their work. They Mustang, the GM might call for an
can throw together a useful gadget in Engineer (Automobiles) or Mechanic
minutes, using only the contents of a (Automobiles) roll to find the neces-
sary hardware. These rolls are at no

476 TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS

modifier for a Simple gadget, -2 for Gadgets for
an Average one, -6 for a Complex Non-Gadgeteers
one, and -10 for an Amazing one. On
a success, the total cost for the proj- Anyone can own and use gadgets. Only those who can alter their
ect is only (1d-1) ¥ $100, with a roll capabilities or invent new ones must buy the Gadgeteer advantage. But
of 1 indicating no cost. it would be unfair to let non-gadgeteers have gadgets for free –
Gadgeteer costs points as much for the gadgets themselves as for the
If the gadgeteer must buy the need- ability to build them. The GM should adopt one of the following rules
ed items, calculate facilities and proto- to maintain game balance.
type costs as for a regular gadgeteer,
and then divide by 100. Gadgets Cost Money

A critical failure on the Prototype The GM may permit the PCs to hire a gadgeteer to design and built
roll ruins the parts – the gadgeteer gadgets for them. Finding such a hireling should be an adventure in
must find new ones before construc- itself! In addition to the hireling’s pay, the PCs must pay the standard
tion can resume. facilities cost for development and 150% of the prototype cost per item.
Work out these costs as described for regular (not quick) gadgeteering.
GADGETEERING
DURING This option has a “hidden” point cost: to cover these expenses, the
ADVENTURES heroes almost certainly need to take high Wealth (p. 25) or trade points
for money (see Trading Points for Money, p. 26).
Gadgeteers can also analyze and
modify gadgets encountered during Gadgets Require an Unusual Background
adventures.
The GM might require gadget users to have one of these Unusual
Analysis Backgrounds:

To figure out a mysterious piece of Unusual Background (Gadgeteer Friend): If an adventurer has a gad-
equipment, the gadgeteer rolls as if he geteer friend who equips him with useful inventions, he has an Unusual
were making a Concept roll to invent Background. This is an unabashed game-balance measure – it is unbal-
the item from scratch, using the same ancing to let a single gadgeteer outfit an entire party at no point cost,
skills and modifiers. This takes 1d¥10 however realistic that might be. 15 points.
minutes for a regular gadgeteer, or 1d
minutes for a quick gadgeteer. Unusual Background (Invention): The character possesses one spe-
cific gadget without being a gadgeteer. This must be a unique invention;
Modification if it weren’t, it would just be Signature Gear (p. 85). The player must
explain how his character came to have the item: he invented it through
After successfully analyzing a gadg- a lucky accident, his inventor grandfather left it to him, aliens planted
et, the gadgeteer may attempt to mod- the blueprints in his head telepathically, etc. The points in this trait buy
ify it. He rolls as if he were making a a single, bug-free item. The owner can copy it, but he must pay the
Prototype roll, using the same skills usual production costs. 5 points if the gadget is Simple, 15 points if
and modifiers. This takes 1d hours for Average, 30 points if Complex, or 50 points if Amazing.
a regular gadgeteer, or 1d¥10 minutes
for a quick gadgeteer. All modifica-
tions in function are subject to GM
approval!

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS 477

FUTURISTIC AND
ALIEN ARTIFACTS

Adventurers sometimes encounter doesn’t apply and may try another indestructible, it vaporizes every-
advanced or alien devices. These skill. thing within 10 yards . . .)
rarely come with instruction manuals, 1 – The device’s primary effect is
and often rely on scientific principles Each attempt takes one minute. applied to the experimenter, if pos-
unknown at the heroes’ tech level. Repeated attempts are possible, but sible; if not, he takes 3d damage
Gadgeteers may use the Gadgeteering the roll on the table is at a cumulative from the device.
During Adventures rules (p. 477) to -1 per attempt after the first. Someone 2 – The device’s primary effect is
deduce the function of mysterious else can start from scratch, though – applied to someone nearby, if pos-
artifacts. Everybody else must use the other people often bring fresh insights sible; if not, someone nearby takes
rules below. to a problem. 3d damage.
3 – The experimenter takes 2d dam-
First, the experimenter chooses an ENIGMATIC age.
operation skill. This choice is often a DEVICE TABLE 4 – Someone nearby takes 2d damage.
guess – although the GM might pro- 5 – The experimenter takes 1d
vide clues that make it an educated Roll 3d, apply the modifiers below, damage.
guess. Those with the Intuition advan- and consult the table. For repeated 6 – Someone nearby takes 1d damage.
tage can use it to narrow down their attempts by the same experimenter, 7 – The experimenter suffers superfi-
choice of skills. reroll duplicate results. cial damage (e.g., his eyebrows are
burned off).
Next, the GM decides whether the Modifiers: A bonus equal to the 8 – Someone nearby suffers superfi-
chosen skill is appropriate. An “appro- margin of success, or a penalty equal cial damage.
priate” skill is one used to operate a to the margin of failure; +2 for Danger 9 – The experimenter suffers an
device known to the experimenter that Sense; +4 for Intuition; +2 if the device embarrassing mishap: he gets a
serves a purpose similar to that of the has labels in a language the experi- body part stuck to (or in) the
artifact. It need not be the artifact’s menter can read – or +4 for actual device, or suffers an unpleasant
actual operation skill. For instance, manuals (at the GM’s option, a minor side effect.
Guns is appropriate for a ray gun fired Research roll at -5 might turn these 10 – The experimenter forms an erro-
using Beam Weapons skill, while First up); +1 to +5 for a simple device, or -1 neous theory concerning the
Aid is wholly inappropriate. to -5 for a complex one; -1 for manip- device’s purpose, possibly being
ulating the device at a “safe” distance misled by a secondary function or
Then the experimenter rolls using psi or magic, -2 for probing it side effect.
against the chosen skill. If this is an using tools or robotic manipulators, 11 – Nothing happens. The experi-
appropriate skill, the GM rolls 3d, or -4 for poking it with a stick, hitting menter gains no useful insight into
adds the investigator’s margin of suc- it with a hammer, etc.; -1 per attempt the device’s nature or operation,
cess or subtracts his margin of failure, after the first. but at least it didn’t do anything
and consults the Enigmatic Device nasty . . .
Table, below. If the skill is inappropri- 0 or less – The experimenter takes 12 – The experimenter locates one of
ate, treat the roll as a failure by 10; in 3d damage and the device the device’s less-obvious controls
other words, roll 3d-10 on the table. is destroyed. (If the device is (but doesn’t learn what it does).
13 – The experimenter discovers the
Exception: If the experimenter rolls on/off switch (or safety, for a
a critical success on an inappropriate weapon).
skill, he realizes that the chosen skill 14 – The experimenter gets a clue con-
cerning the purpose of the device.
Anachronistic Devices 15 – The experimenter gets a clear
demonstration of the device’s pri-
The tech levels given for equipment assume a “realistic” campaign. mary function (possibly by blowing
The GM is free to have any technology appear at an earlier TL – espe- a large hole in something inani-
cially in a cinematic campaign. For each TL by which the listed TL of a mate – and expensive – nearby). He
device exceeds that of the campaign, double the cost and weight of the can now operate this function, at -4
device. to skill.
16 – The experimenter discovers how
Example: Steam engines are normally TL5, but dwarves in a TL3 fan- to activate a single secondary func-
tasy setting might use steam-powered mining machinery. Such equip- tion reliably (that is, with no skill
ment would cost and weigh four times as much as usual. penalty).

478 TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS

17 – The experimenter deduces the 18 – The experimenter figures out how 20 or more – As 19, plus the experi-
location and general nature of all to activate the primary function of menter finds a totally serendipi-
controls pertaining to the device’s the device at no skill penalty. tous – and useful – application of
secondary functions, and can use the device that the creators never
these functions at -4 to skill. 19 – The experimenter discovers all of thought of!
the device’s functions, and can use
them at no skill penalty.

WEIRD TECHNOLOGY

“Alien” does not begin to describe Magic Items disruptions instead, giving -3 to all
some technology: gadgets that defy spell rolls within 10 yards for the
natural laws (including a few we There is no reason to limit strange next 10 seconds.
haven’t discovered); devices from side effects to technological devices! 9 – The device produces noxious
bizarre dimensions; artifacts that mix At the GM’s option, when a wizard fumes in a four-yard radius.
magic with science, or that contain (or fails his roll to create a magic item by Anyone in the area must make a
are) demons . . . Such things are best only 1, the enchantment works but the HT+3 roll every second. On a fail-
described as “weird.” magic item acquires 1d-3 side effects ure, they are nauseated (see
(minimum one), determined by rolls Irritating Conditions, p. 428) for
Weird technology need not be on the Random Side Effects Table. five minutes.
advanced – it might have been around 10 – The gadget produces a loud hum
since the Bronze Age! In fact, weird- RANDOM SIDE in operation (+3 to Hearing rolls to
ness rarely has anything to do with EFFECTS TABLE notice it).
tech level. Part of what makes a tech- 11 – Impressive but harmless special
nology weird is that it defies the stan- Roll 3d, or choose something effects – beams of light, showers of
dard notions of scientific progress. It’s appropriate. sparks, etc. – accompany the use of
different, and even geniuses are at a the device. The source of the effects
loss to explain it. 3 – Each use causes a small, cumula- is obvious to any observer. Anyone
tive change in the user’s body in the area gets a Vision roll at +5
Weird Science (mind). Roll against HT+4 (IQ+4) to notice something is going on.
once per use. On a failure, the user 12 – The gadget emits dense clouds of
An inventor may choose to roll acquires -1 point toward a physical steam or smoke over a four-yard
against Weird Science skill (p. 228) to (mental) disadvantage of the GM’s radius while in operation. Treat as
get a bonus to his Concept and choice. a Fog spell (p. 253).
Prototype rolls. This bonus is +5 if he 13 – Each use of the gadget attracts a
is using the New Inventions rules 4 – Each use inflicts 1d injury on the swarm of vermin of the GM’s
(p. 473). It is only +1 if he is using user (ignore DR). choice. The swarm disperses 10
Gadgeteering (p. 475), as those rules minutes after the device is shut off.
already give large bonuses for the bor- 5 – Each use causes 1 point of injury 14 – Using the gadget renders
derline-weird concepts used by gad- to the operator (ignore DR). the operator unconscious for 1d
geteers. The drawback is that the minutes.
invention will have weird side effects. 6 – The gadget transforms someone 15 – Each use of the device attracts
Roll 1d-3 for the number of side within 10 yards into something else the attention of demons or ghosts,
effects (minimum one), and then roll (alien, animal, plant, etc. – GM’s or punches holes into random
that many times on the Random Side choice) for 10 seconds. dimensions through which strange
Effects Table, below. creatures appear.
7 – The device makes an incredibly 16 – The device inflicts 1 point of
Gadgets annoying, high-pitched noise when injury (ignore DR) per use on
used. This gives everyone within 20 everyone within 10 yards, includ-
As mentioned above, even gad- yards a headache for 10 minutes ing the user.
geteers who do not use Weird Science (-2 to DX, IQ, and self-control 17 – Each use of the gadget opens a
are venturing into the realm of the rolls), and the user gets a migraine gate into a random dimension for
weird. A buggy gadget can occasional- (-4 to these rolls) for 20 minutes. one second. The user must make a
ly have weird side effects – see the Earplugs don’t help, although DX roll to avoid falling into the
Gadget Bugs Table (p. 476). Deafness does. hole before it closes.
18 – Roll for a different random side
Experimental Devices 8 – Use of the gadget disrupts elec- effect each time the device is used.
tronics: TVs and radios within one (If this result comes up again, roll
The GM can roll on the Random mile get nothing but static, other for two side effects, and so on!)
Side Effects Table whenever adventur- electronics within 100 yards fail on
ers use an experimental device a roll of 7 or less on 3d. Within
given to them by or stolen from a 10 yards, even simple electrical
mad scientist. devices are affected. This is a
classic side effect for UFOs!
Magic items produce local mana

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS 479

MAGIC ITEMS

Objects of magical power are a sta- ENCHANTMENT DB Cost
ple of fantasy. The following rules are SPELLS +1 100
intended for game worlds that use the +2 500
magic system in Chapter 5, and make These spells allow mages to create +3 2,000
a few basic assumptions: magic items. They appear here instead +4 8,000
of in Chapter 5 because enchantment +5 20,000
• Anyone can use any magic item creates magical artifacts, and uses
that doesn’t explicitly require Magery. many special rules that do not apply to Prerequisites: Enchant.

• Wizards manufacture magic ordinary spellcasting. Fortify
items using magic spells that produce
fairly predictable results. However, Enchant (VH) Enchantment
magic is not technology, and magic
items can have unpredictable side Enchantment Increases the DR of clothing or a
effects. suit of armor.
This spell is a prerequisite for
• Magic items retain their power all other Enchantment spells. Cost: See table below.
indefinitely – their magic does not To enchant an item, the caster
“wear out.” But if the item breaks or must also know this spell. The DR Bonus Cost
wears out, it loses all of its magical caster rolls against the lower of +1 50
properties and ordinary repairs can- his skill with this spell and the +2 200
not restore the magic. specific spell he wishes to place +3 800
on the item. If he has assistants, +4
The GM is free to change some or they must have skill 15+ with both +5 3,000
all of these assumption to suit his spells, but the roll is based on the 8,000
campaign! caster’s skill.
Prerequisites: Enchant.

Duration: Magic items are perma- Power
nent until destroyed.
Enchantment
Cost and Time: See Enchanting
(p. 481). Makes a magic item partially or
completely “self-powered.” Each point
Prerequisites: Magery 2, and at least of Power reduces the energy cost to
one spell from each of 10 other cast or to maintain any spell on the
item by 1. Halve this bonus in a low-
colleges. mana area (round down); double it in
a high- or very high-mana area. Power
Accuracy has no effect on the energy cost of the
user’s spells!
Enchantment
If Power reduces the cost to main-
Makes a weapon more tain a spell to 0, treat the item as
likely to hit by adding to the “always on” after the cost to cast is
user’s effective skill. paid – but the wearer must stay awake
to maintain the spell. If Power reduces
Cost: See table below. Divide cost by the cost to cast to 0, the item is
10 if the subject is a missile (e.g., an “always on” for all purposes, although
arrow or a bullet). the owner may turn it off if he wishes.

Bonus Cost Cost: See table below.
+1 250
+2 1,000 Power Cost
+3 5,000 1 point 500
2 points
Prerequisites: Enchant, and at least 3 points 1,000
five Air spells. 4 points 2,000
4,000
Deflect
Double the cost for each additional
Enchantment point.

Adds a Defense Bonus to armor, Prerequisites: Enchant and Recover
clothing, a shield, or a weapon. This Energy.
adds to all active defense rolls made
by the user.

Cost: See table below.

480 TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS

Puissance caster can spend extra energy to raise up). Make the success roll at the end
his effective skill, and hence the Power of that time. Succeed or fail, all the
Enchantment of the item. energy is spent when the GM rolls the
dice.
Adds to the basic damage a Record Power for each magic item
weapon does when it hits. created or found (to learn the Power A lone caster is limited to the ener-
of a found item, the PCs must use gy provided by his FP and HP, but he
Cost: See table below. Divide cost by Analyze Magic). If an item has several may have assistants, who can con-
10 if the subject is a missile (e.g., an spells on it, each spell has its own tribute their own FP and HP as
arrow or a bullet). Double cost if the Power. Whenever it would be impor- described for ceremonial magic. The
subject is a missile weapon (e.g., a tant to know the skill level of a spell caster is at -1 to skill for each assistant;
bow or a gun). cast by a magic item, use the item’s therefore, the number of assistants
Power. allowed is the number that would
Damage Bonus Cost reduce the caster’s effective skill to 15.
+1 250 An item’s Power must be 15 or With more assistants, the enchant-
+2 1,000 more for the item to work. Apply a ment won’t work.
+3 5,000 temporary -5 to Power in a low-mana
area; thus, an item with less than If anyone but the caster and his
Prerequisites: Enchant, and at least Power 20 does not work at all in a low- assistants is within 10 yards, the spell
five Earth spells. mana zone. No magic item works in a is at a further -1.
no-mana region!
Staff
Interruptions
Enchantment
If a mage is interrupted while enchanting using the “slow and sure”
Enchants a magic staff – see Magic method, note the following:
Staffs (p. 240) for details. Though
many magic items must be in the form • He will be fatigued. Assume he is missing 1d FP.
of a wand or staff, they do not have to • He must keep concentrating on his enchantment; therefore, any
have this spell on them. other spell use is at -3. (If he stops concentrating, he loses the day’s
work.)
Cost: 30.
Prerequisites: Enchant. A wizard who is bothered while not actively working on his enchant-
ment is at no disadvantage!
ENCHANTING
Success Rolls On a failure, the enchantment is
“Enchanting” is the process of cre- for Enchanting perverted in some way. It might
ating a magic item. It is a special kind acquire unpleasant side effects (see
of spell casting; see Casting Spells The GM makes all rolls to enchant Random Side Effects Table, p. 479),
(p. 235). The caster must use ceremo- magic items. As with other ceremonial become an entirely different spell, or
nial magic (see Ceremonial Magic, magic, a roll of 16 fails automatically anything else the GM likes. The caster
p. 238), and he and any assistants and a roll of 17-18 is a critical failure. won’t know his spell went wrong
must know both the Enchant spell unless he uses Analyze Magic or tries
(see p. 480) and the specific spell being On a success, the item is enchanted. the item!
put on the item at level 15+ – or at On a critical success, increase the
level 20+, in a low-mana area. Power of the item by 2d – and if the Slow and Sure
Unskilled spectators cannot con- success roll was a natural 3, the item Enchantment
tribute energy. might have some further enhancement
(GM’s discretion). The caster knows Use this method when the
Enchanting always requires time that his spell went well, but he must enchanter wants to be sure it’s done
and energy. A particular enchant- use Analyze Magic to know how well. right. It takes one “mage-day” per
ment might also require a specific point of energy required. A mage-day
item or material (e.g., a gem), or the On a failure, the results depend on represents a full eight-hour workday
expenditure of cash for “generic” the method used to enchant the item – for one mage. For instance, an item
magic supplies. see below. A critical failure always that requires 100 energy points would
destroys the item and all materials take one mage 100 days, two mages 50
A given magic item may carry any used. days, and so on. A mage may work on
number of spells. Each one requires a only one enchantment at a time; he
separate enchantment. The presence Quick and Dirty may not “work two shifts,” either on
of an enchantment has no effect on Enchantment the same or different items.
later enchantments.
Use this method to create a magic
Power of a Magic Item item quickly. It requires one hour per
100 points of energy required (round
Each magic item has a “Power,” set
when it is created. An item’s Power
equals the caster’s skill with the
Enchant spell or the spell contained in
the item, whichever is lower. Since
enchanting is ceremonial magic, the

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS 481

All of the caster’s assistants must be does not affect this (but the Power try not to drop inad-
present every day. If a day’s work is spell does – see p. 480). vertent clues to the item’s
skipped or interrupted, it takes two true nature!
days to make it up. Loss of a mage • Determine success normally. Use For all “always on” items,
ends the project! the item’s Power as the caster’s base unless specified otherwise:
skill and apply all the usual modifiers
Make the success roll at the end for the kind of spell being cast. Power • Ritual, casting time, and ener-
of the last day. There is no FP or HP is at -5 in low-mana areas. A Resisted gy cost are all irrelevant. The item
cost to the enchanters – they invested spell allows a normal resistance roll; does not let the wearer cast the spell –
the energy gradually as the spell use the item’s modified Power as the it puts the spell on him, at no cost, as
progressed. caster’s skill in the Quick Contest. soon as he wears or wields the item.

On a failure, the enchantment did- • Only one person at a time can use • The effects last as long as the item
n’t work. The time was wasted, and the item. If two people attempt to use is worn or carried.
any materials used in the spell are lost. it, only the first to touch it can use it.
(Exception: If the enchanters were If one can’t use it – for instance, • All other effects are as usual for
adding a spell to an already-enchanted the item is “mage only” and he that spell.
item, it is unharmed, though extra lacks Magery – his touch
materials are lost.) doesn’t count. BUYING MAGIC
ITEMS
Spells for Enchantment • All other effects are
as usual for that spell. The cash price of magic items is up
The Magic Items Table provides to the GM. In fantasy settings where
“Always On” “enchanter” is just another profession
information on several common Items

enchantments. Certain magic
items are “always
Spell: The name of the spell. on.” For the item
Energy: The energy cost required to to work, the user
enchant an item with the spell. Note must wear or
that this is not the same as the cost to carry it in the usual
cast that spell normally! See also manner (a ring on a
Enchantment Spells (p. 480). finger, a sword in a
Item: The class of item required: hand, and so on). These
items don’t let the wearer cast the spell
Code Class of Item – they automatically cast the spell on
A armor or clothing the wearer at no energy cost.
J jewelry; e.g., an amulet
or ring The powers of such items are not
S staff – any rod-shaped always obvious to a new owner. In the
piece of organic material case of found items, the GM should
Sh up to 6 feet long
W shield Magic Items Table
weapon

Notes: Special rules for creation or Spell Energy Item Notes
use. W [1]
Accuracy See p. 480. J, S [2]
A, Sh, W [1]
USING MAGIC Blur 100 per -1 J, Sh, W [2]
ITEMS J, Sh, W [2]
Deflect See p. 480. S [3, 4, 5 ($500)]
Magic items follow the rules given S [3, 4, 5 ($400)]
for the spell(s) they contain. Many Deflect Energy 200 A [1]
give the user the power to cast the A, J [2]
spell – perhaps only on himself, possi- Deflect Missile 200 W [1, 5 ($2,000)]
bly on any subject. Some are “mage S [3, 4, 5 ($1,200)]
only”; that is, they only work for users Explosive Fireball 1,200 W [1]
who possess Magery. Unless specified S [1, 4]
otherwise: Fireball 800

• There is no ritual. The user just Fortify See p. 480.
wills the item to work.
Haste 250 per +1
• Casting time is as described for the
spell. High Power doesn’t affect this. Icy Weapon 750

• Energy cost is the same as for a Lightning 800
normal casting of the spell. High Power
Puissance See p. 481.

Staff See p. 481.

[1] Always on. Works at all times without the addition of a Power spell.
[2] Allows the user to cast the spell, but only on himself.
[3] Allows the user to cast the spell exactly as if he knew it himself.
[4] Mage only. If the item has any spells with this restriction, it extends to all
spells on the item.
[5] Cost of magical materials required.

482 TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS

and magic items are for sale in shops, In game worlds where magic is basically unknown,
a suggested price is $25 per energy magic items will not have a fixed, fair price.
point. For instance, a sword with
Accuracy +2 would cost an extra with an hour’s work costs only $1 per energy point. This is likely to be the
$25,000. energy point. In the example above, case in settings with secret magic –
the cutoff might be 50 energy points especially if the reason for the secret is
In game worlds like this, – one arrow with Accuracy +1 or an enchanters’ monopoly.
enchanters might mass-produce low- Puissance +1 would be $25, a magic
energy cost items using the “quick and staff would be $30, and a shirt with In game worlds where magic is
dirty” method. The GM is the final Fortify +1 would be $50 . . . but that basically unknown, magic items will
arbiter of what is possible, but note sword with Accuracy +2 would still not have a fixed, fair price. If the buyer
that a talented enchanter with skill 20 cost $25,000. knows the item is authentic, the seller
and five partners could spend 50 FP can often name his price!
without breaking a sweat, much less In game worlds with few
spending HP. Realistically, this should enchanters, magic items will be rare In all cases, add the cost of magical
drastically reduce the price of minor and prized, and even the most minor materials (if any) and the cost of the
magic items. items will sell for $50 or more per item being enchanted to the cost for
the enchantment itself.
At the GM’s option, any magic
item that a “typical” collaboration of
wizards in the setting could enchant

DAMAGE TO OBJECTS

For the purpose of these rules, any typically have DR 4. Solid-metal melee likely to break or cease to function.
nonliving, fabricated object – includ- weapons have DR 6. Some artifacts For weapons and equipment without
ing a character with the Machine may be armored; for instance, a quar- a listed HP score, consult the Object
meta-trait (p. 263) – is an “artifact.” ter-inch of mild steel is DR 14. Hit Points Table (p. 557) to find HP
Handle attacks on artifacts just like based on weight and construction.
attacks on living beings (see Damage Injury Tolerance: Most artifacts
and Injury, p. 377), with the following have some level of Injury Tolerance EFFECTS OF
exceptions: (p. 60). Complex machines are INJURY
Unliving. Solid objects, like furniture
Rolling to Hit: Roll to hit normally, or weapons, are Homogenous. Things Injury to artifacts works much like
applying the object’s Size Modifier. If like nets and mattresses are Diffuse. injury to living beings (see Injuries,
an object’s SM is not given, find it See Injury to Unliving, Homogenous, p. 418), with the addition of a few spe-
from the Size and Speed/Range Table and Diffuse Targets (p. 380) for the cial rules.
(p. 550). Inanimate objects are often effects on damage.
motionless and don’t hit back; this Less than 1/3 HP left – An artifact
makes them good targets for an All- Health (HT): This rates the likeli- damaged this badly may
Out Attack. No artifact gets a defense hood the object will break under stress suffer halved (or otherwise
roll unless it is under sentient control or abuse. Most machines and similar reduced) effectiveness, at the GM’s
(e.g., a robot, a weapon in hand, or a artifacts in good repair are HT 10. discretion.
vehicle with a driver). Swords, tables, shields, and other
solid, Homogenous objects are HT 12. 0 HP or less – Roll vs. the artifact’s HT
Damage Resistance (DR): An arti- Cheap, temperamental, or poorly each second while it is under stress
fact has a DR that represents its innate maintained items get -1 to -3 to HT; (but not if it isn’t being used): a
“toughness.” Wooden or plastic tools, well-made or rugged ones get +1 or chair rolls each second someone
gadgets, furniture, etc. usually have +2. Characters with the Machine sits on it, a car rolls each second its
DR 2. Small metal, metal-wood, or meta-trait use their HT score. engine is running, and so on. On a
composite objects, like guns and axes, failure, the object suffers a severe
Hit Points (HP): The amount of malfunction and is disabled. Most
damage the object can take before it is disabled artifacts don’t function at
all until repaired. Sentient
Detailed HP Calculation machines fall “unconscious.”
Homogenous objects, such as
Those who have a calculator or spreadsheet program handy may swords, bend or break, but might
wish to calculate HP instead of using the Object Hit Points Table. HP are remain partially usable (see Broken
equal to 4 ¥ (cube root of weight in lbs.) for complex, Unliving objects, Weapons, p. 485). Ropes, cables,
and 8 ¥ (cube root of weight in lbs.) for solid, Homogenous ones (round etc., are cleanly severed – not
up). The GM may alter these values for unusually frail or tough objects. chopped to bits.

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS 483

-1¥HP – Artifacts don’t “die,” as they Damage to Shields
were never truly alive, but must still
make HT rolls to avoid “death” as Most medieval shields were wood, or wood with a thin layer of metal.
described under General Injury After one good battle, a shield was worthless. Do not use this rule unless
(p. 419). On a failure, the object is you are willing to tolerate some bookkeeping in the name of more realis-
destroyed. For instance, a sword tic combat!
might shatter instead of merely
bending or snapping. A destroyed See Shields (p. 287) for the Defense Bonus (DB), DR, and HP of
computer loses all data stored in it – shields. If your shield’s DB makes the difference between success and fail-
including memories, if it is sapient. ure on any active defense (not just a block), the blow struck the shield
squarely, and may damage it.
-5¥HP – The artifact is automatically
destroyed, as described above. Apply the attack’s damage to the shield. Subtract the shield’s DR. If no
damage penetrates the shield, there is no effect . . . but you experience full
Shock: Most artifacts don’t feel pain, knockback!
but damage can temporarily disrupt
their functionality unless they have If damage penetrates the shield’s DR, mark it off against the shield’s
appropriate backup systems (repre- HP. Use the standard Damage to Objects rules; ordinary shields are
sented by High Pain Threshold). Apply Homogenous, with HT 12. If the shield is disabled or destroyed, it no
the usual shock penalty to any use of longer provides its DB, but it still encumbers you until dropped. If it is
that object. For example, if a vehicle completely destroyed (-10¥HP), it falls off.
suffers sufficient injury to impose a -3
shock penalty, the driver has -3 to his A powerful blow may punch through your shield! The shield acts as
vehicle operation skill next turn. cover, with “cover DR” equal to its DR + (HP/4). Damage in excess of cover
DR penetrates the shield and possibly injures you; see Overpenetration
Major Wounds: An artifact can suf- (p. 408). When using hit locations, roll 1d: on 1-2, apply damage to your
fer a major wound, referred to as shield arm; on 3-6, apply it to the location targeted by the attacker.
“major damage.” When a machine with
many subsystems – like a vehicle – suf- DAMAGE TO REPAIRS
fers a major wound, the GM may call BUILDINGS AND
for a HT roll. On a failure, one or more STRUCTURES Most artifacts cannot heal natural-
systems fail. For example, major dam- ly (although there are exceptions; e.g.,
age to a tank might knock out its gun or The Structural Damage Table exotic “living metal” machines). If
cause a fuel leak. If using a rulebook (p. 558) gives typical DR and HP for they become disabled, they cannot
that supplies a “major damage table” buildings, doors, walls, and similar recover until repaired. If they are crip-
for a specific type of machine, roll ran- inanimate structures. Most such pled, the relevant parts require repair
domly and apply the result. structures are Homogenous. Assume or replacement – they can’t recover on
that a structurally sound building in their own.
Knockdown and Stunning: A non- good repair has HT 12. Shoddy con-
sentient artifact ignores these effects. A struction might reduce this to HT 9- To fix a damaged, disabled, or
sentient machine (IQ 1+) can suffer 11, while a quake-resistant building malfunctioning device requires a
these results as a damage-induced mal- might have HT 13-14. suitable skill: Armoury, Electrician,
function. For instance, stun means the Electronics Repair, Machinist,
machine doesn’t function that turn, but Any building “disabled” by going to Mechanic, etc. See individual skill
can function again after it recovers. 0 HP or less and failing a HT roll has descriptions for what each skill cov-
one or more large breaches and loses ers. The GM is the final judge of the
Crippling and Hit Location: A electrical power, if any. At -1¥HP or necessary skill.
human- or animal-shaped artifact uses less, it must make HT rolls to avoid
the normal rules; see Crippling Injury collapse – just as a character would Minor Repairs: Each attempt to
(p. 420). Other objects with distinct roll to avoid death. It collapses auto- repair damaged equipment that still
parts (e.g., a vehicle with a body, turret, matically at -5¥HP. has positive HP requires half an hour
and wheels) can suffer crippling and a successful skill roll. See
injuries to specific hit locations; for Anyone in a collapsing building Equipment Modifiers (p. 345) and
vehicles, see the Vehicle Hit Location takes 3d crushing damage, plus 1d per Time Spent (p. 346) for common mod-
Table (p. 554). In all cases, a crippled story overhead. A victim can attempt ifiers. As well, if the device costs
location is “disabled.” to dive for cover behind a structural $1,000 or less, roll at +1. Roll at -1 if it
member – see Dodge and Drop costs $10,001-$100,000, at -2 if it costs
Fragile Objects: Artifacts are often (p. 377). On a success, he receives DR $100,001-$1,000,000, or at -3 if it
Fragile (p. 136). Those made of paper, equal to the building’s exterior wall costs over $1,000,000. Success
dry wood, etc. are Combustible; those DR against this damage, but is still restores 1 HP times the margin of suc-
that contain highly flammable material, trapped in the rubble. On a critical cess (minimum 1).
such gasoline or hydrogen, are success, he is totally unharmed!
Flammable. Artifacts containing unpro- Major Repairs: An artifact reduced
tected explosives, sizeable stocks of to zero or negative HP requires spare
ammunition, or volatile compressed gas
are Explosive. Objects such as glass-
ware, pottery, and televisions are Brittle.

484 TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS

parts that cost 1d ¥ 10% of its original Slime, Sand, and day, in addition to any rolls for specif-
price. After obtaining these parts, use Equipment Failure ic mistreatment.
the rules above, except that all rolls
are at an extra -2. Harsh conditions may result in On a failure, the equipment breaks
more frequent breakdowns, regardless down, jams, or otherwise fails; it can-
Replacement: If a device is of maintenance. Whenever an artifact not function at all without minor
destroyed (failed a HT roll to avoid that requires maintenance is careless- repairs. On a critical failure, it
destruction, or went to -5¥HP or less), ly exposed to the elements (e.g., requires major repairs. The GM may
it is beyond repair. Replace it at 100% dropped in a swamp, left out in a wish to keep the results secret and let
of its original cost. sandstorm, or buried in volcanic ash), the operator discover the malfunction
make a HT+4 roll for it. Use its current during normal use!
Hiring Help: Those incapable of HT – including any reductions for
doing their own repairs can hire tech- missed maintenance. If the item lacks Modifiers: +1 if the PCs take signif-
nicians. A typical rate is $20/hour – or a HT score, assume HT 10. In extreme icant time out each day to clean and
higher, if unusual skills are required. environments (desert, swamp, jungle, maintain their gear (GM’s judgment);
Typical skill level is 9 + 1d. etc.), make one extra roll per item per -1 or -2 if the abuse or the environ-
ment is unusually brutal.
BREAKDOWNS
Broken Weapons
Most real-life equipment failure is
due to mistreatment or routine wear – If a weapon is destroyed – that is, it failed a HT roll at -1¥HP or
not combat damage. The GM may below, or went to -5¥HP – it is completely useless. But if it is just dis-
apply these rules to any complex arti- abled, it might still be usable.
fact (anything Unliving).
An extremely light weapon (anything weighing 1 lb. or less, such as
Maintenance a dagger) or a missile weapon (sling, bow, firearm, etc.) is useless even
when merely disabled.
Artifacts that have moving parts,
that are unusually complex, or that Other weapons sometimes remain partially usable when disabled.
are routinely under stress require reg- Roll 1d and consult the appropriate paragraph below. Where the
ular maintenance to work properly. weapon effectively becomes a different kind of weapon, figure skill and
This definitely includes all weapons damage according to the new weapon type!
and vehicles, precision optics (cam-
eras, night-vision gear, etc.), and any Axe/Mace Weapons: On 1-3, the head breaks off, leaving you holding
other equipment more elaborate than a light club. On 4-6, the weapon is smashed beyond use.
a screwdriver or a knife.
Polearms: On 1-2, you’re left holding an 8-foot pole; treat as a long
Machinery like this requires peri- spear that does thrust+2 crushing damage. On 3-4, you’re left with a
odic “maintenance checks” against a quarterstaff, and there’s a very clumsy (-4 to hit) axe with reach 1 lying
suitable technical skill, as explained in front of you. On 5-6, you’re left with a light club and there’s a clum-
for the Maintenance disadvantage sy (-2 to hit) “great axe” with reach 2 lying on the ground.
(see p. 143). The frequency of such
maintenance varies. Most commer- Rapiers and Smallswords: On 1-3, treat a broken smallsword as a
cial ground vehicles require one or dagger and a broken rapier as a smallsword; damage is still impaling!
two man-hours of maintenance a On 4-6, the blade snaps off at the hilt; the weapon is useless.
week. Weapons, especially guns, need
cleaning every day or so of use. Large, Spears: On 1-3, the head breaks off where it joins the shaft, leaving
complex items, such as factories and you with a quarterstaff. On 4-6, the spear breaks further down; you
fighter jets, require numerous man- have a baton, and there’s a spear with reach 1, doing normal damage,
hours of maintenance per day – if not lying in front of you.
constant care.
Swords (broadswords, greatswords, katanas, shortswords, etc.) and
Missed or failed maintenance Sabers: On 1-3, the blade breaks off at the halfway mark, losing its tip.
checks result in HT loss. This HT loss It can still make a cutting attack at -2 to damage, but it is useless as an
is cumulative, and affects all HT rolls impaling weapon: a thrust does thrust crushing damage. If the sword
described under Effects of Injury was reach 2, it is now reach 1. On 4-6, the blade snaps off at the hilt;
(p. 483) and Slime, Sand, and the sword is useless.
Equipment Failure (below). To restore
lost HT, use the Repairs rules, above. Two-Handed Axe/Mace Weapons: On 1-3, the head breaks off where
Treat each point of HT restored as a it joins the shaft, leaving you with a quarterstaff. On 4-6, the weapon
separate major repair. breaks further down; you have a light club, and there’s a very clumsy
(-4 to hit) axe with reach 1 lying in front of you.
This rule does not apply to items
without moving parts, equipment in Other Weapons: Use the closest weapon listed above. The GM has
storage (not just sitting out in the the final say, and may choose to roll if there is more than one way for
open!), or any artifact just sitting the weapon to break.
there, unused, if it has a sealed case.

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFACTS 485

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

GAME MASTERING

486 The Game Master (GM) is the referee of a roleplaying game. But that’s putting it
too simply. He is like a mystery writer . . . a storyteller . . . an umpire . . . a cosmic book-
keeper . . . the “house” at a gambling casino . . . and (to the characters) a minor deity.

The GM is the final authority. Rules are guidelines . . . the designers’ opinion about
how things ought to go. But as long as the GM is fair and consistent, he can change
any number, any cost, any rule. His word is law!

Many things are left up to the GM to decide. A game world gets realism from its
completeness. The GM adds all the details that make it come alive. With a good GM,
even a bad set of rules can be a lot of fun. With a good set, the sky’s the limit. We semi-
modestly believe that GURPS is a very good set of rules indeed – but without the GM,

the rules are nothing.
Read on . . .

Customizing the Rules

Throughout Basic Set, we have included assistance for GMs who wish
to tailor the rules to their liking. For quick reference:

• New Advantages (p. 117), New Disadvantages (p. 165), Creating
Techniques (p. 229), Alternative Magic Systems (p. 242), Other Powers
(p. 257), and Creating Templates (Chapter 15) provide guidelines for creating
and customizing character abilities.

• Character Development (Chapter 9) presents options for handling char-
acter advancement.

• Tactical Combat (Chapter 12) and Special Combat Situations (Chapter
13) add optional extra detail to Combat (Chapter 11) for action-oriented
campaigns.

•Sections titled “Optional Rule” offer tested, optional add-ons. Examples
include Limited Enhancements (p. 111), Wildcard Skills (p. 175), Malfunction
(p. 407), Maintaining Skills (p. 294), Influencing Success Rolls (p. 347), and
Extra Effort in Combat (p. 357). Even a novice GM can quickly customize
the rules by specifying which options are “turned on” in his campaign.

CHOOSING A
CAMPAIGN TYPE

Before you make any other decisions, you should discuss the style of your
campaign with your players. There are many alternatives:

• “By-the-book” vs. “tweaked” (with many GM rules interpretations).
• “Realistic” vs. “cinematic” (see The Cinematic Campaign, p. 488).
• “Humorous” vs. “serious.”
• “Puzzles and mysteries” vs. “combat and adventure.”
• “Death is common and permanent” vs. “death is rare or easily remedied”
(by magic or high technology).

GAME MASTERING

All of these are legitimate Unsuitable for PCs in any but the Godlike (over 1,000 points): True
approaches to roleplaying, but if the darkest or most humorous of cam- demigods who can do as they please
players and GM have different expec- paigns. most of the time.
tations, everyone will end up disap-
pointed. The game should be a story Average (25-50 points): Ordinary HIGH-POWERED
that develops in play – not a battle folks, such as accountants and cab CAMPAIGNS
between the players and the GM*. To drivers.
achieve this, a little mutual under- Player characters built on a high
standing is necessary. A few minutes Competent (50-75 points): Athletes, point total can tax the GM’s ability to
of pre-game discussion can increase cops, wealthy gentry . . . anyone who provide meaningful challenges, weak-
everyone’s enjoyment. would have a clear edge over “aver- en the integrity of the game world, and
age” people on an adventure. push the limits of game balance. As a
result, high-powered gaming merits
“I want a story about great battles and wars and special discussion.
bravery and heroes and villains.”
“High-powered” is a subjective
“I see . . . And what does your sister want?” term – these guidelines assume PCs
“. . . She says she wants to hear a true story.” with well over 200 points. Even so,
“Very well, then. I will give you both what you most of this advice stands at any
want. A story about great deeds. About armies of power level!
light and soldiers of darkness. About the places
where they lived and fought and loved and died. Character-Design
About great empires and terrible mistakes. A true Problems
story.”
Some players spend lots of points
– Luc Deradi and Emperor Londo Mollari, in one area, resulting in PCs with abu-
Babylon 5: In the Beginning sive levels of ability. Others use their
ample points to prepare for almost
POWER LEVEL Exceptional (75-100 points): Star every conceivable situation, thereby
athletes, seasoned cops, etc. With a poaching on the territory of more
A crucial step in choosing a cam- little experience, these individuals focused PCs. And still others try to do
paign type is determining the number could become full-time adventurers. both, investing many points in a sin-
of character points the PCs start out gle trait and then coming up with
with. This has a direct impact on the Heroic (100-200 points): People at “creative” ways to use that ability in
campaign style: powerful heroes stam- the realistic pinnacle of physical, men- place of almost everything else. A few
pede through realistic challenges with tal, or social achievement; e.g., Navy countermeasures:
cinematic ease, while a lighthearted SEALs, world-class scientists, and mil-
romp for supers might be a deadly lionaires. Most full-time adventurers Offer a broad selection of abilities. In
nightmare for normal humans. start their careers at around 150 a high-powered game, there should be
points. all manner of expensive options avail-
As the GM, the surest way to able to soak up points: great wealth,
choose a suitable power level is by Larger-than-Life (200-300 points): exotic advantages, magic, psionics,
“feel.” During the course of your first Leading roles in kung fu movies, fan- powerful racial templates . . . prefer-
few campaigns, you’ll learn how your tasy novels, etc. Typical of the profes- ably several of these. Let your players
players spend their points – and how sional adventurer who has already know what is available, and use the
their PCs cope with the adventures made a name for himself. expanded rules for special abilities
you cook up. You can use this experi- whenever possible.
ence to choose a good power level for Legendary (300-500 points):
your next campaign. But that won’t Protagonists of epic poems and folk- Divide starting points between “base
help you this time, so you might wish lore. This is the best power level for points” and “experience points.”
to choose the most appropriate power “gritty” supers and for mortals who Consider giving the players only a
level off the list below. rub shoulders with gods. fraction of their starting points to
begin with. Ask them to create
Some example power levels, with Superhuman (500-1,000 points): focused, balanced characters for your
suggested starting points for the Those who have transcended humani- approval. Once you approve a PC, give
heroes: ty (e.g., supers who can take on tanks the player the rest of his points to
barehanded) and powerful creatures spend as if they were earned in play –
Feeble (under 25 points): Small chil- of fantasy (e.g., dragons who can best which means he cannot acquire large
dren, mindless thralls, zombies, etc. entire armies). numbers of new advantages, or new
skills that don’t fit his character story.

* For those who want a battle between the players and the GM, we recommend our Munchkin RPG series:
www.sjgames.com/munchkin/rpg/. Really.

GAME MASTERING 487

Require certain abilities. Heroes can number of special rules that will System Limitations
be worth a lot of points without giving see use during the game. Do your
the players control over every last reading before the game begins. This GURPS is designed to work at any
point. A modest discretionary budget keeps things moving and prevents power level, but it is impossible to
in combination with a fixed set of abil- players who like to abuse high-pow- offer a special rule for every combina-
ities works well. For instance, every ered abilities from ruining the game tion of “problem abilities” possible in
super might have a package of for everyone. a high-powered game. When the rules
“mutant abilities” (effectively a racial do not handle a situation well, try one
template) and get 200 points to spend Fit the challenges to the heroes. of these fixes:
however he wants; every commando Read through your campaign notes
might start with a 100-point “basic with the PCs’ character sheets in hand. Use optional rules. In many cases,
training” template and get 50 points to This simple procedure will often alert optional rules exist specifically to deal
customize with. you to foes, mysteries, and dangers with high-powered characters – for
that will not challenge the heroes’ abil- instance, Maintaining Skills (p. 294).
Require certain categories of abili- ities, and gives you an opportunity to Such rules can often make the differ-
ties. If required abilities seem too patch these holes before the players ence between a playable and
rigid, consider requiring PCs to have a drive trucks through them. unplayable game.
certain number of points in a few
classes of abilities. For instance, secret “Psychic, though? That sounds like something
agents might have to spend at least out of science fiction.”
10% of their points on each of “social
traits,” “combat abilities,” and “techni- “We live on a spaceship, dear.”
cal skills”; supers might have to spend – Wash and Zoe, Firefly
at least 20% of their points on each of
an attack, a defense, and a movement Present a variety of challenges. Make Exercise judgment. If a rule implic-
power. sure the heroes cannot meet every itly assumes a certain power level, and
challenge with Guns-20 or Fast-Talk- the PCs are beyond this, feel free to
Limit attribute levels. Attributes 25. Run the game in such a way that extrapolate. For instance, Task
affect so many things in the game that single-focus characters have to rely on Difficulty (p. 345) lists penalties down
a PC with lots of points in attributes their friends for help. At the same to -10, but if your campaign includes
can sometimes cause problems. To time, be sure that a few success rolls heroes with skills of 25 or 30, there is
combat this, set an upper limit on involve sufficiently large penalties that nothing wrong with assigning a penal-
individual attribute scores or on total jack-of-all-trades characters have to ty of -15 or -20!
points allowed in attributes. defer to the true experts in the group.
THE CINEMATIC
Emphasize the value of relative skill Know the stakes. Campaign power CAMPAIGN
level. When a character concept calls level doesn’t just determine the heroes’
for many skills, there is a temptation abilities and the scale of the threats For the most part, GURPS stresses
to buy high attributes and put rela- they face – it sets an upper limit on realism. Heroes can get disappointed,
tively few points into skills. This might any imbalance between the two. injured, sick, or even dead. So it goes.
be a cheap way to get good skill levels, Challenges that are merely amusingly The GM is expected to stretch realism
but it leads to “attribute inflation.” To weak or annoyingly tough in a low- in an emergency (defined as “whenev-
encourage more balanced designs, tell powered game might become boring er realism would ruin the game”), but
your players that you intend to make or lethal when scaled up to a higher- the rest of the time, realism rules.
heavy use of the Relative Skill Level powered one. Be ready to think on
rules on p. 171. your feet! If the heroes are chewing up The “cinematic” campaign is one
the opposition so easily that the play- where realism doesn’t rule – because if
GM Limitations ers are yawning, have tougher rein- it did, it would constantly get in the
forcements show up; if they are get- way of the story. In a cinematic cam-
Even balanced high-powered PCs ting mauled, give them a lucky break. paign, swashbuckling heroes can
can wreak havoc on your adventure or defeat dozens of foes because the story
game world if you aren’t ready for Be flexible. Powerful PCs can do calls for it. Spacecraft whoosh or roar
them! Here are a few ways to prepare more, which makes it tricky to second- in the silence of space because fast
for a high-powered game: guess them. Again, you must think on things whoosh and powerful engines
your feet. Don’t penalize your players roar. Rightness always overrules mere
Know the heroes’ abilities. There is when they finesse your plot with their correctness.
a lot of information on the character abilities . . . but when they use their
sheet of a powerful PC. If you are not powers as blunt instruments to knock The cinematic style of play requires
familiar with all of it, the game can holes in the plot, be ready to come up both players and GM to understand
grind to a halt when the player invokes with creative countermeasures that
a rarely used ability. Even worse, a for- look like you planned them all along.
gotten ability can lay waste to your
careful plans!

Know the rules. The more abilities
the heroes have, the greater the

488 GAME MASTERING

and agree with this principle, and to A place in the world. Cinematic a random disaster! On the other
cooperate in telling the story. GURPS heroes have loved ones, mentors, hand, the GM must not overrule the
includes some rules that can help – lovers, ex-lovers, enemies, birthrights, dice so often that the players feel as
but everyone must realize that an epic family curses, and so on. They do not though nothing they attempt can
story is apt to transcend the rules. simply appear, play their role, and change the outcome of the story.
vanish – they need to be part of the
Cinematic Power Level game world, since their story is part of The GM must allow dramatic
what defines the game world. actions to succeed. If the hero tries to
It is possible to run a cinematic swing from the chandelier, the player
game at any power level. Cinematic Cinematic Play must have confidence that the GM will
games are frequently high-powered not sneer at him and announce that he
games – and vice versa – but “cine- Cinematic campaigns have certain has broken his back – and must now
matic” is a style, not a point level. conventions: play a quadriplegic – because his
Crack commandos in a grimly realis- hands slipped off the wax caked onto
tic campaign might have huge point A cinematic world is ordered. it. The GM certainly shouldn’t bog
totals, while many of Robin Hood’s Events have reasons – reasons that down play by requiring endless skill
Merry Men would come in under 100 relate to the story. These might not be rolls modified by the dimness of the
points yet be quite at home in a cine- obvious, but few things happen arbi- tavern!
matic campaign. trarily and nothing significant hap-
pens at random. This doesn’t mean The players must not take inappro-
Still, cinematic heroes should be that the plot has to be linear or pre- priate advantage of conventions. Yes,
markedly more capable than ordinary destined. Reversals of fortune are the heroes will make it across the
people . . . and perhaps even more tal- common setbacks, and even if the Burning Wastes – but they must still
ented than most heroes. Players find it final goal is set in stone, the way to get make proper preparations. A player
easier to believe in cinematic stories if there is not. who remarks, “Don’t worry about
their characters are capable enough to water. We’re heroes; we’re sure to find
accomplish what the story calls for The only details of importance are some,” is playing in the wrong cam-
them to achieve without too much those that directly advance the story. paign. The players must provide dia-
“fudging” on the part of the GM. Unnecessary detail is the bane of cine- log and attitudes in keeping with the
matic gaming. The GM must know the style of the campaign.
How the players spend their points difference between important details
is somewhat more important. GURPS and irrelevant ones. For instance, if The GM must handle heroic deaths
provides many abilities suitable for the heroes must cross the Burning satisfyingly. An epic death cannot be
cinematic gaming. Epic heroes often Wastes to reach the Dark Tower, they purposeless. If a PC dies, he dies glori-
have a Destiny. Most possess “luck” – will find enough water along the way; ously – bravely saving his comrades’
although Daredevil and Serendipity the story would be very short if they lives, or taking an impressive number
are often more appropriate than didn’t, and it would not advance the of foes with him. Fate (in the person of
plain Luck. The GM should permit story much to play out their searches. the GM) will be generous. There is no
Gadgeteer, Gizmos, Gunslinger, need for stinginess, as the PC won’t be
Rapier Wit, Trained By A Master, The GM must be prepared to over- around to be a problem later on! The
Weapon Master, and Wild Talent. He rule any die roll. If the dice determine players must not abuse this conven-
should also allow any skills associated every outcome, the players learn to tion. A dying hero might be almost
with these traits, and might even want put probability ahead of dash and invincible . . . but only if he’s selling his
to use “wildcard skills” (see p. 175). style. Furthermore, the dice can be as life to take action that directly
tyrannical as a heavy-handed GM; advances the plot.
Cinematic Characters the players are likely to revolt if a
brave adventurer dies suddenly from
Advantages and skills do not, by
themselves, create cinematic heroes. Damn the Rules, Full Speed Ahead!
The player must have a character con-
cept that turns the statistics on the Many gamers prefer a “rules-light” game, in which the action moves
character sheet into a person. In par- along quickly rather than being bogged down in die roll after die roll.
ticular, epic heroes need two things: This is similar to cinematic gaming, but it is possible to have a quick,
realistic game just by choosing which rules you use. For instance, com-
A motivation. Love and honor are bat slows down a lot when the GM uses hit locations or critical hit and
classic, but not all cinematic charac- miss tables – so leave them out. Rather than fuss with the detail of
ters are honorable, good, or even nice. selecting a dozen skills to round out a character, use a wildcard skill –
Evil dreams and goals – such as blind, and maybe a Talent or two (p. 89) to boost that skill even more. If the
unreasoning vengeance – are perfectly GM and players want a free-wheeling, fast-paced game, it’s easy to do –
acceptable as long as they are appro- just pare GURPS down to its essential elements and be willing to make
priate. However, obsession can lead to a lot of judgment calls on the fly.
a simplistic character. The player must
make a conscious effort to round out
his character’s personality.

GAME MASTERING 489

STARTING A GAME SESSION

There are a few things the GM is an artist in the group, he may help may have better skills or abilities than
should do before play actually starts, by drawing the characters as they are they did last game session. This is the
to make things easier for himself and described. time for the players to work out such
the players: matters with the GM. (If everyone in
Check for skills, etc. improved since the group has net access, it might be
Introduce the characters. If you are the last play session. In a continuing better to work on this via e-mail
in the middle of a continuing cam- campaign, the PCs earn character between games, to avoid slowing
paign, you can skip this step! But if points that they can spend to improve things down.)
you are just starting out, each player their abilities. Sometimes the PCs can
should have the opportunity to study, work at jobs, etc. between play Fill out the GM Control Sheet.
describe “himself” or “herself.” If there sessions. Therefore, some characters While the players are getting to know
each other (or each other’s charac-
Advance Preparation ters), the GM should check over the
character sheets, make sure every-
There are several things for the GM to do well in advance, before the thing balances, and copy necessary
players arrive on the scene: information onto a GM Control Sheet.
This reference lists attributes, second-
Prepare the adventure. If you are playing a prepared adventure, all ary characteristics, special advantages
you need to do is read through it, and possibly make up some charac- and skills, etc. for each PC. When the
ter sheets. But if you are designing your own adventure, you may spend GM rolls in secret to determine who
weeks of work – a labor of love – before it is ready for the players. In sees something, who understands
any event, be sure you’re fully familiar with the adventure before the something that everyone sees, who
players show up! resists a spell, or who that bad-tem-
pered dwarf takes a dislike to, this
Brief the players about the adventure. If your players are already sheet is valuable.
familiar with the system, you should tell them in advance (before they
arrive to start the game) what sort of characters are “legal” and how Brief the players. Tell them what’s
much money, equipment, etc. they are allowed – and perhaps give a going on, give them some idea what
hint about useful skills. If everyone has his character made up in the adventure will be about, and (in a
advance, you’ll be able to get right to the action when the players arrive. continuing campaign) refresh their
memory about the last game session.
Set up the play area. You need pencils, paper, and dice; maps and There are many ways to do this. You
miniatures if you are using them (and a table to play them on); and a can always just tell them. But it’s much
supply of snacks (for yourself, if not for the whole group)! more fun to start play and then “set
the scene.” Let the characters immedi-
Who’s Got the Sheets? ately find a map or old book . . . meet
someone who tells them an interesting
Much of the advice in this chapter assumes that you, as GM, have rumor . . . befriend someone in need
access to the character sheets during the planning process, or at least of help . . . witness a wrong that needs
are maintaining a detailed GM Control Sheet. Some GMs ask the play- righting . . . or whatever.
ers to leave their character sheets with them, both because it helps them
plan and because then the players can’t lose them. However, there are Let the game begin!
situations (for instance, a campaign in which GM duties rotate through
the group) where that’s impractical – and some players really don’t like MAPS
to give up that much control. You should at least have a control sheet
with each PC’s primary abilities, updated as major changes happen. It’s The GM may wish to prepare maps
not as good as having the actual character sheets, but it’s much better in advance, to help him plan and to
than trying to plan and run the game blind. Of course, a photocopy or keep track of events. He may also give
digital copy is even better! maps to the players as clues. And the
players themselves might want to map
To Screen or Not to Screen? their progress – whether it be through
jungles, dungeons, or downtown New
Many GMs prefer to use folders, books, or other opaque items to York City – to make sure they can find
screen their notes and die rolls from the players. Others find that it dis- their way back . . .
tances them from the game, and like being right out with everyone else.
This is largely a matter of taste; we point out only that there are situa- Maps in GURPS use hexagons, or
tions in which a GM should roll secretly, and you should have some “hexes,” to regulate movement and
easy way to do that. combat. Each hex is adjacent to six
other hexes. See Hexes (p. 384).

490 GAME MASTERING

Player-Made Maps

Whenever the PCs enter an area for which they have actually get with their senses. In the example above,
no map – be it a dungeon, a laboratory complex, or a the GM fudged all the distances a little bit, assuming
network of jungle trails – the players will want to map that whoever was pacing would have a standard pace
it themselves. (That is, they will if they are smart!) a bit less than a yard.

However, mapping is not trivial. Unless the party If you do this, the players might come up with
carries a tape measure and spends a lot of time using it, ingenious ways to measure time and distance. Let
you should not tell them, “You go 12 yards down the them!
stairs and turn north. The tunnel is seven feet wide and
nine feet high. It goes north for 120 yards and then Note that if mapping is difficult in ordinary circum-
turns northeast. In another 20 yards, it opens out into stances, it becomes next to impossible if the party is in
a room 10 yards by 6 yards.” That sort of information a hurry! Suppose the group is being chased through the
would require several minutes per measurement and a area described above. The GM would say:
skill roll against Mathematics (Surveying) – not just a
stroll through the tunnel! “Okay. You’re running? Stop mapping. Here’s where
you go. Down the stairs! Turn right! Run for several
Instead, give them information like this: seconds! The tunnel bends to the right! Run a little far-
ther! You’re in a room!”
“You walk down the stairs – they go down a little far-
ther than an ordinary flight of stairs. At the bottom, And so on. When the party stops running, they can
there’s a tunnel going right. It’s wide enough for two to sit down and try to remember where they went.
walk side by side, and so high you can barely touch the (Eidetic Memory is a big help here!)
ceiling with your swords. It goes on for a ways in a fair-
ly straight line . . .” Mapping Overland Journeys

“How far?” asks a player. If the PCs are traveling through unexplored territo-
“Is somebody pacing it off? Okay. Around 128 paces. ry, the players may wish to keep a large-scale map. The
It then turns to the right a bit . . .” GM may make it automatic if they are following rivers,
“How much?” canyons, and the like. If they are trekking through fea-
“Did you bring surveying tools? Anybody got tureless wastes, or trying to map a specific tiny inlet of
Absolute Direction? No? All right. Standing at the inter- a great river, making a map good enough for others to
section, with the old tunnel behind you at six o’clock, follow requires a Cartography roll. This defaults to IQ-
the new tunnel looks like it turns away at between one 5, Geography-2, Mathematics (Surveying)-2, or
o’clock and two o’clock. Got that? Now, it goes along for Navigation-4. Absolute Direction is good for +3 to the
another 19 or 20 paces, and then opens out into a big roll.
room. The door is in the middle of the long wall. The
room is roughly rectangular. From where you stand, it This can be an adventure in itself: the party is sent
might be 10 yards long, 6 or 7 yards wide.” to explore and map the trackless waste, virgin planet,
mysterious dungeon, steaming jungle, dead city, or
Very different, yes? But also much more realistic. whatever.
The players receive only the information the PCs

Travel Maps smaller scale. Use this scale to map an except between midnight and 9 a.m.,
entire building, dungeon, arena, etc., when two guards are there. There is a
Draw these maps to any conven- and use a different sheet for each floor 50% chance that each one is asleep.
ient scale. Examples include maps of or level, indicating shafts and stair- They are ordinary guards from the
continents, highways, and cities. ways. Mark each room (or other point Character List, but one of them also
These are purely for information; they of interest) with a letter or number for has a gold ring worth $200. They will
are not “playing boards.” In a modern use with a map key. surrender if outnumbered more than
adventure, the players have access to 2 to 1, but will not cooperate, even if
travel maps. In a far-past or far-future For each room, the map key should threatened with death.”
campaign, the travel map might be the give:
GM’s secret. (Finding a map can be a • If necessary, any special notes
great adventure objective.) • Its size (although this might be about the room, and descriptions of
clear from the area map). anything that might be found if the
Area Maps room were examined carefully.
• A general description.
The standard scale for these maps • A description of the people or • If necessary, a room map (see
is 1” = 18’ (6 hexes). Each hex is still creatures in the room, if any. This may below) to show the precise location of
one yard across – it is just drawn to a be as simple as “Two ordinary wolves,” furniture, characters, etc.
or as complex as “This room is empty

GAME MASTERING 491

The GM should keep this sort of Combat Map: Room Map:
map secret from the players – 1 hex/inch 2 hexes/inch
although they can try to make their
own map. He may wish to place a Area Map:
marker on the area map to show 6 hexes/inch
where the party is at any given
moment.

Room Maps

Draw these maps to any conven-
ient scale. A useful scale is 1” = 6’ (2
hexes) – half the size of a combat map.
Use these maps when you need to
sketch a room in some detail but do
not want to draw up a combat map.

Combat Maps

Combat does not require combat
maps – although they can be handy to
help the players visualize the action.
Tactical Combat (Chapter 12) does
require combat maps.

Combat maps are drawn to a scale
of 1” = 3’; each hex is three feet, or 1
yard, across. When the characters
enter an area where combat might
occur, lay out a map and have them
place their figures on it to show exact-
ly where they are. If combat occurs,
play out the fight on the combat map.

Treat any partial hex as equal to a
full hex. This allows a realistic repre-
sentation of either a hex-walled room
or an irregular cavern.

RUNNING THE GAME

The GM’s task during the game is involved in the action. And when you GM doesn’t think he’s doing a good job
simple. All he has to do is listen to the change a rule or make a special excep- unless he slaughters half the party
players describe what they’re doing, tion, apply it equally to everybody. within the first hour of play. But most
then use the rules of the game to tell players don’t find this fun. GURPS
them what happens, so they can Keep the action moving. A roleplay- allows complete, detailed character
describe what they want to do next . . . ing game is like a story. As the GM, creation. It’s a shame to turn such
and so on. Well, perhaps it’s not quite you’re the author. Your main charac- carefully crafted characters into can-
that simple! ters have free will, and often the story non fodder. Remember: good adven-
goes where they want it to go! But ture stories don’t kill off their heroes
The sections below will help you, when things lag, it’s your job to liven without a reason. This is discussed in
as GM, determine “what happens them up. Improvise an encounter . . . greater detail below; see Keeping The
next” in a variety of situations. But the introduce a clue . . . do something to Characters Alive (p. 496). Of course, if
most important things are not “rules” get things back on track, or to help the you and your players really like hack-
at all, but guidelines for good GMing. players get some ideas. and-slash games, go right ahead . . .

Use common sense. When any rule Don’t lean on formulas. This defi- SETTLING RULES
gives a silly result, follow common nitely includes the various formulas in QUESTIONS
sense instead. No matter how much the rules! Use them when you need
we playtest, no rules are perfect – them – but don’t let them become In any question of rules, the GM’s
including these. Don’t let the players crutches. And don’t let adherence to a word is law. The GM decides which
turn into “rules lawyers.” Your deci- formula spoil the game. For instance, optional rules to use, and settles any
sion is final. if the hero really needs to lift that rock specific questions that come up. A
to keep the action going, let him lift it.
Be fair. Give all the players an even
chance, and try to keep all of them Thou shalt not kill. Not much, any-
way. In some RPGs, life is cheap. A

492 GAME MASTERING

good GM discusses important ques- consequences. Don’t let them do it Templates, p. 445) or by assigning
tions with the players before deciding unless they could realistically have appropriate traits on the spur of the
– and a good player accepts the GM’s changed their minds in time to avoid moment without regard to point value.
decisions. trouble.
Once you create an NPC – major or
The GM should know the rules If George says, “I’m dropping the minor – play the role! Your NPCs will
thoroughly. When the rules do not nitroglycerine,” and you roll the dice try to earn money, look important and
cover a situation – or when a decision and tell him, “It just blew up. Take 3d admirable, protect their skins, and
about the “real world” is needed – the damage,” George can’t take it back. achieve their goals – just like anybody
GM can use several techniques: But if George says, “I’m setting fire to else! The more skilled you become at
the building,” and then changes his roleplaying, the better a GM you will
Success rolls. A “success roll” is a mind – let him. “All right. You lit the be and the more fun you (and your
roll that tests one of a character’s match and found some newspaper, players) will have.
attributes, skills, etc. – see Chapter 10. but then you changed your mind.
Use a success roll when a question Stomp out the newspaper.” Buildings Some of your NPCs will automati-
arises about someone’s ability to do don’t burn that quickly, so George had cally be friendly to the PCs; others will
some particular thing. time to reconsider. (If George had be “natural enemies.” These reactions
used a flamethrower, of course, it will be preset when you work out the
Random rolls. A random roll is would be different!) scenario. But many NPCs have no
often best for a question like “Are the “automatic” response to the PCs.
keys in the car?” or “Does one of the In general, if a player announces Instead, you will use the Reaction Table
soldiers have a horse the same color as that he is performing an irrevocable (p. 560) to see how they respond.
mine?” The GM decides what the act . . . he really did it, and that’s that.
chances are, then rolls the dice. Some Playing the Adversary
things have a 50-50 chance; others are Follow the Leader
highly unlikely. The GM decides what When the GM plays an NPC who is
the odds should be, and leaves the rest If the players select a leader, an enemy of the PCs, he should try to
to fate. the leader should speak for the party, limit his knowledge to those things that
telling the GM what they are doing – the NPC would really be aware of. The
Arbitrary fiat. You don’t have to use except in emergencies. Then, it’s every GM knows all about the party’s
the dice at all. If there is only one man for himself. The leader can strengths and weaknesses – but their
“right” answer to fit the plot of the give orders, but he cannot enforce enemies don’t. One good way to solve
adventure – then that’s the answer. them unless his character can enforce this problem is to have another person
“Luckily for you, the grenade bounced them in the game world. If the leader play the adversary characters.
down the stairwell. Nobody was hurt. appeals to you for help, tell
But now the guards are alerted!” him, “You’re the leader. You keep The GM should tell the Adversary as
discipline.” much as possible about the characters
DEALING WITH he is to play. But the Adversary should
THE PLAYERS Table Talk know no more than is “realistic” about
the overall situation. In particular, he
Players are individuals, with opin- If your players are too noisy, tell should know very little about the PCs
ions and biases, and there will be them, “If you say it, your character and their abilities – especially at the
times when the GM needs to keep the says it.” This means that the characters beginning of an adventure! For total
peace. Here is some advice for doing cannot be stealthy unless the players realism, you might even want two
just that. are quiet, and the characters cannot Adversary players – one for knowledge-
make a speedy decision unless the able enemies who are familiar with the
Arguments players decide quickly. Enforcing this party, and one for stupid cannon fodder.
rule can save the GM’s sanity, especial-
As the GM, you should always lis- ly if he has a large group. The Adversary is like an “assistant
ten to reasonable suggestions from the GM.” His job is to roleplay the foes as
players – and if you make a mistake, PLAYING well as possible. He should not play
you should be willing to reverse your THE NPCS them as mindless killing machines
decision. But you are the final author- (unless they really are). If the “appro-
ity, and the court of last resort. If you A “nonplayer character” (NPC) is priate” thing for those particular ene-
make a decision that you think is fair, anyone played by the GM. The GM mies to do is to attack, they should
and someone insists on arguing . . . gets to play dozens of characters attack. But they might also throw rocks
invite him to leave the game, tem- throughout an adventure – from from ambush, shout insults, or even
porarily or permanently. Games are chance-met travelers to powerful run away immediately!
fun. Arguments aren’t. (The other patrons and villains.
players may step in and shut this In any disagreement between the
down before you get a chance. Let As the GM, you may create your Adversary and the GM, the GM’s word
them!) NPCs in any way you like. You should is law. But a good GM gives the
design important NPCs just like player Adversary as much leeway as possible,
“I changed my mind!” characters, but you can give “cannon and takes any disagreement into anoth-
fodder” and “bit players” logical abili- er room to avoid distracting the players.
Certain players try to “take ties by using templates (see Character
back” actions when they suffer bad Playing the Adversary is a good
way to build up experience if you
would like to be a GM someday.

GAME MASTERING 493

Gaming Online

If you don’t have a gaming group in your area, or people. These are getting better all the time, and rather
you still want to game with college buddies who are than discuss the state of the art as of this printing
scattered all over the country (or the world!), you may (which will be outdated in six months and laughably
want to try roleplaying online. There are a number of crude in two years), we’ll just mention them and sug-
ways to go about it: gest that you ask around for help getting started.

Play by e-mail (PBEM). In this style of play, the GM Other Online Resources
describes the scene for everyone. Each player then
sends his next “move” to the GM, who compiles every- Even if you aren’t gaming online, there are lots – no,
one’s moves, figures out what the NPCs are doing dur- lots – make that LOTS – of great places to find support
ing that time, resolves all the actions, and sends out the for your tabletop GURPS game. Here are a few:
next installment.
Pyramid. Our online magazine is not a “house
Advantages: no one is forced into hasty action; just organ” – it covers games from across the industry – but
about everyone with any sort of net access has e-mail, it does have a lot of GURPS content, with more added
and it works just as well on a 10-year-old computer as just about every week. The archives of the print issues
it does on the newest model; the GM can attach files to of Pyramid (and its GURPS-only predecessor,
the messages if he wants to show the players something Roleplayer) have many articles which have never been
their characters would see; games aren’t held up wait- adapted in later GURPS publications. With an online
ing on the perpetually late player to arrive; and no one chat zone (including gaming areas), message boards,
can steal your munchies. and new content every week, Pyramid is a steal.

Disadvantages: it is a lot more work for the GM, e23. Our new e-publishing venture has both out-of-
especially if he is a poor typist; a single encounter can print and brand new adventures and source material. It
take weeks to complete if the players are slow about is also growing all the time, so check back frequently to
replying; and it’s just about impossible to run any see what new items we’ve added!
detailed combats – in fact, many PBEMs actively avoid
combat. Our website. The SJ Games web page is loaded with
extra content (and, eek, errata fixes) for almost every
Play by real-time chat (IRC, M*, instant message, GURPS book ever published. It also includes down-
etc.). A compromise between e-mail and face-to-face loadable software to help you run games in person
gaming is using an online chat room or instant mes- or online. Our webforums cover everything we do,
saging service. This has many of the good and bad fea- including, of course, GURPS, and are a great place to
tures of both approaches – games have to be scheduled, ask questions.
but the players don’t have to be in the same physical
location; it’s possible to have real-time interaction URLs
among the players, but if someone is a slow typist, he
bogs the game down (or gets left behind); no one steals And here are the URLs:
someone else’s munchies, but no one buys the GM
pizza, either. Some chat sites do have dice rollers, how- SJ Games main page: www.sjgames.com
ever, which makes gaming easier. GURPS main page: www.sjgames.com/gurps/
Forums: forums.sjgames.com
Massively multiplayer online RPGs. These are com- Pyramid: www.sjgames.com/pyramid/
puter games that allow the players and GMs to interact e23: e23.sjgames.com
online. Some let you use any game system you like; oth- GURPS errata: www.sjgames.com/errata/gurps/
ers come with built-in rules. GURPS Online: www.sjgames.com/gurps/online –
As of this writing there is nothing at that page but an
We have made some efforts along this line, but so announcement of a canceled project, but if something
far nothing has come of them. It definitely seems that new happens, that’s where it’ll be.
MMPORGs are the future of online gaming for many

REACTION ROLLS The GM should keep this roll secret 3. Reaction modifiers apply directly
from the players. They don’t know, for to the die roll. A reaction bonus is any
When the PCs meet an NPC whose instance, whether that friendly-look- factor that will make NPCs friendlier,
reaction to them is not predetermined ing old farmer is giving them straight while a reaction penalty is something
(see below), the GM makes a “reaction advice or sending them into a trap. that will bias NPCs against the PCs.
roll” on 3d. The higher the roll, the
better the reaction. The GM then plays A reaction roll is not a success roll. Some common reaction modifiers:
the NPC according to the guidelines There are three important differences:
on the Reaction Table. Personal appearance and behavior.
1. There is no “target number” to This is especially true for the PC who
roll against. does the talking! Above-average

2. A high roll is good, not bad.

494 GAME MASTERING

appearance gives a bonus, as do such “I open the door, duck under
traits as Charisma, Fashion Sense, the poisoned blade trap, step on
Pitiable, and Voice. In most situations, every third brick, and make sure
so does a high apparent Status. Below- not to trip the hidden laser sensors.”
average appearance and many disad-
vantages give a penalty. If you’re using a pre-packaged adventure, it is possible that some of

Skills. A successful roll against a the players have already seen it, or even played through it. (If you’re
skill appropriate to the situation can
give +2 to reactions. Examples include really unlucky, one of them GMed it!) As soon as you get a hint that the
Administration when dealing with
bureaucrats, Carousing when party- players are acting from knowledge that they, themselves, should not
ing, and Politics when interacting with
politicians. In a few cases, skill 20+ have, it’s time to throw them a curve ball, such as an unplanned
gives an automatic +2 to reactions.
Diplomacy and Fast-Talk work this encounter, a room that “shouldn’t” be there, or a trap they weren’t
way if you are allowed to talk – as does
Merchant skill, during commercial expecting – and, perhaps, to re-evaluate whether you want to be gam-
transactions. The GM may give simi-
lar bonuses for other skills. ing with people who are willing to cheat at the expense of everyone

Racial or national biases. Elves else’s fun. Or at least yours.
don’t like dwarves, Frenchmen don’t
care for Germans, and so on. These Predetermined bonuses and worst- Anachronistic technology. Players
are usually penalties, and take the case reactions (e.g., “never any worse can’t use high-tech knowledge that
form of a Social Stigma disadvantage than Neutral”) are possible for unusu- their characters could not have. If a
for the PC or an Intolerance disadvan- ally friendly NPCs. medieval character wants to invent
tage on the part of the NPC. gunpowder, or build a compound
Second Reaction Rolls bow, or use moldy bread for peni-
Appropriate behavior by the play- cillin, you don’t have to let him. Of
ers! Here’s a chance to reward good If the players get a reaction roll course, time travelers can take knowl-
roleplaying. A good approach should they don’t like, they may change their edge into the past.
be worth +1 or more! A wholly inap- approach and try again (unless the
propriate approach that antagonizes first roll started a fight!). Changes in Similarly, modern characters
the NPCs should give the party -1 or approach include offering a bribe, should not be allowed free use of
-2 on the reaction roll. Don’t tell the offering a better deal, having someone ancient techniques. Gunpowder is an
players, “You blew it!” – just roleplay else ask, presenting new information, example here, too . . . how many 21st-
the offended character, and let them and using a particular skill (see century people know exactly what to
figure it out. below). If the NPC, as played by the combine to make gunpowder – or
GM, feels that the PCs are becoming a how to mix, grind, sieve, and use it
Random reaction rolls are great nuisance, apply a cumulative -2 to without blowing themselves up?
when they add a note of unpre- each reaction roll after the first! The Modern characters can always try to
dictability to the game – this is more PCs can avoid this penalty by waiting “remember” ancient techniques, by
fun for the GM, too! However, never a reasonable time between requests. making appropriate (and difficult)
substitute random die rolls for reason “Reasonable” is entirely up to the GM! rolls against History skill or the par-
and logic. ticular specialty involved.
Influence Skills
Predetermined Knowledge of history. If your game
Reactions The PCs can substitute a roll is set in the “real” past of Earth, the
against Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, players – if they paid attention in
Certain NPCs might have reaction Intimidation, Savoir-Faire, Sex school! – have advance knowledge of
modifiers (mostly bad) worked out in Appeal, or Streetwise for a regular how things “really” came out. Don’t let
advance. For instance, a street gang reaction roll in certain situations – see them use it – unless, of course, they
might have a -5 reaction to anybody. Influence Rolls (p. 359). The GM still are time travelers from the future. And
applies any modifiers that would remember that, in a game, history can
Predetermined reaction penalties apply to the reaction roll, but treats be changed – so some of the things the
sometimes come with a “best-case” them as modifiers to the skill roll. players know might not be true.
reaction. Treat any reaction better
than the best-case reaction as the best- KNOWLEDGE Literacy. This is important – and
case scenario; do not roll again. For lots of fun. If a PC is illiterate, don’t let
instance, a mountain man might be a One challenge of roleplaying is to him read anything! It is amazing how
loner, with a -2 reaction to any out- limit a character’s knowledge to the many players claim -3 points for a
sider – and no matter what, his reac- things he “should” know. written comprehension level of None
tion will never be better than in their native language . . . but
“Neutral.” In this case, the GM would PC Knowledge assume they can still read maps, street
lower any reaction better than Neutral signs, and shop windows!
to Neutral. Part of the GM’s job is to keep play-
ers from making use of information
that their characters could not know.

GAME MASTERING 495

NPC Knowledge The GURPS rules are designed for designed to slaughter the PCs. Design
two main things: good roleplaying and a scenario to make the players think
Likewise, the GM and the realism, in that order. “Realism” and roleplay, and to give them a fair
Adversary should not use knowledge means that, in any serious combat, chance – or perhaps a better-than-fair
that their characters could not logical- someone is likely to get killed or badly chance, since they are the heroes.
ly possess. This is the main reason for hurt. And, since in real life nobody
having an Adversary in the first place wants to get killed, “good roleplaying” Realistic NPC behavior. Most realis-
. . . so the GM can’t use his total knowl- means that most people try not to tic NPCs won’t risk their own lives
edge of the PCs against them. The fight until they have to! That goes for unnecessarily. Not every encounter
warnings under PC Knowledge apply your NPCs as well as the PCs. turns hostile; not every hostile
equally to NPCs, but there are some encounter turns violent; not every vio-
additional things to watch out for: Good roleplaying (and having a lent encounter involves weapons. Of
good adventure) is the most important course, some game worlds are more
Objectives of the party. The GM thing, though. When good roleplaying violent than others, but “life is cheap”
knows the players’ true objectives; the conflicts with realism, roleplaying usually makes for a very poor game.
Adversary may know. But when he should win out. As the GM, you
plays “ignorant” characters, he must should try not to let such a conflict Even in a violent game world,
roleplay his ignorance. This might occur. But if it does happen, tip the enemy NPCs will often have a reason
mean that an NPC acts hostile when scales toward fun. to take the PCs prisoner rather than
he “should” be friendly, or vice versa. kill them outright: interrogation, ran-
It also means that when the party If they really som, imprisonment, slavery, sacrifice,
sneaks into the castle, the guards can’t ask for trouble, or what-have-you. Capture and escape
all rush to protect the treasure room. let them have it. are staples of adventure fiction, which
They don’t know for sure where the is what the game is all about!
PCs are going! In particular, try not to kill too
many of the PCs! In a hack-and-slash And if the PCs are winning a fight,
Abilities of the party. All NPCs – game, where the PCs are no more than your NPCs should try to save their
especially adversary characters – sets of numbers, a death is no loss. In skins. In real life, most guards, beasts,
should react according to the apparent a true roleplaying game, with fully or bandits flee – regardless of duty,
strength of the party. A simple exam- realized heroes who took a long time hunger, or greed – if a fight goes
ple: if the PCs are exploring a dungeon to develop, losing a character can hurt. against them. Play them that way.
populated by roving bands of orcs, That is not to say that PCs can’t die.
each new band should find out the They can. But in the best games, they Realistic NPC abilities. In most
hard way that the party’s wizard uses don’t die too often. game worlds, the PCs start off with
the Explosive Fireball spell – until more points than the average person.
some orc escapes to spread the word. Keep in mind that RPGs are meant This means that most NPCs are no
to be fun. They simulate the “reality” match for them, physically or intellec-
Special weaknesses of the party. If of heroic fantasy, not the reality of tually. There are exceptions . . . inter-
(for instance) two members of the day-to-day life. An RPG is a story that esting, dangerous exceptions. But the
party are deathly afraid of snakes, the the GM and the players write together. “man on the street” should have poor-
adversary characters shouldn’t know And in the best stories, the heroes er attributes and fewer abilities than
this unless there is a way they could (most of them, anyway) survive and the PCs. For the most part, the PCs
have found out. In fact, the GM triumph. This is more important than should be facing inferior foes. This not
shouldn’t tell the Adversary things like “logic.” Logically, Luke Skywalker only keeps the game in balance – it
this in the first place. Let him find out would have been shot down . . . Frodo preserves the “reality” of adventure
for himself! But even after he finds and Sam would have starved in fiction.
out, he can’t use this sort of fact unless Mordor . . . Tarzan would have been
he is playing a foe who should know. lion-bait before he was six years old. A This is not to say that an “average”
classic story defies logic, and still you person cannot be dangerous. A 25-
KEEPING THE believe it – because you want to. A point thug can be a nasty fighter, if he
CHARACTERS good game is like that, too. takes a couple of disadvantages that
ALIVE don’t affect combat and specializes in
There are several techniques you ST, DX, and combat training. He is
There is a basic contradiction in can use to keep from killing off your more than a match for a 100-point
RPGs. On one hand, the players are “main characters.” Some of these are intellectual in a fight. But a 100-point
looking for adventure, and adven- totally contradictory. As GM, you’re fighter can chop him to bits.
tures are dangerous. On the other the boss. Use whichever methods you
hand, nobody wants to get killed! The like. Safety-net rules. Make use of rules
GM must walk a fine line between a that serve to keep the PCs alive. Let
“giveaway” adventure – where Intelligent scenario design. Don’t fill them expend FP for bonuses to
nobody is in real danger – and a your adventures with traps and foes defense rolls (see Extra Effort in
wholesale massacre. Combat, p. 357), or even spend bonus
character points to buy successes (see
Influencing Success Rolls, p. 347). In
action-oriented campaigns, consider
making Luck a required advantage to
give the PCs “rules protection” from
bad die rolls.

496 GAME MASTERING