Welcome to the Cosmos! I post GURPS (and sometimes non-GURPS material) every so often. If you have a question, leave it here, and I will answer as soon as possible.
Made some record sheets based off of the old 1st Edition AD&D Dungeon Master's Design Kit. Originally, it was just made for me and my friends, but I decided to throw it out to everyone. This can be used for a variety of games, it is purposefully pretty generic, but it works best for DF. Should be printer friendly as well. See link below for access to the PDF.
I was storming up some ideas today with a player of mine, regarding different ways to make Esoteric Attribute (e.g. like Quintessence) Magic more interesting and scale better with some of my house rules. We came up with two ways to do as so! For this, we will assume that the attribute in play here is called "Magic", representing any sort of magical attribute one would want to use.
So, first things first, what was the need for this in the first place? Well, my player and I were talking about possible alternate systems to account for Esoteric Attributes doing things other than increasing Skill Level and Energy Reserves, and eventually, I came to the topic of damage for spells.
My idea was simple, though it needed refining. Make damage for missile spells be based off of the equivalent thrusting damage of that attribute. Keep in mind we are using KYOS, so this scales slightly better. Now, this would leave the average caster at 1d-2 for spells, which is plausible. But this is only the raw idea, and now, I will give you our refined ideas.
Some notes overall are that for both ideas, check if the original damage is greater or lesser than 1d+0. If so, add that as a modifier to your damage. For example, Stone Missile deals 1d+1/energy normally, meaning that you'd have a +1 damage bonus, but Lightning, which deals 1d-1/energy normally, would have a -1 damage penalty.
The first, is pretty simple. Use that new damage for the first turn you are charging your spell, and that is it. For example, a character casting Lightning at Magic 15 would get 2d-1 damage their first turn, while every sequential turn they would get 1d-1 additional damage. It is simple and effective; better casters deal more damage to start. But, there are weird gaps. For example, at Magic 10, you are dealing less damage on your first turn.
The second idea is more complex. You deal the extra damage per point, but for each additional point of energy invested into that casting of the spell, you take a -1 penalty for each point past the first, and must roll against Skill (adding penalties) each turn you invest that extra point into the spell. Failing the roll means that you lose any invested energy that turn, but can continue charging. A CF means you stop concentrating and lose any invested energy.
An example of the second concept in play would be Little Billy, who has Magic 12, Basic Magic Damage of 1d, and Stone Missile at 14, which has its damage at +1. Little Billy charges his spell for two turns, having a -1 on his second turn. He succeeds both rolls, meaning his damage is 2d+2. Frankie has Magic 10, BMD of 1d-2, and Stone Missile at 14, same as Little Billy. He charges for the same time and succeeds both, meaning his damage is at 2d-2. Finally, Ethan the Elder has Magic 15, meaning he has BMD 2d-1, and Stone Missile at 14, same as his trainees. He charges his spell for two turns, and obtains 4d damage (2d/turn).
Now, there are some assumptions here. The first is that you are using KYOS, which, isn't a requirement. Feel free to use Basic's thr progression. The second is that you are using an "Esoteric Attribute". I heavily suggest not using IQ for this, as you will make it even better for Wizards to take. This works best with an "Esoteric Attribute", like Quintessence, Magic, etc. Third, is that you want to have low damage for Wizards. If you prefer more cinematic gameplay (more cinematic than Wizards already are), use the swing progression instead.
Personally, I am still testing this and might publish something using both of these potential systems. Do note that this can make for stupidly OP combos. Personally, as a counterbalance to this (which was implemented before this was even in my thoughts) was making spells below SL 15 have double casting time, and beyond SL-15 there are no benefits, period. If you think this is stupid, it can be to some, but I also allow taking a stacking -3/second penalty to speed up casting time. My games are also a hodgepodge of various house rules and Pyramid articles, so, take this all with a grain of salt.
This is a short, sweet, and silly one. We had a situation last session where a player asked how the Armor spell (Magic, pg. 167) interacts with T-Bone's Edge Protection system. So, I got to thinking. Initially, I wondered if it would be fair to treat it as Rigid Armor, set DR to 1/5th and EP to 2/3rds, but that seemed like an inelegant solution for it. So, I came up with two solutions.
The first, is short and simple. Armor grants an equal amount of Edge Protection as Damage Resistance, at no extra cost. The magical force can soften blows past the DR. We also decided that inherent Armor Divisor does not affect magical armor through these means; your sword slash is just as good as a spear point when it comes to penetrating magical armor.
The second is a new spell, which is a silly one. What it does, is it grants a number of Global EP equal to double the energy cost, up to 10 EP (or 5 energy). Again, it probably won't have a use, but hey, what if you really want to take damage but can't bleed! See below for both the new spell and the change to the old Armor spell.
Regular
Adds a number of Edge Protection globally to a living subject. EP granted like this is treated the same as EP granted from armor and is cumulative with that from actual armor. Magical EP granted this way has no interactions with Armor Divisors.
Cost: Half the ER given to the subject, rounded up, to a maximum EP of 10 (cost 5). Half that to maintain
Time to cast: 1 second
Duration: 1 minute
Prerequisites: Clerics: PI 2, Magic-users: Armor
Armor now grants EP equal to the DR granted. DR and EP granted this way has no interactions with Armor Divisors.
A few weeks ago, I got to thinking about how The Last Gasp interacts with Conditional Injury when it comes to the pain of wounds in TLG and how that turns into a nightmare with a conditional injury system like CI. That got me to thinking today, when I was brainstorming some Combination options with my players. How does bleeding in CI work? Well, the short answer, is it doesn't; which is fine, Douglas has said it himself! CI is a thought experiment after all. So, I got to thinking: how could you make bleeding work in CI and keep it conditional?
Well, duh, use the Last Gasp! Joking, but what I do already meshes great with The Last Gasp's long-term fatigue system. Instead of using what CI suggests originally, which is losing maximum Fatigue and treating each location as its own wound with slightly unclear rules, I devised my own rules not long ago, which in my opinion, fixes a lot of the issues with Bleeding in CI. For this, you will need to ignore "Deadly Fatigue", present on Py. #3/120, p. 33.
So, how does it work? Well, it is simple. When you get hit with a cutting, piercing, or impaling attack, it bleeds. I opt to not roll against HT to see if it bleeds or not as long as it is a wound that would cause significant bleeding, but you are free to. It is easier to assume getting cut or stabbed makes you bleed. When a wound bleeds (in either 60-second, 30-second, or 2-second intervals, depending on location), roll an HT check. On a fail, you lose 1 FP. On a success, nothing happens. You can see where this is going; see B420 for the old system. Replace any mention of HP there with FP, and instead use the penalty for bleeding rolls present on Py. #3/120, p. 33. If you are using my remapped system, the modifier is instead HT + 7 - Severity.
Once you hit zero FP, the fun begins! Mark down the negative FP for the purpose of recovery later on, and so you can determine the wound for the next step. Once you start taking negative, find the absolute value of the negative FP you have taken as a wound for your entire body. Once you reach a Severity +0 (or Sev. 7 in my remapped scale, if you are playing in my games), you die. Wounds taken like this do not give pain; instead, you just take the FP loss and modify attributes accordingly. It is pretty simple, in my humble opinion, and is significantly less prone to situations where you do tons of record keeping.
Now, how does this interact with The Last Gasp's long-term fatigue? Well, it does already. It gives you recovery times for your lost blood, attribute modifiers for having lost a lot of blood, and any extra rules. As a note, when recovering the lost FP, also modify the blood loss wound, to show your blood replenishing. I think there is probably an easier fix to this (other than ignoring bleeding) that I might not see, but we will have to wait for Mission X to see what Douglas has cooking on the topic of bleeding and blood loss.
As always, questions or comments are always welcome; I am always looking to improve my systems and rules that I am cooking up, as I actually use these every week, so fixing issues is always extremely important to me. I can also clarify why I chose certain thresholds here, if needed. If you have your own fix, let me know! I am interested in seeing other people's takes on this. Now, finally, here are two quick and dirty examples below, using both my remapped scale and the original scale:
Example A: Darius the Daring just got shot in the neck; oh no! This comes out to a Severity 7 (Sev-0) wound. He makes an HT check for bleeding, adding a -1 penalty for piercing damage. His HT is 10, meaning his target is 9. He rolls an 11, failing. He bleeds. He continues to bleed for three minutes, critically failing two checks and failing one. His critical fail costs him 4 FP. At the end of his bout of bleeding, he takes 6 FP damage, meaning he has a -30%* reduction to his attributes. No wound is obtained here.
*: Note, I use a percentage reduction to all attributes instead of a flat modifier. If you are using the original article as written, this is instead a -3. Personally, the percentage maps better, but it is your choice, as everything in GURPS is.
Example B: Benjor is getting attacked by a Draug, and gets a deep slash across his chest. This comes out to a Severity 8 (+1) wound. Benjor has HT 10. He makes an HT check for bleeding, with a -2 for bleeding and a -1 from the wound severity. He fails, meaning he is bleeding. This bleeding is fast as well, with 30-second intervals. When he manages to have it treated, he has bled for four minutes, and made eight checks. One critically failed, one succeeded, and six failed. His critical failure came out to 6 points of FP damage. This means he took 12 points of FP damage. He takes a Severity 2 (-4)** wound from this!
**: Note, it has been a long time since I have used stock Conditional Injury's Robustness Threshold system, so I might have messed something up here, but the general idea still gets across.
Tvesdag, 9th of Frandrecht, 1482 AA. Very Late Lentmarch.
Early Morning. 37° F (~2° C), Dry Thunderstorm.
Characters
Void as "Manwell"
Ethan as "Das"
Teragen as "Raenius"
Sybildis as "Gaabriel"
Torgo as "Arlan of Aberdeen"
Canute as "Aleksander of Isenhold"
The thick clouds block the sunlight from shining down onto the city, as distant thunderstorms are heard. They are standing around, waiting for someone to break the silence. They are getting to know each other while their contact, Carter of the Alleys, prepares his cargo, which should only take him another fifteen minutes. They've agreed to split the bounty to 100d/man, a great price for something so simple.
Count Harold of Eisenburg looks out over Eisenburg, towards the northern sea. From his castle, he watches the waves, crashing at sea; the boats rocking in the harbor due to the wind and rain. He closes his shutters, as rainwater begins to pool at his feet, splattering from the windowsill onto his leather shoes. His brass buckle shines brightly, spattered with water. He returns to his table, where his map sits, and looks down at it. It is a map of his realm, with markers representing each vintenary and soldier at his fingertips.
His page, Markvart, walks in, after knocking. Markvart, like Harold, is an average looking Imperial, with curly brown hair and brown eyes. Unlike Harold, he wears the clothes of a Yeoman of sorts; though he owns no land.
"What is it, Markvart. News from Sir Ute?" Harold says. Days prior, when Count Marko of Pilzstein, a neighboring Count declared a claim to his city of Eisenburg, he sent Sir Ute of Grundorf to handle a diplomatic mission, with orders to settle this without bloodshed. "Anubus willing, this will be done and over with, as long as He is watching me."
"No, Sire. A message has came from Count Marko. It is a ransom note for Sir Ute!" The page says, in a low voice that gives away the fact he is quite scared of how the Count will react.
"What?! How dare he! What is the amount, my boy?" Harold says, thrusting his hand to the right and into the air, knocking over a goblet of fine Brandy while he does so. "I swear, Anubus willing, I shall have his head for this!"
"80£, Sire. The note also established further claims to Eisenburg." The page says. Harold listens in silence, shocked completely. "He says that years ago, his great-grandfather Count Ysvelt II the Sea-Lord had laid claim to it, and had it under his control when the Robber Baron was at his greatest power. He says that, even if you pay the 80£, you must surrender Eisenburg or face war."
Harold is silent, contemplating. He is silent for a long time; only the pitter-patter of rain against the ornate wooden shutters is heard for a long time. Finally, he speaks.
"If it is war the Bastard wants, it is war he shall have. Call all my vassals; send word to Wiesenburg and Ackerthal. Have Orsted and Oskar of Wiesenburg here as fast as possible, and tell the Burgrave of Ackerthal to ready the garrison. Start sending letters to the forts and towns; summon the Auxilia and the Levies." The Count says, in a quick and irrational voice. Though, no Lowborn or Highborn would act any different, with such absurd claims being made.
The page excuses himself, already calling for the messengers to ready their Palfreys and for the scribes to begin drafting letters. The Count himself opens the window back up, this time to look over his lands, and towards the East, over the Blauwald. He sees nothing but darker clouds and more rain.
Recently, I have been doing some work on my house-rules, and I have come to some odd issues when trying to make Conditional Injury (herein CI) and The Last Gasp (herein TLG) work together. Obviously, the articles weren't meant to be used together, and were not designed for it. So, after some work-shopping with Douglas of Gaming Ballistic over on the GURPS Discord server, this is what I came up with.
July 17th, 2016.
07:39:37. It is heavily raining and overcast.
Characters
Void as "Berkut"
Clayton as "Priyatel"
Terragen as "Medoyed"
The group, now in Ragman's hideout, are preparing for his point defense mission. They have been tasked with defending a mission where Ragman's men will drain fuel from a fuel tank, which will be a lengthy task. He is worried they will get ambushed for the fuel. They are prepared to do this mission.
As I have finally finished version 3 of my house rules, I decided to rewrite my last article for my expanded rules; this time maybe fate will prevent our heroes from surviving! Last time, this series proved to me that it was pretty fun writing this stuff up, so I might turn this into a series if I happen into a lot of free time. The write-ups are shortened as most of the stuff was simply to show how characters are built in ways that makes them effective in combat as well as fine for role-playing. The background for this one is that Mark of Thalm is on a stroll when he is ambushed; nothing complex.