We have some special rules at my table, as always. This post sets out to detail them to those few who read my blog. To preface, this campaign is heavily inspired by both old-school Dungeons and Dragons as well as the games of dripton and Peter Dell'Orto, who have been running games in GURPS for much longer than I have. I also often draw inspiration from whatever music, games, or literature I am indulging in at any given time. I also take heavy inspiration from the games that my father used to run; I played in his D&D 5th ed. games, which he ran using a mindset he got from playing B/X, BECMI, and 1st ed. AD&D. Now, lets dive into the actual rules.
Turn Undead
The first thing that will stand out as weird to most GURPS or DFRPG players is the giant table of numbers and letters under my new Turn Undead trait. I did not like how Turning worked in either DFRPG or GURPS and preferred it not to be something that people cast with spells, and should rather be a trait. The trait itself is 4pts/level and goes up to Level 20. Each level increases your odds of turning a given undead target (which are separated by general undead rank) by +1.
When rolling for a target, if you critically succeed on your turning roll, the target must resist against HT-5 or take 4d injury (bypassing DR). You can only turn a given undead once, then you must wait until you raise your trait by one level. Once the caster reaches a target of 17 to turn a type of undead, it is automatically turned by the Cleric. When they would normally reach a target of 21, they become automatically destroyed when turned by the Cleric. For example, at Turn Undead 12, Skeletons become automatically turned. Turn Undead 12 costs 48pts and $2,400 in training (ouch!).
Extra Languages
In my games, everyone gets two languages: Human, and a racial or class language. Human Fighters get to pick one common language to take. I do this because I want to not force players playing Clerics, Thieves, or Magic-Users to pay for their class language that they should already know anyway. If you are playing, for example, an (Low) Elf Magic-User, you'd need to pick if you want Arcane or Low Elvish.
Spells from Spellbooks
This is a fun one. In my games, you may not take spells willy-nilly. You get a list, of ~25 to 35 spells to pick from for your class, without worrying about prerequisites. Those spells are the only spells that you can learn to start. Any new spells, that aren't on that starting list, you must go find in the world, in spellbooks. You can also have other players or NPCs teach you new spells, usually at a cost. There is good reason behind this: why shouldn't wizards need to find their "Best in Slot" or "Most Effective Tactic Available" spells when fighters, thieves, and holy warriors need to find their B.I.S. and M.E.T.A. gear? This also makes good spells rare and thus powerful wizards that much more powerful, as there is a major gap in what you can accomplish as a 200pt Magician (rank 4) who has adventured, and a 150pt Conjurer (rank 2) who has adventured far and wide.
Extra Time and Encounter Rolls
I abstract time in the dungeon pretty heavily: this is one major way that I do it. If you want to take extra time on a task and get a skill bonus, instead of taking really long times, you instead take an extra 15 minutes per +1, up to a +4. The trade off is that, for every +1 you take, you risk a random encounter. Random encounters can be anything from a push-over group of wandering skeletons to certain doom (though sometimes they are friendly). Risking a random encounter to get a bonus to whatever you are trying to do is a great trade-off in my opinion, because it incentivizes either a) coming back later when you are more prepared or b) doing something risky to profit.
Dwarven Mail
My players had a hoot over this one when they found a piece of Dwarven Mail. Dwarven mail, in my world, is very well made and lighter than usual. It allows mail to be worn underneath other armor without layering penalties, which is a great benefit, especially for a price of +3 CF. It does conflict with Elven, as there are no dwelves in my world. (It shall hopefully remain that way for all of time.)
"the Death Penalty"
So dubbed by one of my IRL players, the Death Penalty is the name for how I handle death in my games. When a character dies, they lose half of their gained points, which is normally found using this equation: ((Point total - 85) ÷ 2) + 85. Math, in GURPS? Weird, I know. They also lose a bunch of money. 50% of their stored wealth goes toward a funeral, 30% is split amongst the party as well as magic items, and 20% goes towards a new character. Characters who plan to be resurrected (if they can can find someone to do so) ignore splitting up cash if they wish, but the new character doesn't benefit from the 20% of previous stored wealth that they normally would.
Characters may also retire! This means your gained character points are divided by 1.5 instead of by 2 and you only lose 30% of your obtained wealth, the rest going toward weapons, armor, and other gear for a new character. I have yet to have any characters retire that aren't because the player left the group.
Powerstones
Powerstones work mildly differently: powerstone is a word for gems that store magical energy. Any gem can be used as a powerstone, though depending on the value, it might have more or less potential to hold energy. Gems can hold up to 20 energy. To be able to use a powerstone, you must first have it charged for $10/point of energy, and then attune to it. If someone else attunes to your powerstone, all energy in it is discharged and it must be recharged by a mage, cleric, or otherwise. It takes an hour to recharge one energy in a powerstone, meaning a very nice powerstone could take all day to charge! This system replaces the Power Item rules (Adventurers, 115) and the Powerstone (M20) rules.
I use this because of personal preference. I think using any old gem for it is great, as it gives gems more use. It does make finding expensive gems a "do we sell it? do we use it as a powerstone?" debate as well. Finding rare gems isn't a super common thing.
Alignments
I know most GURPS and DFRPG players just shrieked and jumped out of their seats, running in circles screaming. I don't enforce player alignments, outside of Clerics and Holy Warriors, but the Gods have alignments. This is because there is cosmic conflict going on. Of course Sutekh, the god of violence and destruction, is going to be at odds with Freya, the goddess of fertility and love. They are also entirely different pantheons! Players can completely ignore alignment if they want, or they can engage in it deeply and work with the gods closely to do whatever it is they are trying to do.
Final Notes
There are things I am probably missing that someone will ask me about in the future. My rules also change as time goes on! I have used and do use all different kinds of rules. My biggest draws to the game though is never the rules, it is if we are all having fun, and there are times where the rules will take a back seat to that. That isn't often, but it has happened.
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