Category: GURPS

Last night I finally sat down and started figuring out how to build things like bionic arms using GURPS.

I already had some idea just from looking through the Cyberpunk and Ultra-Tech books, but I needed to really dig into it. Much like the Hero System, you select the Advantages that a gadget like a bionic arm would confer on a person, then use various limitation and/or enhancements to alter the cost of each of the Advantages. You add up the cost of the Advantages for the device, and then you might actually apply some disadvantage to the device which lowers its final point cost.

Without getting into the details, here is an example. I took the bionic arm from Ultra-Tech and reverse-engineered it, figuring out how the GURPS writers built it, doing the calculations, etc.

Bionic Arm

1. +2 STR — would cost 6 pts.  Has limitations like “susceptible to electricity, needs maintenance,  which reduce the cost by 25%, so rounding up the final coast for the STR is 5 pt.
2. Damage Resistance 2 — because the arm is more resistant to damage than the human body. Costs 10 pt, but has the Limitation of only applying to one arm, so cost is reduced by 40%, for a total of 6 pts.
3. Finally, having a bionic arm entails loss of the human arm. This is the character disadvantage “One Arm”, which could normally get the character back 20 pts. However, according to the rules for Cybernetics in the Ultra-Tech book, you apply  a 70% reduction to that bonus because the loss of the arm is Mitigated by having a bionic arm. In other word, having one arm isn’t such a disadvantage if you have a bionic one, so you don’t get the full 20 pts. You get 6 pts back.
4. So the final cost of the bionic arm is 5 + 6 – 6 = 5 pts.

Like the Hero System, the more familiar you are with the building blocks (Advantages, Limitations, Disadvantages), the better you will be at crafting interesting gadgets and abilities. I actually think the GURPS Limitations are easier to implement than Hero’s. You just total the percentage of increase/decrease in point cost, and apply it to the base cost.

 

OK, I ordered the two GURPS 4th Edition core rulebooks. Was going to buy them at my local came shop, but they didn’t have them both. Ended up ordering them from Amazon.

With regard to running a Cyberpunk game, I am going to get the 3rd Edition books for Cyberpunk, since they have a lot of the “flavor” of the genre, even if they are for the old edition. For technology, I’ll get GURPS Ultra-Tech book. Pyramid Magazine # 3/21 is supposed to be good to also be useful.  I’ll see if I can get by with that for a while.

I have started re-reading some classic Cyberpunk genre novels. Started with the William Gibson stuff.

I have to say, Cyberpunk really didn’t last very long. It seems like a pretty dead genre. Not that I don’t still like it, but it just seems played out. So we’ll see what develops. One challenge of that genre is that the idea of and “adventuring party” doesn’t really exist. Most characters are more like loners, so it will be interesting to weave stories that can involve everyone.

 

I wrote this post before I started my GURPS CyberPunk campaign a couple of years ago. I think it clearly explains why I chose GURPs. Over the last two years, I’ve really grown to appreciate the ability to go “rules-lite” or “rules-heavy” or anywhere in between with GURPS. Honestly, I think the character creation system might be the most daunting thing for new players. It requires some thought, and it isn’t easy when you have never played. Anyway, though our play sessions have been sporadic, I think the campaign has been a big success.

As I have mentioned here before, I’ve always liked GURPS a lot, but seldom used or played in that system. By the time GURPS evolved out of the Fantasy Trip, my friends and I were pretty well entrenched in the Hero System, and rarely played in the fantasy genre. After we got out of college, a friend ran a fantasy genre game or two in the GURPS system for me and one of the other guys. It was great, but adulthood had set in and we simply didn’t have time to play.

Since discovering theMook.net yesterday I’ve been revisiting GURPS and I must admit I’m kind into the idea of running a GURPS campaign in some non-fantasy genre. I read Mook’s game notes on his GURPS Cyberpunk games. It sounds really fun. I also bought a copy of his How to be a GURPS GM, from Steve Jackson Games. It was on sale for less than $10 (it’s a PDF), and after reading his blog I decided it would be a good purchase. It was.

Apparently GURPS can seem overwhelming to a lot gamers. I was going to say “new gamers”, but I get the feeling experienced gamers sometimes feel the same way. It is easy to see why. There are no character classes. Players build their characters using a point system, as in the Hero System. So as soon as you go into character creation there are a lot of decisions to make. You don’t just roll some dice, pic a class and race, and write down what your character can do. Since there are dozens (if not hundreds) of skills to choose from depending on the genre of the game, well, you have a lot to think about.

Mook advises that perhaps a character creation session and test combat are good ways to start a GURPS campaign. I couldn’t agree more. I won’t divulge any more of his advice here — buy his supplement if you are interested.

For the GM, GURPS also requires a bit more work from the outset. The GM has to pick a genre (fantasy, science fiction, modern, or whatever), decide what skills and advantage are available to players, decide on stuff like power level, tech level, etc. In other words, the GM must decide on things that most RPGs include already. Frankly, a lot of people just aren’t up for this. No foul, right? People are busy, and there are some damned good game designers out there.

So, with these “weaknesses”, why would I want to run GURPS?

Because it kicks ass.

For many genres GURPS is ideal. The sourcebooks available for GURPS are fantastically well-written. Steve Jackson Games really has this down. No matter what kind of game you want to run, GURPS will do it. From power levels barely above average person to godlike superhumans, GURPS can do it. It really is quite incredible. And once you have a little experience with the basic system, you can keep it simple or make it as complex as you wish.

In class/level – based games like D&D, I always kind of feel like I’d be cheating if I started characters out above 1st level. I realize there is really no “cheating” in these games, but I still feel that way. To me, part of the point of D&D, part of the fun, is starting out weak and getting stronger.

Character point systems, like Hero and GURPs, allow you to easily get around this if you are weird like me. By selecting the starting power level of the characters, and determining where the campaign will fall on the Realistic vs. Cinematic continuum, you have the option of starting characters where ever you want. You determine the lethality of the campaign too.

GURPS, from what I’ve experienced, is a bit more lethal than some RPGs. Highly developed GURPS characters seem easier to kill than highly developed D&D characters. It’s just the nature of the system. GURPS, I think, tends toward a bit more realism. That’s not bad – just different.

So here’s where I’m going with this.

In my life, I don’t have time to play every week. I’m thinking once a month, or twice, is the most I can manage. I think that for this kind of life, GURPS is ideal. You can determine at the beginning about how long a campaign will last. A 12-month/12-meeting Cyberpunk game? Sure. Just determine the desired power level to start it.  You don’t have to go through the process of building characters up to “levels” at which you can actually have some fun with them.

Anyway, I am working on some campaign ideas. I’m still digging the new D&D system, but I think I might try running GURPS.