GURPS 4th edition. Compendium II

194 Pages·013.946 MB·English

by  Sean Punch

G U R P S ®
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A Digest of Advanced Rules for Combat and Injury, Hazards and Threats,
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Campaign Design and Equipment. A Rules Expansion for the Basic Set, Third Edition.
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STEVE JACKSON GAMES
THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS!
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Compendium II is 192 pages of the best articles and the most-requested new P
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expanded/optional rules for GURPS! We've chosen the most useful GM
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resources from over 14,000 pages of GURPS material (much of it no longer in
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print) and added new material written by experienced GURPS gurus.
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Compendium II is a must-have for Game Masters (no more digging through a
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stack of books to find the optional rule you want) and a valuable aid for E
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any GURPS player.
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• CAMPAIGNING – Game mastering and • DANGEROUS STUFF! – Pages of U
campaign design, cinematic games, things to scare players with, M
other dimensions, campaign ranging from cold weather and
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power level and designing seasickness to altitude I
believable societies. sickness, decompression
and radiation.
• COMBAT – Optional
rules galore for both
•INJURY & FATIGUE
realistic and cinematic
– Detailed optional
combat! Also includes
rules that build upon
rules for non-lethal
the existing systems for
contests and
injury, healing, missed
tournaments, and
sleep and extra effort.
systems for space
combat and naval
• MASS COMBAT
combat.
– Yes, the much-
•EQUIPMENT – requested Mass Combat
Including rules for day-to- System is back in print, in
day maintenance . . . and for an up-to-date, all-inclusive
operating bizarre artifacts that format that includes new,
are notday-to-day at all! optional rules. S
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This book is designed for use with GURPS Compendium Iand GURPS Basic Set, Third Edition,and
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includes rules that appear in the appendix of Basic Set, Third Edition Revised.
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Compiled and Edited ISBN 1-55634-327-2 S
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by Sean Punch N
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Cover by Jeff Koke
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Illustrated by Dan Smith ®
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Printed in the
SJG02195 6522
U.S.A.
STEVE JACKSON GAMES
C A M P A I G N S A N D C O M B A T
compiled by sean punch
COVER BY JEFF KOKE
ILLUSTRATED BY DAN SMITH
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS BY C. BRADFORD GORBY
This book could not exist without the combined efforts of all those credited previously
in other GURPSbooks, as well as the authors of numerous Pyramid and Roleplayer articles,
virtually all of whom have – knowingly or otherwise – contributed to this book.
The list is too long to include here, but you know who you are.
GURPS System Design by Steve Jackson
Scott Haring, Managing Editor
Page Layout, Typography, Interior and
Color Production by Jeff Koke and Bruce Popky
Production Assistance by Lillian Butler and S. John Ross
GURPS Errata Coordinator: Hunter Johnson
Print Buying by Monica Stephens
Art Direction by Bruce Popky
Matthew Grau, Sales Manager
Additional Original Material:Sean Barrett,
Hunter Johnson, Walter Milliken and Brett Slocum
Playtesting and Useful Comments: The GURPSbrain trust, including Tim Cain, James H. Cloos Jr., Jason R. Cubas, James R. Duncan,
Jeff Gaines, Mikael Hansson, Jay Heyman, Hunter Johnson, Joseph L. Lockett, Elizabeth McCoy, Onno Meyer, Walter Milliken, Bill Oliver,
Ismo Peltonen, David Pulver, Steffan O’Sullivan, S. John Ross, Juergen Rudolph, Bob Schroeck, Brett Slocum,
Adam J. Thornton, Toni Vaisanen, the GURPSnet mailing list (for. general discussion), Bill Letourneau, David Pulver, Phil Masters.
Other Invaluable Assistance: Lillian Butler, Hunter Johnson, Bill Letourneau,
Elizabeth McCoy – Archangel of Scanning, Tracy Ratcliff and S. John Ross
GURPSand the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Pyramidand Illuminati Online and the names of all products published
by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license.
GURPSCompendium II:Campaigns and Combatis copyright ©1996 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated.
All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
ISBN 1-55634-327-2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STEVE JACKSON GAMES
INTRODUCTION . . 4 Understanding Sequences, Turns Initiative...................71
and Maneuvers. . . . . . . . . . . 48 Multiple Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
About the Compiler. . . . . . . . . . . 4
Hit Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Multiple Attack Rules . . . . . . . . 72
About GURPS ...............4
Hit Location for Humanoids . . . 52 Controlling Multiple Attacks ...72
1. EQUIPMENT . . . . 5 Hit Location for Animals. . . . . . 54 Faster Combat..............73
Cover Value of Some Common Flying Characters in Combat. . . 74
Breakdowns and Maintenance. . . . . 6
Materials................54 Only the Best Shall Win: An
Slime, Sand and
Dodging Explosions..........54 Optional Rule.............74
Equipment Failure. . . . . . . . . . 6
Hit Location for Vehicles. . . . . . 55 Swashbuckling Maneuvers . . . . 74
Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Bullet Damage..............55 Nonhuman Foes.............75
Ground Vehicle Breakdowns . . . . 7
Optional Realistic Combat Rules. . 56 Silly Combat Rules...........76
Alien Devices, New Inventions, and
All-Out Charge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Sweeping Counter Parry . . . . . . 79
Weird Gadgets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
All-Out Defense Option:
Alien Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3. OTHER COMBAT
Increased Defense . . . . . . . . . 56
Prices and Character
Animals in Combat . . . . . . . . . . 57 SYSTEMS . . . . . . 80
Starting Wealth . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Bullet Knockback............58
Improvements at Ritualized Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Multiple Projectiles ..........58
Higher Tech Levels .........8 Jousts and Competitions. . . . . . . . . 81
Critical Hit/Miss Tables. . . . . . . 59
Advanced Technology. . . . . . . . 10 The Fight’s Over Already?
Ranged combat –
Weird Technology . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Optional Rules for Pacing
Special Situations .........60
Anachronistic Devices ........11 Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Blow-Through, Weapon Type
Data Penetration The One-Minute Jouster:
and HT..................62
(Computer Hacking) .......11 Quick Tournament Rules....84
Concentrated Defense: Protecting
Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Duelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Your Vital Interests ........62
Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 The Gentleman’s Code. . . . . . . . 85
Dodge and Drop.............63
Power Cells ................15 Severity of Duels. . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Knockback, Weapon Type and
Software...................16 The Particulars of the Duel . . . . 86
Weight ..................63
Muscle-Powered Weapons. . . . . . . 19 Weapons of the Duel .........86
Explosives inCombat . . . . . . . . 64
Use of Human Bodies . . . . . . . . 19 Showdowns and Shootouts ......87
Flinch, Buck Fever and
It Doesn’t Have to be Steel.....20 Showdowns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Bullet Shyness ............64
Options for Low-Tech Swords ..22 Draw!.....................87
Firearms in Combat –
Blade Quality and TL.........24 Fire! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Expanded Rules. . . . . . . . . . . 66
Options for Ultra-Tech Swords .25 Very Basic Melee Combat:
Other Problems With Accurate
Archery Gear...............27 Really Simple Shortcuts for
Shooting.................66
Firearms Accessories.........31 Really Quick Battles .......89
Reduced Hit Probability
Pre-Gunpowder Artillery. . . . . . . . 37 Shootouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
for Heavy Weapons ........67
Ammunition for Firearms .....37 Competition Fighting...........92
Aiming Successive Groups.....67
Firearm Quality.............39 Roleplaying Tournaments .....92
Weapons without SS Numbers ..67
Traps and Hazardous Barriers .39 ABSTRACT VEHICULAR
Retreating Clarified..........68
Armor.......................40
High-Skill Feinting . . . . . . . . . . 69 COMBAT. . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Equipment for Horses ........41
Grappling – Expanded Rules...69 Naval Combat System . . . . . . . . . . 94
Other Materials for
Invisibility and Darkness......70 Ships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Low-Tech Armor ..........42
Shield PD as Cover . . . . . . . . . . 70 Combat....................94
Shields ....................43
Optional Player Character Survival . . . . . 98
2. COMBAT . . . . . . 47 Cinematic Combat Rules......71 Boarding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Chambara Fighting . . . . . . . . . . 71 Space Combat System . . . . . . . . . 100
How Combat Works............48
Multiple Actions for Spacecraft. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Detailed Combat Checklist . . . . 48
High Move. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Combat Rounds. . . . . . . . . . . . 101
c o n t e n t s
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Detection and Engagement . . . 101 Acid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Hangovers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
The Battle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Altitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Illness....................167
Ending the Round . . . . . . . . . . 105 Bends ....................132 Herbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Player Character Survival . . . . 105 Arctic/Cold Weather Hazards . 133 Use of Herbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Heroism and Caution. . . . . . . . 106 Effects of Varying Gravity: Finding Herbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Space Opera Combat System Gunfire.................133 Preparing Herbs for Use . . . . . 169
(SOCS). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Effects of Varying Gravity: Sample Herb Listing . . . . . . . . 170
Ship Classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Climbing ...............134 Try a Little Bit Harder:Expanded
Craft Ratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Collisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Rules for Extra Effort. . . . . . 171
Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Effects of Varying Gravity: Running . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Inter-Ship Relationships. . . . . . 108 Falling.................135 Jumping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Basic Combat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Effects of Varying Gravity: Lifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Fighter Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Throwing ...............135 Throwing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Cutter and Seasickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Generic Extra Effort. . . . . . . . . 172
Ship of Line Combat. . . . . . 109 Space Sickness. . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Extra Effort in Active Defense 172
Advanced Combat . . . . . . . . . . 110 Different Atmospheres. . . . . . . 136 Sleep:Advanced Rules for Fatigue
Poison ...................137 and Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
4. MASS
Electricity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Staying Up Late. . . . . . . . . . . . 173
COMBAT . . . . . 112 Extreme Cold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Getting Up Early . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Extreme Heat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Gravity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Sleep-Related Advantages and
Mass Combat Turn Sequence. . 113
Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Disadvantages . . . . . . . . . . . 174
The Armies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Radiation .................145
Troop Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 7. CAMPAIGNING 175
Venom Types...............147
Troop Type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Vacuum ..................149 Cinematic Roleplaying. . . . . . . . . 176
Troop Quality and Morale . . . . 116
The Cinematic Formula. . . . . . 176
Building and Feeding an Army 116 6. INJURY, ILLNESS
Cinematic Playing Style......176
The Battle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
FATIGUE AND Cinematic Campaigns . . . . . . . 177
Special Abilities............117
Yoicks! And Away! . . . . . . . . . 177
Catastrophies ..............117 RECOVERY. . . 150
High-Powered Campaigns......178
Consequences
Optional Rules for What is a High-Powered
to Player Characters. . . . . . . 118
Wounds and Healing.......151 Campaign?..............178
Strategy Modifiers. . . . . . . . . . 119
Cinematic Effects of Injury . . . 151 The Successful High-Powered
Resolving the
More Optional Rules Campaign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Contest of Strategy .......121
for Stun Points...........151 Character Development. . . . . . 179
Casualties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
HT vs. Hit Points...........152 High-Powered
Second Survival Roll. . . . . . . . 122
Radiation Treatment.........152 Characters in Action . . . . . . 180
Roleplaying Battle Scenes. . . . 122
Ultra-Tech Medical Drugs....153 Alternate Planes of Existence....180
After the Battle. . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
I’m Not Dead Yet! An Optional Yes or No? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Multiple Combatants. . . . . . . . 123
Wound System...........154 One or Many? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Quick and Dirty
Partial Injuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Types of Realities...........181
Mass Combat............123
Medical Care – Relationships Between
Exceptional Powers inBattle. . . . 123
Medicine By TL ..........158 Multiple Planes . . . . . . . . . . 182
Determining Exceptional Power
Drinking and Intoxication . . . . . . 162 Other Planes in GURPS......183
Available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Alcohol Rating. . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Society .....................184
Using Exceptional Powers
Alcohol Content Table. . . . . . . 162 Tech Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
onthe Battlefield.........124
Addictive Drugs............162 Society and
Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Government Types. . . . . . . . 185
5. HAZARDS AND Intoxication Table ..........163 Society Control Ratings. . . . . . 188
Special Modifiers. . . . . . . . . . . 165 Cultural Familiarity –
HOSTILE ENVI-
Shyness & Cowardice . . . . . . . 165 Advantages and Skills. . . . . 189
RONMENTS . .130 Other Modifiers............166 APPENDICES. . . . . . . . 190
Determining Mood. . . . . . . . . . 166
Acceleration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
INDEX . . . . . . . . . 191
Sobering Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Arctic Survival.............131
c o n t e n t s
3
GURPS Compendium II: Combat and Campaignsis our second compendi-
About GURPS um. It is a companion volume to Compendium I: Character Creation, and the
two together are intended, in turn, as companions to the Basic Set. The three
Steve Jackson Games is committed to books combined encompass most of the rules of any consequence ever pub-
full support of the GURPS system. Our
lished for GURPS.
address is SJ Games, Box 18957, Austin,
TX78760. Please include a self-addressed, For those of you who missed the introduction to GURPS Compendium I(why
stamped envelope (SASE) any time you don’t you have it yet?), it was originally our intention to publish a single book to
write us! Resources now available include:
cover all the advanced and optional rules that had appeared since 1986. However,
Pyramid. Our bimonthly magazine
over 14,000 pages of GURPSsupplements and magazine articles – and some of our
includes new rules and articles for
GURPS, as well as information on our more vocal friends in the gaming world – forced us to reconsider. When we did, we
other lines: Car Wars, Toon, Ogre realized that we needed two volumes. With the publication of this book, though, our
Miniatures and more. It also covers top
long-standing promise to publish GURPS Compendiumhas finallybeen realized!
releases from other companies – Traveller,
Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun and many This book is a collection of rules and guidelines for equipment, combat, the
more. hazards of adventuring and the challenges of campaign design. Just as in
New supplements and adventures.
Compendium I, we have included material from GURPS supplements and
We’re always working on new material,
and we’ll be happy to let you know what’s Pyramid and Roleplayer articles, as well as a selection of popular “house rules”
available. A current catalog is available for and a few essays and clarifications by various GURPSilluminati. The main pur-
anSASE.
pose of this book is to serve as an “official” third volume to the Basic Set,Third
Errata. Everyone makes mistakes,
Edition Revised (Compendium I was the second volume). Things that appear in
including us – but we do our best to fix our
errors. Up-to-date errata sheets for all the two compendiawill no longer be reprinted in worldbooks.
GURPS releases, including this book, are Unlike the first volume, Compendium II does include some genre-specific
always available from SJ Games; be sure
or world-specific material, including things such as the Space Opera Combat
to include an SASE with your request.
Q&A. We do our best to answer any System, and rules and weapons for 16th- and 17th-century swashbuckling. The
game question accompanied by an SASE. reason for this is twofold. First and foremost, people asked us for it. Second, a
Gamer input. We value your com-
lot of this material was out of print (such as material from GURPS Japan and
ments. We will consider them, not only for
new products, but also when we update Swashbucklers, as well as back issues of Roleplayer), so this book gave us an
this book on later printings! opportunity to present some useful material that is no longer available in any
Illuminati Online. For those who have
other form. We hope you like it and find it useful!
home computers, Illuminati Online sup-
Please note that many things in this book have been edited or altered from
ports SJ Games with discussion areas for
many games, including GURPS. Here’s their original form: for clarity and brevity, to combine multiple sets of rules into
where we do a lot of our playtesting! It’s a single rule that covers everything, or to correct errata. However, every effort
up 24 hours per day at 512-448-8950, at up
has been made to retain the original intention and feel of the rules. In the case of
to 28.8K baud (28.8 users should dial
directly to 512-448-8988) – or telnet to discrepancies between this book and any earlier ruling, this book takes prece-
io.com. Give us a call! Visit us on the dence.
World Wide Web at http://www.io.com/
sjgames/. We also have conferences on –Sean M. Punch, July 1996
Compuserve, GEnie and America Online.
The GURPSnet.Most of the online dis- About the Compiler
cussion of GURPStakes place on an elec-
tronic mailing list. To join, send a message Sean Punch is the Line Editor and overall system “guru” for GURPS. Aside
to [email protected] with “subscribe
from editing, his job occasionally includes developing GURPS products. His past
GURPSnet-L” in the body, or point your
endeavours in this regard include co-authoring GURPS Fantasy Folk, Second
Web browser to http://www.io.com/
~epopt/gurpsnet.html. Edition and developing a new edition of GURPS Martial Arts. He hopes to one
day write a few GURPSbooks of his own, but first he needs to find the time.
Page References
Sean does not live in Austin, but “telecommutes” to SJ Games by Internet.
See Compendium I, p. 181, for a full
Those who also use the Net may know him better as “Dr. Kromm.” Before
list of abbreviations for all GURPS titles.
Any page reference that begins with a B becoming an editor, he was a particle physicist, but he’s better now. His present
refers to GURPS Basic Set, Third Edition interests include tigers, military technology and being a cinemaphile. He has
Revised; e.g., p. B144 refers to page 144 of
also been a fanatical gamer since 1979.
the Basic Set. Those beginning with CI
refer to Compendium I. Sean and his wife, Bonnie (who is a nanny, and a gamer as well), presently
live in Montréal, Canada with four cats and one parrot.
i n t r o d u c t i o n
4
This chapter contains rules for equipment,
including rules for operating, repairing and main-
taining it. Stats for computers, power cells, weapons
and armor are given, and various accessories and
options are presented in the sidebars.
e q u i p m e n t
5
B
REAKDOWNS AND
M
AINTENANCE
Equipment (including weapons, vehicles and any gadget more complex than a
simple screwdriver or knife) requires regular maintenance to work properly.
Exception: Equipment built from TL13 “living metal” does not require mainte-
nance – if the entire item is made of living metal, it is totally maintenance-free; see
p. UT18.
Personal weapons, gadgets and other small items of equipment should get a
maintenance checkup every week or so if they are being used at all; very large or
complex items (such as factories or fighter jets) may need more frequent checkups.
To find out how many hours a piece of large equipment can safely operate between
maintenance checkups, divide 20,000 by the square root of its cost. The quotient is
the “maintenance interval” in hours.
Example: A jet fighter cost $15,000,000. It requires maintenance every
20,000/(square root of 15,000,000) = 5 hours, or about after each flight.
If an item of equipment has notbeen used and has been placed in storage (not
sitting out in the rain or desert sand), or has a sealed case, then it doesn’t require
routine maintenance checkups.
Each maintenance checkup requires 4 hours and should be performed by some-
one with the appropriate Armoury, Mechanic, Electronics or Electronics Operation
skill at 9 or better and a tool kit or workshop.
If a checkup is missed, roll against the skill of the character who made the last
checkup (use the average skill, if multiple mechanics were involved). Apply a -4
modifier per additional checkup missed after the first.
If that roll fails, then roll versus the item’s Health (not hit points). GURPS
Vehicles and Robots have rules for assigning HT scores to equipment; for most
equipment, roll versus 12 or the equipment’s TL, whichever is higher. Failure
means the equipment’s HT drops by 1, representing wear-and-tear; this will
Slime, Sand and increase the chance of a critical failure.
A critical failure means a serious breakdown. Some feature ceases to work, or
Equipment Failure
an individual part of a more complex item breaks down. For any potentially dan-
During the course of an adventure, gerous article of personal equipment (especially weapons), roll on the Mechanical,
equipment often takes as much punishment
Electronic and Biochemical Critical Failure Table, p. 7. For vehicles and robots,
as people. To reflect this in game terms,
the breakdown will often be the propulsion system (it can no longer move) or the
whenever mechanical equipment (guns,
cameras, vehicles, etc.) is dropped in a motive system (movement is reduced due to a damaged wheel, leg, track or what-
swamp, exposed to a sandstorm, buried in ever). For computerized equipment, the computer may malfunction, causing the
volcanic ash or similarly abused, it has a
device to become quirky or unreliable. The GM decides when the breakdown actu-
chance of jamming or failing completely.
Roll three dice for each piece of gear – a 6 ally occurs; this could be in the middle of an adventure, as breakdowns often occur
or less indicates failure. during use!
Equipment in an extreme environment
Note that ground vehicles, even “healthy” ones, can break down due to stress
(deserts, swamps, steaming jungle, etc.)
should be rolled for once per day regard- during routine travel; see the Ground Vehicle Breakdownssidebar (p. 7). Likewise,
less of (and in addition to) rolls for mis- harsh conditions may result in more frequent breakdowns regardless of mainte-
treatment. The GM may wish to keep the
nance; see the Slime, Sand and Equipment Failurein the sidebar.
rolls secret and let the malfunction be dis-
If equipment has lost Health due to missing maintenance checkups, this loss is
covered during normal use. A +1 may be
applied if the users are constantly cleaning cumulative. Lost Health can be regained: treat regaining a point of Health as mak-
and maintaining their gear, and a modifier ing a minor repair (see Making Repairs,p. 7).
of -1 to -3 may be used if the abuse is
unusually brutal.
Repairing jammed or broken equipment
requires a success roll of the GM’s choos-
ing (such as Photography to repair a movie
camera, or Mechanic or Armoury of the
appropriate specialization).
e q u i p m e n t
6
mechanical, electronic and
biochemical critical failure table
Use this table for breakdowns, or whenever else a critical failure occurs and it
seems appropriate: when alien or ultra-tech equipment is being examined by some-
one unfamiliar with it, when scientists are experimenting, when ultra-tech gadgetry
is being repaired, when damage control is attempted on a spaceship, or (at the GM’s
option) when a critical failure is rolled during use of an ultra-tech weapon.
3, 4–Your equipment shorts out catastrophically, a vital part breaks or your chemi-
cals interact cataclysmically. Roll 2d for the number of hours/days/weeks (as the
GM rules appropriate) it takes to repair damage, get replacement parts, or remix
the proper chemicals to compensate for the setback.
5 – An explosion occurs, doing 2d of damage to you and anyone in an adjacent
hex.
6–Same as #5, above, but doing only 1d damage.
7, 8–The botch or breakdown costs you 1 day or 1 hour of time, as appropriate; your
next roll (for whatever reason) involving that device is at -3.
9-11 – You narrowly avoid a disaster, by catching the problem in time. No time is
lost, but your confidence is shaken. You have a -3 on your next attempt to use or
repair the equipment (if you just made the final roll, roll again at -3).
12, 13–You lose 1/2 day or 1/2 hour of time, as appropriate, and have a -3 to your
next attempt to repair or use the equipment.
14–You think something is wrong, or that you may have used the wrong procedure,
but you’re not quite sure because your notes or the repair manual have been mis-
placed, gotten out of order, etc. Roll IQ-3 to know for sure (the GM determines
truth). If you miss the IQ roll or you did goof, either start from scratch or attempt
to complete the work or repairs with a -5 to your skill roll (your choice).
15–Aserious accident or error: a toxic chemical cloud, a sizeable shock or a heavy
component falling on you. Roll HT-5 or go to 0 HT. If you make your roll, you Ground Vehicle
still take 1d of damage and pass out for 20-HT minutes.
16, 17–As #15, but you automatically go to 0 HT and take an additional 2d damage. Breakdowns
If working with electrical equipment, you take a point of damage every five sec-
onds until someone shuts the power off. You can do nothing during this time Early automotive vehicles (TL5 and
except use psionic abilities (at -6) if you have them. pre-1930 TL6 vehicles) and heavy tracked
vehicles like tanks are notorious for being
18–Amajor explosion. Effects are as #16, 17 above, except that you take 4d damage
less than mechanically reliable. Even
after going to 0 HT. Anyone within 10 hexes takes 2d damage. Better hope some-
today, armored vehicles traveling long dis-
one stays conscious and gets you medical aid quickly!
tances are likely to shed tracks or suffer
damage to their suspensions. As such,
Making Repairs armies prefer to ship tanks on wheeled
transports for long distance travel.
Minor Repairs:Repairing damaged equipment that still has hit points remaining
A powered ground vehicle that (a)
requires a half-hour’s work per attempt. Roll versus an appropriate skill (usually doesn’t use wheels, or (b) has HT less than
Mechanic, Electronics, or Armoury). Success restores 1 hit point times the amount 10, or (c) was built in TL 5 or the first half
of TL6 must make a HT roll for every six
the roll succeeded by (minimum 1). All normal modifiers for using the skill apply –
hours of continuous travel.
see p. B54 for Mechanic skill modifiers. Some items may be more difficult to repair;
Modifiers depend on how it is moving:
in general, if an item costs $1,000 or less, roll at +1. If it costs $10,001-$100,000, +5 if on wheels, +3 if halftrack, skitrack or
roll at -1, or at -2 if it costs $100,001-$1,000,000 and at -3 if it costs over legs, +2 if on tracks or a “flexibody” (see
GURPS Vehicles). If TL5: -6. If TL6
$1,000,000.
between circa 1900 and 1910, -4. If TL6
Major Repairs: A disabled component (one reduced to negative hit points) is between circa 1910 and 1920, -2. If TL6
seriously damaged. It requires spare parts that cost 1d · 10% of the original price. between circa 1920 and 1925, -1. If legs at
TL7: -4. If legs or flexibody at TL8: -2.
All rolls are at an extra -2. Otherwise, use the rules above.
If a roll fails, the vehicle’s drivetrain or
Replacement:If a component is utterly destroyed (at -5 · hit points) it cannotbe suspension system has malfunctioned in
repaired, and must be replaced at 100% of the original cost. Replacement normally some way: a blown tire, slipped track, etc.
It will require 1d man-hours and a
takes 1 hour per hit point the component had and a skill roll; use the modifiers for
Mechanic roll to repair it.
minor repairs. A successful skill roll means the replacement is installed, while a
If the roll was a critical failure, the mal-
failed roll wasted the time, but further attempts can be made at no additional penalty. function is more serious – the vehicle’s
Hiring Help:If a character isn’t capable of doing repairs himself, he can usually motive subassembly or drivetrain loses all
its hit points and is effectively disabled
hire a mechanic. A typical rate is $20 per hour; typical skill level is 11 + 1d.
until repaired. Also, the GM may rule that
Mechanics with esoteric skills, e.g., Armoury (Artillery), may be more difficult to an accident of some sort takes place.
locate.
e q u i p m e n t
7
Prices and Character A D ,
LIEN EVICES
Starting Wealth
N I
EW NVENTIONS
The prices of equipment in GURPSare
W G
given in “dollars” (“$”), which are AND EIRD ADGETS
assumed to be a unit of currency suitable
to the campaign – see pp. B16, B71. One Adventurers seem to come across alien artifacts routinely, are often asked to try
“$” may be a silver piece, dollar, galactic
out experimental devices, and occasionally even invent weird, new gadgets of their
credit, Fnordian cockle shell, etc.
Whatever the units, the following values own. The sections below present a few ways to handle this; with very minor
for starting wealth are assumed: changes, all of these rules can also be applied to strange magicalartifacts.
TL4-Earth, most fantasy settings: $1,000
TL5 Earth:$750
TL6 Earth:$750 at 1900-1930, $1,000
at 1931-1940 and $3,000 at 1941-1950
TL7 Earth:$5,000 at 1951-1960,
$7,500 at 1961-1970, $10,000 at
1971-1980 and $15,000 after 1980
TL8+, cyberpunk settings:$10,000
TL8+, most other settings:$15,000
When a cost is listed for a piece of
equipment, it is usually the cost paid at the
TL where the device is first introduced; the
exceptions are the equipment lists in the
Alien Technology
various worldbooks, which generally give
the cost in that setting – which, for various
When someone attempts to operate an alien device of unknown purpose, first
world-specific reasons, may have nothing
have him choose a skill and roll against it. If the skill is inappropriate and the skill
to do with TL or inflation (see below).
Where costs are not listed, assume that roll is a success, he realizes that skill doesn’tapply and may try another; otherwise,
price is generally reduced at higher TLs, as he continues with the useless skill (treat as a failure by 10 for an appropriate skill).
per Improvements at Higher TLs,below.
The GM then rolls 3d, adds the amount the skill roll was made or failed by, and
Inflation:At least on Earth, the value of
a unit of currency tends to decrease with consults the Enigmatic Alien Device Button-Pushing Table,below.
time, for a variety of reasons. To reflect Each attempt takes one minute. Repeated attempts are possible: for each failure
this, the GM may also wish to apply an
of the skill roll, apply a cumulative -1 modifier to the next attempt. The table
inflation multiplier to prices. This multipli-
er is equal to (starting wealth of cam- assumes a device of moderate complexity, including a number of controls without
paign/starting wealth when device was first comprehensible labels, e.g., a TL10 blaster rifle, a radscanner or a space suit. Very
introduced).
simple or very complex devices should have appropriate modifiers applied to the
GM’s roll. The Intuition advantage can be useful in selecting the right skill, and
Improvements at also provides a +4 bonus to the GM’s roll.
Example: Hal has found a Precursor artifact that resembles a glowing potato
Higher TLs
with warts. He wants to figure out what it is, so he uses his Weird Science skill (see
p. CI159) of 15 (lacking anything obviously more suitable). Hal’s player rolls a 16,
The TL listed for equipment is general-
ly the TL at which it was first introduced. so the modifier is a -1. The GM rolls a 7, so poor Hal decides the device is some
Any technology from lower TLs might be sort of musical instrument and tries to blow into a hole he finds in one of the warts.
available at higher TLs. Its price varies
Hal breathes in some toxic cooling vapors and suffers 3 points of damage.
with the game world. Old devices might be
junk; they might be rare and valuable Note that Earthlings are unlikely to completely figure out alien tech, unless
antiques. The creator of the universe, or they happen to have very high levels in relevant skills (or Weird Science), or get
the GM, decides. In general:
very lucky – the cumulative failure modifier will eventually get them in trouble if
One TL after it first appears, any item
they don’t stop random button-pushing fairly quickly. A different
of equipment, including drugs, computer
programs and services like cloning or character can start from scratch, though; other people can bring fresh insights on
bionic operations, costs half as much. Two the problem.
TLs after introduction, prices are 1/4 the
These rules can also be used when characters analyze magical devices enchant-
original cost. There is no further reduction
in price unless specified for a particular ed with unknown spells, and when attempting to understand forgotten research pro-
device. jects. In the latter case, apply a +2 modifier to the GM’s roll – at least some of the
For some equipment, there are addi-
device’s labels will help. If notes regarding the device can be located (taking a
tional modifications:
Research-5 skill roll), an additional bonus of +4 should be applied to the roll on the
Continued on next page . . . table. But even with the manual, operation isn’t automatic – the documentation
rarely matches the prototype, and someone may have fudged the data!
e q u i p m e n t
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