Kintara

I have an old character I made for a GURPS game that I'm playing around with. Basically, the character's only power is that time is moving three times faster for him. The campaign he was created for is based on the premise that the Cold War is on, and the US and Russians are in a Supers arms build up. Of course the problem is that the machines they use to induce superpowers make you loopy. This guy's problem, besides that he's going to live his life as if everyone is in slo-mo, is that he thinks he is the one moving normally. He gets very impatient with everyone, to say the least, and let's just say setting up schedules with him are even tougher than they would already be. (Edit: And don't show him a clock. . . .) At any rate (er...), I was thinking about what powers he would get out of this. The old character was limited by the fact that Altered Time Rate is really expensive in GURPS, and ate a big portion of his points. Speed is, comparatively, much cheaper. I figured SPD 9 sounded about right. I also got thinking that his Strength could be 3 times higher as well (+20 STR, bought with No Figured Characteristics and Reduced Endurance, to simulate it's simply a result of being sped up). The Strength/time thing can be interpreted many ways, though, so I'm free to creative interpretation. In a similar vein, I bought +10 REC (an additional 2 times more) with the limitation "Only for Long Term Recovery." I figured the limitation was appropriate because speedy recovery in the short term can be simulated with spending extra phases. Then I thought that it made sense to boost the DEX to 30 (still keeping the SPD at 9), as well as the INT. Both are basically reaction time things. The DEX is somewhat perplexing, though, because of SPD. Maybe the Dex is overkill. What else do you think might be appropriate? I'd like to limit the idea to a rather straight-forward premise, though (stemming from simply living three times faster).

I guess this is kind of off topic, but this reminded me of an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where one of the characters gets split in two with a weapon (the Ferula-Gemina). Basically, the weapon distills you into two seperate beings. A super would have all his Super-related character traits in one side, and all the "Normal" stuff in the other one. The Super-distillate would probably be even more badass than before (freed from all the weaknesses of being normal), but the rub is that they both die if one of them dies (as they are both aspects of the same person). Of course, in the episode it hits someone who is already normal, so it just splits him into his strongest and weakest traits. So one side is really together and smooth, and the other is all bumbling and pathetic. It's a cool concept, but the problem is that I doubt it could be statted out very favorably.

Well, my only concern is that the GM said himself that it probably isn't cost effective. If it probably isn't, then why not make it cheaper? If you aren't going to make it cheaper, then it is still easy to fix. All you have to do is make it as important as it really costs. I'd suggest making sure that the setting material you already cited, that might increase the practical value of the ability, be used fairly often. Even give him some reputation perks a little more liberally than normal.

Make her a traditional gaki instead. Gaki might feed on most any one thing (blood being common, only food and things like jewels and money excluded). Gaki usually appear only at night, but they are shapeshifters. It would make sense that that might only apply to their natural forms (which are hideous, btw, but their morphing can hide that). Here's what I suggest, your gaki could obtain its nourishment from sex, draining the victim as appropriate. The morphing covers the Equal Opportunity Sexifier requirement. Do some research on gaki, if you aren't familiar with them. Anyway, I should credit my info to GURPS Japan, which explains them pretty well.

Well, I have used the GURPS Supers rules, and it worked passably. That doesn't mean that I think it is good. I'm mostly bringing it up to say that it is playable, at least in the right game. Of course the game I played it in was a gritty one during the Cold War, where desperate Americans and Russians turned people into supers at the expense of the poor person's sanity and freedom. In fact, I'd say it was rather Cthulhuesque.

Hmm, it seems high, yes. Immunity to alcohol is 3 points, so it is logical that a simple resistance would be less. But I'll concede to the GM that Life Support is rather supernatural in power. I'm assuming he's applying some sort of limitation on Constitution. I'd say the limitation should be at least -1 1/2 (I'd give -2) for the Limited Power, and -1/2 for No Figured Characteristics. That would be at least one third cost, the problem is that you need five levels before you recieve a bonus on characteristic rolls. So that does come out to around 3 points a level. Of course, that's pretty high. I'd say a far more equitable way would be to allow you to buy limited Power Defense vs. Imbibed Alcohol. Of course, he probably has the same concerns with this as he does with LS. Edit: Ask if you could take penalty skill levels instead. That might be a way to simulate the effects. Similarly, point him to the Talents section. The sidebar for Environmental Movement gives another example of how to deal with this. Personally, I don't understand the GM's ruling, to be honest.

Impulsive isn't totally random. Impulsive people act on their desires and feelings. Can you explain the character's impetus for shooting a sling bullet into the middle of a camp of enemies? I don't understand your comparison, either. Someone else pursued an enemy into a forest? Of course, let me be clear, I wouldn't have penalized you for your choice of action. I do, however, think that your action seems too random. Impulse is impulse, not whimsy. Edit: Let me explain a little further. When you have an impulse to do something, usually it means that you feel prompted to follow some urge within you. You feel an impulse to run from a wild dog, or a charging gorilla. You feel an impulse to buy a hat that jumped out at you. Caprice, on the otherhand is both impulsive and unpredictable. A capricious or whimsical creature would surprise you with odd decisions, and the impetus behind his actions would swing wildly. All of a sudden, with no prompting what-so-ever, they would go from normal conversation to angry aspersion or lustful advances. Capricious people are far more likely to be labeled nuts. Impulsive people are just considered foolish.

GURPS has many of the same problems Hero has, breakpoints and such, but it has a different style. GURPS is a great system to use for a grittier game with middling to lower powered characters. GURPS is a little more specific than Hero, as its goal isn't to be a toolkit as much as a game system that can be used generically. There's an important difference between them. Also, I'd say that the level of detail to the system is differently placed than Hero; they are equally detailed, just in different ways. Anyway, I'd agree that acrimony is counterproductive, as one is alienating the very people that can help most, GURPS fans. Also, it's impolite to those who like the system as it is insulting their taste. But it ain't a big deal, really. Anyway, I'd say that the rough guidelines that were posted earlier are good, well, guidelines. That is to say, they are useful to a point, and then you just have to guesstimate the rest, and use some artistic license while you're at it. When you convert, there is always certain aspects of the new system that might be worth looking into, even if they don't exactly model what your character was. You want to take advantage of the benefits of the system you're converting to after all.

I can see playing a game with no humans in existence, but there are other, imo, cooler things you can do with the forbidden as PCs concept. I just finished a book called A Call to Arms, by Alan Dean Foster. It was a scifi story that was largely an allegory about humanity's addiction to violence and war (and war in general). Anyway, in the galaxy at large, nations and war within one's own species was unheard of, and most species were very much peaceful. None-the-less, there was a war going on between species with two factions, the Weave is an alliance of species largely independant of eachother, while the Amplitur had a borg-like obsession for integration of species (only they were genetic engineers and telepathic brainwashers). Anyway, the Weave found humanity, and was shocked at the violence prevalent in everything from the wars to our arts and mannerisms. On the other hand, humanity was unique in its ability to not only handle a war environment, but revel in it at times (plus we were quick and tough in comparison to most species). It's a cool story because it's an example of taking humanity and giving them a unique ability that we might consider average without the right context to place it in. You could create an interesting game centered thematically around a concept that humanity takes for granted as normal, and remove it from the races the players play. Then unleash humanity onto the unsuspecting elves and dwarves, and see how it unfolds. The book made it interesting with war and violence, but crime would be another interesting example. Or maybe it could be something we usually consider positive, maybe religious devotion and faith. Edit: About the book I mentioned, I think the story would, in fact, probably work better as a fantasy novel. Scifi has the trouble of being viewed through a science lens (and the scientific justifications of the situation are weak at best), and the story is more interesting as an allegory. Fantasy is good at allegory.

Bah, I like 5d4-2 myself.

The first thing that springs to mind is some sort of "autopilot" effect, because your reflexes are so well trained. Maybe Life Support: Sleep, Limited brain function (no Int [not including Perception] or Pre skills/rolls, no meaningful conversation; -1/2). So you could patrol, and fight, if need be, with out missing any sleep. A minor benefit, sure, but colorful. You could also take a small berserking effect, only when sleeping. Maybe you could take penalty skill levels that negate distraction or poor concentration (when fighting) because you can fight so effortlessly?

Hmm, so the spells for Wizardry will be governed by charges and Endurance? Why is it necessary? It seems like quite a subtle practical game effect, depending on how it is implemented. Mostly, I'm asking for clarification because I can see how it might work. Earthpower looks like it would fit well with ley-lines, or something similar. You might want to construct a school of magic based around them. You could also make spellcasters tied to specific areas, with their magic limited to only one source or type of source. Also, I would imagine that there would be massive competition on the part of mages for the best nexuses. There is interesting material for both ley-lines and this sort of location based power source in things I've read for GURPS. Pyramid has an article that took a tech spell from a GURPS supplement about drawing mana from another electrical or mechanical power source, and described how this might affect the way magic is used. The spell was mostly described for drawing mana from a power-plant, or other electrical source. But it also talked about drawing mana from natural sources, as if you were drawing the kinetic energy from it directly. Examples were anything that we might make power from now, waterfalls, volcanoes and geothermal phenomena being some examples. A waterfall being tapped, for example, might slow to a crawl, as if in slow motion, while the mage expends the mana from the source. This sort of magic use was described as very powerful because the mages had nearly limitless sources of mana to draw from. So finding good locations, and protecting them would probably become paramount for a self-respecting mage, or group of mages. The ley-lines, I believe, were discussed in GURPS Places of Mystery. You might want to look at that as well. It's actually an interesting reference. Of course, there are plenty of other sources for the discussion of ley-lines. Edit: Anyway, I'll tell you the ideas I've been having for my magic system. A lot of it is described in the post I made about Unlimited Mana, which is still around on this board, I believe (Edit: here.) . Basically, mages can technically cast as many spells as they want, but after a certain threshold it becomes dangerous. Basically, after the threshold is reached, the mage must roll on a calamity table filled with unpleasant side effects. Another aspect of the system that I want to implement is modeling the way the spells can be cast. The idea is that mages using the system could expend huge amounts of mana at one time to create one large effect, but it would create problems because they would be tapped to, or past, the threshold. Anyway, that means I need spells that can be cast big. So either I create multiple versions of the spells, or I think of a new way to "push" them. I was thinking about the rules in the FH about mitigating limitations by increasing the endurance cost, and extrapolating that out for increasing the power of spells beyond just that mitigation. Some spells might increase in area, others damage/effect, or perhaps something else, but whatever it is, they'd have to buy it up according to an increased endurance chart (I'm not sure if I'll use the default one). Anyway, I was also thinking that magic would be tied to visual acuity, instead of intelligence. So only people with extremely good vision would be mages. Conversely, the blind would be magic resistent. I was also thinking that magic would have a luck based consequence, but I haven't decided what. Either the blind would be "Lucky", and the mages "Unlucky", or vice-versa. Regardless, there would be an organization of blind mage hunters that are highly trained martial artists (but not supernaturally good, they won't be Daredevil).

Personally, when it comes to defenses, I don't see abuse in allowing them to be bought to the AP limit. It's balanced because there is Power Defense, Flash Defense, Mental Defense, and nearly infinite NND Defenses. Not to mention that you can Drain or Suppress defenses, use Penetrating/Armor Piercing attacks, and Find Weaknesses.

My request is more of a design philosophy, than a specific example. I want creatures that are daring from the perspective of the rules. I want to see creatures that would require someone to come up with a new power construct or rules exposition to encompass it. The reason for this is that when I buy a book like this, it serves two purposes. The first purpose is to give me something that I can use immediately and easily in my game. That's all well and good for animals and other highly common creatures that people would often include with practically no changes. Easily insertable creatures are creatures that people have a common vision of, either a mythology or physical specimens. The further one goes from creatures that people would share a common vision for, the more I want those creatures to be used as examples for me to use as a tool, instead of a whole example. So I would rather the focus be on defining abilities that you imagine would be more difficult for an overworked GM to create on his own in a balanced and thorough way. I don't want creatures that are just clever from the standpoint of story. I would rather have a creature that reads bland in the description, but gives me a new power advantage example I had never been able to create to my satisfaction. Either that, or think up of more creatures that you imagine people would share a common vision for, like various animals and mythological creatures.

Looks good. I think you could best justify a penalty to Int, beyond what you have. Extremely powerful stenches can get you to lose some focus. Give those mages something to worry about as well.

Read the section on Negative Skill Levels on p. 49. What you have statted out would only affect one skill at a time. You can switch it as a 0-phase action, but it doesn't penalize everything all the time.

Here's what I suggest, don't convert it precisely. Troggies stink in D&D, and they stink in Hero. But they don't have to stink in exactly the same way, in a rules setting. I suggest taking a CE, and picking an effect, or a couple of linked effects, that you want to simulate. I'd say that a CV penalty would be a good start. You could also justify other skill categories. Anyway, the overall negative skill level doesn't really get the effect you want anyway.

Yeah, you buy the amount of Active Points you wish to affect with your power. So look at the Active Point cost of the largest pistol that your character will use, that is the base cost for the Naked Power Advantage. Then take take the fraction of the Autofire, and apply it to that number. So a +1/2 advantage would cost 30 points if the maximum amount of APs that the power could affect was 60.

Why not Change Evironment? Edit: Ahh, you can't get the Overall effect you're going for. Just remember you can only affect one roll at a time. I'd suggest taking either Varying Effect for Change Environment, or linking together multiple CEs to create one widely affecting stench. Explain the power in common terms, what is it supposed to do? How does Troggy use it?

By the way, this is a good time to mention to Mr. Long that his products have the very best indexes. I never understood why some lines of RPGs could neglect their indexes so much. If it's in the book, it's in the index, a good rule of thumb* with Hero. *I'm told this was invented to describe the largest thickness of stick you could use with which to beat your wife with out it being considered "abuse". Charming. Edit: Of course, as such things go, I quickly found a site that claims it is bunk.

Thanks, Oddhat. I'll have to absorb all that, and see if it fits the bill. It seems like it would work at least pretty well.

A Universal Focus with a Charge (or Charges) that can only be replenished in the workshop. If you feel that would be abusive, feel free to make alchemists take further power advantages/limitations. Personally, I think it is balanced if the potions are difficult enough to produce.

Well, what I want is what the article describes. The important parts are varied. Firstly, when you cast spells, you should be able to cast the spell at a variety of power levels. You should be able to push it, and push it in a way that isn't entirely unappealing. Also, the spell's cost, however it is simulated, should not really tire you, and should be tallied up. And when the tally reaches a certain level, you have to risk more and more dire side effects as you tally up more points. Basically, the effect is such that there is an element of resource management. You can cast one big ass spell, and roll on the calamity table, and/or exhaust your mana to the threshold. If you go to, or over, your threshold, there is allure of risking Calamity for more mana. Or, of course, you can be conservative, and save your mana enough that you don't roll for Calamity. Also, you can just as easily risk calamity by casting lots of spells over a short time. So the Calamity checks aren't directly tied to big effects, just lots of mana spent, without waiting for the tally of mana to go back down (which it will, eventually). It's all in the article.

Yeah, but the problem is this, I want the ability to be able to splurge on one spell, and create one massive effect. Like, say, I need to cast a sleep spell over an entire base or something. Even if I make two spells, one normal Mass Sleep, and one Megascaled version, it still doesn't quite work because Megascaling doesn't raise the END enough. I suppose I could add an Increased End cost to them, or buy it in a more cumbersome way, but I still don't like the results. I need a better pushing system.

Then it should be easy. How should I do it? Should I change it a little bit, and ignore how the spells scale in GURPS, and ignore the open-ended nature of the mana, and just apply a limitation to a large END reserve? Edit: Oh, I get it. I know HERO is cool enough to engender the same level of scope and mysticism that this system gives magic. But I like this system in particular.