Action Sorcerer

A fellow member of the GURPS Discord asked about a Sorcerer template for GURPS Action, and I thought “why not?”

I haven’t assumed anything about how magic works in the setting. As such, the template is implicitly optimized for settings where Sorcery is the only kind of magic, because if other kinds of magic are available, each kind of mage will specialize differently. But even if multiple kinds of magic exist, it should be enough to just tweak the template slightly.

I have included a new specialty for Current Affairs and Savoir-Fare: “Magic and occult societies”, and the new “Locations of magic or occult importance” specialty for Area Knowledge. Just ignore them if they’re not applicable to your game.

Sorcerer

Master of the arcane arts, you’re the wildcard on the team. While only you can deal with magical obstacles and perform otherwise impossible feats, that needn’t be your specialization. You can focus in solving a certain kind of problems, or you can be a jack of many trades. It all depends on your spell selection.

Attributes: ST 10 [0]; DX 12 [40]; IQ 12 [40]; HT 11 [10].
Secondary Characteristics: Damage 1d-2/1d; BL 20 lbs.; HP 10 [0]; Will 12 [0]; Per 12 [0]; FP 11 [0]; Basic Speed 6 [5]; Basic Move 6 [0].
Advantages: Luck [15]; Sorcerous Empowerment 6 [70]; and Sorcery Talent 3 [30]. 25 points in sorcery spells; put leftovers into other advantages. A further 25 points chosen from among lens advantages (GURPS Action pp. 4-5, and Learned Sorcerer below), DX +1 [20], IQ +1 [20], HT +1 or +2 [10/level], Per +1 to +5 [5/level], Will +1 to +5 [5/level], Accelerated Casting [10] (Pyramid #3/82: Magical Creations, p. 10), Contact Group (Magic or occult experts or beings; Skill-12, 15, or 18; 9 or less; Somewhat Reliable) [5, 10, or 15], Daredevil [15], Energy Reserve 1-8 [3/level], Gizmos 1-3 [5/gizmo], Language Talent [10], Languages (any) [2-6/language], Mind Shield [4/level], Sensitive [5] or Empathy [15], Serendipity 1 [15], Signature Gear [varies], Sorcerous Empowerment 7 or 8 [10/level], Sorcery Talent 4 or 5 [10/level], Spirit Empathy [10], Unfazeable [15], Voice [10], or replace Luck [15] with Extraordinary Luck [30] for 15 points.
Disadvantages: -30 points chosen from among Bad Temper [-10*], Disturbing Voice [-10], Dyslexia [-10], Frightens Animals [-10], Mistaken Identity [-5], Obsession (Any related to magic) [-5* or -10*], Overconfidence [-5*], Overweight [-1] or Fat [-3] or Skinny [-5], Paranoia [-10], Pyromania [-5*], Secret (Sorcerer) [-5 to -30], Social Stigma (Criminal Record) [-5], Unfit [-5] or Very Unfit [-15], Unluckiness [-10], Unnatural Features 1-5 [-1/level], or Weirdness Magnet [-15]. Another -20 points chosen from among the previous traits or Absent-Mindedness [-15], Alcoholism [-15], Clueless [-10], Cowardice [-10*], Curious [-5*], Insomniac [-10 or -15], Loner [-5*], Low Pain Threshold [-10], Nightmares [-5*], Oblivious [-5], Phantom Voices [-5 to -15], Post-Combat Shakes [-5*], Sense of Duty (Team) [-5], Stubbornness [-5] or Trickster [-15*].
Primary Skills: Hidden Lore (Any) (A) IQ+0 [2]-12; and Thaumatology (VH) IQ-1 [4]-11.
Secondary Skills: Guns (Pistol) (E) DX+0 [1]-12. Spend 11 points among Innate Attack (Any) (DX/E); Stealth (DX/A); Area Knowledge (Locations of magic or occult importance), Current Affairs (Magic and occult societies), or Savoir Faire (Magic and occult societies), all (IQ/E); Hazardous Materials (Magic), or Research, both (IQ/A); Intimidation (Will/A); Autohypnosis (Will/H); or raise one of the primary skills or Guns.
Background Skills: Choose a 20-point lens (GURPS Action, pp. 4-5, and Learned Sorcerer below). Computer Operation (E) IQ [1]-12 and Driving (Automobile or Motorcycle) (A) DX-1 [1]-12.

* Multiplied for self-control number; see p. B120.

Customization Notes

There are two main kinds of sorcerers: those who focus on learned spells (Sorcery, p. 6), and those who focus on hardcore improvisation (Sorcery, p. 7). The former are less flexible but can cast more spells before running out of energy, while the latter have a much wider repertoire at their disposal at the cost of getting winded after just a couple improvised spells. Improvisation specialists also often favor Malediction spells because they require high Will, which is also beneficial for hardcore improvisation.  They also tend to have higher levels of Sorcerous Empowerment for the same reason.

While investing in damage-dealing spells may seem attractive, this is usually a poor choice in games featuring guns. Even at 1/5 of its full spell cost, an Innate Attack that is better than a firearm can be quite expensive. Guns also don’t require you to expend 1 FP with each attack. Anyone can shoot a gun, but nobody else can buff allies, control the battlefield, and disable the opposition as you can. If you must do damage, focus on effects firearms can’t produce, like for example area effect. This is good advice for selecting spells in general. While you can use magic to do anything your mundane counterparts can, often better at the cost of versatility, only you can control minds, teleport, or counter hostile magic.

Your choice of background is more important than to other action heroes, because it is your only choice of mundane skills. In most cases, it is best to select skills which allow you to do things you can’t do with your chosen spells. Thus, the following section highlights skills for which magic is a poor substitute:

Criminal: You’re a “street mage”. You use your connections in the underworld to help the underprivileged, or as a source of work. Streetwise, Savoir-Faire (Mafia), and Contact or Contact Group are crucial. The more physical skills are likely remnants from before you developed your magic abilities.

Intelligence: In settings where magic is public knowledge, sorcerous spies are highly sought after specialists. If magic is secret, you are one of those tasked with keeping it out of the hands of various organizations – likely including your own employer!  Information gathering and analysis skills such as Area Knowledge, Cryptography, Current Affairs, Intelligence Analysis, and Research are usually the most appropriate, because everything else you can do with magic.

Law Enforcement: In secret magic games, you’re either a private eye, or a cop who must balance keeping their abilities secret with policing the magical world. If you’re on a SWAT team, you’ll want to invest in Guns. Otherwise, skills not usually replaceable by magic include Administration, Criminology, Streetwise, Accounting, Forensics, and Tactics.

Military: Unless magic is public knowledge, you’re either a guerrilla, or the member of an elite, ultra-black team tasked with eliminating supernatural threats. Skills earned with this background are a good backup for when you run out of juice in a fight. Leadership, Strategy, or Tactics are also not easily replaced with magic.

Security: This background shares the characteristics of both intelligence and law enforcement; countering other magic users is likely your primary job. Brush up on your gun skills if you expect frequent engagements. Otherwise, focus on Administration, Criminology, Cryptography, Intelligence Analysis, Psychology, Tactics, and Body Language.

There is a new lens available for sorcerers:

Learned Sorcerer [20]

Magic is not just how you solve problems – you were raised, educated and employed as mage first and foremost. Spend 20 points on any combination of Will +1 to +2 [5/level], Contact Group (Magic or occult experts or beings; Skill-12, 15, or 18; 9 or less; Somewhat Reliable) [5, 10, or 15], Sorcerous Empowerment +1 [10], Sorcery Talent +1 [10], or the Sorcerer template’s IQ- or Will-based skills (only). Current Affairs and Savoir Faire of the Magic and occult societies specialty are key if you lack a Contact Group because they’re your only source of work.

New DF Profession: Monster Slayer

There was a discussion the other day on the GURPS discord on how to build a “monster slayer” in Dungeon Fantasy. My first thought (and I wasn’t alone in this) was “all delvers are monster slayers, aren’t they?”, but it was clear that the original question was about a delver specialized in hunting and exterminating dangerous beasts as most recently popularized by The Witcher. Two lines of advice were presented: just pick any of the more combative professions and give the character some appropriate skills like Naturalist, Physiology, Tracking and Traps, while the other was to look at Dungeon Fantasy 20: Slayers and create a new profession based on the three presented there. This piqued my interest so I gave it a go.

The three slayers from DF 20 are all fighter-types specialized for killing a rather narrow class of foes. They are similar to the holy warrior in that they don’t have access to Weapon Master, super-high weapon skills or huge strength, but compensate with specialized knowledge and exotic abilities potent against their chosen foe. To differentiate them from (and give an edge over) other professions that are traditionally also strong adversaries of these kinds of creatures, these abilities, while supernatural, aren’t magical or holy and otherwise don’t possess any kind of power modifier which would disable them in specific circumstances. This is attributed to the “power of their souls” gained through exotic means, harrowing experiences etc.

While I took a lot of the same cues, I decided against my Monster Slayer having similar supernatural abilities. His intended targets are broader in scope and have little in common aside from the general theme of “exotic monster” and being highly lethal, so it would be hard to find a proper theme for such special abilities other than the more generic magical ones. Since I wasn’t interested in developing a witcher analogue for DF, I decided on a more mundane approach.

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The Monster Slayer

You are a delver specialized in exterminating dangerous creatures preying on civilized folk. Your quarry is for the most part quite “natural”, if rather exotic – you leave supernatural foes like demons, constructs and elementals to others. If the countryside is terrorized by an owlbear or a hydra prevents safe travel through the forest, you are there to save the day.

Specialized knowledge and gear, careful preparation, cunning and grit are the tools of your trade. You uncover, track down and eliminate some of the most lethal creatures out there. While you’re quite a capable warrior on your own, you prefer to stack fights in your favor using traps, surprise attacks and dirty tricks, especially since your battles occur on your quarry’s territory.

Monster Slayer Advantages

Foresight [5 or 10/level]

See Pyramid #3/53 p. 32-33. Monster slayers make thorough preparations in pursuit of their prey. Foresight facilitates this without requiring the same of the players. Some useful types of actions for the 5-point version include ambushes, getaways, research and survival (as described in Pyramid), or setting traps. A suggested limit for starting slayers is up to 30 points in any combination of Foresight, including Gizmos (see below).

Gizmos [5/level]

See B57 and Dungeon Fantasy 4: Sages p. 4. All items from the Monster Slayer Gear section below are considered appropriate to the Monster Slayer profession.

Heroic Reserves [3/level]

See Dungeon Fantasy 20: Slayers p. 5.

Higher Purpose (Slay Monsters) [5/level]

You get +1 per level on all attack, damage, defense and resistance rolls against all monsters belonging to the following classes: dire and giant animals (but not ordinary ones), hybrids, plants. You also get this bonus against members of the mundane class which are of SM +2 or larger, or display traditionally monstrous characteristics. Creatures like medusas, siege beasts, dragons, trolls, werewolves and “generic mouth-and-tentacles creatures” are all fair game, but orcs, dinomen and others which could be considered “people” (even when stretching that term to its limit) living in large, organized societies never are. Consult your GM.

You are not compelled to pursue every single qualifying creature, only those that prey on civilized folk (so friendly giants are exempt, for example). But if you ever avoid confrontation with such a creature, or back off from pursuing one you’ve engaged, your bonus turns into a penalty against all qualifying creatures until you slay either the original offender or another creature of the same or greater threat. Merely running away from a fight does not trigger this – strategic withdrawal is part of the job but until you slay your foe you must behave as if under an Obsession to slay it. If you resist the Obsession, the penalties kick in.

Slayer Training

See Dungeon Fantasy 11: Power-Ups p. 13. Monster slayers make good use of Slayer Swing at Neck [4/skill], Slayer Swing at Skull [5/skill] and Slayer Thrust to Vitals [3/skill].

Stalker [5/level]

See GURPS Power-Ups 3: Talents p. 15.

Utilitarian Naturalist [5/level]

You have a knack for understanding how living things work and exploiting their biology. You get +1 per level to the Cooking, Naturalist, Pharmacy (Herbal), Physiology, Poisons and Surgery skills. You also get +1 per level on Survival rolls to remove external parts from dead critters and field dress game.

Very Rapid Healing [15]

Use the version from DFRPG which lets you recover more HP every time you heal.

Monster Slayer Perks

Monster Slayers may buy as many of these perks as they will, and they don’t count against other perk limits.

Bane Brewer

See Pyramid #3/50 p. 33. You may only choose from the Animal, Hybrid, Mundane and Plant specialties.

Dirty Fighting

See GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 11: Power-Ups p. 11. Helps start fights by hitting monsters in sensitive hit locations from long range.

Finishing Move

See GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 11: Power-Ups p. 11. Synergizes well with Slayer Training.

Focused Fury

See GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 11: Power-Ups p. 18. Synergizes well with Finishing Move.

Reach Mastery

See GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 11: Power-Ups p. 11. Invaluable to slayers opting for Polearm or Two-Handed Axe/Mace.

Scent Masking

You minimize your bodily odor by maintaining a careful diet, and with adequate preparation you may fool the discerning sense of smell many monsters possess. After taking half an hour to smear yourself and your gear with local plants, soil and so on, you get +1 per level to use Stealth against creatures with Discriminatory Smell, and they get -1 per level to track you. You may take up to 5 levels of this perk.

Sure-Footed

See GURPS Power-Ups 2: Perks p. 8 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Denizens: Barbarians p. 18-19. Monster lairs often feature rough terrain, and this puts slayers on equal footing.

Planned Assassination

See Pyramid #3/50 p. 34. Your target must be a valid subject of Higher Purpose (Slay Monsters).

Practical Poisoner

See Pyramid #3/50 p. 34. Monsters tend to have high HT and HP, so slayers like to apply multiple doses of poison at once.

Monster Slayer Skills

You may learn Blind Fighting and Body Control without their usual prerequisites. Learned this way, Blind Fighting may only be used against living creatures, and Body Control only for affecting involuntary bodily functions or flushing poison.

Monster Slayer

Attributes: ST 13 [30]; DX 13 [60]; IQ 12 [40]; HT 12 [20].

Secondary Characteristics: Damage 1d/2d-1; BL 34 lbs.; HP 13 [0]; Will 12 [0]; Per 14 [10]; FP 12 [0]; Basic Speed 6.25 [0]; Basic Move 6 [0].

Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15]; Higher Purpose (Slay Monsters) [5]; Stalker 1 [5]; Utilitarian Naturalist 2 [10]; and either Danger Sense or Peripheral Vision, both [15], or 15 points chosen from any combination of Foresight and Gizmos. A further 40 points chosen from among ST +1 to +4 [10/level], DX +1 or +2 [20/level], IQ +1 or +2 [20/level], HT +1 to +4 [10/level], Per +1 to +6 [5/level], FP +1 to +4 [3/level], HP +1 to +4 [2/level], Basic Move +1 or +2 [5/level], Basic Speed +0.75 [15] or +1.75 [35], Acute Senses (any) [2/level], Damage Resistance (Tough Skin, -40%) 1-2 [3/level], Danger Sense [15], Enhanced Block 1 [5], Enhanced Dodge 1 [15], Enhanced Parry 1 (One Melee Weapon skill) [5], Extra Attack 1 [25], Fearlessness [2/level] or Unfazeable [15], Fit [5] or Very Fit [15], Foresight [5 or 10/level], Gizmos 1-3 [5/level], Hard to Kill [2/level], Hard to Subdue [2/level], Heroic Reserves 1-13 [3/level], High Pain Threshold [10], Higher Purpose 2-3 (Slay Monsters) [5/level], Luck [15] or Extraordinary Luck [30], Night Vision 1-9 [1/level], Peripheral Vision [15], Rapid Healing [5] or Very Rapid Healing [15], Recovery [10], Resistant to Disease (+3) or (+8) [3 or 5], Resistant to Poison (+3) or (+8) [5 or 7], Signature Gear [varies], Slayer Training [3-5/skill], Stalker 2-4 [5/level], Striking ST 1 or 2 [5/level], Striking ST 1 or 2 (Only on surprise attack, -60%) [2/level], Utilitarian Naturalist 3-4 [5/level], Weapon Bond [1], or more monster slayer perks.

Disadvantages: -50 points chosen from Bad Temper [-10*], Bloodlust [-10*], Callous [-5], Code of Honor (Soldier’s) [-10], Compulsive Vowing [-5], Greed [-15*], Honesty [-10*], Loner [-5*], No Sense of Humor [-10], Obsession (Monster-Hunting) [-10*], One Eye [-15], Overconfidence [-5*], Selfless [-5*], Sense of Duty (Adventuring Companions) [-5], Stubbornness [-5], Vow (Own no more than a horse can carry) [-10], or Wounded [-5].

Primary Skills: Naturalist, Physiology (Animals), Physiology (Hybrids), all (H) IQ+1 [2]-13‡; Physiology (Plants) (H) IQ+0 [1]-12‡. One of Crossbow or Thrown Weapon (Axe/Mace or Spear), both (E) DX+3 [4]-15; or Bow or Throwing, both (A) DX+2 [4]-14. One of these two melee skills packages:

1. One of Polearm, Spear, Two-Handed Axe/Mace, or Two-Handed Sword, all (A) DX+4 [16]-17.
2. One of Axe/Mace, Broadsword, or Spear, all (A) DX+3 [12]-16; – and Shield (E) DX+2 [4]-15.

Secondary Skills: One of Knife (E) DX+2 [4]-15; or Wrestling (A) DX+1 [4]-14. Navigation (Land) (A) IQ+0 [1]-12§; Observation (A) Per+0 [4]-14; Poisons (H) IQ+0 [1]-12‡; Stealth (A) DX+1 [2]-14§; Survival (Any) (A) Per-1 [1]-13; Tactics (H) IQ-2 [1]-10; Tracking (A) Per+0 [1]-14§; Traps (A) IQ+0 [2]-12.

Background Skills: Spend 8 points among Area Knowledge (Any), Connoisseur (Weapons), Current Affairs, First Aid, or Gesture, all (E) IQ+0 [1]-12; Armoury (Any), Interrogation, Merchant, or Research, all (A) IQ-1 [1]-11; Blind Fighting (VH) Per-3 [1]-11; Boating, Boxing, Climbing, Riding (Horse), or Throwing, all (A) DX-1 [1]-12; Body Control (VH) HT-3 [1]-9; Brawling, Forced Entry, or Knot-Tying, all (E) DX+0 [1]-13; Fast-Draw (Any) (E) DX+1 [1]-14#; Camouflage (E) IQ+1 [1]-13§; Carousing or Swimming, both (E) HT+0 [1]-12; Hiking (A) HT+0 [1]-12§; Intimidation (A) Will-1 [1]-11; Mimicry (Animal Sounds) (H) IQ-2 [1]-10; Net (H) DX-2 [1]-11; Scrounging (E) Per+0 [1]-14; Search (A) Per-1 [1]-13; Surgery (VH) IQ-1 [1]-11‡; or to improve primary or secondary skills.

* Multiplied for self-control number, see B120.
† On hearing of or encountering a monster as defined per Higher Purpose, make a self-control roll. Failure means you have to track it down and slay it. Also roll whenever an intelligent monster communicates with you. Failure means you treat everything it says as lies.
‡ Includes +2 from Utilitarian Naturalist
§ Includes +1 from Stalker.
# Includes +1 from Combat Reflexes.

Customization Notes

Being caught off guard by their quarry means death for a monster slayer, which is reflected in the required choice of advantages. Beyond that, an ideal slayer should be strong, tough, cunning, observant, well prepared and skilled at arms – it’s hard to be all of that at once, so individual slayers specialize. Increased ST and DX, Enhanced Defenses, Extra Attack, Finishing Move, High Pain Threshold, Slayer Training, Striking ST and Weapon Bond help in direct combat. Increased Perception, Acute Senses, Danger Sense, Night Vision, Stalker, Peripheral Vision, Camouflage, Scent Masking, Stealth and Observation help the slayer get the drop on the monsters and not the other way around. Bane Brewer, Foresight, Gizmos, Naturalist, Observation, Physiology, Planned Assassination, Poisons, Practical Poisoner, Research and Traps stack the deck in the slayer’s favor. Increased HT, Hard to Kill and Subdue, Luck, Rapid or Very Rapid Healing, Recovery, Resistant and Tough Skin help the slayer survive.

Slayers prefer cutting and impaling weapons since their targets are generally fleshy and chopping off important bits or striking at vital points is the quickest way to victory. Many prefer to have both in a single weapon so Broadsword, Polearm (for use with dueling varieties) and Two-Handed Sword are the most popular weapon skills, but some choose Axe/Mace, Spear or Two-Handed Axe/Mace instead. Crushing weapons are specialty tools most often used by those already favoring axes or polearms. Most slayers use two-handed weapons because they hit the hardest and are more convenient to use along other tools, but some prefer a shield and a one-handed weapon because monsters hit hard as well. All slayers will want to start an engagement with a ranged weapon; Crossbow or Thrown Weapon (laced with poison!) if they prefer a single hard hit and then to wade into melee, or Bow if they like to keep their distance as long as possible. Knife or Wrestling are indispensable since many monsters like to grapple.

Slayers come from many different backgrounds. Some are consummate professionals and protectors of innocents with Code of Honor, Honesty or Selfless, while others are self-centered brutes with Bloodlust, Callous or Greed. Many are Loners, or scarred by their experiences with No Sense of Humor, One Eye, or Wounded.

The selection of supporting skills is wide. Area Knowledge, Boating, Climbing, Survival and Swimming help the slayer traverse the wilderness to their quarry. Carousing and Current Affairs let them learn of monsters plaguing the locals. Interrogation lets slayers question their more intelligent victims if they have friends or relatives nearby, while Forced Entry helps break into their lairs. Merchant is crucial for slayers who want to get paid for their work, while Surgery and Survival lets them extract valuable bits from their prey. Knot Tying and Net help capture monsters alive.

Slayers often trade the 5 quirk points for cash for weapons and armor, but are also likely to spend them on more Foresight, Gizmos, Higher Purpose, Slayer Training, Stalker, Tough Skin, Utilitarian Naturalist, perks, or for improving skills.

Monster Slayer Power-Ups

Monster Slayers can already choose a wide repertoire of abilities at start, and they mostly become better by becoming more versatile. They can also simply get more of certain traits.

• Any combination of Foresight and Gizmos up to 60 points [5 or 10/level].
• Enhanced Block up to 2 [5/level].
• Enhanced Dodge up to 2 [15/level].
• Enhanced Parry (One Melee Weapon skill) up to 2 [5/level].
• Heroic Reserves up to 20 [3/level].
• Immune to Poison [15].
• Monster Slayer perks.
• Ridiculous Luck [60].
• Stalker up to 6 [5/level].
• Striking ST 1-10 (Only on surprise attack, -60%) [2/level].
• Utilitarian Naturalist up to 6 [5/level].

Monster Slayer Gear

Monster slayers use a variety of special gear to stack the deck in their favor. Here is a list compiled from various GURPS Dungeon Fantasy supplements.

• Acid (Adventurers, p. 28). For use against monsters whose Regeneration, Regrowth etc is foiled by acid.
• Alchemist’s fire (Adventurers, p. 28). Like acid, but against monsters susceptible to fire.
• Anti-Toxin (Adventurers p. 28). Can be produced with Gizmos when you can afford several minutes of delay in neutralizing the venom.
• Bane (Treasure Tables p. 37). Toxin tailored to a specific species. Packs a decent punch and slayers can produce it with Gizmos.
• Bladeblack (Adventurers p. 28). For taking out the toughest of monsters.
• Blinding Gas (Ninja p. 15). Even though many monsters have Discriminatory Smell, a monster that can only smell you is better than one that can both see and smell you.
• Caltrops (Adventurers p. 25). Good for hit and run tactics when you didn’t prepare a trap.
• Fire Resistance Potion (Adventurers p. 29). Recommended against fire-breathing monsters.
• Manuals (Sages, p. 13). Fine or very fine versions are useful for various knowledge skills in the slayer’s repertoire.
• Mind Fog (Ninja p. 15). A clumsy monster is a greater threat than a blind or paralyzed one, but mind fog has the advantage of affecting its targets even on a successful HT roll.
• Mirrored shields (Adventurers p.27). For use against monsters with gaze attacks.
• Monster Drool (Adventurers p. 28). Weak poison which makes a poor choice for Gizmos, but potent and still cheap when applied in quadruple doses.
• Monster shackles. Massive ones used by slayers who keep their prey alive. DR 8, HP 20. $1600, 16 lbs. Large enough for up to SM+1 monsters; double the cost and weight per SM above that, and multiply HP by x1.25.
• Nageteppo (Adventurers, p. 25). Budget alternative to blinding gas. Can be gizmoed to boot.
• Necromantic Preservative (Treasure Tables p. 24). Keeps dead monster bits fresh.
• Paralytic Slime (Ninja p. 15). For when you need the monster alive or do not wish to invest in bladeblack.
• Salamander Amulet (Adventurers p. 30). Crucial for slayers specializing in fire-breathing monsters.
• Serpent’s Amulet (Adventurers p. 30). Used by slayers who didn’t invest in Immune to Poison and tired of guzzling antidotes.
• Silver weapons (Adventurers p.27). For use against monsters with Vulnerability to silver.
• Slippery Oil (Treasure Tables p. 23). Helps to escape the grasp of grabby monsters.
• Spiked armor (Adventurers, p. 27). Makes grabby monsters regret grabbing you.
• Thieves’ Oil (Adventurers p. 29). A more expensive version of slippery oil with no downsides.
• Traps (Adventurers p. 26). An immobilized, grappled monster is much easier to deal with. Two variants are available to slayers in addition to ones from Adventurers. Large monster trap: 2d+1 cr, ST 24; $720, 25 lbs. Humongous monster trap: 4d+1 cr, ST 40. $2000, 70 lbs. Fine versions are available as well for double the cost: increase the damage and ST of the mini and man trap by 1, monster and large monster trap by 2, and humongous monster trap by 4.
• Universal Antidote (Adventurers p. 29). For the nastiest of poisons when you don’t have the luxury to wait for an anti-toxin to take effect.
• Wolfsbane (Adventurers p. 28). Slayers can use this to keep lycanthropes at bay and pepper them with ranged attacks.

Heroic Power Items

See Dungeon Fantasy 20: Slayers p. 21. These function as power items whose energy can be spent like Heroic Reserves.

How to Reflect Blasters With Your Lightsaber

Despite running a Star Wars inspired game, I haven’t yet had a player or NPC use their lightsaber to reflect blaster bolts back at attackers. A player finally asked for this ability, so I went to write it up… and then noticed I already did that ages ago, but not before I was almost finished with my new writeup. And the old one was better in most regards as well! So here’s how I’d do it:

Reflect Blasters
Hard

Prerequisites: Force Sword, Precognitive Parry.
Default: Force Sword Parry-4; cannot exceed Force Sword Parry.

This technique allows you to reflect blaster bolts with your lightsaber at the targets of your choosing. On a successful parry using this technique, roll against Force Sword to reflect the parried bolts at anyone within your field of vision, applying normal ranged combat modifiers. This roll is at an additional penalty equal to the penalty of this technique, if not bought off. Your rate of fire is equal to the number of shots parried, damage and recoil are equal to those of the parried attack, bulk is -2, accuracy is 0, and the range is equal to original range of the parried attack minus the range the bolts already traveled. If a weapon inflicts a penalty to be parried with lightsabers, apply the same penalty to your attack. Target defends normally.

You may do this a number of times per turn equal to your number of attacks; each attack performed with Reflect Blasters “uses up” an attack from your next turn, but you may perform a Dual-Weapon Attack or Rapid Strike to only use up a single attack. You may not choose any maneuver on your next turn which would prevent you from attacking. Aside from the above options and Extra Attack in general, the following specialized form of Extra Attack is available to increase the number of times you can reflect blasters per turn:

Extra Attack (Accessibility, only to reflect blasters, -20%; Single Skill, Force Sword, -20%) [15].

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In previous campaigns I used to allow such “attack reflection” to be used for free, not counting as your own attacks. I’ve grown to think that such usage is free lunch (an attack is an attack is an attack) so I’ve decided to try it this way. The added complexity doesn’t seem a problem, but it hasn’t been playtested yet. If it turns out too complex, I’ll likely require levels of the specialized Extra Attack to be able to do it at all.

A tweak that could be made, depending on the game, is to have targets of reflected blaster bolts not be able to defend because they didn’t expect the attack, or defend at a penalty. That would certainly match the source material, but in my game force users are everywhere and everyone knows that if you shoot a guy with a lighsaber, you’re gonna get those bolts reflected right back at you.

Gun Fu: Cover Power-Ups

There was an interesting discussion this week over on Mailanka’s Discord about gunslingers in Psi-Wars, resulting in a couple articles including one on gunslinger survivability in such games. One of the defense layers available to gunmen is cover, and thinking about using it in cinematic games inspired me to come up with the following tools of the trade.

The Power-Ups

Cover Mastery [5]

While in partial cover, your opponents are at -3 to shoot your partially exposed body parts instead of the usual -2. They are at no penalty to attack the fully exposed parts required for you to shoot, which are generally any arms and hands required to operate the weapon, plus your neck and head. You may also attain a better position by crouching or expending your step. This gives your attackers -4 to hit partially exposed parts, but you are at -2 to shoot back as well unless you brace your weapon against the cover and take an aimed attack . You also need to fully expose only your head and any hands required to operate the weapon.

When hidden behind total cover, you never get hit by overpenetrating shots. This stops working as soon as you expose yourself, even partially.

Finally, attackers are at -2 to shoot you if you’re adjacent to an ally and at least 1 yard further than the ally from your attacker. This penalty is not cumulative with the -4 penalty an attacker gets to shoot you if your ally is in the way. You also never get hit by stray shots if you are in the line of fire behind the intended target.

Statistics:

Barricade Tactics (TacShooting) [1], Cover Shooting [2], Live Cover [1], Flimsy Cover (GunFu) [1].

Covered Defense [12/level]

Each level of this advantage gives a +1 bonus to your Dodge score while you’re in cover. This extends to melee attacks as well! Most campaigns should limit this to 3 levels.

Statistics:

Enhanced Dodge (Accessibility, only while in cover, -20%) [12/level].

Eye for Cover [5]

Once per game session, you are entitled to a fortuitous piece of cover within the distance of a single Move maneuver that would otherwise not be there. The GM can refuse this if there should plausibly be no cover in the area (for example in a specifically prepared “killbox” you entered).

Statistics:

Serendipity (Aspected, only for finding cover, -70%).

Hunker Down [15]

While in cover, you may retreat without moving from your hex to dodge melee attacks from a single attacker, and you may dodge and drop against ranged attacks of a single attacker without actually dropping to the ground. If a dodge and drop into an adjacent hex would reduce damage to you from an explosion or get you out of an area effect attack, you get this bonus without dropping to the ground or moving from your hex. In addition, you never suffer from the effects of bad footing while in cover.

Statistics:

Enhanced Dodge 3 (Accessibility, only while in cover, -20%; Counts as a retreat, -50%) [14], Sure-Footed (Any kind of terrain while in cover) [1].

Seek Cover [2/level]

Each level of this advantage gives a +1 bonus to your Move score on any turn when you’re either entering or leaving cover. Most campaigns should limit this to 3 levels.

Statistics:

Increased Move (Accessibility, only on a turn entering or leaving cover, -60%) [2/level].

Bits and Pieces

Some other perks and techniques could be very useful to gunmen exploiting cover to its max:

• Battle Drills (TacShooting) – Useful for halving the penalty for shooting through friendly occupied hexes. If you also have Cover Mastery (or just Live Cover), the net result penalty is reduced by an additional 2 points.
• Bend The Bullet (GunFu) – Allows you to ignore the penalty for shooting at targets behind cover, perfectly fitting with the theme of knowing all of its ins and outs.  
• Cool Under Fire (GunFu, TacShooting) – Removes the -2 penalty to pop-up attacks but is included in Gunslinger.
• Entrench – See below.
• Ground Fighting (Martial Arts) – Shooting skills don’t suffer a penalty for attacking when lying on the ground, but many cover opportunities require taking such position and this technique could be used to offset the -3 penalty to defend in those cases. To compensate, buy it as an average technique, and base it either on a shooting skill or Acrobatics.
• Standard Operating Procedure (Back to the Wall) (GunFu, TacShooting)
• Standard Operating Procedure (Move Under cover) (TacShooting)

New Technique

Cover Shooting, Average

Prerequisite: any shooting skill
Default: prerequisite skill; cannot exceed prerequisite skill+2.

Offsets the penalty for shooting without bracing and aiming from medium or heavy cover (see Tactical Shooting p. 28).

New Perks

Entrench

You gain the following benefits while in cover:

• +3 to Will rolls against losing your aim when injured
• you don’t suffer from shock penalties on aimed shots
• when suffering knockback, you don’t get knocked back at all if you pass the DX roll to remain standing

Live Cover

Attackers are at -2 to shoot you if you’re adjacent to an ally and at least 1 yard further from your attacker than the ally. This penalty is not cumulative with the -4 penalty an attacker gets to shoot you if your ally is in the way. You also never get hit by stray shots if you are in the line of fire behind the intended target.

Conclusion

These features could be incorporated into several different gunfighting styles. I can imagine both a longer-ranged “sniping” style where the gunman takes a covered position and doesn’t leave it except to retreat, and a shorter-ranged one where the practitioner rapidly moves from cover to cover.

Eye for Cover could seem at a too deep discount since aspected Serendipity is generally published as -20% and double-aspected (which this would fit) as -40%. Yet 9 points seems too expensive to me because cover is generally plentiful in most environments, especially for cinematic shootists who are able to eke it out where normal men couldn’t, so it seemed more appropriate to price it the same as a Gizmo.

 

Telekinetic parries in GURPS

Since I’m currently running a Star Wars game, my players naturally asked how they could parry incoming attacks using telekinetic abilities. My original hunch was that you could simply parry with Telekinesis as with a weapon, maybe requiring a perk to do so. However, it turned out that Telekinesis has a lot of caveats in this regard, given how it works with requiring Concentrate maneuvers from the user but performing its own Attack, Move and Attack or other maneuvers.

After doing some research, I discovered that Psionic Powers (pages 8-9) explicitly makes TK eligible for power parries using standard rules for those. This also has a few caveats: merely reducing incoming damage by a bit in most cases, and it being possible to do so only once per turn.

That didn’t seem satisfactory for my game (Force users should be able to completely deflect blaster bolts, etc.), so I looked further and was reminded of this excellent Krommpost. Based on that, I’ve built the following ability for my campaign:

Improved Telekinetic Parry

7 points for level 1, plus 2 points for each additional level

You may use this ability to telekinetically parry incoming attacks as if by an invisible, indestructible limb. Calculate your Parry score as (DX or any unarmed combat skill + Force Talent)/2 + 3, applying any relevant modifiers such as the bonus from Combat Reflexes. You may perform additional parries during the same turn at a cumulative -4 penalty. Trained by a Master halves this. Note that in order to parry firearm attacks you must succeed at a Precognitive Parry roll. Each parry attempt costs you 1 FP.

To parry attacks directed against other characters, you must take the Sacrificial Parry perk. Then you may parry attacks targeted at anyone within the reach of this ability.

At level 1, your reach with this ability is equal to your normal punching reach (C for SM +0 characters). Each additional level increases your SM by +1 for this purpose only, increasing your reach as per Size Modifier and Reach on B402. For example a SM +0 character would have a reach of 10 yards with this ability at level 8.

If parrying explosive attacks that detonate on impact, a successful parry sets them off 1 yard away from you, plus one yard per point of your margin of success. This may not exceed your reach, so a SM +0 character with just one level in this ability will detonate explosions in their own hex.

In order to use Improved Telekinetic Parry, the ability must either not be an alternative ability, or you must have had it active on your turn before attempting a parry.

Statistics: Extra Arm (Costs Fatigue, 1 FP, -10%; Force Extension, +50%; No Signature, +20%; Shield Mount, -80%; Force, -10%) [7]. Further levels add a level of the Long (Shield Mount, -80%), +20% enhancement [2/level].

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I took the liberty of applying the Shield Mount limitation both to the Extra Arm advantage, and to any levels of the Long enhancement applied to it. Long is a rather expensive enhancement at +100% per level, but in my opinion most of this value comes from granting a large bonus to swing damage, followed by being able to strike, grapple, or manipulate objects at range. A character benefits from none of those with Improved Telekinetic Parry so I consider it a fair deal.

The cumulative penalty for subsequent parries could also be reduced with a Weapon Master specialty covering telekinetic combat, but since Force users in my campaign only take Trained by a Master I didn’t mention that in the writeup. Similarly, Parry Missile Weapons is not used in the campaign in favor of Precognitive Parry, but could be used with this ability as well.

New technique: Sweeping Slash

Recently a player in my Star Wars campaign asked if there was a way they could attack several foes near them at once, or rather if there was a better way of doing it than with Rapid Strike. Cleaving Strike from Dungeon Fantasy 11: Power-Ups came to mind immediately but I had a couple problems recommending it. Firstly, I’m personally extremely averse to All-Out Attack and almost never do it as a player. Cleaving Strike is therefore dead to me, so I can’t in good conscience recommend it to anyone else. Secondly, I really think that Force-users leaping around with lightsabers should be capable of doing something like that without remaining defenseless. So I came up with this:

Sweeping Slash (H)

Default: Any Melee Weapon skill -6; cannot exceed Melee Weapon skill.

Prerequisites: Unique Technique (Sweeping Slash) perk and one of Weapon Master or Trained By A Master (or alternatively ST 18+ for non-force weapons)

This is a special use of the Committed Attack maneuver. You attack up to three opponents adjacent to each other in a line within your reach with a wide swinging attack. All attacks must be with the same swung weapon. You may move two steps (before or after the attack, or split between both), you may not retreat, and all of your defenses are at -2 until your next turn. Unlike with a normal Committed Attack, you may parry with the weapon used to attack.

Additionally, if using a non-force weapon, at least one of the following conditions must be met by each attack in the sequence otherwise all subsequent attacks are lost:

• you miss your foe
• your foe retreats or dodges
• you knock your foe back or down
• you hit a limb or extremity with enough damage to dismember it
• you kill your foe

As a minor consolation, foes struck with non-force weapon suffer a -1 penalty to DX and HT rolls made to avoid falling down due to knockback and to avoid knockdown/stunning.

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This is essentially a bit more cinematic version of Cleaving Strike optimized for force weapons (but usable with any swing-capable melee weapon). Retaining most of the defensive penalties of Committed Attack colors this as part of aggressive styles without going too far with an All-Out Attack. I have built the technique using the technique design system from Martial Arts as follows:

• A base penalty of -6 for a triple Rapid Strike with Trained by a Master or Weapon Master (and the same reasoning for high ST being equally valid as in Dungeon Fantasy)
• Benefit: being able to parry with the attacking weapon, -1
• Drawback: targets must be adjacent to one another, +1
• Drawback: the conditions which must be met in order to not lose subsequent attacks for a non-force weapon, +1
• Benefit: penalty to victim’s DX/HT rolls vs knockback and knockdown/stunning, -1

All of these come down to a default of -6 and the technique is Hard because it enables multiple strikes. I chose Committed Attack as the base because such a move without that kind of drawbacks would essentially be a rather cheap way to buy off the Rapid Strike penalty, especially since we use the house rule where each point invested in techniques counts double.

I am currently not counting the Unique Technique perk required for this technique against the limit of style perks. Doing so, or on the other hand completely dispensing with the perk wouldn’t be a big deal.

Thief buffs for Dungeon Fantasy

After I announced the Martial Artist buffs to my players, I got asked to fix Thieves too. Sucking in combat in comparison to other professions is not the only thing they often catch flak for, but it’s what I wanted to focus on. I originally wrote this article an entire year ago, but put it in a drawer due to wanting to playtest it first… other things took priority after the playtest and eventually I forgot about it. In the meantime ideas on how to make Thieves better have become more widespread in the community so some of this may be old news to you, but amplifying the signal never hurts.

1. Perfect Balance is now an optional advantage for Thieves, not a mandatory one.

Opinions are divided on this advantage. It can certainly be useful, but for example over the course of 16 sessions in my current DF campaign so far there were exactly zero opportunities where it would have enabled a Thief to do something cool, something other professions could not, or would have a hard time trying. Its bonus to Acrobatics and Climbing is nice, but very point inefficient if the Thief doesn’t encounter many tight spaces to walk on (such as in a fully dungeon-based campaign like mine). Hence, making it optional to make space for some other traits dearly needed by Thieves to be more viable.

Update: since I originally wrote this article my DF campaign has run its course over a total of 42 sessions and I still can’t remember opportunities for Perfect Balance to justify its point investment. A part of this is on me since I didn’t really think about providing said opportunities, but if something like this happened in my campaign it is bound to happen in others as well.

2. Trim the skills required by the profession template.

It is a rather common argument that some of the obligatory starting skills for Thieves such as Filch or Smuggling don’t get many usage opportunities in typical Dungeon Fantasy campaigns, or that they should even be rolled into other skills. I personally prefer Peter Dell’Orto’s variant which saves 7 points by dropping some skills to optional and merging others.

3. Weapon Master (Knives), up to 10 levels of Striking ST (Only on surprise attack) and Backstabber are now a core part of the profession template as optional advantages.

These were previously listed as Thief power-ups in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 11 so some players may have missed them, but they are in fact found on the Thief template in DFRPG (except for Backstabber). This is just getting them in the front row, to make good mileage out of the next item on the docket.

4. Use the Disappearing and Sniping rules from GURPS Action 2 (reprinted in GURPS After The End 2 with additional detail).

These allow Thieves  to backstab more than once per combat, as well as to “backstab” with ranged weapons. The Disappear technique included in Backstabber applies to both Disappearing and Sniping, but the First Strike perk still applies only to the first attack in a fight.

5. Heroic Archer and Throwing Master are now optional advantages for Thieves.

This ties into a topic for another day (why is Scout the only capable archer in the game?), but it has been requested often enough and I certainly think it makes sense. Throwing Master is a Krommpost, by the way, and is an analogue to Heroic Archer.

6. The Animals, Faeries and Hybrids specialties of the Physiology skill are now background skills on the Thief template.

Thieves need access to vitals to do their best work. Sure, the skull hit location is mostly where expected on any creature, and armor chinks are another viable option, but vitals are much easier to hit, especially if a Thief is unable to backstab. This lets them do so against many more foes beyond humanoids but still within the bounds of what is established for the stereotype. Physiology is a hard skill, but Thieves have IQ 13 per default so they’re able to use it just fine.

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The above changes are relatively conservative and unlike my adjustments to Martial Artists, they mostly bring attention to already existing components and give players more options. Due to their minimal divergence from DF as published and requiring almost no effort, they would be my preferred start to fixing Thieves. Developing interesting Power Ups would be the next step , and for my future DF campaigns I will likely use one of the several popular reduced swing damage campaign switches. They solve more problems than just bringing Thieves’ combat capabilities up to par.

Spellslinging for Wizards

Players and GMs alike sometimes don’t like the cast – (aim) – attack cadence of 2-3 rounds for missile spells cast by wizards using the default GURPS magic system.  It is similar to the draw – (aim) – shoot mechanic for archers with Fast-Draw (Arrow), but while the latter can be circumvented by investing into Heroic Archer and Weapon Master (Bow), the former can’t. For a lot of games that is fine, it flavors this kind of casters not as artillery platforms but as utility casters, buffers/debuffers, crowd controllers and those who sometimes bring the whole house down before fainting due to spending all of their FP on a fat spell. And in some games archers really do shoot once every 3 rounds while melee combatants don’t hit every round or maybe even (gasp) evaluate.

In other cases, players would rather do something else than 2 rounds of nothing but stepping and then unleashing their spell on the third. Sure, a lot of regular spells have a cast lime longer than 1 second, but those can be brought down with high skill, especially at the point levels of Dungeon Fantasy. Missile and Melee spells can’t. When this is perceived as a problem, GURPS sourcebooks don’t really offer much except switching to another magic system, such as for example Sorcery. So let’s see what can be done about it.

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Let’s start with the Spellslinger advantage, worth 25 points, published by Christopher Rice in Pyramid #3-66. It is intended for use with the Ritual Path Magic so it doesn’t completely suit the default magic system, but it has some parts which can be ported to spells-as-skills quite literally:

• It effectively lets the character claim Accuracy for a spell without aiming
• It lets them use the Mighty Spell perk from GURPS Thaumatology: Magical Styles with all spells
• For spells requiring both a casting roll and an attack roll, it lets them cast the spell and attack with it in a single round instead over a course of two, albeit at a penalty equal to that for performing Rapid Strikes.

It also facilitates casting blocking spells with RPM which is hard in that system but not an issue with default magic, and it lets the caster use DX-based path skills instead of Innate Attack to hit. The former could, if the GM deems it necessary, be replaced with allowing the character to apply the Blocking Spell Mastery perk to all of their spells, just like they may already do with Mighty Spell. The latter is a bit trickier to port to spells-as-skills magic, since using a DX-based spell skill instead of Innate Attack would not really be advantageous for most wizards. Even with Magery applying to spells but not to Innate Attack, most spells only ever get one point put into them and the difference between a spellcaster’s IQ and DX is generally rather significant. Another option would be to use standard IQ-based spell skills to attack, but personally I’m leery of it as being too strong. A middle ground would be to apply Magery as a bonus to Innate Attack. That isn’t far fetched since it already works that way for Sorcery.

Spellslinger is a nice option with several dials to turn according to taste, but the penalty to cast and attack in a single round could make it unattractive to some. That is of course yet another dial to turn, but let’s see what else is out there.

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Compartmentalized Mind taken with No Mental Separation, -20% and Limited, Magic, -5% for 38 points would let a character both cast a spell and attack with it on the same turn, without any kind of penalty. But it also effectively doubles the casting rate of the character for all spells since it allows two Concentrate maneuvers per turn for the purposes of casting. This may be too much.

We could increase Limited to “only Missile and Melee spells” and eyeball it at -30%. That would be more in line with what we want at a cost of 25 points, the same as Spellslinger. We get rid of the Rapid Strike penalty, but also miss out on some other benefits. Again, adjust to personal taste.

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The final variant I’d like to discuss is a “native” feature of the GURPS Magic system. High skill reduces the casting time of spells, but not of Missile and Melee spells. If we have a problem with not attacking every round, we can easily ignore this exception. We’ll also ignore the technicalities of the case, such as these spells actually having a casting time of 1 below which reduction through high skill is impossible. Just smooth it over with “high skill reduces the time needed to cast and attack with Missile and Melee spells, down to 1 second for the attack itself”.

So at skill 20 a character could both cast the spell and attack with it on the same turn. At skill 25 they could also aim “for free” or invest additional energy into that fireball. Once more, a GM should turn the dials as they prefer. I would personally not allow the reduction for investing additional energy in spells but would allow the reduction for aiming.

The nice thing about this approach is that it doesn’t make special snowflakes out of Missile and Melee spells but instead handles them the same as all others (including jet spells, which complete the trinity of typical attack magic). Sure, mages must invest points to get spells to level 20, and I doubt any will go for 25, but that’s no different than with the Spellslinger and Compartmentalized Mind solutions. Of the three, I am most inclined to use this one in my Dungeon Fantasy game.

Martial Artist buffs for Dungeon Fantasy

The Martial Artist profession in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy (and Dungeon Fantasy RPG) has long been known for having a lot of problems when it comes to their primary role of whacking stuff on the head. Unlike any other combative profession, they must take extra care not to injure themselves while attacking, their performance at 250 points is lackluster and they need a lot of additional points to get reliably good at fighting. Motivated by my observations and player experience during my Dungeon Fantasy campaign, I decided to introduce some changes.

Big thanks to Kyle Norton of Dungeons on Automatic for ideas and bringing the building blocks to my attention.

My solution consists of the following:

1. Trained by a Master costs 5 points and is just an “enabler” for chi abilities.

It lets you buy all of the skills such as Power Blow etc. which have it as prerequisite in the Basic Set, as well as Chi Talent and the various abilities with the Chi, -10% modifier.

It also allows you to make a Per roll with a bonus equal to your Chi Talent level to detect when you enter a space with “broken chi”. These are places where the natural order is disturbed, such as heavily polluted areas (but not merely urbanized ones or most others viewed as unnatural by Druids), places under the influence of Elder Things or where reality itself is somehow disturbed. Low/no mana zones, unholy places or those affected by extraplanar energies specifically don’t qualify, since such things all have their place in the order of the world. Vacuum would also qualify, but is unlikely to be encountered by delvers and is otherwise highly noticeable.

2. Chi Talent costs 10 points per level, but is otherwise unchanged.

This makes TBAM and Chi Talent functionally the same as Magery, both in benefits offered, cost and effect. It seemed rather odd that Martial Artists paid 15 points for their power talent while Wizards, Clerics and Druids paid only 10 while getting its bonus to a lot more skills. I could have just left TBAM being an Unusual Background without the extra detection benefit, but it felt unfair to me to be charging points for it when Magery 0 offered the same plus the detection of magic items.

Clerics and Druids, by the way, don’t have such a “gateway” advantage yet still have a similar detection benefit and get access to loads of skills you normally can’t access, all rolled into their power talent. In fact, a technically correct solution would be to increase the cost of Magery and Power Investiture to 15 per level because that’s the cost of talents that affect so many skills, but that would cause too many ripple effects and I’m a fan of “buffing” underperforming traits with patch notes instead of “nerfing” the overperformers.

3. Martial Artists get Weapon Master (Unarmed) [25] as a mandatory advantage on their template.

Together with TBAM this costs exactly the same as before, gives all the same benefits, but also give Martial Artists an additional +2 damage per die if they have Karate at DX+2 or more, cumulative with Karate’s innate bonus for a total of +4 per die.

I have not made a permanent decision for my campaign yet, but I would currently not allow the per die bonuses to damage from Karate and Weapon Master to stack with further ones such as those from Claws and Seven Secret Kicks (GURPS DF11) or Unarmed Master (Pyramid 3/61). Speaking of the latter…

4. Martial Artists get Rules Exemption (Cannot hurt self) as an optional perk on their template.

This is what gives Unarmed Master the component of not hurting oneself with unarmed strikes anymore. The perk has TBAM or Weapon Master (Unarmed) as prerequisite.

I have included it as optional and not mandatory primarily not to mess with the total point cost of the Martial Artist template. Theoretically, you could build a Martial Artist who focuses on weapons instead of unarmed skills, but this being just a perk is a steal even in that case. Martial artists wielding weapons? Well…

5. Martial Artists get Weapon Master (Martial Artist weapons) [35] as an optional advantage on their template.

This replaces Weapon Master (Unarmed), and includes it. Martial artist stereotypes in fiction often use much more than their bare hands. This enables such builds.

Weapons covered are baton, blowpipe, bo, brass knuckles, cestus, club, hatchet, heavy sling, javelin, jo, jutte, kama, katar, knobbed club, kusari, large katar, large throwing knife, monk’s spade, naginata, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, short baton, short spear, short staff, shortsword, sling, small falchion, small throwing knife, shuriken, spear, throwing dart, tonfa, unarmed strikes and grapples.

Add Polearm, Spear and Thrown Weapon (Spear) to the list of primary skills Martial Artists may choose from.

This list only includes weapons published in the Dungeon Fantasy RPG. Additional weapons may be included at the GM’s leisure.

Some of these weapons may be used with the Karate skill. Karate adds its per die damage bonus to weapon attacks only if they deal thrust damage.

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And that’s it. TBAM has always seemed off to me, costing more points than Weapon Master (Unarmed) but missing the damage bonus. Sure, Karate has an innate damage bonus, but doing purely thrust attacks with unarmed strikes doesn’t really amount to much even with that. Effectively doubling that bonus through these changes puts Martial Artists on a much more even footing with other fighter-types, and hurting yourself when attacking really isn’t something you should worry about in Dungeon Fantasy.

Note that this solution makes Unarmed Master, Claws (Blunt) and Seven Secret Kicks redundant. Well, Seven Secret Kicks can be repriced to 2 points and be bought just for the Kicking technique.

Aiming aids in Space Dungeon Fantasy

A game I recently started playing in inspired me to mull over the various rules on targeting systems and to consolidate them into a coherent whole for Hidden Suns. This is a topic which frequently comes up in GURPS circles and the rules have been gradually clarified I even dare say corrected during a course of several supplements.

It all started with Ultra-Tech and the HUD link, which was listed as giving +1 to Acc within 300 yards, not cumulative with other targeting systems. A multispectral laser sight, however, gave +1 to skill out to the weapon’s 1/2D range. There were two scopes, the compact and enhanced targeting scope, the former granting +2 to Acc at TL9-10 and the latter +3. This increased up to +3 and +4 respectively at TL11, and to +4 and +5 at TL12. Finally, targeting software could grant +1 or +2 to skill. Were laser sights cumulative with HUDs and scopes? No word on that, so an implied yes.

Then High-Tech came along, with collimating and reflex sights granting +1 to skill up to 300 yards. Suspiciously similar to a HUD, both in the range limitation and the description of how they worked. Could they be used together? No word in the book, but a reality check dictated that it would make sense to either use one of those two, or an ultratech HUD, but not both (a reflex sight was actually mounted on a HUD). But the ultratech HUD, as written, was inferior.

The wording on laser sights changed so that they gave “+1 to hit”, and it was possible to use them together with telescopic sights but not with collimating and reflex sights. And with a HUD? The implied answer changed from yes to no, if we followed the above reasoning. Speaking of telescopic sights, they offered up to 32x magnification translating to a +5 Acc bonus already at TL5!

Other features High-Tech introduced include the laser rangefinder, which granted +3 to Acc by making the exact range and speed of the target known to the shooter, match-grade ammunition which increased a weapon’s Acc by +1 if it was already +4 or greater, and pistol stocks which added +1 to Acc of pistols.

Next was Tactical Shooting which introduced Precision Aiming, allowing for additional Acc bonuses for Aiming longer than the standard three turns but which couldn’t exceed the lower of the used scope’s Acc bonus or the weapon’s base Acc, and clarifying that a laser rangefinder was not the only way to claim the bonus for knowing the exact speed and location of the target, offering the example of claiming it by plotting the landmarks in a field of battle.

Finally, Tactical Shooting: Tomorrow was released in Pyramid #3-55, tying up most of the loose ends. HUDs were brought in line with collimating/reflex sights from HT, giving a +1 bonus to skill but without any range limitations. It was clarified that the laser sight bonus was not cumulative with a HUD, but a targeting laser used with a HUD would automatically act as a rangefinder providing those sweet +3 to Acc. Scopes were also “modernized”, with the enhanced targeting scope becoming redundant as a variable up to 32x or +5 to Acc magnification was included for free in the compact targeting scope.

But was the HUD bonus cumulative with a scope? No explicit answer, although it was explained that a scope actually fed its video directly into the HUD, effectively focusing the user’s field of view onto the target and bringing any magnification with it. My conclusion? If a HUD gave a +1 bonus to skill by having a crosshair on the target all by its own without zoom, then having that same crosshair there but while zoomed in through a scope was the same deal. Cumulative!

The only remaining question was which of these bonuses count against the “combined bonus from all targeting systems” which can’t exceed the weapon’s base Acc, as per B364. Kromm put that to rest in his post thereby wrapping up this topic.

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In the Hidden Suns, I use all of the rules covered above in their clarified state, except match-grade ammo. I don’t really use chemical slugthrowers in the setting and didn’t want to fuss around with match-grade gauss bullets or optimized plasma cartridges. As for rangefinders, I rule that it works automatically as you take an Aim action, your smartgun electronics taking care of everything in the background.