Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon
I'm pretty sure GURPS has rules somewhere for 'carrying glowing embers with you all day so you can light a fire when you arrive at the next camp,'
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Not that I'm aware of. In fact, I didn't think this was actually an option, but the method described in the video sounds at least plausible. I'd probably just simplify such a "firebox" as being roughly half the weight and cost of a covered lantern (which can be used for the same purpose, but also provides light) - that is, $20 and 1 lb. It's good for 24 hours and can be replenished with any decent fire. Base fire starting time is maybe 10 seconds, and you
can use damp kindling (the ember is assumed to last long enough to dry it out and ignite it), but that takes at least a minute to get the fire going. The firebox either makes Survival unnecessary or gives a sizable bonus (+5, meaning you can use default Survival at Per). This bonus is lost if using damp kindling, however - you need some skill to properly dry it out without extinguishing the ember in the process.
As for the rest of your post, sounds like a good setup for a Horror (or LT monster hunting) campaign/scenario. I think you're overselling the difficulty of lighting a fire, however - you don't avoid doing so because it's incredibly difficult, you avoid doing so because it's annoying, and sometimes exhausting.
Any effect that is going to cause fires to suddenly die and go completely cold, despite having fuel available, is going to make lighting new fires impossible, however, so that can be the issue. It's a sure sign there's something spooky going on if you can't light a fire, then the torch you're carrying from the next village over suddenly dies out when you bring it into town. Alternatively, it could be a sort of really strange effect, where it acts on individual fires and needs time to adapt to new ones - you can't relight your hearth with traditional methods, but you can bring fire in from elsewhere to do so... shame it'll die in a week, though.