[johndallman]

Parachuting is the DX/E TL skill of making and surviving parachute jumps. The only default is DX-4, and no skills default to Parachuting. Failure does not mean a fall, although it may well land you somewhere embarrassing, or without your equipment. For critical failures, see Falling on B.431. Under difficult conditions, the GM may require a second roll for a safe, as opposed to survived, landing. To pack a parachute, make an IQ-based roll, which would likely be improvable as an Average technique, although it seems to be assumed that if parachutes are packed at leisure, they don't need a separate roll. Parachuting appeared at GURPS 1e.

The only listed modifier is -2 for your body weight plus encumbrance exceeding ten times your Basic Lift, creating a game reason for paratroops to be fit and strong. It's clearly possible to get substantial bonuses for good conditions, supervision, a static line to open the 'chute, and so on, given the number of people who make a successful jump after a day's instruction, presumably at the DX default.

A basic TL6 parachute is on B288, $1000, 30lb, and notes that the user will fall at least 80 yards before it opens, and then descend at 5 yards/second. A Fine-quality parachute could seem attractive to adventurers with money. High-Tech p62-63 and p232 have much more parachute-related equipment and some more rules details.

Parachuting skill is common on templates for high-tech soldiers, infiltrators and spies, although it's usually an option for everyone except professional paratroopers. It's wise to be good at Parachuting if you expect to actually do it in action. Action has plenty of templates and skill packages with Parachuting, and streamlined rules for equipment and group insertions. Fantasy-Tech has TL3-4 devices that use the skill, should anyone have it, and Gun-Fu suggests the Mounted Shooting technique for coming down firing. Power-Ups 3 and 7 have examples for Parachuting, and SEALS in Vietnam has a technique for buying off the penalties for HAHO/HALO methods. Supers has a mini-parachute, and Ultra-Tech a flying car with automatic parachute that's better than nothing, but with skill 11, there's likely to be a bumpy ride.

I've generally skipped Parachuting on military characters, unless it was compulsory, because being the only parachutist isn't much good unless you want to be off on your own. It was a vital survival skill in Crimson Skies, though, and I took it in the occult WWII campaign after a frightening experience when both pilots in a plane were temporarily blinded. From the GM's point of view, requiring characters to parachute into a scenario is a lot easier if you aren't nit-pickingly realistic about the way parachutists get scattered across the landscape.

What have you dropped yourself into?