GURPS Disasters: Hurricane

[Kromm]

The heavens grew dark
The winds howled, the rains pounded
The seas engulfed land

— Words of a Survivor

Adventurers in RPGs face attacks, traps, sabotage, curses, and other dangers that originate with their enemies. Yet in real life, Nature can be the most terrible opponent of all – one whose might makes even the deadliest weapons look puny. Using natural disasters in the game would surely be dramatic! The catch is figuring out how to implement the large-scale destruction in a way that does it justice without wiping out the heroes or rendering their actions meaningless.

GURPS Disasters: Hurricane tackles this challenge for mighty storms. It explains the real-world phenomenon . . . and then converts the destruction into game terms. Perhaps more important, it shows how to use a hurricane as the focus of a one-shot or mini-campaign, as one of many Bad Things in the adventures of a disaster-management team, as a plot twist to shake up any game world, or as the catastrophe that kicks off an epic tale of rebuilding and recovery.

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Store Link: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG37-1711

[Arcanjo7Sagi]

Just bought.

And I'll read as I listen to Respect The Wind and Humans Being, both from Van Halen.

xD

[edk926]

I honestly didn't expect there would be a second release this month.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by edk926

I honestly didn't expect there would be a second release this month.

You would have if you followed the W23 Speculation thread :)

[RyanW]

Every time I've signed up for a playtest, a hurricane hit and forced me to drop out. Not sure if that would have disqualified me or made me uniquely qualified.

[Jareth Valar]

Originally Posted by RyanW

Every time I've signed up for a playtest, a hurricane hit and forced me to drop out. Not sure if that would have disqualified me or made me uniquely qualified.

Definitely uniquely qualified. Living in the Atlantic's "Hurricane Landing Zone" I can sympathize.

[namada]

Originally Posted by Arcanjo7Sagi

Just bought.

I didn't, but I did take a quick peek at the preview. If I'm reading the table right those character effects and artifact effects are seriously harsh.

[Alden Loveshade]

I was fortunate enough to be a playtester on the book, and learned a great deal from it. I was also fortunate to be one of the first--if not the first--to use the book in a GURPS adventure featured on a wiki. It was a disaster--I mean the storm was a disaster, not the adventure, which was a lot of fun.
https://trynser.fandom.com/wiki/Storm_Audrea

By the way, one of my game sessions playtesting the book was delayed because my Internet went out because of a storm. I am not making that up.

[Alden Loveshade]

Originally Posted by namada

I didn't, but I did take a quick peek at the preview. If I'm reading the table right those character effects and artifact effects are seriously harsh.

Yep. The author James P. Howard, II not only holds a Ph.D. in public policy, but also has a Master of Science degree in environmental engineering and science.

As an article in Scientific American says, "...tropical cyclones can release as much energy as 10,000 nuclear bombs."

I playtested a storm at TL4 which worked well, although to avoid destroying the city I allowed magical intervention. But I'm seriously thinking about using a hurricane in an ultra-tech level GURPS game as a controllable weapon....

[namada]

Originally Posted by Alden Loveshade

Yep. The author James P. Howard, II not only holds a Ph.D. in public policy, but also has a Master of Science degree in environmental engineering and science.

As an article in Scientific American says, "...tropical cyclones can release as much energy as 10,000 nuclear bombs."

I playtested a storm at TL4 which worked well, although to avoid destroying the city I allowed magical intervention. But I'm seriously thinking about using a hurricane in an ultra-tech level GURPS game as a controllable weapon....

What I meant was that I've lived through dozens of hurricanes and I don't see the effects as remotely realistic - they're way too harsh (again, if I'm reading those charts right). For example -1DX in 18mph winds is just a big fat NO from me. I've stood out in 75mph winds. Been there, done that, and this is way too harsh.