GURPS Disasters: Hurricane

[Þorkell]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

A book in the "Gurps Disasters" series about storms is obviously only going to be about very bad storms. "Slightly windy" doesn't seem to be in there. :)

I wrote "slightly stormy" not "slightly windy".

Furthermore, just over a week ago this country had a storm, and one of the consequences of that storm was that large portions of the island were without electricity for days. Before the storm hit a warning was issued which basically amounted to "Go home, stay inside until the storm is over."

How much storm is a very bad storm? Does the book only cover storms that get the label "hurricane"?

Storms that his Iceland are usually leftovers from hurricanes with something more mixed in. We don't give them names in alphabetical order because there aren't enough letters in the alphabet.

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by johndallman

That seems to be considered the maximum amount that normal humans can have. I've encountered it in other GURPS contexts.

Sorry I wasn't clear, if you have more than 2 levels of night Vision, why are the benefits capped at 2 levels during a hurricane?

[Alden Loveshade]

Originally Posted by Þorkell

...Does the book only cover storms that get the label "hurricane"?

it covers a variety of levels of storms. You may have missed my previous post where I wrote that I playtested a less-than-hurricane storm with my gaming group using information from the book. It worked well (a link to it on a wiki is in my earlier post).

[pestigor]

I didn't want to try to play test this but now it's out I had to get it.
Gurps and Hurricane Katrina hold a special place for me. I evacuated having just got the Gurps core rule books and Gurps Fantasy. We all thought it would be a three day thing but it turned out to be very different. I was lucky in that I still had a house when we got back but for the weeks I was away all I read was Gurps. Gurps helped me cope by being a creative outlet that required more work and investment than other RPGs so I was occupied in my freetime with something other then watching news reports of how bad things were back home. While it's not a subject I plan on running, I think it captures the "feel" well.
Thanks for handling it as realistically as you guys did.

Edit, I also joined the Forums when I got the 4e Gurps stuff...literally a few day before Katrina.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by pestigor

Edit, I also joined the Forums when I got the 4e Gurps stuff...literally a few day before Katrina.

Well I am glad you had a place to go back to and hope your journey has been good.

[YankeeGamer]

I think that the dex penalties are a bit severe, especially in the lower ranges. Backyard boxing has shown me that I dodge just as well, hit just as well, in 25 mph winds as in calm conditions. (Backyard, no real debris) Some skills should start taking penalties early, others not so much.

An advantage of some sort giving reduced effects of storm environments might not be a bad idea.

[namada]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

A book in the "Gurps Disasters" series about storms is obviously only going to be about very bad storms. "Slightly windy" doesn't seem to be in there. :)

My memory from the playtest is that even "average" hurricanes aren't really covered much.

Well, just looking at the preview pdf, the ToC does seem to cover everything from formation of tropical systems through the lifecycle of such storms, all the way to Category 5. Also, the 'Effects' table on p14 is shown in the preview, with wind speed ranges from >1mph to <74mph. So, anyway, I'd think this is useful for any storm, not just hurricanes, though that is obviously the primary focus.

I'm curious to see the effects of Floodwater & Chaos, and in particular, if the flood discussed is just rising waters (slow flooding from downpours) or if it breaks things down into flash floods, rising water, and storm surge (I lived through that during Rita - definitely the scariest thing I've ever experienced during a hurricane.) I've been through all three, and they're rather different, but for a game supplement, it may have been just lumped together.

Originally Posted by Humabout

1. The penalty is to IQ, not Per, so that doesn't make any sense.

The IQ roll (instead of PER roll) thing has really got be perplexed here too. The penalty to self-control rolls is equally baffling. It's part of the reason I think that this Wind Effect table is not as intuitive as it seems at a glance from the preview, but I'd like some confirmation on that, if possible.

It seems as if the Move Effect applies to anything that moves and the Character Effect should apply to any individual characters. But what's Artifact Effect for? Items in a character's possession - then why Artifact, not Item or Gear? Structures - then why Artifact and not Structure? Regardless - 50 pts of damage per turn seems excessive in 75+mph winds for anything I could imagine this might represent.

Originally Posted by Humabout

Anyway, I don't know this author, but the preview makes me question pretty much anything else that might be in the book. I'll wait for Roger's review and see what he thinks before proceeding at all.

Many things certainly seem off to me, based on my personal experiences of all the tropical stuff I've lived through here on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana. I doubt our Maryland PhD author has much direct experience with tropical stuff, though I could be wrong, but if I had more free time at the moment (I've already got too much to read through and another GURPS project I'm working on), I'd rather buy the product & suggest changes/fixes than just ignore it altogether. Perhaps consider that instead?

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Þorkell

I wrote "slightly stormy" not "slightly windy".

Ah, apologies. I misread while making a quick comment.

I do remember the book tending towards the very strongest storms and not the actually rather moderate ones that occur most frequently. Such as the Cat ones and twos (local effects anyway) in 2004 that had me without power for a total of 17 days.

These effects are multiplied or minimized by architecture and landscaping that is or isn't well adapted to storms. Places that get hrricanes frequently would ahve a Darwinian sorting out if humans didn't keep trying to have what they want instead of what works locally.

For example, newcomers to florida want to go and build right down on the water with "Cape Cod Cottages" that are multistory houses with sharply angled shingled roofs. The more functional "ranch" styles with low, one-piece roofs are described as "lacking architectural interest".

Even if they aren't on the water they want to plant imported varieties of tall, straight oaks and elms that wil last just long (20 or 30 years) to grow big enough to fall on their sharply angled shingled roofs. Said roofs were already wind-damaged by lost shingles.

I'm sure that angling your roofs makes much more sense in Iceland than Florida and your trees don't blow over nearly so often. This however is why discussions of storm effects without local context aren't all that useful.

[Alden Loveshade]

Note also that Tech Level has a huge affect on the impact of a storm. That's not only because of structural issues, but because before about TL7 there's typically no warning. (The book covers that as well.)

I did that in my TL4 adventure, where the storm (not a full hurricane) hit while the PCs were relaxing and having fun at a birthday party in a city on the coast. Then suddenly....

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by namada

So, anyway, I'd think this is useful for any storm, not just hurricanes, though that is obviously the primary focus.

It does talk about slower moving winds, and would be useful for smaller storms.

I'm curious to see the effects of Floodwater & Chaos, and in particular, if the flood discussed is just rising waters (slow flooding from downpours) or if it breaks things down into flash floods, rising water, and storm surge...

Prepare to be disappointed. The Flooding section deals with depth effects on Movement, but not how the water movement itself (flooding, flash or otherwise) affects terrain or things in it. I think the author may have been just leaving that to GMs, or possibly to future treatments on the subject (GURPS Disasters: Tsunamis anyone? Anyone?).

The IQ roll (instead of PER roll) thing has really got be perplexed here too. The penalty to self-control rolls is equally baffling. It's part of the reason I think that this Wind Effect table is not as intuitive as it seems at a glance from the preview, but I'd like some confirmation on that, if possible.

PER is covered under IQ, and I suspect the idea is the confusion factor of being in a chaotic system where at any moment something could come flying in and bean you, where the wind is moving what you're working on around, where the very landscape is moving violently (trees whipping about, signs falling over, cars sliding, etc), your concentration is going to be hampered and your focus split.

It seems as if the Move Effect applies to anything that moves and the Character Effect should apply to any individual characters. But what's Artifact Effect for?

Structural damage to buildings.

Regardless - 50 pts of damage per turn seems excessive in 75+mph winds for anything I could imagine this might represent.

Per minute. And... it may very well be excessive. I haven't checked to see how well a modern structure could handle this.