Pyramid #3/112: Action II

[Kromm]

You messin' with me?
My kung fu, fast car, big gun?
You just screwed up – bad!

— Special Agent Axe Shaftsky

The action movie is a great model for many styles of adventure gaming: Larger-than-life heroes acting as fast – often faster – than they think, secure in the knowledge that the Power of Plot will see them through. Such stories are the focus of the GURPS Action series, and work best if the GM is ready – ready like a loaded gun with a hair trigger! Pyramid #3/112: Action II is here to help with that, doing the footwork like the serious buddy cop so you can be the one with the snappy comebacks.

• More Skill Sets for Specialists, by Christopher Rice, expands GURPS Action 4: Specialists into new territory – including fantastic and futuristic realms, for those who enjoy crossovers.
• The Thrill of the Chase, by Kelly Pedersen, increases the resolution of the chase system in GURPS Action 2: Exploits so you're not just passing the same three parked cars and five trees the whole time like in a bad cartoon.
• Eidetic Memory: Black Gemini, by David Pulver, provides you with a ready-to-run adventure featuring blood antiquities, human smuggling, organ theft, terrorists, and weapons of mass destruction – a little something for everybody on the squad!
• The Football, by Jason Brick, shows that fighting and story can be two great tastes that taste great together. Action violence isn't necessarily senseless violence, after all.
• The Grinder, by Andy Vetromile, takes a good look at an action-movie staple – the chop shop – and presents an example you can use as an interesting location, a plot device, or an entire adventure.
• And Steven Marsh maintains law and order with his usual Mozambique drill: He opens with In This Issue and From the Editor to the body, and finishes with a Random Thought Table to the head.

—

Store Link: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG37-2712
Preview PDF: http://www.warehouse23.com/media/SJG37-2712_preview.pdf

[Humabout]

While I can't readily tell if More Skill Sets for Specialists will be immediately useful without knowing what skillsets are in it, it's probably going to be worth while. But what really has me reaching for the buy button is The Thrill of the Chase. The Chase rules are some of the best bits from Exploits, and any expansion on them has my vote!

[SteamBub]

Originally Posted by Humabout

While I can't readily tell if More Skill Sets for Specialists will be immediately useful without knowing what skillsets are in it, it's probably going to be worth while.

In the preview I saw that it said some ultra-tech skillsets are there. I would imagine that working great in a cyberpunk action game.

[Humabout]

Exactly. I do more scifi horror / space opera. I still want to read it and see for myself, but without a better sense of what's there for science fiction, I can't say more. Once I read it, I'll update more.

[Kelly Pedersen]

I actually wanted to give Christopher Rice some big props for "More Skill Sets for Specialists" - it's definitely a very useful article, and fills some action niches that were underserved in the original Action 4: Specialists book.

If you're wondering about the ultra-tech options available, a quick rundown: there's a "Battlesuit Operations" package, both a "Civilian" and "Military Cybernetic/Biomod Enhancements" package, and a whole raft of space-related packages, including both civilian and military spaceflight, a generic "Space Operations", and a pair of civilian/military Spacer packages, covering experience as a crewman on the respective type of ships.

There's also Psi Specialist and Psychic packages, if your setting includes psionics.

I wanted to especially call out the "Advanced Cybernetics and Simplified Maintenance" box, which is a very nice set of rules on how to handle stuff about maintaining cyberware in genres where a "realistic" treatment is less-appropriate.

[Humabout]

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

I actually wanted to give Christopher Rice some big props for "More Skill Sets for Specialists" - it's definitely a very useful article, and fills some action niches that were underserved in the original Action 4: Specialists book.

Oh I don't doubt its general use, but I tend to use Action for science fiction and have made several skill specialties already. I only question its immediate usefulness to my own needs, but I'm curious to see what he added. In particular, I'm curious to see how he did supernatural packages. I'm hoping they're actually skill-driven and not just 20+ points in advantages with a nod toward a skill.

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

If you're wondering about the ultra-tech options available, a quick rundown: there's a "Battlesuit Operations" package, both a "Civilian" and "Military Cybernetic/Biomod Enhancements" package, and a whole raft of space-related packages, including both civilian and military spaceflight, a generic "Space Operations", and a pair of civilian/military Spacer packages, covering experience as a crewman on the respective type of ships.

I'm curious about how he did Cybernetics here. I have always done them as power-ups, since there's no real skill associated with using an arm or an artificial lung.

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

There's also Psi Specialist and Psychic packages, if your setting includes psionics.

Same as Supernatural packages - I'm curious to see how he made these skill sets. I usually do Psi as power-ups, since they are really advantage-driven.

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

I wanted to especially call out the "Advanced Cybernetics and Simplified Maintenance" box, which is a very nice set of rules on how to handle stuff about maintaining cyberware in genres where a "realistic" treatment is less-appropriate.

This I definitely want to see.


. . . and download complete!
Runs off to read the issue

[Kelly Pedersen]

Originally Posted by Humabout

In particular, I'm curious to see how he did supernatural packages. I'm hoping they're actually skill-driven and not just 20+ points in advantages with a nod toward a skill.

About an even mix between those two approaches, I'd say. Some packages (like the Sorcerer one that uses the Sorcery system) pretty much have to be mostly a set of advantages. But where the magic system uses skills, or where it's a non-magical character dealing with a supernatural world, skills predominate.

Originally Posted by Humabout

I'm curious about how he did Cybernetics here. I have always done them as power-ups, since there's no real skill associated with using an arm or an artificial lung.

They are essentially power-ups - both packages are basically "pick 25 points worth of cybernetics/biomods from appropriate lists".

Originally Posted by Humabout

Same as Supernatural packages - I'm curious to see how he made these skill sets. I usually do Psi as power-ups, since they are really advantage-driven.

The psi expert is largely skill-driven, while the psychic is more advantage-heavy (it's basically a reference to GURPS Psis).

[Humabout]

So after reading the two articles I was specifically interested in, here are my thoughts:

More Skills for Specialists
This is probably some of CR's best writing from a technical standpoint. It flows wonderfully and hits the Action! vibe on the head. So definitely kudos for that!

I really liked the Religiously Ordained (Non-Supernatural) lens. The other mundane specialties aren't anything I see being used in the types of games I run, but they definitely fill a void in Specialists.

As for the magical specialties, Ritual Path Magic Hedge Caster and Wizard (Standard) do their jobs nicely. Unfortunately, I really think the other four specialties should just be made as power-ups. Some systems really aren't well-suited for skills and some concepts are, literally, just an Advantage (cough...Ritual Adept...cough). The Psychic set falls in this boat as well.

Occult Sets and the Psi Expert specialty rock hard. And that brings us to the bits that fit what I would need this article for: Ultra-Tech Skill Sets. All of the staples seem to be touched upon, although I again level the same complaint against Cybernetic/Biomod Enhancements as for magical specialties: This is a power-up, and furthermore just pointing at a page number and saying "take X points in this stuff" doesn't really add anything. The rest looks good with one nitpick: The correct skill for Aerobatics in space is Astrobatics as stated in GURPS Space and Free Falling of Pyramid #3/85 - Cutting Edge.

I'll continue to offer Free Faller (Free Falling, Pyramid #3/85 - Cutting Edge) as perk option for Space Operations and Spacer as a way to cut down on extra Free Fall rolls for those who take space-related packages, however. But that's to speed up play and emphasize those who are good in microgravity more than anything. I'm also surprised there isn't a Dabbler perk offered for the many random repair skills an astronaut should probably have to keep a spaceship operable and avoid life-threatening disasters.

And like Kelly Pederssn said, Advanced Cybernetics and Simplified Maintenance is gold. Overall, the article good and thought-provoking.

The Thrill of the Chase
This opens with a discussion of terrain, and immediately I see a clear path for trench runs, speeder-bike battles in ancient forests, motorcyclists chasing pedestrians through busy markets, etc. It does a really good job at giving added detail to asymmetric chases within the same medium (e.g., a tank chasing a car across the bombed-out remains of Dresden) or different ones (e.g., a cyclist racing along a choppy canal after terrorists in a zodiac).

Next up is a discussion of events that might happen during a chase. This begins with a look at obstacles. This can be a hotdog cart being pushed into the chase's path by an unsuspecting vendor, a cloud of debris from an recently-destroyed spacecraft, or a whatever else the GM can come up with. And obstacles aren't all that can get in the way: bystanders always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in movies. And if that's not enough, opportunities to do cool stuff or take specific maneuvers may pop up, too.

To round things out, the article concludes with a way to randomly place events and terrain for when the GM either doesn't have a map of the area already drawn up or just wants to roll with the flow.

Overall, I can't see myself not incorporating this entire article into existing Chase rules. Combined with Dogfight Action! (Pyramid #3/53 - Action), you can really ramp up your aerial battles, and I intend to mix these with my own house rules to extend things beyond the atmosphere.

In Conclusion
Not having read anything else in this issue, yet, I would wholeheartedly say it's worth the money for Thrill of the Chase, alone. More Skills for Specialists is a nice bit of icing on the cake for me, but for others would be reason enough in itself to justify buying the article. It just isn't as categorically useful for my own rather specific needs. And that's just two of seven articles this month. So go buy this now! Do it! Why are you still reading this? Go!!

[Celti]

Originally Posted by Humabout

The rest looks good with one nitpick: The correct skill for Aerobatics in space is Astrobatics as stated in GURPS Space and Free Falling of Pyramid #3/85 - Cutting Edge.

I can take the blame on this one — I helped around the edges with all of the space skill-sets, I knew Aerobatics was the wrong skill, I fully intended to point out that Astrobatics was the correct trait to use, I'd referenced both Space and Pyramid #85 when working — somehow, it just slipped through the cracks.

Originally Posted by Humabout

I'll continue to offer Free Faller (Free Falling, Pyramid #3/85 - Cutting Edge) as perk option for Space Operations and Spacer as a way to cut down on extra Free Fall rolls for those who take space-related packages, however. But that's to speed up play and emphasize those who are good in microgravity more than anything. I'm also surprised there isn't a Dabbler perk offered for the many random repair skills an astronaut should probably have to keep a spaceship operable and avoid life-threatening disasters.

Free Faller is a great option for people who have those skill-sets, certainly! I wouldn't include it in those skill sets, though — no skill set in Action 4 has a No Nuisance Rolls variant, and for good reason (not all GMs want to cut down on those rolls). As for Dabbler — what is a Dabbler perk but a skill set writ small? See also pp. 32-33 of Action 4, box labelled "Generalists" and section headed "Bits and Pieces".

[Humabout]

Originally Posted by Celti

Free Faller is a great option for people who have those skill-sets, certainly! I wouldn't include it in those skill sets, though — no skill set in Action 4 has a No Nuisance Rolls variant, and for good reason (not all GMs want to cut down on those rolls). As for Dabbler — what is a Dabbler perk but a skill set writ small? See also pp. 32-33 of Action 4, box labelled "Generalists" and section headed "Bits and Pieces".

While I can see your points, I still tend to always include at the very least a nod toward spacers generally needing to be generalist repairmen, even if they aren't especially adept at it. A perk feels right, hence Dabbler. Glancing back through my own notes, I'd also offer a perk for reducing penalties to repairs with less-than-ideal equipment - treat Improvised equipment as Poor quality and Cheap quality as Good; you never get a bonus from this. After all, astronauts have literally had to put a square peg in a round hole with what was floating around them...