GURPS Bestiary - 4th ed.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

FWIW, I'd find a big book of real critters a lot more useful than a big book of made-up critters. The former saves me a lot of research and effort. Assuming of course that said critters have CP totals so that they can be used with Ally and Alternate Form.

A book of real-world animals would also be much more useful than a book of made-up creatures, to non-GURPS users.

Made-up creatures are there for the combat stats and their fantastic and wild supernatural abilities, which are often difficult to translate into other RPG rules systems. Animals, however, are interesting because they can be familiars, pets or be something you shapeshift into, and they often have non-combat abilities that are already represented in other RPG systems, or can be easily simulated, such as abiltiies having to do with tactical or strategic movement, or improved or non-human senses.

It's just a question of having an authorative source saying what those animals can do. What is it that makes them special. Rather than having a player sit there and try to fib the GM into accepting that bees have infravision and are invulnerable to copper/bronze weapons and can frighten all great cat species to the point where they crap themselves, and looking up the bee species in English Wikipedia accomplishes nothing because English Wikipedia isn't written with roleplaying gamers in mind.

It used to be that SJ Games would publish GURPS supplements that were purchased in large numbers by people using other systems, because the material was generically useful, but that largely ceased, when 4E was published, or maybe a year or two before that.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

Actually you DO need to know the IQ of a wolf. however the wolf is as an example of why the bestiary is important, because you already know how smart a wolf is, so the wolf is one of the entries that give meaning to the IQ stat for animals because you know what it means because you know how smart a wolf really is. but because you have that entry you know what a Worg is like by comparing them.

Yes. One way for people to learn an RPG rules system is to look at example content and then extrapolate backwards. "Ah,this is how clever (or not) GURPS IQ 4 is" or "Oh, so that's what those traits can be used for: to build a vampire".

A full GURPS bestiary would still do well to have a page devoted to animal characters, including in-depth discussion of what each IQ level from 6 or 7, and down to 0, means. GURPS Thaumatology (which I bought a few days ago) has a little of that. but a Bestiary should devote more space to it.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Gudiomen

Mind you, it's probably because animals aren't at all common as foes in my games. 99% of the time the foes are humans or something else. Supernatural "animals" are there, but then I can be almost as arbitrary as I like, since there's not so much worrying about realism with unreal creatures.

Natural animals also very rarely appear in my Ärth historical fantasy setting. There are plenty of unnatural animals, however, such as familiars and other enhanced animals, and humans (and sometimes other humanoids) shapeshifted into animal form, in various ways (weres, spells, and so forth), and all of those start with a natural animal as a basis, and then applies specific changes to it. This means that knowledge about the natural animal is highly useful.

And as I've said before, it goes way beyond the need for a combat stat block. If you're in the Ärth settig, and you bond an animal as your Familiar because you think it will be able to help you in combat, or if you shapeshift into bear form based on the assumption that the bear is a more combat-worthy creature than a man in mail with a sword and a shield (or a naked Kelt painted bright blue and wielding a huge axe), then you are doing it wrong.

Where animals are useful is in the things that they can do that humans can't, and in the things that they can do much better than humans. Movement, senses, hostile enviroments such as deep water. Fighting is something our tool-using species does very well.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

It used to be that SJ Games would publish GURPS supplements that were purchased in large numbers by people using other systems, because the material was generically useful, but that largely ceased, when 4E was published, or maybe a year or two before that.

1) GURPS Space, GURPS Fantasy, the upcoming GURPS Horror and similar genre based books have always been popular with non-GURPS players - as they're mostly not about the mechanics this isn't surprising. They're world building guides. The 4e books are bigger and full colour and hardcover, making them more attractive to todays non-GURPS gamers (who are largely D&D players and used to the slick production values at WotC).

2) The least-mechanics-based books, the historical settings, didn't sell well - even with some extra non-GURPS people buying them. "Large numbers" of non-GURPS gamers buying them is an exaggeration, because they didn't sell large numbers to anyone.

4e hasn't been the ONLY change going on here, and pretending that "4e killed the good books" doesn't help anyone; the entire industry shifted, and what was once a slim profit margin is now a loss. Making books that are also highly useful for non-GURPS players is very nice, but right now it would be an act of charity as they're mostly a money-loosing operation.

3) All the 3e books that were written as useful for non-GURPS players are twice as useful for 4e players, as they're already in a closely related game system (the last edition). The work to update them for 4e players isn't worth the low profit margin. Thus reissuing the GURPS Classic items on e23 instead of producing new editions, which honestly is pretty awesome that SJG is doing that at all instead of trying to force everyone into 4e.

[Solatarye]

I can actually look to my right and see my book copy of Bunnies and Burrows, As well as many other GURPS suppliments. Like I said, A conversion of the old 3e books to 4e would not take long if those people griping about them would simply buckle down and do the stat conversions.

Here let me help you all get started:

Name: Moose
Race: Moose

Attributes [-160]
ST 27 (ST includes +17 from 'Extra ST')
DX 8 [-40]
IQ 3 [-140]
HT 12 [20]

HP 27
Will 3
Per 3
FP 12

Basic Lift 146
Damage 3d-1/5d+1

Basic Speed 5
Basic Move 5

Ground Move 5/10
Water Move 1

Social Background
TL: 3 [0]
Cultural Familiarities:
Languages:

Advantages [212]
Enhanced Move (Ground) (1) [20]
Extra Legs (4 Legs) [5*]
Extra ST (17) (Affects displayed ST score) [170]
Peripheral Vision [15]
Striker (Cutting) (Antlers) [7]
* = item is owned by another, point value is included in the other item.

Disadvantages [-130]
Bad Temper (Accessibility (Only when in rut) (+2); 12 or less) [-8]
Berserk (12 or less) [-10]
Bestial [-10*]
Cannot Speak [-15*]
Colorblindness [-10]
Gluttony (12 or less) [-5]
Hidebound [-5*]
Horizontal [-10*]
Incurious (12 or less) [-5]
Laziness [-10]
Light Sleeper [-5]
No Fine Manipulators [-30*]
Overconfidence (12 or less) [-5]
Stubbornness [-5]
Weak Bite [-2]
* = item is owned by another, point value is included in the other item.

Packages [0]
Quadruped [-35]
Wild Animal [-30]

Skills [32]
Brawling DX/E - DX+6 14 [20]
Parry Missile Weapons DX/H - DX+2 10 [12]

Stats [-160] Ads [212] Disads [-130] Quirks [0] Skills [32] = Total [-46]

Name: Vampire Bat
Race: Bat, Vampire

Attributes [-100]
ST 5 [-50]
DX 15 [60]
IQ 3 [-140]
HT 13 [30]

HP 5
Will 3
Per 3
FP 13

Basic Lift 5
Damage 1d-4/1d-3

Basic Speed 7
Basic Move 3 (Basic Move includes -4 from 'Reduced Basic Move')

Air Move 14
Ground Move 3

Social Background
TL: 10 [0]
Cultural Familiarities:
Languages:

Advantages [154]
Affliction (Sonic Stun) (1) (Cone (+1); Dissipation; Inaccurate (-3); Unconsciousness; Increased Range (1/2D Range only) (x10); Nuisance Effect: ability makes you obvious; Preparation Required: Weakened Without Preparation (1 minute); Reduced Range (x1/10); Takes Recharge (5 seconds)) [26]
includes: (1yd) damtype from 'Affliction (Sonic Stun)', x0.1 rangehalfdam from 'Affliction (Sonic Stun)', x10 rangehalfdam from 'Affliction (Sonic Stun)', x0.1 rangemax from 'Affliction (Sonic Stun)', -3 acc from 'Affliction (Sonic Stun)'
Flight (Cannot Hover; Winged) [24]
Sonar (Extended Arc: 360°) [45]
Speak With Animals (Bats Only) (Specialized: one family) [10]
Teeth (Fangs) [2]
Temperature Tolerance (2) [2]
Unaging [15]
Vampiric Bite (1HP/sec) [30]

Perks [2]
Fur [1]
Ordinary Tail [0]
Penetrating Voice [1]

Disadvantages [-125]
Bad Sight (Nearsighted) [-25]
Bestial [-10]
Cannot Speak [-15]
Hidebound [-5]
No Fine Manipulators [-30]
Odious Personal Habit (Blood Drinking) (-1) [-5]
Reduced Basic Move (-4) (Affects displayed Basic Move score) [-20]
Social Stigma (Wild Animal) (-3) [-15]

Quirks [-2]
Dislikes Bright Lights [-1]
Likes hunting at night [-1]

Skills [97]
Aerobatics DX/H - DX-1 14 [2]
Climbing DX/A - DX-1 14 [1]
Dropping DX/A - DX-1 14 [1]
Flight HT/A - HT+1 14 [4]
Innate Attack (Beam) DX/E - DX+0 15 [1]
Navigation/TL10 (Air) IQ/A - IQ+11 14 [44]
Survival (Home Terrian) Per/A - Per+11 14 [44]

Stats [-100] Ads [154] Disads [-125] Quirks [-2] Skills [97] = Total [26]

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Solatarye

I can actually look to my right and see my book copy of Bunnies and Burrows, As well as many other GURPS suppliments. Like I said, A conversion of the old 3e books to 4e would not take long if those people griping about them would simply buckle down and do the stat conversions.

Now do that in the actual SJGames GURPS Format for full creature writeups.

[Ts_]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Now do that in the actual SJGames GURPS Format for full creature writeups.

I would seriously hope that the Powers-that-work-hard-for-us use GCA with suitable export filters to get the format sorted out.

Ts

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Ts_

I would seriously hope that the Powers-that-work-hard-for-us use GCA with suitable export filters to get the format sorted out.

Not that I know of. If that was the case I'd like to know for a project that I'm working on now.

[rosignol]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

It's funny how most GURPS players want to do it all themselves and customize the wazoo out of their characters, but when it comes to monsters, which are much easier to create, everyone suddenly gets timid and wants the work done for them. Why is that?

Players only have to do their PC. The GM does *everything* *else*. It's a huge load, and anything that reduces the grunt work of compiling the information is a Good Thing™.

[lwcamp]

Originally Posted by Solatarye

Name: Moose
Race: Moose
<snip>

A moose is TL 3? A bat is TL 10?

Luke