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Old 07-07-2010, 02:41 AM   #1
vicky_molokh
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Default [GMing] GURPS Deus Ex: viable?

Greetings, all!

With the appearance of DE3 trailers, talks about Deus Ex have risen from the dead. And of course, with the discussion of a well-crafted futuristic conspiracy (I'm talking primarily about the original, not the 'Deus Lite' of Invisible War), comes the talk about GMing a campaign about. So of course, I'm curious about the opinion of local forumites about it.

The best timeframe is probably right after the events of Deus Ex. Sure, there's an economic crysis, but the IT networks will be up and running again in no time, while a harsh but definitely not dystopian portrayal of an economic collapse might actually be a selling point of a campaign (compare with campaigns with unrealistically pessimistic portrayals of such events). There's no universal ammo (yet), luckily, and biomods are not yet 'magic pills' bought for laughable prices, so the Cash->Points issue isn't too heavy yet.

The roles of the PCs? Well, this could be a classical Action made somewhat more realistic and high-tech, or something closer to Cops or Spec Ops or SWAT (was there such a supplement, or was it a non-official homework? I don't remember). Then of course there's Illuminati/Conspiracies for those who want to GM a campaign with the PCs in the know.

The mods themselves seem to be easy enough to model in GURPS terms, except maybe for the Artificial Heart (might want to model it as a few Perks and some ER for Extra Effort only, but then it looks a bit cheap for such a serious mod). Aggressive Defense will require using Power Parries, though.

Weapons seem rather straightforward too.

Armor and Cloaking Device Suit are weird, but I guess not much will be lost by just using normal UT armor, and making the Cloak just eat through batteries like popcorn (but be rechargable).

Whatdya think?
Thanks in advance!
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Old 07-07-2010, 03:36 AM   #2
MattStriker
 
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Default Re: [GMing] GURPS Deus Ex: viable?

Quote:
Originally Posted by vicky_molokh View Post
Armor and Cloaking Device Suit are weird, but I guess not much will be lost by just using normal UT armor, and making the Cloak just eat through batteries like popcorn (but be rechargable).
I think I've seen rules for the optic camo from Ghost in the Shell somewhere, those would probably fit very well.
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Old 07-07-2010, 10:36 AM   #3
The Colonel
 
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Default Re: [GMing] GURPS Deus Ex: viable?

Sounds like a plan ... you'd probably need an unusual background to have nanomods - in the game they're either designed in (MiB, Paul, JC) or retrofitted at great effort (Bob Paige, Walter Simons), but lower tech mods seem to be fairly common, both mech (like Jordan Shay and that drug dealer in the station) and non-mech (that guy in Paris assumed you had mods, despite not being a mech. Plus everyone seems to leave biocells lying about).
The powered ballistic vest was silly, but the other stuff just needs to eat power cells like sweeties.
Powering up stuff using your internal BioE would also be cool - there were rules in GURPS Conspiracy X if that helps.
Firearms mods would probably take a bit more effort and you might want to add some less smart grenades (most of them don't need the proximity sensor for example).

But yeah, it's a cool setting and deserves more attention.

Cleaning up after the collapse might be fun - or running around behind JC as an Illuminati or MJ12 workteam (UNATCO troops, MiBs, NSF/Silhouette troops, some of Savages people etc.).
If you use the Invisible War continuity: JC merges with Helios, which crashes, taking down the world grid and starting a mini dark age, you can get a pretty good campaign in.
Have you played the mods Zodiac and Redsun2020? They are distinctly non-canon, but completely legit AFAIK and add some interesting developement.
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Old 07-07-2010, 10:49 AM   #4
arnej
 
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Default Re: [GMing] GURPS Deus Ex: viable?

I've been a huge fan of Deus Ex for ages, and always loved the three possible endings.

Have you given any thought to moving it to another genre?

I wanted to try a Fantasy version, with magic items/imbuements standing in for the various mods, and magic itself replacing the 'Net. (Face it, in cyberpunk, knowledge is power, while in fantasy, magic is.)

At the end you could either destroy magic, control the world secretly, or merge with the font of magic (apotheosis).

Just my $.02,

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Old 07-10-2010, 09:03 PM   #5
The Benj
 
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Default Re: [GMing] GURPS Deus Ex: viable?

Quote:
Originally Posted by vicky_molokh View Post
Greetings, all!

With the appearance of DE3 trailers, talks about Deus Ex have risen from the dead. And of course, with the discussion of a well-crafted futuristic conspiracy (I'm talking primarily about the original, not the 'Deus Lite' of Invisible War)
Sing it, brother!

Quote:
The best timeframe is probably right after the events of Deus Ex. Sure, there's an economic crysis, but the IT networks will be up and running again in no time, while a harsh but definitely not dystopian portrayal of an economic collapse might actually be a selling point of a campaign (compare with campaigns with unrealistically pessimistic portrayals of such events). There's no universal ammo (yet), luckily, and biomods are not yet 'magic pills' bought for laughable prices, so the Cash->Points issue isn't too heavy yet.

The roles of the PCs? Well, this could be a classical Action made somewhat more realistic and high-tech, or something closer to Cops or Spec Ops or SWAT (was there such a supplement, or was it a non-official homework? I don't remember). Then of course there's Illuminati/Conspiracies for those who want to GM a campaign with the PCs in the know.

The mods themselves seem to be easy enough to model in GURPS terms, except maybe for the Artificial Heart (might want to model it as a few Perks and some ER for Extra Effort only, but then it looks a bit cheap for such a serious mod).
Modular Ability (only to enhance mods you already have)?

Quote:
Aggressive Defense will require using Power Parries, though.
Couldn't you achieve much the same with an Aura?
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Old 07-10-2010, 09:05 PM   #6
Daeglan
 
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Default Re: [GMing] GURPS Deus Ex: viable?

Thermoptic camouflage is what the camo in Ghost in the shell is called. I would love to see it if anyone created it.
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Old 07-10-2010, 09:19 PM   #7
The Benj
 
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Default Re: [GMing] GURPS Deus Ex: viable?

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Originally Posted by Daeglan View Post
Thermoptic camouflage is what the camo in Ghost in the shell is called. I would love to see it if anyone created it.
If you mean actually created the technology, then I'm afraid I have nothing for you.

If you mean game rules, it's just a Chameleon Surface. Possibly even the Thermo-Optic Chameleon Surface (UT 98) :)
But, based on the depiction, I'd say it's more like the Multispectral Chameleon Surface.

Either way, Advantage-wise it's simply a number of levels of Chameleon.

For Deus Ex in particular, it also either costs Fatigue (possibly from an Energy Reserve) or uses battery power, depending on how you want to roll it.
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Old 07-10-2010, 09:47 PM   #8
Daeglan
 
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Default Re: [GMing] GURPS Deus Ex: viable?

Well hop to it I want you to have created the technology by tomorrow :)
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Old 07-10-2010, 10:08 PM   #9
The Benj
 
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Default Re: [GMing] GURPS Deus Ex: viable?

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Originally Posted by Daeglan View Post
Well hop to it I want you to have created the technology by tomorrow :)
Nah, I have a party to get to. Maybe I'll whip something up during lunchtime tomorrow though. :D
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Old 07-11-2010, 12:51 AM   #10
SolemnGolem
 
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Default Re: [GMing] GURPS Deus Ex: viable?

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Originally Posted by The Benj View Post
If you mean actually created the technology, then I'm afraid I have nothing for you.
We're getting there.

And the Japanese have had a rough prototype running for a few years now.

Deus Ex is very cool! I look forward to seeing the conversion happen!
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