GURPS sex/class/race templates

[Kyle Aaron]

I got tired of, again and again, seeing nerds discussing how in rpgs women characters should have less strength. They get all upset with me when I say, "okay, but then men should have less agility, women less wealth, blacks greater speed, men a susceptibility to addiction, etc." Apparently, only the fact that "boyz are t3h strongorzzz" matters. Yeah, right.

Well, I say, have no gender or racial or class templates at all. You're a character, and averages don't affect individuals. But if you are going to have them, here they are, somewhat tongue-in-cheek:

GURPS BRUTAL REALISM TEMPLATES

Players will choose the sex, professional class, geographical region and race of their character. These three combined will give the overall template. Pleayers are free to remove advantages to free up points, or to buy off disadvantages with their starting points; the templates represent what is most common only.
These templates all have the modern Western world as their reference.

GENDER
Female template
Ally (A close female friend who will support her no matter what; same point total, appears on 9 or less) [+5]
Claim to Hospitality (series of friends and relatives in several towns) [+5]
Empathy (Sensitive) [+5]
Higher DX (+1) [+20]
Language Talent (+1) [+10]
Less Strength (-1) [-10]
Less Arm Strength (both arms, -1) [-5]
Multitasker (you have no bonus to perform a single long task, but have a +1 to each task beyond the first you’re carrying out simultaneously)
Pacifism (Reluctant Killer or Cannot Kill) [-5 or –10]
Social Esteem (+1) (Woman – will be regarded as pacifistic and non-threatening, thus giving a +1 on attempts to bluff and deceive, a +1 reaction bonus when dealing with law enforcement, etc.) [+5]
Social Stigma (-1) (Woman – will be regarded as less “rational”, less a “go-getter”, than a man, and if you behave rationally and aggressively, will be regarded as “an ice queen.”) [-5]
Temperature Tolerance (-10 deg lower does no harm) [+2]
Wealth (Struggling) [-10]



Male template
Overconfidence [-5]
Focused (You have a +2 to any single long task, but a –1 if carrying out multiple tasks) [+5]
Pacifism (Reluctant Killer or Cannot Kill) [-5 or –10]
Susceptible (to addictive substances or actions, -1 to HT/IQ/Will rolls to resist addiction, but not to resist initial use) [-4]
One of:-

• Bad Temper [-10]
• Bully [-10]
• Delusion, Minor (“I don’t have the pacifist disadvantage, I could be a badarse if I wanted to be”) [-5]
• Delusion, Minor (“It’s the car. Chicks dig the car. Chicks like me. They like a man to take charge, too.”) [-5]
• Ham-Fisted [-5]
• Lecherousness (common for males under 21) [-15]

CLASS
Labouring Class (Factory, farm, tradesman)
Higher Strength (+1 ST) [+10]
High Pain Threshold [+10]
Semi-Literacy [-2]
One or more of:-

• Addiction (alcohol and/or tobacco) [-5 or -15]
• Bad Back [-15]
• Dependent (child, 25% of points, loved one, present on 12 or less) [-20]
• Debt (10% of income goes to the debt) [-10]

Service Class (Store clerk, bank teller, hospitality)
Contacts (within the industry, Skill 12, appears on 12 or less, somewhat reliable) [+1]
Lightning Calculator (for calculating commissions, bills, tips, and interest) [+2]
Less Sleep (you do crazy hours and party a lot, -2 hours) [+4]
Social Stigma (-1, treated with disdain by customers and by people outside the service industry who discover your profession) [-5]
One or more of:-

• Addiction (marijuana) [-15]
• Addiction (coke) [-30]
• Addiction (party drugs like ecstacy) [-15]
• Compulsive Carousing (SC 12) [-5]

Sedentary/Professional Class (Student, IT, office)
Delusion, Minor (Thinks they know what’s good for everyone. “What these workers/blacks need is…”) [-5]
Status (regarded as having “a real career” and “respectable,” etc, +1) [+5]
Unfit [-5]
Wealth (Comfortable – does not apply to students, who have Wealth – Struggling) [+10]
Workaholic [-5]

Unemployed Class
Semi-Literacy [-2]
Social Stigma (Unemployed, -1) [-5]
Wealth (Dead Broke) [-25]
Wealth (independent, unemployment or sickness benefits , 10% of level 0 starting wealth as income) [+10]
Cash (Cash & furnishings, two month’s average income) [+2]
One of:-

• Skinny [-5]
• Overweight [-1]
• Fat [-3]
• Very Fat [-5]

One or more of:-

• Chronic Depression [-15]
• Laziness [-10]
• Unluckiness [-10]
• Any of the three might have caused the unemployment; the first two may also be a result of the unemployment.

One or more of:-

• Addiction (alcohol and/or tobacco) [-5 or -15]
• Compulsive Gambler (SC 12) [-5]
• Dependent (child, 25% of points, loved one, present on 9 or less) [-20]
• Debt (10% of income goes to the debt) [-10]
• Any of these may be a part cause of the unemployment, or have appeared as a result of the unemployment.

GEOGRAPHICAL REGION
Urban
Unfit [-5]

Rural
Firearms Licence or Possession [varies]

RACE
African
Extra Basic Speed (+0.25) [+5]
Higher Strength (+1) [+10]
Social Stigma (regarded as less educated, more likely to be a criminal, etc, -1) [-5]
Wealth (Struggling) [-10]

Amerindian
Social Stigma (regarded as cute, weakly pacifistic and “earthy”, prone to drunkeness and so on, -2) [-10]

Asian
Dependent (either your family here, or some relatives back home, require a lot of your time and money; there are several of them on about half your points, they are loved ones, and they appear fairly often – on a 9 or less) [-30]
Extra Language (as a migrant, you know both the home language and the host nation’s language fluently) [+4]
Higher IQ (+1) [+20]
Lower Strength (smaller builds, -1) [-10]
Social Stigma (if male, regarded as weak in character, small penis, overly studious and hardworking, etc, may be challenged by non-Asians to martial arts duels, -1) [-5]
Social Status (if female, regarded by non-Asian males as “properly” subservient, good-looking, etc, -1) [+3]
Workaholic [-5]

Turk or Middle Eastern
Ally Group (6-10 of your “cousins”, on about half your points, appear fairly often – on 9 or less) [+12]
Extra Language (as a migrant, you know both the home language and the host nation’s language fluently) [+4]
Social Stigma (regarded as vile to women if a male, as oppressed and pitiable if female, and in either case as likely to be a terrorist, -2) [-10]
Wealth (Poor) [-15]

[nanoboy]

Well, that was offensive. Game on.

[Kyle Aaron]

Originally Posted by nanoboy

Well, that was offensive. Game on.

Offensive to whom? To the l337 boyz who say the only difference that matters is that men are stronger than women?

Anyway, I said,

Well, I say, have no gender or racial or class templates at all. You're a character, and averages don't affect individuals. But if you are going to have them, here they are, somewhat tongue-in-cheek:

I'll translate for you. "Don't use this. It's silly. A joke."

[Lancewholelot]

What? No "white devil" template. I feel shorted by not getting a gross stereotype of my own.

[Zombiehands]

White Man
Intolerance [-10]
Secrete embarassment if divulged, “Small penis” [-5]


Republican (Choice of 3 templates)

Redneck
-1 IQ [-20]
Callous [-5]
Intolerance [-10]
Minor Delsion [-5] “Believes in GOD and JESUS”

Rich
Wealth x20 [60]
Callous [-5]

Religious Right
Major Delusion (Belives in imaginary beings called “angles”, “jesus” and “God” an attributes everyday occurancs to them) [-15]
Fatatism (Christian) [-15]
Intolerance (homosexuals) [-5]
IQ –2 [-40]
Quirk “likes to quote from a book that has no modern relevance”

[Kyle Aaron]

Roleplayer
Delusion, Minor ("I have l337 ninja skillzorz") [-5]
Delusion, Minor ("I have IQ15 and 127pts in skillzorz") [-5]
Less Strength (-2) [-20]
Overconfident (almost all the time: 6 or less, limitation: online and in rpgs only, -80%) [-3]
One or more of:-

• Hobby Skill: Anime (2pt)
• Hobby Skill: Comics (2pt)
• Hobby Skill: Complaining About Internal Inconsistencies and TV Scheduling Arrangement of Sci Fi Shows (24pt)
• Hobby Skill: Guns and Their Statistics (4pt)
• Art (Painting Figurines) (1pt)
• Dreaming (of writing rpgs) (1pt)
• Martial Art (any) (1/8th of a point from that class you took once but were too scared to go back to)

DId I miss anything?

[CharlesGriswold]

Odious Personal Habit: Unbathed
Major Delusion: Believes his hobby is interesting to everyone.
Secret: Lives in his mom's basement.

:-D

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by Jim Bob

GENDER
Female template
Ally (A close female friend who will support her no matter what; same point total, appears on 9 or less) [+5]
Claim to Hospitality (series of friends and relatives in several towns) [+5]
Empathy (Sensitive) [+5]
Higher DX (+1) [+20]
Language Talent (+1) [+10]
Less Strength (-1) [-10]
Less Arm Strength (both arms, -1) [-5]
Multitasker (you have no bonus to perform a single long task, but have a +1 to each task beyond the first you’re carrying out simultaneously)
Pacifism (Reluctant Killer or Cannot Kill) [-5 or –10]
Social Esteem (+1) (Woman – will be regarded as pacifistic and non-threatening, thus giving a +1 on attempts to bluff and deceive, a +1 reaction bonus when dealing with law enforcement, etc.) [+5]

From the conversation I've had with the police here, females under about 25 no longer get this bonus vs law enforcement. The current feeling is that teenaged girls are more unruly, more likely to resist arrest, more likely to cause fights with the public and the police, and have less respect for authority than their male contemporaries. One theory I've heard is that they have a much stronger belief that "it won;t happen to me" when it comes to being sorted by the cops than guys do - most guys learn pretty rapidly from their own or their mates experiences that the cops WILL sort you.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by Rupert

From the conversation I've had with the police here, females under about 25 no longer get this bonus vs law enforcement. The current feeling is that teenaged girls are more unruly, more likely to resist arrest, more likely to cause fights with the public and the police, and have less respect for authority than their male contemporaries. One theory I've heard is that they have a much stronger belief that "it won;t happen to me" when it comes to being sorted by the cops than guys do - most guys learn pretty rapidly from their own or their mates experiences that the cops WILL sort you.

But rember ther a Cultral Famlarity going on there, New Zealand "women's lib" is older and further progrased then say the US. [it was a Culture shock when I moved to the US on that score]

[Fnord-Fnairlane]

Married
Ally, same points total, 12 or less, combined with Dependant, same points total, 9 or less.

Husband
Quirk: Delusion: wife one step more attractive than she really is.
Perk: Regular sex!

Wife
Quirk: Delusion: I'm one step less attractive than I really am.
Perk: Can pretend helplessness and get Husband to do heavy lifting and mechanical stuff, regardless of ST and mechanical aptitude.

NB If you have Male, Married, and Roleplayer you must also buy:
Reputation: +4, roleplayers (tiny group), usually recognised (wedding ring): Non-virgin.