Unusual Cinematic Techniques

[Jürgen Hubert]

I want to use this thread for discussion of unusual cinematic techniques - especially noncombat techniques, because combat techniques already have plenty of support. These techniques should still be cinematic, though - something you'd not expect in the real world but which are nevertheless appropriate for highly cinematic games (in particular, I'm thinking of Exalted-type games). Here is an example:

Rapid Teacher - Average
Default: Teaching-9; cannot exceed prerequisite skill.

This technique allows someone to teach skills in only one-tenth the normal time, effectively making it possible to impart a single character point's worth of skills in only 20 hours.


I also want a technique that can cancel the penalties for teaching large numbers of people at the same time, which is made somewhat problematic for the fact that there are no guidelines for such penalties. The purpose of these two techniques would be to allow characters who can, for example, take fairly ordinary people and turn them into a highly skilled fighting force within a matter of weeks.

What are your thoughts on this? And what other techniques can you come up with?

[vicky_molokh]

I'd say use the Speed/Range table for the number of students. 2 students is often not a negative influence on teaching efficiency (you get to use some methods that rely on their interaction), but the penalties go up from there.

As for cinematic techniques . . .

Instant (-10) repair of stuff seems like a given - literally kick-starting an engine or the like.

Techniques that buy off the penalty from various truth serums from Acting/Fast-Talk seem interesting.

Fast Brainwashing (-9) for the Dark Eldar slavemaker who can quickly instil loyalty in the most rebellious of captives.

Buying off the penalty to Body Language for when the target is in a full set of knight armour.

Some sort of Technique which allows Fast-Talk, Diplomacy, Sex Appeal etc. ignore appropriateness modifiers such as Status, current environment etc.

[vicky_molokh]

Kitchen Kung-Fu
Prerequisite: Cooking 12+, Improvised Weapons, and at least 3 weapon skills that can be used with kitchen implements at 12+.
You can simultaneously practice a martial art and cook food. This Technique can be used to buy off Multitasking penalties from both skills. With a fully bought-off penalty, you can spend hours simultaneously for food preparation and for training in your chosen art (you still have to split study hours between the skills you want).
(I'm not sure what the base penalty should be; likely -4 to -8.)

--------------------------------------

Come on, do not let this thread die off. It's a neat idea to make such a collection.

[quarkstomper]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Instant (-10) repair of stuff seems like a given - literally kick-starting an engine or the like.

The official term for this is Percussive Maintainence.

Winter Driving is one that I made up for a character living in the Midwest. It's an Average technique based off of Driving and defaults to Driving-2. It represents practice in negotiating snow and ice covered streets and driving safely when visibility from blowing snow is bad. It's an imporatant life skill in Wisconsin, but for some reason people in Illinois never seem to learn it.

[Dunadin777]

Originally Posted by quarkstomper

The official term for this is Percussive Maintainence.

Winter Driving is one that I made up for a character living in the Midwest. It's an Average technique based off of Driving and defaults to Driving-2. It represents practice in negotiating snow and ice covered streets and driving safely when visibility from blowing snow is bad. It's an imporatant life skill in Wisconsin, but for some reason people in Illinois never seem to learn it.

I'd probably also make Winter Driving cover a lot of Int-based and Per-based rolls to determine when conditions merit special driving techniques. Winter driving is a lot more Intelligence based than regular driving, IMHO.

How about this:

All in the Spices

Default: Cooking -4, can be bought off to Cooking -0.

You can make bland or otherwise unpalatable food taste better, improving morale for long journeys and passing off cooked food as one status better than it really is (2 status better on a critical success), all through a careful application of mundane spices. When you first improve this skill, you must choose a specific trademark spice: you can only use your improved technique when using your trademark spice to add some pizazz to a meal.

[vicky_molokh]

Wall-Running
Prerequisite: Lizard Climb
Default: Lizard Climb -4.
You may run along walls at full speed, without the aid of hands, as long as you make the rolls (with all modifiers) and do not significantly slow down. To initiate a wall-run, you must already be moving in the same direction at full Move.

Under the hood: Technique with No Hands (-4), Special Benefit - full Move (-1), Special Drawback - requires running start, cannot move below Move/2 without falling (+1).

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

I want to use this thread for discussion of unusual cinematic techniques - especially noncombat techniques, because combat techniques already have plenty of support. These techniques should still be cinematic, though - something you'd not expect in the real world but which are nevertheless appropriate for highly cinematic games (in particular, I'm thinking of Exalted-type games). Here is an example:

Rapid Teacher - Average
Default: Teaching-9; cannot exceed prerequisite skill.

This technique allows someone to teach skills in only one-tenth the normal time, effectively making it possible to impart a single character point's worth of skills in only 20 hours.


I also want a technique that can cancel the penalties for teaching large numbers of people at the same time, which is made somewhat problematic for the fact that there are no guidelines for such penalties. The purpose of these two techniques would be to allow characters who can, for example, take fairly ordinary people and turn them into a highly skilled fighting force within a matter of weeks.

What are your thoughts on this? And what other techniques can you come up with?

I think your rapid teaching is hugely problematic in GURPS.

Analogously to cancelling the penalties for Teaching a large numer of students at once, here are some binary skills taken from Sagatafl which you can represent in GURPS as non-binary Techniques:

1. Being better at (i.e. specialized in) Teaching a single student. As a Technique it would start at Teaching, and be improvable up to Teching+10 or so. When using it you then take a -9 or -10 Time Taken modifier to teach 9-10 times as fast.

2. Being better at Teaching the average students (governing attribute in the 9-13 range, or 9-11 if you're a cultist, but in both cases including Talent). Again starts at Teaching-0, and can be improved to represent pedagocal specialization.

2b. As above, but for gifted students (governing attribute+Talent sum over 14, or over 12 if you're a cultist GM). Possibly limit this to the range of 14-17 (13-14 for cultists) and have a specialty for teaching very gifted studets.

2c. As above, for specialized in teaching students ill suited for the subject. Technique bonus applies to those with governing attribute+Talent equal to 8 or less.

IIRC GURPS doesn't give any RAW benefit for high Teaching skill, so the above won't work too well, but if you modify the rules to allow that, or deiate from the RAW in that you alow Time Taken modifiers in exchange for teaching faster (2 or 3 times faster, or more then that) then they make more sens.

[cybermancer2k1]

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

Rapid Teacher - Average
Default: Teaching-9; cannot exceed prerequisite skill.

This technique allows someone to teach skills in only one-tenth the normal time, effectively making it possible to impart a single character point's worth of skills in only 20 hours.

May I suggest a new name for this one? Montage.

[jason taylor]

Venusian Transformation:

A technique chiefly taught to beautiful, amiable, and attractively mischievous young women. It is chiefly used to apply to change dour, grumpy, men how to be cheerful and to, by coincidence, be said young-woman's lifelong love-slave.

[jason taylor]

Agricultural Omnipotence:

The mysterious ability of obscure boys from a farm background to defeat emperors, dragons, sorcerers, and evil overlords.