What traits for a turtle/tortoise?

[Sam Baughn]

Testudines have a couple of odd features which I don't think I've seen in any published GURPS material:

• They can retract their heads and limbs into their shells for protection. This seems like it might be some kind of Either/Or limitation on Damage Resistance. That is their DR is either Torso Only, or has some kind of Temporary Disadvantage (I guess maybe Legless?)
• If they fall onto their backs, they struggle to right themselves. I suppose this could be something like Paraplegic (only when prone on back; not sure what value to give that). On the other hand, Template Toolkit 2 has many meta-traits for vehicles which seem like they would be equally helpless not just when on their backs, but also their sides, and gives them no points for this (unless it is inherent in the No Legs, Tracked or Wheeled trait, which makes sense, since very few tracked or wheeled machines can right themselves).

Am I missing anything? Any suggestions for making a character with these traits?

[Sorenant]

How about Injury Tolerance (No Head; TD: Tunnel Vision or Blind) and Controllable Disadvantage (No Manipulators and No Legs)?

[Sam Baughn]

Originally Posted by Sorenant

How about Injury Tolerance (No Head; TD: Tunnel Vision or Blind) and Controllable Disadvantage (No Manipulators and No Legs)?

I'd say IT: No Neck would probably be more suitable, since they still have a brain and the face is fully exposed, but that seems like a good suggestion. Controllable Disadvantage is pretty much perfect.

[LokRobster]

Originally Posted by Sam Baughn

I'd say IT: No Neck would probably be more suitable, since they still have a brain and the face is fully exposed, but that seems like a good suggestion. Controllable Disadvantage is pretty much perfect.

A box turtle has a cool little flap-shell that tilts up and covers its head when fully retracted. https://wildlifecenteroftexas.org/three-toes-or-four/

[whswhs]

When GURPS Furries comes out, it will have a trait for the first of these. It's a perk.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Sorenant

How about Injury Tolerance (No Head; TD: Tunnel Vision or Blind)

You would need to enhance Injury Tolerance with Switchable for this, but that sounds good to me.

The downside to TD is that it requires at least 1 second to switch, so you couldn't take "Reduced Time" to make switching a free action, which means you can't do it as a Power Dodge (except MAYBE against Decreased Time Rate?)

This prevents the TMNT classic "withdraw my head into my shell to avoid an attack on my head" defense.

There is a way around that: we use something OTHER than the TD limitation. Here's how:

Blindness -30
Alternative Abilities [41]
Not Blind (Switchable +10% Reduced Time +20%) [39]
No Head (Switchable +10% Reduced Time +20%) [10] (1/5 cost = 2)

I believe this is legal, but it has a net cost of 11 points, which is more than it would cost to have No Head (No Signature +20%) [9]

I guess it is slightly better though, because with NH(NS) someone could figure out you actually only had a "head like a chest" by witnessing that attacks on your head don't have any sort of added impact. At that point they could stop targeting it and suffering -5 face penalties.

I do wonder if "fully no head" is right though because I would think you could actually target the top of the skull by attacking from overhead.

B47 gives -40% for "Top Only" DR, which is the same as Limited Defense: Common (B46) so a "Bane" to it should probably be -15%.

7*.85=5.95 so it sounds like you could cut off a point this way?

This is basically "my brain can only be targeted from overhead" AFAIK

[Anders]

Zeno's paradox

This perk allows the turtle to maintain his distance to Achilles (and only Achilles) when engaged in a foot race.

[ravenfish]

Originally Posted by Anders

Zeno's paradox

This perk allows the turtle to maintain his distance to Achilles (and only Achilles) when engaged in a foot race.

Zeno, of course, formulated the paradox to show the absurd results of assuming time and distance to be infinitely divisible, and thereby prove we are playing a turn-based game on a grid.

[The alternate resolution, that Achilles was unable to catch up with the tortoise in any case because he had been dead for centuries and corpses can't run, does not seem to have occurred to anyone.]

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by ravenfish

Zeno, of course, formulated the paradox to show the absurd results of assuming time and distance to be infinitely divisible, and thereby prove we are playing a turn-based game on a grid.

[The alternate resolution, that Achilles was unable to catch up with the tortoise in any case because he had been dead for centuries and corpses can't run, does not seem to have occurred to anyone.]

No, I think that one has been used as a joke by students for centuries, of not millennia (if an archaeologist found that joke on a tablet or similar from Ancient Greece within Zeno's lifetime, I would only be surprised that the physical item lasted for so long, not that it existed).

[Racer]

Disadvantage : Addiction - High quality Pizzas ... ;-)

Couple of tortoises I've known were notorious toe biters & didn't restrict their targets to humans . It's hilarious seeing a 150lb English Mastiff cross cowering in fear on a sofa , avoiding a 7" inch long Greek Tortoise on the carpet at all costs !!!