Technomancer "Hellhound" game: Action, Dungeon Fantasy, or Monster Hunters?

LoneWolf23k · 02-05-2018, 02:54 PM

So, been looking at GURPS Technomancer as a potential campaign, mostly focused on a group of Hellhounds: Professional Monster hunters. I can see a lot of potential for a concept that's essentially "Modern Day D&D" of sorts. Especially since I have ideas for expanding the setting, such as new Chimera races and other Transhuman ideas made possible via Magitek, like Awakened Golem-droids and Magically enhanced Cyborgs.

Although I am wondering what would be a "core" set of rules to build a Hellhounds game with: Action, Dungeon Fantasy, or Monster Hunters? Because the setting would honestly call for a combination of all three, really. A Modern Magitek setting, where Monsters are known to exist? It's not entirely all one thing.

Anthony · 02-05-2018, 03:27 PM

I'd go with monster hunters.

Kelly Pedersen · 02-05-2018, 03:37 PM

I would absolutely go with Monster Hunters for this, personally. You'll have to tweak either the setting or the templates a bit, of course - Ritual Path Magic, obviously, is not the standard spell magic that Technomancer assumes, so you'll need to either adjust the setting to use RPM, or the templates to use spell magic. Personally, I'd go with adjusting the templates - it's a bit more work, but I think the quirks of spell magic actually add a lot of flavor to Technomancer.

But overall, Monster Hunters is definitely the closest fit for Technomancer-style action. It's already got monster-hunting assumptions and abilities built right in, so there's no need to adjust templates heavily the way you'd need to do with Action or especially Dungeon Fantasy.

LoneWolf23k · 02-06-2018, 06:42 AM

I was leaning in that direction, thanks. I can still draw elements from Action! and Dungeon Fantasy as needed, though. And perhaps I can adapt elements from "Applied Xenology" to represent the Sidhe, since they're treated as "aliens" of sorts in Technomancer.

Still on the fence about Ritual Path Magic, actually. Using the RPM rules instead of Standard Spell Magic would actually better simulate the concept of "Magic as Alternative Science" that Technomancer emphasizes, with Casters requiring more time and effort to create a wider range of magical effects.

Alternatively, using the Sorcery rules from GURPS Thaumatology: Sorcery, would create a system where Sorcerors are effectively magical "Supers". I might consider a mix of various rules, justifying it by saying "Magic is Weird."

johndallman · 02-06-2018, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoneWolf23k

Still on the fence about Ritual Path Magic, actually. Using the RPM rules instead of Standard Spell Magic would actually better simulate the concept of "Magic as Alternative Science" that Technomancer emphasizes, with Casters requiring more time and effort to create a wider range of magical effects.

Other possibilities would be to use the Ritual Magic rules for Standard Spell Magic, and/or have a large number of spell variants and obsolete spells for Standard Spell Magic.

We tend to treat the spell list for Standard Spell Magic as fixed and unchangeable. There's no real reason, especially in Technomancer, that it can't be undergoing development and refinement, with new methods being discovered fairly frequently.

Tinman · 02-06-2018, 03:48 PM

I would go with Action! and use the templates from Pyramid 3-05 Horror Spies.
They have action based monster hunters there. For Mages, I'd put together something from the Specialists book.

I think that would have more of the feel you want for a Hellhounds game.

LoneWolf23k · 04-04-2018, 02:35 PM

Hey, decided to Necro this thread because I just got Pyramid 3-112, which has the extra Skill Sets for Specialists, including to my surprise, spellcaster skillsets, and even a specific "Monster Hunter" skillset. So I can totally just use Action rules as the core for a Hellhound-based campaign.

LoneWolf23k · 05-27-2018, 02:38 PM

And necro-ing this thread again, because the latest issue of Pyramid, #115, has answered all of my questions, with the 4e updates to various templates, as well as adaptation rules for both Monster Hunters and Action.

So a warm thank you to David L. Pulver, Kelly Pedersen, Paul Stefko and Steven Marsh.

Kelly Pedersen · 05-27-2018, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoneWolf23k

And necro-ing this thread again, because the latest issue of Pyramid, #115, has answered all of my questions, with the 4e updates to various templates, as well as adaptation rules for both Monster Hunters and Action.

So a warm thank you to David L. Pulver, Kelly Pedersen, Paul Stefko and Steven Marsh.

Glad you liked it! I had actually submitted my article before you asked the original question, but I wasn't sure when it would come out, so I didn't want to cause you to indefinitely delay your campaign waiting for it, so I didn't bring it up. But hopefully it will be useful now!

SteamBub · 05-27-2018, 03:37 PM

For those who do want to do a DF Technomancer game, there is the article High-Tech Dungeon Crawl from Pyramid #3/60: Dungeon Fantasy III. It has tips on running higher tech levels in a dungeon.

Other than that, I wouldn't mind running a Hellhound game myself one of these days. Now I need to get my hands on Pyramid #3/112 and #3/115.

02-05-2018, 03:27 PM	#2
Anthony Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Berkeley, CA	Re: Technomancer "Hellhound" game: Action, Dungeon Fantasy, or Monster Hunters? I'd go with monster hunters. __________________ My GURPS site and Blog.

02-06-2018, 06:42 AM	#4
LoneWolf23k Join Date: Sep 2004	Re: Technomancer "Hellhound" game: Action, Dungeon Fantasy, or Monster Hunters? I was leaning in that direction, thanks. I can still draw elements from Action! and Dungeon Fantasy as needed, though. And perhaps I can adapt elements from "Applied Xenology" to represent the Sidhe, since they're treated as "aliens" of sorts in Technomancer. Still on the fence about Ritual Path Magic, actually. Using the RPM rules instead of Standard Spell Magic would actually better simulate the concept of "Magic as Alternative Science" that Technomancer emphasizes, with Casters requiring more time and effort to create a wider range of magical effects. Alternatively, using the Sorcery rules from GURPS Thaumatology: Sorcery, would create a system where Sorcerors are effectively magical "Supers". I might consider a mix of various rules, justifying it by saying "Magic is Weird."

02-06-2018, 03:48 PM	#6
Tinman Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: New York City	Re: Technomancer "Hellhound" game: Action, Dungeon Fantasy, or Monster Hunters? I would go with Action! and use the templates from Pyramid 3-05 Horror Spies. They have action based monster hunters there. For Mages, I'd put together something from the Specialists book. I think that would have more of the feel you want for a Hellhounds game.

04-04-2018, 02:35 PM	#7
LoneWolf23k Join Date: Sep 2004	Re: Technomancer "Hellhound" game: Action, Dungeon Fantasy, or Monster Hunters? Hey, decided to Necro this thread because I just got Pyramid 3-112, which has the extra Skill Sets for Specialists, including to my surprise, spellcaster skillsets, and even a specific "Monster Hunter" skillset. So I can totally just use Action rules as the core for a Hellhound-based campaign.

05-27-2018, 02:38 PM	#8
LoneWolf23k Join Date: Sep 2004	Re: Technomancer "Hellhound" game: Action, Dungeon Fantasy, or Monster Hunters? And necro-ing this thread again, because the latest issue of Pyramid, #115, has answered all of my questions, with the 4e updates to various templates, as well as adaptation rules for both Monster Hunters and Action. So a warm thank you to David L. Pulver, Kelly Pedersen, Paul Stefko and Steven Marsh.

02-05-2018, 02:54 PM	#1
LoneWolf23k Join Date: Sep 2004	Technomancer "Hellhound" game: Action, Dungeon Fantasy, or Monster Hunters? So, been looking at GURPS Technomancer as a potential campaign, mostly focused on a group of Hellhounds: Professional Monster hunters. I can see a lot of potential for a concept that's essentially "Modern Day D&D" of sorts. Especially since I have ideas for expanding the setting, such as new Chimera races and other Transhuman ideas made possible via Magitek, like Awakened Golem-droids and Magically enhanced Cyborgs. Although I am wondering what would be a "core" set of rules to build a Hellhounds game with: Action, Dungeon Fantasy, or Monster Hunters? Because the setting would honestly call for a combination of all three, really. A Modern Magitek setting, where Monsters are known to exist? It's not entirely all one thing.

02-05-2018, 03:37 PM	#3
Kelly Pedersen Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada	Re: Technomancer "Hellhound" game: Action, Dungeon Fantasy, or Monster Hunters? I would absolutely go with Monster Hunters for this, personally. You'll have to tweak either the setting or the templates a bit, of course - Ritual Path Magic, obviously, is not the standard spell magic that Technomancer assumes, so you'll need to either adjust the setting to use RPM, or the templates to use spell magic. Personally, I'd go with adjusting the templates - it's a bit more work, but I think the quirks of spell magic actually add a lot of flavor to Technomancer. But overall, Monster Hunters is definitely the closest fit for Technomancer-style action. It's already got monster-hunting assumptions and abilities built right in, so there's no need to adjust templates heavily the way you'd need to do with Action or especially Dungeon Fantasy.

05-27-2018, 03:37 PM	#10
SteamBub Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Mojave	Re: Technomancer "Hellhound" game: Action, Dungeon Fantasy, or Monster Hunters? For those who do want to do a DF Technomancer game, there is the article High-Tech Dungeon Crawl from Pyramid #3/60: Dungeon Fantasy III. It has tips on running higher tech levels in a dungeon. Other than that, I wouldn't mind running a Hellhound game myself one of these days. Now I need to get my hands on Pyramid #3/112 and #3/115.