My personal fixes to rules I find weird.

[WaterAndWindSpirit]

Hello!

Here are two GURPS rules I find weird.

I'll preface the first one this by saying I did some Krav Maga training, and that the ladies do wear cups too.

So I guess I'd apply the double shock penalty to groin hits to both males and females. There are plenty of nerves on female nether regions as well, and the instructor confirmed it worked too unless you're dealing with someone baked as hell (and someone baked as hell probably has High Pain Threshold, at least while s/he's baked).

Second, Blunt Trauma. Maybe it's realistic that way, but I find this weird that you can inflict less damage with a higher damage roll. Like you've got 20 points of flexible ballistic armor,and you take 20 points of piercing damage from a bullet. You take 4 points of damage. But if the same bullet just rolled one point higher, you'd just take the 1 point of damage that pierced the armor, for 3 points of damage less. So I'd apply Blunt Trauma damage even if the armor is pierced by the attack.

Do you have other rules you find weird?

[sir_pudding]

I really dislike the way Animal Empathy works as written. It changes what Influence Skills even are and allows them to work in counterintuitive ways they can't on sapients (for example Sex Appeal on an non-sapient is for indirect honey traps, and Streetwise works on "outsider" animals, but you can't use Sex Appeal like that on a human, or Streetwise on a person who is merely outcast or isolated with no urban criminal affiliation) and it means that in order to be a beastmaster you are also good at manipulating people (which doesn't really work with all archetypes and particularly badly with the iconic horse whisperer; although it does fit "animal magnetism").

My house rule is that it just allows the appropriate Animal Handling specialty to be used as an Influence Skill (and the emotion sensing part is unchanged).

I assume Contact includes some kind of special access that the PC doesn't otherwise have, and therefore isn't just an "external skill". I don't know if this qualifies as a house rule, because I think it actually is the intent, but others here disagree, so I am mentioning it.

There are a lot of other things that I generally do that are either common house rules or optional rules (and most of them have made it into Pyramid at least) like basing the effective weight of unarmed attacks on BL, halving damage from the free hit on a parry versus unarmed, and I use the abdomen hit location instead of groin on 11.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I assume Contact includes some kind of special access that the PC doesn't otherwise have, and therefore isn't just an "external skill". I don't know if this qualifies as a house rule, because I think it actually is the intent, but others here disagree, so I am mentioning it.

I consider that in need of a fix with or without that idea, because there's a glaring lack of rules on how Contacts work as anything other than an external skill.

I don't have such a fix - I just would be unlikely to ever use Contacts. Probably would replace with a variation on Ally if I had to.

[gibberingmouther]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

There are a lot of other things that I generally do that are either common house rules or optional rules (and most of them have made it into Pyramid at least) like basing the effective weight of unarmed attacks on BL, halving damage from the free hit on a parry versus unarmed, and I use the abdomen hit location instead of groin on 11.

there can be a big difference between a person's lifting strength and their striking strength. a lot of people can push and pull pretty well but their muscles can't generate the speed necessary for striking strength.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

I consider that in need of a fix with or without that idea, because there's a glaring lack of rules on how Contacts work as anything other than an external skill.

They can do favors, explicitly. I think you also have to read GURPS with the assumption that you stuff is worth the point cost. You also should assume that GURPS is primarily an adventure fiction simulator and traits are supposed to work like they do in stories; if a character has a contact in a story that person has special access that the character otherwise lacks.

For another example of exactly that process, Racial Memory at 15 points as written seems totally useless to me (I get vague deja vu all the time, and it is generally annoying and never useful) and it only makes sense if you assume that it gives a similar benefit to other 15 point senses like Danger Sense.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by gibberingmouther

there can be a big difference between a person's lifting strength and their striking strength. a lot of people can push and pull pretty well but their muscles can't generate the speed necessary for striking strength.

I have no idea why you quoted me or why that is relevant.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

They can do favors, explicitly.

Yes, but what that explicit feature means is poorly defined, unconnected from their skill level, and of rather low face value.

That's the point. Contact should do the things you're suggesting it should, but the rules as written do not provide anything I'd consider useful direction on how to do those things.

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I think you also have to read GURPS with the assumption that you stuff is worth the point cost.

For another example of exactly that process, Racial Memory at 15 points as written seems totally useless to me (I get vague deja vu all the time, and it is generally annoying and never useful) and it only makes sense if you assume that it gives a similar benefit to other 15 point senses like Danger Sense.

Great, but you're again leaving out the part where you actually fix the problem. "Racial Memory (Passive) shouldn't give a totally uninformative feeling on success" is pointing out the problem, not a solution to the problem.

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I have no idea why you quoted me or why that is relevant.

Probably pertaining to the BL to unarmed strike weight fix.

[Tomsdad]

More a house rule I cribbed off someone here, but I allow a SM in value threshold of ordinary torso HP you have to get past to reach the vitals.

That way you don't have 1 point pi and imp attacks (especially ones that are rated around 1d-5 but benefit from the min 1 point damage rule) reaching vital organs that aren't actually just below the skin.

[gibberingmouther]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I have no idea why you quoted me or why that is relevant.

well you were basing a property of unarmed attacks on lifting strength, while i was saying there was not necessarily a valid connection between the two (well there is a connection, but it is limited). don't know why you got ****** off about me quoting you, lol. i wasn't being hostile just offering helpful information.

edit:
i'm not just making this up. besides my own experience as a black belt and amateur kickboxer, here is: https://www.connectsavannah.com/sava...nt?oid=2133328

note where it says in the group of Olympic boxers, the flyweights punched out of proportion to their size. this happens because speed > lifting strength.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by gibberingmouther

well you were basing a property of unarmed attacks on lifting strength, while i was saying there was not necessarily a valid connection between the two (well there is a connection, but it is limited). don't know why you got ****** off about me quoting you, lol. i wasn't being hostile just offering helpful information.

You presented something as a reply to his post. That indicates you're saying something about that post, and if one can't discern what that is it is...concerning.