GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

"Normal" is a lie
And our universal quirk
Is denying that

— Some dude with crazy-eye

If the GURPS Power-Ups series has a secret, it's that "power-ups" refers not to powering up your character, but to stepping up your game. The latest volume, GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks, illustrates this perfectly: Quirks lower your character's point value. Adding them doesn't give you more plusses or funkier abilities, but rather greater power to describe your alter-ego and tell an interesting story . . . though if the plusses really matter to you, you can also rack up five extra points with which to buy stuff!

"But," you might think, "quirks are user-defined and really minor, so who needs a guide?" Let's break that down a bit. The headache with freeform traits is that no two gamers see eye-to-eye on exactly how they should work; for instance, one person's "minor" is too often another's "trivial" or "crippling." As for who needs a guide, just ask any player whose vivid mental picture of a PC's foibles is at odds with full-fledged disadvantages, or who needs a few more points but is short on ideas . . . or the GM who wants to turn a dozen generic NPCs into individuals in mere minutes, or who wants to make sure that extra points aren't free points. Quirks explores all of these topics – and more – in depth.

Most important, though, Quirks is a catalog. If a quirk appeared in a GURPS supplement prior to February 2013, you can safely assume that it's included. The ones with official names and rules? All here. Long, wordy, vague ones? They're here, too – perhaps not in their complete, verbose glory, but definitely in a concise, generic form with plenty of specific examples from published sources. And readers who crave all-new content will enjoy the many quirks the compiler gleaned while answering GURPS questions and running GURPS campaigns over the past 28 years.

Why delay? Master the quirks of quirks today!

—

Store Link: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG37-0145

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

It was very well timed! I'm doing the final character review for an upcoming campaign, where the players spend those last few points, and this gives them the chance to fill more Quirk slots, or rethink the ones they have.

I'm amused to see that the volume didn't come out as GURPS Power-Downs 1: Quirks. I suppose that would have been really terrible marketing!

Bill Stoddard

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

"GURPS Power-Downs 1: Quirks," "GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks," and "GURPS Quirks" were all in the running for the title. What eventually settled the matter was the observation that perks, Talents, and enhancements had all been collected as GURPS Power-Ups volumes, establishing that series as the home of traits catalogs. GURPS Power-Ups 5: Impulse Buys was the final nail in the coffin, covering as it does things that burn points rather than increase point totals. We definitely did worry that "GURPS Power-Downs" would put people off, though!

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Wait, Quirks without having to make things up? Somebody PLEASE get this set up for GCA. Otherwise, not only will I have to buy this, but, I'll have to add them myself o.o

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

That sounds like a nice collection of (temporary) debuffs to affect characters in many settings. After all, reduced speed/damage/casting speed/etc are common in video games, and people love to emulate those!

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

I for one am really happy that you are using Power-Ups as a trait catalog. :-)

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

From my point of view, I also think of it as a "power-up" because quirks give you character points. If being Cynical (p. 20) means you get an effective +4 in Guns (from default to attribute), then that's definitely a "power up."

On a personal note, I'm delighted that -- I believe for the first time -- some of my own material has made it into an official GURPS-title-branded supplement (Point-Spending Quirks, p. 21).

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

...Hmmm. I like those. One of my players has a character with this for Guns(Shotgun).

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

psh... Blarg 'em if they won't buy it just because of a marketing gaffe!

*sigh* Another chance at stardom shot down :/
Mostly kidding :)

You know, I miss that hack guy you used to quote all the time.

"Curse you, Red Baron!"

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Can I just say that this is my favorite haiku to date?

Same here. Such was actually my first argument in favor of us putting this book in the Power-Ups series -- yes, we're talking about drawbacks, but from a purely game-mechanical standpoint, the reason you take them is the tradeoff of +5 character points for the "onus" of having to roleplay a more interesting adventurer. That's pure win-win, and hence, a clear "power-up" to me.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Chortle. Great decision to go with Power-Ups, I think.

On a vaguely related note, I sometimes wonder whether GURPS Low-Tech would perhaps have sold better if it had been called something a bit less deflating. The phrase "Low-Tech" has the virtue of accuracy, but it doesn't really get the pulse racing in the way that High- or Ultra-Tech does. GURPS Sharp Swords, Gleaming Armour, and Other Amazing Medieval Stuff, anyone?

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

I'm not unhappy with its sales. Not only is it one of my top selling books, but all three of the Companions are excellent sellers also. I don't think the title has deterred that many people.

Bill Stoddard

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

I'm actually not buying either of those. The enhanced roleplaying is a characterization-up, not a power-up. And if you call getting the +5 character points for taking quirks a power-up, we ought to call spending character points to get perks a power-down, which is just wrong.

The basic logic of GURPS is that power is assets and characterization is liabilities.

Bill Stoddard

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

I'm okay with that. There's nothing to "buy" as I'm not trying to "sell" the inclusion, merely explaining my own reasoning. I'd hope that the fact that this book happens to be bundled into the Power-Ups series won't cause anyone who would have purchased it to decide not to. :)

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Oh, hell, no. I grabbed it immediately. It was exactly what I'd been wishing I had.

Bill Stoddard

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

This... looks like a good example of "I didn't know I wanted it until someone pointed out it was available."

Can't get it right now, sadly, but eventually.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

If people buy a product with a name like GURPS it is obvious that power-ups or downs is not very important.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

I have players that have a problem with the title of of High-Tech, actually.
"Why is this book called 'High-Tech' but the cover is all stuff that isn't?"
:)

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

I cant wait to get home and throw money at Sean! This will be an excellent addition to my library.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Yeah, 'High-Tech' being 'TL 5-8' is fairly terrible. Having trouble thinking of a much better name, though (in 3e, calling it 'GURPS Guns' would have worked, but 4e is a bit broader than that).

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

GURPS Industrial Tech? GURPS 3rd Wave?

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

GURPS Modern-Tech: Trains to Planes

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Thanks! Just remember: I work on the clock, so you're throwing money at SJ Games, and more specifically at GURPS . . . which is a good thing if you want SJ Games to publish more GURPS!

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

If it means more GURPS, it is a good thing! Buying now!

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

The discussion of going with different "-Tech" names did come up in-house . . . but when you already have "name-brand recognition" in a certain book, it's usually a bad idea to change names unless you're damn sure that the new name will generate better sales than the old one. We weren't, so we didn't.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

The -Tech issue is an old one. Back in the early 2000s, when we were planning GURPS Fourth Edition, I proposed a series named GURPS Tech, GURPS Tech Catalog, or GURPS Technology, with both a numerical volume number and a subtitle descriptive of TL: 1: The Stone Age to the Age of Sail, 2: The Industrial Revolution to the Digital Age, and 3: The Future. For instance, GURPS Tech Catalog 1: The Stone Age to the Age of Sail. It was found unacceptable on the grounds that volume numbers seemed cash-grabby ("Here's 1 . . . we hope you'll buy 2 through 854!") and the subtitles were wordy. So it goes.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Frankly, there are a lot of Power Ups I would have preferred to see before this one. Kromm's blurb acknowledges the key criticism already, however, so I'll leave it at that.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

I totally do not get that. I've been wanting a handy catalog of ideas for quirks for a while now; the perks one showed how useful this could be. None of talents, enhancements, and impulse buys is nearly as useful.

Bill Stoddard

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

All I can say is check out the preview, as it might be something you didn't even realize you'd enjoy! If not, hopefully GURPS Power-Ups 7 (or 8, or 9 . . .) will be more up your alley. :)

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

The talents were quite handy, but the anti-talents were even more so, since I had so many of the source books for the talents and the anti-talents opened up something new. Disadvantages have been on my most desired list ever since Powers. Including power-downs with this series now makes that possible, as well as limitations. I really didn't have any use for the impulse buys at all, nor have I had players begging to use them.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

I just log in for the night, and what do I see? This! Now to get it to see how it compares to my own compilation (incidentally named "Power-Downs 1: Quirks").

I wonder how many quirks made the jump from the Favorite Quirks thread to the Power-Ups. :)

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

SO, we've had Perks, which are one-point mini advantages, and now Quirks, which are one-point minidisadvantages, so when are we getting Features, which a zero-point things that help define your character? And would defiantly be in line with the intent of this volume

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

...and pretty desirable for both good role-playing and power gaming.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

The only one that offers something like that that I know of is Exotic Genitalia from Bio-Tech, which may allow you to buy +1 to +3 to Erotic Art as a racial skill bonus

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

To be fair, I am probably thinking of examples from 3e that no longer apply. XD

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

B261 pretty much says that features have no effect on anything

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Feature: neither can spend FP nor suffers from things that cause FP loss. RAW.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Being susceptible to hypnosis or true faith or killed by hydrogen cyanide or oxygen...

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Can I get a page ref for that? The only pages I can find that DEFINE Features are B261 and B564, and neither of them mention FP

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

No, it says 'does not grant an advantage or disadvantage'. It means 'net value 0', not 'has no effect'.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

B263 mentions Features possessed by Machines, all of them being a examples (though not a definition) of Features that have major effects, even though they're a net 0 value.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

The B263 Features for machines are about changing the machines baseline, compared to human, for example, the first one means that they 'eat' power cells instead of normal food.

And maybe I should have said no game effect, or no stat effect, if it gives you a bonus to something you should probably have paid some points for it

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

It is properly seen as a bonus and as a penalty. E.g. machines can't use Extra Effort at all (penalty), but can sprint indefinitely (bonus).

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Features can definitely have game effects. They're just supposed to be things that are neither advantages nor disadvantages. "No Fatigue" means that you do not have a FP stat at all -- you cannot lose FP from exertion but cannot spend it on extra effort, etc. That is clearly both a "game effect" and a "stat effect" . . . but as it is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage (it's considered a wash), it's a 0-point feature.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

I thought that Features were racial elements, not individual-character elements. Would they fit in this series?

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

There are plenty of 0-point features that are 0-point features, it's just that we don't talk about them as such. Hair color, eye color, sexual orientation (admittedly in a better world than the one we're currently in), etc.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Yeah, Power-Ups X: Features sounds like an excellent idea for a lot of reasons...

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

One of the more interesting game mechanics that PK and I decided was probably a 0-point feature was "always rolls 11," from Pyramid #3/65: Alternate GURPS III. I'd still like to try that one in play; it seems like it'd be odd yet fun.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Bought it the moment I spotted it for sale.
Extra tasty @ 23% discount - talk about a bargain - trans-genre materiel, low price And I got a discount?!

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

One of my players choose this as a Extra Option perk. I required him to pick a specific skill to use it if he could turn it off and on again or he could not specialize and have it affect all his skills. Since his character is a neurosurgeon he decided to take Extra Option (Rule of 11 - Surgery). Combined with a huge Surgery skill (19) and state of the art tools (+2), he always succeeds by 10 (when he wants to). So far, it's been extremely useful.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Yep, PU2 and PU4 were in my buy category. Would like to see a treatment of Limitations.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

This is good stuff. I've encountered a few of these quirks in real life. Some of them are culturally variable: Fast Talker, in particular. I speak at a fairly normal speed for my locality, but I seem to have Fast Talker (p16) with respect to some places where the usual style of speech ... is more ... leisurely. Communicating with them is easier by e-mail than 'phone.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

I will pick it up but it is on my to do when I can rather then skip a few meals l and get it now list.
But this does set a precedent for a Limitations issue which I would like to see.
Also Wildcards which has been speculated on and a Sense issue that takes a look at senses, including Detects and linear vs. exponential senses like Penetrating Vision.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

If we're to the speculation and wishing phase of this thread, I'll first pay my respects by saying that I quite like PU6: Quirks, then mention that Limitations, Alternate Forms, and Features all sound like they would make good subjects for more entries in this series.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Indeed, we need a Limitations compilation for all those nifty limitations that appear on special interest books only. One clear example is the aftermath variant for temporary disadvantage, that appears only in Bio-Tech.

Mind you, I would pay good money for a database with every trait and modifier with full text search. Not just for use in play but as a tool for writers.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

As an aside: it would be sweet if there was a way to show sales and discounts when browsing the forum (in the animated ads, for instance; or a sticky, or what have you).

I just gave in and bought PU6 and the Templates, and only then saw that there was a discount active. Nice, definitely, but it got me thinking what other discounts I had missed (and whether I might have bought more, and earlier, had I been aware of any sales!).

Just a thought.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Humabot and I were speculating on such a thing as well (for personal use of course) - but imagine if there was a GURPS Reference Wiki for the freelancers and staff. I'm sure one of us would take the time to pour it into a wiki format and then you could lock it so only certian folks could access it. Same with the Style Guide. Imagine how useful that could be.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

This was a 15 year anniversary sale and announced in the Daily Illuminator and a few threads. You do not need to worry about missing prior sales.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Heck, I'm pretty sure content can be locked by user, though that'd get slightly more complicated. Theoretically (and I don't know if SJGames really has the inclination or if there's even a profit to be had here), you could set it up so that as you buy a book, you gain access to that book's content within the wiki, but nothing else. So, say, you buy Basic Set, you would have access to the Basic Set content, but clicking links to pages of, say, Powers content would yield a page that says, "You don't have this book, but for $XX.XX you can! Click here to purchase!" and link to the book's Warehouse23 page, or depending on how awesome and integrated everything is, straight to your shopping cart with the book already in it. The possibility is there. I have no idea if this would boost sales or prove worth the effort in the long run.

Personally, I would LOVE to have all of my books in a wiki. I would be willing to pay for the wiki, even.</threadjack>

Having finally read through GURPS Power-Ups: Quirks, I must say, it is awesome. Thank you! Totally worth the money! Keep the good stuff rollin'!

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

The big one that I’m hoping for at this point is Wildcards (primarily Skills, but also Abilities).

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Can't seem to find "Romantic" anywhere, in Quirks or Perks. I mean, it's mentioned several places as an example, but it doesn't have it's own entry.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Quirks page 15, under Mind-Numbing Magnetism.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Well, yes, that's where I first found it.

I suppose it's probably just a zero point feature that only becomes a quirk if you take Mind-Numbing Magnetism.

I think I just assumed anything with capitalization had a rules-entry somewhere.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

That is its rules entry: “Mind-Numbing Magnetism” isn’t a Quirk; it’s a class of Quirks that all use the same rules with their own individual flavors, of which “Romantic” is one example (and “Talkative” is another). The name is a reference to what makes it worth a character point.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Ah, I hadn't quite picked up on that. I think some of my confusion stemmed from having Playful, Cheerful and Talkative all appear on character sheets in the past and forgetting those were custom rather than official.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Playful as a Quirk-level version of Trickster appeared in GURPS Space, to my knowledge.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

The Slow Reflexes quirk, p24, seems problematic. Not in itself, but because the logic explained in it can also be used to justify +1 to a character's place in the turn sequence as a perk. Which is a bit too good IMHO, especially in campaigns where everyone has human-level basic speed (5-7) and most combat is with guns.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Regarding the interaction of the Controllable Disadvantage Perk with Quirks:
Should Will/HT rolls be required for activation of Quirks with this Perk, or would it be fair to say that since the Perk only activates a very small trait, it's OK to make it outright switchable? If not, then what is a fair way to let Controllable Disadvantage allow switching without a roll?

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

If your GM allows it, why not? It's actually worth 0 points but may prove useful; sounds Perky to me:D
Perk: Fast Reflexes. You have +1 to Basic Speed for the sole purpose of determining your place in the turn sequence...
A bit like nictitating membrane, [1/lvl] is being overcharged for DR 1 - eyes only.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

My main point was that it would be cool if a Gurps sale were easily noticeable from the Gurps forum. :)

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

How many people read through this and said "Yep, that's me. And that. And that."?

I sure did.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

It is a perk, called Blinding Strike, in Pyramid #3/61. I don't think it's a problem, as it matters once in a combat, right at the start, after which everything is cyclical anyway – and arguably, those who get to act after seeing a few other people act have a planning advantage. Also, it matters only in pitched battles. In gunfights, which in my experience all start as ambushes or assassinations, the side with the advantage of surprise acts first, which usually also means "last" and "the only time." I do see how in fights where two sides agree to meet and fight when the referee drops his hand, as though in ice hockey, it's a nice edge, but it's really no more overpowered than the Fastest Gun in the West perk from Tactical Shooting in the equally odd situation of a High Noon showdown.

That said, the GM is free to limit how many levels of Blinding Strike are plausible. DF allows lots, but the realistic limit is probably something like "you may add a total of two levels of Blinding Strike and Basic Speed," so that the options are +2.00 to Basic Speed (as in the Basic Set), +1.00 to Basic Speed and Blinding Strike 1, or Blinding Strike 2. That way, ordinary humans can act at +2.00 relative to the native Basic Speed granted by DX and HT, and those who don't want to dodge or run can cheap out and hope that all fights start as standoffs with ready weapons.

All of which is beside the discussion of Slow Reflexes, really, because there's no precedent in GURPS for the pricing (or even existence) of a disadvantage to much affect that of an advantage, or vice versa.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Agreed. In other games, I've sometimes had players declare in reverse order of their perception or intelligence (depending on what the system used for anticipation abilities) but act in order of their speed.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Honestly, I think it's just declare it does. There never was a really good reason to require anything more than a turn of concentration, let alone will rolls at hourly intervals. If it's so useful that you need to restrict activating it, it's clearly too useful to be a perk. Note for example the two disadvantages that are explicitly called out as not being valid - Berserk and Epilepsy - already have a faster switching method, presumably because of that perceived usefulness. Disadvantages that were thought to be so firmly bad they never needed such a "limiting" mechanic before shouldn't be *worse* that that.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Debates on this usually hinge on when the GM starts the turn sequence. If it matters who is "first" in it, most likely you aren't starting it early enough. The person who wants to fight pretty much always should get the first move because you (at least notionally) started the sequence a while before that. Everybody before him in it already had their turn this round, and took Do Nothing.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Even if you like to consider combat time as general rather than only for combat (I do, but I think it's officially deprecated), that depends on the nature of the start of combat.

You seem to have assumed there are a bunch of people standing around and then one of them attacks someone. That's not really the general case for combat.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Due to playing much DF, I assume fights start because I turned a corner/kicked down a door/fell through a trap door and OMG GIANT SPIDER. Which immediately means it was my point in the sequence on account of I was moving at the time, and if I'm lucky I get Surprise. Otherwise, nobody gets surprise and we start the sequence after me. Wherever that happens to be.

Of course "Me" in that conversation may be the giant spider, and it's OMG ADVENTURERS but the same principle holds.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

"OMG GIANT SPIDER!"
"OMG ADVENTURERS!"

I love this forum.

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

This is probably my favorite Power-Up. Well done!

Re: GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks
 

Not adventurers, but home invaders! The true NOPES of the world.