[New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

Schools for super-powered fledglings! University antics! Boot camp! Training montages! Getting better, faster, smarter, more skilled! All this and more is easier than ever, with GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School.

This supplement -- written by GURPS Social Engineering author William H. Stoddard -- covers all aspects of teaching and learning, in group situations, one-on-one, in downtime, under pressure, and more. Get new character-improvement options, expanded rules for learning, social considerations, and much more. You'll also get campaign insight for running school- and education-based tales.

It's time to teach you a lesson, with GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School. Class is in session today, thanks to Warehouse 23!

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

Huh? No replies yet? And I thought my reading comprehension was sub-par. Back to School is one of those really universal supplements that anybody can make use of. Of course, it's invaluable if you want to run a Harry Potter or Buffy the Vampire Slayer game, but the rule tweaks are useful for everybody. I especially love the study roll and how it was expanded from Locations - Worminghall.

For those who are interested, I have posted a more elaborate review on my blog.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

Thanks for a very detailed review, the first I've seen.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

Thanks, indeed! I love to hear readers' thoughts. :-)

BTW, if you ever find any typos or editorial issues, please feel free to let me know! We admit we're not perfect, but one of the joys of the digital revolution is that we can fix minor mistakes without much trouble.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

And as the editor, my apologies if there are a few glitches in there. (Yes, being able to move content around in a flash thanks to the wonders of digital technology is both a blessing and a curse.)

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

A fantastic book that's seen immediate use in my games.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

Very cool, and something I've wanted to see for a while.

1 question: does it contain suggestions for how to adjust learning times if one removes normal CP gain (from mission completion, sessions, etc)?

If not in the supplement, any thoughts from the authors? Or from other board posters?

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

Not directly addressed, though some of the content in Chapter 1 is relevant.

Really it depends on what effect you're aiming at. Do you want the PCs to gain skills at the high rate typical of PCs, but to do so without spending CP? Or do you want them to progress distinctly more slowly, at a pace more typical of people in the real world? Those two would call for distinctly different rules tweaks.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

You'll get more response from the thread in the main GURPS forum, here. This forum is fairly low-traffic.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

I would be looking for advice on making it closer to real world, but at the same time avoiding a feeling of drag. The system is expected to be balanced for both '200 hrs learning' & 'session CP', and even then some folks might consider the ability growth slow.

I was hoping for some happy medium, something fun that allows timely character ability changes but without the meta-game of session CP.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

Ah, I didn't realize which forum this was! I did a search for "Back to School" on gurps forums with Google and this was the first link. I'll check the usual thread there too, thank you for the link.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

Having played a different RPG that did not allow for any form of earned experience through adventuring or successful use of skills, but only for advancement through expensive training, I definitely recommend that you don't go that route. I found it no fun at all, as someone who's learned a lot of his own skills by doing things; the author worked for a company where training was everything, and experience was little valued.

It is workable to require session CP to only be spent on improving abilities that were used in the session, although it tends to require a fair mount of book-keeping as a character gradually accumulates enough points in a skill to raise it a level.

It is also workable to require some amount of training time per session CP spent, although this should be less than 200 hours. I've had reasonable results with requiring characters to spend 50 hours training each time they bought a new skill with session CP.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

I thought this was the default? And anyway, it is definitely more immersive to do this.

This is interesting, and something I hadn't considered. It brings things 'in-game' with the 50 hrs of training, and the meta-game CP keeps things in some kind of check.

---

I am also considering changing the 'hours of learning' to 'uses', in regards to improving abilities. So:
...100 uses during life-or-death combat
...200 uses under the direct supervision of a qualified instructor
...400 uses if trying to improve by practicing exercises from a manual/etc
...800 uses if just doing it over and over again.

Does this seem too easy? 1 CP for this many uses does not seem like very much.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

It is, but a lot of people are looser with it. If two game sessions are, for example, successive game days, it seems harsh to say "no, you can't spend today's CP on skills you used yesterday."

It seems too hard at the combat end. If I can't improve Guns (Rifle) until I've made 100 attack rolls in real combat ... I have a character in a WWII game who hasn't made many in total across all his firearm skills in 61 scenarios over more that four years game time.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

I am surprised. Is this character maybe a sniper character? Or some sort of infiltrator?

If so, then I expect he's used stealth or disguise/bluff skills many many times.

If not...I am stumped.

Non-the-less, he must have spent time practicing?

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering: Back to School
 

Both, at the right times, more often infiltration. However, I really doubt that anyone in the party has made more attacks. This is a fairly realistic campaign with regard to the deadliness of guns: characters who tried doing combat in a dungeon fantasy style would be known as "corpses."
More than attack rolls, but not many hundreds. When failing a stealth roll is likely to get you killed, because the sentries have full-power rifles, you spend a lot of effort minimising your risks and an important part of that is avoiding fights or the risk of them.
A lot of time training, in many skills. Practicing skills you already have, no, because GURPS doesn't demand that.