Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

More to the point, Fashion Sense has the same effect when you have time to plan your attire, and costs 5 points.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Counter-interrogation Training
You've learned enough of the techniques of interrogation to be able to foil them being used against you. You may resist Interrogation with a Will-based Interrogation roll, if that would be better than your Will.

Naturally, only good for people who have Interrogation at IQ+1 or higher.

I'm thinking about expanding the principle to other Influence skills, at one Perk per Influence Skill.

Example
Don't Kid a Kidder
You know when people are trying to pull a fast one, because it's what you'd do! You may resist Fast-Talk with a Will-based Fast-Talk roll, if that would be better than your Will.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I forgot about the Looks Good in Uniform perk in Power-Ups 2. OK, let's do a rewrite (with a nod to Lord Carnifex):

Looks Good On Ya: You have a suit of clothes that you look extra good in for some reason. Whenever you wear this particular outfit, you have a +1 Appearance. The outfit must be in good condition (i.e., not ripped or dirty) to get the benefit.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Oh NOies! Why can't I look cool in when all ripped up? So now I have to choose between getting a bonus to my Active Defenses or getting +1 to Appearance. ;)

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Perfect Pitch: You can discern the exact pitch of a given musical tone, which helps your musical performance. Add +2 to one music-related skill. The GM may allow you to play music by ear with this perk.

I've also allowed a 5-point advantage version in my games usable with any musical skill.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

That's why you always choose to have a suit of armor be the one that looks oh so good on you.
Perfect for gritty uniformed super teams.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Hmmm...just can't see James Bond still getting girls in a ripped tux. then again, he is James Bond. So maybe...

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

A bit overcheap. Racial Skill Bonuses are worth [2]. A Perk isn't meant to boost a skill in general, but rather a skill under a narrow set of circumstances (better check the book for the numbers, as I'm a bit sleepy).

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Oh, maybe JB won't. But I'm pretty sure that Conan, Hercules, and definitely Lara Croft*, Lee-lu, or any of the stripperninjas will do.

* == Like when she rips her evening dress to get some mobility.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I wouldn't give a Skill bonus for Perfect Pitch. It's a cute little ability that's not actually helpful for playing music appreciably better. It's good for showing off or maybe for solving the occassional puzzle, but it doesn't really make you a better musician. I'd say it's likely to accompany Musical Talent, but that's as close as I'd make it.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I like these ideas, but I think they're a little under-powered. For instance, I'd let a trained interrogator use his skill to resist interrogation without a perk.

Toss in a +1 for the Perk, maybe.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

IIRC in 3e there were two specialities of Interrogation - use and resistance. IIRC, they defaulted at -2 either way. Probably in SpecOps.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Belch (or Cry, Break Wind, Vomit, Sneeze etc. (pick one)) on Demand - fairly self-explanatory, really.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Actually something similar already exists in on of the books. An example of voluntarily inflicting a disadvantage on oneself is of breaking wind on command to enact Bad Smell.

The ability to vomit on command exists in reall life and might have some interesting benefits to acting sick and very specific poison situations.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I'd say instead of reaction bonus it would just counter any possible reaction penalties for clothing. Take attractive appereance on top of it and you get net +1 wearing anything. OR if the character also has fashion sense he can make fashionable +1 clothes - from anything - for him/herself only..

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Read what you quoted. Specifically the part that reads: "Non-Combat Situations"

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Thanks, but you're seven weeks late with this tip.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

This is a fair criticism. However, if you want to go this way, I'd remove the bonus for when your uniform is intact. That'll get you the Captain Kirk effect, where he (supposedly) looks better when his uniform is torn to pieces. So change the language to "The outfit must be in good condition (i.e., not ripped or dirty) to get the benefit. If the character is an action hero or similar character, then ripped or torn clothing may be required." or something.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I hope you did understand that I was joking. Aaaand, I'd definitely take this Perk next time I play a fighter type character.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Yes, I got that you were joking. But I also thought it was a good point, as the character who gets his/her clothing half torn-off in order to increase his sex appeal is a staple in pulp and adventure fiction. As always, the GM should decide if a given perk is appropriate to the game he or she is trying to run, and should feel free to modify them appropriately.

"I see you've torn your shirt again." - Alan Rickman's character, Galaxy Quest

Otherwise, we can keep "Looks Good on Ya" as a perk as written, and add as seperate Perk, "Rugged Good Looks: character gains a +1 to Appearance whenever his/her clothing is torn, singed, and dirtied over the course of an adventure. The character must damage it in action - pre-damaged clothing or accidents with an iron don't apply."

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I knew a guy in college that could do this. I've no idea how he discovered his ability (and don't want to know). Another real-life example: former WWE wrestler Droz made it a part of his ring persona.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Oh, I think it makes a good house-rule too, I just thought it was a good example of a Perk that gives you access to a rule that's not normally in force in the campaign.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Owns a 7-sided die: One 6-sided die that YOU roll can be replaced with the (aforementioned) 7-sided die.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I like this one:

Reliable Name Memory
This a scaled-down version of the Eidetic Memory advantage.
The character has a good memory for names of people (and people only). If the player has forgotten the name of a specific known NPC, the GM rolls vs. IQ.
If the roll succeeds the GM tells the correct name. A failure means that the GM does not tell the name. A critical failure means that the GM tells a wrong name.

Greetings,
Zarkon

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I've used Strong Memory in the past, which gives +1 to IQ rolls to recall the general sense of past events (but not specific details), and +1 to other specific memory related rolls that Eidetic Memory would help with.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Hrmm, I'd be using the IQ roll to see if the character remembered a name for a normal character (with a ballparked TDM, but IQ-0 would be the baseline). For someone who was supposed to be good with names, regarding someone they were actually introduced to (not "I'm good with names, so I remember the name of the guy who invented Post-Its because I read about him on Wikipedia five years ago" - that's not what I think of as "good with names"), I'd give a real bonus to IQ or probably not roll at all. It's not like it comes up in-game all that often.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

We live in a really sick world.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

No, sick world is that some people have vomit fetishes!

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Is there any possible reason I would want to do this on anything other than damage? I can't think of one. If I really want to fail a roll, usually the GM will let me :)

So, assuming it is only useful for damage, it seems balanced. Possibly even a little underpowered, as it roughly translates to: 14% of the time I get +1 damage.

Anyway: There's such a thing as a d7?

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Nor can I, off hand - but if one could require the GM to use it for reaction rolls related to one's character, that'd be another benefit.

I have one, for the curiosity value. It's a short pentagonal prism. I've never really tested it rigorously for statistical randomness.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Reaction rolls also. But yeah, apart from that and damage, I can't think of any time you'd want to roll high. Well, unless you and the rest of the party roll to see who gets first dibs on the treasure.

[OT] Non-cubical dice
 

Huh... I had no idea they actually made such things. Looking at a Wiki image, it seems like there would be a bias toward the bases. I wonder if a heptagonal log would be better.

The things you learn here *g*

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Ooh, actually, I just thought of another one: Initiative.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

That's where the 'can' comes in.
Actually, it was originally something like an extension to the 'luck' advantage, but it seemed a little clumsily worded, so I edited it a little.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Yeah, I understood the "can" part, that's not an issue. It just seemed like a very narrow set of circumstances where you WANT to roll high.

As shown, my total list:
-Damage
-NPC reactions (which I didn't think of because I invert this table in play)
-Initiative rolls (took me a little while because I do this as a Quick Contest of Tactics)

Can anyone think of any others?

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I was actually just wondering if "Memorized Body of Work" would be a Perk or a Photographic Memory (One Work Only -80%) [2].

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I'd want it to be a big body of work for it to be worth a whole point.

Also, for a lot of things that sounds more like a Skill. For example, having memorised Shakespeare's Complete Works seems like a specialisation of Literature to me (although I guess you could make a case for Perk-level ultraspecialisation for +5 to rolls to recall quotes from that work).

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

That's not a bad idea. Actually though, I originally wanted the Perk so that I could reference a Physics textbook at any time in game. Kind of like Mathematical Ability only better. And then I thought of religious texts. But mostly, I would want math/physics textbooks that I, as the player, could reference.

Oh, and Alice in Wonderland, but everyone lets me bring that to quest and quote it anyway.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Better? How is this better than a skill bonus, reaction bonus and accelerated learning?
If you meant Lightning Calculator, then yes, it seems pretty fair as a Perk: being allowed to - as a player - refer to your physics library at any time, to represent intimate knowledge of the subject and a knack for figuring things out on the spot, much like being allowed to use a calculator with Lightning Calculator.

That DEFINITELY sounds like ultraspecialised Literature. :)

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Ah forgive me, I should have looked it up. I forgot which one allowed the use of a Calculator at any time. And when I said "better" I actually meant "better than using a calculator at any time", not the other stuff that Mathematical Ability confers.


Heh, that's a Perk I have in real life then.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

"Memorized the Qur'an" (the special example of this particular "Perk") is more in the line of being a 0-point UB than anything. It's why you have Social Regard 1 (Respected).

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

3e had the 'Bardic Lore' skill which I found useful in a lot of contexts. Particularily as 'Musical Repetoire' <sp?>. I think I'd rather bring that back as an Expert skill rather than a Perk, though. It represents having memorized and the ability to perform from memory a culturally relevant body of work. Specializations might include epic poetry, rock + roll songs, symphonic works, or religious texts.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Spell Spotting
Prerequisite: Lip-reading
A mage with this perk can recognize what spell another mage is casting if he can read the other mage's lips and knows the spell being cast.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Interesting Perk. I dig it.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Isnt it part of the Jamaican Racial Template?

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I bet it is, maybe it also goes with Discipline of Faith(Rastafarianism) or something.

How about this one:
Lucky Bastard-You seem to be more lucky than the average John. You might get free drinks and snacks from vending machines, find some spare change in the street, be the 1,000,000,000 customer on a shop, bump into an old friend that might help you etc.
All the above are GM's call

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I'd disagree with that on a few counts. First, memorizing the Qur'an would only be part of Social Regard in a largely Muslim society. Second, you don't have to be a devote Muslim to memorize the Qur'an. For example, a non-Muslim US Army intelligence officer who is fluent in Arabic might memorize the Qur'an to aid in conversations and interrogations with Muslims. Third, it gives a small bonus in limited circumstances - say +1 to influence rolls where a quote from the Qur'an would carry weight with the target.

Of course, if you're running an Arabian Nights campaign and don't want to bother giving memorization any special benefits, by all means just make it a part of Social Regard.

- DW

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

That's Serendipity.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Cool perk. If you also consider the gestural components, this would almost be like Martial Arts' Style Familiarity, except for spells.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Well the old friend part might be but finding coins and getting a free Mars isn't the kind of thing you want to spend 15p/level on it!

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Just made this one up per request of an archer in my Supers game.


Sticky Quiver
Your quiver is your best friend. It will hold onto your arrows regardless of any acrobatic feat, tumble, roll, combat move, etc, unless you critically fail an Acrobatics or Fast Draw (arrow) skill check.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Crazy Eyes
Gives +1 (+2?) on non-verbal Intimidation attempts where the intended victim can see the character's eyes.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Charming Rogue
Prerequisite: Sex Appeal
An unsuccessful attempt to use the Sex Appeal skill is treated as if it were an unsuccessful attempt at Diplomacy.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Good idea *thumbup* though it might be a little weak compared to Honest Face.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

How about:

Hobbit Feet: The soles of your feet are thick and tops are furry. As such you prefer to go without footwear. Your bare feet count as ordinary shoes whenever it would matter.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Or how about:

Fire Starting: You can make a fire almost anywhere out of almost anything,
wind or no wind. What kind of bonus could a one point perk give you on rolls to start fires?

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

IDHMpdfWM, but I think there's a Perk in Powerups 2 that does something similar, perhaps more cinematically.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I don't think so. The ability to use Sex Appeal (an Average skill) to potentially get a Very Good reaction, with the worst result being that it does nothing, rather than making the reaction worse? That's way better than Diplomacy itself (Hard, only gives a Good reaction) and a little better than Honest Face (+1 for "acting innocent").
Sometimes it might even synergise with Honest Face. :)

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

You could say that Charming Rogue allowed you to optionally use Sex Appeal in a casual and inoffencive manner, the result being treated as if it were a diplomacy attempt (no better than Good, but not worse than the standard reaction roll).

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

That sounds much more balanced.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

The worst result would be that the GM would roll a regular reaction roll and use the better of the two reactions. Note that you can substitute Sex Appeal for a reaction roll only in suitable circumstances (usually less often than Diplomacy), and only for those who are attracted to members of your sex. Then there are the mundane uses of Diplomacy (predicting outcome of negotiations), and the +2 to reaction rolls at SL20, and the fact that SA can usually only be used once per target. The Perk only brings SA closer to level with Diplomacy (but still falls short), IMO. For just 'getting along, or away with', Honest Face seems more broadly useful than Charming Rogue.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Isn't Charming Rogue supposed to add one's Charisma to one's Attack, Damage or thieving skill roll once per adventure? ;)

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Did I appropriate a name that was already in use? My idea for a perk of that name only protects a person from the negative consequences of a failed Sex Appeal attempt.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

By another game system. If we let that stop us we wouldn't be able to name practically anything. Molohk, you do realize that "Initiative" for example has a very different meaning in GURPS than in that other game.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Hey, you should watch for the smileys. ;) Otherwise people might think you're new around here. ;)

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Armor Suit Familiarity

This perk allows you to ignore the -1 to DX for layering one particular piece of armor with another. For example, 'Armor Suit Familiarity: Steel Corselet and Mail Hauberk'. You still suffer full encumbrance (and associated penalties) for both pieces, and a separate Perk is required for each piece you want to layer - the above familiarity would not apply if, for instance, you layered plate arms over mail sleeves, or even if you layered two mail hauberks.

(This is similar to the existing perk in Martial Arts that allows you to ignore encumbrance penalties for Fencing skills, Karate, or Judo - where that perk removes penalties for attacks and defenses only, this removes the entire armor layering penalty; where that perk works for encumbrance from any source, this works only for layering two specific pieces.)

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

How about that:
Puzzle Freak- You can solve a Rubik's cube or an equivelant puzzle in less than 5 minutes.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

How is that different than what I said though?

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Sex Appeal can normally produce better reactions than 'Good', which is diplomacy's cap. This makes it, effectively, 'Skill Adaptation: Sex Appeal can be used as Diplomacy', which is balanced.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Not exactly. I assume SA still suffers the gender-based Accessibility, so it's Diplomacy with an Accessibility.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Hm. Okay -- what makes that 'balanced'?

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Isn't fnording the smileys counterproductive? ;p

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

That way you have to be more alert for them. ;)

But anyway I thought it's funnier when people only realise I'm not serious when they hit the reply w/quote button.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Knee Driver: Your ability to use your knees to turn a steering wheel gives you +1 to your driving skill when using 1 or fewer hands while operating a certain type of vehicle.

Thought this perk was fun and fairly realistic. It mostly offsets a tiny bit of penalties from doing things with your hands while driving, but isn't useful (within the granularity of GURPS, at least) when already paying full attention to the road and driving with two hands.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Adaptable Palate (mental or physical)
You never have to "acquire" a taste -- you'll eat any food, no matter what it is -- lutefisk, grubs, whole ducklings, bird’s nests, Rocky Mountain "oysters," green eggs, etc. No matter how exotic, unrecognizable, or badly prepared, as long as it isn’t poisonous, spoiled, or roadkill, you are willing to eat it without complaint. You are never bothered by the taste, texture, odor, or appearance of what is put in front of you, and you will not suffer indigestion from eating something your body isn’t used to. Note that this does not help you identify poisonous foods, and it won’t necessarily make you OK with cannibalism if it isn’t culturally appropriate. Nor will it allow you to digest rocks, metal, or other things your species normally cannot eat, and it won’t prevent food poisoning if you eat spoiled food.
This is not compatible with vegetarianism or any religious dietary restrictions, but it is compatible with allergies. You might like the taste of peanuts just fine, even if you know they can kill you.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Note, that I wasn't replying to your post at all but to a post that was a reply to your post.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Uh, you're right.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

This sounds like universal digestion.Maybe only for exotic tastes like roasted ants and scorpions, or even spaghetti("Exotic" is quite relative, I mean you'll find spghetti weird if you're from Alpha Centauri)

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Universal Digestion will let you actually get nourishment from spoiled food (or, for that matter, any organic material). This just lets you manage to *eat* it, with none of the ill effects. It's like a perk version of No Sense of Smell/Taste - you *can* smell and taste things, but it never bothers you. I might even give +1 to HT rolls to resist retching or vomiting induced by foul smells or food.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Ok that sounds good, but then what? you'll "excrete" the thing as you ate it?