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Old 10-25-2010, 05:07 AM   #26
vicky_molokh
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Default Re: (Unofficial) FAQ of the GURPS Fora

Q: I'm wondering, what are the assumptions about the default traits of a character?

A: Kromm writes:
"The game assumes that a human not only has ST 10, DX 10, IQ 10, HT 10, HP 10, Will 10, Per 10, FP 10, Basic Speed 5.00, and Basic Move 5, but is someone who . . .

. . . is a member of the setting's dominant sapient race.
. . . has Status 0, and in fact has a Status rating at all.
. . . has a Wealth of Average, and starts with campaign starting money.
. . . has a TL, because his/her racial average IQ is high enough.
. . . has a culture, because his/her racial average IQ is high enough.
. . . has a language, because his/her racial average IQ is high enough.
. . . can articulate that language.
. . . has an Appearance of Average vis-à-vis other humans.
. . . has sex-differentiated positive Appearance, if he/she has positive Appearance.
. . . can have any mundane advantage or disadvantage, but can't have exotic or supernatural ones.
. . . is self-aware and creative.
. . . can learn and improve skills and attributes.
. . . has senses of vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.
. . . can see color, depth, and motion in a 180° forward arc, including 30° of peripheral vision on each side.
. . . sees in the spectrum that starts after IR on the long-wave end and ends before UV on the short-wave end.
. . . has poor night vision but good light tolerance.
. . . hears in the frequency range 40 Hz to 20 kHz.
. . . has no intrinsic supernatural awareness, yet has the innate ability to resist supernatural attack even when unaware or unconscious.
. . . has a vertical, upright posture.
. . . isn't blob- or box-shaped, and so bases SM strictly on height.
. . . has a head -- with two ears, two eyes, one nose, and one mouth -- atop a vulnerable neck.
. . . has two arms that end in hands with fingers, two legs that end in feet with toes, and no other limbs.
. . . has a master hand and an "off" hand.
. . . has a bodily layout that allows catching, climbing, digging, dodging, dragging, hiking, jumping, lifting, running, striking, swimming, and wrestling.
. . . uses consistently the same ST and DX for all of these purposes.
. . . can deal thrust and swing damage based on ST.
. . . can lift weights based on Basic Lift calculated from ST.
. . . has a default Water Move of 1/5 Basic Move and a default Air Move of 0.
. . . has native conditions of a 21:78 O2/N2 atmosphere at 1 atm of pressure, a temperature of 35°F to 90°F, and 1 g of gravity.
. . . must breathe, but not so constantly that injury results instantly from pausing for a while.
. . . must eat and drink three times a day, but almost any organic matter will do except for a few things specifically described as "poison."
. . . must sleep approximately 8 hours a night.
. . . is vulnerable to acid, disease, heat and cold outside natural limits, poison, radiation, vacuum, etc.
. . . is living, not unliving, homogenous, or diffuse.
. . . bleeds when injured.
. . . suffers extra injury when hit in the skull, neck, or vitals.
. . . risks unconsciousness at 0 HP, death at -HP, certain death at -5×HP, and bodily destruction at -10×HP.
. . . heals naturally, but doesn't regenerate.
. . . benefits from drugs manufactured by human society.
. . . ages, and gets 32 years of optimal capability, between maturity at age 18 and possible decline due to aging at age 50.
. . . has FP in the first place, and so can use extra effort.
. . . gets one turn per second."

If any of those things isn't true, then you have to account for it in a racial template. Exceptions won't always cost points -- often, features will do the trick. However, you must still account for them; statements like "one of these things won't be true, so these others won't, either" don't cut it.
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Vicky 'Molokh', GURPS FAQ and uFAQ Keeper

Last edited by vicky_molokh; 10-25-2010 at 06:18 PM.
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