GURPS Low-Tech Companion 3: Daily Life and Economics

[Evil Roy Slade]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

I'd make that Stereotypical lawyer. There's a difference.

Not even that. "Ham-fisted", for example, according to Characters, means, "You have unusually poor motor skills... You are also a messy eater, can’t tie a necktie properly, and so on. At the GM’s option, you get -1 per level of this trait on any Influence or reaction roll where being tidy or well-groomed would matter." "Cold-Blooded" means "Your body temperature fluctuates with the temperature of the environment."

I know several lawyers (including two or three who are gamers), several dozen lawyer jokes, and have seen several hundred (at least) portrayed in fiction. I am trying to recollect any notion of them being categorically clumsy, being sloppy eaters, being poorly dressed, or stiffening up below room temperature. Perhaps elsewhere these are traits associated with the study of law.

If Ciaran felt the need to write an unfunny vitriolic post unrelated to the topic at hand, he might have been further ahead to make a post saying, "Lawyers are bad people, hurf durf, amirite?"

In any event, courtrooms have been staples of drama for many centuries, including in some of the time period covered by Low-Tech (although admittedly adversarial courts come towards the end of that period). It seemed odd to have judges but not lawyers or their TL 2 predecessors, orators.

[RobKamm]

Originally Posted by Evil Roy Slade

Not even that. "Ham-fisted", for example, according to Characters, means, "You have unusually poor motor skills... You are also a messy eater, can’t tie a necktie properly, and so on. At the GM’s option, you get -1 per level of this
trait on any Influence or reaction roll where being tidy or well-groomed
would matter." "Cold-Blooded" means "Your body temperature fluctuates with the temperature of the environment."

I think he may have been trying to describe these guys. At least that's the closest thing I can come up with (I think there's something closer than Ham-Fisted to no arms, but maybe he's just assuming they use their tongues...).

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Evil Roy Slade

If Ciaran felt the need to write an unfunny vitriolic post unrelated to the topic at hand, he might have been further ahead to make a post saying, "Lawyers are bad people, hurf durf, amirite?"

Oh, we are.

Personally, I'm a horrible person. Ham-Fisted too, especially if I'm wearing mittens.

[D10]

This is the kind of thing ill buy for sure!

<3

[PK]

<MOD>

Let's all drop the "lawyers are evil" thing. Tagging broad categories of people with negative traits isn't smurfy, and neither is the serious thread divergence that occurs because of it. I've addressed this with Ciaran separately.

(Otherwise, the thread is great. Please continue.)

</MOD>

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Tyneras

I generally assume that a professional of Race A with be proportional to the same type of professional of Race B, so if a human blacksmith has ST 12 (44% above an ST 10 average), then an ogre blacksmith will have an ST of 24 (44% above a ST 20 average). That way I don't have to think about how strong each profession is, just racial averages. So if humans are base 1, ogres would be 4, and just multiply all ST related stuff by 4 for what equivalent ogres can do.

I'm not sure how always-true this is. For instance, the felinoids of my space opera setting are really low ST, to the point were it probably makes the most sense for them to never have gotten into medieval-style iron working. With fur, claws, fast reflexes and so forth making them the apex predators of their home planet (in a rather starker way than we humans have been apex predators of our planet since the mid or late stone age), they'd probably make do with minimal bronze, silver and gold working, until they got to the point where they could smelt steel and use machines.

My mental model is that a blacksmith needs to be this strong to hammer the iron as a full-time job, at best scaled slightly for SM, but there's no need to assume that an average-ST ogre isn't plenty strong enough to work as a blacksmith full-time, so over half of ogres are eligible for the job, and the work does not noticably "challenge" their musculature to stimulate strength development.

Originally Posted by Tyneras

I agree, more ST seems to only help some of the manufacturing processes. Lumberjacking and smelting look like they might be helped by having stronger workers, while glassblowing and pottery, not so much. Those might require more exotic advantages than more ST.

What I'm most interested in is labour, especially construction labour. It has got to involve a lot of moving stones, brick or rubble around, and so if the labourers are higher ST, that ought to make a big difference.

Also stone cutting. How much does ST help there? I'm inclined to assume the shaping of the stones isn't particularly ST-intensive. Maybe all masons are minimum ST 11, but being stronger shouldn't enable them to work more than a few percent faster, because the chisel-hammering doesnt have to be - as far as I know - full force.

Oh, and farming. Harvesting in particular. How ST-intensive is that?

And how does high HT, and Fit or Very Fit, interact with laobur?

[Gudiomen]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

Like the note says, "When buying wood, calculate price per pound by its thinnest dimension." The two-inch is probably about right.

There's only 4'' and 8'' posts though, 2'' only has planks, would that be appropriate?

[Jonas]

I have a minor question about LTC:3, actually. Since LT seems to hint that it contains guidelines for among other things producing and more importantly repairing armor, does this mean it contains some sort of system for tracking armor damage and degradation? So far I'm on the fence as far as getting any of the companions, but if it does have such a thing I might end up getting it.

[Lupo]

Originally Posted by Jonas

I have a minor question about LTC:3, actually. Since LT seems to hint that it contains guidelines for among other things producing and more importantly repairing armor, does this mean it contains some sort of system for tracking armor damage and degradation?

LTC 2 contains it.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Lupo

LTC 2 contains it.

Yes, LT 2 has the extended armor and weapon damage and customization rules - on the very reasonable assumption that people who don't give a fig about building houses (or rafts ;) may be VERY interested in anything to do with killing NPCs or not getting killed in return.

It's got a couple of pages of DR and HP ratings for weapons, and a page on armor damage, repairing armor, and armor maintenance.

The repairs section does refer to LTC 3 for detailed information, but offers a "quick assumption" for people who don't have it or don't need the detail from LTC 3.