Bringing GURPS into the 41st millennium

[mortenolsen]

Disadvantages


Old disadvantage

Sense of duty
Emperor: Since it's only towards one person the value should be -2 but since the Emperor = the Imperium the value should be -10. But it's the one duty that can be bend most so final value for Sense of Duty (Emperor) is only -5

Social Stigma (Mutant)
Mutations is a fact of life in the 41st millennium. But most people shun mutants like the plague. Mutations is at least a -5 social sigma – often more severe.

New disadvantages
There is a number of home world disadvantages here (marked by a H). They can be bought of using character points. But it costs twice the value of the disadvantage to buy it of.

Blessed Ignorance H [-5]
The subjects from the Imperial core worlds are kept in the dark from the more foul things of the universe. They have a hard time wrapping their head around obscure knowledge. They get -2 on all hidden lore skills.


Hivebound H [-5]
People that have lived all their lives in a hive often suffer from nervousness whenever away from hive. They get -1 on IQ checks whenever they are outside what resembles a hive.

Primitive H [-10]
The hardy people of the feral worlds have precious little contact with technology. Therefore they learn to distrust it and seldom get a good feel about technological equipment. They get -2 on almost all TL skills based on IQ.

Stranger to the Cult H [-5]
The inhabitants of the forge worlds see the cult of the Emperor through the lenses of the Cult Mechanicus. They have -1 reaction modifier vs. the Ecclesiarchy and they have -1 to Theology (Imperial Creed)

[mortenolsen]

Psychic Powers

Psychic powers work like spells with a few modifications.
Psy talent
First of most of the powers does not have prerequisites other than one must have psy talent 3+ in order to learn the discipline powers (also some powers require certain advantages). So most powers can be learned by any psyker.
The Veil
There are no mana. There is the veil. The weaker the veil the easier it is for the psyker to use his powers but it also becomes increasingly more dangerous.
For areas with strong veil the use of psychic powers are very hard. Only psykers with powers at skill level 20+ may use their powers. And all powers are preformed at -5 to skill level. And the effective psy rating of the psyker is half normal. It is not possible for a psyker to push his power in an area with strong veil. A psyker will never trigger psychic phenomenon or peril of the warp in a strong veil area.
Normal veil is what is described in the rules.
Weak veil is an area where the warps seeps through to the normal world. All psychic powers are used at +5 to skill level. In weak veil all psychic phenomenon are rolled at +3
Very weal veil. This situation is only a step away from an open portal to the warp. A very weak warp always triggers a psychic phenomenon and the psyker should toll at +5 on the psychic phenomenon table.

Psychic Phenomenon
If a psyker uses his powers at normal power there is always a potential for disaster. If the player rolls a critical success or a critical failure or if the three dice show the same number. The he triggers a psychic phenomenon. Roll on the following table with +3 for a critical failure and -3 for a critical success.
To roll for psychic phenomenon roll 3d, add the appropriate modifiers and consult the following table:
less than 8: Minor sensory disturbance. Eerie sounds, sulphurous stench, chill air etc.
9-10: Harmless physical effect. Mirrors break, plants die,
11-12: Distracting physical effect. Sudden wind tries to push everyone around, gravity reversed for a brief time etc.
13-14: Disturbing distracting effect. As above but imposes a fright check. Blood rains from the sky, ghostly images appear etc.
15+ Trigger Peril of the warp.
Peril of the Warp

Power level
It's possible for a psyker to use his powers more carefully or to push beyond his normal limits.
If the psyker uses his powers at a lower level than his normal it's called Fettered. His effective psy talent is only half normal value AND he takes -5 to his skill check to activate the power (for a total penalty of half psy talent + 5).This can only be done by psykers with 2 or more levels in psy talent.
The advantage of the fettered use is that it only triggers psychic phenomenon on a critical faliure and NEVER triggers peril of the warp.
If the psyker on the other hand chooses to push his powers he opens himself more to the warp than is normally advisable. The psyker gets a bonus to his effective psy talent of +1 to +3 (psykers choice) but the use of the power ALWAYS trigger a psychic phenomenon and anything that normally would trigger a psychic phenomenon adds +5 to the roll.



Skill level
All minor psychic powers are IQ/H skills and all discipline powers are IQ/VH. You always add your psy talent to your IQ score for calculating skill level. If your effective psy talent changes for some reason then you use the altered level in you skill level.
The energy cost of a psychic power are reduced by high skill level.

Maintaining powers
To maintain a power that has been activated the psyker need to roll vs. his skill of the power. If the psyker has more than one maintainable power active he rolls at -3 per extra power beyond the first. The psyker never triggers psychic phenomenon or perils of the warp when rolling for maintenance.

Minor Psychic Powers

Call Creature
Call Item
Chameleon
Deja vu
Distort Vision
Duration: 1 second
Cost: 1 (cannot be maintained)
With this power, you disappear and your image reappears in another space no more than 10 meters away. Until the end of the next round you are effectively invisible to all other creatures.
Dull Pain
Fearful Aura

Flash Bang

Float

Forget Me

Healer

Inflict Pain
Regular; Resisted by HT
Duration: 1 second
Cost: 1. Cannot be maintained
The target of the spell feels an intense pain and must make a will roll to avoid crying out. He also have -2 to all DX rolls and DX based skills for the next round. (Half penalty for HPT and double for LPT).


Inspiring Aura

Knack


Force Bolt
Missile

Cost: 1 per 1d+2 damage beyond the first. The psyker need not do max damage.
You create a force bolt that can strike your opponent with devastating force. The powers does up to 1d+2 damage per level of psy talent.



Telepathy
Duration: 1 minute
Cost: 4, 4 to maintain.
You can send your thoughts into the minds of others around you. This power can be used in two ways. a) Send into the mind of one person. b) Send to all sentient beings in an area.
The max range for this power is 1 km per level of psy talent (use Long Distance modifiers to skill level). The max area affected is a radius of twice psy talent.

[mortenolsen]

Tech Priests

The Tech Priest of th Cult Mechnicus are the keepers of technological knowledge. They maintain the technological equipment of the Imperium through a combination of holy rituals and scientific know how.

The initiates of the Omnissiah have their bodies reconstructed to a degree. Throughout their careers they tend to become more and more machines as they replace more and more of their bodies with machine parts and the fleshy bits starts to wither away. The high ranking members of the Priesthood of Mars are among the oldest humans in the Imperium.


The Tech-Priest gains the Mechanicus Implants upon initiation into the Priesthood.


Mechanicus Implants:
Electro Graft: Allows the character to take advantages that lets him connect to machines.
Electoo Inductors
Respirator Unit: Gives the character Resistant (Airborne Toxins & Gas weapons) (+8 HT to resist) [5]
Cyber Mantle
Potentia Coil
Cranial Circuitry


Tech Priests all are trained in their religious ritual and have the Mechanicus Implants. As a minimum they have the following advantages:

Mechanicus Implants [5]
Clerical Investment [5]
Religious Rank (0) [0]
Power investiture (Mechanicus) [10/level]



Tech-Priest Template




The rituals of Omnissiah

The Priesthood of Mars have learned a number of rituals. They work like GURPS spells (see GURPS p. 77).
The Tech-Priests are NOT affected by the Veil.
The energy cost of the rituals are reduced like normally by high skill level.

The following rituals can be taught to Tech-Priests (See GURPS Magic)

Machine Speech
Summon Machine
Machine Control
Seek Power
Lend Power
Steal Power
Magnetic Vision
Radio Hearing
Manipulate
Apportation
Levitate
Flight
Flash
Light
Lightning

[vierasmarius]

First off, I like the thread topic. WH40K is one of my favorite settings, though I haven't gamed much in it. That said, a few questions about the new traits you're introduced. Hopefully this will be taken as the constructive criticism it's intended as. =P

Hivebound: It's not clear what would qualify as "resembling a hive". To be more clear I'd probably swap this out for Agoraphobia, or at least define a bit more explicitly what situations trigger the penalty. Also, how broad is the penalty? IQ, Per, Wis, and related skills? Or only IQ and IQ skills?

Blessed Ignorance: Should have more effect than just penalizing Hidden Lore (after all, that could be done with a -1 point Incompetence Quirk). Perhaps reducing several such skills (ie, Occult, Thaumatology etc) and giving a penalty to Fright Checks until "familiar" with a particular threat. The disadvantage value may have to be raised, though, especially considering the number of Mind Shattering Horrors From Beyond the Walls of Sanity you tend to find in 40K....

Technical Knock: Is this based on the Immediate Action technique? It sounds similar, though based on IQ instead of IQ-based shooting skill. If you're not familiar with the Immediate Action rules, check Tactical Shooting pg 17 and 44, or the Guns skill in Characters (pg 198-199).

Psy Power: I'm a little confused by this advantage. Is this required for each psy "spell" a psyker wishes to learn, on top of the normal cost of his Psy Rating and the skill in the power itself?

[Dinadon]

Originally Posted by mortenolsen

Blessed Ignorance H [-5]
The subjects from the Imperial core worlds are kept in the dark from the more foul things of the universe. They have a hard time wrapping their head around obscure knowledge. They get -2 on all hidden lore skills.

Hidden Lore is, by definition, hidden. It also has no default. This is far more likely to be an Incompetence(Occultism) quirk, or even just a feature of using Occultism at default. Learning a Hidden Lore at all means you've wrapped you're head around it, and you need to learn it in order to use it.

[mortenolsen]

About the homeworld templates: Most of the traits I just modified on the run and didn't really look back. So all criticism is good :)

Blessed Ignorance: True both of you. But I don't like the incompetence quirk - the cannot learn part is not really what I want. Will look into this.

Hivebound: Will also need a better rewrite - or better yet I'll modify it over something like stuttering - a disavantage that gives a penalty to a broard range of skills - and then with a limiting factor - only in a hive.



Technical Knock.... Damn you are right. - That have to go...

Psy: You are right. It needs a rewrite.

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by mortenolsen

About the homeworld templates: Most of the traits I just modified on the run and didn't really look back. So all criticism is good :)

Glad to help! Especially if it means I can nitpick... =P

Originally Posted by mortenolsen

Hivebound: Will also need a better rewrite - or better yet I'll modify it over something like stuttering - a disavantage that gives a penalty to a broard range of skills - and then with a limiting factor - only in a hive.

That's actually why I suggested Agoraphobia. At the (15-) level it's the same value [-5] and can usually be resisted, leaving the subject with "just" a -1 to DX and IQ. It's triggered by wide open spaces, which would make sense for someone raised in enclosed, twisted passages. If that's not exactly what you want, it's at least a good place to start.

Originally Posted by mortenolsen

Technical Knock.... Damn you are right. - That have to go...

Not necessarily. It could just be an advantage that represents "full investment" in the Immediate Action technique. The technique is Hard and defaults at -4, so increasing it to max costs the same [5]. All you have to do is change it from IQ roll to IQ-based Guns or Gunner roll. However, if you want it to apply to all guns, or even further to different kinds of equipment... well, not sure how to go about building that advantage. Perhaps some sort of "Machine Empathy"?

Originally Posted by mortenolsen

Psy: You are right. It needs a rewrite.

I'll stick around and lend a hand if I can. If most Psykers only have a handful of psy abilities, it might be easier to build them as Alternate Powers, in which case Psy Rating becomes a Power Talent. Each power could still have an associated skill. In fact, that's how GURPS Psionic Powers handles it (though with several Psi Talents instead of just one). If you don't have that book, I'd highly recommend it.

[Kage2020]

As noted elsewhere, I kind of burned out on the 40k universe a while back so please take the comments with any suitable amounts of salt.

Originally Posted by mortenolsen

Starships

Does anyone have good ideas for using the 40K specific stuff - warp drive, lack of computers etc. with GURPS rules?

As noted previously, starships seem to be out of the box GURPS Spaceships with some modifications from the later books in the series. For some inspiration you can check out Heimdallr's thread over on Dark Reign here.

I would imagine that it's not too hard to add some Characters options over the "hardware" to evoke some of the good ideas in Rogue Trader.

Originally Posted by mortenolsen

Psy

I've emulated psy by using a variant of the GURPS magic system. Not quite done yet but comming well of.

Glad that's working for you. It never seemed to suit the flavour of the universe in my mind, thus I used a variant of Powers and added some "Reality Bites Back" and "Black Magic" variants from Thaumatology. The gist of this was that psykers ended up with a "safe threshold" (evocative of Threshold-limited magic) but could continue to draw beyond this level at the threat of disruptive effects, i.e. "warp taint." It seemed to work well enough, taking a stance of seduction over the punitive approach of the official 40k RPG. That is, rather than "Oooh, you rolled a 9 so suffer the consequences!" it was more, "Yes, you're at the reach of your natural abilities. Yet if you only draw from that well of power you'll be able to survive or help out your comrades. I mean, it's only this once..."

YMMV as to which is the more appealing approach. I personally feel the latter mimics the background the 40k universe more than "Roll for Psychic Phenomenon" but then, well, I would. ;)

Oh, and psyker powers were just Powers, of course. Standard power modifier that drew a number of "Energy Reservoir" (which was determined by pre-packaged Psyker Grade) dependent on the cost to the character. The advantage of the power tended to outweigh the limitations of usage when based against the infinite power source that they could draw from.

Originally Posted by mortenolsen

Corruption

Any ideas on what to do with corruption?

"Reality Bites Back," as above, worked for me. I just avoided the pseudo-karma system that confused the official systems' "Corruption" just isn't worth the bother. Put another way, just stick with the description that "corruption" is a function of contact with the warp and don't bother with the idea that "killing is socially bad, therefore not good, therefore corrupt."

It's actually amazing that a universe that is purportedly predicated upon shades of moral grey actually takes an absolute mechanism to model this (more out of confusion, though).

Originally Posted by mortenolsen

Tech Priests & tech

I've always loved the concept in W40K that tech priests was making sure that technological equipment didn't fail, by apeasing the tech spirits. I want to make tech priests a kind of ... well .. priests... With some kind of magic (lacking a better word at the moment) that allow them to do just that. But I'm not quite sure right now how I'll proceed with that.

This is simple to model as is. Powers with a Pact.

Originally Posted by mortenolsen

One thing I don't want to touch is Space Marines at this point.

Don't worry. They're easy to do as well. :D

[Gef]

I'm only vaguely familiar with the setting, but as mentioned above, Black Magic sounds like a good way to model corruption; rules are in a boxed section in GURPS Magic and generified in Thaumatology.

For tech priest, you might go with tech-based skills BELOW the TL of the devices they maintain, which yields a penalty. Then allow them to buy off the penalty for specific devices as techniques (er, rituals). And maybe make Hidebound a requirement to enter the priesthood; anyone who isn't actually Hidebound would act that way as part of a Discipline of Faith.

GEF

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Kage2020

I just avoided the pseudo-karma system that confused the official systems' "Corruption" just isn't worth the bother. Put another way, just stick with the description that "corruption" is a function of contact with the warp and don't bother with the idea that "killing is socially bad, therefore not good, therefore corrupt."

It's actually amazing that a universe that is purportedly predicated upon shades of moral grey actually takes an absolute mechanism to model this (more out of confusion, though).

Huh? Drugs are a way to Slaanesh, conspiring to Tzeentch, and killing to Khorne. (I'm not sure if saying that maintaining bad hygience is the way to Nurgle.)