Eclipse Phase conversion to GURPS (ideas?)

[Eukie]

I've written the following to describe the Beam Weapon/TL skill in EP. I've also written ones for Guns/TL, Animal Handling, Boating/TL, Crewman/TL, Dropping, Free Fall and Innate Attack.

"Advances in optics, steady-state materials and the development of room-temperature superconductors in the pre-Fall decades led to the development of combat capable direct-energy weapons. Mass deployment and radical innovation came in the years just before the Fall and in the post-Fall period, driven and driving by the development of advanced optical metamaterials and advanced energy storage methods such as room-temperature superconductors. Types of beam small arms include light-based systems in the microwave and near-visible wavelengths, charged and uncharged particle weapons, electrolasers, and plasma weapons.

TL8 beam weapons are largely experimental oddities or too large to be used by an individual on foot. Pistol-sized laser weapons for damaging space suits were reportedly developed and deployed by the Soviet Union in 1984, and laser weapons capable of causing temporary or permanent blinding are easy to manufacture but have been banned by a UN Convention. The United States have also been experimenting with man-portable laser-weapons capable of inducing pain and shock in the target.

TL9 sees the early deployment of “practical” man-portable direct energy weapons. High-powered laser weapons and charged energy weapons are deployed by militaries, while less-lethal microwave weapons, electrolasers and laser dazzlers are adopted by police and for military police actions. Direct energy weapons from this period tend to be large, fragile and have immense power requirements. Like firearms from this period, beam weapons have targeting computers and “smartlinks” to aid targeting, as well as security systems to prevent unauthorized used. TL9 soldiers may have some familiarity with high-powered laser weapons and particle weapons, and police forces may have been trained in the use of dazzlers, electrolasers and microwave agonizers.

TL10 beam weapons are far more advanced than earlier direct-energy weapons. Metamaterial optics, high-energy physics and room-temperature superconductors are used to create precise and high-capacity direct-energy weapons. New developments include neutral particle beams and plasma weapons, and advanced miniaturization allow practical hybrid weapons that combine charged and neutral particle beams, multiple-wavelength lasers, and high-energy lasers with electrolaser capabilities. Further developments in firing software allow smartlinked computers to compensate for atmospheric disturbances and local magnetic fields, increasing the accuracy of beam weapons to an even greater extent."

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

I don't see why you need to fiddle with attributes. You can just combine the attributes of the morph with the attributes with the ego the way you do in Changing Times. So a DX13 ego in a DX_modifier -1 morph acts at DX12.

My rationale was that certain things that are derived attributes in GURPS are not derived attributes in EP. For example, in GURPS ST determines you number of hit points, whereas in EP, top-level athletes will die as easily from bullet-wounds as everyone else. Hence, to recreate that effect, I needed to divorce HP from ST. Additionally, I felt that giving ST, DX, etc. to morphs and then modifying it with Ego attributes meant that I could meaningfully give morphs things like maximum lifting capacities, maximum movement speeds, etc., without limiting the skill of the sleeving Ego.

It also seemed like the best way to divorce gross physical stats from mental aptitudes and adaptability.

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

The idea of having the ego have any sort of attribute that improves thr/sw is scary. It means that logically most adventurous/combatant people will have an intermediary adaptor software handling the punching, always maximising thr/sw to the level that is still safe for a given morph. Maybe even regularly redline it in matters of life and 'death'. Ditto HT/TN.

That kind of adaptor software in EP isn't very competent. In EP's d100 scale, software can't increase your skill above 40. On a purely mechanical level, I don't really see what's so scary about it; if you pay to have a physicaly strong body and are also good at using your strength, you hit harder. Much like just increasing your ST and Arm/Leg ST, really.

However, would it be more in line with the GURPS "philosophy" to instead have "Body ST/DX/HT" that determines the ST/DX/HT of your body, and then let Egos use the normal ST/DX/HT to modify the Body ST/DX/HT values? What I really want to avoid is the THS thing where infomorphs/mind emulations have only one meaningful Attribute (IQ), because all the other Attributes are set by the kind of cybershell/bioshell you put that mind into.

Originally Posted by dataweaver

I wouldn’t try to come up with ST/DX/HT for the Ego. I would tinker with the attributes a bit; but I’d start by repurposing existing traits instead of inventing new ones. For instance, take Will and Perception and promote them from derived traits to full-on attributes in their own right: i.e., not based off of IQ. I’d likewise promote Charisma from an Advantage to a full-on Attribute, too — and I’d consider changng a number of Interaction skills that are currently based on IQ to instead be based on Charisma. I’d swipe the Stress and Derangement rules from the latest edition of GURPS Horror to serve as the basis for the Ego’s equivalent of Fatigue and Hit Points, respectively. Finally, I’d calculate Basic Speed off of either Perception or Perception and IQ: either Per/2 or (Per + IQ) / 4.

Morphs would provide ST, DX, HT, FP, HP, and Move outright; they might also provide modifiers to the Ego’s Attributes; in particular, I could see limiting the character’s effective Basic Speed to the lower of the Ego’s Speed or the Morph’s Speed; and the Morph might likewise impose similar limits on IQ, Perception, Will, and/or Charisma, with the more stringent the restrictions translating to a built-in level of Stress and/or Derangement that persists until the Ego has successfully adapted to the Morph.

This does sound like an intriguing idea, and I quite like how morph and Ego both set minimums. However, it still seems like IQ would completely dominate, since so many skills are based on IQ. Additionally, what happens to ST, DX and HT-based skills? Purchasing them is, of course, easy, since GURPS purchases are largely independent of the Attribute (as skills are just a modifier to the Attribute, effectively), but this sets them strongly apart from IQ, where you can use a purchased IQ-increase to boost you skills across the board.