GURPS: Remnant: Fan-made rules for adventuring in the world of RWBY

GreatWyrmGold · 08-23-2015, 07:49 PM

I am on a roll today.

Dust

Dust is a substance which is mined from the ground and then processed. Theoretically, it can be used for anything if you mix it right—in the same way that you can theoretically achieve anything if you try hard enough.
There are four basic types of Dust—Air, Fire, Earth, and Water.[sup]1[/sup] These can be mixed to create other types—electric, ice, glass, etc, as well as various industrial compounds. All Dust contains energy in great density, making it an ideal fuel; however, it is unstable in its natural state.
Dust can be found as raw powder, or processed into crystals; the powder is easier to combine than the crystals, but less stable. Some industrial and most martial uses prefer powder, due to the ease of starting the reaction, but most civilian users of Dust prefer crystals. A few other forms of Dust, such as suspending Dust powder in a gelatin, exist[sup]2[/sup]; none are used nearly as frequently as powder or crystal, however.
Nearly all advanced technology on Remnant is based on Dust[sup]3[/sup]. Dust powers everything, generally using either powdered Dust as fuel or small Dust-crystal batteries[sup]4[/sup]. Much also uses the properties of Dust in other ways, forming the basis of computers and in particular the crude "artificial intelligences" powering many robots.

Dust and History

The introduction to the first episode of RWBY contains a brief description of ancient times on Remnant. Once, mankind was threatened by Grimm; then, Dust was discovered, giving mankind a foothold and enough strength to drive back the darkness. They thereafter used Dust, steel, and so forth to make their civilizations greater, larger, and stronger.

REF

In GURPS, REF is a measurement of how explosive a substance is, pound for pound, compared to TNT. To estimate this, I compared the explosion caused by Ruby sneezing[sup]5[/sup] to TNT explosions of various sizes; I eventually estimated that one caused by 1.5 pounds of TNT, only less smoky[sup]6[/sup]. (The smoke and lack of scale made this difficult to determine—if someone has a better estimate, let me know.) However, only the Dust in the air exploded—the bottle was still 80-90% full! It looked to contain about six to eight fluid ounces of Dust when full, meaning that somewhere between 0.6 and 1.6 fluid ounces of Dust exploded[sup]7[/sup]. According to Wolfram Alpha, if Dust has the density of glass or rock, the Dust which exploded weighed roughly 50-120 grams[sup]8[/sup]. I'm leaning towards the lower ends of the volume and Dust-used estimates, so I'll pick 75 grams as my number. This is roughly one-ninth of the 1.5 lbs of TNT I compared the explosion to, so we have an REF of nine for Fire Dust—50% more than stabilized metallic hydrogen!.
Other forms of Dust probably have different explosive potentials, but we don't know for sure, and lack any explosions for comparison. The following numbers are...basically made-up. Water Dust is the lowest, with an REF of 6; Earth Dust has 7, while Air Dust has an REF of 8. Mixed Dust has other explosive values, intermediate between its components; for instance, Dust used for fuel generally has an REF of 7-8, while electric Dust (a volatile mix of Air and Fire) has an REF of about 8.7.
Dust deals some of its damage with burning rather than crushing damage. Subtract six from its REF; this is the number of dice rolled which deal burning damage, while the rest deal crushing.[sup]9[/sup] Mixed Dust rounds to the nearest number. Alternatively, divide the damage up as a ratio—Fire Dust deals half burning and half crushing damage, while Ice Dust (REF 6.5) would deal one-twelfth burning damage.
(The GM should feel free to adjust these rules—they aren't based as firmly in canon, fanon, or logic as many I'm making are.)
Dust powder and crystals have the same REF; crystals have the same energy density as powder, just in a more stable form. Dust gel has a fraction of the REF as normal Dust, ranging from 0.5 to 0.1 depending on the concentration. This does not change the ratio of burning to crushing damage.
All of the above rules assume either an intentional IED or accidental, sudden detonation; most intentional uses of Dust release energy more slowly. Dust can detonate when dropped, like nitroglycerine. Fire Dust powder detonates on a 10+, Air on a 11+, Water on a 13+, and Earth on a roll of 14+. Crystals add two to these numbers, and most mixed Dust tends to be more stable than pure Dust (by design); for instance, most fuel Dust (primarily Fire and Air, and almost always powder) will generally detonate on a roll of 12+. It is difficult—perhaps impossible—to make Dust powder only detonate on rolls of 16+ or higher. Naturally, striking the Dust will make it detonate more readily—subtract the maximum damage an attack (such as a punch) can do from the number required to detonate it.

Abilities

Most characters cannot possess Dust-based abilities except as part of a weapon (Author's Note: I'll get to that).
For simplicity, most characters are usually assumed to usually have access to practically unlimited amounts of Dust on their person; once they are out, they must spend five seconds replacing the Dust in their weapon. For extreme simplicity, the type of Dust possessed is not tracked. For less-simple-icity, Dust is tracked separately for different weapons.

Dust is an Energy Reserve (Limited Use, 1, Fast Reload, -20%; Nuisance Effect, explodes on damage*, -5%; Nuisance Effect, flashy, -5%; Nuisance Effect, weapon-limited, -5%); it costs two points per point of Dust ER. This is added to a weapon's point cost before gadget and similar limitations.
*Explosions cause 6dx0.03x damage, where x is the number of points of Dust ER a character has in a weapon. Targeting the Dust receptacle on a weapon requires a roll to attack the weapon with an additional -3; they essentially never happen by accident. If an attack penetrates DR—including Aura, if appropriate—it causes an explosion. The explosion deals triple damage to the weapon itself, and DR has no effect!** If the weapon is not destroyed, internal damage forces it to be repaired.
**If the weapon is somehow protected by Aura or a similar effect after the explosion—despite not having any such protection preventing the explosion—that may be applied after tripling damage.

Footnotes

1: The identity of the four types is...not agreed-upon. Some argue that they are fire, lightning, ice, and wind; others take more unusual stances, or mix the "energetic" and "elemental" interpretations. The details do not matter here, however.
2: This is not supported by canon, but very little about how Dust is actually used is, so...
3: This is generally accepted, though not always to the extent I take it. Still, there are fans who say that Remnant has Dust-based agriculture and metallurgy—I'm not the worst.
4: TNT has an energy density of 4.6 MJ/kg, according to Wikipedia, while the lithium-ion batteries in my laptop are closer to 0.4[sup]10[/sup]. This means that TNT contains about ten times as much energy, by weight, as a charged laptop battery. (It's harder to discharge slowly and even harder to recharge, though.) Dust has an energy density several times higher than TNT. Even the small Dust crystals which would be required to power devices like their Scrolls[sup]11[/sup] would have battery lives superior to those of many real-world electronics! It's uncertain if they can be recharged, though.
5: This makes more sense in context. (Not much, though.)
6: This means the explosion did something like 6dx2.5 damage, around 50 on average. Given the relatively unscathed appearance of all parties nearby—including Weak Aura Poster Girl Weiss Schnee[sup]12[/sup]
7: The upper bound is more than twice the lower. Oh, these estimations are going just swell...
8: Okay, more like 45-125, but I have to round inward at some point, right?
9: GURPS explosives always roll exactly six dice for damage, multiplied by something based on the mass and REF of the explosive.
10: Wikipedia cites a lower bound of 0.36 and notes the lack of a citation for the upper bound of 0.875. Nice of them to be honest.
11: Basically collapsible smartphones. Except the ones big enough to be collapsible tablets.
12: Do not call her this[sup]13[/sup].
13: Actually, do. It sounds hilarious.

08-23-2015, 07:49 PM	#14
GreatWyrmGold Join Date: Oct 2011	Re: GURPS: Remnant: Fan-made rules for adventuring in the world of RWBY I am on a roll today. Dust Dust is a substance which is mined from the ground and then processed. Theoretically, it can be used for anything if you mix it right—in the same way that you can theoretically achieve anything if you try hard enough. There are four basic types of Dust—Air, Fire, Earth, and Water.[sup]1[/sup] These can be mixed to create other types—electric, ice, glass, etc, as well as various industrial compounds. All Dust contains energy in great density, making it an ideal fuel; however, it is unstable in its natural state. Dust can be found as raw powder, or processed into crystals; the powder is easier to combine than the crystals, but less stable. Some industrial and most martial uses prefer powder, due to the ease of starting the reaction, but most civilian users of Dust prefer crystals. A few other forms of Dust, such as suspending Dust powder in a gelatin, exist[sup]2[/sup]; none are used nearly as frequently as powder or crystal, however. Nearly all advanced technology on Remnant is based on Dust[sup]3[/sup]. Dust powers everything, generally using either powdered Dust as fuel or small Dust-crystal batteries[sup]4[/sup]. Much also uses the properties of Dust in other ways, forming the basis of computers and in particular the crude "artificial intelligences" powering many robots. Dust and History The introduction to the first episode of RWBY contains a brief description of ancient times on Remnant. Once, mankind was threatened by Grimm; then, Dust was discovered, giving mankind a foothold and enough strength to drive back the darkness. They thereafter used Dust, steel, and so forth to make their civilizations greater, larger, and stronger. REF In GURPS, REF is a measurement of how explosive a substance is, pound for pound, compared to TNT. To estimate this, I compared the explosion caused by Ruby sneezing[sup]5[/sup] to TNT explosions of various sizes; I eventually estimated that one caused by 1.5 pounds of TNT, only less smoky[sup]6[/sup]. (The smoke and lack of scale made this difficult to determine—if someone has a better estimate, let me know.) However, only the Dust in the air exploded—the bottle was still 80-90% full! It looked to contain about six to eight fluid ounces of Dust when full, meaning that somewhere between 0.6 and 1.6 fluid ounces of Dust exploded[sup]7[/sup]. According to Wolfram Alpha, if Dust has the density of glass or rock, the Dust which exploded weighed roughly 50-120 grams[sup]8[/sup]. I'm leaning towards the lower ends of the volume and Dust-used estimates, so I'll pick 75 grams as my number. This is roughly one-ninth of the 1.5 lbs of TNT I compared the explosion to, so we have an REF of nine for Fire Dust—50% more than stabilized metallic hydrogen!. Other forms of Dust probably have different explosive potentials, but we don't know for sure, and lack any explosions for comparison. The following numbers are...basically made-up. Water Dust is the lowest, with an REF of 6; Earth Dust has 7, while Air Dust has an REF of 8. Mixed Dust has other explosive values, intermediate between its components; for instance, Dust used for fuel generally has an REF of 7-8, while electric Dust (a volatile mix of Air and Fire) has an REF of about 8.7. Dust deals some of its damage with burning rather than crushing damage. Subtract six from its REF; this is the number of dice rolled which deal burning damage, while the rest deal crushing.[sup]9[/sup] Mixed Dust rounds to the nearest number. Alternatively, divide the damage up as a ratio—Fire Dust deals half burning and half crushing damage, while Ice Dust (REF 6.5) would deal one-twelfth burning damage. (The GM should feel free to adjust these rules—they aren't based as firmly in canon, fanon, or logic as many I'm making are.) Dust powder and crystals have the same REF; crystals have the same energy density as powder, just in a more stable form. Dust gel has a fraction of the REF as normal Dust, ranging from 0.5 to 0.1 depending on the concentration. This does not change the ratio of burning to crushing damage. All of the above rules assume either an intentional IED or accidental, sudden detonation; most intentional uses of Dust release energy more slowly. Dust can detonate when dropped, like nitroglycerine. Fire Dust powder detonates on a 10+, Air on a 11+, Water on a 13+, and Earth on a roll of 14+. Crystals add two to these numbers, and most mixed Dust tends to be more stable than pure Dust (by design); for instance, most fuel Dust (primarily Fire and Air, and almost always powder) will generally detonate on a roll of 12+. It is difficult—perhaps impossible—to make Dust powder only detonate on rolls of 16+ or higher. Naturally, striking the Dust will make it detonate more readily—subtract the maximum damage an attack (such as a punch) can do from the number required to detonate it. Abilities Most characters cannot possess Dust-based abilities except as part of a weapon (Author's Note: I'll get to that). For simplicity, most characters are usually assumed to usually have access to practically unlimited amounts of Dust on their person; once they are out, they must spend five seconds replacing the Dust in their weapon. For extreme simplicity, the type of Dust possessed is not tracked. For less-simple-icity, Dust is tracked separately for different weapons. Dust is an Energy Reserve (Limited Use, 1, Fast Reload, -20%; Nuisance Effect, explodes on damage, -5%; Nuisance Effect, flashy, -5%; Nuisance Effect, weapon-limited, -5%); it costs two points per point of Dust ER. This is added to a weapon's point cost before* gadget and similar limitations. Explosions cause 6dx0.03x damage, where x is the number of points of Dust ER a character has in a weapon. Targeting the Dust receptacle on a weapon requires a roll to attack the weapon with an additional -3; they essentially never* happen by accident. If an attack penetrates DR—including Aura, if appropriate—it causes an explosion. The explosion deals triple damage to the weapon itself, and DR has no effect! If the weapon is not destroyed, internal damage forces it to be repaired. If the weapon is somehow protected by Aura or a similar effect after the explosion—despite not having any such protection preventing the explosion—that may be applied after tripling damage. Footnotes 1: The identity of the four types is...not agreed-upon. Some argue that they are fire, lightning, ice, and wind; others take more unusual stances, or mix the "energetic" and "elemental" interpretations. The details do not matter here, however. 2: This is not supported by canon, but very little about how Dust is actually used is, so... 3: This is generally accepted, though not always to the extent I take it. Still, there are fans who say that Remnant has Dust-based agriculture and metallurgy—I'm not the worst. 4: TNT has an energy density of 4.6 MJ/kg, according to Wikipedia, while the lithium-ion batteries in my laptop are closer to 0.4[sup]10[/sup]. This means that TNT contains about ten times as much energy, by weight, as a charged laptop battery. (It's harder to discharge slowly and even harder to recharge, though.) Dust has an energy density several times higher than TNT. Even the small Dust crystals which would be required to power devices like their Scrolls[sup]11[/sup] would have battery lives superior to those of many real-world electronics! It's uncertain if they can be recharged, though. 5: This makes more sense in context. (Not much, though.) 6: This means the explosion did something like 6dx2.5 damage, around 50 on average. Given the relatively unscathed appearance of all parties nearby—including Weak Aura Poster Girl Weiss Schnee[sup]12[/sup] 7: The upper bound is more than twice the lower. Oh, these estimations are going just swell... 8: Okay, more like 45-125, but I have to round inward at some point, right? 9: GURPS explosives always roll exactly six dice for damage, multiplied by something based on the mass and REF of the explosive. 10: Wikipedia cites a lower bound of 0.36 and notes the lack of a citation for the upper bound of 0.875. Nice of them to be honest. 11: Basically collapsible smartphones. Except the ones big enough to be collapsible tablets. 12: Do not call her this[sup]13[/sup]. 13: Actually, do. It sounds hilarious.