How to avoid killing your player characters as GM

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Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

The only "cyberpunk" book ever made for Gurps was early 90s and so early 3e.. It mentions the Secret Service incident on the cover.

"Modern 4e cyber is in Ultratech and Bio-tech. UT also has more armor and rules for disguised armor that is very useful for cyberpunk.

Incidentally, this "soft" clothing armor helps balance melee against guns. It's base 12/4 which is DR 12 against Piercing and Cutting but only DR 4 against everything else.

Pyramid articles for past/modern/future armor also exist, such that you can develop your own Cyberpunk era armor. Here is one such suit of armor I crafted using those pyramid rules:


ARASAKA Limited SPYDER COAT:
Designed from a more utilitarian styled light “Duster” style coat, the Arasaka Spyder coat was designed with an eye towards a more fashionable “overcoat” than anything else. Made of the finest synthetic Arachnoweave, this coat will cover up to half of the throat if the collar is pulled up, otherwise none of the throat if pulled down. In addition, it covers the entirety of the users arms and torso, right down to the user’s knees. Available in many colors and as of this time, 14 different patterns, the Spyder Coat released Fall of 2047, will be a good addition to any executive’s clothing wardrobe. This clothing is for discriminating buyers whose wealth demands both style and functionality. Anyone who recognizes this as an Arasaka Limited, will usually be suitably impressed – as the coat itself is almost as expensive as a small car.

Cost: $39,000
Weight: 8.2 lbs

Game specifics: This armor can be targeted using the chinks in armor rules. Its DR is 24/6 – 24 against bullets, and 6 against other forms of attacks. Time to don is 3 seconds for full DR, or 2 seconds but with a gap in armor with a DR 0 (the front being unbuttoned/unzipped) that is visible from the front.

Note: the standard Overcoat used by Arasaka employees or Guards costs as little as $9,800 for essentially the same stats. The difference between the Spyder Coat and the workman's duster is a matter of status. Wearing a Standard Arasaka Duster as a common workman will not gain the +3 bonus for wealth that the Spyder Coat does.


Arachnoweave Balaclava - covers the face, skull, and neck, leaving only the eyes exposed. Comes in multiple colors such as black, grey, white, along with urban camouflage and battlefield camouflage patterns of various nations.

Cost: $1,300
Weight: 2.2 lbs

DR 24/

Unlike the Duster style armor, the balaclava does not suffer from chinks in armor rule.


You won't find these in the GURPS ULTRATECH because they are built using the Pyramid rules I've alluded to in the past. It is simple work to craft an excel spreadsheet that permits one to handle ALL of the calculations on the fly where you simply select an armor material, fit type, character weight (in case you want to have fitted armor for someone who is 210 lbs instead of the stock standard 150 lbs.) along with the area you want covered. I've set mine up so that I can either have coverage for an entire area such as Torso, or I can simply armor just parts of the torso.

The spreadsheet is not hard to create. Google how to create drop down lists in Excel, along with liberal use of Vlookup, and you can easily create a database of armor materials, weight per DR, cost per pound, etc - until the entire spreadsheet can do all the grunt work for you.