GURPS Thaumatology: Age of Gold

[vitruvian]

Can't believe that nobody has commented on this e23 supplement on the GURPS board yet. It's quite an effective combination of 1930s pulp and magic, I thought, though I had some quibbles, like the notion that straight-up Voudoun, not being among the common Path/Book traditions, would surprise even an expert occultist. But things like that can be easily altered by the GM, as can the prohibition on Super-Effort ST based on the setting being before the advent of Superman and true Golden Age Supers (which I'd argue based on the earlier occurrence of Hugo Danner in Philip Wylie's Gladiator, and even earlier comic strip examples such as Popeye and Hugo Hercules).

Anyway, I'm interested both in comments on the supplement in general, and suggestions or even full writeups for potential PCs, allied NPCs, or NPC villains that fit the setting. Ideas on how some of the classic Golden Age superheroes could be recast in magical/alchemical terms already occur:

Hugo Danner/Clark Kent (pre-costume) - alchemical product with the aforementioned exceptional levels of Super-ST and DR
Hourman - exceptionally powerful version of an alchemical elixir for strength
Flash - same for speed
Dr. Fate - uses both powers and spirit-assisted spells granted by Nabu, slowly being taken over by his spirit mentor
Human Torch - homunculus embodying elemental fire
Submariner - Deep One sleeper agent?
Captain America - a more recent experiment in deliberate alchemical enhancement
and so on...

[Pomphis]

Originally Posted by vitruvian

Can't believe that nobody has commented on this e23 supplement on the GURPS board yet.

I am perfectly willing to praise it just as a matter of principle, but as an oldfashioned guy I prefer to read my copy first.

[vitruvian]

Some slightly more original thoughts -

Steeler - inspired by the story of Joe Magarac (which may have been invented by a journalist in 1931), this steelworker fell into a vat of molten steel and emerged as a literal man of steel - 8x as heavy, immensely strong and durable. May need Super-Strength if he's to repeat Joe's feat of catching a 50-ton crucible...

Steeldriver - another 'brick', inspired by John Henry of course. Natural rival to Steeler, as well.

Bronze Falcon - mystery man who appears in a chainmail outfit and full-face falcon helmet, gains powers and/or spirit-assisted spells for flight and more from the powerful spirit Horus (also known as Heru-er, Ra-Horakthy, or Khemwer)

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Pomphis

I am perfectly willing to praise it just as a matter of principle, but as an oldfashioned guy I prefer to read my copy first.

I haven't downloaded and read my comp but I'll say some things based on the playtest copy I saw.

The OP is wanting to use this for a Full Gurps Golden Age Supers. He is free to do so of course but he's going beyond Age of Gold's intent. This was supposed to be pulp heroes and mystery men rather than early 4-color.

Even for Hugo Danner you don't need the Super-Effort rules. His ST is in the range where it's not effective.

You'd need some regular ST first and then at least 7 levels of ST with Super-Effort (320 pts?) for it to pay off and that's just too much. I'm not even sure Danner could lift a car over his head. Overturn it? Sure? Lift it in 2 hands? Simpler just to take the 320 pts and buy regular ST. 40 is probably enough.

If you really want to get into early Supers who fit I'd go with Dr Midnight and his ilk.

[vitruvian]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

I haven't downloaded and read my comp but I'll say some things based on the playtest copy I saw.

The OP is wanting to use this for a Full Gurps Golden Age Supers. He is free to do so of course but he's going beyond Age of Gold's intent. This was supposed to be pulp heroes and mystery men rather than early 4-color.

There's some lip service to that presented, but nothing in particular other than the prohibition on Super-Strength to back it up, in the actual product. No notes on advantages such as Flight that might be inappropriate for mystery men characters, no limits on Innate Attack damage, etc. As it stands, a 500 pt mystery man character could afford quite a bit of both, making characters such as the Human Torch real possibilities within the character creation guidelines provided.

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Even for Hugo Danner you don't need the Super-Effort rules. His ST is in the range where it's not effective.

You'd need some regular ST first and then at least 7 levels of ST with Super-Effort (320 pts?) for it to pay off and that's just too much. I'm not even sure Danner could lift a car over his head. Overturn it? Sure? Lift it in 2 hands? Simpler just to take the 320 pts and buy regular ST. 40 is probably enough.

Not even remotely. He absolutely can lift cars overhead, in addition to ripping open a five foot bank vault door, and easily catch a 4 ton falling stone, which has to be harder than lifting that same stone from the ground, but even assuming that was his max lift, he needs at least ST 70 for the lift. He's at least Super-ST +8/+50 (320 before limitations), and quite probably up to +10/+100 (400 before limitations). I'd probably go for the latter, considering that when he was really exerting himself, he was apparently able to treat 2,000 lbs of supplies as No Encumbrance, based on it not slowing him down in the slightest while he jumped at high speed across the battlefields of Europe. Of course, add in his DR of at least 50 (nothing less than a bursting artillery shell much inconveniences him) and movement abilities, and he might be more than a 500 pt character unless you really lard him down with disadvantages.

Yet he really fits within the overall theme of Age of Gold. He's the product of a prenatal serum that might as well be alchemical for all science really understands of it, and his father even speculates at one point that the ancient Egyptians might have known the formula and made use of it to aid in the building of the pyramids.... whose blocks tended to weigh anywhere between 2 and 50 tons each.

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

If you really want to get into early Supers who fit I'd go with Dr Midnight and his ilk.

Dr. Mid-nite certainly fits in with the more pulpy theme, but so do many of the others that were actually features of the Golden Age of comics - Wildcat, Hawkman, Atom, Sandman (especially in his gas mask phase), and many others.

[dataweaver]

I, too, am less interested in Age of Gold for itself than for where it can go next - although I'd be inclined to downplay the advent of superheroics in favor of more general weirdness as World War II kicks off with a vengeance.

What I see in the setting is potential: lots and lots of unrealized potential. In terms of it being a companion piece for Thaumatology, you have matters such as the discussion of how ancient India had an affinity for magical words; that's a perfect hook, IMHO, for gradually bringing Noun/Verb Magic into the setting. Another possible route would be for occult studies into Scandinavian mythology to rediscover the mystical power of the Futhark Runes - if such a discovery were made by the occult Nazis, the course of World War II could shift drastically, kicking off a magical "arms race" of dangerous proportions (especially if backed by Mass Magic). I could see the British and/or Americans responding with a new Magical School based on the discovery of Newton's the Deeper Principia, Annotated (Thaumatology pp.164-165), which in turn could spark a revolution in the field of Alchemy. Heck, that School might even replace Ritual Magic with Weird Science as its core skill, and with the Paths of the Elements, Gadgets, and Nature being available for study.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Even for Hugo Danner you don't need the Super-Effort rules. His ST is in the range where it's not effective.

You might be misremembering just how vast Danner's strength was. Wiki article listing some of the feats from the book, along with footnoted page references.

[Captain-Captain]

I am waiting to get to my FLGS (born out of the ashes of the old one) and buy the hardback Thaumatology. Supplements to that come later. ;(

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

You might be misremembering just how vast Danner's strength was. Wiki article listing some of the feats from the book, along with footnoted page references.

<shrug> Easily possibly. I haven't read Gladiator in rather a while but even carrying that 2000lbs of stuff only requires ST 100. That would give you a BL/light Enc of 2000lbs and probably handles the stone-catching too.

Killing the charging bull actually verges on the easy if you go for the Skull location. A bull only has about 20 hp under 4e. Subtract 3 pts for the actually skull bones and the multiply the rest by 4 and ST 100 (c. 11D + whatever for any HtH Skill bonuses) is overkill.

[vitruvian]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

<shrug> Easily possibly. I haven't read Gladiator in rather a while but even carrying that 2000lbs of stuff only requires ST 100. That would give you a BL/light Enc of 2000lbs and probably handles the stone-catching too.

Killing the charging bull actually verges on the easy if you go for the Skull location. A bull only has about 20 hp under 4e. Subtract 3 pts for the actually skull bones and the multiply the rest by 4 and ST 100 (c. 11D + whatever for any HtH Skill bonuses) is overkill.

'Only' ST 100 means it's in the range where Super-Strength is cost-effective, though.

Also, any stats on DR/HP for a bank vault door in the 1920s?