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Old 01-17-2019, 04:26 PM   #1
Kromm
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Default GURPS Action 5: Dictionary of Danger

They took all our guns
And locked us in the kitchen
Time to get cookin'
— Mac "Iron Chef" Steel, in Take-Out V: Tall Order
As every action fan knows, when something that could be dangerous shows up on screen, smart money says it will be burning, crushing, dismembering, or otherwise doing something terrible to somebody by the end of the scene, act, or film. Maybe it'll be an accident – but probably not. More likely the hero will be meting out hastily improvised justice to a villain who foolishly believed he had the upper hand.

When this happens, the GM can just "roll and shout" to keep the action moving . . . but gamers being gamers, that won't always be satisfying. On the other hand, delving into detailed, realistic rules is a surefire way to derail a GURPS Action campaign, which should be a cinematic, seat-of-the-pants affair, not physics homework. GURPS Action 5: Dictionary of Danger splits the difference.

This is an A-Z guide to Bad Things to do to enemies using a vast number of objects that aren't technically weapons – or simply by cleverly exploiting the environment. It provides the GM with advice on when and how to put this stuff into the game, plus dice-based methods of determining what's there when the players turn a throwaway description into the cornerstone of a cunning plan. It offers players ways to use obscure skills and clever tactics to pull victory from the jaws of defeat. Most important, it provides stats for the cinematic results.

Whether it's simple pleasures like pushing someone down an elevator shaft, or a complicated scheme involving a shark, a live wire, and an overpressurized oxygen cylinder, GURPS Action 5: Dictionary of Danger has you covered better than that lousy sidekick who handed over his gun to the villain's goons.

WARNING: Contains action violence. Use in realistic campaigns at your peril. You have been warned!


Store Link: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG37-0348
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Old 01-17-2019, 04:50 PM   #2
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Default Re: GURPS Action 5: Dictionary of Danger

This sounds amazing.
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Old 01-17-2019, 05:11 PM   #3
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Default Re: GURPS Action 5: Dictionary of Danger

I was initially a bit puzzled by this, but after reading a good chunk of it I'm really glad to have it. It answers tons of "how do you handle that?" that are going to naturally come up in lots of campaigns. For example, I'd recently been wondering about how much damage rocket exhaust ought to do, and "use thrust damage for the vehicle's ST" is a nice answer. Many of the rules, while not hyper-realistic, seem like they could be "good enough" in many realistic campaigns, where the GM might otherwise be completely at a loss for what to do.
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Old 01-17-2019, 05:15 PM   #4
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Default Re: GURPS Action 5: Dictionary of Danger

I grabbed this as soon as I saw it came out, and have been reading it all afternoon, and I must say, I love this. It's basically Jason Bourne's Christmas Wish Book, or more precisely, the book for the GM whose players want to be Bourne.
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Old 01-17-2019, 05:15 PM   #5
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Default Re: GURPS Action 5: Dictionary of Danger

This series is just going to continue to fill all my modern-ish gaming needs, isn't it?
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Old 01-17-2019, 05:21 PM   #6
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Default Re: GURPS Action 5: Dictionary of Danger

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! More Action! I always want more Action!
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Old 01-17-2019, 05:33 PM   #7
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Default Re: GURPS Action 5: Dictionary of Danger

There's only one word to describe this:

AWESOMESAUCE!
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Old 01-17-2019, 05:53 PM   #8
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Default Re: GURPS Action 5: Dictionary of Danger

Oh god just take my money now, Kromm! Though I love dungeon delving, Action! is where it's at for bang-on fun rules that work in [1]any[/i] cinematic setting. Thank you!
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Old 01-18-2019, 07:49 AM   #9
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Default Re: GURPS Action 5: Dictionary of Danger

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Thayne View Post

It answers tons of "how do you handle that?" that are going to naturally come up in lots of campaigns.
That was exactly my goal. These things are most likely to come up frequently in a GURPS Action campaign . . . but I'm positive that fans of GURPS Horror and GURPS Monster Hunters will also use the heck out of this supplement. It's just that it's more likely to be villains than heroes using the rules in the former case, while in the latter case the heroes will be seeking ways to do massive damage to things that might brush themselves off and walk away from anything less. I'm also sure that gamers who own GURPS Martial Arts will appreciate the extended lists of improvised weapons and the startling utility of Judo, Sumo Wrestling, and Wrestling for throwing, slamming, and manhandling people into danger.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Thayne View Post

Many of the rules, while not hyper-realistic, seem like they could be "good enough" in many realistic campaigns, where the GM might otherwise be completely at a loss for what to do.
I'll leave whether these rules are "good enough" for realistic campaigns to individual GMs. The rules would be "good enough" for my vision of realism, but that's more a question of consistency than strict adherence to the laws of nature. If you use all these rules together, you'll at least achieve verisimilitude, even if you don't quite reproduce OSHA, HOSDB, and NIJ statistics.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen View Post

It's basically Jason Bourne's Christmas Wish Book, or more precisely, the book for the GM whose players want to be Bourne.
Yep. My long-running secret-agents campaign was the inspiration. The masters of unarmed combat, stabbing, shooting, and blowing things up were always 100% useful in violent action scenes, but too often the cleaner, medic, wheelman, et al. felt a little left out. So I encouraged creative skill use. The entire S Is for Sports section was inspired by my willingness to let characters abuse Sports skills bought as background color, and a lot of the rules in M Is for Medical and V Is for Vehicles were things I worked out with the player of the medic and wheelman. Also, K Is for Kitchen was developed because just about all of the players seemed to want to attack people with skillets and hot peppers.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Humabout View Post

Though I love dungeon delving, Action! is where it's at for bang-on fun rules that work in [1]any[/i] cinematic setting.
Including dungeon delving, if you want. The rules for shoving people from high places, jamming them in doors, tossing them into briar patches or animal cages, cooking them in the kitchen, drowning them, dumping them into manure piles, and using hand tools as weapons all seem eminently portable to low-tech settings. The GM could even adopt the rules for blast furnaces and live wires to the Fire college and Lightning spells. In fact, it's really only the rules for big, powered industrial machinery and high-tech vehicles that are strictly inapplicable in fantasy.



And a big "No . . . thank YOU!" to all those who had kind words for the supplement!
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Old 01-18-2019, 08:19 AM   #10
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Default Re: GURPS Action 5: Dictionary of Danger

Dammit, now I have to put something else on my Warehouse wishlist!
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