(Unofficial) FAQ of the GURPS Fora

[vicky_molokh]

What do the various skill and attribute levels mean?

Skill levels.
Attribute levels.

[vicky_molokh]

How do the Surprise (Partial Surprise/Total Surprise) rules work?

Originally Posted by Kromm

In brief:

• Partial surprise is used when:
  
  
  1. Two hostile parties are moving blind to one another and suddenly encounter each other, leading to a hasty encounter battle. This is likely when the two parties are patrolling or searching, and through blind luck step out from concealment and run into each other at engagement range. For this, roll initiative and follow the rules under Partial Surprise.
     
     
  2. One party successfully sneaks up on another party that was expecting trouble. This is normally the result of winning a Quick Contest of Camouflage, Shadowing, Stealth, or similar vs. the prey's Per score or Observation skill. Don't roll for initiative! The Quick Contest above replaces the initiative roll, and victory at sneaking automatically gives the initiative to the sneaky party. The surprised party is affected as described under Partial Surprise.*
  
  
• Total surprise is used when one party successfully sneaks up on another party that wasn't expecting trouble. The dice rolls work like the second case above, except that winning the Quick Contest means the surprised party is affected as noted under Total Surprise.

* This is the case that applies in the OP.

[Buzzardo]

Originally Posted by entitivity

GURPS Campaigns says this of attempting a concentrate maneuver while grappled:

GURPS Magic says this of casting while being grappled:

I take the above to mean that if you are grappled, you cannot begin a concentrate manuever, but if you are already concentrating and someone grapples you, you can attempt to finish what you started. Is this correct?

Originally Posted by Kromm

That is correct. Starting a Concentrate maneuver isn't an option whilst grappled. You're allowed to complete one you've already started, though, by making a Will-3 roll.

(I hope no one minds that I added the uFAQ, but it seems like a reasonable addition.)

[DanHoward]

Just read the FAQ's. This one isn't right

3.5.3 Why is chain mail suddenly much better at stopping impaling attacks in Fourth Edition?

We felt that Third Edition mail's vulnerability to impaling weapons didn't pass a reality check. The weapons fine enough to pierce the rings of TL2-3 mail didn't come along until TL4, by which time the mail was fine enough to avoid most of the consequences.

There are plenty of TL2 and TL3 weapons that are as narrow as a TL4 stiletto but there are very very few instances of mail with links large enough to allow a stiletto to slip through a gap in the weave. These weapons were used to bust apart the link, the gaps in mail are not large enough to slip through.

The real reason why GURPS "chainmail" was vulnerable to impaling is because it was modelled on SCA butted mail, which is susceptible to impaling (and retains this vulnerability in LT 4e). Butted links can be pushed apart very easily because the join is not fastened. SCA mail is also the reason why GURPS chainmail is unrealistically heavy. Mail that was historically used in battle was not butted; it was riveted. Riveted mail is much better at resisting impaling damage and is generally much lighter than butted mail.

[vicky_molokh]

Q: Should Darkness Penalties somehow affect Defense Rolls?

A: Aside from RAW, you can use the optional rule that every -2 worth of Darkness Penalties also give a -1 Defense Penalty (basically, -2 to skill is -1 to defense). In that case, you should probably apply half the Darkness Penalty to Dodge for consistency.

[vicky_molokh]

Q: I'm wondering, what are the assumptions about the default traits of a character?

A: Kromm writes:
"The game assumes that a human not only has ST 10, DX 10, IQ 10, HT 10, HP 10, Will 10, Per 10, FP 10, Basic Speed 5.00, and Basic Move 5, but is someone who . . .

. . . is a member of the setting's dominant sapient race.
. . . has Status 0, and in fact has a Status rating at all.
. . . has a Wealth of Average, and starts with campaign starting money.
. . . has a TL, because his/her racial average IQ is high enough.
. . . has a culture, because his/her racial average IQ is high enough.
. . . has a language, because his/her racial average IQ is high enough.
. . . can articulate that language.
. . . has an Appearance of Average vis-à-vis other humans.
. . . has sex-differentiated positive Appearance, if he/she has positive Appearance.
. . . can have any mundane advantage or disadvantage, but can't have exotic or supernatural ones.
. . . is self-aware and creative.
. . . can learn and improve skills and attributes.
. . . has senses of vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.
. . . can see color, depth, and motion in a 180° forward arc, including 30° of peripheral vision on each side.
. . . sees in the spectrum that starts after IR on the long-wave end and ends before UV on the short-wave end.
. . . has poor night vision but good light tolerance.
. . . hears in the frequency range 40 Hz to 20 kHz.
. . . has no intrinsic supernatural awareness, yet has the innate ability to resist supernatural attack even when unaware or unconscious.
. . . has a vertical, upright posture.
. . . isn't blob- or box-shaped, and so bases SM strictly on height.
. . . has a head -- with two ears, two eyes, one nose, and one mouth -- atop a vulnerable neck.
. . . has two arms that end in hands with fingers, two legs that end in feet with toes, and no other limbs.
. . . has a master hand and an "off" hand.
. . . has a bodily layout that allows catching, climbing, digging, dodging, dragging, hiking, jumping, lifting, running, striking, swimming, and wrestling.
. . . uses consistently the same ST and DX for all of these purposes.
. . . can deal thrust and swing damage based on ST.
. . . can lift weights based on Basic Lift calculated from ST.
. . . has a default Water Move of 1/5 Basic Move and a default Air Move of 0.
. . . has native conditions of a 21:78 O2/N2 atmosphere at 1 atm of pressure, a temperature of 35°F to 90°F, and 1 g of gravity.
. . . must breathe, but not so constantly that injury results instantly from pausing for a while.
. . . must eat and drink three times a day, but almost any organic matter will do except for a few things specifically described as "poison."
. . . must sleep approximately 8 hours a night.
. . . is vulnerable to acid, disease, heat and cold outside natural limits, poison, radiation, vacuum, etc.
. . . is living, not unliving, homogenous, or diffuse.
. . . bleeds when injured.
. . . suffers extra injury when hit in the skull, neck, or vitals.
. . . risks unconsciousness at 0 HP, death at -HP, certain death at -5×HP, and bodily destruction at -10×HP.
. . . heals naturally, but doesn't regenerate.
. . . benefits from drugs manufactured by human society.
. . . ages, and gets 32 years of optimal capability, between maturity at age 18 and possible decline due to aging at age 50.
. . . has FP in the first place, and so can use extra effort.
. . . gets one turn per second."

If any of those things isn't true, then you have to account for it in a racial template. Exceptions won't always cost points -- often, features will do the trick. However, you must still account for them; statements like "one of these things won't be true, so these others won't, either" don't cut it.

[vicky_molokh]

Q: What are the differences and nuances of Empathy, Body Language, Psychology and Detect Lies?

A: Kromm has it sorted out!

Originally Posted by Kromm

There's a whole mess of traits here, but no two are exactly alike. The important bits:

Empathy

What It Is: The near-psychic ability to spot impersonators, pod people, possessed individuals, and traitors instantly with an IQ roll. Fringe benefits include detecting that someone is lying in general by making an IQ roll, and +3 to Detect Lies, Fortune-Telling, and Psychology.

When It Works: When you meet the subject in person. You don't necessarily have to see him, but you must come within touching distance of him.

Limitations: Doesn't work on IQ 0-5 entities or on spirits. Doesn't work outside of personal meetings. Its lie-detection ability is vague, and only reveals whether any lying is going on, not the specific bits that are lies, much less the truth.

Illustrations: If anybody in The Matrix had Empathy, they'd have strung up Cypher as soon as he cut his deal. If any of Mystique's enemies had Empathy, her power would be kind of useless.

Detect Lies (untrained use at Per-6 • defaults to Body Language and Psychology at -4 • gives Body Language at -4 • Empathy gives +3)

What It Is: The studied, fairly realistic ability to tell when somebody is lying, primarily from voice stress and word choice. It resists each attempt to lie to you; your subject rolls IQ, Acting, or Fast-Talk. Victory reveals whether a particular statement was a lie – a trick that's beyond simple Empathy (although someone with Empathy could add +3 to the default of Per-6 to try this at Per-3).

When It Works: Whenever you can hear your subject speaking. You do not have to see or even be very near him! This works on dictators giving shouted speeches at rallies or on the radio, and even over the telephone.

Limitations: Does nothing until the subject speaks. Doesn't detect emotions, hidden features, motives, or truths – only lies. Can be defeated by someone with high Acting or Fast-Talk.

Illustrations: This is the classic detective ability in police drama, where the cops behind the one-way glass listen to the interview with the suspect, and one of them suddenly says, "He's lying!"

Body Language (no untrained use • defaults to Detect Lies and Psychology at -4 • gives Detect Lies at -4)

What It Is: The studied, fairly realistic ability to read physical "tells." Can spot impersonators and strong emotions (but nothing as weird as possession or pod people) like Empathy, and lying like Detect Lies, by observing someone. A fringe benefit is being able to spot physical tension: "He's going for a weapon!", "He flinched when you said 'England.' He may be a British agent.", etc.

When It Works: Whenever you can see your subject. You do not have to hear or even be very near him! This works on dictators gesticulating at rallies or on TV, and even via camera or other remote optics.

Limitations: Does nothing if you can't see your subject; hearing or even touching him isn't enough. Doesn't detect motives or hidden features – just lies and impersonation. Empathy gives no bonus.

Illustrations: This is a traditional bodyguard skill, used to spot fake guards and people going for guns. This is also the classic kung fu sifu ability in martial-arts flicks, where the ancient master can tell when his student is angry, not training properly, etc. merely by looking at how he moves.

Psychology (untrained use at IQ-6 • defaults to Sociology at -4 • gives Body Language and Detect Lies at -4 • Empathy gives +3)

What It Is: The studied, fairly realistic ability to predict the general behavior of an individual in a particular situation. This can be reversed to determine whether a particular behavior or deed (e.g., a murder) suits a given person. This is the only predictive ability on this list (although someone with Empathy could add +3 to the default of IQ-6 to try this at IQ-3).

When It Works: After a lengthy period of observation or a full-length interview, possibly supplemented by scientific tests, or after reviewing a file that includes roughly the same level of data on the subject or deed of interest.

Limitations: Does nothing in short order – if you can't observe, interview, or review a file, you can't make any guesses at all. Vague, giving broad answers ("He'll resort to violence.") but never specifics ("Only one man would put deadly poison in the city's water supply."). Worthless against lies and impersonations happening right now.

Illustrations: This is the realistic profiler's ability, often used somewhat cinematically in serial-killer movies like Se7en and Silence of the Lambs.

Somebody with neither Empathy nor points in these skills has no chance of spotting motivations or impersonation on merely meeting or seeing someone, as described for Empathy and Body Language; can tell when he's being lied to in speaking with default Detect Lies at Per-6; and can predict others' behaviors from their profiles with default Psychology at IQ-6.

Highlights: Empathy allows using an IQ roll to get a general feel about a person, and to broadly detect lies. Or it can add +3 to Detect Lies instead of getting an IQ roll. Do note that while your Detect Lies skill will likely be higher than your IQ, it is a resisted skill. So think which is more advantageous - a straight roll, or a higher but resisted one. You must pick one or the other:

Originally Posted by SE37

+3 to Body Language
or Detect Lies for having Empathy (or +1 for Sensitive), but not
if Empathy was used actively to detect the same lie; empaths
may make an active roll or claim this passive bonus, not both.

Also, the post is old, and the range limit is not confirmed anywhere in the books that I know of, and is in fact contrary to certain other statements (e.g. Remote allows one to use Empathy through phones without needing to be within any specific range; Emotion Sense acts as Empathy but only acts within 2 yards).

Also note that Detect Lies is at -3 when used on written text instead of spoken/signed.

[vicky_molokh]

Q: Bladed Hand/Blade-Hand/Nekode/Neko-de + Karate gives damage comparable to, or better than, a Broadsword! What gives?

A: The damage bonus from Karate to fist/hand weapons might be exaggerated. If this is how you feel, remove the damage bonus from swing damage of fist/hand weapons. The short version: Knock footnote [4] off the first line on the table for the bladed hand.

Source.

[vicky_molokh]

Q: Why are Reaction Modifier advantages affecting almost everybody as cheap as 4-5 points per +1? They seem to be better than Talents when it comes to modifying Influence Skills (or so it seems).

A: No they aren't. Reaction Modifiers only add to Reaction Rolls and Influence Attempts; they do NOT add directly to Influence Skills. An Influence Attempt is specifically an attempt to roll an appropriate Skill to replace a Reaction Roll. Other uses of Influence Skills, such as predicting the outcome of a conversation (Diplomacy), distracting a mark with a deception (Fast-Talk), or deciding if an attire is appropriate for a person of high society (Savoire-Faire (High Society)), do not get such an automatic bonus (but the GM has the final say, as usual).

Q: Why don't you have a Social Combat system in Social Engineering (or elsewhere)? Is it really that hard? Or did nobody truly get this idea by now?

A:

Originally Posted by Kromm

[ . . . ] we didn't overlook "social combat," but consciously chose a different approach that fit better with the rest of the game. Other reviews have missed our intent . . . The fact is that we didn't want "social combat" because we didn't think it was good rules model. Our goal was to show the GM how to use the existing mechanics to shift the campaign focus onto social matters [ . . . ]

[vicky_molokh]

Q: Can I buy up Techniques and Skills from a Wildcard Skill?

A: Yes and yes. Skills covered by the Wildcard are treated as if they default to it, and can be raised at the appropriate cost. Techniques work as they always do.

Notice that raising more than two 'normal' skills per Wildcards, or raising more than 3 Techniques per 'normal' skill, is almost always a waste of points.