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Old 09-28-2021, 01:03 PM   #1
Pursuivant
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Default Three More Cinematic Rules Ideas

These rules seem to apply in just about every science fiction franchise where the protagonists are military or paramilitary officers (e.g., Stargate 1, Star Trek, Star Wars).

General Excellence, Private Mediocrity

Characters get a bonus equal to any relevant Rank or Courtesy Rank to perform tasks directly related to their current or former occupation and to their current orders, not just in social situations.

For example, a normally chair-bound Brigadier General (Rank 6) gets a +6 bonus to Hiking or Stealth if their duty requires them to go behind enemy lines, while an Airborne Ranger NCO (Rank 2) only gets a +2 bonus.

If the GM uses this rule, levels of Rank or Courtesy Rank can be treated as a Talent worth 15 points per level, plus the base cost of the Rank itself.

Universal Assistive Gadgets

Ultra-tech gadgets actually assist their users, exponentially improving their skill!

Devices which share a very similar interface (e.g., a standardized display screen across all equipment used by the character's organization) allow untrained users to ignore up to 4 points of penalties for using a gadget using a default skill (i.e., typically no penalty to use Easy or Average skills at a default, -1 for Hard, -2 or more for Very Hard).

Trained users get a +4 "routine operation" bonus to perform any task for which the device was designed, even in emergencies or combat - as long as the equipment was designed to function in such situations. Jury-rigged or non-standard uses of a device, including attempts to sabotage it, don't get this bonus.

Devices which use vaguely-related assistive interfaces or which obviously perform the same function as a familiar gadget (e.g., an alien computer vs. a human computer) only reduce penalties for default use by 1 level, and only give trained users a +2 bonus, and only for tasks which directly correlate to whatever gadgets the user is familiar with.

Time Passes More Quickly At The Speed of Light

Time required for to build gadgets, perform medical procedure, do research, or make major vehicle repairs can be reduced by one or more orders of magnitude as long as the characters are aboard an at least partially-functional starship or similar large, fast-moving vehicle and have access to equipment good enough to negate penalties for skill use.

Additionally, skill penalties for Taking Less Time are halved while on board as long as the person performing the task isn't directly facing imminent danger.

Last edited by Pursuivant; 09-28-2021 at 01:07 PM.
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Old 09-28-2021, 03:39 PM   #2
naloth
 
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Default Re: Three More Cinematic Rules Ideas

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
General Excellence, Private Mediocrity
Linking rank to a talent seems like a bad idea. Either you're forcing two unrelated traits to be purchased together or offering a discount to make officers worth more than their points would otherwise indicate. Besides, in an SG1 or Trek setting where you're playing officers, they are better because they are the focus of the game. I suspect if you're playing "ST: The Lower Decks" the ensigns will be secretly running the show.

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Universal Assistive Gadgets
This could be a good genre switch, especially where you don't want to force characters to feel the need to buy up a bunch of skills that won't be used often.

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Time Passes More Quickly At The Speed of Light
I'd swap this for some sort of "Time is relative to plot" type setting. There's always time for a deathbed speech even when the bomb is about to go off. Somehow it's just possible to make a vaccine before everyone dies. That sort of thing.
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Old 09-28-2021, 08:34 PM   #3
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Default Re: Three More Cinematic Rules Ideas

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Originally Posted by naloth View Post
I'd swap this for some sort of "Time is relative to plot" type setting. There's always time for a deathbed speech even when the bomb is about to go off. Somehow it's just possible to make a vaccine before everyone dies. That sort of thing.
"To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time." - Leonard Bernstein.
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Old 09-30-2021, 05:59 AM   #4
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Default Re: Three More Cinematic Rules Ideas

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Originally Posted by transmetahuman View Post
To bring it on-topic, I guess you could literally have a "Time Stops For Schmaltz" campaign switch. I'd have to hate you for it, though. 😋
It's not only for romance: often movies (especially action ones) go way over their heads to create an arbitrary countdown to run against.

You could almost treat it as an advantage: Countdown Daredevil, +1 to all actions as long as you are racing against time (+5 if the check is to decrease time required for a prolonged task, you know the usual "It takes 3 hours, you got 10 minutes")
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Old 09-30-2021, 09:24 AM   #5
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Default Re: Three More Cinematic Rules Ideas

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Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
General Excellence, Private Mediocrity
Sounds like the "Authority Equals Ass-Kicking" trope, applied more generally. You do run into the issue that your suggestion makes Rank rather expensive, going from [5]/level to [20]/level (or [1]/level to [16]/level for Courtesy Rank). Perhaps that is intentional, such that players will only create high-ranking characters in a high-point-value game.

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Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
Universal Assistive Gadgets
Not really clear on where you're getting this from, and also your description is a bit confusing. You say for untrained users it ignores up to -4 in penalties, but then indicate it makes characters function at Attribute+0 for Easy/Average, -1 for Hard, and -2 for Very Hard, which is more consistent with ignoring up to -5 in penalties. Seeing as trained users get a +4 when using the gadget, wouldn't it be simpler to just say it gives a +4 to any user, regardless of training? Or did you intend the "untrained" bonus to apply to any use of the skill, while the "trained" one only works for those the device was specifically designed for?

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Time Passes More Quickly At The Speed of Light
Do you intend to track ration consumption, aging, etc, or just ignore that? I assume normally travel on such vessels involves stasis or similar, to avoid pulling a Jaga.
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Old 09-30-2021, 12:21 PM   #6
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This drives me absolutely crazy. They put so much effort into showing us how time is critically short, ratcheting up the tension, EVERY MOMENT COUNTS! Or WE HAVE NO IDEA WHEN IT WILL BLOW!
That's a staple of just about any genre.

I was recently watching one of the new Star Trek franchises and there was a scene where the bridge crew had 4+ minutes until something terrible happened and and then spent 2+ minutes - on-camera time - talking about what to do.

Likewise, there was another scene where a bomb as about to go off in less than 2 minutes & the characters in scene spent at least a minute on talking and drama before doing anything useful.

I call this:

Time Enough For Drama

While speech which is directly related to game mechanics follows the normal rules (e.g., seconds required to cast a spell or Ready voice-operated equipment), speeches or dialogues which just enhance roleplaying are always treated as Free Actions.

All such verbiage is treated as taking just 1 second to deliver, regardless of its actual duration.

Finally, any character can make a purely dramatic speech as a Dying Action, even if they would otherwise be incapable of speaking, and don't need to make HT rolls to avoid death for the duration of their speech.

(The last bit is a centuries-old dramatic trope. E.g., Mimi singing a heroic operatic aria while dying of consumption at the end of La Boheme or Romeo delivering a a dramatic line after he drinks poison at the end of Romeo & Juliet.)

Last edited by Pursuivant; 09-30-2021 at 01:27 PM.
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Old 09-30-2021, 12:27 PM   #7
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Default Re: Three More Cinematic Rules Ideas

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Originally Posted by Opellulo View Post
You could almost treat it as an advantage: Countdown Daredevil, +1 to all actions as long as you are racing against time (+5 if the check is to decrease time required for a prolonged task, you know the usual "It takes 3 hours, you got 10 minutes")
This is brilliant!

Assuming that it's not adopted a standard cinematic rule, it's perfect for cinematic gadgeteers & technicians.

Alternately, you could treat it as Higher Purpose ("Beat the Clock") which only reduces penalties for lack of time.

It's cousin would be Higher Purpose ("Beat the Odds") which only reduces penalties to skill for extremely difficult circumstances (e.g., -5 or worse to skill) or vastly superior opposition. Perfect for those cinematic heroes who regularly hit "million to one" chances with a precision which would make a Las Vegas odds-maker weep.
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Old 09-30-2021, 01:25 PM   #8
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Default Re: Three More Cinematic Rules Ideas

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Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
Sounds like the "Authority Equals Ass-Kicking" trope, applied more generally. You do run into the issue that your suggestion makes Rank rather expensive, going from [5]/level to [20]/level (or [1]/level to [16]/level for Courtesy Rank). Perhaps that is intentional, such that players will only create high-ranking characters in a high-point-value game.
Grossly inflated costs to Rank/Status, etc. are required for game balance.

Universal Assistive Gadgets
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Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
Not really clear on where you're getting this from, and also your description is a bit confusing.
The genre trope is that aboard any starship, even an alien one, the main characters can step up to any crew station and use it virtually unimpaired. No penalties for TL difference, lack of Familiarity, physiology differences, lack of shared languages, etc.

Other than dramatic necessity, the only way to explain such competence is that the controls are actually helping the users do their job. Think of it as a superpowered and actually useful "autocorrecting" expert system.

Furthermore, it seems like Star Trek, etc. equipment is specifically designed for most sorts of emergency use, which effectively makes it "Routine Use."

In one of the recent Star Trek franchises, they actually lampshaded my idea, with far-future consoles which actually adapt to the user's hands & operating styles and the ability to customize even lower-TL workstations to suit a particular user. (The latter is essentially the Equipment Bond perk, however.)

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Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
Seeing as trained users get a +4 when using the gadget, wouldn't it be simpler to just say it gives a +4 to any user, regardless of training? Or did you intend the "untrained" bonus to apply to any use of the skill, while the "trained" one only works for those the device was specifically designed for?
This^^^. Your description is better than mine.

The alternative, or addition, is that ultratech gadgets have a built-in skill level, say Skill level 12+(TL-9) for any sort of "intended use," including combat use. A simple Computer Operations/TL9+ skill roll is all that's needed to get the expert system to kick in.

Expert users whose trained skill exceeds the expert system's skill can "Switch to Manual" and get a bonus equal to (TL-8)x2.

E.g., Luke Skywalker's X-Wing has targeting systems with (TL10-9) = Gunner-13, plus equipment bonuses for having an Astromech Droid and associated computing power, aboard. Say effective Skill 15, plus sensor bonuses.

But Luke has Gunner skill 16+ (thanks to previous experience aboard the Millennium Falcon, great DX, & high levels of Force Power Talent), making his inherent skill far superior to that of a mere targeting computer. He switches to manual gaining a bonus of +4 to his already formidable skill. That thermal exhaust port never stood a chance.

Time Passes More Quickly At The Speed of Light
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Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
Do you intend to track ration consumption, aging, etc, or just ignore that?
Heavens, no! The rule name is intended to be sarcastic, although it's not out of place for the things you mentioned to be ignored for sake of drama.

The idea is that as long as the main characters have a suitable workshop and dramatic incentive to solve a given problem, they can make blisteringly fast progress.

An alternative idea is that for each TL above TL8, time required to perform a task using at least Basic Tools is reduced by an order of magnitude. Sort of like reduced Bandaging times for Ultratech First Aid, but on Coridian Interphasic Myogenic Steroids.

Good-Quality facilities give another x10 time reduction, while Fine-Quality facilities give an x100 time reduction.

Highly skilled characters can also trade Skill for Time, but each -1 to skill gives a further x10 time reduction.

E.g., Dr. McCoy/Crusher/Bashir/EMH-1/Culber must find a cure for an alien plague which will kill its victims in just 4 hours. While a primitive TL8 research team might flounder for decades trying to come up with a cure, TL12 Starfleet physicians are up to the challenge.

Basic TL12 equipment gives a x10,000 time reduction, and Fine-Quality labs reduce that time even further, allowing them to work a million times faster.

Furthermore, Dr. Protagonist has relevant skills at level 18+, so they can take a -3 penalty to skill and work x1000 times faster, giving them results in a billionth of the TL8 time.

Add in TL11-12 Expert Systems and a few highly-skilled assistants working at nearly same pace and research projects which would take decades of time, thousands of skilled man-hours, and billions of dollars at TL8 get whipped out in a few hours by just one person or a small team.
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Old 09-30-2021, 04:13 PM   #9
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Default Re: Three More Cinematic Rules Ideas

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Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
Skill level 12+(TL-9)
A simpler way to say this is "Skill level TL+3".
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Old 09-30-2021, 10:50 PM   #10
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Default Re: Three More Cinematic Rules Ideas

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Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
This is brilliant!

Assuming that it's not adopted a standard cinematic rule, it's perfect for cinematic gadgeteers & technicians.

Alternately, you could treat it as Higher Purpose ("Beat the Clock") which only reduces penalties for lack of time.

It's cousin would be Higher Purpose ("Beat the Odds") which only reduces penalties to skill for extremely difficult circumstances (e.g., -5 or worse to skill) or vastly superior opposition. Perfect for those cinematic heroes who regularly hit "million to one" chances with a precision which would make a Las Vegas odds-maker weep.
Reminds me of one of my fave lines from Voyager. Janeway asks Belana for an estimate on an engineering task. Then she says she needs it in half that time. Belana basically says No, I'm an engineer, when I tell you how long it will take, that's how long it will take.
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