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06-28-2007, 10:09 AM | #1 |
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(Unofficial) FAQ of the GURPS Fora
Greetings, all!
This thread contains a collection of questions and answer that come up with a noteworthy frequency either on the forum or in the wider GURPS community, or that carry very significant implications that they're worth posting pre-emptively. They're not necessarily well-sorted, and are unwieldy to organise into neat categories despite prior attempts. So search this thread by terms of art relevant to your question. NOTICE: I'm removing those uFAQ entries that are already in the oFAQ. So the uFAQ will start looking thinner. However, it will still be used for frequent answers that did not yet get into the oFAQ (as it's updated once a month, and with a delay). EDIT: From now on, all updates will be posted in the end of the thread as regular posts before inclusion into the oFAQ (if they're deemed important enough). Possibly-useful read: Before you start using GURPS - READ THIS FIRST. If you feel there are important Krommquotes that should be added here, PM me. Last edited by vicky_molokh; 10-03-2019 at 03:32 AM. Reason: - Table of Contents removed because it's misleading |
06-28-2007, 11:06 AM | #2 |
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Re: (Unofficial) FAQ of the GURPS Fora
And I hereby give permission to anybody who feels industrious to copy my rules Q&A posts and paste them into a handy document, provided they leave them intact.
Added March 21, 2008: It is important to know what assumptions I am nearly always making in my rulings, which form the basis of many FAQ items. For the record, I assume these things (and this list will doubtless grow):
__________________
Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
06-29-2007, 12:04 AM | #3 | |||
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(u)FAQ: Advantages and Powers, part 2
***ADVANTAGES AND POWERS*** How do I build the ability to transfer FP from myself to others? Quote:
Why is a Fatigue Attack the most expensive Innate Attack? It doesn't even kill targets! Quote:
When weapons have a minimum ST requirement, can I add Arm ST, Lifting ST, and/or Striking ST to my ST for this purpose? Quote:
Last edited by vicky_molokh; 09-13-2017 at 05:51 AM. |
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06-30-2007, 02:30 AM | #4 | |||||
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(u)FAQ: COMBAT
***COMBAT*** If I have a Reach-1 weapon, and I'm attacked by a Reach-C enemy, can I Parry... ...while Retreating? ...while the enemy enters my hex? Yes and yes. Otherwise, somewhere in Martial Arts there is a passage that allows Parrying Reach-C attacks with Reach-1 weapons at a penalty even while in Close Combat. How do I scale weapons for large creatures? Quote:
Specifically, is it is just the range penalty based on linear range-(height/2) (min. 1/2 linear range) or do you also apply the penalty based on the difference in height? Quote:
So how many attacks can a character make in a turn, maximum? Quote:
Q: How obvious are negative status effects, such as being stunned, to opponents in combat? A: Quote:
A: By RAW basic rules, they don't. However, if you prefer to change that, here's a less official but still coherent way to handle them: Quote:
Last edited by vicky_molokh; 12-10-2019 at 03:56 AM. Reason: How obvious are negative status effects, such as being stunned, to opponents in combat? |
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06-30-2007, 12:10 PM | #5 | |||
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(u)FAQ: Chargen, part 1
***CHARGEN*** My archer is too slow! How do I make him as effective as mêlée fighters? Historically, archers never engaged enemies the same way swordfighters did. This was exactly because, realistically, archers can't shoot as frequently as one can swing a sword. GURPS tries to handle things realistically, most of the time. If you want a Legolas-style archer, build it the way you build other non-realistic characters: take either Innate Attack with modifiers, or the Heroic Archer advantage from the upcoming MA. As a last resort, load up on Fast-Draw (Arrow) and don't aim in combat (which doesn't net good results unless you have very high skill though). Also, check this too. GURPS offers so many possibilities! How do I choose what skills are essential for my character? Aside from the skills descibed for your Character Type (B12-13), here is a list of skills that come in handy for a mixed campaign. For more specialized campaigns, it is recommended that the GM modifies the list as appropriate. How do I measure the difficulty of enemies/bosses/monsters by point totals (compared to PCs' totals)? You don't. Balance and combat difficulty depend on combat skills, damage output, defenses etc. Point totals have little to do with that, unless you compare two 'pure' warriors (all points go to attributes and combat skills/advantages). For instance, you can have a 300-point king (Wealth, Rank etc.) and a 75-point assassin. Naturally, face-to-face, the assassin has a pretty good shot at taking the king down. See also:
What does ST 0, exactly, mean in game terms? ST 0 means you have Basic Lift 0 and can pick up nothing. If you have any encumbrance at all, even a gum wrapper, you collapse under its weight. You also have 0 damage, and can't even shove a door open or push aside a cobweb. However, you can walk and act, as long as your walking and acting doesn't involve doing anything other than moving your own body weight from A to B. Thus, air and fire elementals (p. B262) can have ST 0 without being immobilized, but can also be kept out by any barrier they can't penetrate by seeping around or burning. Note that overcoming air resistance, under normal circumstances, is considered negligible for game balance purposes. What does DX 0, exactly, mean in game terms? DX 0 mostly means that you have no useful ability to do anything DX-based at which you're not a dyed-in-the-wool, committed-to-muscle-memory master. At DX 0, even the most routine tasks that require DX rolls at +10 are a coin toss -- 10 or less -- so things that the GM normally waives rolls for now require rolls and fail half the time. Thus, the implied shove attack vs. a door or grapple attack vs. a doorknob, at +10 for utter simplicity and normally ignored, is now a 10 or less roll. You have a 50/50 chance of missing the door and fumbling around for a turn! Hurling yourself at the broad side of a barn has a 50% chance of failure, too, with a miss meaning you probably fell down trying to do it. Default skill use is doomed. Your default level -- not penalty, but level! -- is -4 (E), -5 (A), or -6 (H) with DX-based skills. Under stress, you fail. Even in perfect circumstances with a +10, you have 6, 5, or 4, fail most of the time, and critically fail on 16+, 15+, or 14+. (Remember, you only get to try to roll a 3 or 4 on a defense!) This has important implications for people using, say, Driving by default, or recreationally shooting at their Guns default. What does IQ 0, exactly, mean in game terms? IQ 0 means you're a rutabaga. Per p. B15, at IQ 0, you're mindless and unable to act without somebody possessing you and operating you via remote control. You need at least IQ 1 to have a self and be able to perceive and act at all, which includes grunting and making gestures. You need at least IQ 6 to use tools and language -- that is, to talk, wield weapons, etc. A human afflicted with -5 to IQ (making him IQ 5) is essentially a gorilla. A human hit with -10 to IQ (making him IQ 0) is essentially a mindless clone body waiting to be possessed. What does HT 0, exactly, mean in game terms? What HT 0 means is that your HT roll is against 0. Almost all crippling injuries will be "lasting," and about half will be "permanent"; any major wound in combat is likely to knock you out (failing "0 or less" by five or more is about 98% likely); almost any lethal wound in combat will kill you (unless you roll 3-6, see the (o)FAQ); and afflictions, diseases, poisons, etc., will have their way with you. If you're at HT 0 for a long time, failed HT rolls to recover HP and resist the ravages of aging will kill you eventually. However, HT 0 doesn't mean instant death or even an instant coma . . . it just means inevitable infirmity, illness, decrepitude, and death unless you live in a bubble. Also, mostly on machines: Numerous rules say, "Roll vs. HT or bust!" If a machine suffers enough damage to break down (p. B483) or fall apart (p. B484), is exposed to harsh conditions that could foul it (p. B485), is cinematically redlined (the "extra effort" option on p. 160 of Powers), is Fragile (esp. combustible, explosive, or flammable, p. B136) and exposed to damage that can trigger special injury effects, is Electrical and receives a dose of radiation (p. B436) or an electrical surge (p. 102 of Powers), is a vehicle that suffers a severe body hit that can cause power failure (p. B554), or needs to make a "structural integrity check" for any reason (to see if a rope snaps, a seal holds, etc.), then HT 0 means that, except by blind luck (a roll of 3-4), it is doomed to fail and come apart like a cheap toy. What should I do if I want an Ally who can conjure/summon/create minions of some sort? NPCs don't pay points for Allies... At this point, it becomes an important supernatural ability (esp. due to being summonable). So yeah, this is the exception when NPCs pay for their Allies. (Duplicated in Powers and Advantages.) When I want realistic, non-heroic characters, how do I benchmark their stats/traits/skills/etc.? Link to a long post. I want an ability that costs FP or HP to use, but the ability consists of several Advantages; how do I allocate the FP/HP cost limitation? For those familiar with the problem, here's a solution from Kromm: First, do not buy a Link unless the ability really needs it (see below). Second, chose an Advantage that gets the best discount for FP/HP Cost Limitation. Now, add Accessibility (Only while that main Advantage is active) -10% to all other Advantages in the ability. Unlike switchability (of any sort), Accessibility doesn't require separate Ready manoeuvres to turn on the Advantage, so it just flips on once it is accessible. Exceptions (Switchable): Static, Mana Damper, and other Advantages with a non-10% Switchable price still need to take the Switchable enhancement to benefit from this build; this makes them have a net cost of 190%. Otherwise, either the Accessibility or the FP/HP/ER cost have a free Switchability included. Exceptions (Link): links are needed for transient abilities, like Shapeshifting, Attacks (incl. Binding and Afflictions) or other 'special' cases. In fact, Linking them at +10% level actually prevents you from using them unlinked (and thus negates the right to buy the -10% Accessibility). Limbs with the Long enhancement vs. Stretching: Why are long limbs, at some point, more expensive than Stretching? What's the point of buying many long limbs instead of a single instance of Stretching and some Swing-only Striking ST? For one, Stretching requires a turn of Ready per SM change per limb to activate. And no, you can't circumvent that by taking Always On: that makes as much sense as Always On Shrinking or Growth. Second, Stretching doesn't provide one benefit of Long limbs: Long limbs get their HP multiplied by their linear size, as appropriate for their relative SM. E.g. a SM+1 limb gets ×1.5, an SM+2 one gets HP×2, an SM+6 gets ×10. Do not forget that limbs have a ×½ multiplier relative to body HP by default (e.g. 5 HP for a 10-HP character). I can't find the Reduced Duration limitation! What gives? By RAP it doesn't exist. But!.. Quote:
Quote:
Gunslinger is worth the price, most of the time: Quote:
Last edited by vicky_molokh; 01-24-2015 at 02:35 PM. |
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07-01-2007, 05:22 AM | #6 | ||||
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(u)FAQ: CharGen, part 2
Is there a Grand Unified List of Frequency of Occurances of various entities?
Quote:
Quote:
A.k.a. Why I can make a multiattacking catgirl, but not a multiblocking turtleboy? Short answer: you can't, because then the ability to parry/block repeatedly [sic] wouldn't be useful, and it would do funny things to the multi-parry/multi-block modifiers' depndence on Fencing weapons and TbaM/WM. But there's an interesting alternative: Quote:
Examples follow: Quote:
Q: Machines are not listed as having No Sleep; nor is there an explanation how sleep deprivation affects Fatigueless characters. How does it? A: It has all the usual effects of not sleeping, aside from FP loss. Note that most of the effects of not sleeping aren't FP loss . . . If this makes no sense for a machine, then give it Doesn't Sleep. Most machines do have it; it just isn't universal. Q: How do Fatigueless characters interact with food or water deprivation? Do they just lose HP, or HT, or do they shutdown immediately? Can they enter suspended animation? What is changed depending on the status of the hunger/endurance feature? A: Most have Doesn't Eat or Drink. Those that do not and that are undead suffer the effects of Dependency -- generally, Doesn't Eat or Drink is exclusive with that. Those that do not and that are machines simply stop working once they run out of fuel. Suspended animation is only an option if you pay for it as Metabolism Control. Otherwise, you die from injury (in the Dependency case) or shut down (in the fuel case). Q: Followup question: if machines cannot take Metabolism Control, how is standby mode handled? What about a computer or robot that turns on under specified circumstances (timer, change in power input, strong signal, damage etc.)? Same about other self-diagnostics and direct control of internal systems. A: That's simply a matter of saying that fuel isn't used until the machine is actually active. It's not any kind of special feature or rule to say that hanging around doing nothing doesn't consume fuel. Q: How do Fatigueless characters interact with suffocation/choking? Do they just lose HP, or HT, or do they shutdown immediately? How can they be recovered? A: Generally, things that would deplete FP have no effect at all, while things that would cost HP have the usual effect. That said, all undead and most machines have Doesn't Breathe. Q: Some traits and skills have a default FP expenditure. Jumper has specific rules, but some traits don't. Can/must I use an Energy Reserve? Must I buy Reduced FP cost only? Can I have some trait or modifier that allows me to use HP instead? A: All of the options you list are acceptable. Which ones make sense will depend on the character. Q: What exactly is Redlining? There are some hints of a form of Extra Effort for Fatigueless characters, is that it? Can some ER be used for mundane Extra Effort? A: See p. 160 of Powers. Q: Basic mentions that Machines/Fatigueless can always sprint with no negative consequences. What else can be done without losing HT, and what makes a Fatigueless lose HT? (I remember it being HT, not HP; is that correct?) A: Extra effort is the only thing that runs down HT. Otherwise, most things that cost FP aren't possible unless you have an ER, or somehow tack on Reduced FP Cost or Costs HP. Note, however, that without Doesn't Eat or Drink, machines need fuel and simply stop when they run out. They don't just "get tired" and slow down, like people do. Q: Do FP Attacks reduce the points in the ER of a Fatigueless character? A: No. ER isn't FP. Powers is very clear on the fact that things that affect FP don't affect ER. It doesn't matter who owns the ER or how the Fatigue Attack is defined. Q: Can Fatiguless 'feed' a Leech that turns HP into FP? And what Machines can and can not Leech HP from? A: If the character has HP, then those HP can be leeched. It isn't important what the person doing the leeching later turns the HP into; that's attacker-side function, and blind to the origin of the leeched stats. Whether one can leech from machines at all is another matter; p. 96 of Powers spells out the special form of Leech you need to drain machines. Back to general questions . . . When buying Weapon Master for a limited set, do I specify the skill set or the weapon set? Is Weapon Master a skill-specific or weapon-specific trait? Weapon-specific. A Katana master gets the bonus whether she weilds it one- or two-handed, and even if she throws it. OTOH, she uses all other Broadsword-skill weapons as a mundane character. Last edited by vicky_molokh; 05-01-2008 at 03:10 AM. |
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07-04-2007, 12:30 AM | #7 | ||||
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(u)FAQ: SKILLS
***SKILLS*** What are the reasons to have a Shortsword instead of a big knife? Their thr damage is the same!A shortsword is still plenty superior to a large knife for your money: It has +2 cutting damage. It can stab at reach 1. (Long reach is many times the advantage of close-combat utility, in part because it lets you avoid close combat!) It isn't at -1 on all parries. It risks breakage on a parry vs. a 6-lb. weapon instead of vs. a 3-lb. one. Body Sense says a successful roll allows one to act normally on the next turn after Warp... What about instant Warp (at -10)? From Body Sense's PoV, the 'next' turn is the one that occurs after Warp. Since an instant Warp doesn't take an Action, your 'next' turn is the one you're entitled to take after the (free-action, at -10) Warp. Thus, you can instant-Warp and do whatever you want immediately after that, provided you make your Warp roll and your Body Sense roll. Full post here. (Duplicated in Powers and Advantages.) Where are the lines between various ship skills (Crewman, Shiphandling, Piloting)? Quote:
Quote:
No. What's the default for Brawling? Heeey, No Brawling Default? Yes, Brawling has no default. Nonetheless, a character can punch, kick, bite, and perform some other attacks based on DX (with modifiers where appropriate). This is not a default! It's just that 'natural weapons' can be used at DX (DX-2 for a kick etc.). Also, see below. The first point in Brawling is useless! Or is it? Quote:
Yes. Quote:
Last edited by vicky_molokh; 12-24-2019 at 03:37 AM. |
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07-05-2007, 11:39 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: (Unofficial) FAQ of the GURPS Fora
Excellent definitions of "basic adventurer competence," from here:
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=24854 Quote:
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11-21-2012, 02:53 PM | #9 | |
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Re: (Unofficial) FAQ of the GURPS Fora
Q: How are Blocking Spells used / rolled? What modifiers do they get?
A: Quote:
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03-26-2013, 11:59 AM | #10 | |||||||||||
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Re: (Unofficial) FAQ of the GURPS Fora
Q: I would like some clarifications on how Autohypnosis works in games.
A: Quote:
Last edited by vicky_molokh; 05-31-2013 at 01:41 PM. |
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aura with area effect, auras of power, bow, faq, heals fp, heals fp only, kromm explanation, rapier wit, ufaq |
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