Pyramid #3/54: Social Engineering

[Kromm]

Truest adventure
Turns not on sword or pistol
But on love and gold

— Some hack

One could view the rules of GURPS as a kind of etiquette, and regard e23 as a little society of its own, working hard to keep you abreast of these. Or one could dispense with the figures of speech, pick up Pyramid #3/54: Social Engineering, and see proof:

• William H. Stoddard's GURPS Social Engineering has been compared to GURPS Martial Arts countless times, just with more subtle "attacks." The Civil Arts in GURPS takes this similarity to its logical conclusion: After introducing several new techniques covering specific situations and uses for social-interaction skills, Stoddard combines skills, techniques, and perks into "social-interaction styles"! From the cunning songcrafting of Bardic Arts to the stoicism of Virtus, there's something here for everyone.
  
  
• Intrigue, romance, comedy, danger, action, theater . . . The Palais du Monde has it all. When political secrets and backroom double-dealing intersect love triangles and professional rivalries, the poor PCs will have their hands (and heads) full trying to sort it all out. To ensure that the GM has everything needed to run this fast-paced romp, Matt Riggsby includes stats for all the key NPCs, a step-by-step breakdown of everything going on, and several full-color maps.
  
  
• When your setting includes hidden supernatural aspects, there's going to be a lot of covert warfare (or just random violence) going on . . . unless someone is willing to put a stop to it. In this month's Eidetic Memory, David Pulver introduces The Hand of Hermes, a charitable organization devoted to keeping the peace between the various magical and monstrous factions in the city. There's enough information here to build a campaign around, and The Hand is a perfect fit to almost any game that features supernatural violence in the shadows (e.g., GURPS Monster Hunters).
  
  
• In a globetrotting campaign (or systemtrotting sci-fi), the sheer scope of languages can be daunting. What's a linguist to do when the list of languages runs to hundreds of entries? In Speaking in Tongues, PK explores several options to simplify matters and save a few character points. From a detailed look at language defaults, through even broader "linguistic groups," to the outright cinematic "wildcard languages" and Omnilingual, there's an option here for any GM who's ever bemoaned the challenge of a realistically wide range of tongues.
  
  
• Real-life City Management isn't like a video game, but it can be rewarding for those playing characters who've attained a leadership role in their community. Starting with the basic concepts from GURPS City Stats, Matt Riggsby introduces rules and suggestions for anyone who wants to gradually turn a small village into a bustling center of commerce – or who just wants to threaten the townsfolk into erecting a 50'-tall statue of him!
  
  
• And you knew you'd be able to persuade us to offer the usual features, including a Random Thought Table that helps the PCs rub elbows with the villain before drawing blasters, Odds and Ends exploring how to handle inappropriate violence, and a Murphy's Rules that inverts Godwin's Law.

— PK & Kromm

[Anders]

Typo in the title. Is Kromm testing our faith?

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

Typo in the title. Is Kromm testing our faith?

No, it's just you. :)

[jacobmuller]

Right off the bat, IMHO, Speaking in Tongues - c'est magnifique; it's da shiz.

[Pragmatic]

Should this be merged with the other thread?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Should this be merged with the other thread?

Yeah, maybe I'm being a little grumpy, but I really wish people would refrain from the "In before Kromm" threads on e23 releases.

[Pragmatic]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Yeah, maybe I'm being a little grumpy, but I really wish people would refrain from the "In before Kromm" threads on e23 releases.

His posts are always so shiny!

All the details, so conveniently formatted, and providing summaries to all the articles.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

His posts are always so shiny!

All the details, so conveniently formatted, and providing summaries to all the articles.

Yes, so why can't people just wait a few hours?

[Kromm]

There's plenty of room in a forum for two threads on a subject. They aren't merged because I asked not to have them merged. I made that request because we want the official thread to appear in the index and to have the official summary as its first post. When you merge, the oldest thread and post are what you see. I guess we could delete older-but-not-official threads, but that would be mean . . .

Hey, hey, hey – don't be mean. We don't have to be mean. 'Cause, remember: no matter where you go . . . there you are.

– Buckaroo Banzai

It surely isn't a hardship to have to read two threads, or just to skip one if you prefer.

[Celti]

This issue is worth the entire year's subscription, and I haven't finished the first article yet.

ETA: Having finished the issue, I definitely have to stand by my original statement. The Civil Arts is masterfully done and will very well suit future games; Hand of Hermes will fit right in to my group's current Monster Hunters game; Speaking In Tongues offers a better option than the default language rules while being far more playable than Colourless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously; and City Management offers rules for exactly what the game I'm soon to be co-GMing focuses on.