Character Generation discussion thread

[P0L]

In this thread we can discuss anything that has to do with character generation.

[vagrantpoet]

What's the limit on Magery? The standard 3?

[P0L]

2 for starting chars

[P0L]

I'm making a character creation guidelines on the house rules

[ffanxii4ever]

since this would be my first GURPS game (I have flipped through the book some to start the familiarization process), I do have a quick question regarding mages in your world

For a character I was thinking a swashbuckling type of character; fast, lightly armored, skilled on airships, that sort of thing. But also to augment his more mundane abilities, I was thinking of making him a mage with thematically appropriate spells. I was curious if this could possibly work, both within the GURPS system, and also within the setting (ie not all mages are musty old men in robes and carrying a book around).

[Captain Gavis]

is there a place where i can access the game manual information online?

[Captain Gavis]

also is there going to be a map of the world uploaded?

[P0L]

Ok, guys, there isn't yet a map of the world, as the world is under construction. I have rough sketches and I'll upload them as soon as I draw them on a digital media.

Regarding online rules, sadly, GURPS is not open licence, so I believe that there is no such help. I can walk you through character creation basics, but you WILL need the manual. Of course I'm TOTALLY AGAINST PIRACY and I would never recommend you to download it from any of the several sources available (mail me at pab.martinez@gmail.com)

[P0L]

Fanxi, of course you can make a mage swashbuckler. In fact most mages in this world fashion carrying a swordcane instead of a quarterstaff, and fencing skills are very common sport for them. Carrying gun's on the other hand is seen as a sign of very weak magical apptitude, as any mage worth his salt could blast you without mechanical aids.

In GURPS your characters can be whatever you can afford with your character points allocation. He can be a mage and a wrestler, or a full plated knight (tough remember that the setting has technology of the same level of the Age of Piracy, think "Pirates of the Caribbean", so any schmuck with a musket can punch a hole through you and your fullplate)

[P0L]

Getting into the mechanics... for those new to the system. The characters are built on character points (cp). The more cp your character has, the more powerful you can make him. Everything that would make your character above average, costs points. Everything that makes him worse than the average, GIVES you points. There is an extensive list of advantages and disadvantages you can add.

[P0L]

ATTRIBUTES:

Gurps has 4 base attributes, an average human has a value of 10 in those.

ST (Strength) - How strong you are, how much damage your physical attacks make (be it with fist, sword or bow). It also sets your base Hitpoints and Lift

DX (Dexterity) - How fast you move, dodge, how good you are at fighting, shooting or using a LOT of skills, this is a VERY important attribute.

IQ (Intelligence) - It affects every skill not affected by DX, including magery. It also sets your basic will and perception. Also very important.

HT (Health) - Stamina and physical fitness. Your appearence is set by this, also sets your basic Fatigue Points (important for spellcasters)

Cost:

Each level above 10 for an attribute COSTS you 10cp for ST and HT and 20cp for DX and IQ (since they are more useful). Each level under 10 GIVES you that amount.

So, Fanxi, let's see how you'd make that mage... A good number would be to spend around 100cp on attributes. Remember, IQ and DX can't go over 12. HT and ST, over 20. No attribute lower than 8

[vagrantpoet]

I've more or less created my character, a mage and doctor, who carries both a pistol (despite the connotations) and throwing knifes, he is a surgeon and an air aspected mage, a 30~odd chain-smoker from the Federation, by the name of Dimas Heldoro, all of his cp purchases are in the thread I created for him.

[ffanxii4ever]

so...

What are the different races like? Actual gameplay statistics wise?

And I didn't want to clutter up vagrantpoet's character thread, but buying HP is actually 2cp per point according to the Basic Set - Characters book

[P0L]

Great, thanks for the correction, I don't have the books at the office

[Captain Gavis]

Does anyone know if there are rules pertaining to improvised weapons? i.e. using a cleaver as a weapon.

I'm working on a concept of a dwarvish chef that uses grenades for long range attacks and will resort to his cutlery if forced into melee.

[ffanxii4ever]

PG 404 of Basic Set (Campaign Book):
[i]Improvised Weapons/i]
You sometimes want to hit a foe with something other than a “real”
weapon. If so, the GM should treat the object as the weapon it resembles
most closely: a stick would be a baton, light club, or quarterstaff; a
heavy tool would be equivalent to a mace or a maul; a length of chain
would serve as a clumsy morningstar; and so on.
If an improvised weapon is especially clumsy, add a penalty of -1 to
-3 to hit or parry with it, or increase the minimum ST required. If it is
shorter or lighter than a “real” weapon of the same type (or not very
sharp, for a blade), reduce damage.

So I would imagine that a cook's cutlery (which if properly maintained is just as sharp as any weapon-worthy blade) would just be equivalent to the same sized knife (weapon version) and would use the knife skill

[Captain Gavis]

Sweet...sorry i'm not very familiar with the system I've played once but that was a year or so ago.

[P0L]

Regular knife stats are:

Large Knife
sw-2 cut, C, 1
thr imp C
Parry:-1

Small Knife
sw-3 cut C, 1
thr-1 imp C
Parry:-1

You have two options: Swing the knife, or stab with the knife. A ST 10 ordinary character has a base thrusting damage of 1d-2 and swinging damage of 1d (the leverage of a swing makes your strength count more)

Listed under each knife you have the damage tey make in each case, and also the reach (C being close combat, 1 being 1yard), so you can swing a knife at a foe in front of you, but you have to get CLOSE to stab him.

Parry: It's hard to block a blow with a knife, your parry is at -1

Let's stat the cleaver:
I'm imagining a good sized cleaver, like a foot or so long. Its weight and size makes it do nice swinging damabe, but you can't stab anyone with it. Its size and shape also makes it more efficient to parry blows.

So:
Damage: sw-1 cut C,1
Parry: 0

Also, being something in between, you can use it with your KNIFE skill or with your SHORTSWORD skill. Knife skill is cheaper, but knowing how to swing a shortsword gives you access to more interesting weapons.

Look into GURPS Martial Arts for an extended list of melee weapons.

[P0L]

Game mechanics:

An average guy has ST 10, making 1d-1 with a swinging cleaver.
He swings at an opponent protected with leather armor (2 DR)

That means that he inflicts 0 to 5 points of damage, 2 of wich will be soaked by the armor, doing on average 1Hp damage, and maximum 3.

It takes 10Hp to drop an average guy.

That means that even an average opponent will stand several rounds of being hacked at with a cleaver.
-------
Lets shoot our average opponent!

A gun would inflict 1d+1 pi+ damage, tha means 2 to 7, with an average of 4Hp, 2 would be soaked by the armor, but the remaining would be multiplied by 1.5 (pi+, large piercing damage). That would men 3Hp damage on average, with a maximum of 7Hp. Nice

But remember kids, it takes 20 rounds to reload the damn pistol, or a couple of rounds to take out another. Make that shot count.

[ffanxii4ever]

out of curiosity, how do you rule critical successes with spells, other than no energy cost?
I ask, because I have a feeling that Fiamo's main method of attack in close quarters is going to be the Flame Jet spell.

[P0L]

Flame Jet requires 2 different rolls.

When your turn comes, you concentrate on the spell, at the end of the turn you try to cast it, rolling against your spell skill. If you succed, you have a flame jet on your hand (critical success means no energy cost).

Next turn, you can shoot a jet of fire to an enemy. For that you attack your enemy as if you were doing a melee attack, rolling against your Innate Attack (beam) skill, or any other specialization at -2, or DX-4 if you don't have the melee attack skill. If you do a critical HERE you can look at the melee critical table for extra effects.

You have the option of maintaining the spell for the next round

[ffanxii4ever]

Ah, so nothing special, I was asking because of this line on pg 235 on the Basic Set books:
On a critical success,
the spell works especially well.
Details are up to the GM, who should
be both generous and creative.
Whatever else occurs, there is never an
energy cost if you get a critical success
when you cast a spell.

But the rest of that I knew

EDIT: On an unrelated note, do you follow the rules regarding improving skills from default during character creation?

[P0L]

Which rules?

[ffanxii4ever]

Improving Skills
from Default
If your default level in a skill is
high enough that you would normally
have to pay points for that level,
you may improve the skill past its
default level by paying only the difference
in point costs between your new
level and your default level.
Example: Suppose you have DX 12
and Shortsword at 13. Since
Broadsword defaults to Shortsword-
2, your default Broadsword skill is
11. Skill 11 is equal to DX-1 for you.
This would have cost 1 point had you
bought it directly. The next level (DX)
costs 2 points. The difference is 1
point; to raise your Broadsword skill
from its default level of 11 (DX-1) to
12 (DX), you need only pay 1 character
point. You do not have to pay the
full 2 points for DX level!
If you increase a skill, skills that
default to it go up as well. However, if
you have spent points to improve
these defaults, you may not see an
increase when you raise the skill to
which they default. This is best illustrated
with our running example:
Example: Suppose you spend the
point to raise Broadsword to 12 (DX).
Now you spend 4 more points on
Shortsword, improving that skill
from 13 to 14 (from DX+1 to DX+2).
Does your Broadsword skill also go
up a level? No. Your new default from
Shortsword is now 12 (Shortsword at
14, minus 2), but to go from level 12
to level 13 (from DX to DX+1) with
Broadsword costs 2 points, and
you’ve only spent 1 point on
Broadsword. Keep track of that
point, though. When you spend one
more point on Broadsword, it goes
up a level, too.
When two skills default to one
another and you have improved both,
you may switch the “direction” of
your default if this would give you
better skill levels. Redistribute the
points spent on both skills as needed.
You may never decrease either skill
level this way, however; you must
always spend enough points to keep
each skill at its current level.
Example: Keeping Shortsword at
14, you spend a total of 22 points on
Broadsword, improving your skill
from its default of 12 (DX) to 18
(DX+6). You’d like to default
Shortsword from Broadsword now,
rather than vice versa. Taking the 8
points you spent on Shortsword and
the 22 points you spent on
Broadsword, you have 30 points to
work with. First, buy Broadsword at
18 (DX+6) for 24 points. Then default
Shortsword from Broadsword, getting
16 (that is, Broadsword-2).
Finally, spend the remaining 6 points
on Shortsword. This will be enough
to raise Shortsword skill to 17 (and 2
more points will make that 18).
This feels like an abstract number
shuffle, but it works. You’re
no better off than if you
had started out with
Broadsword skill, and
you aren’t penalized for
learning Shortsword
first.

[P0L]

Yeah, its complicated but we should use that.. I barely understand it