GURPS Character Creation: Just the basics! Part 3

Hello again, gamelings!

Welcome to the third installment of “Let’s Create A Character!”

In today’s episode we will be discussing:
Social Background and Wealth and Influence

Let’s jump right into it, shall we?

Social Background consists of 2 elements:

Tech level and Language.


Tech Level:

Tech level is the number of the level of technological advancement. Prehistory/caveman days would have a low tech level while future/space age would have a high tech level.

Usually the campaign is assigned a tech level but if you want to be crazy with it all (and your GM lets you), you can spend points to be higher or lower tech level than the assigned campaign tech.

Now let’s say that you want to have a lower tech level than that of the campaign…

Well… okay then…

It’s your choice.

This means that you start off the campaign with NO KNOWLEDGE of how to use ANYTHING at the campaigns tech level.

You’re campaign takes place in late Victorian England (tech level 6)? Your tech level is 2?

Good luck figuring out indoor plumbing! Hell… Good luck even figuring out books or doors!

You can, however, learn certain DX-based skills (such as opening those darn doors or how to hold and fire a weapon, even) in play if there is someone of the correct tech level around to teach you.  However, since you don’t think the same way as other (higher-tech) players, they can’t teach you any IQ based tech skills.

In order to obtain this super special lack of technological knowledge, you get -5 points for each tech level you plan to loose.

Good for you…

HOWEVER!!!!

If you plan to have a higher tech level than your fellow campaigners (and the ability to look down your nose at these primitive beasts), you must spend 5 points per tech level!  This comes in handy big time if you are in a lower tech level campaign and just so happen to be a doctor!

“QUICK! HAND ME THAT SYRINGE OF EPINEPHRINE!!!”
“Yarp.”

Moving right along to Language!

Now, GURPS just assumes that your character is fluent in your native language! (How sweet is that?)

Your fellow campaigners and gm, however, will need to know what that is so go ahead and mark it on your character sheet in a similar layout to this “English (Native) [0]”.

Go on.

Trust me… You want to.

It will save you time and a headache later…

Done with that?

Good.

Now…
Language:

Language is a combination of two parts:

Comprehension levels and Literacy.

Comprehension level is basically how well you can function in the foreign language.

How many points you are going to spend on learning a new language depends largely on your comprehension level, of which there are 4.

None: Just nod and smile because this language doesn’t even rustle your hair as it zooms over your head. It costs zero points to have this non-level.

Broken: You can say “where is the bathroom?” but you probably won’t understand the answer until the person you are speaking to slows it down like they are speaking to a toddler. This means that you are at a -3 when it comes to skills that require or depend upon language. This costs 1 point for spoken and 1 point for written.

Accented: You can speak the language but people snicker at you behind your back for how silly you sound. This gives you a -1 to skills that require or depend on language. This level costs 2 points for spoken and 2 points for written.

Native: You speak this language so well that no one would know that you aren’t from there… you know… except that they’ve never seen you around before…  This one has no negatives toward your language skills and it costs 3 points for spoken and 3 points for written.

Next up we have...



 Literacy:

This basically determines if you can read!

Illiteracy: This is a written comprehension level of “none”… It basically looks like scribbles and gibberish to you. You get the previously mentioned -3 disadvantage to your language rolls. Dang… that sucks.

Semi-literacy: This is a written comprehension level of “Broken”… you read SUPER slowly! You must roll against your IQ to understand the most basic things written in this language. You get the previously mentioned -2 disadvantage to your language rolls.

Literacy: This is a written comprehension level of “accented” or “native”. You can read at full speed and even understand it! YAY YOU! You still get the -1 disadvantage to language rolls if you are “accented” though.

Alright!

On to Wealth and Influence!

What does it take to be wealthy and influential?

Well…

Wealth

Reputation

Importance

THESE ARE THE INGREDIENTS CHOSEN TO CREATE THE PREFECT LITTLE GIRL!

I mean…

Yea…


Wealth:

Wealth is dependent on the character.

A factory worker in modern days will be living much more comfortably than a medieval lord even though the amount of money he has is less.
It’s all variable.

Most people will start off with an “Average” wealth level. This doesn’t cost any character points and it gives you the average wealth level for your campaign.

Now here’s the fun part:

Deciding what wealth level you want to have.

Dead Broke: You own nothing but the scraps of linen that you call clothing attached to your body. That’s it. You have no money. You have no property. You have no source of income at all! You are unable to work, unwilling to work, or can’t friggin find work! -25 points! Congrats! Go spend them on a shower, a shave, and some food…. You bum.

Poor: You have 1/5 of the average campaign wealth. You can find some work but no one is willing to pay you more than pennies! -15 points.

Struggling: You have ½ the average campaign wealth. You can get any job out there… you just won’t make very much money at all… -10 points.

Average: Your bank account is completely average in every way. You are the everyman! 0 points

Comfortable: You have a job but you are living a bit better than the rest of the world. Congrats! Your starting wealth is double that of the Average campaign wealth! 10 points

Wealthy: You are sitting pretty at 5x the average starting campaign wealth! Woooo! Go you! 20 points

Very Wealthy: You get 20x the average campaign starting wealth!!! How are you doing this?!? 30 points

Filthy Rich: At this point money is probably all your character has going for itself since you are spending a whopping 50 points on this! The upside, however is that you have 100x the average starting campaign wealth. Congratulations on becoming the 0.001%.

Reputation:

What do you want to be known for?

The details of your reputation are 100% up to you! That means you get to use that big, beautiful brain of yours!

Look at you go!

You are a character creating machine!

Be SUPER SPECIFIC when it comes to your reputation and know that for every +1 to reaction rolls (up to +4) it costs 5 points and for every -1 to reaction rolls (up to -4) it is -5 points!

Easy, right?

Now we come to the last bit of this installment…

Importance (status):

This is you place in society!
It has its own little distinction from your personal fame and fortune
.

Status levels range from -2 (beggar) to 8 (god-like ruler).

The average status for most characters is 0 (free man).

For every level above 0 that you raise it will cost you 5 points but going even one level above 0 puts you in a ruling class in YOUR CULTURE ONLY! This means that those from YOUR CULTURE will defer to you giving you a bonus on reaction rolls.

If you want to go a level or two below average in status it will be -5 points per level! Save those points for your advantages and disadvantages!

We will discuss those next time on:
SUPER FUN CHARACTER CREATION TIME!!!!!

Do you have any questions? Any at all? Wonder why narwhals have sword-like protrusions on their faces? Go ahead and ask us whatever you want in our comment section! 

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Game of Thrones Season 6 Episode 6 "Blood of My Blood" recap (SPOILERS!!!!)

This post is super duper spoiler-y!!!

So if you haven't seen episode 6 "Blood of My Blood" yet and don't want spoilers:
 LOOK AWAY!!!

AVERT THINE EYES!!!!

RUN FAR, FAR AWAY AND DON'T LOOK BACK!!!

RUN YOU CLEVER BOY AND REMEMBER!!!

wait.... wrong fandom...

awkward...
Anyway...
Moving on...

Sunday's episode had a lot of interesting twists and turns!!! 

Who saw Tommen Baratheon and Margaery Baratheon (Tyrell) joining up with the high sparrow coming? I mean... I, personally, figured Margaery would but I never thought Tommen would join as well! Let's hear it for that awkward moment when Jaime Lannister showed up with an army claiming to represent the king... Who just so happened to be in the sept getting his religion on and came out to reveal that he was indeed on the side of the religious bird-man.

They probably should have checked on the whereabouts of their golden-haired baby-king before storming the Sept "in his name"...

Wait...What is going on?

So that happened and now the separation of church and state is crushed like sparrow's egg between the thighs of the Zangief of religions.

Meanwhile, way up north where the air is cold and the true heroes hold the door (sorry.. I know... It still hurts), Bran Stark and Meera Reed are freezing. Meera collapses on the forest floor and shuffles her way through the snow to Bran who (finally) pops out of warg mode and tells her that the white walkers have found them.
What the shit, Bran?!



Well, right when you think that Bran's story-line is going to come to a quick, pointless, and stupid ending, a mysterious hooded stranger rides in on horseback and sends those icy bastards back to where they belong! But wait... Who is this crazy awesome ice-zombie killer?
None other than Benjen Stark!!!

Where the heck have you been, man?!?
Oh, right. You've been almost turned into a white walker and then saved from that horrible, icy fate. Well, welcome back, Benjen! I am loving how all of these Starks are just popping up out of the snow like daisies!

Moving to a warmer location:

Arya Stark messed up AGAIN! She finally got a second chance to kill someone and become a faceless man (woman?). Jaqen H'ghar tells her that it is her last chance and that either way the many faced god will gain a face. So what does she do? She decides to grow a conscious and saves the person she was going to kill! 

Does this mean that the faceless men are after her now?

Probably.

Does she care?

Not one bit.

 

Bonus: Needle is back and the Stark family has (re)gained one more member!

Continuing on our journey to warmer lands: We have Daenerys Targaryen travelling through the desert with all of her new/regained Dothraki followers. Here she stops the whole dang caravan to prove to us that she didn't take the time to plan things out completely.

"How many ships will I need?"

"Who has that many ships?"

"No one? Well, I will just have to wing it."

These are... Not direct quotes but it sums up the whole conversation she has with Daario Naharis before she disappears and leaves everyone behind twiddling their thumbs.

On the bright side, after she has been gone for quite some time (long enough for Daario to tell everyone he is going to prance off to find her) she returns on the back of her largest and favorite dragon, Drogon! 

Just look at how big that little baby has grown!

In this moment we were all proud mommies and daddies.

Then, of course, Daenerys gives a power speech while sitting atop her scaly, fire-breathing baby and rallies all of the Dothraki with a glorified version of "I don't have a favorite child, I love you all in different ways and for different reasons". To which the Dothraki all responded, "Yay! Mommy loves me!"

Now, while all of this motivational speaking,dragon riding, white walker slaying, and religious conversion  is going on, my favorite story was developing. Samwell Tarly has brought Gilly to his family's home, Horn Hill. In the carriage we are audience to some talk about the greenery, the country, and the fact that he forgot to mention that his father is very anti-wildling... Like, there is Hitler-level hatred going on here. (Ooops!)

There we are greeted by Sam's loving and welcoming mother, Melessa Tarly, (who seems stoked to be a grandmother) and his overly chatty younger sister, Talla Tarly, who is going to soon be married off to someone she doesn't seem too fond of. She, however, makes immediate friends with Gilly and sweeps her away to a bath and a new wardrobe!

Cut to dinner!

Everyone is there: Randyll Tarly (Sam's father) , Melessa, Talla, Dickon (Sam's younger brother), Samwell, and Gilly!

Samwell's father punctuates his insults (aimed at none other than our gentle Sam) with small bites of food as he glares so hard his eyes almost completely shut. Eventually Gilly can't stand his bullying any longer and starts telling Randyll off and casually letting slip that she is from north of the wall. At this point, Randyll turns his insults and hate-glare at her. He then directs her attention to the Valerian steel sword hanging up on the wall and informs her that it is called "Heartsbane" and that Samwell is SUPPOSED to inherit it but he won't... like...ever.

Sam's mother says something like, "You don't need help making an ass out of yourself" and drags Gilly and Talla out of the dining hall. When the ladies have left Randyll tells Sam that he will house Gilly and little baby Sam (who is, by the way, super adorable). He will have her work in the kitchen under the condition that Sam leaves at first light. 

Sam makes his way to Gilly's room to apologize and say goodbye. After a conversation that tears at your heart strings and Sam telling Gilly (through him choking back tears) to say goodbye to little Sam for him, he leaves the room and you are left with this feeling of, "WHY?!? NO!!! STAY WITH HER!!!".

That scene goes on for what seems like ages...

Until BOOM!

In bursts Sam telling Gilly to pack her things. (And Gilly pointing out that she has no things to pack.) He tells her that they are leaving and then it cuts to the three of them in the dining hall where Sam is, *GASP*, stealing Heartsbane! Gilly asks what will happen if Randyll tries to come after the sword (and them in the process) to which Sam replies, "Let him try."

Does this mean he is going to start his own house with the help of Jon and the wildlings? Is he just showing some teenager-like rebellion? Is he trying to step up and be a man for his little namesake?

Do you have a theory of what is to come? Do you just want to gush about all of the awesomeness in this episode? Do you just want to say, "Hi"? Leave a comment! We will respond! 

GURPS Character Creation: Just the basics! Part 1

So, you want to play GURPS? It looks so fun and you are super confident in your imagination but, uh-oh, you don't have a character!! Whatever will you do?!

FEAR NOT, GAMELING! 

I am here to help!

First things first...
Before any character creation points are even brought into the picture...
Who are you?

The best way to build your character is to create a backstory! If you are interested in playing GURPS, you probably already have a crazy awesome imagination! Use that big, beautiful brain to write a brief story about who you are and what your life has been like up until the point you enter the game! This can (and most likely will) be based largely upon the campaign parameters and any restrictions or requests made by your GM (Game Master).

Got that part done?
Awesome! You rock!

Now comes the fun part.
You now get to browse the GURPS Basic Set book's chapters on Advantages, Disadvantages, Skills,and Magic to see what fits your character and backstory! 

I recommend making a list of what you want to have for your character! 

**Protip: write the point cost next to each advantage/disadvantage/skill/magic so that you can easily keep track of how much you are using and prioritize accordingly!**

Time to get to the sheet!!
First, let us take a nice long gander at the first page of that beauty...

Under that phenomenal logo you will see the boxes for your basic attributes (Strength [ST], Dexterity [DX], Intelligence [IQ], and Health [HT]). These you get 10 points in each for free!

Go ahead and slap some 10's on that baby! 

10 is the point value for a basic, average, every-man human being. 

You can add points to your basic attributes to make yourself better in a certain area but it will cost you character points! It costs 10 character points to upgrade your ST or HT one level (example: it costs 10 character points to upgrade your ST from level 10 to level 11). It costs 20 character points to upgrade your DX or IQ one level. 

You can subtract a level of ST or HT for -10 character points and a level of DX or IQ for -20 character points! That means you get those 10 or 20 points to put toward something else!

COOL!

Now let us say that you want extra character creation points and think that brains aren't exactly the most important thing to your character. (You'll leave the thinking to your campaign companions).

You can bring your IQ down to level 8 for -40 character points.

Go ahead and tack those 40 points onto your spendable point total!

Go you!

The downside is that you are below average in that certain attribute.

These attributes will be used to figure out the boxes next to those (Hit Points [HP], Will Power [Will], Perception [Per], and Fatigue Points [FP]).

But that will wait until next time! 

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Until next time, boldly go!

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We are the Pinup Gamer and we will be your gamer guide to most all things geek! Here you will find videos, articles, memes, etc. on gaming, TV shows, new releases, etc. There will be scheduled Twitch streams and new videos updated frequently! Just a warning...  Some of the games we play are already considered ancient because we own and FREQUENTLY play on PS3, NES, SNES, xbox 360, tabletop, etc.!!!!! I know! Gasp, right? We also do not subscribe to the "[-insert gaming platform here-] master race" mindset. Gasp again! We are here to be the every-man's source for gaming information and entertainment! =)
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