You Have Died of Exposure

So pretty much everyone has played The Oregon Trail, right?
If you haven't, there is someone out there who has played enough for the both of you (or maybe even more).

Basically the game is an old, basic survival game.
You are traveling down the (you guessed it) Oregon Trail and you must do what you can to keep you, your people, and your animals alive!

This game was released in 1971 and was aimed at teaching children about pioneer life.

With so many ways to die and such a hard road to Oregon, who could ever get bored?

So fun!

Well, all of these super fun and nifty good times have transitioned from computer to tabletop!

Because why not?

The board game can be found scattered about in random Targets and it is a Target Exclusive Game!

Pressman Toys does list the game on it's website but it is not available for purchase through them. the only way to get one is if you are lucky enough to live near a Target that currently sells them. Target stores plan to sell the game nationwide in the future but for now, most of us are S.O.L. 

Is your local Target one that carries The Oregon Trail board game? There is only one way to know for sure...

RUN, GAMELINGS!
RUN TO YOUR LOCAL TARGET AND PICK UP DYSENTERY!
...I mean The Oregon Trail.

Source: Gizmodo, Mental Floss, Pressman Toys

GURPS Character Creation: Just the Basics! Part 7B

Okay! Welcome back, Gamelings!

We are nearing the home stretch here.

Speaking of stretching, you should do that. Muscle cramps are the worst!

Alright! Let's hit this thing head on! We're almost done!

Missile Weapon (DX/Varies)

Default: Special

This is a collection of skills (one per class of missile weapons). Missile Weapon skills are based on DX, and default to DX-4 if Easy, DX-5 if Average, or DX-6 if Hard.

Gunner:

Beams/lasers (Easy)

Cannon (Easy)

Machine Gun (Easy)

Guns:
Light Anti-Armor Weapon L.A.W. (Easy)

Pistol (Easy)

Rifle (Easy)

Shotgun (Easy)

Submachine Gun (Easy)

Flamethrowers:
Flamethrower (Easy)

Other:
Blowpipe (DX/Hard)

Bow (DX/Average)

Crossbow (DX/Easy)

Natural Sciences/TL (IQ/Hard)

Default: IQ-6

This skill is the knowledge of sciences such as biology, astronomy, Geology, Chemistry, etc. If you can think of a science that you believe fits this skill, talk to your GM and let them decide. 

Naturalist (IQ/Hard)

Default: IQ-6

This is basically your knowledge of the land and it's plant life and wildlife. You know which plants are poisonous, which are tasty, and which ones turn your tongue purple!

Navigation/TL (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

You can navigate your way through any terrain using maps, instruments, etc. Various types of Navigation include: Sea, Air, Land, Space, and Hyperspace. A successful roll tells you where you are or lets you plot a course.

Observation (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

This skill lets you observe interesting or dangerous situations without being seen.

Occultism (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

This skill is the study of the mysterious and supernatural.

Photography/TL (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

This is the ability to use a camera competently and to produce recognizable and attractive photos.

Physician/TL (IQ/Hard)

Default: IQ-7

The ability lets you treat the ill and injured and prescribe medication and care. Make a skill roll to hasten natural recovery from injury and whenever the GM requires a roll to test general medical competence or knowledge.

Pickpocket (DX/Hard)

Default: DX-6

This skill lets you steal things off of someone's person or plant something on them without them noticing.

Public Speaking (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

This skill gives you a general natural talent with spoken word.

Research/TL (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

This skill is the ability to be a successful bookworm and library regular. Roll against skill to find a useful piece of data in an appropriate place of research if the information is there to be found.

Riding (DX/Average)

Default: DX-5

This skill gives you the ability to ride a specific kind of mount. Make a skill roll when you first try to mount a riding animal, and again each time something happens to frighten or challenge the creature.

Scrounging (IQ/Easy)

Default: IQ-4

This is the ability to find, salvage, or improvise useful items that others can’t locate. Each attempt takes an hour.

Search (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

This skill gives you the ability to search in, on, under, and around areas to find things that aren't in plain sight. The GM rolls once per item of interest. For deliberately concealed items, this is a Quick Contest of your Search skill vs. the Holdout or Smuggling skill used to hide the item. If you fail, the GM simply says, “You found nothing.”

Shadowing (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

This skill gives you the ability to follow a person through a crowd without being seen. Roll a Quick Contest every 10 minutes: your Shadowing vs. the subject’s Vision roll. If you lose, you lost the subject; if you lose by more than 5, you were seen.

Shield (DX/Easy)

Default: DX-4

This is the ability to use a shield, both to block and to attack.

Social Sciences (IQ/Hard)

Default: IQ-6

Each Social Science (Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology, etc.) is it's own skill so add them separately.

Smuggling (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

This is the ability to conceal items in baggage and vehicles.Roll against skill to hide an item from casual inspection. In an active search, the searchers must win a Quick Contest of Search vs. your Smuggling skill to find the item.

Stealth (DX/Average)

Defaults: DX-5

This skill lets you go practically anywhere without being seen or heard. A successful roll lets you conceal yourself practically anywhere, or move so quietly that nobody will hear you, or follow someone without being noticed.

Survival (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

This is the ability to live off the land, find safe food and water, avoid hazards, build shelter, etc. To live safely in a wilderness situation, you must make a successful Survival roll once per day. Failure inflicts 2d-4 injury on you and anyone in your care.

Swimming (HT/Easy)

Default: HT-4

This is your ability to stay afloat in emergency situations or skill in traversing the watery terrain. Roll against the higher of Swimming or HT to avoid fatigue or injury due to aquatic misfortunes.

Tactics (IQ/Hard)

Default: IQ-6

This is the ability to outguess and outmaneuver the enemy in small-unit or personal combat. On a success, you start the fight in an advantageous position as determined by the GM.

Throwing (DX/Average)

Default: DX-3

This is the ability to throw any small, relatively smooth object that fits in the palm of your hand.

Thrown Weapon (DX/Easy)

Default: DX-4

Axe/Mace

Knife

Shuriken

Spear

Tracking (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

This is the skill that allows you to follow an animal or man by the tracks they leave or the plants that they disturb. Make a Tracking roll to pick up the trail, then roll every 15 minutes to avoid losing it, at a modifier ranging from 0 for soft terrain to -6 for city streets.

Traps/TL (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

This skill enables you to build and safely nullify traps!

Vehicle Skills (DX/Varies)

Default: Varies

Vehicle skills default to DX at -4 (easy), -5 (average), or -6 (hard); motor vehicles also default to IQ, at similar penalties.

Available types:

Bicycling (DX/Easy)

Boating (DX/Average)

Driving (DX/Average)

Piloting (DX/Average)

Submarine (DX/Average)

Writing (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

This skill means that you can write in a clear or entertaining manner. A successful roll

means the work is readable and accurate.

Guess what, buddies! 

We made it! We did it!

It drove us all a bit batty for a while...

But it's done now!

Now all you have to do is buy your armor, weapons, and whatever else you want to carry with you on your journey! 

I will create a masterpost and link to all of the tutorials part 1-7B!
Just search for "Masterpost" in the search bar over our Instagram feed.

Thank you all for coming on this journey with me!

GURPS Character Creation: Just the Basics! Part 7A

Howdy doody, gamelings, and thank you for taking a break from your Pokemon Go to read this!

This is our 7th (and LAST) installation Part A of GURPS Character Creation: Just the Basics!
This would be, by far, the longest post to date...So I am splitting it into two posts.



Let's dive right in, shall we?
(Remember: If any skill seems to fit your character or catch your interest, write it down (WITH ALL OF THE INFO) so that you can add it to your character sheet later!

Alright, here we go.

I will write them out in this format: "Name/TL (base/difficulty)" Then I will add the default info (when available) and I will write a short blurb telling you about it.

Acrobatics (DX/Hard)

Default: DX-6
This is the ability to perform gymnastics, stunts, parkour, etc.

Acting (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

This is the ability to fake moods, emotions, and voices, and to lie convincingly over a period of time.

Animal Handling (IQ/Average)

Default: IQ-5

This is the ability to train or work with animals. You must roll against the skill for every command you give the animal.

Area Knowledge (IQ/Easy)

Default: IQ-4

This is just how well you know the people, places, and things in a particular area. It is usually only applied to your "home base".

Armoury/TL (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This is your ability to craft, modify, and/or repair a certain class of weapons or armor. Your first successful roll lets you identify the problem (if it isn't glaringly obvious) and a second one lets you repair it.

Brawling (DX/Easy)
Default: None
This is your unarmed combat. Roll against Brawling for a punch and roll against Brawling-2 for a kick.

Camouflage (IQ/Easy)
Default: IQ-4
You can hid yourself and your stuff really well! You know how to use whatever is available near you to make yourself blend in to any surrounding.

Carousing (HT/Easy)
Default: HT-4
This is your ability to get your party on! Succeed a Carousing roll, under the right circumstances, and you could get a +2 bonus on a request for aid, information, or a general reaction. A failed roll means you made a fool of yourself; you get a -2 penalty on any reaction roll made by those you caroused with.

Climbing (DX/Average)
Default: DX-5
This is your ability to climb just about anything, you monkey you!

Computer Operation/TL (IQ/Easy)
Default: IQ-4
This is your ability to use a computer to do basically anything (much like you are doing right this very moment! DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUN)!!! Of course this is dependent on Tech Level. Jack the ripper couldn't use a computer (thank goodness).


Computer Programming/TL (IQ/Hard)
Default: None
This is the ability to write and debug computer software. You MUST roll to write, debug, or figure out a program.

Crewman/TL (IQ/Easy)
Default: IQ-4
This is the ability to serve as a member of the crew of a large vehicle of some sort. This skill includes familiarity with “shipboard life,” knowledge of safety measures, and training in damage control.


Criminology/TL (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This is you getting you CSI or NCIS on! You study crimes and criminals! Make a skill roll! If you succeed, the roll allows you to find and interpret clues, guess how criminals might behave, etc.

Diagnosis/TL (IQ/Hard)
Default: IQ-6
This is the ability to tell what is wrong with a sick or injured person, or what killed a dead person through hints or ruling out impossibilities.

Disguise/TL (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This is you getting your cosplay on! This skill is using clothing, makeup, prosthetics, etc. to make yourself look, feel, and sound like another person. A good disguise requires a Disguise roll
and 30 minutes to an hour of preparation.


Electronics Operation/TL (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This skill lets you use electronic equipment. Make a skill roll in an emergency situation or for “abnormal” use of equipment.


Electronics Repair/TL (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This lets you figure out and fix what is wrong with specific electronic equipment.

Engineer/TL (IQ/Hard)
Default: None
This skill lets you design and build technological devices. If you make a successful roll, you design a new system, diagnose a glitch, identify the purpose of a strange device, or improvise a gadget to solve a problem. If you fail the roll then you...well... don't do any of that.

Environment Suit/TL (DX/Average)
Default: DX-5
This is training in the use of a specific class of protective suit.
Battlesuit/TL: All kinds of powered battle armor and exoskeletons.
Diving Suit/TL: All types of hard diving suits.
NBC Suit/TL: All forms of hazardous materials gear.
Vacc Suit/TL: Any kind of spacesuit.

Escape (DX/Hard)
Default: DX-6
This is your ability to Houdini your way out of pretty much any situation. Your first attempt takes 1 minute. Each attempt after the first takes 10 minutes!

Explosives/TL (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
You can work with explosives! This includes the ability to set up, disarm, and dispose of bombs and other explosives.


First Aid/TL (IQ/Easy)
Default: IQ-4
This is your ability to give medical attention in the field. Make a skill roll to halt bleeding, suck out poison, give artificial respiration to a drowning victim, etc.

Forgery/TL (IQ/Hard)
Default: IQ-6
This is the ability to create fake official documents such as ID Cards, Passports, Birth Certificate, Building permits, etc. When you use a forged document, make your Forgery roll each time it is inspected – unless you roll a critical success on your first attempt. Failure means someone spots the forgery.

Gambling (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This is your ability to play, and succeed, at games of chance! A successful Gambling roll can (among other things) tell you if a game is rigged, identify a fellow gambler in a group of strangers, or “estimate the odds” in any tricky situation.

Hiking (HT/Average)
Default: HT-5
This is how long and far you can travel by foot! Make a Hiking roll before each day’s march; on a success, increase the distance traveled by 20%.

Holdout (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This is your ability to hide items on you or someone with you (most of the time with their permission). An item’s size and shape govern its concealability, from +4 (BB-sized jewel or a postage stamp) to -6 (crossbow or a heavy sniper rifle).

Humanities (IQ/Hard)
Default: IQ-6
All Arts or Humanities (History, Literature, Philosophy, Theology, etc.) are their own separate skill so go ahead and add whichever ones you'd like.

Influence Skills (Varies)
Default: Varies

Diplomacy (IQ/Hard):
Default: IQ-6
Negotiation and compromise.

Fast-Talk (IQ/Average): 
Default IQ-5
Lying and deceit.

Intimidation (IQ/Average):
Default: IQ-5
Threats and violence.

Savoir-Faire (IQ/Easy):
Default IQ-4
Manners and etiquette. Mainly useful in “high society” situations.

Sex Appeal (HT/Average):
Default: HT-3
Vamping and seduction, usually of the opposite sex.

Streetwise (IQ/Average):
Default: IQ-5
Contacts and subtle intimidation. Only useful in “street” and criminal situations.


Interrogation (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This is your ability to question a prisoner! Roll Interrogation vs. the prisoner’s Will for each question. Each question requires 5 minutes. If you succeed, you get a truthful answer. If you tie or lose, the prisoner either says nothing or lies to you. If you fail the roll by more than five points, they tell you a good, believable lie!

Jumping (DX/Easy)
Default: None
This skill represents trained jumping ability.


Karate (DX/Hard)
Default: None
This skill represents any advanced training at unarmed striking, not just the martial art of karate.
Roll against Karate to hit with a punch (at no -4 for the “off” hand), or Karate-2 to hit with a kick.

Law (IQ/Hard)
Default: IQ-6
This skill is your knowledge of laws and codes of the places you are travelling to or through. A successful roll lets you remember, deduce, or figure out the answer to a question about the law.

Leadership (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This is your ability to lead a group of people. Make a Leadership roll to lead NPCs into a dangerous or stressful situation.

Lockpicking/TL (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This is your ability to open locks without a combination or key. Each try requires one minute. If you succeed the roll, each point over your success takes 5 seconds off of the required time.

Mathematics/TL (IQ/Hard)
Default: IQ-6
This skill makes you good with numbers and measurements!

Mechanic/TL (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
You are able to diagnose and/or repair any mechanical object. A successful skill
roll will let you find or repair one problem.

Melee Weapon (DX/Varies)
Default: Special

This is a group of skills (one for each weapon type). Melee Weapon skills are based on DX, and default to DX-4 if Easy, DX-5 if Average, or DX-6 if Hard.

Fencing Weapons
Rapier (Average)
Smallsword (Average)

Flails
Flail including morningstars and nunchaku (Hard)

Impact Weapons
Axe/Mace (Average)

Pole Weapons
Polearm (Average)
Spear (Average)
Staff (Average)

Swords
Broadsword (Average)
Knife (Easy)
Shortsword (Average)
Two-Handed Sword (Average)

Merchant (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This is your skill in buying, selling, and trading goods.



Okay. Intermission time. Go grab a bite to eat, a drink, a nap, etc. and meet me back here in a few for Part 7B: The Final Creation.

GURPS Character Creation: Just the Basics! Part 6

Welcome back, Gamelings!
We're almost done creating our character!!

How super exciting is that?

Today we will focus on Quirks and some information on Skills.

So grab a snack, some caffeine, and a comfy chair.
This might take a while.

Let's start with 

Quirks...
Quirks are small, strange personality traits that are neither advantages or disadvantages.
Example: Gluttony is a disadvantage; but if you can only eat or drink something if it is the color indigo, that's a quirk.

You can have up to 5 quirks at -1 points each.
A mental quirk is seen as a personality trait and must either require you to make a decision, require a certain action, or limit your actions/ give you a small penalty.

Mental quirks, though minor,  MUST be played! If you are scared of spiders and go rolling in a pit of tarantulas, what are you even doing? The GM WILL penalize you for bad roleplaying.
Follow the rules.

A physical quirk does not HAVE to be roleplayed (although it is much more fun that way) but it does give you minor penalties in play.

Skills:
Skills are certain things you are knowledgeable in (kung fu, chemistry, cooking, etc.). Your character, in order to stand out from every other character in the game world should have a particular set of skills.

You will start your campaign with a few skills and can acquire more through training as the campaign continues! Your skills are measured in skill levels. 

Let's say that you have LiamNeeson-16 (Note: This is not a real skill...unfortunately), that means that your LiamNeeson skill is at level 16. 

(That's a pretty high LiamNeeson)

When it is time to make a move, you (or the GM) will roll 3d against the level of the appropriate skill modified for the situation. If the number rolled is less than or equal to your skill level, you succeed!
Congratulations!

But a roll of 17 or 18 is always a failure so, there's that. 

Skills (Controlling attributes):

Each skill is based off of a controlling attribute. 

There are 4 types of skill bases:
ST-based: Skills only depending on your brute strength. These are fairly rare skills.

DX-based: These skills rely on coordination, speed, and agility.
IQ-based: These skills require intelligence, creativity, and reasoning.
HT-based: These skills rely on just how physically fit you are.

Skills (Difficulty Level):

Just like in the real world, some skills take more time, study, and practice to master. The more time/study/practice that a skill requires, the harder the difficulty level is and the more points you must spend to achieve it.

Easy: These are skills that pretty much anyone can do given a short learning period.

Average: These are skills used by people every day at work, at home, in social situations, and even in combat.

Hard: These are skills that require intensive formal training.

Skills (Tech Level):

Some skills are different or evolve depending on the tech level. Those skills must be learned at your tech level or lower. (Higher Tech Level skills can be learned in game but only if you have a teacher and the skill is not IQ-based).
YOU MUST NOTE THE TECH LEVEL ON YOUR CHARACTER SHEET WITH THE SKILL!
Example: If you have navigation/TL2, you can chart the stars and whatnot... However, if you have navigation/TL8, you would just get on your phone, click GoogleMaps (or the equivalent) and use that for your GPS.

Skills (Buying):

In order to learn or improve skills, you have to spend character points... That is just the way things work. The point cost of a certain skill depends on 2 things:
The difficulty level

+
the final skill level you want to be at.

Here is a handy-dandy chart found in the GURPS Lite book to help you out!

Let's say that you are learning an IQ-based skill and your IQ is at 12. Let's also say that you wish to end up at IQ+2 and the difficulty is hard. That means that your point cost will be 12.

Skills (Defaults):
Most skills will have a default level. This is the level that you can TRY to do it if you have had no training whatsoever. If a skill has a default level, everyone can do it!
It's like an exclusive club... but with everyone... and not a club.
A skill USUALLY defaults to its controlling attribute (ST, DX, IQ, or HT) at -4 if Easy, -5 if Average, or -6 if Hard.
If a skill has NO default level, it is far too complex. It requires training!

If your skill's basic attribute is higher than 20, you must treat that attribute as a 20 when figuring out the default skill level. (Even if your character is superhuman.)
Only individuals from a society where a skill is known may attempt a default roll against that skill.
As an example, let's say your skill is snowshoeing... if you came from an area similar to the Sahara desert, you do not get to attempt a default roll. What do you know about snow?
Nothing.
That's what.
Not a darn thing.

Alright folks.
That will be it for this post!
Our next post will be the ENTIRE LIST of skills...

The Chronicles of Darkness - Character Creation Continued, Skills/Derived Traits

Welcome back folks to the second installment of our character creation seminar, or… post.

Needs more darkness

In our first entry, we went over the background of the World of Darkness and got our Attributes sorted out. This time around, we’re going to get into Skills and Derived Traits.

Skills are exactly what it says on the box. Each one determines how well your character does in a certain field. There are also Skill Specializations, which further augment those abilities.

Similar to how we decided how to allocate our attributes, we choose a Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary category of skills, between Physical, Mental, and Social. Only, this time, we get eleven skill points in Primary, seven points in Secondary, and four in Tertiary.

Gotta have priorities

The skills are pretty simple themselves!

Physical – Athletics, Brawl, Drive, Firearms, Larceny, Stealth, Survival, Weaponry

Mental – Academics, Computer, Crafts, Investigation, Medicine, Occult, Politics, Science

Social – Animal Ken, Empathy, Expression, Intimidation, Persuasion, Socialize, Streetwise, Subterfuge

Many of these are self-explanatory, for example, Firearms determines your skill with guns and the like, while Academics shows how educated you are. Some are a little more nuanced, like Crafts, which covers all crafting from carpentry to soldering electronics, to even basket weaving.

One main difference from before is that Skills start at 0, where Attributes started at 1.

Everyone's got a passion

 If you decide that you want a skill at 5 dots (to show that your character is world-renowned for his/her ability to do the thing) the fifth dot costs an additional skill point (only at creation) for a total of 6 points. This will make the character super specialized, but weak in other areas.

Once your skills dots are allocated, you then choose three skill specializations to give to one or more skills you have dots in. For example, an MMA fighter that put three or four dots in Brawl may want Muay Thai and Grappling as two different Brawl Specializations, and put his third one into Intense for Intimidate. The Specializations are meant to be specific, not broad, so a Firearms Specialization in Guns isn’t appropriate, but one in Pistols is. What’s appropriate for your character or not is up to a discussion between you and your Storyteller. Each specialization gives you an effective additional dot in that skill for the purpose of that specific thing.

Will Smith knows all

Your skills come into play when trying to do things covered by that skill, combined with an appropriate attribute. For example, the aforementioned MMA fighter tries to grab an opponent. He would a number of d10s equal to his Strength plus his Brawl, adding his Grapple Specialization. Let’s say he has a Strength of 3 and a Brawl of 4, which would total 8 dice. Then you would subtract the Defense of the opponent (explained later in this post,) which we’ll say is a 3, bringing his dice down to 5. Rolling those 5 dice, he gets 5 6 9 4 2. Any die that comes up with an 8 or higher is considered a success, so for this purpose, he gets the grab. Some rolls may have a required number of successes to actually succeed. For instance, trying to hack into a fairly secure computer may require 3 successes to complete instead of 1.


This is what a veteran sheet looks like

*For supernatural characters only!*
You add the supernatural template (explained in later posts) before determining derived traits!


Don't tell your mortal friends

Now, on to our derived traits. They are called derived traits because they are determined by other dots on your sheet.

The first is your Health boxes, which is determined by your Stamina dots plus your character’s Size (almost always 5 for an adult human). Our MMA fighter is pretty tough, so his Stamina is 4, giving him 9 total Health boxes.

Next, we have Willpower, which you get from your Resolve plus your Composure. Willpower is used to augment your dice pools, and is refreshed by your Virtue and your Vice (details in a later post.)

Now, we have Speed, which is your characters Size (again, usually 5) plus their Strength and Dexterity. This determines how far they can run in a single turn of combat (3 seconds)

Then, your Defense. This is what you use to dodge attacks coming at you. You use the *lower* of your Wits or Dexterity.

Finally, your Initiative modifier. At the start of combat, each character rolls a d10 and adds their initiative modifier to that roll. The Initiative modifier is your Wits plus your Composure. Whoever has the highest Initiative score after the roll goes first in a fight.

As the dots on your sheet change, so do these. For instance, if you get another dot of Dexterity, you change your Speed, Defense, and Initiative to match!

The Rock may or may not return

Next time, we’ll talk about Merits and start talking about the different types of Supernaturals!

GURPS Character Creation: Just the Basics! Part 5

Ladies and gentlemen,
Boys and girls,
GAMELINGS!

We have come to the Disadvantage (disad) post of our character creation tutorial series.

"What is the definition of a disadvantage?"

Well the GURPS manual defines a disadvantage as:

"a problem or imperfection that renders you less capable than

your attributes, advantages, and skills

would indicate."

"Why would I want to give my character disadvantages?"
Well other than REALISM...
Disadvantages have negative point costs!

That means that you get more points to put into your character elsewhere!

The GM will usually put a cap on the disadvantages you can give your character.

A good rule of thumb for GMs is 50% of the total point cost.

Example: If the total character point allowance is 80 points and your GM has set the disad limit at 50%, you get -40 points for disads!

Other restrictions on disads would be:

Negated Disadvantages: 

You cannot take a disadvantage that one of your advantages would negate! 

Example: you have Acute Hearing, you cannot also have Hard of Hearing.

Villain Disadvantages: 

Some disads are just not "hero" material. I mean, a hero with Intolerance isn't much of a hero at all.  The GM is free to deny them to characters. They are, however, found in villain characters.

Some mental disads don’t affect you all of the time those disads give you a chance to control your urges. These will be marked with a "*". In circumstances likely to trigger your problem, roll 3d against a target number of 12. A roll

of 12 or less means you succeed and shrugoff your urge. A roll of 13 or higher means you fail and suffer its effects! 

This is a self-control roll. 

You never have to roll!
It’s actually good roleplaying (and a heck of a lot more interesting) to give in willingly.

Alright, brace yourselves...
it's time for the list of disadvantages...

Bad Sight:

You have bad eyesight. This gives you a -6 to vision rolls and a -2 to your hit in combat. If the campaign (or your character) is at a tech level high enough to correct it (with glasses or contact lenses) this disad costs -10 character points. If your tech level is too low to correct it, it costs -25!

*Bad Temper:
You are not in control of your emotions! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF! In any stressful situation you must make a self-control roll. If you fail the roll, you must insult, attack, or act out against the cause of the stress. This is -10 points!

*Bloodlust:
You want your enemies dead.

DEAD dead.
No matter what...
Dead.
This means that all, or the majority of your attacks must be killing blows and you will put in extra shots just to make sure you have really killed them.
Whenever you are in any situation with your enemy (accepting surrender, taking a prisoner, waiting behind them in line at Starbucks while they take forever figuring out what they want) you must roll a self-control roll. If you fail the roll, you try to kill them... even if that means breaking the law, compromising stealth, wasting ammo, violating orders, or pouring insane amounts of boiling-hot coffee down their throats. The chance to go ballistic in your friendly neighborhood Starbucks costs -10 points.

Code of Honor:
This is a personal "code" of ethics that you stick to. The specifics can vary but the intentions must be "Honorable". 

An informal code that applies only among your peers is worth -5 points. 

A formal code that applies only among peers, or an informal one that applies all the time, is worth -10 points. 

A formal Code that applies all the time, or that requires suicide if broken, is worth -15 points.

*Curious:
Now, everyone is a little bit curious. A normal character might ask questions like, "Where does this hallway lead?" or  "What is that light up ahead?" But you? No. That simply won't do. You ask the real questions like, "What does this mildly poisonous plant taste like?" and "Is the fur on this angry lion's nose softer than the fur on it's tail?" You can make a self-control roll. If you fail, you investigate even though you KNOW it could be very dangerous and potentially deadly. (Again, you never HAVE to roll... just keep things interesting and assume that you are gonna pet that hangry lion on the nose.) This costs -5 points

Delusions:
You believe a few things that are just not true...at...all.

There are a couple of levels of just how delusional you really are:

A Minor Delusion affects your behavior, and anyone around you will soon notice it (and react at -1), but it does not keep you from functioning more-or-less normally. -5 points.

A Major Delusion strongly affects your behavior, but does not keep you from living a fairly normal life. Others will react to you at -2. -10 points.

A Severe Delusion affects your behavior so much that it may keep you from functioning in the everyday world. Others react to you at -3, but they are more likely to fear or pity you than to attack. -15 points.

*Gluttony:
Good food and drink are the true loves of your life. You must ALWAYS have an abundance of them in your stores. If you are presented with a piece of food or drink that you should (or NEED to) resist, you can make a self-control roll. If you fail, you gobble it down despite the consequences. This costs -5 points.

*Greed:
You lust for wealth. You will literally do anything to obtain it.Whenever riches are offered (even if it's a trap) you can make a self-control roll. If you fail, you might almost die, but you got that gold, dammit! Small sums do not tempt you as much if you are already rich, but if you are poor you will pretty much chew your arm off to get those riches! Good for you...
This costs -15 points.

Hard of Hearing:
You're not deaf but you have some hearing loss.
I SAID, "YOU'RE NOT DEAF BUT YOU HAVE SOME HEARING LOSS!"
You have -4 on any hearing roll or any roll where it is imperative that you understand someone.
Go ahead and take that -10 points while you walk into that cave that we told you not to go into.

*Honesty:

You must obey the law, and do your best to get others to do so as well. In a lawless area, you do not get to just go crazy. You act as though the laws of your own home were in force. You also assume that others are honest and good unless you know otherwise.

Make a self-control roll whenever you are faced with the choice to break an unreasonable law. If you fail, you MUST obey the law no matter what the consequences. If you succeed, you break the law but must roll a self-control roll afterward. If the second roll is failed, you must turn yourself over to the authorities with haste. This little lovely bit of glory will get you -10 points.

*Impulsiveness:

You have no patience for thinking it out or conversation. You are a doer! If you are alone, you just act without putting thought into anything. If you are a part of a larger group and you MUST talk it through, you do so quickly and get to the action. Make a self-control roll whenever it would be BEST to wait, think, or talk it out. If you fail, you MUST act immediately. This bit of fun will cost -10 points.

Intolerance:

You dislike, distrust, and have a general prejudice against someone, someones, or anyone and everyone!
Other players or NPCs will react at -1 to -5 depending on just how much of a prick you are (This is up to the GM, of course).

Thoroughly intolerant you react at -3 toward anyone not of your own class, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or species (pick one). Total Intolerance of this kind is worth -10 points.

Specific Intolerance aimed at one particular class, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex, or species is worth from -5 points (commonly encountered victim) to -1 point (are victim).

Jealousy:
You have to be the very best
Like no one ever was

Ahem... Sorry...
You get super upset if anyone seems better than you in any way! You reject any plans made by someone "better" than you and hate when they are the center of attention. If an NPC is jealous, the GM will apply a reaction penalty of -2 to -4 toward the people the NPC is jealous of. This will get you -10 points.

*Lecherousness:
You hit on everyone and everything.You can't help it. You even spout a few lines at yourself in the mirror. Make a self-control roll whenever you are near (for more than a passing moment) a member of the sex that your character finds attractive.
If the other person is Handsome/Beautiful you get -5 slapped onto that roll.
If the other person is Very Handsome/Very Beautiful you get -10 slapped onto the roll.
All of this debauchery costs -15 points.

*Obsession:
Your life has one mission and you will not rest until it is fulfilled!
Make a self-control roll whenever it would be BEST to deviate from your goal. If you fail, you must continue on your quest despite what that may mean for you, your party, and your campaign.
If your obsession is a Short-Term Goal, it costs -5 points.
If your obsession is a Long-Term Goal, it costs -10 points.

*Overconfidence:

You believe that you are far better at something than you really are. Make a self-control roll every time the GM thinks you are being too cautious. If you fail you MUST continue as if you are DEFINITELY able to handle the situation. Fake it til you make it, people!

You receive +2 to reaction rolls made by young or naive characters who believe you to be the superhero you think you are. However you receive -2 to reaction rolls made by people who know better. 

This all costs -5 points.

Pacifism:
You abhor and (attempt to) abstain from violence.
You are either:

Reluctant Killer: You get -4 to hit a person (only people) with a deadlyattack, or -2 if you can’t see his face. If you kill someone, roll 3d – you’re morose anduseless for that many days. -5 points.

One Who Cannot Harm Innocents: You may fight – you may even start fights – but you may only use deadly force on a foe that is attempting to do you serious harm. -10 points.

*Phobias:

A “phobia” is a fear. The more common an object or situation, the greater the point value is for a fear of it. If you have a phobia, you may only temporarily master it by making a successful self-control roll. Even if you master a phobia, you will be at -2 to all IQ, DX, and skill rolls while the cause of your fear is present, and you must roll again every 10 minutes to see if the fear overcomes you. If you fail the self-control roll, you will probably pee your pants and cry like a little baby. Heck, even the THREAT of the phobia requires a self-control roll at +4. 

Some common phobias are:

Blood (Hemophobia): -10 points.

Darkness (Scotophobia): -15 points.

Heights (Acrophobia): -10 points.

Number 13 (Triskaidekaphobia): Roll at

-5 if Friday the 13th is involved! -5 points.

Spiders (Arachnophobia): -5 points.

Sense of Duty:
You feel a strong commitment to a person or group of people. There is nothing that you won't do for them and you could NEVER abandon them. The point value is based on the size of the group your commitment is aimed at.

Individual: -2 points.

Small Group: -5 points.

Large Group: -10 points.

Entire Race: -15 points.

Every Living Being: -20 points.

*Truthfulness:
You cannot and WILL not tell a lie. Make a self-control roll whenever you must keep silent about something. Roll at -5 if you actually have to tell a lie! If you fail, you blurt out the truth. You have a permanent -5 to Fast-Talk skill, and your Acting skill is at -5 when your purpose is to deceive. This gets you -5 points.

Unluckiness:
Your party should probably leave you behind when they head into that casino. You have HORRIBLE luck! I'm talking "fall through a window into a pot of lemon juice and getting out to roll in salt" kind of luck. Once per play session, the GM will arbitrarily and maliciously make something go wrong for you. The GM is not allowed to kill you with "death by bad luck" but pretty much anything north of death is fair game! This crap-shoot is -10 points.

Vow:
I know what you are thinking...
Trust me.. I do..
"But a vow is a good thing, right?"
Suuuuuuuure. I mean... it CAN be...
But let's just say that your vow was to never ever in your entire life drink water until someone has had some first and, oh no, you're all alone. Guess who shrivels up and dies from being dehydrated. Yep. You! The GM is the final judge on point value but it is basically put on a scale of how inconvenient it is for you!

Minor Vow: Silence during daylight hours; vegetarianism; chastity; or something itty bitty like that.. -5 points.

Major Vow: Use no edged weapons; keep silence at all times; never sleep indoors; own no more than your horse can carry; or other semi-crazy vows. -10 points.

Great Vow: Never refuse any request for aid; always fight with the wrong hand; hunt a given foe until you destroy him; challenge every knight you meet to combat; or something else insane (here's looking at you Waterboy...).  -15 points

Hey.
Guess what.
You did it!
We made it through!
Now pick and choose which disads fit your character, throw them up onto your character sheet, gather up all of those extra points, spend 'em, and (as always) check with your GM!

Next time we will cover Quirks and some Skills.
(Skills will be broken up into 2 posts because hot damn there are a lot of them)

See you next time, Gamelings.
I need a nap!

GURPS Character Creation: Just the Basics! Part 4

Hello, gamelings and welcome to another edition of "Let's make a character!"

When we last saw our hero, (S)he was obtaining Social Background, Wealth, and Influence!
This episode we will focus on Advantages!

(PSA: This post will be longer than most due to the number of advantages that exist!)

Advantages:

Advantages are just that, a trait that gives you a 1-up on others in a mental, physical, or social way. As usual, the GM has final say on whether a certain advantage suits the character/campaign.

Let's go through the advantage list, shall we?

Acute Senses:

This boosts your senses and adds +1/level to your sense rolls or sense rolls made for you by the GM.

Acute Hearing-2 points/level

Acute Taste and Smell-2 points/level

Acute Touch-2 points/level
Acute Vision-2 points/level

Ambidexterity:

This is the ability to fight, write, work, etc. with both hands equally. This advantage costs 5 points and saves you from the -4DX penalty for using the "off hand" if anything should happen to one hand.

Animal Empathy:

This advantage lets you be the Dr. Doolittle of your campaign! When your party encounters an animal, the GM rolls against your IQ and tells you what you “feel.” You can't read animal thoughts. The animals can't talk to you. You just read animals like an open book. You can also

use your Influence skills on animals just as you would on people. This costs 5 points. 

Catfall:

This advantage costs 10 points but it lets you subtract five yards from a fall automatically. (This is treated as an acrobatic success). Also, a successful DX roll halves damage from any fall. Of course, all of this is only possible if you are free to move and twits about.

Combat Reflexes:

You have lightning fast reactions in battle and are super hard to stun. You get +1 to all active defense rolls and +2 to Fright Checks. You also get +6 on all IQ rolls to recover from surprise or mental stun. Super cool, right? Well it costs a whopping 15 points.

Danger Sense:
You know that feeling you get when you are watching a horror movie? The hair on the back of your neck stands up, your heart races, your breathing gets heavy, etc. Yea, that. It's not 100% reliable but you have a tendency to just KNOW when danger is near. The GM will secretly roll once against your Perception in any situation involving an ambush, impending disaster, or similar hazard. with a successful roll, you get enough of a warning that you can take action. A roll of 3 or 4 means you get some small detail as to the nature of the danger. This badboy is 15 points!

Daredevil:
No, not the blind vigilante hero. This advantage makes all of your stupid and unnecessary crazy actions work in your favor. If the GM believes you are taking an unnecessary risk, you get a +1 to  all skill rolls AND you can reroll a critical failure that occurs during your risky behavior! This advantage costs 15 points!

Empathy:
This is much like the Animal Empathy but... you know... not for animals. You have that crazy awesome sense. You can read people and their intentions! You ask the GM to roll against your IQ for this and the GM will tell you what you "feel". HOWEVER, if that roll fails the GM will LIE! (What a butt, right???) This advantage costs 15 points.

Enhanced Defenses:

Look at you blocking and dodging left and right! No one can touch you! This may be due to careful observation of your foe, focusing chi,or anything else that fits your background. There are three kinds: 

Enhanced Block: You have +1 to your Block score with Shield skill. This costs 5 points. 

Enhanced Dodge: You have +1 to your Dodge score. This costs 15 points. 

Enhanced Parry: You have +1 to your Parry score. 

You may take this advantage for: 

                             bare hands (5 points)

                                                                for any one Melee Weapon skill (5 points)

                                        for all parries (10 points).  

Fearlessness:

Nothing scares you! You laugh at horror movies and taunt serial killers! Add your level of Fearlessness to your Will whenever you make a Fright Check or must resist the Intimidation skill or a supernatural power that induces fear. You also subtract your Fearlessness level from all Intimidation rolls made against you. This is 2 points/level.

Flexibility:
You are basically a contortionist! This advantages has two different kinds!
Flexibility: 

 +3 on Climbing rolls; on Escape rolls to get free of ropes, handcuffs, and similar restraints. You may ignore up to -3 in penalties for working in close quarters. This costs 5 points.

Double-Jointed: 

You cannot stretch or squeeze yourself abnormally, but any part of your body may bend any way. You get +5 on Climbing, Escape rolls, and on attempts to break free. You may ignore up to -5 in penalties for close quarters.  This costs 15 points.

Hard To Kill:
This advantage costs 2 points/level. Each level of Hard to Kill gives +1 to HT rolls made for survival at -HP or below, and on any HT roll where failure means instant death. If this bonus makes the difference between success and failure, you collapse, apparently dead, but come to in the usual amount of time.

High Pain Threshold:

 You still get hurt just like any normal character but you don't seem to feel it as much. You never suffer a shock penalty when you are injured. In addition, you get +3 on all HT rolls to avoid knockdown and stunning and if you are tortured physically, you get +3 to resist. The GM may let you roll at Will+3 to ignore pain in other situations. This costs 10 points.

Jumper:

This bad boy costs 100 points but there is a good reason for it. With this advantage, you can travel through time or to parallel worlds merely by willing the jump. You must decide whether you are a time-jumper or a world-jumper. It is possible to be both but you would have to buy Jumper

(Time) and Jumper (World) separately, at full cost. That would be 200 character points! Holy cow!

To initiate a jump, you must visualize your destination, concentrate for 10 seconds, and make an IQ roll. You may hurry the jump, but your roll will be at -1 per second of concentration omitted. Regardless of IQ, a roll of 14 or more always fails. 

On a success, you appear at your target destination. 

On a failure, you go nowhere. 

On a critical failure, you arrive at the wrong destination, which can be any time or world the GM wishes! 

You appear at your destination at exactly the same place you left your previous time or world – or as close as possible. If there is no corresponding “safe” location within 100 yards of your destination, the jump will fail and you will know why it failed. 

This ability always costs at least 1 Fatigue Point to use, succeed or fail. Any super distant times or worlds might cost more; how much is up to the GM. 

Language Talent:

You have a knack for languages. When you learn a language at a comprehension level above None, you automatically function at the next higher level. This advantage costs 10 points.

Luck:

We should take you to the racetrack because you are one lucky S.O.B. The luck advantage comes in three levels:
Luck: For every 1 hour of play, you may reroll a single bad die roll twice and take the best of the three rolls! You must declare that you are using your Luck immediately after you roll the dice. This costs 15 points.

 Extraordinary Luck:Same rules apply, but it's usable every 30 minutes. This is 30 points. 

Ridiculous Luck: Again, same rules apply, but usable every 10 minutes! This is 60 points. 

Your Luck only applies to your own success, damage, or reaction rolls, or on outside events that affect you or your whole party, or when you are being attacked. That means that you can make the attacker roll three times and take the worst roll!

Night Vision:

This advantage costs 1 point/level (Max 9 levels). You can see in the dark... not pitch black, mind you, but dark. Each level of this ability allows you to ignore -1 in combat or vision penalties due to darkness, provided there is at least some light.

Perfect Balance:

You are the tightropiest walker in the history of balance! You keep your footing perfectly under normal conditions without having to make a die roll. If the surface is wet, slippery, or unstable, you get +6 on all rolls to keep your feet. In combat, you get +4 to DX and DX-based skill rolls to keep your feet or avoid being knocked down. Finally, you get +1 to Acrobatics and Climbing skill. 

Resistant:

You have a natural resistance or immunity to diseases or poisons. This gives you a bonus on all HT rolls to resist incapacitation or injury..

Resistant to Disease: You may take a +3 bonus for 3 points or a +8 bonus for 5 points. 

Resistant to Poison: You have a +3 bonus, costing 5 points. 

Talent:

You are naturally skilled or talented. “Talents” come in levels, and give a bonus of +1 per level with all affected skills, even for default use. You may never have more than four levels of a particular Talent. However, overlapping Talents can give skill bonuses (only) in excess of +4.

The cost of a Talent depends on the size of the group of skills affected. 

Some examples: Artificer covers Armory, Electronics Repair, Engineer, Mechanic, and others. 10 points/level. 

Outdoorsman covers Camouflage, Naturalist, Navigation, Survival, and Tracking. 10 points/level. 

Smooth Operator covers all Influence skills, as well as Acting, Carousing, Leadership, and Public Speaking. 15 points/level. 

You have so many more options,too! GMs are encouraged to create their own Talents as needed.

Whew! You made it through! Thanks for hanging in there!

I know that is a lot to go through and you stuck with me through it all.

So those are the available Advantages. Now that we've covered them, you may have noted a few that suit your character! Go ahead and add them to your sheet in the proper area. Then subtract the point values from your available points total.

Next time we will cover DISadvantages.

Heads up: That one will be long, too. o.O

See you all next time! We are almost done creating our characters!!!