Monday, October 22, 2018

Mana Rips and Surges for Lay Lines and Nexus in Gurps 4th


MANA RIPS
            Sometimes mana will spike outside of the network of ley lines and nexus. These mana rips are like tiny fragments of ley lines. They are much smaller than standard ley line fragments, as shown on the following chart.
Mana Level
Diameter
   Very High Mana
3D6 feet
   High Mana
2D6 feet
   Normal Mana
1D6 feet
   Low Mana
1D3 feet
   No Mana
None
            Otherwise their strength is determined exactly the same way as a ley line.
            Most mana rips are not permanent. Only on a roll of a 6 on a D6 is it permanent otherwise it will form and dissipate in a matter of decades, roll 3D6x10 years for the length.
            Roll 3D6x10 years again for the length of time it will take the mana rip to reform on the site.


MANA SURGES
            A mana surge is when the power of a ley line, nexus or mana rip suddenly spikes. Roll on the table for the ley line strength and add that to the power of the affected phenomenon. These surges are often only the size of a mana rip.
            They last a few days based on the total mana level.
Mana Level
Length of Surge
   Very High Mana
1D6+15 days
   High Mana
1D6+10 days
   Normal Mana
1D6+5 days
   Low Mana
1D6 days
   No Mana
1D3 days
            Surges are also semi regular occurrences, but frequency is really a matter of overall mana level. The higher the innate mana the more frequent the surges will be.
Mana Level
Time Between Surges
   Very High Mana
3D6x10 weeks
   High Mana
3D6 months
   Normal Mana
3D6x10 months
   Low Mana
3D6 years
   No Mana
3D6x10 years


Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Ley Lines, Nexus and Astronomical Alignments for GURPS 4th


LEY LINES
         These are lines along which flow a worlds mana. Sometimes this power crests to the surface, in amounts that can be used.

Frequency and Appearance
            In any given 10,000 square mile area (100 x 100 miles), there will be several random ley line segments. When they surface, it will generally run for an average length depending on the overall mana sphere.
Mana Level
Frequency of Ley Lines
   Very High Mana
3D6/10,000 sq. miles
   High Mana
2D6/10,000 sq. miles
   Normal Mana
2D6/10,000 sq. miles
   Low Mana
1D6/10,000 sq. miles
   No Mana
1D3/10,000 sq. miles
            The exact distance they run above ground and available is also related to the mana level of the world.
Mana Level
Distance
   Very High Mana
3D6x10 miles
   High Mana
2D6x10 miles
   Normal Mana
1D6x10 miles
   Low Mana
1D6x5 miles
   No Mana
1D6 miles
            At times the width and height of the ley line is also important, both are determined, separately, by overall mana levels.
Mana Level
Width
   Very High Mana
3D6 yards
   High Mana
2D6 yards
   Normal Mana
1D6 yards
   Low Mana
1D6 yards
   No Mana
1D3 yards
            The energy of a ley line will continually boost the magic points of a character by one point per rank of the ley line, which is determined by the overall mana level of the world in question.
Mana Level
Line Levels
Roll
   Very High Mana
5-10
1D6+4
   High Mana
3-8
1D6+2
   Normal Mana
1-6
1D6
   Low Mana
1-3
1D3
   No Mana
0-2
1D3-1
            Ley line energy radiates power in the area around the line. Outside of the immediate line, and for each additional mile, the available power is reduced by 2, until there is no additional mana available.



NEXUS
            Nexus form in areas where two or more ley lines converge.
            The number of nexus points per 100x100 mile area is listed as a percentage of the number of ley lines. For example, if there are 10 ley line segments and a rating of 20% for nexus points, there would be 2 places where ley lines cross in that region.
Frequency of Nexus Points
2d6-2x5%
            As for how many lines flow into the nexus, that is left for the GM to determine. Alternatively, nexus can be broken down into three categories, minor, moderate and major.
Nexus Type
Roll
   Major
6
   Moderate
5-4
   Minor
1-3
            The type of nexus determines how many lines intersect.
Nexus Type
Number of Lines
   Major
3D3+1
4-10
   Moderate
2D3+1
3-7
   Minor
1D3+1
2-4
            These places of power often have power far outside of the lines flowing into them. The mana from each line is added and then multiplied based on the overall mana of the world. The higher the base level of the world the more additional mana is drawn to the surface by the nexus.
Multiplier of available power
1d6-1x5%
            The base diameter is the width of the largest ley line flowing into the nexus plus an additional 10% of all the lines that intersect.


ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENON
            Certain astronomical phenomenon cause surges along ley lines and nexus.

Noon and Midnight
            The most common surges occur daily, at noon and midnight. For a half hour on either side of the clock striking twelve, the points available increase by 10%.

Equinox and Solstice
            The vernal and autumnal equinox are two time a year where day and night are equal length. On the other hand, Solstices are when the sun is at the closest (summer) and furthest (winter).
            During the twenty-four-hour period all points available are increased by 50%.

Eclipses
            A lunar eclipse is when the planet passes directly between the sun and the moon. Typically, they last around ninety minutes, and during this time the available points are increased by 25%.
            Solar eclipses are when a moon or other body passes between the planet and the sun.
            Partial eclipses are when only a fraction of the sun is blocked (at least 50%). They don’t last long though, only around ten minutes. But they spike the available mana by 75%.
            Total eclipses are just that, the interposing body completely covers the sun. They are even briefer than partial solar eclipses, lasting two to eight minutes. But they are the most powerful of the common astronomical occurrences. Double all available mana.
            A solar eclipse created by more than one moon in alignment will raise the mana available by an additional 10% for each moon past the first.
            Of course, if the world has no moon, then eclipses are impossible.

Planetary Alignments
            Two or more moons aligning will raise the mana by 25% +15% for each moon after the second.
            When three or more planets, including the one with the lines in question, align, it causes a surge in power. Each planet in the alignment raises the mana available by 10%. They also last anywhere from 30 to 180 minutes (3D6 x 10).

Solar Alignments
            Multiple suns aligning raise the ambient mana by 25% per sun. So, during the few minutes of a triple solar alignment the mana peaks at an additional 75%.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

A few of the rules I use

The main alternate rule I use is from Pyramid 3-83 "Knowing Your Own Strength" which brings the Strength Attribute back into line with all the others. I highly recommend it as it makes things a bit simpler in character creation. Or at least it has with my group.

Another is that HP is based on the weight of the character. Mass correlating to how much damage one can take actually works quite well.

Finally Ranged weapons use Per instead of Dex. Knowing several people who shoot on a regular basis, they have repeatedly said that its breath control and a steady eye that are more important with guns than nimbleness. Or at least if you don't plan to follow the "spray and pray" method of shooting.

These are the big ones that most of my builds take into account. When time permits I will do a second, vanilla build.

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

A New Take on Magic

I’ve been thinking about my Shadowrun inspired GURPS game and have an idea for magic. It’s based loosely on the ritual spellcasting out of the Magic book.

All spells are techniques based of a single skill called Sorcery, which is an IQ/VH skill.

Prerequisites, except Magery, are removed to make spells stand alone.

The techniques are Hard or Very Hard as they were originally.

This does have the potential to bring down the cost of spells, and a GURPS mage has to have a lot more than their Shadowrun counterparts. Under normal cercumstances they tend to be the most expensive template option, but this brings them down to the level of the cyber and skill based characters.

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Aeldari (Warhammer 40K for GURPS)


I've been following Games Workshops setting for awhile now, and decided to take a stab at making my favorite race. I've tried to do them justice from a fluff perspective, while making them a little more alien than they have been written in game terms. 

Aeldari 125

DX +1, Will +1, Perception +1, Basic Speed +.5, Tech Level +2,

Advantages
Acute Hearing 2 [4], Acute Taste and Smell 1 [2], Acute Touch 1 [2], Acute Vision 2 [4], Aeldari Culture [0], Aeldari Language [0], Aeldari Literacy [0], Appearance (attractive) [4], Empathy (Own race only -50%, Always on-10%, Area effect 20 feet, +100%, Biological -10%, Telepathic -10%) [17], Hyperspectral Vision (Biological -10%) [23], Subsonic Speech (Biological -10%) [9], Tetrachomatism [1], Ultrasonic Speech (Biological -10%) [9], Unaging [15]

Disadvantages
Unusual Biochemistry [-5], Chauvinistic [-1], Destiny (Soul consumed by Slanesh, Mitigated by Soul Stone -60%) [-6], Discipline of Faith (Paths) [-5], Disturbing Voice [-1], Riddled Speech [-1], Sense of Duty (Large Group: Craftworld) [-10]

Skills
Emotion Sense [2], Empathy [2]

Friday, May 25, 2018

Discovering GURPS

I've discovered GURPS and find it a wonderful system for my style of game.

I've been busily converting my oldest and longest running game over, and it's something of a kitchen sink setting.

I'll be posting the conversions here as I finish them.

Taint Level as a Mesure of Evil

 Taint levels Corruption Effects Table Level Taint Will Impulse Pts. 1 ...