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Rosalia Savory, the Mysterious Satirist
One of the player characters for my solo Hell’s Rebels campaign.
Rosalia Savory used to work at the Kintargo Opera House in a role that, in modern times, might have been called “production assistant”. She did what needed doing backstage, helped the actors out, sang in the background chorus from offstage, and so on. It was a living, and she liked doing it.
She was also secretly one of Kintargo’s several “mysterious satirists” who published stuff criticizing the more Thrune-loving segments of the city’s nobility and government, as well as the church of Asmodeus. In her case it was little absurdist play scripts, which she signed as “Little Lamp”.
So when Barzilai Thrune waltzed in, disappeared a lot of people, burned down their homes, and then took over the Opera House as his personal residence, she suddenly had a lot of inspiration for new material, and a lot more time in which to write it since she was out of a job. Her scripts got a lot more accusative, without losing their comedic edge, and there’s a warrant out for her arrest as soon as someone finds out who she is.
Her future plans include going from production assistant to community organizer. She’s at the protest at the start of adventure 1 because of course she’d be.
Description
Rosalia has pale freckled skin, brown eyes, and unruly curly brown hair down to her shoulders. She usually wears “working stiff” clothes when out and about, and likes to carry and play a guitar when she’s not on the job. She has a fairly easy-going and fun-loving personality and a tendency to make jokes and maintain forced cheer to cope with stressful and sad situations, so it feels like she never stops smiling these days.
Her looks and general demeanor are inspired by Pinkie Pie. I’ve used Rosalia in a couple of games before, so there’s a “yes, her again” note next to her name in my personal version of her character sheet.
Build Notes
Rosalia is mostly a standard DF Bard with the usual wide distribution of points. She has a couple of bard powers, a small set of mind-affecting spells, and a little fencing ability. The biggest deviation here is that she’s naturally talented at shooting pistols, which is kinda funny because she doesn’t start in possession of a gun. Getting her one, and the corresponding ammo, should be a priority once play starts.
In a fight she’s mostly going to rely on Song of Humiliation to aid her physical attacks, and cast spells if she has the time and space to do so.
Dungeon Fantasy being the way it is, by virtue of being a Bard Rosalia starts with by far the most social skills in the group, and only loses out on reaction bonuses to Jade, so she’s going to be one of the party’s “faces”.
Character Sheet
ST 10 {0}; DX 13 {60}; IQ 14 {80}; HT 11 {10}
Damage 1d-2/1d; BL 10kg; HP 10; Will 14; Per 14; FP 13 {6}; Basic Speed 6.00; Basic Move 6;
Advantages
- Bardic Talent 3 {30}
- Charisma 2 {10}
- Danger Sense {15}
- Gunslinger (One-Handed Guns) {15}
- Song of Echoes {14}
- Song of Humiliation {4}
- Voice {10}
Disadvantages
- Chummy {-5}
- Code of Honor (Outlaw’s) {-5}
- Compulsive Carousing (12) {-5}
- Curious (12) {-5}
- Gluttony (12) {-5}
- Impulsiveness (12) {-10}
- Secret (Mysterious Satirist) {-10}
- Sense of Duty (Adventuring Companions) {-5}
Quirks
- Pick your own! {-5}
Skills
- Acrobatics (H) DX-2 {1} - 11
- Acting (A) IQ {2} - 14
- Carousing (E) HT+1 {2} - 12
- Connoisseur (Art) (A) IQ-1 {1} - 13
- Current Affairs (E) IQ {1} - 14
- Dancing (A) DX-1 {1} - 12
- Detect Lies (H) Per-2 {1} - 12
- Diplomacy (H) IQ {1}1 - 14
- Disguise (A) IQ-1 {1} - 13
- Fast-Draw (Sword) (E) DX {1} - 13
- Fast-Talk (A) IQ+1 {1}1 - 15
- Guns (Pistol) (E) DX+1 {2} - 14
- Heraldry (A) IQ-1 {1} - 13
- Interrogation (A) IQ-1 {1} - 13
- Intimidation (A) Will-1 {1} - 13
- Merchant (A) IQ-1 {1} - 13
- Musical Composition (H) IQ+1 {1}2 - 15
- Musical Instrument (Guitar) (H) IQ+2 {2}2 - 16
- Performance (A) IQ+1 {1}1 - 15
- Poetry (A) IQ-1 {1} - 13
- Propaganda (A) IQ-1 {1} - 13
- Public Speaking (A) IQ+3 {1}13 - 17
- Saber (A) DX+2 {8} - 15
- Savoir-Faire (E) IQ {1} - 14
- Singing (E) HT+5 {1}1 - 16
- Sleight of Hand (H) DX-2 {1} - 11
- Stealth (A) DX-1 {1} - 12
- Streetwise (A) IQ-1 {1} - 13
- Writing (A) IQ-1 {1} - 13
Spells
- Bravery (p. 53) (H) IQ+1 {1} - 15
- Fear (p. 54) (H) IQ+1 {1} - 15
- Foolishness (p. 54) (H) IQ+1 {1} - 15
- Hush (p.56) (H) IQ+1 {1} - 15
- Loyalty (p. 55) (H) IQ+1 {1} - 15
- Sense Emotion (p. 26) (H) IQ+1 {1} - 15
- Sense Evil (p. 26) (H) IQ+1 {1} - 15
- Sense Foes (p. 26) (H) IQ+1 {1} - 15
- Silence (p. 67) (H) IQ+1 {1} - 15
- Sound (p. 67) (H) IQ+1 {1} - 15
- Voices (p. 68) (H) IQ+1 {1} - 15
Loadout
- Clothing: $0, 1kg.
- Pouch: Holds 1.5kg. $10, 0.1kg.
- Guitar: Two-handed instrument. $150, 2.5kg.
- Armor:
- Light Cloth Body Armor: $53, 3.15kg.
- Light Cloth Sleeves: $25, 1.5kg.
- Saber: $700, 1kg.
Combat
- Defenses
- Dodge: 9
- Parry (Saber): 10F
- DR: 1 (torso and arms), 2 (skull)
- Attacks
- Saber (15): 1d-1 cut or imp, Reach 1.
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Jania Moonshadow, The Phantom Thief
One of the player characters for my solo Hell’s Rebels campaign.
Jania is a distinguished alumna of Lady Docur’s School for Girls. She moved to Vyre to seek her fortune after graduation, and took to the city’s fashions (“goth”) and customs (“creepy”) quite readily.
Jania soon acquired a certain propensity for grandstanding. She built an above-board reputation as a powerful wizard and an “openly secret” one as a master thief for that extra thrill. It helps that creepy, unexplained events keep happening around her. Jania introduces herself as “The Great and Powerful”, though some think a better title would be “The Two-Faced”. Don’t call her that where she can hear you, though, she considers it insulting.
Ms. Moonshadow’s increasing boldness soon caused her to run afoul of an old wererat named Hei-Fen, a veteran of the same business who was enjoying a “quiet” retirement as the combat instructor for an assassin cult. After the first couple attempts on her life, Jania decided that it would be wise to go on vacation for a while. She regrettably had to leave most of her ill-gotten gains behind.
When she returned to her old hometown of Kintargo, she found it in quite a state. Lady Docur filled her in on the local situation and asked for some help, which she was only too happy to provide. Jania feels a genuine need to repay the school for her excellent education. Jania also sincerely hopes that hag Hei-Fen dies of old age before she has to return to Vyre.
Description
Jania’s inspirations are Sucy Mondavarian from Little Witch Acacemia for the creepy bits, and the Great and Powerful Trixie for everything else. I imagine her as a blue-skinned elf with white hair and a penchant for black dresses and witch hats. Despite her skin tone, she’s not a sea elf. She’s just blue. If your GM is strict about those things, chalk it up to an unfortunate accident with silver-based alchemical compounds during her school years.
Notes
Jania’s personality has a lot of The Great and Powerful Trixie in it, with a dash of Lupin III and a tiny bit of Sucy thrown in. She puts up a flamboyantly witchy front in social interactions and is all about being extremely sneaky when practicing her actual craft of thievery. She even likes using classic “phantom thief” moves like leaving calling cards or giving advance warning of a heist, but only when it helps her plans succeed.
Rules-wise she’s built on a tweaked version of the Spell-Thief template from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Denizens: Thieves. She has Spell-Thief Expertise, which adds to spells just like Magery but also benefits her Spell-Thief abilities. Jania’s main focus is being the party’s sneak and its “active radar”. She can fight well when compared to a civilian but she’s far from being the best combatant in this party.
For progression, our highest priority here is getting Jania a third level of Spell-Thief Expertise, which will raise all of her spell levels to the discount breakpoint of 15. After that point we can either keep adding more spells, or improving her thief and combat traits. Danger Sense might be a good purchase here. She should also get something expensive to act as a Power Item.
Jania Moonshadow, 250-point Half-Elf Spell-Thief
ST 10 {0}; DX 14 {80}; IQ 14 {80}; HT 11 {10};
Damage 1d/1d-2; Basic Lift 10kg.; Will 14; Per 14; HP 10 FP 11; Basic Speed 6.25; Basic Move 6.
Advantages
- Flexibility {5}
- High Manual Dexterity 1 {5}
- Spell-Thief Experdise 2 {27}
- Open Locks 2 {5}
- Unusual Background (Spell-Thief) {5}
Disadvantages
- Bad Temper {-10}
- Code of Honor (Outlaw’s) {-5}
- Laziness {-10}
- Overconfidence (12) {-5}
- Sense of Duty (Adventuring Companions) {-5}
- Weirdness Magnet {-15}
Quirks
- Pick your Own! {-5}
Skills
- Acrobatics DX-2 {1}-12
- Alchemy IQ-3 {1}-11
- Brawling DX+0 {1}-14
- Carousing HT+0 {1}-11
- Climbing DX+2 {1}-16
- Disguise IQ-1 {1}-13
- Escape DX+3 {4}-17
- Fast-Draw (Sword) DX+0 {1}-14
- Fast-Talk IQ+0 {2}-14
- Filch DX+0 {2}-14
- Hazardous Materials IQ-1 {1}-13
- Hidden Lore (Magic Items) IQ+0 {2}-14
- Holdout IQ+0 {2}-14
- Innate Attack (Projectile) DX+1 {2}-15
- Lockpicking DX+2 {4}-16
- Merchant IQ-1 {1}-13
- Occultism IQ+0 {2}-14
- Pickpocket DX+0 {2}-14
- Savoir-Faire IQ+0 {1}-14
- Sleight of Hand DX-1 {1}-13
- Smallsword DX+3 {12}-17
- Stealth DX+1 {4}-15
- Streetwise IQ+0 {2}-14
- Thaumatology IQ-1 {1}-13
- Traps IQ+1 {4}-15
- Urban Survival Per+0 {2}-14
Spells
- Apportation IQ {1} - 14
- Aura IQ {1} - 14
- Blur IQ {1} - 14
- Climbing IQ {1} - 14
- Continual Light IQ {1} - 14
- Create Water IQ {1} - 14
- Darkness IQ {1} - 14
- Detect Magic IQ {1} - 14
- Great Haste IQ-1 {1} - 13
- Haste IQ {1} - 14
- Ice Dagger IQ+1 {2} - 15
- Ice Sphere IQ {1} - 14
- Icy Weapon IQ {1} - 14
- Infravision IQ {1} - 14
- Invisibility IQ {1} - 14
- Levitation IQ {1} - 14
- Light IQ {1} - 14
- Lockmaster IQ {1} - 14
- Locksmith IQ {1} - 14
- Magelock IQ {1} - 14
- Mage Sight IQ {1} - 14
- Night Vision IQ {1} - 14
- Purify Water IQ {1} - 14
- See Invisible IQ {1} - 14
- Seeker IQ {1} - 14
- Seek Food IQ {1} - 14
- Seek Water IQ {1} - 14
- See Secrets IQ {1} - 14
- Shape Water IQ {1} - 14
Loadout
$1000, 7.883kg. No Encumbrance.
- Clothing; $0, 1kg.
- Ninja Slippers: +1 to Stealth. $100, 0.25kg.
- Fine Short Staff: Enchanted with Staff; $90, 0.5kg.
- Backpack, Small; $60, 1.5kg.
- Personal Basics; $5, 0.5kg.
- Trap-Finder’s Kit, Good; $250, 1kg.
- Spy’s Horn; $100, 1kg.
- Canteen; $10, 0.5kg.
- Water (1 Quart); $0, 1kg.
- Pouch; $10, 0.1kg.
- Lockpicks; $50, 0.05kg.
- 2 x Nageteppo, Flash; $80, 0.2kg.
- 2 x Nageteppo, Smoke; $80, 0.2kg.
- Coins: a quarter gold piece, 3 silvers, and 5 coppers. $165, 0.103kg.
Combat
Assumes No Encumbrance.
- Defenses
- Dodge: 9
- Parry: 11F
- DR: 2 on skull, 0 everywhere else.
- Attacks
- Short Staff (17): 1d+1 cr (swing) or 1d-1 cr (thrust). Reach 1.
- Ice Dagger (15): 1d-1 imp per energy point, Acc 3, Range 30/60. Costs 0-5 FP. See DF Spells p. 69.
- Ice Sphere (15): 1d cr per energy point, Acc 2, Range 40/80. Costs 0-5 FP. See DF Spells p. 69.
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Arcturus Pankrator, The Knight of the Deep
One of the player characters for my solo Hell’s Rebels campaign.
Arcturus Pankrator is a renowned hero and slayer of monsters among the underwater peoples that make their home near Ravounel. Landlubbers have no idea who he is, which is somewhat unfortunate for him because that’s where he’s headed for the foreseeable future.
His newest quest was given to him by the leader of the sea elf village of Acisazi: he is to seek the help of Shensen, the famous singer and priestess of Sarenrae who lives in Kintargo. The village has been plagued by a horrible curse, and since Shensen is an old friend of theirs she would have both the willingness and the power to help them out. However, she has not answered their magical messages, so something might have happened to her. Time to send in an actual envoy to find out what happened and help Shensen out if needed. An excellent job for a hero of his caliber!
Unfortunately Arcturus’ wallet was considerably leaner than his muscles, so he’s more or less completely broke when he arrives at Kintargo. The information he manages to gather about the city’s situation isn’t all that encouraging either, with Shensen missing and this new human dictator causing a pall of anger and sorrow to hang over the city.
The Atlantean wrestler isn’t exactly a genius detective. His method of investigation can be summed by the word “vibes”. Therefore, Arcturus is absolutely sure that the shortest path to completing his quest lies in opposing this land-monster, which is why he’s at the big protest against him at the start of the campaign.
Description
Arcturus is an obvious expy of Aquaman from Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and that’s exactly what he looks like. You can make his hair brown instead of blond if you won’t want a 100% exact match, but you should still take all your roleplaying cues from that version of Aquaman.
Build Notes
Arcturus is a mix of the Wrestler and Martial Artist archetypes. The Wrestler first appeared in Pyramid #3/111. Art makes extensive use of the Fantastic Dungeon Grappling rules, as does the campaign he’s in.
He’s an Atlantean, which means he has no problem operating underwater. His fighting style works well both in and out of water: grab’em, and stab’em. That is, inflict a reasonable bunch of Control Points onto an enemy using Wrestling, and then stab them with his knife while spending as many CP as possible to boost the knife’s damage dice. If there’s no time to draw the knife, the damage dice from CP alone should let Art inflict some involuntary yoga on almost any opponent anyway.
Character advancement is simple. More ST, more DR, higher combat skills, more attacks! Those can come from either straight up increases or Martial Artist and Wrestler powers (or better armor in the case of DR). He can also make excellent use of Extra Attacks and Fast-Draw, which let the grab-and-stab loop happen much faster. Any branching out will mostly be towards the addition of more acrobatic and movement skills. Let everyone else do the talking and investigating, Arcturus Pankrator is here to punch things and tie them in knots. Point him at any nazis, sea monsters, or nazi sea monsters and watch the spectacle.
Character Sheet
Attributes
ST 14 {40}; DX 15 {100}; IQ 10 {0}; HT 12 {20};
Damage 1d/2d; Basic Lift 19.6kg; HP 14; Will 10; Per 10; FP 12; Basic Speed 7 {5}; Basic Move 8 {5};
Advantages
- Amphibious {10}
- Combat Reflexes {15}
- Doesn’t Breathe (Gills) {10}
- Enhanced Parry (Bare Hands) {15}
- Trained by a Master {30}
- Wrestling Master {10}
Disadvantages
- Code of Honor (Chivalry) {-15}
- Impulsiveness (12) {-10}
- Obsession (Find the missing sea elves) {-5}
- Overconfidence (12) {-5}
- Sense of Duty {-5}
- Wealth: Struggling {-10}
Quirks
- Pick your own! {-5}
Skills
- Carousing (E) HT {1} - 12
- Hiking (A) HT-1 {1} - 11
- Judo (H) DX {4} - 15
- Karate (H) DX-1 {1} - 14
- Knife (E) DX+1 {2} - 16
- Knot-Tying (E) DX {1} - 15
- Stealth (A) DX-1 {1} - 14
- Swimming (E) HT {1} - 12
- Wrestling (A) DX+5 {20} - 20
Chi Skills
- Immovable Stance (H) DX {4} - 15
- Push (H) DX {4} - 15
- Throwing Art (E) DX {4} - 15
Loadout
- Large Knife: $40, 0.5kg.
- Clothing: Free, 1kg.
- Armor: Nothing on head, light scale on body, light cloth/leather everywhere else. $336, 8.4kg.
- Pouch: Stores 1.5kg of small objects. $10, 0.1kg.
- Coins: 1 silver, 10 copper. $30, 0.11kg.
Combat
- Defenses
- Dodge: 11
- Parry: 17 (Wrestling), 14F (Judo), 11 (Knife).
- DR: 2 on skull, 0 on head, 3 (2 vs Crushing) on body, 1 everywhere else.
- Attacks
- Large Knife (16): 2d-2 cut (Reach C, 1) or 1d imp (Reach C).
- Wrestling Grab (20): 1d+3 control, Reach C.
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Jade Irinka, the Sixth Raven
One of the player characters for my solo Hell’s Rebels campaign.
Jade Irinka was an orphan of uncertain but numinous parentage who was adopted as a sort of mascot by the original Silver Ravens during their early exploits. She was too young to go out with the Ravens on their missions, but she witnessed their results and listened to their stories with rapt attention. Jackdaw, knowing victory would be uncertain in the final Thrune invasion, sent her away from the city with other non-combatant friends, hoping they would be able to come back once the fighting was over.
Things didn’t turn out well, and Jade never got the chance to return. She aged slowly but eventually reached maturity and set out to follow on the footsteps of her heroes. Her natural charisma and skill with the sword let her achieve some small measure of renown around the Inner Sea as an heroic adventurer.
Recent news from Cheliax convinced Jade it’s finally time to return home and take up the Ravens’ fight. She doesn’t remember many details about those days, but she’s confident she will find a way. Everything she’s done so far has been to prepare herself for this. As the campaign starts, she has just caught up on the events and rumors of the last few days and decides to attend the Aria Park protest to learn more.
Description
As you might have guessed from her name, Jade is inspired by Jasper Irinka, the Child of the Sun, one of the iconic characters from Chuubo’s Marvelous Wish Granting Engine. I’m using Jade instead of Jasper as the name because I like it more - it’s the name of Jasper’s Mother, the Angel of the Sun.
So Jade looks almost exactly like Jasper. Dark brown skin, voluminous and fiery red hair, green or blue eyes depending on the light. She has an athlethic build from all her adventuring, though her equipment is somewhat less than elegant at the moment. Unlike Jasper, she has only two arms at present and is unlikely to grow more.
This name might also give you a hint about who her ancestors are in the Pathfinder setting.
Build notes
Jade’s stats below are based on the Aristocrat archetype from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Denizens: Swashbucklers. This gives her amazing sword and leadership skills, though I removed some of the template’s more classist traits.
Her being a long-lived half-spirit is mostly a story thing for now, as I didn’t take an official template. You can use these stats for a charismatic human swashbuckler in some other campaign without changing any numbers. If you do want to emphasize her supernatural side, you can let her gradually take on Half-Spirit traits with earned character points. That’s what I intend to do eventually.
Jade already has a +5 reaction bonus from almost everyone and an extra +3 from professional fighters. I’m hoping to use earned points to increase that even further, maxing out her Charisma, Born War-Leader talent, and perhaps even Appearance. She’s going to be the public face of the rebellion, after all. Holiness and its attendant powers are also not out of the question in the future, as they’d make her even better at fighting demons.
Character Sheet
ST 11 {10}; DX 15 {100}; IQ 12 {40}; HT 12 {20};
Damage 1d-1/1d+1; Basic Lift 12.1kg; HP 11; Will 12; Per 12; FP 12; Basic Speed 7; Basic Move 7;
Advantages
- Ambidexterity {5}
- Appearance (Impressive) {12}
- Born War Leader 3 {15}
- Charisma 2 {10}
- Combat Reflexes {15}
- Luck {15}
- Weapon Master (Backsword) {-20}
- Weapon Adaptation (Broadsword to Saber) {1}
Disadvantages
- Code of Honor (Soldier’s) {-10}
- Enemies (Monster of the Week) (9-) {-15}
- Pacifism: Cannot Harm Innocents {-10}
- Sense of Duty (Adventuring Companions) {-5}
- Vow (Never refuse a challenge to combat) {-10}
Quirks
- Pick your own! {-5}
Skills
- Acrobatics (H) DX-1 {2} - 14
- Diplomacy (H) IQ-2 {1} - 10
- Fast-Draw (Sword) (E) DX+1 {1}1 - 16
- Gesture (E) IQ {1} - 12
- Guns (Pistol) (E) DX+1 {2} - 16
- Jumping (E) DX {1} - 15
- Leadership (A) IQ+4 {1}23 - 16
- Public Speaking (A) IQ+1 {1}3 - 13
- Saber (A) DX+5 {20} - 20
- Savoir-Faire (High Society) (E) IQ {1} - 12
- Stealth (A) DX-1 {1} - 14
- Strategy (H) IQ+2 {2}2 - 14
- Tactics (H) IQ+2 {2}2 - 14
- Wrestling (A) DX-1 {1} - 14
Loadout
$1000, 11.41kg. No encumbrance.
- Ordinary Clothing: Free; 1kg.
- Backsword: Basket hilt gives DR 4 to the hand and allows a Hilt Punch. $550, 1.5kg.
- Pouch: Fits 1.5kg of small items. $10, 0.1kg.
- Coins: 8 silvers, 23 coppers. $183, 0.31kg.
- Minor Healing Potion: Heals 1d HP. $120, 0.25kg.
- Light Cloth Armor Suit: DR 1 to all locations except the head. $137, 8.25kg.
Combat
Assumes no encumbrance.
- Defenses
- Dodge: 11
- Parry: 14F (sword), 11 (Unarmed, DX)
- DR: 2 on skull, 0 on eyes, 5 in sword hand, 1 everywhere else.
- Attacks
- Backsword (20): 1d+4 cut or 1d+2 imp, Reach 1.
- Hilt Punch (15): 1d-1 cr, Reach C.
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Review: GURPS Gun Stats
Imagine the following situation: you want to feature a certain gun in your campaign, but you want to do it “properly”. You’re not the kind of GM who would feel good about just tossing some random numbers in there.
The weapon in question is not in any of your books, and it’s different enough from the ones that are that you can’t just reskin an existing gun. That’d be the same as using random numbers.
If the story above resonated with you, then you’ll love GURPS Gun Stats. It gives you an official system to write up GURPS 4th Edition stats for guns starting from their real world data. If the lack of these rules stopped you before, you’ll love this book.
Sure, players who were really into statting up guns might already have been doing this for years by either building them using the rules from GURPS Vehicles for 3rd edition, or by using a very scary unofficial spreadsheet cooked up by Douglas Cole for his own use. Gun Stats is still useful for them, as it’s much simpler than the spreadsheet.
How It Looks
This is a typical Warehouse 23 PDF. All black and white, with the by now classical GURPS two-column layout combined with the usual excellent table of contents and index. Its written by David Pulver with additional material by S.A. Fisher Hans-Christian Vortisch, which is kind of a seal of quality in itself when it comes to gun-nut material in GURPS.
The interior art is mostly a mix of illustrations clearly based on photos or 3D models with a weird “acid etching” surface filter applied to them to unify the look. You also have a few hand-drawn illustrations. The art credits are fairly long, listing several photo repositories and 3D studios in addition to a couple of individual artists. I admit the “acid etching” filter made me take a closer look, but I believe all the art in this book is either drawn or edited by human hands.
The Totally-Not-From-Assassin’s Creed lady on page 9 has a bit of an awkward pose, but it’s organic awkwardness. The rest of the pieces are fine, and look good without getting in the way of the text.
How It Works
One thing I found nifty about the book is that it’s more than a collection of formulas. It has some instruction on how to actually do the research to get that real-life gun data, and a little checklist. You’ll need things like the empty weight, barrel length and overall length of the gun itself; the weight and dimensions of its projectile and of the whole cartridge; and how much propellant it uses per shot.
Some of those stats (like the weights and costs) can be written straight into the stat sheet, while others are used in relatively simple equations to derive stuff like damage, Accuracy, and range.
And that’s it. While those simple calculations can still be a little intense they’ll get you the results you want.
At the end of the book you have a printable checklist for your own research, and three example weapons: a French anti-material rifle, a 19th-century 6-pounder cannon, and the gun on the M1A2 Abrams tank.
Caveats and Annoyances
The book works best when dealing with historical or modern guns that have ample information available to the public, whether in Wikipedia, more specialized sites, or even sales brochures. The less information is available for a specific weapon, the more you’ll have to guesstimate when filling your checklist.
You can already see this with the Abrams tank gun here. Recent data about it and its ammunition is classified, so they either use Gulf War-era information or just make educated guesses about some of its measurements.
Fictional guns will often be harder, because they very often lack a lot of measurements entirely, as those weren’t necessary to tell the story. You’ll have to come up with those yourself, or maybe go looking for the work of other fans who have already spent a ton of time doing exactly that.
This is all perfectly doable, but presumably you wanted this book because you didn’t want to guess all the numbers. On the other hand, doing this will give you a pretty good ideas of the ways in which this or that fictional weapon is unrealistic.
A final annoyance for me specifically: like all other GURPS books, this one uses Imperial measurements exclusively for its calculations. Yes, even though modern gun data is often presented in metric. You gotta convert all of that to feet, pounds, and inches before doing the work, which is doubly annoying to me because I’m going to convert a lot of that right back for the final writeups.
Final Impressions
GURPS Gun Stats gives me the same impression as a classical UNIX or Linux command line tool. It’s designed to do one job, it does that job pretty well despite some usability issues, and it has a lot of options that can be difficult to remember without looking at the documentation.
If you need to do that job, this is the tool for you, and the learning curve is worth it. If you’re happy to just toss some eyeballed stats onto a table and call it a day, then you can skip it.
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