Disclaimer:
The following material consists of rulings
on GURPS originally posted to electronic discussion forums, newsgroups,
and
mailing lists by Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch.
Some
of these statements have been taken out of context, or have been
altered for
clarity or brevity; therefore, these are not "official" rulings, and
neither Sean Punch nor Steve Jackson Games is responsible for the
accuracy of
the modified content.
Comments: If you have comments or suggestions about this file, please
contact Travis
Foster.
Skills
And Penalties
Re: Aiming and Scopes
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by dirtshredder When I perform the aim manuver for the required length of time to get
the scope bonus, do I also get the additional bonus for aiming longer
than 1 second ( i.e. upto a +2). |
Yes. As a general rule, if the Basic Set doesn't say "Ignore the usual effects and use these other ones instead," the effects stack. This goes for anything.
And Tech Level
Penalties
Not quite. Technological
skills based on attributes other than IQ have a flat penalty of -1 per
TL of
difference -- in either direction -- between the skill and the
equipment. So if
you're using Guns/TL6 to shoot a TL8 gun, you're at -2 . . . about the
same as
if you were using Guns/TL6 to shoot an unfamiliar TL6 gun. Of course, a
character of any TL can learn Guns at any TL, because
it's a
DX-based skill. That would eliminate the penalty.
And Techniques
Re: Is there a lot of errata needed or is it just me?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Jonny Reload And you also need to fix the cost table
on page 230 for technique costs since I doubt you intended Hard
Techniques at default to cost "0" points :-p |
Huh? Why not? If you know a skill, you know ALL of its techniques at their default level for free -- that's 0 points. So yes, we intended that. And yes, there is a jump from 0 to 2 points without a 1-point step in between. That 2-point entry cost is exactly what makes Hard techniques Hard.
Observation
Re: Question about observation skill
Observation
is the
skill of professional scouts, used when the objective is to spot
defenses and threats.
Ordinary folks roll at their default -- Perception-5 -- to do this. In
other
words, Perception is good enough to spot things, but at -5 to spot the
important things that would help an analyst deduce useful intelligence.
Ordinary Joe rolling Perception: "There was this government building
with
big doors. Some guys with guns and radios were around the front all
day."
Scout rolling Observation: "It's a government lab with reinforced doors
in
front -- north -- and one-way fire exits on the east and west sides.
Six guards
with M-16s and body armor were patrolling the front in pairs on a
five-minute
cycle, reporting in by secure tactical comm
every 30
minutes, and changing shifts every four hours."
The second would let someone with Intelligence Analysis deduce likely
troop
complements, threat levels, and the like based on what he knows about
installations with those procedures, visible patrols, etc.
Professional
Skills
Re: Professional skills
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by RGTraynor I've a
question: what was the rationale in turning certain crafts into
Professional Skill specializations, thus eliminating them as separate
skills (Glass Blowing, Distilling, Courtesan, Cooking), while leaving
other crafts as separate skills (Farming, Masonry, Jeweler,
Leatherworking)? Certainly I can't see the distinction what makes it
any more needful to have a separate skill for people who work in wood
(Carpentry remaining an independent skill) than for people who work in
metal (Blacksmith now being a Professional Skill subspeciality). |
We had to pick a few examples and expand on
them, so
we chose the ones we felt were most likely to see use. And note that
Blacksmith
still exists as its own skill, we just altered the name some; see Smith
(p.
B221).
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by RGTraynor While I'm on
the subject ... Netmaker maps to
Knot-Tying? Wouldn't Knot-Tying be a skill subsumed under Survival or
Seamanship, as with Abacus, as simply a standard skill those versed in
such skills would possess? |
Knot-Tying has little to do with netmaking. It exists as its own skill because the ability to bind bad guys, make nooses, etc. quickly and well is a common one in kung fu movies and Westerns . . . and plenty of experts in those genre pieces have no clue about seamanship, etc. -- they're just "rope men."
Re: Professional skills
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by RGTraynor And I would
cast a very jaundiced eye on someone who claimed to know nautical AND
surgical AND cowhand knots. Hence my previous statement; folks with
various skills know the knots pertaining to those skills, and very few
people who are neither surgeons, campers, sailors, farmers or cowhands
learn knot tying. |
Very few people learn Power Blow, but we still have it, because it makes sense in lots of genres. Ditto Knot-Tying: you see it in action movies. "Rope men" are not as cool as gunmen or swordsmen, but they're still an interesting archetype.
Techniques and
combat
Re: Thrown spear damage still whacked?
Well, there will be a GURPS Martial Arts one of these days that can handle various not-quite-All-Out-Attack moves as techniques . . .
Throwing Art
Re: Throwing art - confusing
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by LoganSaj First of all, the prerequisite is either TbaM or Weapon master. If your character concept
is strictly a throwing guy, TbaM wouldn't
be a very rational choice. |
That's mostly for the sake of future art . . . Martial Arts is very likely to expand on TBAM.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by LoganSaj But, consequently, why would he need to
buy weapon master with a weapon if throwing art gives him the same
damage bonus, but with anything? If it is just for the reduced
penalties for rapid strike, that doesn't seem very balanced. |
The whole point here is this: Throwing Art replaces all other skills for hurling weapons, while WM lets you use potent cinematic skills, so the net effect is that a PC can take WM (Thrown Weapons) [35] and Throwing Art, hurl any weapon with that one skill, and use it to deliver Pressure Points and the like at range. Those who don't plan to do this needn't buy these abilities.