This one really needs GURPS IOU (GURPS In Nomine, too) to make any sense. Then again, if you don’t have GURPS IOU already then you should get it. I mean, geez: Phil Foglio did the artwork! What do you want, a sign from the heavens?
Continue reading GURPS In Nomine Revisited: Mindy [GURPS IOU / IN NOMINE]
Latvind
This rifle appears on first glance to be a Mauser Gewehr 98 (GURPS Hi-Tech, page 111) in pristine condition and with a TL8 variable-power scope (+3 to Acc) attached. The stock is ornamented with stylized representations of e wind and breezes; the name ‘Latvind’ is carved into the barrel. Any sort of esoteric scan of the item will reveal that it is magical. Disturbingly so; magically or psionically aware people will come away with the accurate impression that Latvind enjoys killing things while at the same time recognizing that murdering people is wrong. This is actually odd, for anything that might resemble a “Spirit of the Gun.” Your stereotypical spirit of an item doesn’t consider it immoral to fulfill its purpose. Latvind does; it simply enjoys being immoral.
As for its powers: aside from being a Very Fine weapon that does not need regular maintenance, Latvind ignores DR and halves HP when calculating cover DR for purposes of overpenetration (GURPS Basic Set: Campaigns, page 408) only. In practical terms, this generally means that a shot fired from Latvind can blast through a person and hit the one behind him while barely slowing down, and can easily shoot through regular wood or light metal barriers. Latvind is thus eagerly sought-after as an assassination weapon.
Interestingly, it never stays in any one person’s hands for long.
supernaturally-harvested-alchemical-derivative-zero-shad0-google-docs
Supernaturally-Harvested Alchemical Derivative Zero [SHAD(0)]
So it all started when medical mages discovered that, if you ritually cut away a person’s shadow from him, he gets safely knocked unconscious for a day, and needs a week and a half to recover properly (in game terms, the target’s Fatigue hits 0 for a day, and he will only regain 1 FP per day until his shadow regenerates). This was, of course, enough to revolutionize surgery: unlike the Suspended Animation spell, the procedure has no mana cost and wears off on its own. You’ll need a specially-enchanted scalpel and some idea about where to cut, but even a non-mage can successfully perform the operation. Continue reading Supernaturally-Harvested Alchemical Derivative Zero [SHAD(0)] [GURPS]
Molder Demons
Supernatural predators are much like natural ones, in at least one regard: they prefer the easiest prey available that suits their needs. And some are more scavenger than predator. Molder Demons are very much scavengers, which does not make them any less vicious – but they, like their favored prey, are typically overlooked. Sometimes deliberately.
A Molder Demon begins its life cycle as a semi-tangible cloud seeking out a suitable human host to infest. ‘Suitable,’ in this case, means ‘destitute, disease and/or drug-ridden, isolated, and living on the streets.’ The victim is typically assaulted when either asleep or in a state of chemical intoxication, in order to ensure a smooth infestation: if the victim fails a Will roll, the Molder Demon takes possession and eats enough of the victim’s personality to psychically ‘fit.’ The Molder Demon is in full control of the victim’s body, and can access its memories with an IQ roll (the typical Molder Demon has an IQ of 13).
It will then ride the victim’s body for as long as it can… and this is where the horror appears, because from the outside the process looks like a formerly-homeless person suddenly getting back on his feet, and fixing his life. In reality, the Molder Demon is removing physical and mental disadvantages for the most selfish of reasons. Addictions and chemical imbalances in the brain make it more difficult for the Molder Demon to maintain control, obviously diseases and infections might shorten the victim’s lifespan, poor hygiene and appearance will make it difficult for the demon to enter civilized society once ‘reformed:’ so all of these things have to be corrected. A Molder Demon has control over, and an understanding of, a human’s body and biochemistry that is far beyond ours; they can do wonders.
In game terms, a Molder Demon reduces a victim’s appropriate physical and mental disadvantages by 1 point per full day of possession. Purely social disadvantages will not be affected; but certainly Appearance can be repaired, as are Addictions, Unfit, Characteristics below base levels, Terminally Ill, Delusions, and other disadvantages of that type. While all of this is going on, the victim may make a Will -4 roll per month to try to kick the Molder Demon out. If successful, at this point the Molder Demon may or may not attempt to try to possess the victim again; it can try once per day on the same victim.
Eventually, the victim runs out of appropriate Disadvantages to buy off; at that point, infestation by a Molder Demon will add 1 character point towards the victim’s Will stat per month. The monthly Will roll by the victim continues: generally speaking, once Will starts building up the Molder Demon can count on about two years in any one body before the victim has a reasonable chance of kicking out the demon. This is, however, plenty of time for any amount of serious, hassle-free ‘pleasures of the flesh’-related activities, which is typically more than most demons get on this plane of existence before somebody notices. At this point in the cycle, when a Molder Demon is eventually kicked out, it simply goes and finds another homeless person, and starts the process over again.
And as for the former victim? He will wake up with a body that’s in rough good health, his position in society has been at least partially repaired if not fixed outright, he’s permanently ‘cured’ of whatever compulsion or drive that put him on the streets… and a hole in his mind and psyche that he instinctively shies away from. Strictly speaking, someone who has gone through Molder Demon infestation is not the same person when he’s finally free of the demon: that becomes clear when any sort of supernatural scan is done. Applied theologians are still unsure whether the victim still has the same soul as before.
Which last bit would be generally considered to be monstrous, in any other context. But in this one… well, it’s hard to get even occultly aware, benign institutions to really go after Molder Demons. They are, after all, preying on people who have already fallen through the cracks in the System of the World. If you don’t think about it… you won’t have to think about it.
Batter Up (5pt)
This particular style is best suited for either post-apocalyptic campaigns where people have access to baseball equipment but no real memory of the game itself, or else cinematic urban campaigns where urban street gangs with bizarre costume themes are a thing. Batter Up is a brutal street-fighting style: you hit people with the baseball bat until they fall down, and then you stomp them. What makes Batter Up interesting is that its adepts train extensively on the bat. Some useful brawling techniques are taught, and every adept learns to throw a baseball in combat, but the style definitely encourages an almost obsessive focus on the bat.
Typically, Batter-Up adepts will wear a modified baseball uniform, with limited, light protection at the groin, joints, and head. Spiked or weighted gloves are very common. Continue reading GURPS Martial Art: Batter Up. [GURPS 4e]
Tachyon* Tagger [GURPS 4E, Timewatch]
A Tachyon Tagger typically looks like a small wand. When pointed at something else, the Tagger irradiates the target with a stable particles that travel backwards in time. This means, effectively, that any scanners that can detect these particles will be able to track down the item in the past. The exact ‘frequency**’ of these particles can be specifically set, allowing for only someone with the right ‘signature’ to track the item; or it can be set to be detectable by all scanners. Either way: the temporal range for these particles is about two thousand years before they decay, and most scanners will only be able to pick them up within a thirty mile range. Amusingly, the user has to jump back in time in order to confirm that the Tagger worked: this device cannot be used to track an item into the future. Continue reading Tachyon* Tagger [GURPS 4E, Timewatch]
Zombie Defense Training – Google Docs
Zombie Defense Training (9pt)
Zombie Defense Training, or ZDT, was designed in response to classic ‘slow’ zombies: mindless, clumsy, but also implacable and difficult to kill. People taught it are first trained on how to break contact; actual combat techniques are for emergencies and necessary cleanup operations. ZDT also assumes that practitioners are wearing somewhat restrictive armor, carrying at least one club and a spear, and wearing weighted, reinforced gloves.
The style can be used against human opponents, but the style’s lack of training in kicks (and dealing with kicks) should be particularly noted. More subtly, someone trained in ZDT is used to unsubtle foes; Romero-style zombies typically don’t use sophisticated combat maneuvers. This isn’t enough of a problem to be worth points, but it should be considered when running combats.
Continue reading GURPS Martial Art: Zombie Defense Training [GURPS 4e]
Nightmare! (Will): replaces Acting, Area Knowledge (Land of Dreams), Brainwashing, Brawling, Disguise, Dreaming, Enthrallment (all), Exorcism, Hidden Lore (Land of Dreams), Hypnotism, Interrogation, Intimidation, Mimicry, Observation, and Psychology for all rolls done within a dream. It does not give the ability to invade other people’s dreams, but will allow rolls to manipulate another’s dreams from the inside. Continue reading GURPS Wildcard skill: Nightmare! [GURPS 4E]
Banishment
Alternative name: Jack Continue reading Alchemical item: Banishment [GURPS 4E]
Umbrella-Fighting (7pt)
This style is not really suited for realistic campaigns, but it should work fine in urban magical or steampunk ones. It need hardly be said that anyone planning to use this style should invest in a specially-reinforced umbrella (or a weapon that simply looks like an umbrella). Still, as a fighting weapon the classic unfolding umbrella has its charms. Adepts typically use a long, heavy umbrella (Staff) with a pointy ferrule (Rapier) and a curved handle (Axe/Mace); sudden switches and reversals of grip and stance are practiced until they become second nature. Note that the umbrella must be reversed in order to use it as a mace.
Continue reading GURPS Martial Art: Umbrella-Fighting [GURPS 4E]
