Rules

Table of Contents

House Rules for GURPS
Other Ideas for Spells
FUDGE

House Rules for GURPS

These rules are in effect for both active campaigns (Arajara and Harland).

I'm using the 3rd Edition rules, you can download the free Lite version from SJG. The following sections are my house rules.

Character Creation

Begining characters are to created with a total of 100 points. Like the standard rules go, characters are limited to 40 points of disadvantages and 5 points in quirks. Advantages, disadvantages and skills should be limited to the lists found below. Exceptions should be presented to the GM for examination.

Magic

Magic rules being used are based on those in the basic set. The main exception is that fatigue is based on HT and not ST. That being said, all spells cast cost mana which is generally taken from powerstones and fatigue (in that order too).

Psionics

Psionics do not exist in this game world. Magic can be a subsitute though.

Allowed Advantages

Absolute Direction
Absolute Timing
Acute Hearing
Acute Taste and Smell
Acute Vision
Alertness
Alternate Identity
Ambidexterity
Animal Empathy
Appearance: Attractive (+1)
Appearance: Beautiful/Handsome (+4/+2)
Appearance: Very Beautiful/Very Handsome (+6/+2)
Charisma
Claws
Clerical Investment
Combat Reflexes
Common Sense
Danger Sense
Daredevil
Dark Vision
Disease Resistant
Double-Jointed
DR
Eidetic Memory
Empathy
Extended Lifespan
Extra Fatigue
Extra Hit Points
Fearlessness
Hard to Kill
Healing
High Pain Threshold
High Technology
Immunity to Disease
Infravision
Intuition
Language Talent
Legal Enforcement Powers
Legal Immunity
Lightning Calculator
Literacy
Longevity
Luck
Magery
Magical Resistance
Mathematical Ability
Military Rank
Musical Ability
Night Vision
Perfect Balance
Peripheral Vision
Rapid Healing
Reputation
Resistant to Poison
Seer's Visions
Sharp Teeth
Single Minded
Status
Strong Will
Temperature Tolerance x1/2
Toughness
Unfazeable
Unusual Background
Voice
Wealth: Comfortable (x2)
Wealth: Fithy Rich (x100)
Wealth: Very Wealthy (x20)
Wealth: Wealthy (x5)

Allowed Disadvantages

Absent-Mindedness
Acrophobia (heights)
Addiction
Agoraphobia (open spaces)
Albinism
Alcoholism
Amnesia
Appearance: Hideous (-4)
Appearance: Ugly (-2)
Appearance: Unattractive (-1)
Arachnophobia (spiders)
Bad Sight
Bad Temper
Berserk
Blindness
Bloodlust
Bully
Claustrophobia (closed spaces)
Code of Honor
Color Blindness
Combat Paralysis
Compulsive Behavior
Compulsive Carousing
Compulsive Lying
Cowardice
Curious
Cursed
Cynophobia (dogs)
Deafness
Delusions
Demophobia (crowds)
Dwarfism
Dyslexia
Epilepsy
Eunuch
Fanaticism
Fat
Generosity
Gigantism
Glory Hound
Gluttony
Greed
Gullibility
Hard of Hearing
Hemophilia
Hemophobia (blood)
Honesty
Impulsiveness
Incompitence
Insomnia
Intolerance
Jealousy
Jinxed
Kleptomania
Lame
Lame: Crippled Leg
Lame: Legless
Lame: One Leg
Laziness
Lecherousness
Low Pain Threshold
Manic-Depressive
Megalomania
Mild Shyness
Miserliness
Mute
No Sense of Humor
No Sense of Smell
No Sense of Taste
Obsession
Odious Personal Habits
On the Edge
One Arm
One Eye
One Hand
Overconfidence
Overweight
Pacifism
Paranoia
Poverty: Dead Broke (x0)
Poverty: Poor (x1/5)
Poverty: Struggling (x1/2)
Primitive
Pyromania
Reputation, bad
Sadism
Scotophobia (darkness)
Sense of Duty
Shyness
Skinny
Social Stigma
Spendthrift
Split Personality
Status
Stubbornness
Stuttering
Terminally Ill
Triskaidekaphobia (the number 13)
Truthfulness
Unluckiness
Unnatural Feature
Vow
Weak Will
Weirdness Magnet
Xenophobia (unknown/strange things)
Youth

Allowed Skills

Acrobatics
Acting
Animal Handling
Anthropology
Archaeology
Area Knowledge
Armoury
Artist
Axe Throwing
Axe/Mace
Bard
Battle
Blackjack
Blacksmith
Boating
Botany
Bow
Boxing
Brawling
Broadsword
Calligraphy
Camouflage
Carousing
Carpentry
Chemistry
Climbing
Cooking
Criminology
Crossbow
Dancing
Detect Lies
Diagnosis
Diplomacy
Disguise
Engineer
Escape
Fast-Draw
Fast-Talk
Fencing
First Aid
Flail
Forensics
Forgery
Gambling
Geology
Gesture
Holdout
Humanities
Interrogation
Intimidation
Judo
Jumping
Karate
Knife
Knife Throwing
Law
Leadership
Lockpicking
Masonry
Merchant
Meteorology
Musical Instrument
Naturalist
Navigation
Occultism
Physician
Physics
Pickpocket
Polearm
Psychology
Research
Riding
Running
Savoir-Faire
Scrounging
Sex Appeal
Shadowing
Shield
Shortsword
Sign Language
Singing
Sleight of Hand
Sociology
Spear
Spear Throwing
Spell Throwing
Staff
Stealth
Streetwise
Survival
Swimming
Tactics
Teaching
Throwing
Tracking
Traps
Two-Handed Axe/Mace
Two-Handed Sword
Writing
Zoology

Allowed Magic Skills

Any from the basic set.

Other Ideas for Spells

While these ideas are not being used in any campaign yet, I have been looking at different spell lists and rules. First there are two alternate "grimoires" (both text files compressed with bzip2):

Stephan Zielinski's Alternate Lists

GURPS: Magic

Both look like they'd work just as well. The advantage to using the one from G:M is that it's standard and also already has a GCA data file (MAGIC~.GDF).

I like Zielinski's lists because they focus more on the college aspect of magic and provide a clear path of progression (as well as simplifying a mage's grimoire).

For now, all characters will be created with GURPS: Magic rules (or the simplified rules in the main rulebook).

(May 3, 2004, Update) Now I'm leaning toward creating my own spell list, based on the spells in the GURPS: Basic book. I'd like to get rid of the large prerequisite trees and simplify the list. Ideally there will be one basic spell for each college of magic that is the prerequisite for learning any of the other spells in the college. Only a few advanced spells (master level) will have any additional prerequisites. Also I'd like to simplify the petty spells into one generic spell. For example take create fire and control fire and combine them into ignite fire. Illusion would cover Simple Illusion, Sound, and Complex Illusion, and use difficulty levels instead of separate spells to cover the different tasks.

I've started a basic spell list based on these ideas.

FUDGE

I am planning on using the FUDGE rules for an on-line version of the Harland campaign. So far I have worked up a document with my customizations.

Also for use with ad-hoc adventures, the FUDGE on the Fly rules are avaiable.