GURPSDay Feed

Over the course of Felltower, the question of countering magic has come up. Canonincally in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, there is no way to temporarily suspend an enchantment. If magic is permanent, the effect remains and is not subject to the relatively simple and easy counters of Dispel Magic and Counterspell. Curse-like effects are often removable with Remove Curse, and you can dispel/counter non-permanent magic. But… Read more

Random Generation: WeatherAs I mentioned in some of my previous posts, I was positively impressed by the weather generation rules from ACKS II. Thus, here is my adaptation of these rules to GURPS. It may look intimidating and complex, but it's actually pretty damn simple. However, I probably will make an automation program to make it even easier in the future.At the start of each… Read more

I got into an argument with my editor when he tried to correct my use of Terror in the Greater Oaths that the various satemo of the Divine Masks have access too, so I had to counter-correct him, and he fervently disagreed, so we started slinging citations back and forth until we realized neither of … Continue reading "A Terrible Update"… Read more

Wizardry: Dragons of Faerun SpellsDragons of Faerun is a setting-specific book that has some nice stuff despite that. The section with new spells isn't long, but it's full of spells that are either highly setting-specific (such as all the Dracorage stuff) or plain weird. Let's see if I can borrow something for my games.Blunt Natural Weapons either removes or downgrades all piercing/cutting/… Read more

Wizardry: Races of Destiny SpellsRaces of Destiny is one of four "Races of [X]" D&D 3.5 books that provide detailed information about some of the core races and introduce new ones. I actually like these books a lot. Races of Destiny is a book about humans, half-elves, and half-orcs. The newly introduced race is the illumians, who also are very interesting, in my opinion. However,… Read more

Here is a quick list of what I'd like to see in my VTT, especially for the GURPS module. I'll keep the updated as I go or as things change. drag and drop damage onto the combat tracker. There are times I'd like to be able to drag and drop damage to the combat tracker. Or to an open character sheet, for that matter. Ability… Read more

    Last session we ended with the party were standing on a hilltop, watching the manticore fly away… Both the barbarian players were absent this session, so Ben and Violetta guarded the rear, and did not feature in the main fight.Session Date:    Tuesday 21 January 2025Party roster:Erizax Ofaris, human wizard, 343 points (PC) Ben, half-ogre barbarian, 255 points (PC) Merrill Tangled Tail, cat-folk monk (martial artist), 314 points… Read more

Let's look at some rules we've used in the past but may or may not be using now. Are we still using Trademark Move? In a word, no. It's 1 point for a +1 to a very specific combo. Only a couple of PCs use such a combo, and even then, they vary it up based on circumstances. So it's just easier to say no,… Read more

      This session picked up with the party about to camp at the end of the first day after leaving the village…Session Date:    Tuesday 14 January 2025Party roster:Erizax Ofaris, human wizard, 343 points (PC) Ben, half-ogre barbarian, 255 points (PC) Merrill Tangled Tail, cat-folk monk (martial artist), 314 points (PC) – Dagne Timar, human priestess of Metallys (cleric), 221 points (NPC Ally) Maximilian "Stout" Grupher III, goblin cleric of… Read more

This is expanding on Rules & Rulings for Session 203. Do DF Felltower foes play by the rules? Yes. Why not cheat? I'm the GM. I define the parameters of the world. I literally have unlimited bad guys. I have unlimited points in my budget. I have unlimited access to equipment in the game world. I can impose any limitations I want on the PCs… Read more

This year, we work on the Arkhaian, so naturally my first major wiki update is about the Umbral Rim. It just keeps drawing me in! This will be an ongoing issue, because the old parts of the setting linger on my mind, unfinished bits inspired by other parts I’m working on. In particular, I sat … Continue reading "Wiki Update: the (Remaining) Cults of the… Read more

Random Generation: FighterIn one of my previous posts, I boldly declared that I'm going to make random "class"-based character generation tables. But as always, I didn't think it through before saying. GURPS may make such tables more difficult. For example, do you roll your attributes randomly or do you choose your class first and then roll attributes on a table for that class? In any… Read more

Rules & Rulings from last session! Can you Wait until someone else's turn ends? Essentially, can you hold your turn until later in the sequence, usually to ensure you get to surpress defenses before someone (or after someone else has done so)? Yes, but the trigger needs to be concrete – after so-and-so attacks is okay, but not "after so-and-so goes" or "just before so-and-so… Read more

Fear in GURPSAdventurers often encounter things and situations that would terrify a regular person. The rules for fear in GURPS are quite interesting, but at the same time questionable. I would like to discuss this topic in more detail to make sure I understand everything correctly.The main part of the rules can be found on pages 360-361 of GURPS Basic Set. In GURPS, the Will… Read more

Actual Date: 1/12/2025 Game Date: 12/12/2024 Weather: Cold, clear, dry. Characters Chop, human cleric (301 points)       Brother Quinn, human initiate (125 points) Duncan Tesadic, human wizard (335 points) Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (316 points)       Amlaric, human squire (125 points) Persistance Montgomery (303 point knight) Thor Halfskepna, human knight (306 points)       Leon the Eye, human archer (125 points)       Aaron, Brandon, Cedric,… Read more

      This session was the first game of the year. We picked up and the end of a week of downtime, during which time the PCs had been recovering from their recent adventure and talking to the locals in order to gather information.Session Date:    Tuesday 7 January 2025Party roster:Erizax Ofaris, human wizard, 343 points (PC) Ben, half-ogre barbarian, 255 points (PC) Merrill Tangled Tail, cat-folk monk (martial… Read more

Wizardry: Draconomicon Spells IIAnd now let's do the second half of the Draconomicon spells. These ones are intended for dragons, but they can be used by other spellcasters if they meet the prerequisites. The book introduces metabreath feats and also metabreath spells that significantly alter the dragon's breath weapon. And I will simply skip them!Aura of Terror isn't really a… Read more

Wizardry: Draconomicon Spells IDraconomicon is one of my favorite D&D 3.5 books, so let's convert some of the spells from it to wizardry. After glancing through the list, I know that I'll have to skip many of them because they just either don't make sense in GURPS or would be inappropriate in my setting. Also, you have to keep in mind that spells in that book… Read more

One rule that I find annoys me the longer I play GURPS is entries on the hit location table that say "[1] Miss by 1 hits torso instead." Why? – it slows play, even if only because everyone says, "Does a miss by 1 hit torso?" No one can seem to remember (it's eye, skull, face, groin, neck, vitals, and that's it.) – it causes… Read more

Review: ACKS Imperial ImprintAll right, I don’t really know how to go about this review, but I will do my best. If you’re in the TTRPG hobby, you are probably aware of the new major release – ACKS II, which stands for Adventurer Conqueror King System Imperial Imprint. I am primarily a GURPS player, and I admit that most other systems do not interest me,… Read more

“Black spirits and white, Red spirits and grey, Mingle, mingle, mingle, You that mingle may.” – William Shakespeare, Macbeth (1605), Act IV, scene 1. Middleton—The Witch, Act V, scene 2. In this article, we’ll be exploring an organisation of spirits at work in a modern fantasy setting, touching on their hierarchy, members, politics, functions andContinue reading "Friends on The Other Side"… Read more

Slight delay due to chores and game-mastering, but here’s the final part of holiday worldbuilding. Now, the last poll came out clearly in favour of Goblin Aristocracy with strong showings for Undead Healing Clerics and Gadget-using Thieves Guild. Thanks for everyone who participated in the polls. This last poll was meant to determine the narrative…Read more Holiday TTRPG Worldbuilding: Fantasy Dungeons Meet the Real World… Read more

One of the most defining features of the Arkhaian is the Cybernetic Union, which is itself grounded in the Robot Revolution that predated the rise of the Empire. These were integrated in the setting to mimic the rise of fascism as a response to the rise of Communism, and to improve the WW2 metaphor: if … Continue reading "The Great Robot Revolution Debate"… Read more

Looking back on the last campaign, and looking forward to the next one. Psi-Wars The setting is deep and detailed and beautiful and broad… and I had trouble keeping up with it. Entirely my fault, of course. I was afraid there might be some trouble from the high TL armor, but that turned out to […]… Read more

     This session was last month. The last game of the year in fact. Session Date:    Tuesday 17 December 2024Party roster:Ben, half-ogre barbarian, 233 points (PC)Erizax Ofaris, human wizard, 292 points (PC)Merrill Tangled Tail, cat-folk monk (martial artist), 234 points (PC)Violetta, human warrior (barbarian), 161 points (PC)Randall, human veteran (knight), 173 points (NPC Ally) Dagne Timar, human priestess of Metallys (cleric), 147 points (NPC) Hartwin Bertelot, human monster-hunter (knight),… Read more

GURPS BrOSR: The RoadmapEver since I got introduced to the concept of BrOSR, I got hooked by the idea. It's been more than three months since I wrote my initial thoughts (link), and there hasn't been a day when I didn't have a nagging thought in the back of my head telling me to "go ahead, do it." I've already played around with some of… Read more

First off, I think the name is clunky. "Chinks in Armor?" We don't say "Eyeslits of Helm" or "Vital Parts of Torso." I'd go with Armor Gaps. Sure, that implies a lack of armor, not reduced armor, but chinks doesn't imply reduced armor, either. So, Armor Gaps for me. Second, while I can appreciate the symmetry of -8 for Torso, -10 for elsewhere, my players… Read more

My Human Destiny universe has a fairly long history, for a setting that’s only had a few stories published in it. Back around 2005-2006, I was working with James Cambias to write a new edition of the Space sourcebook for the Steve Jackson Games GURPS roleplaying game. One of the original plans for that book was for us to write three short treatments for space… Read more

Here are how things went for me in 2024: The Good (What I did well or that went well) My Patreon continues to grow and remains most of my monthly (steady) income. I’m sitting at 106 patrons right now and 76 followers (aka free members) GURPS Monster Hunters Adventure: The Face of Fire by myself and J. […] The post Carpe Blogiem: 2024 – A Year In… Read more

  Authorial Highlights No work done on fiction. The Fantasy Trip Quick Quest “The Gallery of Hands” remains in the hands of Steve Jackson. At this point I’m probably just going to pull it. No work done on the article for Hexagram for The Fantasy Trip. Haptic took a pause. I currently have only a single outstanding […] The post Carpe Blogiem: Author, Patreon, and Blog Highlights… Read more

So, I’ve thoroughly detailed the Glorian Rim and the Umbral Rim. Certainly, I could do more work on those parts of the Galaxy, but they feel gameable now, and I can always return (will return, am returning) to detail them further. I feel it is time to move onto a third part of the galaxy: … Continue reading "Welcome to the Arkhaian Spiral"… Read more

Here we are at the end of 2024. How was it for gaming for me? Running Dungeon Fantasy I GMed 13 sessions of DF Felltower this year. Session 190, Felltower 128 – Exploring Level 1 Session 191, Felltower 129 – Troll Treasure & Orc Holes Session 192, Felltower 130 – Down, down, down the GFS Session 193, Felltower 131 – Olympus Gate II, Part I… Read more

As I fall inevitably into the back end of the last day of 2024, there is a sense of wonder and gratitude arising from my RPG hobby that needs expressing. Thanks to all the players, GMs, and friends who have shared in my journey through this year – whether as new acquaintances or old. The […]… Read more

The latest poll was a clear vote for IT / construction crew trying to restore internet access to a building. For me that’s a good indication for an urban adventure. Let’s go to Ireland’s second city for that: Cork, which has the added benefit that I’ve been there twice already. It’s a little hilly and…Read more Holiday TTRPG Worldbuilding: Fantasy Dungeons Meet the Real World 3… Read more

Just a few rulings from last session. Can you do a swing/impaling attack to the eyes? Probably yes according to the rules, but no, we've long ruled that you can't. The angle required is just too specific to make that work and it breaks my suspension of disbelief badly – especially because it's likely going to be spammed out turn after turn. How do armor… Read more

It’s no secret that I’ve been wanting to build an SF game powered by GURPS for some time now. Inspired by my experiences with Traveller ’77 back in the day, most especially the lack of an Official Traveller Universe, this would be a framework for my own SF adventures. Sitting down today, I asked what […]… Read more

Actual Date: 12/29/2024 Game Date: 12/12/2024 Weather: Cold, clear, dry. Characters Chop, human cleric (301 points) Brother Quinn, human initiate (125 points) Duncan Tesadic, human wizard (335 points) Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (316 points) Amlaric, human squire (125 points) Persistance Montgomery (303 point knight) Thor Halfskepna, human knight (306 points) Leon the Eye, human archer (125 points) Aaron, Brandon, Cedric, Dortmund, Ernie, Ferd, Grunlark,… Read more

A few votes did come in for the latest polls (I guess using hashtags instead of relying on steady interest from the earlier polls would have been better) and we’re doing Ireland and dungeons from a peaceful / nice fantasy world. That’s an… interesting combination I wouldn’t have picked myself, but that’s part of why…Read more Holiday TTRPG Worldbuilding: Fantasy Dungeons Meet the Real World 2… Read more

Reading AD&D Player's HandbookAD&D Dungeon Master's Guide is considered by many an essential book for every DM/GM to read, and while I have skimmed it and found that indeed it's a treasure trove of useful stuff even for my GURPS games, I'm yet to thoroughly read it from cover to cover. So, that's my plan. However, before I do that, I have to read the… Read more

Dramatis Personae Allison Bell aka Apex (played by Devin): TBA. Tagline: “TBA.” Billy Ray Husley aka Hux (played by Nose): TBA. Tagline: “TBA.” Connor Bell aka Boombox (played by Owen): TBA. Tagline: “TBA.” Jack A. “JR” Richards, Jr. aka Electro (played by Scott F.): TBA. Tagline: “TBA.” Neuron-134899 aka Nero (played by Merlin): TBA. Tagline: “TBA.” Hannah “Hot Lips” Hayes (NPC): TBA. Tagline: “TBA.” Li “Cookie” […] The post AEON E1-Team: Season 1, Session 3 –… Read more

During the Christmas season we often like to do some RPG worldbuilding. This time we let the mastodon hive-mind decide and even if it was technically a tie we settled on the above topic due to perceived interest in the comments. Victorian ET Investigators might be in the running again next year, as might be…Read more Holiday TTRPG Worldbuilding: Fantasy Dungeons Meet the Real World 1… Read more

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year. I’ve been busy (finally) getting over a nasty flu and dealing with the holidays as well as my new job, but everything is finally lining up and I find my productivity is returning, which is nice. I have a lot to share soon, and I have quite some things … Continue reading "A Belated Wiki Week"… Read more

Getting an eBook reader means I finally have some more time to read through my extensive (and mostly unread) collection of GURPS PDFs. Since it’s mainly snatches in public transport and before bed, Pyramid proves to be better for this with its semi-short articles. Let’s see how long I can keep it up Facts Authors:…Read more Bite-sized Review: Pyramid 3/01 – Tools of the Trade… Read more

Dramatis Personae Allison Bell aka Apex (played by Devin): TBA. Tagline: “TBA.” Billy Ray Husley aka Hux (played by Nose): TBA. Tagline: “TBA.” Connor Bell aka Boombox (played by Owen): TBA. Tagline: “TBA.” Jack A. “JR” Richards, Jr. aka Electro (played by Scott F.): TBA. Tagline: “TBA.” Neuron-134899 aka Nero (played by Merlin): TBA. Tagline: “TBA.” Hannah “Hot Lips” Hayes (NPC): TBA. Tagline: “TBA.” Li “Cookie” […] The post AEON E1-Team: Season 1, Session 2 –… Read more

Wizardry: Sandstorm SpellsSandstorm is the desert counterpart of Frostburn. While it does have some rather infamous bits, overall it's a decent book. However, the spells section is rather underwhelming, with many spells being spells taken from Frostburn and reversed to be hot instead of cold. Despite that, there are some unique ones that definitely cannot be found anywhere else. So, here's… Read more

I’m looking for another player for my fantasy campaign Aersalus. So here we go – I’m recruiting again. I’m going to break this down for teams available, benefits, and drawbacks. Teams and Game First, a bit about the game itself. The world of Aersalus has seen more than its share of warfare, violence, and death […] The post Carpe Blogiem: GURPS GM seeking GURPS Player… Read more

This week has seen some moments of significance to me in my roleplaying games hobby. It’s not that you expect the next game to be one which is so strongly meaningful but it’s hard to deny those moments when they strike home. Three different events have transpired to change where I am at the end […]… Read more

Quite out of the blue, Fernando Salvaterra sent me a colour version of the Fellmyr “poetic” map which I have used to give players a rough sense of this sandbox fantasy world. Coming a year after the original version was first launched into play, this was a moment which brought me back to Fellmyr with […]… Read more

Now that we have our basic premise, we can start to dive deeper into major elements, at least enough for our more complete treatment, and a few adventure hooks. I’d also like to take the opporunity to discuss some feedback and musings I’ve had on world design, particularly in regards to population. But first, some … Continue reading "LBAW Zephyr 2: World Details"… Read more

    Here we have our first session summary from the player of Violetta, the human "barbarian" from another world. This picks up from partway through the previous session, as Violetta recaps from when they (re-)encountered the slime.     Note that these thoughts represent something like an inner monologue for our female warrior. Violetta sounds nowhere as intelligible as this when speaking to other people; having not… Read more