Leif's DISCONTINUED GURPS Traveller Game OOC01

[Leif]

Umm, I may have typed that too soon. She could just be a lieutenant like Mr. Sulu.....

 

[Leif]

Looks like I may have found us a replacement player to take over Gruffle!

Thanks, Leif. I'll be sure to check Gruffle out.
I'm pretty sure I'll be willing to take over his
spot in your game. No problem there. I just
need a little time to read through your entire
thread of your game so far & read up on the
Vargr to get a feel. I'll be doing all of this
reading starting Friday night & over the weekend
& I should be ready to play by Sunday or
Monday, or whenever you can schedule to
fit me into your game.

Thanks!
John

 

[Leif]

Centisteed:

Gruffle is with the others, so as soon as you're ready to go and have your character arranged the way you want, you can just begin posting in-character (IC) whenever you wish. In fact, you can go ahead and do so starting NOW, because there should be no reason why you need a character sheet, since all the 'action' is of a social nature.

 

[Leif]

Centisteed,

Excellent job customizing Gruffle! I like the personal history very much.

 

[Insight]

Here's a complete list of what Kaira purchased for the hunting trip. Since she purchased all this gear on her own, I consider this stuff to be "hers", but she will loan it out to the others as need be.

4 each of:
Secure-Encrypted Tiny Radio Communicator (TL9): 1-mile range. $550, 0.05 lbs., 2A/10 hr. LC4
Night Vision Goggles (TL9): Night Vision 9 and 4x magnification. $1,000, 0.3 lbs., 2B/100 hr. LC4.
Pack of 20 Survival Rations (TL9): $40, 1lb ea.
Mini Flashlight (TL9): $10, 0.25 lbs., B/24 hr.
Pack of 20 Glow Sticks (TL9): $40, 0.1lb ea.
Inertial Compass (TL9): It gives a +3 bonus to Navigation (Air, Land, and Sea). $120, 0.2 lbs., A/200 hr.
Envirobag (TL9): $160, 3 lbs., C/24 hr.
Filtration Canteen (TL9): $180, 1 lb. (empty) or 3 lbs. (full). LC4.
Vapor Canteen (TL9): It has a capacity of one quart, and adds a +2 (quality) bonus to Survival skill for an individual living off the land. $450; 2 lbs. (empty) or 4 lbs. (full), B/100 quarts. LC4.
Survival Watch (TL10): It includes a biomonitor, a chronometer, a GPS receiver, an inertial compass, a magnetic compass, a homing beacon, and a tiny computer with a small 2-D display (aboutone square inch). $300, 0.5 lbs., B/3 months. LC4.
Rope 1/8” diameter (TL9): Supports 400 lbs. 10 yards of line: $2, 0.1 lb.
Subtotal: $9608 (before discount)

5 each of:
Arctic Clothing (TL6): $500, 10lbs. LC4.
Backpack, Large (TL8): Carries 100lbs. of gear. $200, 10 lbs. LC4.
Climbing Kit, High-Quality (TL8): Harness, ascender, descender, an assortment of fasteners, and 100 yards of 3/8” rope. A high-quality kit provides a bonus to Climbing skill. $400, 26 lbs. LC4.
Load-Bearing Vest (TL7): Carries 20-30lbs. of gear. $30, 2 lbs. LC4.
Winter Clothing (TL6): $300, 10lbs. LC4.
Subtotal: $6150 (before discount)

and 1 each of:
Laser Rifle (TL10): Type Imp.; Dmg 4d; SS 12; ACC 19; 1/2D 3,300; MAX 6,600; WT 10/12; ROF 4-; SHOTS 100/2D; ST 8; RECOIL 0; LC9.
Laser Sight for Rifle (TL10): +1 skill at 1/2D. $1000.
Power-Pack for Laser Rifle
Subtotal: $3200 (before discount)

for a grand total (before discount) of: $19858
with 55% discount: $8936

 

[Leif]

Wow, Inisght, Kaira is a walking, talking, military surplus store! Looks very cool. I just don't quite understand why she's being so possessive about everything since she has at least 4 each of everything except the laser rifle? Oh, well, guess that just proves she's female, doesn't it?

 

[Insight]

Survival skill in GURPS

I was going to buy some Survival skill for Kaira. Then, I read the skill entry for Survival and I decided that raising her Perception would be far better. Here's why:

Survival
Per/Average
Defaults: Perception-5 or Naturalist (same planet)-3.
This is the ability to “live off the land,” find safe food and water, avoid hazards, build shelter, etc. You may look after up to 10 other people. To live safely in a wilderness situation, you must make a successful Survival roll once per day. Failure inflicts 2d-4 injury on you and anyone in your care; roll separately for each victim.
(skipping to the salient part)
You must specialize by terrain type. Land-dwellers may choose from Arctic, Desert, Island/Beach, Jungle, Mountain, Plains, Swampland, and Woodlands. Aquatic beings may take any of Bank, Deep Ocean Vent, Fresh- Water Lake, Open Ocean, Reef, River/Stream, Salt-Water Sea, and Tropical Lagoon. Amphibious individuals can pick from either list!
Land specialties default to one another at -3, while aquatic specialties default among themselves at -4. Island/Beach and Tropical Lagoon default to each other at -4, as do Swampland and River/Stream, but there are no other defaults between land and aquatic specialties.
In settings where it is possible to visit other worlds, you must also specialize by planet. Each Survival specialty defaults to the same terrain type for a different planet at -4. The defaults between terrain types given above are at an extra -4 between different planets.
All this assumes the two planets are of the same planet type (see Planet Types, p. 180). There is no default at all between Survival skills for two planets of different planet types.

So basically, unless you want your character to spend character points on Survival - Arctic (insert planet name here) and then take a -4 (or worse) penalty when we go to an arctic zone on another planet, you're better off at a default of (Perception -5) and raising your character's Perception.

That's my take on it, anyway.

 

[Insight]

Wow, Inisght, Kaira is a walking, talking, military surplus store! Looks very cool. I just don't quite understand why she's being so possessive about everything since she has at least 4 each of everything except the laser rifle? Oh, well, guess that just proves she's female, doesn't it?

If the crew wants to reimburse Kaira for her purchases, she will gladly give them up.

 

[Leif]

I was going to buy some Survival skill for Kaira. Then, I read the skill entry for Survival and I decided that raising her Perception would be far better.

All this assumes the two planets are of the same planet type (see Planet Types, p. 180). There is no default at all between Survival skills for two planets of different planet types.

Only the Naturalist skill seems to be limited to a specific planet. Survival is limited to planet TYPES, isn't it? Still, increasing her Perception may be a better choice, and will for sure have a broader application....

 

[Insight]

Only the Naturalist skill seems to be limited to a specific planet. Survival is limited to planet TYPES, isn't it?

Not according to the book.

Planet Types
Biology, Geology (p. 198), and Meteorology (p. 209) require you to specialize by “planet type,” as does the “Physical” specialty of Geography (p. 198). If you do not specify a planet type, your native planet type is assumed – so if the campaign will never leave your home world, save space and just write “Geology,” “Biology,” etc.
GURPS sorts planets into six broad categories for these purposes.
Earthlike: Essentially, all habitable worlds.
Gas Giants: Jupiter/Uranus types.
Hostile Terrestrial: Venus types.
Ice Dwarfs: Comets and small moons composed almost entirely of snow or ice.
Ice Worlds: Rock worlds covered by a frozen “ocean.”
Rock Worlds: Most moons, asteroids, etc.
Unless otherwise specified, all planet-type specialties for a given skill default to one another at -4.

From what I posted above about the Survival skill:

In settings where it is possible to visit other worlds, you must also specialize by planet. Each Survival specialty defaults to the same terrain type for a different planet at -4. The defaults between terrain types given above are at an extra -4 between different planets.

All this assumes the two planets are of the same planet type (see Planet Types, p. 180). There is no default at all between Survival skills for two planets of different planet types.

I think what they're saying at the end of the Survival skill is that you can't even default to anything between planets of different types. For example, having Survival - Desert (Earthlike) would have no application on a Rock World.

Of course, as the GM in a game where the characters are likely to be traveling to a LOT of different planets, the flaw in how GURPS handles the Survival skill should be pretty obvious. You could rule that characters buy Survival for terrain by planet type and not specific planets. I find this a reasonable solution in a game where characters can be expected to move around a lot.

On the other hand, the defaults they're talking about are (Skill -4) and the normal skill default is (Perception -5). Unless someone bought an awful lot of Survival, you're really just talking about the difference of a -1 or -2 at the most.