The Path of Cunning, Issue #2, February 2020
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The Path of Cunning Issue #2 February 2020 The Path of Cunning Issue 2. Edited and published by Roger Contents Bell_West ([email protected]! and John #all$an (%[email protected] !. Freely a(ailable fro$ Cover, Kurt Wil&ken........................................3 https*++tekeli.li/path,o),cunning. All contents A GURPS By Any Other Name1 are visible to Internet search engines. Roger Bell_West..............................................4 Infinite Cabal part 2, John Dall$an.................@ .ostal address: 92 Lichfield Road1 Ca$bridge, The Decan o Chee!e, Roger Bell_West............33 2B1 3TR1 United Kingdo$. I88N 2632-9298. "ine#$%ning De a%lt!, Paul Bla& >ell..............12 'etters............................................................3D 2opyright © 2020; copyright on the individual GURPS Po(er-Up! 9: Alternate Attribute!* contributions is retained by the authors and De!igner+! Note!, Sean Punch..........................23 artists. We welco$e letters and contributions o) GURPS High-$ech: Electricity and Electronic!: articles or artwork (especially artwor ?!. De!igner+! Note!, Bill Stoddard........................27 2ontributions reaching us by 1st June 2020 will GURPS /ehicle!* $ran!port! o Fanta!y: De!igner+! be in time for issue 3. Co$pleted on 15th Note!, Phil Masters.........................................43 February 2020. Intro.%cin& Irre!pon!ible and Right, John #all$an and Roger Bell_West.......................32 Ae G6R.8 material presented here is the Dogfightin&, Roger Bell_West and original creation o) the credited authors, "ohn Dall$an................................................42 intended for use with the GURPS syste$ fro$ 00II Aircra t and 0eapon!, Roger 8te(e Jackson Ga$es. This material is not Bell_West......................................................62 oCcial and is not endorsed by Ste(e Jackson Ba$es. Interior art on this page and on pp. 5 and 18 by #an S$ith; aircra)t by Wikipedia:Franckd B6R.8 is a registered trade$ark o) Ste(e (p. F3!, PGter Kaboldy (pp. 42, 47, 50, 61), "ackson Ga$es. All rights are reser(ed by S" Wikipedia*E0Watts (pp. 43, 63), Ba$es. This material is used here in accordance Wikipedia*Hoytek S (p. F;!1 B%Irn Huber >ith the S" Ga$es online policy. (pp. 54, 58)1 Wikipedia:E$oscopes (pp. 59, ::!. Other interior art is fro$ Do(er .ublications or other public-do$ain sources. 2 A GURPS By Any Other Name Roger Bell_West For so$e years IL(e been running short GURPS you want it to be; i) youLre building a po>er to de$onstration scenarios at various conventions: $atch so$e piece o) fiction, itLs likely to end up no kno>ledge o) the rules is needed. With pre, >ith lots o) fiddly modifiers. Many people generated characters, I can teach enough o) the re$e$ber, or ha(e heard dar ru$ours about, syste$ in a fe> minutes (M3d6, roll lo>N! that GURPS Vehicles for Third Edition, which players can engage in the ad(enture and get certainly had a lot o) arith$etic in it; what they so$e idea o) ho> the syste$ could be applied to donLt re$e$ber, or didnLt kno> in the first the ga$es they like to run. So$etimes the place, is that most o) that arith$etic was ne(er ga$es fill up, so$etimes ($ore o) late! they intended for use in a ga$e session, but rather by donLt. so$eone designing vehicles for use in a ca$paign. (Aat kind o) invol(ed design pro&ess Be)ore the latest yog,sothoth.co$ Ga$es Day I >as much co$$oner in ga$es o) the 1980s – asked on their foru$s ho> much difference a see Battletech or the original Car 0ars – when it syste$ made – specifically1 whether people ser(ed as a way o) getting ga$e,like fun on oneLs >ould be more or less willing to play a o>n, in the times between actually playing the 0o(e&ra)tian horror ad(enture depending on ga$e. No> we ha(e the Internet.) >hat syste$ it would be run under – and was surprised to learn that to many o) the$ it would ItLs unfortunate too that much o) the co$ple'ity $ake a big difference. Similarly1 last Stabcon I o) GURPS is front-loaded* you need to generate ran so$ething like my standard format o) a character be)ore you can play the ga$e, and investigative ad(enture under the Cthulhu Hac1 be)ore you can ma e decisions about ho> high rules rather than GURPS, and got a full house o) your stats or skills should be, you need to players rather than the usual two or three. understand ho> they work, and unless you ha(e so$e guidance itLs very easy to spend all your Ais makes sense to so$e extent: if a ga$eLs points on building a character who wonLt being run under D2D or Pathfinder itLs a fair actually be effective in the story. As a generic bet that fighting will be a ma%or focus, whereas syste$, the core book lists more or less in Cth%lh% Dar1 the rules for co$bat against a e(erything that could be use)ul to characters $onster are “you loseN. But to me an )ro$ many different genres, and a couple o) investigation is an investigation, and whether hundred pages o) options can be o(er>hel$ing. the ga$e mechanics are Call o Cth%lh%, $rail o 2ontrast a single,genre syste$ like Call o Cth%lh%, any o) the other oCcial and unoCcial Cth%lh% where you can generate so$e rando$ 0o(e&ra)tian ga$es, or my o>n Lo(ecra)tian stats, pick a pro)ession, and ha(e a list o) ten GURPS3 really shouldnLt make any difference. skills youLre supposed to be good at. #o I ha(e a way o) kno>ing what sort o) investigation my character is good at? Well, Aere are ways round this, but theyLre not thatLs pretty much enough. obvious. Perhaps because many old hands like to build their o>n worlds, thereLs no standard But I think that GURPS in particular has setting or genre for a GURPS ca$paign the way so$ething o) an image proble$* people think o) there is for a D2D or Call o Cth%lh% one. One it as co$plicated. Which, o) course, it can be if e'tre$e case is the Dungeon Fantasy RPG, or 4 slightly less extre$e GURPS Dungeon Fantasy But all o) this, while it does indeed make and other lines such as Action and Monster GURPS easier for the ne>co$er, doesnLt help i) Hunters, which both pare a>ay traits that are a player sees the na$e and thinks “oh, thatLs that irrele(ant to their particular classes o) ga$e and co$plicated syste$, ILll play so$ething elseN. give strict o&&upational te$plates: if youLre When I e(angelise for GURPS I tend to %oining an Action ga$e and want to play a e$phasise the potential for simplicity: yes, i driver or a martial artist, you can go fro$ you want to design a fa$ily o) spaceships with scratch to a playable character with about ten co$$on technological assu$ptions and decisions. consistent behaviour you can ha(e that, but thereLs nothing to stop you running a ga$e - further step back to>ards the full co$plexity >here the spaceship is a magic carpet that gets o) GURPS3 while retaining significant assistance the party to where the ad(enture is going to )or the player, is the series o) setting books such happen. I can ha(e baroRue interlocking magic as Tales of the Solar Patrol, Britannica- and syste$s… or I can offer simple spellcasting $y o>n Reign of Steel: "ill to #i$e% Here all $agic, or e(en single,purpose po>ers. I donLt GURPS traits are potentially available, though as belie(e there is any such thing as a GURPS al>ays the GE is encouraged to ma e a list o) ca$paign which uses all the rules in the Basic %ust the things they plan to allo>, but there are 8et, ne(er mind in the various supple$ents. plenty o) te$plates and lenses to be added to the$= this doesnLt give you an instant ready,to, I suspect that the ans>er to this would be to get play character, but it does at least make it clear a popular actual,play video sho> to run an >hich traits will be ne&essary for your character ad(enture in GURPS4 itLs certainly done to ha(e a use)ul role in the party. impressive things for sales o) the current edition o) Call o Cthulhu5 But I donLt kno> ho> to $ake that happen. F Infinite Cabal part 2 The Astral Plane! and some places it lea"s to "ohn Dall$an Addendum to part $ 8o$e o) the most valuable abilities in the ca$paign ha(e been visual. Co$$ander Ae ca$paign has been running fortnightly Jodgson had See Invisible (Uuantu$ Flo>s! since late 2010, with one gap o) a fe> months, )ro$ the &n'nite "orlds world,>alker te$plate and the e'perience a>ard is normally three )ro$ the beginning, and enhanced versions o) points per session. So there ha(e been about 190 the 6age Sight spell ha(e been de(eloped to sessions so far, each two to three hours o) play. allo> reliable per&eption o) things disco(ered during play.