Starfall: Cosmology Revised

Soundtrack: [1], [2], [3]

“The world people see every day is a very small part of the universe indeed. It is little more than an echo or manifestation of much greater workings only a blessed few can perceive. These other mechanisms behind the Veil bespeak the truths of the Faith and the righteousness of those who oppose Chaos in its many forms. The learned often speak of these other layers of existence as planes, which are essentially other realities, separate but inseparable.”

– From “A Meditation on Existence” by Saint Bernhardt the Lesser

What follows are exerts from Saint Bernhardt the Lesser’s treatise on planar cosmology, “A Meditation on Existence”. While his faith definitely pervades his writings, much of what he recorded seems to agree with current knowledge of the planes of existence as described by modern mystics and shamans.

A Look at Cosmology

I begin my review of past material with the cosmology of Starfall. I figure of everything I’ve already written about the setting, that has the farthest reaching implications, and thus is the most foundational. Today, I’m mostly looking for things I like, don’t like, and think could be expanded upon or otherwise changed. I’ll also do this with an eye toward mechanics, so once the time comes to address things like spells, portals, and power-ups, I’ll have something of a roadmap to work with. This should give me enough material for a new cosmological primer I’ll post at a later date.

So without further ado…

A Return to Starfall

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

It has been years since I really poked at my Starfall setting, and after having recently summarized my perception of old-school gaming and what I like about it, it strikes me that Starfall is potentially well suited for this type of game.

“But you shouldn’t let any campaign get in your beer andpretzels!” you scream.

To an extent, you are definitely correct. Raw GURPSDungeon Fantasy does not dig into setting, plot, or anything of the sort, but I would argue that a compelling setting only enhances dungeon delving because – if done well – it increases the number of things for players to discover. And ultimately, what marked old-school gaming from back in the day for me was the sense of wonder that came from learning about the world. That doesn’t mean we can’t learn about the world through the monsters we kill or the loot we steal! In fact, a compelling setting provides a source for interesting items and intriguing monsters.

There are a few reasons I think Starfall fits the kind of murder-hoboism I would espouse in my games.

Updated Dungeon Action Formatting

This is just a quick note. When I originally uploaded my free article, Dungeon Action, my main concern was getting it online as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, that meant that the formatting left the article somewhat difficult to read. I have since gone back and fixed the formatting so that it is easier on the eyes, although I still have yet to put the section on Assistance Rolls in its own box. This will eventually happen, but I just don't have time right now to make the table for it. Hopefully, you will be seeing another post like this in the coming weeks about the final changes to the article.

And for those of you wondering what Dungeon Action is, it's a merging of the rules for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy and GURPS Action! to provide the tools necessary to run any sot of high-energy, cinematic fantasy game. You can still dive down holes to kill monsters for their stuff, but now you can also adventure in Town, plot against the king, wage war on corrupt lords, rob the Adventurers' Guild, shake down mob bosses, get into high speed carriage chases, conduct psychological warfare, and anything else you can imagine. So without further ado, here is a brief preview:

How I Run Dungeon Fantasy

I have recently bowed out of a fantasy game run using some of the rules from the GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game. I initially joined that game under the premise that it was a DFRPG game – something that carries some baggage I think the GM didn’t recognize. See, DFRPG is the child of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, and both games are quite old-school at heart. That is, they are all about player agency, and getting right down to the action. The GM was really running a “new-school” game using some DFRPG rules. It was plot-heavy, railroaded players into certain courses of action, and just wasn’t what I wanted. So I left.

But I didn’t leave empty-handed. That experience left me with a newfound appreciation for two things: an understanding of the important of accurately pitching your game up front, and a better understanding of what an old-school game means to me. I won’t get into the former because a lengthy post on how to promote something is better suited to a marketing blog, not a gaming blog. The latter, however, is ripe fodder, so sit down, buckle in, and prepare for an opinionated rant!

Cow-Folk Abilities

I was asked on Discord tonight about possible abilities for a cow-person PC. I had two suggestions that I came up with on the fly. Both were largely taken from experience? - no, nightmares - grinding endless Cow Levels on Diablo II. Here they are for your enjoyment and your players' horror:

Summon Herd

30 points

You moo noisily for 10 seconds and roll 3d against 12. On a success, 10 friendly cow-folk armed to the teeth with massive spears and pole arms shamble into the fray and begin murdering your foes.

Statistics*: Ally Group (1- Cow-Folk; 100% character points; 12 or less; Limited Use, 1/day, -40%; Nuisance Effect, Noisy, -5%; Summonable, 100%; TAkes Extra Time, x10, -30%) [30].

Calf-alier of the Cow King

Varies

You can call on the blessings of the Cow King, a benevolent (to you) bovine Bodhisattva who bestoes the bounties of sustenance (milk & cheese), protection (fortitude of the bull), and assistance (scores of angry cow-folk). Other miracles may be available, but check with the GM.

Statistics*: Divine Favor (Cow King) [Varies].

* Note that while statistics are provided, these are not intended for NPC or monster cow-folk. Instead, they are provided as explanation of how the ability should function and in case a PC somehow acquires it.

Perk: Environmentally Adapted Sense

Sometimes I open old game notes and find things. This time I was looking at some particularly old notes and stumbled across a perk that looked kind of cool, so I thought I'd share it with you all.

Environmentally Adapted (Sense/Terrain) [Phy] [Mental]

You must specialize by sense and terrain. You can ignore up to -1worth of penalties to your chosen sense when using it to perceive objects in your chosen terrain. This perk can never give a net bonus.

You may buy this perk multiple times, either to increase the level of the original perk or to add a new specialization. When increasing an Environmentally Adapted Sense perk's level, it eliminates an additional -1 to that sense per level. GM's should feel free to limit the maximum allowable level to 3 for most games.

Technique: Meat Shield

Meat Shield

Hard

Defaults: Dodge-2.

Prerequisites: Dodge, cannot exceed Dodge.

You can use an opponent as cover against ranged and melee attacks against you. To do this, you must be free to move, your opponent must be positioned between you and whoever is trying to hit you, and you must win a Quick Contest of your Meat Shield technique and the potential meat shield’s DX. If you win, the foe you trying to hit you takes a -2 cover penalty to hit you. Regardless of success, you suffer a -1 penalty to all further Dodge rolls and attack rolls this round.

If the foe attacking you through your meat shield misses by a margin of -2 or less, his attack hits the meat shield. The meat shield may attempt any active defense normally available to him, and any successful defense means he is not hit. If he successfully dodges, the attack still hits you, but you can still make an active defense yourself! If the meat shield’s defense fails, he takes damage as if your opponent’s attack targeted him normally.

Build

This defensive technique is built using the Technique Design System (TDS) from GURPS Martial Arts, p. 89-95. The -4 penalty for attacking through an occupied hex is reversed to be a -4 penalty to utilize an occupied hex for defense. Additionally, using this technique imposes a -1 penalty on further active defense rolls for a +1 to default, and a -1 penalty to any attack rolls for an additional -1 to default.

Dungeon Action

By Timothy Ponce

GURPS Dungeon Fantasy is all about killing monsters and taking their stuff. It thrives on tactical decisions, die rolls, and letting the chips fall where they may. But what if a gaming group thirsts for more thrilling, movie-like action? Such games can benefit from more abstraction, fast-and-loose gaming, and typically, more social situations. Thankfully, GURPS already provides a line that covers this style of play!

GURPS Action explains how to run games straight out of the movies, but its core assumptions include a modern setting decidedly not suitable for most Dungeon Fantasy, and much of its advice applies only to handling technology absent in traditional fantasy – dungeon or otherwise. By combining parts of both sources that best suit fantasy action adventures, this article provides the best of both worlds: a framework for handling social and urban mini-adventures as preparation for the primary dungeon delve, and it does so with style.

This article heavily references GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, GURPS Action 1: Heroes, and GURPS Action 2: Exploits, and access to the entirety of both entire lines is highly recommended.

It Lives!

As is usual, it seems, I have dropped off the face of the Earth thanks to a combination of Life, Classes, and Lack of Gaming (this is primarily a gaming blog, after all!). That said, I've decided to post what content I have that has yet to be published by Steve Jackson Games here for free. This material is not extensive, but it does pertain to at least one popular product - namely Dungeon Fantasy. To that end, my next post will be the full text of Dungeon Action, which contains rules for combining Dungeon Fantasy with the Action! series to produce an experience extremely close to that of Dungeons and Dragons. After that will appear rules on creating intellectual property, which are easily adapted to memetics and such (if and when I have time, I'll make that adaptation and post it, as well).

I hope you can all enjoy these. I will get them online as quickly as I can format them.

Shadow-Infused Lens for Dungeon Fantasy

I was going through some of my old materials the other day and came across a lens I made a little over a year ago for a Dungeon Fantasy game. So I figured I'd share it here, since it's GURPSDay after all!

Shadow-Infused

75 points

Choice Professions: Assassin, Martial Artist, Swashbuckler, Thief.
Marginal Professions: None.

Shadow-infused are mortal beings comprised partly of shadow. They are either the offspring of a mortal parent and a shadow elemental or were once moral and somehow become imbued with the stuff of darkness. Maybe they spent too long on the plane of shadows or were in a magical accident. Regardless, they make excellent spies and killers thanks to their ability to hide in the darkness. They're constantly surrounded by shadows, which flit about them or animate their own shadow in strange (and disturbing) ways.

Attributes: DX+1 [20].
Secondary Characteristics: Basic Move+1 [5].
Advantages: Clinging (Mana-Sensitive, -10%; Only in shadows, -20%) [14]; Dark Vision (Mana-Sensitive, -10%) [23]; Fit (Only in Darkness, -20%) [4]; Reputation +3 (Shadow Creatures) [5]; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3) [10]; Silence 1 [5]; Slippery 1 [2]; Temperature Tolerance (cold) 1 [1].
Racial Perks: Limited Camouflage (Shadows) [1]; Shadowplay* [1].
Disadvantages: Supernatural Feature (Animated Shadow) [-10]; Unfit (Only in Bright Lighting,-20%) [-4]; Unnatural Features 2 [-2].
Features: Dark black, gray, or black-speckled eyes. Surrounded by perpetual shadows that seem to cling to them.

* Shadowplay: Your character can manipulate nearby shadows into simple shapes or forms. This takes a DX roll, the better the roll the more complicated the shadow. He can even animate them – but this requires a Concentrate maneuver, 1 FP per minute, and persists for 1d seconds after you stop concentrating. You can animate at most one hex worth of shadows at a time. Those with Artist (Illusion) may substitute a DX-based roll if that is better than their DX.

Shocker Lizard

CER 14 (OR 8 and PR 6)

Everyone’s hair stood on and as they approached the green reptile. Arcs of bluish-white light dances across its skin. Thankfully there was only one, or things would get hairy fast.

A three-foot long lizard with bright green scales and a yellow underbelly, the shocker lizard is a unique and frightening predator. It gets its name from its ability to discharge an electrical shock that can stun or kill prey. Alone, they are a nuisance, but a nest of shocker lizards rapidly grows to pose a lethal threat to any party!

Ents

With a creaking, cracking gate, the animate oak strode forward at an easy pace. It seemed little worried about the dozen gnolls arrayed before it, and hardly noticed their arrows. But once one buried its axe in the ent’s thick bark, the treebeast croaked with rage and sent the loathsome fae sailing through the air with a single swipe of a branch.

Ents are ambulatory, sapient trees who tend the most ancient forests.  They serve as gardeners and wardens, although they rarely pay any heed to any member of the animal kingdom unless a reasonable threat is posed.  Ancient by mortal standards, ents are extremely slow to action, do things slowly, and are very slow to embark on any endeavor.  Only a threat to the forest can readily mobilize the local ent population with any degree of rapidity, and "rapid" for an ent can take weeks.

Wraith

CER 106 (OR 27 and PR 79)

Tendrils of cold, cloying darkness crawled from the shadows and snuffed the life from every candle in the room. The four travelers huddled together, back to back, and prepared for the wraith’s assault.

Wraiths are partially incorporeal undead that boarder on the demonic.  Little more than shadowy, animated hatred, they haunt the darkness of night seeking to drain the life from those they encounter, and when they succeed, their victim, tainted by the wraith's intense loathing of life, becomes twisted into a mirror of his executioner's – a weaker wraith serving its creator.

ST: 14                                                     HP: 15                                                   Speed: 6.00

DX: 12                                                    Will: 15                                                  Air Move: 12

IQ: 10                                                     Per: 12

HT: 12                                                    FP: N/A                                                  SM: 0

Dodge: 10                                              Parry: N/A                                              DR: 0

Punch (15): 1d(0.5) crushing + linked Life Drain (see below).  Reach C.

Life Drain (15): 3d+2 months of life drained per second.  Reach C.  This can only follow a successful grapple – often a choke hold (see Strangle Hold below).

Strangle Hold (12): On a successful attack, the wraith grapples his victim's neck.  On the victim's next turn, he may attempt to break free; the wraith is at +5 in this Quick Contest for using two hands.  On the wraith's next turn – and each turn thereafter, until its prey breaks free – it may strangle.  Roll a Quick Contest of the wraith's ST+3 vs. the victim's HT.  If the wraith wins, its victim takes crushing damage equal to its margin of victory.  DR protects normally, but multiply injury to the neck by 1.5.  If any damage – even blunt trauma – penetrates the victim's DR, you also start to suffocate him.  On his next turn and every subsequent turn until he escapes, he loses 1 FP; see Suffocation (B436).

Terror (Will-3): When a wraith moans or screams menacingly, anyone who hears it must make a Fright Check at -3.

Aura of Hopelessness: Anyone who fails a Fright Check in the wraith’s presence suffers -3 to all rolls. Every turn, the victim rolls against Will at a penalty equal to his margin of failure on the triggering Fright Check; on a success, he snaps out of his self-doubt.

Firebane: Wraiths suck the energy out of the area around them. Within two yards, candles are extinguished, torches burn as candles, and campfires burn as torches, and bonfires burn as campfires.

Light Weakness: Wraiths take quadruple damage from light attacks, 1d injury/minute from direct, natural sunlight, and lose their ability to interact with the physical world in any lighting conditions that impose a Vision penalty between +0 to -4.

Shadow Body: Wraiths are composed of partially insubstantial shadowstuff.  They can flow through any opening like a vapor; flight through the night air; take only 1 point of damage from impaling and piercing attacks and 2 points from all other non-area attacks.

Traits: Bloodlust (9); Callous; Can Be Turned by True Faith; Combat Reflexes; Darkvision; Desecrator; Detect (All Life; Precise); Doesn’t Breathe; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; Dominance; Dread (Sunlight; 1 yard); Flight; Fragile (Unnatural); Frightens Animals; High Pain Threshold; Immune to Metabolic Hazards; Indomitable; Injury Tolerance (Diffuse; Infiltration); Insubstantial (Accessibility, Not in Darkness less than -4; Affect Substantial; Always On); Intolerance (The Living); Lifebane; No Legs (Aerial); Obscure 5 (Vision; Area Effect, 2 yards; Defensive; Emanation); See Invisible (Ghosts); Temperature Control 5 (Cold; Emanation); Uncontrollable Appetite (Life Force) (9); Unfazeable; Unkillable 3 (Achilles’ Heel, Sunlight).

Features: Affected as Evil; Affected as Dead; Functions and Detects as Evil.

Skills: Brawling-15; Hidden Lore (Undead)-10; Intimidate-15; Stealth-22; Wrestling-14.

Notes: Wraiths can speak and may be willing to negotiate, but rarely bother to. They often know much about other wraiths, if not undeath in general. A wraith's spawn usually have the same stats as its parent, with -2 ST.

Perk: Library Card

Library Card

1 point

Whether by virtue of reputation, actual license, or simply a plot device, you can waltz into any institution that houses knowledge and access any document or artifact housed therein - provided it isn't classified! No one will think twice about it or delay you, assuming the materials are available readily accessible, and if any time must be taken to retrieve them, you will gain access in the minimum possible time. This perk does not grant access to materials that are classified or those that are not on site, checked out, or otherwise not available. The GM should still feel free to deny the character access to information when circumstances would demand it - e.g., if the character just trashed the library's public collection and then asks to visit more delicate archives, or if the clerk knows the PC is wanted by the police.

A prime example of a character with this perk is Professor Robert Langdon from Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. He walks into museum after museum asking to see priceless and delicate artifacts and documents without any issues - excepting, of course, the police chasing after him.