This article originally appeared in Pyramid #5
Q & A
We've had several questions (most recently from Travis Whaley) about the table in GURPS Supers showing damages done by ST greater than 20 -- mainly from people wanting to know where else they can get it without buying GURPS Supers! For all of you, here's the table reprinted.This table shows the basic damage done for strengths above 20.
ST Thrust Swing ST Thrust Swing ST Thrust Swing 21 2d 4d-1 33 3d+2 6d 60 7d-1 9d 22 2d 4d 34 3d+2 6d 65 7d+1 9d+2 23 2d+1 4d+1 35 4d-1 6d+1 70 8d 10d 24 2d+1 4d+2 36 4d-1 6d+1 75 8d+2 10d+2 25 2d+2 5d-1 37 4d 6d+2 80 9d 11d 26 2d+2 5d 38 4d 6d+2 85 9d+2 11d+2 27 3d-1 5d+1 39 4d+1 7d-1 90 10d 12d 28 3d-1 5d+1 40 4d+1 7d-1 95 10d+2 12d+2 29 3d 5d+2 45 5d 7d+1 100 11d 13d 30 3d 5d+2 50 5d+2 8d-1 110 12d 14d 31 3d+1 6d-1 55 6d 8d+1 120 13d 15d 32 3d+1 6d-1 and so on: +1d for each full 10 points of added ST.
Can animals use Extra Effort to increase their normal lift?
-- Travis Whaley
Yes, but only if they're frightened or angry (GM's determination).
-- Loyd Blankenship
Vampire:
The Masqueradetm
I'd like to make a vampire with a Renaissance background, a one-time bravo, highly skilled in Florentine-style fencing.
So how does a character specialize in more than one form of melee? Would "Melee Florentine
Style • • • • •" be enough to make a character a master of this style? Or would you have to learn "MeleeRapier • • • • •," "MeleeKnife • • • • •" and possibly "Melee Two-WeaponFighting • • • • •" to reach that state?-- Rich Janssen
Florentine-style fencing was a common skill in its time, and it would definitely be a legitimate specialization. If a character wanted to learn two-weapon fighting with two weapons that were not a natural combination (like a pitchfork and a nunchuk), then the two specializatons would have to be developed separately.
-- Travis Williams,
White Wolf
CAR WARS®
1. Do you have to pay the extra $500 to fine-tune a targeting laser? If so, what is an untuned targeting laser good for, besides a light show?
2. The rules state that gasoline-powered vehicles must have a laser battery to run power-draining items. In the description of the targeting laser, it says it drains 0 power units per shot. Is the targeting laser a power-draining item?
3. Can a motorcycle have two sidecars (one per side)?
4. Can the power plant for a vehicle be in a trailer or a sidecar?-- Brian Thomas, Surrey,
B.C., Canada1. Yes, and nothing.
2. Yes; even though it drains 0 units, it's still more than an alternator can put out. Without a battery, it won't work.
3. No.
4. No.-- Ken Scott
1. Do two flame clouds or flaming oil in the exact same place do double damage and hazard? If not, what if they are one millimeter off-center from each other?
2. A car has a front-mounted HDSS on automatic. Every other move, the car is exposed because the HDSS doesn't fire. Can one make the thing fire each move? What about other HD dropped weapons?
3. A motorcycle with a cycle wheelguard and an armored hub on either side of a wheel is hit by a flame cloud. How is damage distributed?
4. What about a flame cloud hitting the side of a car with an armored EWP with multiple weapons in it?
5. Can a laser targeting scope set off a laser-reactive web?-- Ben Deveny, Denmark
1. Dropped liquids and dropped gas weapons never have cumulative effect. Overlapping counters increase the area that is flamed, but not the intensity. Dropped solids (mines, spikes, etc.), on the other hand, do have a cumulative effect.
2. Any dropped weapon that produces a 1" by 2" counter will, when set on automatic, drop counters so as to provide a continuous stream. Instead of firing once every 2" of movement, it will fire every inch, but it will fire only half a shot (this is a necessary fudge for automatic fire only).
3. Roll damage once. Check to see if the damage hits the wheelguard; if it does, apply the damage to the guard, with any excess continuing. If the wheelguard is missed, check once to see if the hubs are hit; if they are hit, divide the damage between them. If the hubs are also missed, apply the damage to the wheel.
4. Roll damage for the EWP, and apply it to the armor. If the armor is breached, the damage passes to a random weapon. If the EWP is unarmored, all weapons are affected separately.
5. Yes.-- Ken Scott
1. Does a VFRP suffer the ripple-fire penalty for firing all six rockets at one target?
2. Can a missile launcher/heavy missile launcher round use probe warheads?
3. Do proximity-fused, high-explosive rounds act as normal high-explosive rounds vs. ground targets?
4. Would HARM missiles lock on and fire on friendly vehicles if both vehicles had IFF?
5. Does a radar ATAD have its own radar, or must it be linked to radar to function?
6. Could a hot smoke projector face left or right?
7. What are the rules for the improved hovercraft vertical stabilizer?
8. Do spikes affect tank treads?
9. Do fire retardant insulators take up only one space, no matter how many components are protected?
10. Do fire extinguishers provide protection to EWPs and weapon wings?-- Thad B. Dunn, Walton, KY
1. No.
2. Yes.
3. No. Proximity-fused ammunition fired air-to-ground will work normally, but when fired ground-to-ground has no effect.
4. No. If both IFF-equipped vehicles are on the same side, the HARM will not lock on.
5. It has its own radar.
6. Yes.
7. Congratulations, you found the single biggest typo in Uncle Al's Catalog From Hell. The improved hovercraft vertical stabilizer acts as both a spoiler and an airdam for hovercraft.
8. No.
9. No. A single fire retardant insulator will only protect one component. To protect more than one component, you must buy more than one insulator.
10. Yes.-- Ken Scott
When a Cruise Missile goes off, what effect does it have on Ogre weapons within its blast radius? And are Cruise Missiles underpriced?
ASK THE OGRE! -- Name Omitted
Ogre weapon systems are treated exactly like "units" within range. So, for instance, an Ogre weapon between 6" and 7" away from the blast will suffer a 1-1 attack.
I don't feel that they are underpriced, but I have observed that many players fail to defend effectively against Cruise Missiles. To take a Cruise Missile Crawler costs 18 points, so it must destroy, on average, 3 regular armor units. A CM fired from off the board costs 12 points, so it should destroy, on average, 2 units; reasonable, since it's easier to shoot down. Proper defensive tactics can limit your losses to an acceptable level. Facing an enemy with Cruise Missiles, you should take lasers if you can, and protect them! Either rush to close with the foe so he has to nuke his own units, or keep your units close enough together so that they can support each other with anti-missile fire. A loose wave of units is likely to be hurt badly by Cruise Missiles. A damaged and unsupported Ogre is meat for a missile.
Having said that, I'll add that a scenario with a few Cruise Missiles is fun, but I wouldn't want to play with a lot of them. An exception might be a game in which an attacker starts off with a huge force, and undergoes Cruise Missile bombardment. He must then pull the survivors together and complete the mission while the small defending force tries to exploit his disruption with a counterattack. This would be a good test of tactical skill, since there's absolutely no telling which units, where, would survive the bombardment.
-- Steve Jackson
Article publication date: February 1, 1994
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