Beyond the Grip of Realism
A Fistful of Action-Movie Advantages for GURPS
By S. John Ross

   The advantages that follow are designed for cinematic campaigns.
They work best in adventures where Our Heroes are above the merely
realistic, and granted a blind eye from the Grim Reaper to indulge in
heroic carnage - flipping cars, crashing airplanes, leaping through
windows 300 feet above the ground as the terrorist bomb fills the
screen with flames. GMs running more sober adventures should forbid
these rules entirely, or allow them selectively.
   In completely cinematic, pumping-blood-and-burning-cordite games
(or in four-color GURPS Supers), many of these advantages might be
given out as ``campaign perks'' not included in the normal price of
characters. This is especially true of the Car Crawler, Cinematic
Ammo, The Leap, and Second Wind advantages, which form a kind of
``standard package'' for modern action films and comic books.

Beneficial Enemy      Variable
   This is the Enemy Advantage. Somebody is out to get you, but they
are destined to fail. Whenever they try, it's an opportunity for you
to look good for the camera.
   This works exactly like the Enemy disad, except you always - always
win. Beneficial Enemies use any villainous tactics appropriate to the
genre (kidnapping dependents, holding cities hostage, and so on). They
aren't humorous unless the genre is; they're dead serious, and have no
idea the deck is stacked against them. They will typically show up at
opportune moments to make you look good in front of potential
employers, friends, or romantic interests.
   In all other ways, treat this as a normal Enemy. Each session, the
GM checks for appearance, and the enemy will appear at a time in the
adventure best suited to make your character look great. Point cost is
equal to the value of a normal Enemy. A 100-point Beneficial Enemy
would cost 10 points if he appeared on a 9 or less.
   The bigger the villain, the better you look. After trouncing the
foe, you get a temporary +2 to reactions for each 5-point base value
of the advantage; taking care of that 100-pointer would be worth a +4.
This bonus applies only to characters who haven't known you for a long
time.

Boomer-Bullets   5 points/level
   Once per session (per level of this advantage), you can declare
that any bullet you've successfully fired at a vehicle hits a vital
fuel line, sparks a fume, cracks a capacitor bank, or otherwise
triggers a devastating explosion. The vehicle is destroyed, and any
nameless NPCs inside (generic thugs, faceless drivers, and so on), are
automatically killed. Signifigant NPCs will somehow survive unless the
GM rules otherwise. Any PCs near or in the blast must fend for
themselves!
   Your Boomer-Bullets can also ignite heavy machinery, barrels of
fuel, or anything else that the GM rules is volatile. In TL8+
campaigns, this advantage also applies to shots from beam weapons. The
GM should feel free to prohibit the use boomer-bullet shots in honest
sporting competition, such as an arena battle in GURPS Autoduel.

Car-Crawler   5 points
   Any time you are required to make a DX, Acrobatics, Climbing or
Jumping roll to safely leap onto or off of a moving vehicle, or simply
to hang on to one, you will fail only on a Critical Failure, and may
always roll, regardless of how ludicrously high the penalties are.
This advantage doesn't protect you from the effects of failure in any
way, and some effects of success can be dangerous, especially at high
speeds.

Cinematic Ammo   2/5/10 points
   You do not follow the normal ammunition rules (including Power
Cells). This advantage comes in three varieties, any of which may be
combined:
   Safe Reload (2 points): Anytime you run out of ammo during a
gunfight, you cease to be a valid target until you have a chance to
reload your weapon. You must reload as quickly as possible (using
Fast-Draw and Speed-Load skills if you have them), but no hostile
action can be taken towards you while you're loading up (more often
than not, the opposition will take the time to reload their weapons,
since they can't aim or fire at you).
   Guns Everywhere (5 points): Whenever you run out of ammo in a
gunfight, roll one die. On a 1-5, there is another gun at hand (lying
on a nearby table, for instance) which is at least half-full of ammo
(more at the GM's whim); a Ready manuever is all that's needed to be
armed again (dropping your current weapon is a Free Move, as always).
The guns come from a variety of sources - downed foes from earlier in
the scene, your own prepared stashes, etc., as appropriate. They are
most often pistols or shotguns (SMGs in some genres) - the GM may
choose or determine randomly.
   Cowboy Ammo (10 points): You never need to keep track of ammo; your
guns almost never run out of bullets. This advantage applies to any
weapon that normally has multiple shots (it doesn't apply to single-
shot weapons like many holdout pistols, anti-tank weapons, or Dino
Lasers, but it does apply to all shotguns, including breech-loaders).
Whenever you roll a Critical Failure on a shot, however, there is a
50/50 chance that you are out of ammo, rather than the normal result.
This advantage doesn't offer special protection from disadvantages
that might result in lack of ammo, such as Unluckiness or Absent-
Minded.

Cinematic Blindness   15 points
   You can't see - but who needs it? This is an unrealistic version of
blindness, of the sort found in martial-arts movies featuring Blind
Elderly Masters, and in films like Yellowbeard and Scent of a Woman.
   The Drawbacks: Colors and details don't exist. Printed images might
as well be blank. Light is meaningless (although you can detect
``warm'' light on your skin). Unlike a normal Blind character, you pay
full cost for acute senses. You still get the +1 reaction bonus in
civilized societies, though.
   One-Hex Radar: Within your reach (which can be extended by a cane
or melee weapon), your senses of smell, hearing, and touch almost
entirely make up for your lack of sight. At this range, the general
shape and movement of everything is known to you. Stealth is useless
against you within your reach, and you automatically recognize, by
touch, any object or person you've touched before. Unencumbered by
reliance on sight, you learn any melee skill at +2 to your DX.
   Normal Sense Rolls: You can roll against Smell/Taste to recognize
the distinctive scent of any person or animal (including lingering
scents), or to identify any familiar brand of shampoo, shaving cream,
perfume, and so on. With a Hearing roll, you can single out any
conversation in a crowd and listen to it to the exclusion of others,
or recognize anyone you've heard speak before.
   Difficult Sense Rolls: With a Roll against Smell/Taste at -6, you
can accurately determine someone's mood or hair color, or get a
general idea of where they've been in the past two hours (they must
pass within your reach). With Hearing-6, you can identify bearded men,
the style of somebody's clothing, or recognize people by the
distinctive sound of their movement. You can also guess at how
physically attractive a person would be to the sighted, by considering
their voice and demeanor, among other clues.
   Each new insight requires a separate roll. The GM rolls in secret;
you might be wrong, and you have no way of knowing . . .
   Beyond your reach: You can guess at the outline of a room, with
about a 5O% margin of error for distances. You may make ranged attacks
against any living or moving target (tracking them by sound), but
range penalties are doubled. Immobile, inanimate targets may also be
attacked, but you take a further -1O to skill unless a sound indicates
their location. When you are attacked with a ranged attack, you get
your normal Active Defenses if you make a Hearing roll. If not, you
may only use Passive Defense.

Deadly Karma   15 points/level
   Once per game session (per level of this advantage), you can change
any Success Roll made by your character, or against your character
(such as an enemy attack) into a Critical Success or Critical Failure.
   For every time you invoke this power, the GM will turn a future
Success Roll against you in the same fashion (it need not be the same
type of roll). The GM may not kill your character outright with this
(it's more deadly to your foes than to you!), but should otherwise
reserve the ``karmic backlash'' as maliciously as possible to do harm
to your character. The GM may reserve backlash criticals between
sessions, if he wishes.

Fistfighter      10 points
   Whenever you are one-on-one with a foe (nameless thug or Feature
Villain - it doesn't matter), you can eliminate the possibility of a
gunfight or blade-fight by simply putting up your fists in invitation
(or taking a stylized stance, depending on how you fight). You don't
have to say anything; just the gesture is enough. Your foe must make
an IQ roll, at a penalty equal to triple any reaction bonuses you have
(penalties are ignored). If he fails, he sheathes or holsters his
weapon and raises his own fists, and the scene becomes a punch-and-
kick match. If he critically fails (not uncommon for nameless thugs),
he sets his weapon down on a nearby table, bartop, etc., rather than
holstering or sheathing it. You, of course, can maneuver to grab it
during the fight.
   This only works mano a mano; if you face a group of armed soldiers,
you can't coax them all into fighting you with their hands unless the
GM rules that they are truly insipid. However, an entire group of PCs
with this advantage could have that affect on an NPC group of equal or
lesser size!
   If any NPC tries the ``fistfight invitation'' on you, you must roll
at Will-4 to resist! The same one-on-one conditions apply.

Immune to a Poison   5 Points
   There is a single drug or poison which you have deliberately built
up an immunity to. The poison can be anything, but the choice is
subject to GM approval. Increased tolerance to alchohol is covered in
GURPS Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, and is independent of this
advantage. Each additional poison costs 1 point. If none of the
poisons taken are lethal, reduce overall cost by 2.

The Leap   5 points
   You cannot be killed in an explosion unless you are trapped with it
(in a sealed bank vault, for example, or literally surrounded by
multiple large explosions), or you deliberately caused it. As long as
there is a window, balcony, cliffside, or something else to leap over
or through, you can throw up your arms and ``ride'' an explosive
shockwave to safety (usually against a background of expensive
pyrotechnics). You'll fall either a short distance, or a long distance
ending in something soft. You take 1d-3 falling damage whenever you
use this advantage (Toughness applies; see sidebar, p.B131, for
location), but are otherwise immune to injury for the duration of the
explosion.

Luck Type II      3 points/level
   For every level of this advantage you have, roll a d6 at the
beginning of each game and record the result. These are ``luck rolls''
which may be substituted for die-rolls once the game begins. As each
luck roll is used, it is erased. Luck rolls may be used to replace any
required roll of the dice, provided at least ONE die remains random
(exception: damage rolls). Luck rolls may not be saved between
sessions.
   For example, if you have three levels of Type II Luck and roll a 2,
a 3, and a 1 at the beginning of the game, and are then called upon to
make a difficult skill roll, you could (instead of rolling 3d against
your skill), roll 1d and use the 2 and the 1 to dictate the result of
the other two dice! The 2 and 1 would then be erased and used up. You
could not use the 2, 3 AND the 1, because at least one die must be
random.
   Retroactive Type II Luck is also available, for 5 points/level.
This advantage is identical to Type II Luck, except that you may roll
the dice first, and then decide whether to ``spend'' any of your luck
rolls to alter the roll. One of the dice rolled must remain unchanged,
but the choice is yours.
   Type II Luck may be used to affect any die-roll that normal Luck
can affect.

Pacifist Weapon Master      20 points
   Only total (-30 points) Pacifists may take this advantage. A single
Combat/Weapon skill of your choice is doubled (tripled if the skill is
for ranged attacks). When you use the skill, penalties for visibility,
partial concealment, or speed are ignored. This includes total
darkness and Invisibility. Related Fast-Draw and Speed Load skills are
learned at +5. Size and Range still applies (if you are in an Old West
campaign, you can shoot off belt-buckles without harming the wearer).
   If the skill is used in melee (including defensive skills like
Shield and Cloak), you get an extra attack or parry or block (as
appropriate or needed) every turn for every 5 full levels of skill
above 20 (using final, multiplied skill). You may also parry or block
for others, if the attacking weapon is within reach!
   If you injure an intelligent creature (directly or indirectly), you
will suffer a nervous breakdown (use the rules under Cannot Kill
Pacifism). During the breakdown, Will rolls will be required to even
touch a weapon, let alone use it. If you are responsible for a death,
triple the duration!

Rush of Pain   25 points
   You may not have either High or Low Pain Threshold. You feel pain,
but it gives you an intense rush of adrenaline! You are immune to Stun
from injury. You gain no special bonus to resist torture.
   The Shock rules (p.B00) are reversed for you - and then some. If
you are hit and injured, you will have a bonus on your next turn,
rather than a penalty! The bonus is equal to the amount of damage
taken, and may be divided in any way between your (combat-oriented)
Success Rolls, and damage rolls for hand-weapons, punches, or kicks
(or more exotic body-attacks, for nonhumans). It may not be applied to
Defense Rolls.
   Example: Olaf the Hirsute is struck by an axe for a total of 7
points damage, which takes him to -2 HT (he had already been wounded
earlier. On his turn, he has a +7 bonus that he can divide up any way
he sees fit. His first order of business is to make a HT roll to stay
concious, so he takes +2 to his HT to make sure he does. He then
attacks the offending axeman, taking +2 to his attack roll. If he
hits, he still has +3 left over to apply to damage! If he had wanted,
he could have saved the entire +7 for damage - counting on lucky rolls
to make sure he stayed conscious and hit his foe.
   The bonuses may not be saved between turns - they must be used on
your next turn or they are lost.

Safety Bullets   5 points
   Whenever you make a ranged attack, innocent bystanders are ignored.
They do not provide cover for your target, and cannot be hit by missed
shots unless you critically fail your attack (incidental explosions
can still frag them, though). Other Player Characters (and your foes!)
recieve no special protection.

Second Wind   75 Points
   You can be seriously injured, even killed, but when the scene is
over, you're better off. You might even rise from the rubble, brush
yourself off, and walk away.
   You take your lumps normally until the scene ends (``the scene'' is
left for the Game Master to define according the needs of the plot).
In the aftermath, divide the damage you took by a factor of 1d+1,
rounding in your favor. History is rewritten. If the die-roll comes up
a total of 3, that 11 points of damage the spear did blowing through
your torso becomes a more palatable 3 points: the difference between
minor injury and short-term coma!
   This isn't magical healing or a super-power - those extra 8 points
of damage didn't really happen. It just looked like it. You are free
to distribute this ``healing'' any way you like, if the GM requires
that you keep track of individual wounds (for the Accumulated Wounds
option, or for injuries that crippled a limb). Note that crippling
wounds ``undone'' in this way are still considered ``temporary''
(p.B129) unless the character can make an immediate HT roll.
   Note: An unconscious character is still unconscious if he's at zero
hits or less. A dead character is still dead if the ``second wind''
doesn't bring him back above the point which he failed his HT-based
``death check.''

Stunt Driver/Stunt Pilot      15 points
   You cannot be killed in a vehicular crash as long as you're
controlling the vehicle. You can get unconscious and bloody, but even
that's unlikely, since you (but not the vehicle) takes half damage
from impacts or rolls. If using the rules from GURPS Vehicles, any
vehicle you're operating has twice the Maneuverability Rating and
Stability Rating that it realistically should. If using the Bleeding
rules (p.B130), you can't bleed to death from injuries sustained in a
vehicular crash, unless you are hemophiliac.
   This advantage comes in two forms for TL6+ campaigns: Stunt Driver
(which applies to all ground and water-surface vehicles), and Stunt
Pilot (for aircraft and spacecraft). Each costs 15 points. A low-tech
version (``Stunt Rider'') would have similar effects for equestrians.
Other effect of the advantage:
   Races and Chases: You recieve a +3 bonus to any Contest of Skills
in a chase scene or race. All vehicles being equal, you don't often
lose! And even if you're in the slow vehicle, you always have a
chance.
   Stunts: You can, by making an ordinary skill roll against the
appropriate Vehicle skill, do all sorts of cinematic stunts (ride a
cycle safely down an escalator, angle a jet-fighter between two
skyscrapers, or anything the GM and players agree is entertaining).
Ignore modifiers and the laws of physics - just a single skill roll
and away you go (it's all special effects anyway).
   Ramps: You can use nearly anything as if it were a smooth, prepared
ramp. If you're driving a car or truck, any earth-embankment will do
the trick (and they'll almost always be handy), and you'll have the
upper hand on suddenly-parting drawbridges. If you're on a motorcyle,
then cars make good ramps (from the front) along with stairs, piles of
trash, office furniture, and stacked firewood. Furthermore, you'll
always survive a deliberate jump completely unharmed, even if your
vehicle doesn't.
   High-G: You are immune to ``blackout'' and ``redout'' effects from
high-g manuevers. This is mostly important to pilots, but can matter
in ultra-tech ground-racing, too.
   High Vehicle Mortality: The drawback of this advantage is that you
go through a lot of vehicles, both your own and those of your
pursuers. If you run an enemy vehicle off the road, for instance, it's
likely to explode for no good reason other than ``the special effects
budget allowed for it.'' When your own vehicle finally goes (and it
will, eventually), it's spectacular, and another one is always
available soon after to borrow or steal.

Truly Badass   75 points
   You are the shape emerging from the flaming wreck, the spectre of
justice, the silent killer, the daring pilot, the suave agent. You're
a badass, and every ounce of confidence is justified.
   This advantage represents the many perks of being a cinematically-
competent individual, and falls somewhere between a special kind of
Luck and a special kind of Charisma. The GM should require that any
character purchasing the Truly Badass advantage be able to back it up
with real ability - the Truly Badass are at the top of their field:
healthy, assured, and capable of getting the job done (whatever the
job might be).
   Important to many facets of the truly badass is the ``Scrub'' - any
character with no real identity, unworthy as foes. Nameless thugs are
scrubs. Generic congressmen wandering through a crowd scene are
scrubs. Almost all security guards are scrubs. If the GM has assigned
the character a motive that extends beyond a single scene, he probably
isn't a scrub.
   The many facets of the Truly Badass:
   If it isn't important, you can just kill it: That's without a die-
roll of any kind. By taking a one-second Attack maneuver, any Scrub
becomes dead. Or they can become unconscious or maimed, if you feel
like it. They must be within reach (or yards equal to your DX, for
ranged weapons). Characters or foes of signifigance (GMs discretion)
are immune to this. If you have multiple attacks you can make multiple
kills.
   If it's weaker than you, it's scared: Crowds of Scrubs will part to
let you pass. Furthermore, they must make a Will roll in order to
attack you. When they do attack you, rules such as Buck Fever
(p.CII65) are appropriate, if the GM enjoys them.
   If it's recognizable, you recognize it: If you have Driving skill,
you can identify a model of sports car by the purr of the engine. If
you have Guns skill, you can identify a model of pistol by the sound
of the safety releasing. If you have Savoir-Faire skill, you know an
Armani on sight, and so on. This requires an IQ roll.
   If you want to be there, you are: In an action scene, when nobody
is looking, you seem to move like a ghost, appearing out of nowhere.
You may use a Move maneuver to get anywhere in a single turn (into an
air-vent, on top of an elevator, beneath a stairway), silent and
undetected, provided it is within [Move] yards, and you are
unobserved. No die-roll is needed (see the opening scenes of The
Professional for this).
   If you want to be noticed, you will be: When you decide to be
conspicuous, you ARE. Crowded rooms will hush slightly when you enter,
and people will pay attention. Nobody will forget you.
   If it's mechanical, it likes you: Your motorcycle can explode, but
it never breaks down. Your gun can run out of ammo, but it never jams.
Your laptop can be fragged by an antitank weapon fired through the
window, but you don't experience irritating system-crashes. You take
great care of your equipment, and it never fails you in any mundane
way. This doesn't protect you from the failures of experimental
equipment.
   If you play, you win: You can never lose a Quick Contest with a
scrub - the dice need not be rolled. You just win. Likewise, any skill
roll made against a scrub will succeed - you will automatically Fast-
Talk them, seduce them, Intimidate them, and so on.
   Note that while this advantage is useful for sweeping aside the
rabble (and speeding play), it should be used to enhance roleplaying,
not to sidestep it. Saying ``I kill the twerp with the Beretta pointed
at me'' isn't enough; <BI>the player must always describe his Badass
exploits for the amusement of those at the gaming table.<BI> ``I flip
the Beretta's muzzle back into his gawping mouth and squeeze his hand
on the trigger'' is much more amusing.
   For 50 points, a character can be merely ``Badass.'' He may choose
any three of the above traits to comprise the advantage. Both Badass
and Truly Badass characters are automatically immune to things like
the flu, getting their shirts stuck in their fly, and other minor
problems of the mundane world, as a matter of style.

Up to the Challenge   50 points
   You are an action hero, and action heroes can handle any kind of
action! You might not be able to pilot a Jet-Ski for recreation, but
if you need to chase an enemy across a lake, you'll handle one like a
pro. If a conflict-action scene (including chase scenes and sports
conflicts) requires a physical Animal, Athletic, Combat/Weapon, or
Vehicle skill that you lack, you gain it for the duration of the scene
at a level equal to your DX (IQ-based gun-bonuses and other special
modifiers are ignored).
   At the end of the adventure, you may put one of your earned
Character Points into any skill this advantage granted during play.
Optionally, the GM may require you to. From then on, you'll really
have the skill, and all normal rules for it apply. This advantage is
especially appropriate for action heroes with long, serialized careers
(James Bond or Mack Bolan types).

Enemy Magnet      5 points
   You have an uncanny knack for earning the lethal emnity of
villains. Any Bad Guy (GMs discretion) that is ever harmed or
inconvenienced by you (even indirectly) will hate you for it,
developing a savagely paranoid view of you and and obsessive desire to
pay you back, even if it means being distracted to their own defeat .
. . Thus, the rest of the party can use you as valuable bait. A
dangerous, double-edged advantage, best suited to the very lucky, the
very cocky, or the willingly-martyred.

   Thanks to the faithful playtest crowd among the Lower Reprieve
Generals. Special thanks to Marty Franklin, a true swashbuckler (and
afficionado of atrociously schlocky films), and Clint Gaige, the
``Action Movie GM'' of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Both provided the
inspiration, comments, and critiques that made these rules fly.