Hollywood Hard Men & Baaad Babes More Cinematic advantages & disadvantages for cinematic campagins. Gurps does a good job at providing us with realistic (& playable) rules, but sometimes realism just ain't gonna save the day. Sometimes we need a hero, to take us to the end of the night. When they gotta be strong, when they gotta be tough... thats when you need the Hollywood Hard Men & Baaad Babes. These advantages allow the GM to run a Cinematic game with 100pt characters, and allow the players to tailor the degree of Heroic Realism that suits their characters. If these advantages are not available to badguys, NPC's and other players, they should require a 30pt unusual background cost, "Cinematic Hero". All the point costs listed here are suggestions only and GM's are advised to customize them, to provide the flavour they're looking for. Some of them have the potential to be very abusive. Heroic Advantages Apparent Invulnerability +30 points You don't seem to be affected by wounds. The GM keeps track of your Hits, and will tell you when you're dead. Other than that wounds have no effect on you, except maybe to trigger Berzerk. Knockback does apply. Also Apparent Invulnerability does not add to your chances of resisting knockout. Baaad Shooting Grip +10 points By holding your pistol(s) sideways so the the grip is horizontal (-1 penalty) , and using only Snap-Shots, you cause all of your foes that can see you to take a Fright Check. ("Whoa! He's too baaaaad for me!!!") -Sue and Sean sands@netcom.com Cinematic Attack Rate +20 points This is a half step towards being trained by a Master. The character uses the cinematic multiple attack rates (2 at 16, 3 at 24) and may learn any Cinematic Skills & Maneuvers the GM rules do not need the Trained by a Master advantage as a pre-requisite (see MS p. 42). Characters who "upgrade" to the later advantage do so in 1/3rd the time. It takes two years (one if taught by a teacher who has this advantage) of intense self study to acquire this advantage in play, unless the character has access to magic or ultra tech forms of teaching. (Great Wish, skill chips etc.) -unknown (sorry) Climax Finesse +10 points The shooter poses in a truly cool fashion, this takes a second to set up ( and the player must demonstrate the pose ), then if they roll a critical success, the target gets blown back through a plate glass window, and falls ten stories to land on a car... in slow motion! Any character finessed in this way is considered to be dead, hospitalized or captured. At the very least they are out of the game for the rest of the session. -Paul C. Pinkosh pinkosh@hawaii.edu Combat Skill Bonus +10 points/ Level Combat Skill Bonuses add to DX for the purposes of determining Combat skill levels. -From discussions between Thomas (tgm) Ackermann & Dr Kromm Coolness PD +5 points/Level This advantage allows Hero's to gain defensive bonuses in the spirit of action movies, where Heroes often, with total disregard for tactical knowledge and common sense, strike handsome camera poses in the middle of a gunfight. Each level subtracts 1 from your opponents chance to hit you with a missile weapon ( NOTE this advantage does NOT add to PD). But you have to adopt the correct heroic defense posture to be able to get your maximum defensive bonus... +1 for blatantly ignoring available cover +2 to +3 for putting yourself in a good position to be shot at (ie. striding towards a machine gun weilding Semiotic Terrorist would be worth +3) +1 for cool clothes (ie. the Mariachi's black scorpion jacket, Shame's modern-day zoot suit, or even Bruce Willis's body-hugging t-shirt and blue jeans) +1 for attractive Hero's +2 for Very Handsome or Very Beautiful appearance +1 for wearing a ragged T-shirt +2 for being stripped to the waist (bikini or bra for Baaad babes in a PG rated game) +3 for being naked (or in underwear in a PG rated game) an extra +1 if you're a woman and your foes are men. -by Joe Weinmunson Crafty & Very Crafty +15/+25 points A specific type of intelligence. This represents the cunning (Chutzpah) a person may have. It adds +2/+4 to Social skills and Theif/Spy mental skills. Also in combat it adds +1/+2 when attempting to feint an opponent, and can be used in other situations as a bonus to IQ based quick contests when attempting to trick someone. Criminal Mastermind +10 points The Criminal Mastermind has the ability to single-handedly concieve, plan, fund, recruit, train & then execute the most convoluted, contrived and unlikely of crimes. These crimes will, if successful, make the criminal exceedingly wealthy, or powerful, or let them start World War X, or whatever they desire. This advantage also includes the ability to automatically out-guess and out-maneuver, the best local and national law enforcement has to offer. The advantage has one down side - the Criminal Mastermind can never forsee the actions of a Hollywood Hard Man or Baaad Babe, and so are almost always doomed to messy failure. Criminal Masterminds usually have a foreign accent. Disease-Resistant +5 points The characters immune system is improved dramatically, they are resistant to most diseases, and receive a +4 HT bonus to resist them. This is a lesser form of the 10-point Immunity to Disease advantage. Extra-Effort Shooting +10 points By "punching" your projectile (or beam!) weapons forward as you jerk the trigger, you impart extra velocity to your shot, giving you a bonus to damage done equal to your ST/10 rounded down. Only the first shot of a multiple burst gets this bonus, however. -sands@netcom.com (Sue and Sean) Fast Learner +20 points The character is on a fast track to power. At the end of every session once character points have been allocated, the Fast Learner rolls 1d6 and adds that to their character point total. Flukey & Very Flukey +10/+25 points This advantage increases your chance of a critical success by +1. Very Flukey increases the chance of a critical by +2. This advantage is worth an extra +5 points if the character is a regular Magic User ( GM call ). Gigantism(Heroic) +10 points This advantage makes Gigantism (Basic p.28) into an advantage, you still get the reaction mods, but also get +2 Strength, taking the total point cost to +10. Your Height does not change but you gain 5lbs per point of ST added. Hard Head +2 points/Level Every level of Hard Head adds +1 to your chance of resisting a knock-out blow. Except if the blow came from behind, or was a Total Surprise. Invulnerability to Car Accidents +10 points You are invulnerable to injury or death, from 'normal' car accidents. If the car you're speeding at 120 mph in, goes out of control, rolls down a cliff and bursts into flames, you will have been thrown clear and will suffer no more than a few cuts and bruises. However, you are not invulnurable to Unnatural Vehicular Injury, say arising from a demonic '56 Chevy. Just a Scratch +10 points This allows the character to use the flesh wounds rule, ( B p.183 ). By spending one character point, all normal wounds except crippling injuries can be 'healed' back to full health. The character cannot be in combat, and must be conscious. This doesn't work on damage caused by disease or poisons. KO +2 points/Level You're profficient at knocking people out. Any time you hit someone in the head, your level of KO is subtracted from their roll to avoid knockout. Nigh Invulnerable +10 points No matter how cinematic the combat, some attacks are simply too powerful to bounce back from. Nigh Invulnerable may be used once per game session, letting the character be severely but not critically injured by a powerful attack. 12.7mm bullet, howitzer airburst, FAE munition--no matter the damage, the PC is reduced to one point below -HT, and looks simply awful. -by Joe Weinmunson Poker Face +5 points You're hard to read emotionally. Adds +2 to any gambling game that involves bluffing, and -2 for anyone to try to read your emotional state with Empathy, Psychology or Detect Lies. Adds +2 to resist interrogation, and subtracts -2 from someone using Body Language on you. Robust +5 points This is a minor version of Rapid healing and Immunity to disease. You get +2 to resist diseases, and + 2 on healing rolls, and rolls to avoid being crippled. You may not take this advantage unless you start with a health of 12 or more. Slightly invulnerable to explosions +10 points This advantage is usable once per hour of game time. There are two ways for the character to resist explosions... 1) Bracing themselves . If the character, realizing a grenade's about to go off, stands tall and makes a mighty, tortured yell (fists clenched, legs apart, screaming at the sky). This adds 8 to DR for ONE TURN ONLY. GMs may require a HT or Yelling (P/E) roll to gain the bonus. 2) or Running away . Explosive gases frequently violate the laws of physics when around Hollywood hero's, doing horrendous damage but moving barely faster than characters can run. To reflect this, don't apply concussion damage instantly; have it move out from the blast center 20% faster than the PCs current mode of locomotion (running, sportscar, Millennium Falcon, etc.), thereby giving them a chance to lessen or evade damage. -by Joe Weinmunson Slightly Lucky +5 points You get the Luck advantage, usable but once per game. Steroid Enhanced Strength +25 points Your whole torso is packed with big glistening, well articulated, bulky muscles. This increases your ST by half again (round down), but decreases your Basic Speed by 1 due to the extra weight. Unlimited Ammo +10 points You never seem to run out of ammunition unless the GM wants you to, or you roll a failure result (15-18 on 3d6). -David M. Girardot dmg@epix.net Warning Fire +20 points An opponent will never hit you with their first shot or burst. If the opponent is a player character or Major NPC, they'll only hit on a critical success and you may still get a defense. The shot gives a warning to the character that they're under fire, but usually doesn't wound them in the first second. Once the warning has been given then all bets are off. This may not apply to situations where the enemy is close, has you covered and you already know they're gonna shoot you. Disadvantages Bond's women -5 points You find yourself especially attracted to 'enemies' of the opposite sex. Furthermore, any member of the opposite sex you get involved with will die a horrible death before the end of the adventure. -From: Revenant Bullet magnet -20 points You are the 'innocent bystander' who always seems to cop the bullet meant for the hero. Any time a bullet misses anyone within 20 yards of you, it rolls to attack you instead. -From: Revenant Fancy-pants -20 points You insist on making life difficult for yourself by attempting everything the hard (but impressive) way, - you know you are the best at everything and HAVE to show everyone.... You'll always aim between the eyes of your enemy, you'll never sneak up on your enemy when you could burst in dramatically etc. This is the advanced case of Glory Hound, not only will you always take the greatest risks, pursue the most complex plans and organize the most self-aggrandizing press conferences; you'll actively make everything as difficult as possible... by informing your enemy of your exact plans on national TV, or sneaking into a compound wearing a Ninja costume from Props and followed by a camera crew with spotlights etc. You get a +2 reaction (at least publicly) from the press, small children, teenagers, etc. and a -2 reaction from the police, and fellow heroes, etc. A Fancy-pants is beyond Overconfident, and Glory Hound, they aren't Taciturn nor do they have Common Sense. -From: Revenant Glass Jaw -10 points You are easy to Knock out. Any roll versus Knock out, resulting from a blow to the head is at -4. You cannot have a Glass Jaw and be Hard Headed. Klutzy & Very Klutzy -10/-25 points Your critical failure is -1 less than everyone elses, ie. if your chance of critical failure was 17, it becomes 16. Also a roll of 17 is always a failure. A Very Klutzy characters' critical failure chance is at -2, and a roll of 16 or more is always a failure. This disadvantage is worth an extra -5 points if the character is a regular Magic User ( GM call ). Quirky Skills ( special ) Applying a quirk to a skill makes that skill 1 point cheaper. Players may have up to five Quirky Skills (GM approval is essential), these are not counted against the five 'normal' quirks. ( ie Drive (car)(Q.Always drives as loudly and as fast as possible) P/A 3pts = DX + 1 ) Sickly -5 points You've a weak constitution, all healing rolls and rolls to resist disease and crippling injuries are at - 2. You can't be sickly with a health over 12, nor if you're Immune to Disease, have Rapid Healing or are Robust. Suspicious -5 points This is mild paranoia, specifically you 'suspect' everyone 'may' be plotting against you. You'll never trust anyone except old friends. Other Characters react to you at -1, and a suspicous NPC has an automatic -2 reaction to strangers, especially unusual ones. Taciturn -5 points You hardly ever speak, prefering to let your actions speak for you. You must make a will roll to say more than a few words. This means the player of a Taciturn character should never discuss plans with the rest of the character party. Taciturn adds a -2 penalty to Diplomacy, Merchant, Fast Talk and Savoire-Faire. Very Bad Luck -30 points This is having bad luck twice. Something BAD happens to you, twice per game. Cinematics from GURPS Hyper-Strength From Gurps Robots Sharpshooter From Martial Arts Adventures Trained By Master From Martial Arts Hero's Code of Honour From Supers Villians Code of Honour From Supers Recovery From Supers Recovery Catfall Psycho Killers From Horror Cinematic Damage Rules Where in most cases you take only Stun damage (2-5x HP) until your opponent rolls a critical success (3-6) at which point you take 1/2 to 1/5 your current Stun as damage. The stun multiplier depends upon how cinematic you want your game to be. To prevent drawn out battles you could rule that for killing attacks (i.e. martial arts strikes, bullets, swords, etc.) do 1 pt of real damage per die of damage rolled as well as the stun. So if I take 2d6(11 damage) I would take 11 stun and 2 pts of damage. -David M Girardot dmg@epix.net The ST = Hits option One way of playing GURPS hits points, is to let basic Hits be determined by ST instead of HT, and let Fatigue be determined by HT instead of ST. This solves the potential problem of ST 40 Giant Magic Users, and rewards a heroic character with high ST by letting them be able to take the damage they can dish out. Try it, i highly recommend it . Sample Characters "Edward MacGuillycuddy, or 'Cuddly' as his fans know him is the new force in Urban Vigilante Law Enforcement. The prominent Scottish Coral Atoll Ecologist leapt into the headlines when he rescued 25 eminent Biologists from the clutches of the "Emergent Phenomenom Strike Force", and saved Geneva from the deadly Ebola-Glasgow Virus. Ed MacGuillycuddy joins me here in the studio.... won't you come on down Edward 'Cuddly' MacGuillycuddy " [Wild Applause] "Thank you Bob, it's great to be here" "Ed, as you ( and everyone watching) knows, this city is paralysed with terror. The Evil Tomito Dibango has reduced the Mayoress to tears, forced the Police Chief to eat his hat, and beaten the army into retreat. Frankly i don't see how one man can save us" "Oh Yeah, Just watch me" Ed MacGuillycuddy 100 point Cinematic Hero Shiny Black hair tied in a pony tail, black moustache and goatee, well-tanned (reddish) skin, dark brown eyes, -- 6', 160 lbs. ST 12, DX 12, IQ 10, HT 12. Basic Spd 6, Move 7 Dodge 6, -3 to hit (with missiles), Parry 10 (Brawling), 8 (Judo) Advantages : Coolness PD 3, Hard Head 2, Just a Scratch, High Pain Threshold, Attractive. Disadvantages : Klutzy, Bond's Women, Fancy pants, Stubbornness. Quirks : "Oh Yeah, Just watch me", Supports Rainforest Action, Wants to be on the cover of Time magazine, Wears Fractal T-Shirts, has never had a real job & doesn't want one. Skills : Brawling 15, Guns(Pistol) 15, Fast Draw Pistol 12, Guns(Machine Gun: Quirk- never aims) 14, Judo 12, Broadsword (club) 11, Knife 12, Throwing 11, Acrobatics 10, Running 10, Jumping 12, Stealth 12, Sex Appeal 11, Swimming 12, Scuba 9, Climbing 11, Driving (car) 11, Motorcycle 12, Pilot (light plane) 11, Computer Operation 10, Singing 12, Ecology (coral reefs) 7/13, Leadership 9, Performance (Quirk- himself as hero) 10, Demolition 9, Escape 10. Tomito Dibango 150 point Cinematic Villian Coffee coloured skin, Black Hair in a Crew cut, -- 5' 8", 155 lbs. ST 12, DX 14, IQ 12, HT 12. Basic Spd 6.5, Move 6 Dodge 6, Parry 10 (Karate) Advantages : Criminal Mastermind, Baaad Shooting Grip, Slightly Lucky, Cinematic Attack Rate. Disadvantages : Bully, Overconfident, Greed, Pyromania. Quirks : Loves BIG explosions, Wears Dark wrapround sunglasses, Wears English Tweed suits, Is always 'Just about' to light up a cigarillo, Tends to yell in a high pitched voice when he gets angry. Skills : Karate 16 (two attacks), Acrobatics 14, Guns- Pistol (Quirk- Always uses the Baad Shooting Grip) 17, Guns- Shotgun 16, Pilot- Helicopter 15, Jumping 14, Leadership 12, Detect Lies 11, Administration 12, Demolitions 13, Poetry 11, Disguise 12, Traps 12, Psychology 11, Portuguese 12, English (Quirk- Speaks with a terrible Portuguese /Kenyan Accent) 12, Japanese 11.