GURPS Classic: All-Star Jam 2004 1556347235

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GURPS ®

All-Star Jam 2004

By The Unusual Suspects Cover by Greg Hyland Edited by Kimara Bernard, Alain H. Dawson, Andrew Hackard, and Scott Haring Illustrated by Greg Hyland Cartography by Scott Reeves

GURPS System Design ❚ STEVE JACKSON Managing Editor ❚ ANDREW HACKARD GURPS Line Editor ❚ SEAN PUNCH Art Director ❚ LOREN WISEMAN Production Manager ❚ MONIQUE CHAPMAN

Page Design ❚ ANDREW HACKARD AND PHILIP REED Production Artist ❚ PHILIP REED Print Buyer ❚ MONICA STEPHENS GURPS Errata Coordinator ❚ ANDY VETROMILE Sales Manager ❚ ROSS JEPSON

GURPS, Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Pyramid and the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license. GURPS All-Star Jam 2004 is copyright © 2004 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. ISBN 1-55634-723-5

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STEVE JACKSON GAMES

CONTENTS

About GURPS Steve Jackson Games is committed to full support of the GURPS system. Our address is SJ Games, Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. Please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) any time you write us! Resources include: Pyramid (www.sjgames.com/pyramid/). Our online magazine includes new GURPS rules and articles, as well as other Steve Jackson Games releases like In Nomine, Illuminati, Car Wars, Toon – and many more top games like Dungeons and Dragons, World of Darkness, Call of Cthulhu. Pyramid subscribers also have access to playtest files online! New supplements and adventures. GURPS continues to grow, and we’ll be happy to let you know what’s new. For a current catalog, send us a 9”¥12” SASE or just visit www.warehouse23.com. Errata. Up-to-date errata sheets for all GURPS releases, including this book, are available on our website – see below. Internet. Visit us on the World Wide Web at www.sjgames.com for errata, updates, Q&A, and much more. GURPS has its own Usenet group, too: rec.games.frp.gurps. GURPSnet. This e-mail list hosts much of the online discussion of GURPS. To join, point your web browser to www.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l/. The GURPS All-Star Jam 2004 web page is at www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/allstarjam2004/.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1. Ghost-Breaking . . . . . . . . 3 BY

KENNETH HITE

2. Alchemical Baroque . . . 17 BY

PHIL MASTERS

3. Mythic Babysitting . . . . . 31 BY

ELIZABETH MCCOY AND WALTER MILLIKEN

4. Meridian . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 BY

DAVID PULVER

5. The Last Spartan . . . . . . 59 BY

GENE SEABOLT

6. Underground . . . . . . . . . 73 BY

WILLIAM H. STODDARD

7. Airships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 BY

BRIAN J. UNDERHILL

Page References

8. Precursors . . . . . . . . . . 101 BY JONATHAN

Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the GURPS Basic Set, Third Edition. Any page reference that begins with a B refers to the GURPS Basic Set – e.g., p. B102 means p. 102 of the GURPS Basic Set, Third Edition. Page references that begin with CI indicate GURPS Compendium I. Other references may be found on p. CI181 or the updated web list at www.sjgames.com/gurps/abbrevs.html.

WOODWARD

9. The Chariot Age . . . . . . 115 BY JON

F. ZEIGLER

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

INTRODUCTION Everybody has a Great Campaign Idea that they know they’ll never get around to. For a player, it’s the campaign that they’re certain no GM will ever run. For a GM, it’s the campaign that they know they’ll never find players for. For a writer, it’s the cool idea that they can’t imagine any publisher will ever buy. And for a publisher, it’s the neat stuff that just couldn’t possibly sell enough to pay for itself. Life is cruel. This book does nothing to mitigate the basic unfairness of existence, but it does have some cool stuff in it. Stuff that probably never would have been published, except Andrew had the idea of saying to ten of our top authors, “How about writing us 10,000 words on whatever you want? Nobody said no. (Our writers may be crazy, but they’re not stupid.) And in due course, there began to arrive . . . Neat Stuff. Airships. Alien babysitting. Ancient Assyria. And that was just the “A”s . . .

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CONTENTS

AND

So we’re happy with this. Will we do it again? Well, maybe. The “2004” in the title should be a hint that we’re thinking about it. If you like this collection, let us know, and strongarm your friends into buying copies. If you don’t like it, we’ll know from the sales figures. Life, as I said, is cruel. One other thing about this book is a departure for us. The cover. We’ve done the occasional cartoon cover before, but never a caricature. This time, though . . . Why not? The inimitable Greg Hyland, working from photos of all ten of our contributors, put this together. And verily, we did laugh, and verily, we did use it. Who’s who in the picture? You want us to tell you? What’s the fun in that? There are, after all, clues elsewhere in the book . . . Read and enjoy. We did. – Steve Jackson

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

GHOSTBREAKING BY KENNETH HITE

About the Author Kenneth Hite is the author of GURPS Horror and GURPS Cabal, among other paranormal works. He lives, surrounded by books of arcane lore, in Chicago. He has never knowingly seen a ghost.

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If there are ghosts, then not all of them will be benign. When a living person steps into the world of ghosts, someone has to be on hand to help him out. Ghost hunters look for ghosts. Mediums talk to ghosts. Occultists study ghosts. Ghostbreakers make sure the ghosts don’t bite – and bite back if they do. If you’re running or playing in a ghost-breaking campaign or scenario,

it’s important to keep two things in mind: environment and mood. All good ghost stories are about locations, as the archetypal haunted house demonstrates. Keep the setting’s feel about you; do research on reputed hauntings. The genre begins with the “occult detectives” of the Victorian and pulp steampunk eras, but ghostbreaking is still going strong from Ghostbusters to The X-Files.

Don’t get too hung up on logic, or rules, or looking up Fright Check modifiers. Ghost-breaking is campfire horror, you and your friends against the darkness. Scare each other, and revel (just a bit) in the campy glory of it all, from electric pentacles to proton packs. And one more thing: don’t go into the basement alone.

CHARACTER CONCEPTS Even if they’ve become “professional psychic exterminators,” ghostbreakers likely entered the trade from another profession. This is a brief, and not exhaustive, list of character ideas.

Anthropologist “A fascinating demonstration of the Hmong belief in discarnation. Fortunately, such spirits despise mustard seed.” An academic is interested in spiritual phenomena for purely scholarly reasons. He could join the ghostbreakers as a specialist in foreign haunts, or his cross-cultural theories might provide key insights.

Assistant “Where does the Kirlian camera go, again?” In the end, every theory rests on the strong back of a graduate student, beautiful daughter, or Watson-like assistant to carry the electric pentacles and take notes.

Detective “It’s just like any other murder investigation, except the guy was killed 100 years ago . . . by a ghost.” People call in a detective to investigate strange noises and lights . . . or to make sure that ghost-breakers aren’t running a scam. Eventually, the evidence before his eyes convinces him the situation is real.

Doctor “Does she have these seizures often?” If ghosts are the disease, call a doctor. It’s handy to have the surgeon right there when you get thrown down a flight of stairs at 1 a.m.

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Exorcist

Medium

“I cast you out, unclean spirit, along with every specter from Hell, and all your fell companions!”

“I’d like to speak with Aunt Gladys, please.” “NOW YOU WILL ALL DIE!”

This man of the cloth opposes evil spirits. His superiors may secretly tolerate or openly denigrate him (or both), but he cannot refuse the call.

Some mediums merely speak with the dead, others channel them in (hopefully) controlled conditions. Charlatans who discover real ghosts, or devoted ladies of peerless virtue, can help with a spectral investigation. Many mediums have a friendly ghost (a “spirit guide”) as an Ally.

Exterminator “You don’t often get glowing, moaning mice that size.” Going from exterminating material vermin to ectoplasmic menaces isn’t much of a career change. It’s still messy, dangerous, and nothing you can talk about at parties.

Friendly Ghost “Could you point that proton gun somewhere else?” Every so often, a dead man sticks around to do the right thing, and lends an immaterial hand to keep the living safe. Other ghosts may despise him as a sellout, however. Friendly ghosts will have the Ghost Form advantage (see p. 6 and pp. UN51-54), but probably won’t have spirit travel or probability manipulation.

Ghost Hunter “Just once, I’d like proof of life after death that didn’t want to kill me.” A devoted investigator of spectral phenomena. In the real world, he’s usually an amateur hobbyist, but in fiction, he’s the discreet professional. Either way, he’s probably got a very understanding day job, or a trust fund.

GHOST-BREAKING

Parapsychologist “Promise me you’ll let me get some publishable data before you start blasting the place to smithereens.” The parapsychologist is usually distinguished from mediums, exorcists, and even anthropologists by an emphasis on “hard science.” He is also an expert with PKE meters, encephalographs, and other gadgets.

Sensitive “It’s even worse when you can see them, Professor.” He sees dead people. A living ghost detector, who often possesses other psychic talents, is invaluable on an investigation but in extra danger during the confrontation.

Tabloid Journalist “Have any of you seen Elvis – recently, I mean?” Whether in pursuit of truth, scandal, or both, the tabloid journalist has to work twice as hard on half the money. Ghosts and ghost-breakers both make good copy; it’s hard to know who to root for sometimes.

GHOSTS What are ghosts made of? Before scientific investigation, the question would have seemed ludicrous – ghosts were made of the same matter as souls, no matter whatsoever! But as science divorced itself from religion, spiritual energy needed a new identity; in 1852, Karl von Reichenbach named it the “Odic force.” Eminent physicist Sir William Crookes popularized “psychic force,” which became the default term. Some scholars viewed this force as an immaterial or transmaterial substance similar to “luminiferous ether.” Possibly as a result of J.B. Rhine’s psi research in the 1930s and 1940s, the theory shifted. Rather than a special type of energy such as Odic force or Wilhelm Reich’s “orgone,” ghosts became part of the electromagnetic spectrum, like radio waves or ultraviolet light. Modern ghost hunters usually accept this theory, although some insist on adding “auras,” implying that ghosts are simply “bodiless auras.” Recently, experiments in plasma physics have bled into parapsychology, and a new theory states ghosts are heretofore-unclassified plasmas, positively ionized electrostatic fields like St. Elmo’s fire. Since natural plasmas appear in ball form, perhaps plasmas explain the sightings of “orbs” – balls of ghostly light. Perhaps such ghosts appear in the winter not because it’s spookier, but because the static content of the air is usually higher in cold, dry weather. So what are ghosts? The traditional answer, and still the most common theory, is that ghosts are dead souls, walking the earth (see p. 9) rather than moving on. However, theories of ghosts’ natures have changed over the years. Frederic W.H. Myers, cofounder of the Society for Psychical Research, hypothesized that ghosts were “psychic recordings” impressed on a site by the psychic force of people who died there. Later theorists elaborated on this concept, suggesting that some people left imprints on the “psychic ether” that slowly faded over the centuries, but that psychics and sensitives can read the traces in “haunted” locations. These theories remain current, although elements are replaced with the electromagnetic field, chi field, or

“global aura.” “Psychic recordings” go through their actions in a predictable, constant way (like a film loop) and do not interact with witnesses. They also stick to the same place – even if the walls, doorways, floors, or other terrain have been radically altered. This leads some investigators to say that ghosts are actually “leaks” through portals between dimensions, made up of some extradimensional energy that doesn’t map to our dimension’s physics. In this theory, “haunted houses” are actually “etheric windows,” openings to other planes, like ley-line nodes, sacred wells, or cemeteries. Perhaps those living or dying in the portal imprint on the outside energy, combining recording and portal theory.

GHOST-BREAKING

Alternately, perhaps the witnesses themselves imprint on the portal’s energy, making it show them what they expect to see. In the 1930s, the Freudian psychiatrist and ghost hunter Nandor Fodor believed that many hauntings and similar occurrences were actually powered by, reflective of, and in some measure created by witnesses’ unconscious energies. Fodor’s theory doesn’t require portals, of course, just a supply of whatever energy powers ghosts. In large part, Fodor’s is still the accepted explanation for poltergeist phenomena, just as the recording theory “explains” apparitions or “cyclical hauntings,” and the survival of the dead remains the default theory for the restless ghost.

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THE SPIRIT CABINET No universally accepted typology of ghosts exists; ghost hunters and parapsychologists use terms like apparition, entity, ghost, haunting, and spirit interchangeably. The following creatures are Bestiary-style “monsters,” with the template modified to include Will and Fatigue, rather than Undeadstyle NPCs. This is because in the ghost-breaking genre, the spirit’s personality is a tool for solving the case, rather than a measurement of abilities. A ghost-breaking campaign won’t usually revolve around a recurring spectral NPC, making character stats less useful than quick-reference melee values. GMs wishing to personalize them can add mental advantages and disadvantages, or use GURPS Undead or Spirits to create full-fledged NPCs from these stock specters. Also in keeping with the genre, the following ghosts are relatively powerful for their kind. This list is not exhaustive or exclusive; there are many different types of ghosts with many overlapping traits. Unless explicitly noted, however, all ghosts are intangible and hence invulnerable to physical attack. (See below and pp. SPI33-36.) Only magical weapons and attacks, and specialized antispectral weaponry such as the ghost blaster (p. 16) can harm them. Materialized ghosts can be harmed by physical attacks – though not by suffocation, disease, poison, etc. – which is one reason they don’t materialize very often. The other is the cost: 1 fatigue for every two levels in each physical attribute (ST, DX, and HT),

rounded up. Clothing is free, but weapons or armor must be paid for at 1 fatigue per pound. Full materialization requires the ghost to pay this energy cost every minute. For a translucent but intangible visual manifestation, the ghost need only pay 1 fatigue per 5 seconds, double that to appear solid. Merely making noises (howls, moans, clanking chains, etc.) costs 1 fatigue per 10 seconds; audible speech costs 1 fatigue per second and requires a Will roll to speak intelligibly. Unless otherwise noted, all ghosts can materialize, given enough energy.

Apparition ST: 3-20 DX: 14 IQ: 8 HT: 14 Will: 16 Fatigue: 20

Move/Dodge: 10/10 PD/DR: 6/0 Size: