Yargh! I forgot to post an update on Sunday - in my defense...I had been awake for several days, and I finally conked out. So here, have a GURPS book review - it's a good one: it's Warren "Mook" Wilson's "How to be a GURPS GM" is a book all GMs should have - even the most experienced ones. 2014-10-20 18:15:19 +0000 UTC View Post
This month's Patreon Special is all about the intersection between two of my favorite topics: Wildcard Skills and Ritual Path Magic.
2014-10-19 05:44:06 +0000 UTC View PostAnd we're back! So it seems like you guys are pretty interested in my particular method of campaign creation by the number of likes, views, etc. so here's the next installment (warning, might be a little boring to some).... Next up on the "Docket" is "outlining." Outlining can be boring. This is pre...
2014-10-18 03:09:59 +0000 UTC View Post
I told the Witch Doctor that I was in love with you... then he cast a freaking spell on me that ripped out my heart and caused a rain of toads by chanting the mystical words "Ooo eee,ooo ah ah ting tang Walla walla, bing bang." So you know what? I don't go randomly talking to witch doctors now. It a...
2014-10-16 22:57:58 +0000 UTC View Post
Kids are great: babies are mobile barf barges, five-year olds constantly ask why, and teenagers make YOU want to strangle your progeny in their sleep sometimes. Kids are also a great plot hook if done right, whether PC or NPC, a child in danger hits every single instinct in the human brain like noth...
2014-10-14 15:50:45 +0000 UTC View Post
That's it. You've had enough. Your girlfriend just threw up pea soup on you. She's icier than that time you wanted to fool around in the janitor's closet, and she appears to be speaking in tongues. Which you can't understand because you only speak two languages: English and Bad English - and the fir...
2014-10-13 00:21:59 +0000 UTC View Post
http://www.ravensnpennies.com/2014/10/gurps101-high-archetypes-as-advantages.html#.VDbPUvldU2Q What if titles had power? What if they empowered you to do one thing so well that ...
2014-10-09 18:13:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Big. Small. Big. Small. Big...you get the idea. Spriggans like to spring that on you (see what I did there?) and can be quite powerful foes if you're not prepared. This provides a valuable lesson - never kick the little guy when he's down because he might get back up, turn into a giant, and then eat...
2014-10-07 20:58:23 +0000 UTC View Post
People might say GURPS is "dead," but you can't get new books from a dead system (maybe a undead system - but not a dead one). I look behind the cover of a rather unusual book. It's not a genre book or a crunchy supplement...but instead it's a look at how to design something every campaign uses to *...
2014-10-05 23:28:36 +0000 UTC View Post
"Bring on the healbots!" "My character is not a "healbot" he is a complicated man with a checkered past..." "HEAL ME NOW, NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR STUPID PAST, CLERIC!" *sigh* "Fine. I heal his character...I guess that's my go this round..." GURPS has a ton of ways of making a "healer," but the most ...
2014-10-02 16:19:40 +0000 UTC View Post
Every GM has his or her own house rules and I'm no different. I don't typically make radical changes to the system - because really, I think it works just about perfectly. But one thing I do happen to dislike is how allies are treated... 2014-09-30 23:54:45 +0000 UTC View Post
Now, a clever man would put points into a Contact to know the dirty secrets of others, because he would know that only a great fool of a GM would just *give* him that knowledge. As you [the GM] are not a great fool, I can clearly must choose the Contact - but not the one you suggest...wait. What? So...
2014-09-29 00:31:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Ever had a really cool idea fall into your lap? I get that a lot more than I probably should. After running a game seems to be one of those times where it happens to me the most. In this instance how to emulate a mechanic from another RPG (World of Darkness) in GURPS.... 2014-09-25 19:28:45 +0000 UTC View Post
This month I'm talking about modifiers for traits and the various yardsticks I've learned over the years to figure out what numbers to give custom traits, plus, a new trait: the "Convenience Effect." This handy little catchall is the exact opposite of the Nuisance Effect and adds some, small utility...
2014-09-24 03:34:06 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm a big fan of "Full Speed Ahead!" when it comes tO gaming. But I'm also a fan of accurate simulation - this is one of the reasons that GURPS is so attractive to me as a GM. I can easily mix the two into something approaching what I want to do and then set the dial on a game to game basis. Not man...
2014-09-23 21:13:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Recently, both Peter and Doug have been poking at this interesting video and GURPsfying it - well, they got that covered, so instead I thought about just messing with it period. What if mages settled disputes by duels? What if they used swords? How freaking cool would that be?! Today's post is all a...
2014-09-21 21:21:18 +0000 UTC View PostOh! I forgot one thing - thanks to a wonderful birthday gift by one of your fellow patrons (Celti) we now have a domain (www.ravensnpennies.com). Thank you all for making that happen, but especially thank you, Patrick. I hope to continue to present new material that you folks can use in your games o...
2014-09-19 20:53:36 +0000 UTC View Post
So it's a day early (I'm celebrating my birthday tomorrow with delicious sugar-free cake!), but today is Patreon day! The day where I thank my patrons for being awesome. I'll continue updating my blog every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday - but my dear patrons, Saturday (even though it's a Friday - wo...
2014-09-19 20:51:31 +0000 UTC View PostDespite it being my birthday this week, I've put together some new stuff for you guys, my patrons and I'm going to upload it a day early because I'm going to have a small celebration tomorrow for my birthday. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this month's Special and I'll be taking requests (in this th...
2014-09-19 20:08:32 +0000 UTC View PostA follow-up from July 2014, adding more spells for the Mythos to your games with Ritual Path magic.
2014-09-19 19:47:23 +0000 UTC View PostA PDF discussing how to create Cthulhu Mythos spells using GURPS Ritual Path Magic
2014-09-19 19:46:27 +0000 UTC View PostA PDF discussing Ritual Path magic being used in Mass Combat.
2014-09-19 19:33:10 +0000 UTC View PostGuys, Today is my 32nd birthday so I'm going to be taking a break from blogging for the rest of the week. But don't worry! I got plenty of good stuff coming up - some of you have lit the fires of inspiration and you'll see posts you either asked for or commented about some time in the future. Thank...
2014-09-16 18:27:29 +0000 UTC View Post
What makes players tick? How do you get them to have fun? Well...you get into their head. You find out what they want (even if they don't want to tell you) and then you force feed it to them until they can do the RPG truffle shuffle of characterization. That's right, in today's Guidepost I talk abou...
2014-09-14 20:31:06 +0000 UTC View PostSo how to wrap up exactly what you want to do in your campaign - set some goals. Stick to those goals. Go from there. It really is that easy. This will be the last of the Assembly Requires posts until I can decide if it's popular enough to continue (which it seems to be) - if you like it and want to...
2014-09-13 01:17:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Since GURPS Ultra-Tech got a update today and GURPS Ultra-Tech Tables was updated I thought I'd do something in honor of that. So here ya go - Enhanced Cyber Claws for your every razor girl need. 2014-09-11 22:18:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Recent discussion came up on the forums about which articles were used the most in your campaigns? I had to narrow it down to the top ten that I used half a dozen times or more and this is what I came up with. Do keep in mind that this list is the articles I used the most - not the ones I like - tha...
2014-09-09 15:16:49 +0000 UTC View Post
So how do you create realistic player characters? In my experience you need a good GM if you plan on making a good character. One who is willing to work with you the entire process through so you have a character who fits the campaign as much as the other way around. 2014-09-07 17:52:37 +0000 UTC View Post
I talk about Judo Throw some more, but this time I look at some optional rules from GURPS Martial Arts that seem to fit the bill for what I'm looking for. http://ravensnpennies....
2014-09-04 18:07:14 +0000 UTC View Post
The Judo Throw rules listed in the Basic Set and Martial Arts are just fine as a gameable abstraction - but what if you want to use some (slightly) more realistic ones? Well, hell, I got you covered... 2014-09-02 19:56:14 +0000 UTC View Post