Roughly Converting Monsters from D&D 3.5 to GURPS

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Alex
Outmatched... and outnumbered?

Outmatched… and outnumbered?

This post introduces a very simple and rough process I have been employing in converting the statistic blocks of monsters and NPCs from the Pathfinder Roleplaying System or from Dungeons & Dragons in order to tell a story employing some elements from prepackaged modules of the same systems.

Really, short simple do-it-yourself (DIY) procedure for converting the relevant statistic blocks.

  1. Start with base attributes. Every 2 Str, Dex, Int, Con above and below 10 translates roughly to 1 above or below for ST, DX, IQ, and HT respectively.
  2. Move on to secondary attributes. Eyeball health by considering HT and corresponding HP of strongest player(s). Will is similarly +1 above IQ for every +2, modified by how mentally strong the DM wishes the creature. Every +5 in Perception on the creature translates to +1 Per above IQ. FP is up to the GM’s discretion.
  3. Handle speed by considering initiative and movement of the creature and move forward accordingly. 30ft speed roughly translates to 5-6 Move and a Basic Speed somewhere in that range. Combat Reflexes gives a very simple boost to this if the creature is martially trained or capable.
  4. SM should correspond directly. A Medium creature is SM +0, a Large creature is SM +1, and so on.
  5. Every 5 DR should correspond to Damage Resistance 1. Apply limitations as necessary. Resists should be modelled as a Limited Damage Resistance on top of any other DR to only those compounds or substances.
  6. Roughly every 10 SR should correspond to Magic Resistance 1-2, up to the GM’s discretion.
  7. Darkvision 60ft should correspond to Dark Vision. Low-Light Vision can roughly translate to Night Vision 4.
  8. Apply other advantages and disadvantages as necessary by considering what makes sense.
  9. Apply spells and skills as necessary by considering the skills and spell-like abilities of the creature.

An example of this procedure being applied can be seen with this monster. Look at both the original d20 SRD description and the given GURPS description.

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Selling Sorcery: On Magic in High Fantasy

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Alex
Magic is just as capable a tool as swords or pens.

Magic is just as capable a tool as swords or pens.

This post discusses the effect that the presence of magic can have on a high fantasy world, suggesting changes to the typical medieval mould often used by many storytellers and campaign settings for describing the general pictures of their worlds. Much of the information found here is relevant only to GURPS.

Magic

Disassociates Reality from Fiction

I would not want to live in a world without magic, for that is a world without mystery, and that is a world without faith. — R.A. Salvatore

One thing that magic does incredibly well is that it can make many things possible that are typically impossible to happen at a given time. From the point of view of a story or an RPG, this also allows the occurrence of many plots that are also not usually possible and allows explanations players would not normally rationalize. This creates mystery and can procure a certain sense of mystique.

However, I find that many Dungeon Masters (DMs) also fail to realize that it also affects daily life, especially considering the typically low-technology (low TL) worlds that magic is found in. This investigation of this matter is greatly inspired by a friend of mine who does not fall into this trap when he DMs and really makes it clear how magic can change the status quo.

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Modelling Interplanar Magic

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Alex
A fanart depiction of a Magic: The Gathering card.

A fanart depiction of a Magic: The Gathering card.

In order to refine the high fantasy magic system proposed for the Golarion GURPS campaign setting found here, this post addresses the issue of interplanar magic, or the idea of casting long-distance spells through the boundaries of dimensions. Multidimensional worlds and the existence of different planes are a common feature of high fantasy and in Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder, and this post seeks to gather current information from GURPS rules and to introduce new ones.

Planes

As Boundaries

[If the] laws of magic might also allow casting on targets in other dimensions or “realms” [it is with] difficulty. Casting across planar or dimensional “boundaries” is at -10 per boundary crossed, on top of any relevant -5 for being unable to touch or see the subject (p. B239). 1

It was mentioned in a small side-pane of GURPS Thaumatology, but the question of how magic interacts with planar boundaries was something that occurred to me and my players in our last GURPS game session. The author also takes note to ensure that these sort of penalties do not already affect cross-planar spells such as Gate spells or summoning.

The author also suggests that there is a chance that these sort of boundaries between planes can be weakened, or at the very least thinner in some areas where there is intermixing, intersection, or resonance between the planes. I can immediately think of an example of this in the Eberron world and associated planar orbits. The -10 penalty is halved for such situations.

Let us extend the ideas from the author of GURPS Thaumatology further. If two planes can be especially close, it could even be possible that two planes are especially far away from each other. In this case, we could extrapolate a penalty of -15, meaning interplanar magic between these two world should be extraordinarily difficult (almost impossible).

It is also suggested on M83 that the difficulty and cost of Gate spells may also differ with planes. In this regard, we can make a similar observation that passing through more planar barriers requires a -1 penalty to the skill for every boundary after the first adjacent one to reflect greater distances, and a potentially increased cost of 10% of the base cost for every barrier after the first (see Plane Shift and Plane Shift Other).

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Notes:

  1. GURPS Thaumatology by Phil Masters ↩
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LD2: Inventum Esse

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Alex
Plotlines begin to merge.

Plotlines begin to merge.

This is a summary of the second session for my Lest Dispelled Golarion GURPS campaign. It is meant to be coupled with a number of different point-of-views written by players in order to paint a picture of what occurred in the campaign.

“Inventum Esse” is a Latin phrase that roughly translates to “to be discovering”. This particular session was a great deal of backdrop establishment and plotline revealing, helping to serve the backbone of the first module and major arc.

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Diamond Dust & Resurrection

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Alex
"The phoenix must burn to emerge." - Janet Fitch

“The phoenix must burn to emerge.” – Janet Fitch

In order to refine the high fantasy magic system proposed for the Golarion GURPS campaign setting found here, this post addresses the issue of the Resurrection spell, and other such energetically expensive spells by introducing the concept of material spell components from the Dungeons & Dragons system.

Diamond Dust

As a Spell Component

To cast a spell, you must be able to speak (if the spell has a verbal component), gesture (if it has a somatic component), and manipulate the material components or focus (if any). Additionally, you must concentrate to cast a spell. 1

In the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, as well as in Dungeons & Dragons, it is established that all spells require different degrees of spell components. A small number of spells are said to require diamond or diamond dust, typically worth somewhere in the vicinity of a set number of gold pieces, and include the following.

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Notes:

  1. Pathfinder Core Rulebook by Jason Bulmahn ↩
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