Ooh, here's an accomplishment most trivial: This site's Star Frontiers to GURPS 4e Conversion Notes page ranks #1 on a Google search for "star frontiers gurps". That just might be my first first ever.

There's even more Dralasite-steeped goodness out there than I realized, though. Check out Star Frontiersman Magazine, a slick-looking magazine of all-new fan material, plus remastered versions of all the original books. That's some serious fandom at work!

For the GURPSters, there's another conversion page out there, GURPS Star Frontiers Conversion, a PDF that starts with this site's conversion but makes changes where the author disagrees. (What items those would be, I don't know; I don't see who made the conversion.)

Those links are now on my conversion page. Hasbro has allowed the Star Frontiers downloads, or so I've heard repeatedly, so both original book PDFs and the remastered goodies appear kosher. Whether you play GURPS, another system, or are open to SF's own rules, it's a full space opera setting ready for the taking. Enjoy!

Here's a minor, yet-untested melee idea that came up during chatter over some GURPS combat scenarios:

When you close a distance gap to attack, you give the defender more time to react than you do by starting out close enough to strike. Game that consideration with this simple rule:

• If the attacker needs to Step or Move to get within striking Reach, the defender gains +2 on Active Defense vs the attack.
• If the attacker begins his turn within striking Reach (even if he chooses to Step or Move anyway), there is no mod to Active Defense.
• If the attacker begins his turn in close combat and strikes in close combat (even if he then moves away), the defender takes -2 on Active Defense vs the attack.

The first case represents the attacker having to first move to get within striking distance, which hands the defender extra time to prepare (as well as an extra, clearly visible indicator that the attack is coming).

The second case is the default combat norm: You're already within range to strike, and you do so. Nothing special going on.

The third case helps model the "roaring and punching" aspect of close-combat free-for-all. Attacks come from so close, and thus come so fast, that it's hard to defend against them (or even see them coming in the first place).

It's all extremely simple to play out when using a hex map. How will it change combat? I expect the following: Read more...

The old GULLIVER for GURPS 3e details throwing skills for use in sports, not combat. Generally, these gain a hefty distance bonus in exchange for several drawbacks: encumbrance penalties, a Ready requirement, and a big TH penalty. (Yes, a TH penalty. Track-and-field javelin, hammer, discus, and so on never require the thrower to actually hit something. What the heck? Let's get some man-sized targets out there, and go Spartan on the next Olympiad!)

Come to think of it, perhaps these special skills can be built nicely using COSH, the system for modifying and building combat skills in 3e. Hmm, it's worth a try! If this sort of thing piques your rarified interests, break out the COSH page along with a copy of GULLIVER LITE for 3e and read along: Read more...

The old GULLIVER LITE distillation of my GULLIVER for GURPS 3e rules is still available for all the retro 3e players out there. I noticed an embarrassing boo-boo in the text, though: long-outdated URL and email info. I updated those, took the opportunity to improve wording in a few more spots, and, despite no changes even worth noting, upgraded the version number from 1.1 to 1.2 just for the cheap rush of power. It's downloadable now, should anyone actually need it.

(Unrelated tech tangent: I'm pleased to see that ol' AppleWorks 6 still chugs along in OS X.) 

Oh, and an added note for the masses playing GURPS 4e: Don't forget that GULLIVER Mini now exists as a nice, free one-page expansion for building and playing critters of any size in GURPS 4e. If you haven't downloaded it, go get it now; if you have a gaming website, please let your readers know about it!