I earlier called attention to a premium “wish I had one” product, the ultimate gamer’s table. It should surprise no one that I haven’t yet plunked down my $8K for this handcrafted piece of furniture. But I’m rather tempted by a premium gaming product that’s a bit more affordable: custom hand-made dice. I’d say these are more than handmade dice, really. This is art, with gaming dice as its medium. The creator/artist, Abraham Neddermann, was kind enough to answer some questions about his work. Please read on! (I have no connection to the site or product; I simply thought the dice and process were fascinating.) Apparently, one does not set…
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Rules Bit (GURPS): Throw like you mean It
Intro: “You throw like a kobold” GURPS‘ thrown weapon stats neatly spell out the best distance (Maximum Range) you can achieve with a toss. These are multiples of Strength, typically STx1.5 for heavier weapons (spear), STx1 for very light ones (dagger), and STx2.5 for middle-weight weapons that hit a sweet spot for distance (throwing axe). Working from those stats, Conrad the Bavarian and his ST 16 can hurl a javelin 16 x 2.5 = 40 yards. In battlemap terms, that’s right off the dining room tabletop; it’s a throw that should send even the hardiest of orc miniatures fleeing to a safer distance. With some Extra Effort, Conrad could hit…
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Rules Bit (GURPS): Duck!
Intro: “Not the face!” Ducking your head beneath a blow, or pulling a hand out of harm’s way, is much easier than shifting your whole body in a split-second. It’s simple to game this in GURPS. The rule Allow a +1 bonus on Dodge when the target is a mobile extremity: head, arm, hand, wing, tail, antenna, and so on. That’s it. Definition of mobile extremity The target part should be able to move reasonably freely and should have a -2 or greater TH mod for location. The body or vitals don’t receive the bonus, nor do legs or feet supporting the body. (A flying bird’s dangling legs would be…
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Updated DECIDE defense tweak
I’ve made an update to DECIDE, the suggestion that combatants make defense decisions without unnatural prior knowledge of whether attacks will succeed or not. It’s a GURPS article, but could be applied to any game handling defenses in a similar manner. On the topic of whether to use DECIDE with melee as well as ranged attacks, I’ve changed the article’s options from 1, 2a, and 2b, to 1, 2, and 3. For Option 3, I’ve made a change first discussed in DECIDE implementation notes: a change from -1 to 0 for “last-second defense” penalty vs melee weapons, and a blanket +1 to all “immediate defense” rolls that don’t wait to check…
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Momentum or kinetic energy: Which one pierces a T Rex’s chain mail on a glancing blow?
Here’s a collection of online bric-a-brac with connections to this site’s gaming material: Dinosaurs and their tails Having written about both dinosaur design and tail design, I can’t help but comment on the Smithsonian blog’s report that dinosaurs may have had thicker, beefier tails than often depicted. Sounds fine to me, at least until we get that cloning process working to verify things. What does that mean for critter design? Well, nothing, really. About all I can note is that, using the above tail rules, your dinos really should go for the heavy tail option instead of the slim version – although that always sounded right for dinos anyway. Hmm,…
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GLAIVE Mini: Weapon Builder System for GURPS
Don’t settle for off-the-rack weapons from the local blacksmith. Build your own! T Bone’s Games Diner is proud to present GLAIVE Mini, your super simple, single page weapon builder system for GURPS – now updated to version 2.4! The old prototype The full (non-Mini) GLAIVE (GURPS Light Arms Invention Expansion) for GURPS 3e is a complete design system for low-tech melee and ranged weapons of any shape and size, generating unique thr and sw damage, readying time, reach, and more, based on the inputs you provide. As you’d expect, though, a universal system like that won’t fit into a short page or few. And while you can mostly use GLAIVE with GURPS…
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I am not worthy of this gaming table
Hand-crafted tables of fine wood – for gaming. Our gaming, not billiards and poker and bridge. A dropped play surface lets you just cover up a game in progress, and pick up play without a hitch after that bothersome dinner party ends. Individual player stations feature flip-down desk surfaces, storage drawers, and trays for counters or pencils. You get “dice towers” for rolls, transparent map covers and grids, and an extra-sized GM station with built-in screen and rulebook trays. Will it cost you? Oh yes, it will – over $8000 for the highest-end models. Why, that’s probably almost as much as I spent on all those GURPS books over the…
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More Star Frontiers goodness
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. (Edit 2024-09-22: Alas those book downloads are no more.) 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…
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Distance and defense: Tiny tweak for GURPS combat
Here’s a minor melee idea that came up during chatter over GURPS combat scenarios. (I do plan to post an actual battlemap report after clearing some other items off of my to-post queue.) 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 rule: If the attacker begins his turn with a Step or Move to get within striking Reach, the defender gains +2 on Active Defense vs the attack that turn. If the attacker begins his turn within striking Reach (even if he chooses to Step or Move…
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Sports throwing skills in COSH
The old GULLIVER for GURPS 3e details throwing skills for use in sports, not combat. Generally, I’ve suggested 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…
