Games Diner Site Updates

I often update old material with additions and corrections. I place brief notices of changes within some articles, though I’m not immune to forgetting; Moreover, readers have no way of knowing that some old page has been updated unless they visit the page.

From here on, I’ll collect update notifications on this page, your one-stop destination to see what’s new (i.e., how little has changed. : / ) You’ll find this a link to this page under the “Diner Stuff” menu at top.


Edits, etc. (going back to 2017 or so)

DFRPG resource: Questions and answers!

2023-03-13: Added info to Is Defending Weapon/Shield enchantment a really bad deal compared to a Deflect enchantment? and moved it to answered questions.

2022-08-06: Do the active defense scores of published DFRPG characters have shield DB figured in?

2022-04-05: Suggested specific times for normal and hurried weapon envenoming.

2022-02-19: Answered question about whether a caster knows the cost to cast Command (Spirits) in advance. (In short: The question was misguided, and the right answer would seem to be “yes, of course.”)

2021-10-06: Added more Q&A. (Several un-noted updates exist before this as well.)

2021-08-31: What are the differences between DFRPG and GURPS?

2021-08-17: How can I shoot 2+ arrows at once?

GURPS/DFRPG resource: New Talents

2023-01-22: Added the Talents Dwarfcraft, Gnaturally Gifted, Gnomish Siege Engineer, and Homebody, and suggested a revised Widget-Worker Talent.

2022-12-04: Added the Feline Grace Talent.

2022-02-18: Removed Reaction Bonus and mention of Alternate Benefit from Underworldly talent; those aren’t proper DFRPG components for talent-based advantages of this sort.

2022-01-15: Broke off the Underworld Gift variant designed for use with GURPS Underground Adventures, turning it into the unique talent Underground Adventurer. (That makes three underground talents: Underworld Gift for GURPS, Underground Adventurer for GURPS with Underground Adventures, and Underworldly for DFRPG.)

GURPS/DFRPG resource: New weapons

2023-01-16: Changed cost of light harpoon from $50 to $55. Suggested general procedure for converting existing thrown spear weapons into harpoons: Start with existing stats, limit Acc to 2, add $10 for barb and tether, and change skill to Thrown Weapon (Harpoon).

2022-07-18: Added notes on atlatl dart stats.

2022-04-05: Added heavy saber, giving users of Saber skill a second weapon (with a bit more punch).

2021-08-17: Added new light throwing dart, for hand-held and atlatl use. Added notes on spear throwers and Bulk.

2021-07-15: Expanded thoughts on Two-Handed Axe/Mace skill and saber weapons – including the idea of a heavy saber that falls between the saber and cavalry saber.

2021-07-09: Added additional thoughts on a few weapons and weapon skills that arguably fall short of alternatives. 

2021-06-07: Added thoughts on katanas.

2021-05-13: Added light maul.

2021-03-14: Reduced damage for a thrown arrow to thr-3 imp, upon realizing that my earlier thr-2 imp made the spike shuriken nearly obsolete.

2020-10-08: Moved these edit notes to the end of the page. Added notes on slings throwing odd-sized things.

2020-10-06: Added a few published weapons to the tables, for ease of comparing my new weapons with existing ones. Note: A closer read of Low-Tech reveals that its atlatl darts are not the same as throwing darts; DFRPG specifies that the two are the same. May need to muck around with that. 

2020-08-26: Boosted range and ST for thrown arrows and bolts, added the option for hurling these projectiles with an atlatl, and added several notes on atlatl/woomera usage in general.

2020-04-10: Removed a wayward ST score from the woomera.

2020-04-09: Added two more weapons: arrows and crossbow bolts thrown with Thrown Weapon (Dart) skill.

The Talented Thief: Stealing the Spotlight in GURPS and DFRPG

2022-12-01: Added note on the ease of improving thieves’ combat skills for just a few points.

Game design musing: Simplifying ST-based thrust and swing damage (GURPS)

2022-08-29: Added notes on how the article’s idea does away with unequal thrust-vs-swing damage bonuses for traits like Weapon Master and Power Blow.

Dungeon Dining: Exotic Eats and Remarkable Rations for Fantasy Travelers

2022-07-25: Added notes on which foods are “special order” goods.

2020-10-22: Tweaked the Fancy foods mod and effects of orc rations a bit.

2020-03-03: Added notes on foods and scent (just a few paragraphs below). Clarified that Tidy foods carry no scent issue. Renamed “Flavorful” foods as “Fancy”.

2018-04-26: Added an effect to a steady diet of gnomish bulking rations: free +1 Lifting ST!

What’s interesting about roleplaying games

2022-07-16: Added thought on whether the development of RPGs was “inevitable.”

Rules Bit (GURPS): Throw Like You Mean It

2022-06-09: Added note on Uwe Hohn’s famous javelin throw, and note that boosting distance for skill makes sense for Bolas, Lasso, Sling, and Spear Thrower skills, in addition to Throwing and Thrown Weapon skills.

Game design musing: Meeting weapon ST requirements (GURPS/DFRPG)

2022-05-28: Added notes on how the rule would affect pre-generated characters from DFRPG Companion 3.

2022-01-06: Added note that repricing Striking ST to [4] means changing the cost of DFRPG‘s Mantis Strike; suggested related tweaks to the trait.

Books we want: The big list of everything (GURPS/DFRPG)

2022-04-02: Added wish for book of gear for DFRPG.

2022-03-09: Added wish for books of maps, for both GURPS and DFRPG.

2021-08-10: Noted that Dungeon Fantasy Adventure 4: Two-Page Dungeons has addressed one wish with the delivery of five mini dungeons.

2021-05-07: Added idea for Banestorm: Introduce a new continent or other new realms in an updated book.

2021-02-13: Added idea for a DFRPG book: Spellcasters’ Companion.

2021-01-25: Added ideas for a DFRPG book on low-powered henchmen/junior delvers.

2020-12-11: Added a pack of printed character sheets (and/or other forms) as an idea for a DFRPGproduct.

2020-10-31: Added suggestion that a book on Expert Skills could cover lore skills as well, especially Hidden Lore.

2020-09-30: Changed article title. Added bonus fun (?) feature for a DF encounters book. 

2020-09-14: Added ideas for How to Be a GURPS GM 2: When and how to let players make plot and world-building decisions, including through existing mechanics like impulse buys.

2020-09-03: Added suggestion that a DF gear catalog list all “price discount” perks. Also tweaked text to hew to SJG’s use of terms “line”, “series”, “sub-series”, “book”, etc., as outlined here.

2020-08-30: Added note on the new Dungeon Fantasy Career Guide!

2020-08-26: Added note that a Power-Ups: Techniques supplement should definitely delve into non-combat-skill techniques, and could explore the idea of handling optional skill specialties using the techniques mechanism.

Rules Bit (GURPS): New Damage for ST

2021-11-02: Updated Designer’s notes to address later article Game design musing: GURPS swing vs thrust damage: What’s the difference?, which explores the topic of an ideal ratio of sw to thr damage. 

Swarm of observations: Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game

2021-09-07: Added observation on the value of carving knives from karkadann horns.

Books we want: An updated GURPS LITE

2021-08-10: The current version of LITE carries a date of March 2020 – a big jump forward from the then-current 2004 edition that I based this article on! That said, I don’t see any actual difference in the content, at least for any of the topics addressed. As of now, all of my wishes for LITE remain unchanged.

2020-04-29: Added small note that “goat’s foot” should be dropped from LITE entirely to save space, and that weapon damage stats, if listed on one line, should place thr before sw.

2017-08-03: Added the discovery that LITE‘s weapon list lacks a rock. Also added a substantial section on the many more goodies that the older LITE for 3e, a veritable worker of miracles in 32-page format, used to offer players. (Including that rock.)

A modest proposal: Friendlier character trait blocks in GURPS

2021-07-22: Added notes (toward end) on making other content – namely, lists of modifiers – easier to scan.

DFRPG resource: Wizardly Spell List

2021-07-12: Added thoughts on the worthiness of Magery 0 discount spellcasters.

GURPS/DFRPG resource: New Talents

2021-05-10: Added Closer to Hell talent.

2021-02-07: Added an idea linking the Graceful and Lithe talents to use of sign language. 

2020-07-22: Added talents Underworld Gift and Underworldly for weird tunnel-crawling freaks like pallid troglodytes, eyeless cave lurkers, and delvers.

RPG reality check: Are falls deadly enough in GURPS?

2021-02-18: Further edited article to emphasize +100% damage as the pro-realism solution.

2019-06-02: Noted good argument from the comments that +100% damage mimics the real-life data nicely.

Tiny GURPS/DFRPG idea: A better Outdoorsman

2020-11-29: Moved notes on beefing up Green Thumb in DFRPG to a new article.

2019-01-14: Added notes on Outdoorsman in Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game, and on other talents of use to outdoor types.

31 reasons why you want to pick up Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game (and fast!)

2020-05-11: Link to above TL; DR summary broke somewhere along the way. Fixed now

2019-03-19: Added TL; DR summary at end.

2019-03-17: Updated text to reflect the happy news that the project has funded! 

2019-03-16: Added a few nice “pull quotes” in the text, and began a list of handy links at bottom of page. Please suggest more!

Three new talents for GURPS/DFRPG: Graceful, Lithe, and Life of the Party

2019-07-15: This article originally had two talents, Graceful and Life of the Party. Now there are three, as one was a poor buy in DFRPG (containing several skills not found in the game). With that split into two versions, here are three talents for use in the games.

Dungeon Fantasy RPG Character: Leonidas of Nemea, Cat-Folk Barbarian

2019-01-14: Added note on tweaking the Outdoorsman talent.

Dungeon Fantasy RPG: The Notes (Part IV)

2018-11-22: Added observation that the pre-generated PCs with two examples each are the “classic” FRPG foursome of cleric, knight, thief, and wizard.

2018-10-17: Modified the brief comment on how Sense of Duty works in DFRPG, to correctly reflect that fact that GURPS also suggests GM override of player actions for this disadvantage (if in a more limited way).

2018-10-13: Minor changes, to swap the locations of the pyramid and the die spots, and add a touch of color.

The Talented Thief: Stealing the Spotlight in GURPS and DFRPG

2018-02-08: Added short note to point out that buying multiple 5-point talents instead of fewer 10- or 15-point talents carries a secret benefit: you get to nab more Reaction Bonuses or Alternative Benefits! 

Gaming Tips: Taking your chances on 3d6

2017-08-05: Added quick internal links (a few short paragraphs below) before the boring stuff, for those who want to skip probability tables and jump to the conclusions. Whether you’re a GURPS GM or a player entirely new to the system, you’ll find a fast and convenient summary of what 3d6 and dice mods mean for chances of success.

Dungeon Fantasy: The Musical! (feat. Bards)

2017-05-10: Added note: “To accompany your minstrels, would you like some well-crafted, delicious adventure seeds? Try these instead!”

2017-05-06: Added note: “There’s a nice forum thread on the Musical Composition and Musical Instrument skills here. A future Bards author would probably get some good ideas from that!”


New content (from 2021)

2023-03-19: STROLL: ST rolls that work in GURPS

2023-02-19: Twelve pages of “Daily Houserule tweets” collecting a year’s worth of Twitter entries on GURPS and DFRPG. See an overview and links to all pages at Caged: A year of GURPS and DFRPG tweets.

2022-03-06: What’s interesting about replaying games?

2022-02-10: A year of daily GURPS tweets: #DailyHouserule (GURPS/DFRPG)

2022-01-14: Game design musing: Simplifying ST-based thrust and swing damage

2021-09-01: Game design musing: GURPS swing vs thrust damage: What’s the difference?

2021-07-10: Games Diner Site Updates (this page!)

2021-07-09: Game design musing: Meeting weapon ST requirements (GURPS/DFRPG)

2021-06-22: Swarm of observations: Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game

2021-06-13: DFRPG resource: Wizardly Spell List

2021-05-23: Grow a delver – fast! – for the best dungeon RPG out there

2021-04-19: GURPS resource: New techniques

2021-02-02: Books we want: Character journal for DFRPG (plus TFT Deluxe Character Journal: A review)

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