• general

    Minor brush-ups to COSH

    I made some very minor tweaks to COSH, my GURPS 3e-centric combat skill creation system. The changes consist of a few wording improvements and typo fixes. I also clarified that the reader-created Evade is best built as an unarmed skill, with oddness resulting when built as armed; it’s a good exercise in design. Those changes don’t make for a must-re-read, but COSH itself is worth checking out if you haven’t done so yet! Take that Evade, for example (with thanks to KBantar!); it’s a cool skill that lets you slickly evade any sort of attack, and is perfect for an unusual alien fighting style, a pacifist martial art, or a…

  • general

    My miscellaneous old house rules (GURPS 3e)

    Most old house rules have been absorbed into other works on this site. On this page are a few miscellaneous 3e tweaks – some much used, others tasted and soon forgotten – that didn’t fit elsewhere. (A few now have some sort of simulacrum in GURPS 4e.) It’s all ramshackle old stuff (1997 or earlier!), but might contain something of interest for your modern GURPS game.   The old 3e house rules These rules fall under categories inspired by the time-honored motion picture rating system in the US: G (General GURPS): It may or may not be in the main rulebooks, but it already appears somewhere as an option in GURPS, or…

  • general

    “Magic” skill for GURPS

    GURPS was long funny in that it offered skills for each and every specific application of magic (i.e., hundreds of spells), but no skill to cover a mage’s overall understanding of magic itself. Such a skill – name it Magic for simplicity – fills that gap and lets you fine-tune magic in your campaign, in at least 10 fun ways. This old article was written for GURPS 3e; its Magic skill is at least partially covered now by the Thaumatology skill that later appeared in GURPS Grimoire and then Basic Set 4e. Still, the notes may hold a new idea or two for your 4e games. Magic skill Create a skill named Magic (M/VH, with bonuses…

  • general

    COSH: Combat Skill Hack (GURPS 3e)

    COSH is a fun, easy, GURPS-like way to build most any fighting skill, or modify existing fighting skills, in GURPS 3e. Any GM can drop COSH into a GURPS game and be designing unique new combat skills within minutes. History v1.0: Created 03/03/14 v1.1b update (03/03/15): Simplified COSH construction of missile skills, thanks to J. Schipper. v1.2 update (03/04/23): Dropped the beta designation. Clarified use of limits on Dodge Bonus and ST Bonus enhancements. Added example of using COSH to morph a skill into a different skill during play. Added lots of  maneuverless “classic” combat skills, a bunch of new skills, and new “Large/Small ST Bonus (single use)” enhancements. Thanks,…

  • general

    GLAIVE: GURPS Light Arms Invention Expansion (GURPS 3e)

    GLAIVE is an expansion for creating your own low-tech melee or ranged weapon for GURPS 3e, with detail like nothing ever built for the game (or any RPG??). Arm yourself with GLAIVE! Note: This is the original, detailed GLAIVE system designed for 3e. For a simpler, shorter, 4e-ready system, see GLAIVE Mini. Got some d20 gaming in mind instead? Head straight to this nifty reader-contributed conversion: GLAIVE Weapon Design System for the d20 System.   History v1.0: Created 03/03/14 v1.4 update (2003/07/14): Dropped COSH from GLAIVE and gave it its own page at the Diner. v2.0 update (2004/04/12): Excised the Weapon Design System from GULLIVER and brought it to GLAIVE. Only…