Ravenpenny

Book Review: How to be a GURPS GM

Yargh! I forgot to post an update on Sunday - in my defense...I had been awake for several days, and I finally conked out. So here, have a GURPS book review - it's a good one: it's Warren "Mook" Wilson's "How to be a GURPS GM" is a book all GMs should have - even the most experienced ones. http://www.ravensnpennies.com/2014/10/book-review-how-to-be-gurps-gm.html#.VEVQN_nF82Q

Patreon Special - October 2014

This month's Patreon Special is all about the intersection between two of my favorite topics: Wildcard Skills and Ritual Path Magic.

Assembly Required: Outlining Step One - Campaign History

And we're back! So it seems like you guys are pretty interested in my particular method of campaign creation by the number of likes, views, etc. so here's the next installment (warning, might be a little boring to some).... Next up on the "Docket" is "outlining." Outlining can be boring. This is pretty much a known fact among GMs, writers, and grad students. Outlining a campaign is much more fun...but can still get tedious. Here are a few things I ask myself went starting with the most important...

Gamemaster's Guidepost: Diablorising Sorcery - The Witch Doctor - Part I

I told the Witch Doctor that I was in love with you... then he cast a freaking spell on me that ripped out my heart and caused a rain of toads by chanting the mystical words "Ooo eee,ooo ah ah ting tang Walla walla, bing bang." So you know what? I don't go randomly talking to witch doctors now. It ain't safe, Charlie. I don't suggest you do either. I mean, look what those "Diablo" witch doctors can do... In today's Guidepost, I go back to the world of Sanctuary and GURPSize it - well, some of it...

Gamemaster's Guidepost: Playing Child Characters

Kids are great: babies are mobile barf barges, five-year olds constantly ask why, and teenagers make YOU want to strangle your progeny in their sleep sometimes. Kids are also a great plot hook if done right, whether PC or NPC, a child in danger hits every single instinct in the human brain like nothing else other than personal survival. GURPS already has rules for writing up kid characters, but I explore it a bit more in today's blog post... 2014-10-14 15:50:45 +0000 UTC View Post

The Hurt Locker: Occult Emergency Kits

That's it. You've had enough. Your girlfriend just threw up pea soup on you. She's icier than that time you wanted to fool around in the janitor's closet, and she appears to be speaking in tongues. Which you can't understand because you only speak two languages: English and Bad English - and the first one not so well. So what do you do? She's saying it's a great day for an exorcism...you're Gawd Damn Right it's a great day for an exorcism. Break the glass on that emergency kit, because it's time...

GURPS101: High Archetypes as Advantages

http://www.ravensnpennies.com/2014/10/gurps101-high-archetypes-as-advantages.html#.VDbPUvldU2Q What if titles had power? What if they empowered you to do one thing so well that your skills and abilities were legendary and bordering (or actually are!) godlike? Not suitable for all campaigns, I create a new advantage and look at how you might be able to use it in a campaign...

Triple Threat: Spriggan

Big. Small. Big. Small. Big...you get the idea. Spriggans like to spring that on you (see what I did there?) and can be quite powerful foes if you're not prepared. This provides a valuable lesson - never kick the little guy when he's down because he might get back up, turn into a giant, and then eat your face. http://www.ravensnpennies.com/2014/10/triple-threat-spriggan.html

Book Review: GURPS Template Toolkit 1: Characters

People might say GURPS is "dead," but you can't get new books from a dead system (maybe a undead system - but not a dead one). I look behind the cover of a rather unusual book. It's not a genre book or a crunchy supplement...but instead it's a look at how to design something every campaign uses to *some* degree - Templates. http://www.ravensnpennies.com/2014/10/book-review-gurps-t...

GURPS101: I got all the Heals

"Bring on the healbots!" "My character is not a "healbot" he is a complicated man with a checkered past..." "HEAL ME NOW, NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR STUPID PAST, CLERIC!" *sigh* "Fine. I heal his character...I guess that's my go this round..." GURPS has a ton of ways of making a "healer," but the most effective method is probably taking the Healing advantage and modding it out to whatever specs you need. In today's GURPS101 post I've listed all the relevant modifiers for Healing, some new ones, and...

Gamemaster's Guidepost: NPC Frequency of Appearance in Game Time

Every GM has his or her own house rules and I'm no different. I don't typically make radical changes to the system - because really, I think it works just about perfectly. But one thing I do happen to dislike is how allies are treated... http://www.ravensnpennies.com/2014/09/gamemasters-guidepost-npc-frequency-of.html

Gamemaster's Guidepost: Dirty Laundry

Now, a clever man would put points into a Contact to know the dirty secrets of others, because he would know that only a great fool of a GM would just *give* him that knowledge. As you [the GM] are not a great fool, I can clearly must choose the Contact - but not the one you suggest...wait. What? So how do you start a game knowing someone elses' secrets? Well...there are a couple of ways... 2014-09-29 00:31:36 +0000 UTC View Post

GURPS101: Wound Absorption

Ever had a really cool idea fall into your lap? I get that a lot more than I probably should. After running a game seems to be one of those times where it happens to me the most. In this instance how to emulate a mechanic from another RPG (World of Darkness) in GURPS.... http://www.ravensnpennies.com/2014/09/gurps101-wound-absorption.html#.VCRsovldU2Q

Patreon Special - September 2014

This month I'm talking about modifiers for traits and the various yardsticks I've learned over the years to figure out what numbers to give custom traits, plus, a new trait: the "Convenience Effect." This handy little catchall is the exact opposite of the Nuisance Effect and adds some, small utility to your trait.

Gamemaster's Guidepost: Plot Points, Expanded

I'm a big fan of "Full Speed Ahead!" when it comes tO gaming. But I'm also a fan of accurate simulation - this is one of the reasons that GURPS is so attractive to me as a GM. I can easily mix the two into something approaching what I want to do and then set the dial on a game to game basis. Not many other RPGs do that. GURPS Powers introduced in a teeny-tiny box these little miracle things called "Plot Points" - which are essentially a way a GM can bribe a player to go along with something he m...

Melee Academy: Mage-Blade Duelling

Recently, both Peter and Doug have been poking at this interesting video and GURPsfying it - well, they got that covered, so instead I thought about just messing with it period. What if mages settled disputes by duels? What if they used swords? How freaking cool would that be?! Today's post is all about Mage-Blade Duelling and bringing it into your campaigns... http://www.ravensnpenn...

Oh! I forgot one thing - thanks to a wonderful birthday gift by one of your fellow patrons (Celti) we now have a domain (www.ravensnpennies.com). Thank you all for making that happen, but especially thank you, Patrick. I hope to continue to present new material that you folks can use in your games on both my blog and on this site. :-)

Ravens N' Pennies: Gamemaster's Guidepost: Benchmarking Modifiers

So it's a day early (I'm celebrating my birthday tomorrow with delicious sugar-free cake!), but today is Patreon day! The day where I thank my patrons for being awesome. I'll continue updating my blog every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday - but my dear patrons, Saturday (even though it's a Friday - work with me here!) is your day. This month I'm talking about benchmarks and yardsticks for modifiers and how to figure out which ones need what value. And yes, that is a Ogre Lego Tank - 'cause Ogres a...

Despite it being my birthday this week, I've put together some new stuff for you guys, my patrons and I'm going to upload it a day early because I'm going to have a small celebration tomorrow for my birthday. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this month's Special and I'll be taking requests (in this thread) on next month's Specials topic. Have a great weekend!

Patreon Special - August 2014

A follow-up from July 2014, adding more spells for the Mythos to your games with Ritual Path magic.

Patreon Special - July 2014

A PDF discussing how to create Cthulhu Mythos spells using GURPS Ritual Path Magic

Patreon Special - June 2014

A PDF discussing Ritual Path magic being used in Mass Combat.

Guys, Today is my 32nd birthday so I'm going to be taking a break from blogging for the rest of the week. But don't worry! I got plenty of good stuff coming up - some of you have lit the fires of inspiration and you'll see posts you either asked for or commented about some time in the future. Thanks for following along. With Regards, Christopher R. Rice

Ravens N' Pennies: Gamemaster's Guidepost: Player Psychology

What makes players tick? How do you get them to have fun? Well...you get into their head. You find out what they want (even if they don't want to tell you) and then you force feed it to them until they can do the RPG truffle shuffle of characterization. That's right, in today's Guidepost I talk about getting your players to have fun and how to do it like a sneaky ninja pirate GM. 2014-09-14 20:31:06 +0000 UTC View Post

Ravens N' Pennies: Assembly Required: Development Step Six - Campaign Goals

So how to wrap up exactly what you want to do in your campaign - set some goals. Stick to those goals. Go from there. It really is that easy. This will be the last of the Assembly Requires posts until I can decide if it's popular enough to continue (which it seems to be) - if you like it and want to see more plus share it, +1 it, and so on. http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.co...

Ravens N' Pennies: GURPS101: More Cyber Claws for Ultra-Tech

Since GURPS Ultra-Tech got a update today and GURPS Ultra-Tech Tables was updated I thought I'd do something in honor of that. So here ya go - Enhanced Cyber Claws for your every razor girl need. http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/09/gurps101-more-cyber-claws-for-ultra-tech.html#.VBIfEfldU2Q

Ravens N' Pennies: My Top Ten Most Used Pyramid Articles

Recent discussion came up on the forums about which articles were used the most in your campaigns? I had to narrow it down to the top ten that I used half a dozen times or more and this is what I came up with. Do keep in mind that this list is the articles I used the most - not the ones I like - that list is too long even for my blog. http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/...

Ravens N' Pennies: Gamemaster's Guidepost: Designing Realistic Characters

So how do you create realistic player characters? In my experience you need a good GM if you plan on making a good character. One who is willing to work with you the entire process through so you have a character who fits the campaign as much as the other way around. http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/09/gamemasters-guidepost-designing.html

Ravens N' Pennies: Melee Academy: Variant Judo Throw, Part Duex

I talk about Judo Throw some more, but this time I look at some optional rules from GURPS Martial Arts that seem to fit the bill for what I'm looking for. http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/09/melee-academy-variant-judo-throw-part.html#.VAipUfldU2Q

Ravens N' Pennies: Melee Academy: Variant Judo Throw

The Judo Throw rules listed in the Basic Set and Martial Arts are just fine as a gameable abstraction - but what if you want to use some (slightly) more realistic ones? Well, hell, I got you covered... http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/09/melee-academy-variant-judo-throw.html#.VAYgL_ldU2Q