"High velocity fan" -- like an electric ducted fan for a radio controlled model jet.  LOTS of fan power -- but still, a volume and velocity more like a very strong fan than something that will steer or dissipate storm clouds.

Umm, Syvanus?  Recover Energy does nothing at skill lower than 15.  Fit is usable only to recover FP expended on physical activity (not spells).  Pretty sure Breath Control is same as fit in this regard, just to be complete.

Are the storm clouds on the ground and small?  If no... then yeah, no.

It would be decent for clearing out something like Stench or Smoke, but that's about it.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 68):

Thanks, but it does take points which build slowly...  Fit however does work.

Sorry, missed this earlier, this restriction was removed in DFRPG because Kromm found tracking different FP expenditures to be fiddly*.  Not sure if Gwythaint put it back or not...

So basically all three ways of recovering FP (Recover Energy, Fit, Breath Control) work on all FP expenditures, they just do so separately and do not stack.  So the fastest, but easiest to stop is Recover Energy, the fiddliest is Breath Control (constant skill rolling), and the slowest but surest is Fit.

Also Recover Energy also recovers ER faster without the need for rest, which I find completely bunk all around, mumble grumble, cheaty Wizards and Clerics...


*   But yet he left Paut the way it was.  :|



Yeah, Fit just always works, no rolls, no reliance on Mana levels.

Using shape air to move stormclouds seveesl miles away is not effective.
Als, they are atmospheric, and part of anI Ching reading I did for the return voyage.

Say what now?

The way Magic has always explained Recover (Strength in 3e and prior, Energy in 4e) is that you can "rest faster" -- and you had to be resting, doing nothing more strenuous than walking slowly.  That's gone now?

No, that's all the same.... for FP.

Now, recover Energy always used to recover ER as well (this is not new), however most of us (you and I at least) figured Recover Energy was still under it's rules, that is it only works while resting (and I never let Recover Energy recover both simultaneously, Kromm however does).

In DFRPG however, Kromm (Sean Punch the GURPS Line Editor and author of DF and DFRPG) decided to correct that mistaken impression and explicitly has Recover Energy recover ER faster at all times, making ER the far better value than FP.  No Wizard, Cleric, or Bard should ever buy extra FP unless they've capped their ER.

The explanation behind this is, FP sets the "must rest" requirement not Recover Energy.  So if you can Recover FP without resting, then Recover Energy would work for it as well without you needing to rest.


This means Warriors with Heroic Reserves should recover them faster with Fit or Breath Control, but that's not spelled out since DFPRG doesn't have Heroic Reserves...  (and I've never thought to ask Gwythaint his ruling on it because I don't have any warriors with Heroic Reserves)

Okay, see, the first I recall even hearing about Energy Reserve was within the past year or so, right here.  It's not in Basic or Magic, as far as I recall, and those are the only books I have (well, and Low Tech, and 3-4 DF PDFs).

Energy Reserve came out in GURPS 4e Thaumatology.  It was riffing off the idea presented in GURPS 4e Magic pg 15 "FP for spellcasting only" by making the "Spellcasting Only FP" its own pool separate from FP.

ER is in DF 3 The Next Level on pg 39 where it gets a write up (same write up from Thaumotology), and it's mentioned in several DF books after that.  DF 5 Allies adds the "Drains Familiar" wrinkle to a Wizard's ER (they can at this point have 2 types of ER, Personal and Granted by Familiar).  The Familiar's ER is their FP, so it only recovers when the Familiar rests... which brings it full circle back to the Advantage's roots as FP.

So, to sum up, the many different Energy Pools a Wizard or Psi can have are:

FP, ER (Magic/Psi), ER (Familiar).  Then they can have up to 2 Power Items; 1 Power Item (Magic/Psi) and 1 Power Item (Endurance).

There is an optional advantage Extra Power Items (Type) [15 points] which adds one extra Power Item of a specific type.  However each Power Item is still treated as a separate Power item, even if they are of the same source.

Other Heroes have a similar energy pool maximums, just one less as they cannot have Familiars (depending on Gwythaint, frex Druids might have Familiars, Clerics might be able to get Divine Servitors that grant ER).

Power Items (Heroic) are the same as Power Items (Magic/Divine/Psi) except they require a 'Heroic' power source such as Heroic Archer, Weapon Master, or Trained By a Master.  The energy cannot used for all FP expenditures (so not for missed sleep, FP lose to forced marches, or non-combat Extra Effort), only FP for special Skills and Abilities (frex Flying Leap, Power Blow, Botte Segrete) and Extra Effort in combat.  The item must be a weapon, shield, or armor.

Endurance Items require a $1,000 ritual to attune the item to be an Endurance Item, the only requirement is that it be a worn or carried item.  The energy from an Endurance Item can only be used for exertion, Extra Effort, and mundane loss (frex missed sleep, starvation, forced march).

Multi "Source" Characters can have a Power item for each source.  So frex Ardenas who has Magery and Trained By a Master, could a "Wizard's" Power Item (staff, wand, fancy pointy hat, etc) and a Martial Artist's Power Item (hand wraps, 'kicking' boots, belt, monk's prayer beads, etc).  They cannot be the same item, so he couldn't have a swank staff that he uses for both.  They are charged and used separately and can only be used for their respective Professions.



Now this does mean some characters are kinda screwed.  For instance Stenet does not have Weapon Master, so he cannot have a Power Item (Heroic), which he needs, but could have a Power Item (Divine), which is useless to him (he has no Divine abilities that cost energy).  He'll definitely be getting a Power Item (Endurance) as soon as his swanky new armor is out of the shop.


Yeah... sorry this started out as a quick "ER is based on FP" post and morphed into "Power Items in case someone doesn't know about them" post.

Stenet is waiting on adjustments to the EHP's plate mail iirc. That $1000 ritual cost should include removal of the taint of the ehp.


Shit at work is getting heavy, may not get to post for a bit

You know, back in '86, when Man to Man (combat system only for GURPS 1e.) came out, I liked GURPS because it was a skill based, point buy, simulationist system that wasn't overly complicated.

That was about 200 sets of extra rules ago (Okay, I exaggerate.  A little.).

Now, we've got fourteen different rules for the same thing, spread out through several hundred dollars worth of books (most of which came out when I was perpetually broke).

Yes, I get the idea of letting a player play anything, that's the GURPS way of letting your players be awesome (it's a Powered by the Apocalypse phrase) -- but you can only take advantage of it if you have a seemingly unlimited book budget and the time to read and reread them all.

Going back to an older version isn't much of a solution -- even 3rd had the rules published in literally fifty supplements (world books etc.), and 2nd was too badly broken to be really satisfying.

The other major point-buy, skill-based system is even worse (HERO System); in order to build characters you're pretty well forced to learn how to create abilities -- a not-very-simple system of point calculation that goes around Robin Hood's barn to get to Nottingham (strongly resembles the Powers and following GURPS point cost calculation system; likely one was consciously or unconsciously copied from the other).

I'm getting just about ready to look for another game system with the flexibility of GURPS, but more along the complexity level of RISUS (core rules are six pages, including stick figure illustrations) -- and I think RISUS itself might be it, except that beyond the six-page core rules, all the good stuff is spread out over dozens of sources, most of which are on the web and therefore subject to vanishing without warning if you don't download them when you find them.

I need to find a not-silly RISUS campaign to play in for a while...

(Of course, there's also One Page RPG, Roll for Shoes, and a few others along the same ilk, but RISUS is a more complete game with stubs already built in to add things like a detailed magic system, detailed equipment, etc.)

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 78):

I actually like GURPs flexibility, and gladly forgomuch of the excessive silliness in multiple supplements. If it is not in Basic, Low/High/Ultratech, Mass Combat or Magic, I generally don't use it. Yes, that means none of my characters have ER, but I get along fine without it, and if I really need it, I will borrow it like I have done with Psychic Guidance. But these are my basic library, with pdfs of DF series, Martial arts, Interstellar wars (for the game I run) and Theumatology. Do we really need any more?

All hell broke loose last weekend and I have basically not been on much this week.  I think it's all finished now, and will get caught up later or over the weekend.  I did mention it would be rough, but was unprepared for the actual roughness.

Inversely, I will use rules from everywhere, but make lists for chargen and make sure the rules are available for everyone Playing.  When I run DF/DFRPG I use Templates and am pretty hardcore about it (despite being terrible at using Templates as a Player).

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 81):

I have not run a DF game yet, though have thought about it. I do appreciate Templates, but also like the flexibility of allowing players to do their own thing, in reason. Keeping in the spirit of the DF characters rather than the strict template. Kind of like I play...

Some more Co-GMing would be cool, keep things moving, a melting pot of ideas..

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 83):

Yeah, but Gwythaint sets a pretty high standard to meet! Not to mention differing ideas between GMs could create some confusion.

Where I've seen co-GMing work well was with game-geographic division of GM responsibilities.  The universe constants (how many moons does the world have, overall physical map, etc.) and house rules are agreed ahead of time by the GMs, then each takes on one region, continent, archipelago, etc. with its culture(s), ecology, etc.

This, of course, implies having too many players for one GM to handle, as well as significant barriers in place to make it "not too easy" for characters to travel from one GM's realm to the other(s).  Major oceans are good, when tech level is low enough (15th century ships and navigation took months to get across the Atlantic and a major storm would likely erase it from existence, for instance, but by the 18th century a ship could sail anywhere on Earth in that kind of time frame, and only seldom be lost due to storm), high, rugged mountain ranges also a possibility (they won't stop a small, powerful group, but they tend to limit caravans and individual travel).

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 85):

Sounds pretty hypothetical here. All groups mix easily...

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 86):

That hyper efficient group that bailed didn't mix very well.

Having a mild cardiac incident afew years ago made me think about giving someone a hsnd in co GMing, but I have so many stats scribbled on index cards and in notebooks on top of all of the statted NPCS....I have to think about how to do that.

Also, work is still charging at an insane pace.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:04, Sun 24 Jan 2021.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 87):
<rant>
Work has been at double to triple volume past few days, because some selfish bastards spent the holidays traveling and unmasked, getting their friends and family gravely ill.
I know most people are tired of pandemic precautions,  but I am really tired of people not having taken precautions.

</rant>

I Fully understand, we have idiots here (Arizona) that still think it's all a hoax. Others think their right to not wear a mask is more important than the people they infect. Pity we can't send them to someplace to dig graves for the hoax. And they don't have to wear a mask while doing it  either...

Yep.

Where I work, there's a city mandate for everyone to wear a mask when indoors in public.  All the time, anywhere other than your home.  Further, my employer has a clearly posted policy that all employees and contractors will wear masks while in the facility.

I'm the only technician (out of four) in my department who wears a mask, despite my repeated comments about masks and people who don't wear them.  About 20% of employees in my facility don't wear them.  My boss isn't consistent wearing one, and will not do anything about people failing to do so.

I can't afford to quit, but I guarantee you this: if I catch COVID-19, I'm going to sue my employer into the ground, if it's literally the last thing I do.

I'm lucky, my job transitioned to WFH, though they still hire people into the offices.  And when I was still in the office last year, our big boss is old, overweight, and has diabetes so so he was very hard core about mask wearing and Team Leads going around and sanitizing everything every couple of hours.  Now some people wore their masks wrong, but because the assistant manager did it (and couldn't be reprimanded or fired) there was no discussion about it 'officially', but unofficially our young TLs tried to educate everyone on their teams who didn't wear masks correctly how to do so.  Some departments were about better it than others, but we had a rough 95% proper mask wearing compliance.

Way better than the general public around here anyway.