The blank spot for crampons/foot spikes is on the assumption that "doom cleats" are some cinematic upgrade and "normal" crampons should be available. They are not. GURPS High-Tech says they are TL5. They are rules-identical to doom cleats. I may allow a jury-rigged approach of spiked books, but it, too, will be a permanent change to boots and be expensive.
So the PCs are equipping up for the "Arctic Gate."
Some rulings:
- Yes, even with Armor Mastery you suffer a -1 DX from wearing Arctic Clothing over your armor. No, you cannot wear it underneath your armor.
- Cold will affect exposed gear. You can put your potion belt and delver's webbing on the outside . . . but it may suffer from the cold. It will be cold. The rooms near the gate are frozen. In GMing terms, we call this a hint!
- Arctic clothing does not include mukluks. Clothing sets never include any protective footwear. They probably include socks, but not external footwear.
- Polar beer isn't available in Stericksburg.
- Yurts have an upside over tents - see DF16 p. 18.
- No one asked, but my cousin would if he was currently playing - Riding (Tauntaun) is not a learnable skill . . . in Stericksburg.
Hopefully someone springs for Survival (Arctic). Galen has a solid default, but I require IQ-based rolls to figure stuff out and sometimes you can't use gear or claim benefits without at least a level in the skill. From a game design perspective, I wonder if defaults of types like this works better as 1-point perks or techniques off a basic "Survival" skill? That's a post on its own.
"In GMing terms, we call this a hint!" GOT IT. Ulf will be wearing his Delver's webbing on the inside of his arctic gear. Yurts are SO heavy...those would be ideal, but really hard to manage.
ReplyDeleteMostly I meant that it was cold, rather than a hint directly about where to put your gear. Just know, it's cold there. No whining!
DeleteHaha, no problem. Also, Ulf will definitely cast Resist Cold on himself. Others...we'll see how they fare. He'd rather not have to cast it on everyone and be running around casting spells at a 8 with 10 spells up. Casting at a 17 with one spell up. Sure!
ReplyDeleteThis is what Wands of Warmth were invented for. Yes, it's 1FP to maintain, but it's an hour duration, and it only costs $4K.
DeleteYeah, yeah Resist Cold is way betterer for the guy who can cast it and maintain it for free on themself, but for the meatheads in the party? Let them split the cost of the wand and bask in the warm +3 to HT rolls versus cold weather.
Arguably it would also help keep potions in external potion belts and webbing from freezing... or at least get a HT roll (at +3?).
They can't get a Warmth item. It would take too long to enchant, even if was available for purchase. I got tired of every big haul meaning a comb-through of GURPS Magic for low-cost utility items, a flurry of emails about them, and then a broke PC with a few dinky utility items they'd use constantly. Repeat often . . . that was clearly coming so I cut it off.
DeleteIf it's sufficiently cold, Warmth isn't going to keep your liquids above freezing. It's +30 degrees, which means 0 degrees F is still below freezing for water.
"From a game design perspective, I wonder if defaults of types like this works better as 1-point perks or techniques off a basic "Survival" skill? That's a post on its own."
ReplyDeleteSurvival GearHead Perk
Prerequisites: Survival (Any) at 1 point or better.
Can use Survival gear from other Survival specialities without default penalties.
Or...
Survivalist Gearhead [5 points]
Prerequisites: Survival (Any) at 1 point or better.
You've trained extensively (or just have a knack) with survival gear for climates and areas you've never even been too! You may use Survival equipment for other Survival specialities at no default penalty.
Under the Hood: This is an Average Technique bought up to +4 and the Unique Technique (Survivalist Gearhead) [1].
An interesting thought, to tie it into Outdoorsman...
DeleteSurvival GearHead Perk
Prerequisites: Survival (Any) at 1 point or better and Outdoorsman 1 lvl or more.
Can use Survival gear from other Survival specialities without default penalties, up to as many other specialities as you have levels in Outdoorsman (pick extra specialities when Perk is taken and when new levels of Outdoorsman acquired).
Alternately... you can allow Outdoorsman to do this for free as an Additional Benefit. In fact I like that last idea so much I think I'll do that for the campaign I'm putting together. Outdoorsman needs as much help as it can get. (I've yet to meet a Player who wouldn't rather just have a higher +1 or +2 IQ rather than 2 or 4 levels of Outdoorsman).
That's a neat was to do it. I'd do it a little differently, though.
DeleteI wouldn't just give Outdoorsman that as a perk. If you do, one level is all you need, and you've just boxed out utility from levels 2+. I'd prefer to say you get a +1 per level toward offsetting penalties for unskilled use.
Sorry, I mean the free Outdoorsman Additional Bene to apply to "one Survival skill you don't know per level". Though negating default penalties for unfamiliar equipment per levels is a much simpler way to go.
DeleteThe closest we'll come to a Tauntaun is these sleeping furs:
ReplyDeletehttps://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41On6LZ9YkL._AC_.jpg
Obviously, that's what a cold-weather bedroll looks like, right?
Delete