GURPS 2021 PDF Challenge: Templar's Gold

I don't necessarily intend to post about these in anything like a systematic fashion, but I'm inclined at the moment to post some brief thoughts about at least some of the entries in this year's GURPS PDF Challenge. To start: GURPS Action Adventure 1: Templar's Gold.

Despite being part of the GURPS Action line, this is a bit historical rather than modern, set in the aftermath of WWI. The heroes set out in search of a lost treasure in the still dangerous former battlefields of the recent war, pursued by enemies after the same thing. This is a relatively straightforward adventure (it's ten pages; what do you expect?) but it reads like one which would be satisfying, probably a good game for a con, though there are hooks to more adventures to follow up on what it begins. There are, alas, no maps, but the descriptions give a good sense of place, particularly of the devastated Zone Rouge, and the few NPCs who get many words are quite well drawn. Indeed, the only real problem here is that the obligatory guy who dies at the beginning to kick off the adventure seems way too interesting to leave behind like that. As written, it feels more gritty and noir than my preferred pulpy feel, but could easily be run either way. Recommended.

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Ferrous Metal Food Fighting Guy!

(This is something I wrote up some years back. I'm putting it here so I can find it more easily when I want to. Though it's rather silly, it's also where I came up with the idea of high-quality materials which don't provide a bonus to the craftsman's skill, but do add to the margin of success, a mechanism which later appeared in the crafting rules in GURPS Low-Tech Companion 3 .) One of the things not to be found in GURPS 4e is extensive rules for competitive cooking. If two cooks of steely resolve rise up to face one another across a cooking coliseum, the GM can only fall back on hand-waving and contests of skill. This article fills that much-needed gap. GURPS chefs can now stage furious contests wherein they construct fanciful dishes, the more elaborate the better, and prove whose cooking rules the day. To the kitchen! Procedure These rules provide guidance for attempting to cook complex dishes and comparing their quality when the cooking is done. A che

Car Wars Minis, Third Batch

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Charcuterie Bard

A few days ago, I dropped this random gag: I shall make a character for an RPG who has powers related to artistic creativity, but instead of music and song, they come from arranging cheeses and cured meats. A charcuterie bard. — Turhan's Bey Company (@turhansbeycmpny) December 21, 2021 But then I remembered that there's absolutely precedent for food-based magic: So, then, obviously we can have food-based bards in GURPS, right? The best approach I see is modifying the Enthrallment skills (p. B191). However, rather than requiring Public Speaking at 12+ as a prerequisite, a charcuterie bard requires Cooking and Professional Skill (Food Stylist) at 12+; see Ferrous Metal Food Fighting Guy for a bit on the latter. The skills are used by preparing and feeding an audience with tasty, tasty foods. The elements of food in question cost a minimum of 1% of COL per target, though higher quality ingredients provide a bonus (use costs and reaction bonuses for styling, GURPS Low-Tech

Tetsujin no Llama

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