GURPS - Compendium 1..

+3 bonus to his Escape skill, or can add 1/5 of his Dislocating
skill to the Escape roll, whichever is higher. On a failure by 2 or
less, nothing happens. On a failure by 3 or more, the character
hurt himself, taking 1d damage if he was dislocating the hand or
ankle, or ld+1 if he was trying to dislocate an arm or leg joint,
which may cripple the limb. On a critical failure, he automatically
takes enough damage to cripple the limb.
Dreaming (Mental/Very Hard) Defaults to IQ-10
This skill allows you to remember and control your dreams,
and to gain insight into their meanings.
To use this skill, you go to sleep concentrating on a single
problem. On a successful roll, the GM will provide some relevant
insight or piece of advice. This advice will not necessarily
be the safest or most profitable course of action, but will be the
course most true to your nature and morals. The GM might also
call your attention to some relevant detail that you might previously
have been only subconsciously aware of.
Drunken Fighting (Physical/Hard) No default
Prerequisites: Trained By A Master
or Weapon Master and Karate or Judo
at DX+3 or 16, whichever is higher
This skill cannot be higher than the character's skill with
Judo or Karate. Many martial arts styles have a "Drunken" substyle.
This complex skill is considered by some to be a fancy
technique, unsuited for practical purposes. Others claim that
master Drunken Fighters are deadly opponents. The rules below
subscribe to the latter school of thought.
In theory, the staggering, unpredictable movements of the
Drunken Fighter confuse attackers; the fighter seems to stumble
just in time to dodge a blow, or trip and "accidentally" hit an
enemy. To simulate this deceptive movement, whenever a
Drunken Fighter is in combat, roll a Quick Contest between the
Drunken Fighting skill and the opponent's IQ at the beginning of
every turn. Roll IQ at +3 if the attacker knows about the
Drunken Fighting style; he must also be familiar with the
attacker's fighting style. If the Drunken Fighter wins the contest,
his enemy is at -1 to either hit or defend during the round
(Drunken Fighter's choice) for every point by which he lost the
contest. If the Drunken Fighter loses, however, he suffers a similar
penalty. On a tie, combat is resolved normally.
Experts (skill 18+) can fight while intoxicated without penalty.
Enthrallment (see specific skill)
No default
These four skills can be used to represent the near -magical
effects achieved by bards in fantasy fiction. For game purposes,
these are not psionic or magic powers, but are more closely
related to hypnotism. All have prerequisites of Bard skill and at
least one level of the Charisma advantage. Neither Charisma nor
Voice modifies these skills, however.
Each of the four Enthrallment skills has its own time and
fatigue requirements, as well as duration. All follow the same
general procedure, however. Each requires two skill rolls: Bard
and the appropriate Enthrallment skill.
At the outset of the tale, roll versus Bard skill to start the
Enthrallment process. If a storyteller can't grab the audience's
attention at the outset of the tale, he won't have much of a
chance of controlling them by the end.
Normal success on the Bard skill roll does not affect the
Enthrallment roll. Critical success grants a +1 bonus. The
amount a Bard roll is missed by is subtracted from the
Enthrallment roll. Critical failure means Enthrallment has no
chance of success with this audience this session.
If a player actually tells a good tale, the GM should grant a
+1 to +3 to both the Bard and Enthrallment rolls!
After the minimum amount of time needed to Enthrall has
passed, the storyteller rolls against his Enthrallment skill. This is
a Quick Contest of his Enthrallment Skill vs. each audience
member's Will.
If the storyteller ties or loses a Quick Contest, there is no
effect. A critical failure, however, results in a hostile audience!
Details are listed with each skill.
Audience size: An "audience" can be one listener or a hundred
- as many as can hear the tale. However, the number of
audience members that can be Enthralled at one sitting is limited to
the Charisma level of the storyteller squared, to a maximum of
25 people for five levels of Charisma.
These skills may never be known at a skill level higher than
one's Bard skill.
Persuade (Mental/Average)
No default
Prerequisites: Bard-12+ and Charisma 1 +
A storyteller may attempt to Persuade an audience to his
views. This may be used whenever a reaction roll is called for,
and grants a bonus to the reaction roll.
The amount the bard wins the Quick Contest by is added to a
reaction roll, up to a maximum of +3 for ordinary success, and
+4 for critical success. If the storyteller fails the Quick Contest,
there is neither bonus nor penalty to the reaction roll. On a critical
failure, the best possible reaction is Poor.
Time and fatigue requirements: The attempt takes one
minute and costs the storyteller 2 Fatigue, whether it is successful
or not.
Duration: As long as the reaction lasts. That is, until the storyteller
does something to change the NPC's opinion!
Sway Emotions (Mental/Average) No default
Prerequisites: Persuade-12+ and Charisma 1 +
The storyteller may attempt to instill the audience with any one
emotion he desires for one hour. If the storyteller wins the Quick
Contest, the audience, up to the maximum number the teller can
influence, becomes imbued with an emotion of the storyteller's
choice for the next hour. Critical failure results in a hostile audience!
Some sample emotions are love, hate, lust, anger, greed, jealousy,
fear, sadness, joy, peace, unrest, depression, boredom,
patriotism and disgust.
Time and fatigue requirements: It takes a minimum of ten
minutes of uninterrupted storytelling to Sway an audience's
emotions. The attempt costs the storyteller 4 Fatigue whether it is
successful or not.
Duration: One hour.
Suggest (Mental/Hard)
No default
Prerequisites: Persuade-12+ and Charisma 1 +
The storyteller may attempt to instill the minds of the audience
with a single, simple suggestion. A suggestion should have no
complex grammatical clauses - just a subject, verb, object and at
most two modifiers. "Kill the king!" is an acceptable suggestion,
but "Kill the king if he doesn't accede to our demands!" is not.
If the suggestion goes against the personal safety of the audience,
it is resisted at +5; if it goes against their beliefs, convic -
tions or knowledge, it is resisted at +3. If the storyteller wins the
Quick Contest, the audience will try to act on the suggestion to
the best of their abilities - each assuming that the idea was his
own! On a critical failure, the storyteller is so clumsy in his
attempt to manipulate the audience that they realize it, and
become hostile to the storyteller!
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