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GURPS - Compendium 1..

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A character with the Iron Hand will do Thrust damage with<br />

that hand (rather than Thrust-2), plus any bonuses for Brawling,<br />

Boxing or Karate. The hand will gain a DR of 1 (cumulative<br />

with any levels of Toughness). This advantage also gives a +2<br />

bonus to the Breaking Blow skill (p. 138).<br />

However, any skill that requires delicate finger manipulation<br />

(such as Lockpicking, Sleight of Hand, Fast-Draw for small<br />

weapons and even Driving or Piloting) will be at -4 DX.<br />

Attempts to pull a punch (see p. B122) will require a DX-2 roll<br />

or full damage will be delivered anyway. This applies only to<br />

the hand modified by this advantage. If both hands are modified in<br />

this way, the character will make a very bad thief or juggler.<br />

Also, the Iron Hands are easy to spot (make a Vision roll), as<br />

they are covered by heavy calluses.<br />

Legal Immunity<br />

5, 10, 15 or 20 points<br />

You are a diplomat, a cleric, a privileged noble, or otherwise<br />

outside the traditional legal structures of your society. You cannot<br />

be arrested or charged with a crime by the "temporal authorities" -<br />

that is, by the normal government. Only your "own kind" -<br />

your own church, your own government, your own social class<br />

- can imprison or judge you.<br />

Cost of this advantage depends on how sweeping the immu nity<br />

is. For 5 points, the character is not subject to temporal<br />

authority, but the rules which govern his behavior are still strict, as<br />

determined by the GM. On the other hand, if the laws that<br />

apply to the character are less strict than the temporal ones, this is<br />

a 10-point advantage. And if the character can do pretty much<br />

what he pleases as long as he doesn't injure his own nation,<br />

church or organization, that is a 15-point advantage.<br />

For an extra 5 points, you also have "diplomatic pouch" privileges.<br />

You can send or receive mail or objects that may not be<br />

stopped or examined by the temporal authorities.<br />

Twentieth-century diplomats have the full 20-point version of<br />

this advantage, as Diplomatic Immunity (p. 24). Many<br />

medieval noblemen, and the very rich in some countries today,<br />

have this advantage at the 15-point level. Clerics will normally<br />

have this advantage only if their churches are so powerful that<br />

they have their own religious law outside the bounds of the<br />

state. The GM determines this when a religion is created, and<br />

may simply add the cost of this advantage to the value of the<br />

Clerical Investment.<br />

Less Sleep<br />

3 points/level<br />

You need less sleep than most people. Each level of this<br />

advantage lets a character get by with one hour less sleep per<br />

night. This will allow a few extra hours each day in which he<br />

can study, or work on other projects. A character can have a<br />

maximum of five levels of Less Sleep, at 3 points per hour less.<br />

Note: This advantage should be used only if the advanced rules<br />

for sleep and sleeplessness (pp. CII173-174) are being used.<br />

Light Hangover<br />

2 points<br />

You have hangovers, but they're not crippling. The duration<br />

of your hangover is figured normally, but you will never have<br />

worse than a flat -1 to DX, -1 to IQ for the duration, and hyperesthesia<br />

will not occur.<br />

Manual Dexterity<br />

3 points/level<br />

Each level of this advantage gives you a +1 to DX, or IQ in<br />

some cases, but only for tasks that require fine motor skills. This<br />

skill would help you repair a Swiss watch, for example, but not<br />

dodge thrown rocks.<br />

Mechanical Telepathy<br />

120 points<br />

This advantage has nothing to do with psionic telepathy; it's a<br />

"mundane" technological advantage. It is unlikely to be<br />

available in settings that are below TL9, however.<br />

Mechanical Telepathy is an ultra-tech invention using cybernetic<br />

implants that link the recipients to a huge communications<br />

network that spans the planet. This ability is a form of the<br />

Mindshare advantage (p. 60) enhanced with Secret Communication<br />

(p. 65). Each telepath is a sentient member of a huge net work<br />

that shares all the information and experiences of the group.<br />

Each agent can have his personality switched from one body to<br />

another.<br />

When a mechanical telepath character is created, his physical<br />

stats are bought for his original body. This body may never be<br />

"seen" again - although many telepaths tend to spend a large<br />

amount of time inside their old bodies. When inhabiting someone<br />

else's body, the telepath will retain his IQ and all mental<br />

advantages, disadvantages and skills, all unchanged. Physical<br />

skills will be based on the new body's ST, DX or HT.<br />

Note: When a character is designing a telepath, there might<br />

be some temptation to concentrate most points on IQ and skills,<br />

keeping physical stats at average or lower levels. Keep in mind<br />

that in most settings, Mechanical Telepathy is likely to be<br />

implemented and controlled by a military organization that will<br />

demand some minimum physical requirements from its members.<br />

A ST 6, HT 8 character, for instance, would never be<br />

allowed to receive the implants to begin with . . .<br />

Multimillionaire<br />

25 points/level<br />

A character with the Filthy Rich advantage can buy additional<br />

levels of Wealth, at 25 character points per level. Each level of<br />

the Multimillionaire advantage increases total wealth by a factor<br />

of ten (the first level would increase total wealth to 1,000 times<br />

the average, two levels would increase this to 10,000 times the<br />

average, and so on). For every level of Multimillionaire, the<br />

character also gets a free level of Status, to a maximum bonus of<br />

+2 over the free level already given for high Wealth (see p.<br />

B18).<br />

Neural Cyberdeck Interface<br />

Variable<br />

These advantages are only useful in campaigns where<br />

"netrunning" is possible, using "cyberdecks." See <strong>GURPS</strong><br />

Cyberpunk for more information.<br />

The point costs listed below are the prices charged when the<br />

device is first introduced. The price of "old technology" is<br />

reduced by 50% as each new level is brought into play. Thus, a<br />

Marquee Interface costs 20 points when first introduced, but<br />

drops to 10 points if Icon Interfaces are available and 5 points if<br />

Environmental Interfaces exist.<br />

All neural interfaces require the use of a "cyberdeck" to hook<br />

into a network. At early TL8, cyberdecks are not yet common,<br />

off-the-shelf technology; neural interface technology is reserved<br />

for the elite.<br />

Marquee Interface<br />

20 points<br />

This is the crudest form of neural interface. It connects to the<br />

optic nerve and the muscles surrounding it. The interface projects<br />

its data directly into the optic nerve; the user "sees" a scrolling<br />

line of text similar to that of a theater or bank marquee. All<br />

information is processed in text form, and all of the character's<br />

input must be subvocalized.<br />

Installation requires a major surgical facility and takes a minimum<br />

of two weeks.<br />

27

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