GURPS - Compendium 1..

failure, you will believe your ancestors didn't know, even if they
really did. This requires one turn of absolute concentration (the
GM may require more elaborate preparations to recall very
ancient memories).
Reawakened
10 points
In campaigns where reincarnation is a fact, some people's
memories of previous existences will survive rebirth. If combined
with Split Personality, for example, one personality could
belong to the PC's previous life. A person with Reawakened can
"remember" skills and even mystic rituals learned during other
life cycles. These skills and rituals must be purchased normally:
this Unusual Background advantage explains how the PC
learned them, but does not grant him any point cost breaks.
Reciprocal Rest
15 points
This advantage is only permitted to Shapeshifters who possess
advantages such as Animal Form, Multiple Forms, Shapeshifter
or Transformation. Normally, a character with multiple forms
needs approximately eight hours of physical rest every 24 hours,
just like a normal character. This rest can come while in either
form (or both forms) but cannot be ignored for long.
With this advantage, the dormant form is considered to be
resting while the other form is active. A character with this
advantage who spent at least eight hours per day in each form
would never need to sleep.
If taken in conjunction with the Non-Reciprocal Damage
advantage, this advantage allows both forms to heal at a normal
rate (see p. 41).
This advantage does not preclude the dormant form being
aware of, and remembering, the active form's actions.
Retrogression
40 points
The character can send his mind back in time to temporarily
"possess" someone in the past. The ramifications and variations
of this ability are discussed in detail in Chapter 5 of GURPS
Time Travel.
Second Sight
5 points
You are very sensitive to magical auras. On a successful IQ
roll, you are able to sense any magic in use, or which has been
used recently, within a 3-hex radius of yourself. "Recently"
means within an hour or so for normal spells, but the effect can
linger much longer for very powerful rituals or powerful magical
entities. You can tell if an object you are touching is magical on a
successful IQ roll.
This is similar to the ability to sense magic items granted by
Magery, but not identical. Mages may purchase this ability for
only 2 points.
Shapeshifter ("Were")
Variable
You have the ability to shape-change into a single animal
form. This form is indistinguishable from the natural creature,
except for its special powers. This doesn't necessarily imply that
you are evil; some were-creatures are very evil, but some are
powerful fighters for good. Most simply hide their abilities to
avoid persecution. Were-powers are unaffected by mana level.
Weres automatically change into their beast forms one night a
month, on the full moon. A "good" person will simply run
around and bay at the moon. An "evil" one must make an IQ-5
roll to avoid committing atrocities, and may be penalized for
bad roleplaying if he tries to be good. The GM is the final
arbiter, based on actual behavior, of who is good and evil!
Some weres can deliberately change at other times (an additional
5-point advantage), others cannot. The change from
human to beast form, or vice versa, takes three seconds. During
this time, the were can do nothing and take no active defense.
Legend has it that natural weredom is contagious - if you are
bitten by a were you will become a were yourself! It is completely
up to the GM whether this legend is true or not; the players
shouldn't know. If it is true, use the Infectious Attack rules (p.
97). If you become a were, you will change shape at the next full
moon. To be cured, you must find powerful magical help. Since
being a were is considered an advantage overall, a PC who wants to
remain a were must immediately take extra disadvantages, or
commit future earned character points to pay for the change.
Advantages and Disadvantages: Weres have the advantage of
Slow Regeneration (p. 64). An injured Shapeshifter, regardless of
his form, regains HT lost to injury at the rate of 1 extra hit per
12 hours, in addition to any "normal" healing or medical aid.
Crippled limbs regenerate; lost limbs do not.
However, weres are very vulnerable to silver. They can handle
silver objects without physical damage, but the presence of silver
negates their Regeneration ability, and they will take double
damage from silver or silver-coated weapons. Contrary to myth,
though, other weapons will affect a Shapeshift er. See
Compendium II, p. 21, for the rules for silver weapons; note
that it is unlikely that these could be bought in ordinary shops,
unless the area has suffered a plague of weres!
Weres have normal stats when in human
form. However, they have special ST, DX and
HT stats, as well as extra DR and possibly PD,
when in beast form. The exact amount is
determined by the type of beast they change
into. Anyone with a 14 or greater DX gets a +1
to the listed DX in were form. If his DX is 9 or
less, he gets a -1. IQ is unaffected by the
change. A were in beast form can use its DX
only for fighting and other animal functions
- not to open locks, write letters, play badminton,
etc. It can understand human
speech, but can't talk.
All wounds taken in beast form carry over into human form
after the change back. If your human HT is much lower than
your beast HT, you could transform from a somewhat wounded
beast to a badly wounded, or even dying, person! A dead or
unconscious were reverts back to human form.
Described below are several types of weres. Legends of
were-creatures include all sorts of beast shapes - usually those
that are the most frightening to the person telling the tale
(Polynesians told stories about weresharks). GMs may create
other types as their campaign requires.
43