Star Frontiers Campaign Player Handout

[NOTE: GURPS is an inherently deadly game system: it is not known as a

system where one faces a dragon wearing a sexy loincloth and armed with a
‘Battle Toothbrush of Lizard Skinning +20’. The intro- duction of the Sanity
Check system and the overall lack of player agency in the Mythos universe
will only enhance the attrition of players, either through death or as they lose
their grip on reality. It is recommended that players generate an additional
player character, or two, to have ‘in reserve’.]

Character Points: 125

Max Quirks: 5
Max Disadvantages: 40 (or any of any point value maximum 2),
Esoteric Attributes: Only mundane advantages, disadvantages and skills can
be taken.
Character Races: Players can play Human, Dralasites, Vrusk, or
Yazirian characters.

Dralasites are rubbery, elastic aliens sometimes called "blobs " They can
change their shape at will, creating as many artificial arms and legs
(pseudopods) as they need at the moment. They are stronger than Humans,
but are also slower. They enjoy philosophical debates and have a very strange
sense of humor; they love telling old jokes and puns they hear from Humans.

Required advantages and disadvantages include:

Attribute Modifiers

• ST +1 [10]
• HT +1 [10]
• DX -1 [-20]

Advantages

• Acute Taste and Smell +5 [10]

• Racial Talent (+3 to Detect Lies) [6]
• Double-Jointed [15]
• Penetrating Voice [1]
• Hermaphromorph [5]
• Squishy [5] (see below)
• Extra Limbs [+5, plus additional +10 per extra limb] (see below)

Disadvantages
• Colorblindness [-10]

Quirks

• Philosophical, patient [-1]

• Strange sense of humor [-1]
• Love steam baths w/perfumes and/or intoxicants [-1]
• Do not wear clothing (interferes with breathing through skin) [-1]
• Fond of Vrusks [-1]

Squishiness: The Dralasites' body starts with the (oddly-named) Double-Jointed

advantage, a type of super flexibility allowing drastic bending and twisting. The
Dralasites go one better, however, and have a very limited shape-shifting ability. By
spending 5 minutes, a Dralasite could squeeze through a small opening, become round
or flattened out, etc. GULLIVER suggests a Squishy advantage as follows:

Squishy (new) 5 points

"Malleable" is another good name for this advantage: you're boneless, or have bones
that slip and dislocate easily. (If the former, add the 0-point effects from Invertebrate.)
You can squeeze your body in unusual ways, even forcing your head through an
opening half its girth! Double-Jointed or Flexibility is a prerequisite for Squishy. You
get the benefits of the prerequisite with an additional +2 on Escape, and +1 to break free
from a pin or resist an Arm Lock and its effects. Squishy lets you to stretch slowly; not
far or quick enough to be of use in combat, but by HT x 2% or so, little by little. But
Squishy is not a quick shape-change ability; any unusual squeezes or stretches take five
minutes, halved on a DX roll or a Change Control (DX/Average) skill. Examples
include soft invertebrates. Roll vs Change Control to see if the Dralasites can fit
through a foot-wide hole, or change a leg to an arm in under three minutes minutes, or
take on the rough shape of a Yazirian, etc. A high skill level in Shape Control would be
respected among Dralasites, and useful for entertainers, assassins, etc.

Extra Limbs: Extra Arms normally cost 10 points each. (The Extra-Flexible
enhancement shouldn't be necessary, as the Dralasites already pay for Double-Jointed.)
Dralasites go beyond that, with configurable extra limbs.
The Dralasites can have as many limbs (arms plus legs) as the old rules allow; divide
GURPS DX by 2 to get the maximum number of limbs available. (Remember that
regardless of the number of arms, Dralasites get no extra combat attacks, though extra
arms are useful in close combat.) Any limbs over 4 (two arms and two legs) are extra,
and cost 10 points each. A Dralasite with a max 3 limbs would have a -10 point
disadvantage. Example: A Dralasite with DX 10 can have five limbs, or one more than
the human norm, for a 10-pt advantage. DX 14 allows seven limbs, or a 30-pt
advantage.

The player should be able to buy fewer extra limbs if he wants. Some otherwise-
coordinated Dralasite just might not be good with extra limbs, or maybe it's a permanent
effect of a Dral childhood disease. (The Drals probably even have names for such
individuals.) There is no limitation for the fact that the Dralasite won't always have the
extra limbs ready, as it never has to withdraw them. In fact, the arms have a special
advantage in that they can be withdrawn if desired, or converted to extra legs. Charge an
extra 5 points to the Dralasites' Extra Limbs cost for this ability.

Senses: Instead of Acute Taste and Smell, the GM could consider Discriminatory Smell
[15]. Either advantage could carry a -20% limitation (Restricted By Clothing). Or see
broader rules for skin-based senses in GULLIVER.

Other options: Although not in SF, consider Hit Points or Hard to Kill for those diffuse
and duplicated organs, plus Rapid Healing, Regrowth, and 1 or 2 points of Damage
Resistance with the Tough Skin limitation, or effective vs crushing only (-40%).

Vrusk look like large insects, and are sometimes called "bugs." They are
quicker than Humans, but are not as strong. Vrusk are excellent businessmen
and merchants. They love art, beauty and music.

Attribute Modifiers:

ST -1 [-10]
HT -1 [-10]
DX+1 [20]
 Advantages:

Acute Taste and Smell +1 [2]

Extra Legs (eight) [15]
Double-Jointed [15]
Ambidexterity [5]
Cultural Adaptibility [20]

Quirks

Loves art, beauty [-1]

Loves peace and order [-1]

* Double-Jointed: The goal here is to get the ability for a limb to bend oddly and freely
reach any part of the body. 4e's Double-Jointed seems like overkill here, but that's what
it takes to confer the ability.

* Cultural Adaptibility: This roughly mimics SF's Comprehension trait. A Talent for skills
such as Psychology, Sociology, and Export Skill (Xenology), as well as the Empathy
advantage, may also fit SF's Vrusk description.

* Other options: While it offers no special protection in SF, a point of Damage Resistance
would represent Vrusks' hard carapace. You might also enforce an Incompetence [-1]
with Swimming, for Vrusks' poor aquatic ability.

Vrusk working for corporations will have Patrons, Duties, and possibly Sense of Duty
(to company), Code of Honor (Businessvrusk). Those not in a company might have a -1
reaction from corporate Vrusk (Reputation: Loner, Maverick [-2]). Savior-Faire (Vrusk
business world) seems an important skill; SF implies that this is very difficult for non-
Vrusk to learn.

Yazirians are tall, light-boned humanoids with furry manes around their necks. Humans
nicknamed them "monkeys” because they look a little like chimpanzees. Thin
membranes that stretch between their arms, torso and legs allowed Yazirians to glide
between the trees on their native planet. They are generally smarter and quicker than the
 other races,but are not as strong. Their eyes are very sensitive to light, so they usually
wear dark goggles during the day. Yazirians were very warlike in the past, and are still
considered pushy and aggressive by other races.

Yazirians
Required advantages and disadvantages include:

Attribute Modifiers

• ST -2 [-15]
• HT -2 [-15]
• DX +1 [20]
• IQ +1 [20]

Advantages

• Night Vision [10]

• Gliding [12]
• Battle Rage [5] (see below)

Disadvantages

• Vow: Defeat life enemy [varies]

• Bad Sight (light sensitivity) [-10] (see below)

Gliding: Many items of clothing or armor will be restrictive to Yazirians' Gliding, as

would a broken arm, items carried in the arms, etc. Allow another -20% limitation over
the -50% Gliding limitation on Flight.

Rules tweakers may want to look at GULLIVER's separate take on Gliding.

Battle Rage: The Battle Rage advantage is tough to translate. The +20 TH in SF is like
the +4 TH from GURPS' All-Out-Attack, but in GURPS that also means the Yazirian
can't defend himself, and will likely be hurt! Also, SF Battle Rage is an advantage, but
GURPS' Berserk is a disadvantage, as the PC won't defend himself, and might even
attack allies.

A suggestion for a whole new advantage, Yazirian Battle Rage (not to be confused with
GURPS' Battle Rage enhancement on Berserk):
YBR lets you fight as a berserker, with the same abilities to resist pain and shock.
However, through skill it allows more control. You can replace the Will rolls to enter,
avoid, or snap out of Berserk state with Will-adjusted Yazirian Battle Rage skill
(Will/Hard). More importantly, during any turn of Berserk combat, a roll lets you act
freely (including use of defenses) as if not Berserk, while maintaining the beneficial
resistance aspects.

In addition, a separate Battle Rage roll (only one, at the beginning of combat) confers +2
ST or +1 DX (player's choice) while Berserk. That approximates the SF idea better. (A
Yazirian taking that ST or DX bonus should suffer double fatigue at the end of the battle,
minimum 1 fatigue.)

Vow: The life enemy custom is best gamed as a Vow or even Obsession. Whether that's
worth -5, -10 or -15 points depends on how tough the enemy is, and how much time the
Yazirian devotes to it. A -15 point Vow should be reserved for those that regularly
expose the Yazirian to real physical danger. (If the enemy is one that actively tries to
hurt the Yazirian, that's a separate Enemy disadvantage as well!) Yazirians who choose
particularly daunting enemies can buy separate, positive Reputation bonuses, or possibly
Status.

Bad Sight (light sensitivity): I don't yet see an official disadvantage for a clear way to
build it, so I made this up as a variant of correctable Bad Eyesight [-10], resulting in -2
DX/IQ and -4 Vision in bright light only, half that even in normal light, with quadruple
any penalties and their durations for actual blinding lights (Flash attacks, etc.).

Basic sunglasses reduce these problems; dark, wrap-around glasses remove them
entirely, letting the Yazirian function like any other character as far as bright lights are
concerned. But either of those will make you blind in real darkness.

Sathar
Required advantages and disadvantages include:

Attribute Modifiers

• DX -1 [-20]
 • IQ -1 [-20]

Advantages

• Charisma +2 [10]
• Racial Talent: +2 on Hypnosis [4]
• Racial Talent: +2 on Leadership [4]
• Two Extra Arms (No Physical Attack, -50%) [10]
• Peripheral Vision [15]

Disadvantages

• Reputation -4 (hated) [-20]

• Enemy (Star Patrol) [-30]
• Code of Honor (Destroy other races, death before surrender or capture, protect
Sathar secrets) [-15]

Charisma: Charisma doesn't necessarily mean Sathar are liked; it means they're
persuasive. If the GM wishes, he can turn the Charisma into an additional +2 Racial
Talent on Leadership instead. Public Speaking and Enthrallment skills would be even
more fun (and dangerous).

Other options: The usual assortment of Status, Military Rank, Patrons, Duties, etc.
appropriate for a Sathar's place in his society is necessary.

Character Nationalities: Human characters may be of any nationality.

Advantages and Disadvantages: Characters may not take advantages listed
as ‘cinematic’.

Psionics: All Psionic Skills are bought as Mental/Very Hard skills. A Power
Level of at least one (1) must be purchased in a skill group to buy a skill. An
Unusual Background advantage of 35 points listed as ‘Medium’ must be
bought to purchase any psionic skills/powers. There is no discount for
characters that only possess a single psionic skill/ power.
The following Psionic skills are the only ones available in the campaign
(listed by group and with associated power costs):
Astral Projection (3pts/level) Astral Projection Astral Sight

Extra Sensory Projection

(3pts/level) Clairvoyance
Retrocognition Seekersense
Telepathy (5pts/level)
Telereceive Telesend Suggest Emotion Sense Mind Shield Psi
Sense Telescan

Campaign Year: 1930 (Start Date - Saturday, March 15th)

Starting Region: Massachusetts, New England, United States

Starting Wealth: Base level is $750

Character Languages: All players know their native language at a level

equal to their IQ for free. Additional languages can be bought at a discount
based on the language chart. There is no point cost for native language at
default level. Additional languages are bought as skills. Literacy is a 0 point
advantage for languages that have a written sys- tem. Language denotes the
actual language, other languages in the same family can be used with a default
modifier. Difficulty is the Mental Skill difficulty rating and region is where
the language is from (based on modern references). This list is not exhaustive
and only shows major languages from regions where it is plausible that
characters are from or could have traveled to. This also does not show dialects
(example Siwa and Awjila-Sokna are both treated as Eastern Berber). Several
languages have been combined to make com- mon languages, and some
language groups (ie Gallo-Iberian) have been further subdi- vided. Region
names note region, not the name of any specific modern country. For sim-
plicity, all languages are Mental/Average. Learning another language from the
same Family as one's native language would be Mental/Easy.

Cost of Living By Status Level

Level Monthly Cost Of Living

7 Royalty, President, Prime Minister $2,000
6 Tycoon $1,500
5 State Governor, Senator $1,000
4 Big City Mayor, Cabinet Member, Mob Boss $750
3 Corporate Executive, Parliament Member $400
2 Mayor, Crime Boss, Judge $200
1 Professional, High Society $100
0 Average Citizen, Tradesman, Small Farmer $40
-1 Unemployed $10
-2 Hobo, Homeless, Beggar, Petty Criminal $2
-3 Prisoner, Lunatic $.50

Latest News:

On February 6th, Greta Garbo’s film Anna Christie is released in

theaters. It is her first film with sound.

Starting Wealth:

References:
Gurps Basic Set 3rd Edition
Gurps Compendium 1
Gurps High Tech
Gurps Ultratech
Gurps Space
Box Set - Alpha Dawn