GURPS Cinematic Medicine Draft 3

  Cinematic Medicine

Medicine. The art of making your fellow man feel better, recover from ailments, resume proper operation.

Cinematography. The art of framing events and scenes in an exciting, beautiful fashion.

Cinematic Medicine. Portrayal of medical work in an exciting and beautiful fashion.

It came to me one day that GURPS 4e medicine is boring. There are a dozen ways to lose those virtual hit points, but barely any ways to restore them. All of the medical involves rolling one (or two) skills checks and then waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

This absolutely kills any sort of game where violence is the point of the fun, as the party on a bad day may suffer so much damage that, despite winning and surviving, they wont be able to continue the plotline until they spend a month recovering in a high tech clinic. And if there's none, you can shut the game down. It's especially awful if only part of the player team gets messed up - everyone's rushing into action, but Billy Bob can't!

I was utterly baffled that even Action series had no solution to this, so I decided to invent my own. Enter Cinematic Medicine.

This entire system has 3 goals in mind. First, portray cinematic medicine - people recover quickly, in a surprising way, in a dramatic fashion. Second, coat it up with veneer of realism. Third, make playing the group's medic a more exciting and tactical task.

The system is, technically, cinematically realistic. Most of the written concepts have barely any connection to real life, but the system pretends really hard that they do, as should you when you see a group of commandos in the Amazon forest stitching up their bullet wounds, or when an old grizzled vigilante escapes from the hospital after taking a miracle super drug that will hurt him badly, but not before the big bad guy is defeated and the baby is rescued.

Main inspiration for this system are video games, namely ArmA series, Escape From Tarkov, Far Cry. Grittier movies, especially medical dramas, have also influenced this article.

The system is suitable for games that follow Basic Set's Heroic Realism, although it might just be one cinematic thing in an otherwise Gritty Realism game. It's main effect is to speed up injury recovery of PCs without affecting their combat survivability too much. Guns still kill, people still drop, and if there is no medicine or no medics nearby, nobody can help you.

Rule specifications:

Repeated attempts - Are in play, cumulative -1 per failed attempt. Reset by success or by waiting a "reasonable" (for example, until next scene) amount of time to reconsider the issue.

Time spent - Is in play, as per B346. Perk Efficient (PU2:16) is available for all medical skills.

Other rules - Work as written, unless explicitly contradicting the system. Medical equipment, drugs, etcetera function as written unless they explicitly contradict the system. Blood-stopping equipment works x5 as fast.

Skills

Diagnosis (B187) - Skill of identifying various medical issues with the patient. Other medical skills cover most common issues such as flu, heartstop or broken leg. In such cases, diagnosis can serve as complimentary skill (+1 on success, +2 on critical success, -1 on failure, -2 on critical failure). This is in addition to to the effects listed under Diagnosing an illness. Example, success on Diagnosis roll of Common Flu provides Physician+1 to treat it. Critical success provides +2, and any successful treatment is considered Critical Success.

In uncommon cases, Diagnosis is required to do any treatment at all. GM discretion regarding what is considered uncommon.

• Diagnosing an illness: On Success, the illness is identified and treatment can proceed as normal. Critical Success means that any successful treatment is treated as Critical Success. Failure means the diagnostician is baffled and no treatment may happen, but repeated attempts are possible. Critical Failure means the patient is misdiagnosed and any treatment is treated as Critical Failure.

Fast-Draw (Medical Equipment) (B194) - Quickly draw and prepare medical equipment for use. On Success, If the treatment is under a minute in length, reduce the time needed by 1 second. If the treatment is over a minute, reduce it by 10%. Failure means treatment continues as normal. Critical Failure means you drop the tools, which either means needing to pick them up or to re-sterilize and clean them which takes at least 30 minute.. GM discretion indicates when sterile tools are needed, but usually the answer is always. Using dropped tools without sterilization prompts Infection (B444).

First Aid (B195) - Skill of emergency, low-invasion treatment. Concerns usage of Paramedical tools and techniques. Mostly concerns treatment of HP loss.

Physician (B213) - Skill of advanced therapeutic medical care, short and long term. Concerns usage of diagnostic tools and drugs that treat complicated illnesses. Mostly concerns treatment of Afflictions. Physician skills includes all the knowledge and abilities of First Aid skills. Any First-Aid Action can be executed by Physician skill instead.

Surgery (B223) - Skill of advanced invasive medical care. Concerns usage of tools, drugs and equipment to directly manipulate internal organs in order to repair them. Mostly concerns treatment of crippling.

Soldier (B221) - Skill of basic military training. Concerns usage of tools that a soldier is familiar with but does not have the training in the tool's main skill. Mostly concerns the use of injectors.

Medical Treatment:

First Aid:

Tech Level	Time per patient	HP Restored
0-1	30 min	1d-4
2-3	30 min	1d-3
4	30 min	1d-2
5	20 min	1d-2
6-7	20 min	1d-1
8	10 min	1d
9+	10 min	1d+1

• Bandaging - It takes 12 seconds (5 times less than Basic Set indicates) to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. This restores 1 HP. Using the bleeding rule (B420), someone who's wounded but receives a successful First Aid roll within 1 minute of Injury loses no HP to bleeding. A later roll will prevent further HP loss.

• Treating lost HP - Use a medical kit to recover HP lost to trauma. 
  Roll against First-Aid and expend 1 use of the medical kit. On Success, heal HP equal to HP restored on First-Aid Table (B424) per 1 use. Critical Success heals maximum possible HP per charge. Consult the same table for the time needed to provide first aid. Failure means the charge and time are spent, but patient doesn't heal. Critical Failure spends charges and time, but causes no healing and the patient loses 2 HP.
  
  You can treat lost HP of a single character as many times in a row as desired, expending further charges of the medical kit. To do so, simply state how many charges you'll expend and roll against First-Aid once, combining time spent and HP restored. If at any point the treatment is interrupted, note time spent and restore appropriate amount of HP. Similarly, if the treatment results in treatment of more HP than character can have, feel free to end the treatment earlier, and expend less resources if the overshoot is large enough for it.
  

• Restoring consciousness - If a character is unconscious but is not below -1xHP threshold, he can be forcefully awoken via pain stimuli (such as the sternum rub or clavical rub). Roll First Aid. On Success, the patient receives an HT roll to instantly awaken and suffers -4 shock penalty on his next turn. The patient continues to act as appropriate for his current HP level.
  
  If patient is on painkillers, or has High Pain Threshold, this maneuver is less likely to succeed. Add drug's pain reduction as a penalty on First-Aid roll. High Pain Threshold gives -4. On the other hand, Low Pain Threshold gives +4 to the attempt, and any drugs that intensify the pain add their penalty as a bonus for this maneuver.
  
  It takes 1 second to execute the maneuver once the patient is in reach (meaning you must crouch or kneel to reach a lying patient), but any rigid torso armor increases the time to 2.
  
  
• Resuscitation - Any character that has died as a result of anything other than Instant Death (B423) and has HP no worse than -10xHP can be resuscitated within 10 minutes of death.
  
  Make a First-Aid roll, at -1 per full multiple of patient's HP below zero (10 HP patient with -40 HP gives -4 to First-Aid Roll). Another -5 if you're not using medical equipment! One attempt takes as much time as treating injury at your TL. Attempt with medical equipment/drugs expends 1 use of your Medicine Bag or specific Medicine.
  
  On Success, the patient is alive, but is considered mortally wounded (B423).
  Critical Success means the patient is not only alive, but is simply suffering from injury - restoring HP is enough to treat the condition.
  Failure means the attempt has failed. You can repeat it as long as the patient wasn't dead for more than 10 minutes, including time spent resuscitating him.
  Critical Failure means the attempt has failed and the patient is lost. No further mundane resuscitation attempts are possible.
  
  
• Administer Treatment - Any treatment under Physician entry is possible to be provided by First-Aid. A Physician roll prescribes treatment, which can then be passed on to a less trained medic. 
  
  Roll First-Aid to administer treatment, expending appropriate uses of Medicine Bag or specific medicine.
  
  Critical Success, Success, Failure, Critical Failure, Time Spent and other are as per the treatment entry.
  
  Prescribing is almost instant if based on Diagnosis roll, otherwise it takes 10% of the treatment time per patient on Physician Time Per Patient Table. A Medic with low Physician, but high First-Aid, can administer the treatment he himself prescribed, using high First-Aid to offset penalties, or speed the process up. He might be a slow thinker or knows less issues, but he works fast!
  
  This allows one Physician to issue out multiple orders to nurses and paramedics to treat large number of patients.

Physician:

	Time per patient
Tech Level	Long	Short	Immediate
0-1	30 min	3 min	15 seconds
2-3	30 min	3 min	15 seconds
4	30 min	3 min	15 seconds
5	20 min	2 min	10 seconds
6-7	20 min	2 min	10 seconds
8	10 min	1 min	5 seconds
9+	10 min	1 min	5 seconds

 

• Remove Affliction - Roll Physician and expend 1 use of your Medicine Bag or specific medicine to remove the effect of any affliction listed on B428-B429 or in other supplements. Time required is equal to Time Per Patient entry for your TL and affliction duration on Physician Time Per Patient Table. 
  
  This also covers temporary disadvantages gained as a result of an attack, such as Blindness as a result of tear gas, but not temporary disadvantages gained as part of crippling, or as a secondary effect of injury, such as blindness as a result of eye crippling. In case of drugs and other items that give both positive effect and a negative temporary disadvantage/affliction, removing affliction also ceases positive effect.
  
  Immediate - Afflictions, duration of which is measured in seconds.
  Short - Afflictions, duration of which is measured in minutes, but under 10 minutes.
  Long - Afflictions, duration of which is 10+ minutes.
  
  On Success, the affliction is removed until the origin of the affliction is applied again, such as another dose of poison or another cycle of the illness (B442). Removing affliction is impossible without at least improvised equipment.
  
  Failure means the medicine had no effect and it's use is still expended
  
  Critical Failure means the wrong medicine was chosen, or patient had allergic reaction. Medicine had no effect, one use is expended and patient suffers 2 HP of toxic damage.
  
  Usually, medicine can only treat mundane afflictions, or afflictions with mundane effect, for example a spell of intense light causing blindness by light overload. At GM's discretion, if the effect is purely magical, Remove Affliction fails - mainly in cases of directly giving a disadvantage, or attacks with cosmic modifier. For example, a spell might blind someone by creating magical fog around the eye itself, in such cases medicine is powerless.
  
  
• Treat Illness - Roll physician and expend 1 use of your Medicine Bag or specific medicine to treat illness, poisoning and other effects that have cyclic, long term nature. On Success, add your margin of success to your patient's HT roll for this cycle. If the patient succeeds on his HT roll, he is cured. The treatment is administered once per cycle and time it takes is equal to Time Per Patient entry for your TL on First Aid Table.
  
  Critical Success on Physician roll means the patient automatically succeeds his next HT roll to shake off the illness.
  
  Failure on your Physician roll, the medicine had no effect and the patient has to rely on his own HT.
  
  Critical Failure means the wrong medicine was chosen or patient is not receptive to treatment. Add your margin of failure to Patient's next cycle HT roll.

• Treat Toxic and Corrosive Damage - Roll Physician and expend 1 use of your Medicine Bag or specific medicine to remove HP damage caused by illness, poison and the like. 
  
  One use heals as much damage as listed on First Aid Table for your TL, but healing may never exceed the toxic/corrosive damage dealt to character - it doesn't fix broken bones or bullet wounds alongside treating sickness. Failure and Critical Failure are as for Remove Affliction.
  
  
• Treat Radioactive Damage - Cinematic Medicine uses simplified radiation system from AtE1:24. Removing radiation from your body works just like Treating Toxic and Corrosive Damage.

Surgery

• Stabilizing a mortal wound (B423) - Each attempt takes as long as First-Aid Time Per Patient of your TL. Roll Surgery, at -2 if the patient is -3xHP or worse, or -4 if the patient is -4xHP or worse. Lack of tools applies appropriate penalties! 
  
  On Success, patient continues to act as indicated by his current HP and only requires his HP to be restored. Critical Success also restores HP as indicated on the First-Aid table. On Failure, the patient is still mortally wounded, and further attempts to stabilize are at -2 per attempt. Critical Failure means the patient dies.

• Repairing lasting crippling injuries - To repair a lasting crippling injury, roll 1d. This is how many hours the surgery will last.
  
  On Success, the limb is repaired and any HP lost from the crippling is restored. The crippled limb will fully heal after normal sleep cycle of bed rest (8 hours for an average human). If the limb is used before rest, patient suffers -4 shock penalty on any actions that utilize or affect the limb (such as standing for legs). High Pain Threshold and other pain suppressants work as normal.
  
  Critical Success treats the limb, and it is ready for use right away.
  Failure means the surgery did not fix the limb, but further attempts are possible.
  Critical Failure makes the injury permanent.

• Repairing permanent crippling injuries - As above, except duration of the surgery is 12 man/hours and has penalty of -3 to skill. 
  
  On Failure, patient must have bed rest for 1d days before another attempt is made. 
  
  Critical failure makes further attempts impossible. GM should carefully appraise which permanent injuries can be healed at specific tech levels and circumstances, especially in a field setting.
• Self-Surgery - a surgeon can perform surgery on himself! Unless properly anesthetized or possessing High Pain Threshold, he suffers maximum shock penalty to his surgery roll with up to -6 for injuries in awkward places.

Hospital Stay And Long Term Care:

Based on the above, virtually any injury can be healed within a day of intense work by medical professionals. Because of that, cinematic hospital stay is often extremely short and most of it is due to medical professionals wanting to make sure the condition does not return and complications wont arise. A patient may choose to escape from a hospital if he does not want to wait for the entire duration of treatment (usually 1 week), which usually carries no penalties beyond anger of the medics.

In case of insurance, paid medicine or psychiatric help, escaping from the medics may cause them to pursue you in order to make you pay your bills or continue treatment. May involve automatic weapons.

If the GM believes that a specific condition or injury needs an extended stay to actually heal, he sets the length of time needed to cure the affliction and the date of check out at his discretion.

Medical equipment and drugs

Kit/Bag Sizes:
Small - 4/4 uses, only covers issues that do not require Diagnosis roll. $20, 1 lb.
Medium - 10/10 uses. +1 (Quality) to Skill Roll the equipment was designed for. $50, 2 lb.
Large - 20/20 uses. +2 (Quality) to Skill Roll the equipment was designed for. $200, 10 lb.

First Aid Kits (FAKs) - Equipment designed for First Aid skill.

• Crash Kit (TL8, HT221) - Heavy paramedic bag, may come in a variety of forms. Counts as Medium First Aid Kit and Medium Physician kit. Improvised Surgical equipment. Gives +2 (Quality) to first aid.
• Military First Aid Kit (TL8, P3-57:14) - Pouch-sized medical kit for soldiers, sometimes has controlled substances. Counts as Small First Aid Kit of +1 (Quality) with 4/4 uses. 
  Includes tourniquets for rapid blood-loss stop.
• Large First Aid Kit (Homebrew) - Medically marked duffel bag/backpack containing equipment to treat large number of wounded in emergency or combat situations. Sometimes carried alongside a Crash Kit. +2 (Quality) to First Aid. 20/20 uses. 10 lbs, $200.

Medicine Bags - Equipment designed for Physician and Diagnosis Skill

• Small Medicine Bag - A pouch or small bag with pill blister packs, something that hikers, soldiers or chronically ill carry with them at all times. $20, 1 lb, 4/4 uses.
• Military Individual Medicine Kit (Homebrew) - A small plastic container with injectors filled with medicine for common battlefield conditions such as pain, shock, diarrhea, hyperthermia, vomiting or chemical weapon attack. A paper checklist is attached to the internal side that describes each injector and it's use. Soldier-2, First-Aid-2 or Physician+0 to use it for conditions that do not require Diagnosis roll. Counts as small Medicine Bag, $100, 2 lb, 4/4 uses. 
  
• Medium Medicine Bag (Homebrew) - Common medicine bag for a variety of conditions that many keep at home in case of an emergency. $50, 2 lbs, 10/10 uses.
• Doctor's bag (TL5, HT221) - A heavy doctor's bag, similar to crash kit but is often more fashionable. Counts as +1 (Quality) equipment for Physician/Diagnosis, Improvised Surgical Kit and +1 (Quality) First Aid kit. Counts as Medium First Aid Kit and Medium Medicine Bag.
• Large Medicine Bag (Homebrew) - Portable pharmacy that includes majority of drugs on the "vital drugs" list of the country of origin. Usually made of solid material to prevent damage to vials and such inside of it. $200, 10 lbs, 20/20 uses.

Other medical equipment:

• Combat Tourniquet (TL8) (P3-57:14) - An emergency blood stopping device that quickly stops bleeding by compressing the affected vessel closed. Combat version gives +2 to First Aid to stop bleeding and takes 2 ready maneuvers to apply once in hand.
  Modern Clip Tourniquet (TL8) is a plastic lock with a non-slipping strap, medic must wrap it around limb and connect the lock closed, then pull the strap to tighten (2 ready maneuvers, but requires two hands, or one hand and teeth.) +1 to Stop Bleeding, $15, 0.1 lb.
  Simple Disposable Tourniquet (TL6) is a rubber strap that has to be wrapped around the limb and tied off manually, requiring multiple layers for effective hold (4 ready maneuvers, requires two hands, or one hand and teeth.).
  Improvised tourniquets are applied the same, but rubber sticks to the limb better, making it easier to pull off (-2 if using an improvised tourniquet)
• Splint (TL0) (LT146) - Long plank or similar object with attachment points for straps to immobilize broken limb and prevent further damage to the bone and tissue.
  TL8 versions are folding, compact and light. 0.5 lbs, $100 for one limb.
  
  Any limb with temporary or lasting crippling can be splinted and then used as normal, but the patient suffers their maximum shock penalty whenever the limb is used. At the end of any combat, or once an hour of a long task in which the limb was used (such as marching), roll HT. Any failure makes the crippling permanent.

Drugs - The system uses standard drugs present on LT150, BT148, HT226, B440 etc. 

• Cinematic Painkillers and High Pain Threshold - When utilizing painkillers and analgesics, apply the reduction of Pain penalty to shock penalty as well! High Pain Threshold works as normal and any drug that gives High Pain Threshold advantage also reduces pain penalty by -4. 
  
  
• New Drug: Trauma Analgesic (TL7) - High strength analgesic for treatment of medium to severe pain such as broken bones, such as tramadol. Is weaker than Morphine but with less side effects. HT-4 to resist, on failure removes -4 pain penalty and grants user laziness advantage for Margin of Failure in tens of minutes. Still highly addictive. $10/Dose.
  
  
• Medicine Delivery - Depending on delivery method, drugs are easier or harder to apply and kick in right away or after delay. All drugs need to be prescribed by a physician, or otherwise famialiarized with. It is GM's purview to decide whether a specific character knows what the drug is for and when to apply it. Soldiers might know heavy painkillers, civilians may know drugs against flu etc. Drugs and medicine may be available for purchase in these forms:
  
  Pills, gels, applicables - Easy to apply, but take time to be absorbed by the body. Effect arrives after Long Time Per Patient of drug's TL on the Physician Time Per Patient table. No extra cost and no roll.
  
  Injectable liquids (TL5) - Vials of drugs that need to be delivered via an injector, usually a hypodermic needle. It takes 1 minute to choose dosage, prepare syringe and find an injection site (not covered by anything) to deliver the drug, as well as a First-Aid or Physician roll. Once injected, the drug activates instantly. Hypodermic syringes are not designed to hold drugs for long, so pre-filling is not possible. No extra cost.
  
  Syrette (TL6) - A toothpaste tube-like sealed container that ends with a protected needle. Dose is set at the factory, so a physician only needs to remove the cap, find an injection site (not covered by anything), optionally disinfect it, apply the needle and empty the tube - 4 (5) ready maneuvers. Requires First-Aid or Physician roll to apply. +$10 to price, neg
  
  Autoinjector (TL8) - A plastic tube with colorful instructions on the side, uses either needle on a spring or compressed air to deliver the drug automatically. After Soldier or First Aid roll,  it takes 1 second to remove the cap and activate the mechanism, 1 second to apply to injection area (penetrates 1 DR of clothes) and 1 second for the mechanism to inject the drug. +$20, 0.1 lbs. Variant with audio instructions has +2 (Quality), is as loud as a normal conversion and adds +$50 cost.
  
  Contact Agents (TL7) - Usually sprays that either work on contact with injury (such as quick acting analgesics sprays for sore throat) or penetrate the skin and enter the blood stream without injection. Any clothing stop it. No roll needed. +$50 to cost, 0.1 lbs
  
  
• Using syringes as a weapon - Treat syringe as a reach C, no parry, 1d6-5 (2) pi- Knife (DX-4). Whatever drug is inside acts as a follow-up to the attack, as long as it dealt at least 1 point of damage. Syringe is not designed for combat, so on a roll of 12 or above the needle breaks or the dosage is wasted. Same happens if the attack is parried. A safer alternative is to grapple an enemy and attempt to hold him still for injection. Once grappled, attempt a grappling skill or ST vs Grappling skill, ST or DX quick contest. If the attacker wins, he injects the defender with the syringe, otherwise the syringe breaks or the dosage is wasted.

Medical Workflow:

Differential Diagnostics and Treating An Illness.

Dr. Shed gathers his team of diagnosticians and presents them a case of a patient with certain symptoms. Dr. Shed and his team make complimentary Diagnosis/Electronic Operations/Chemistry/Physiology etc rolls as they argue about the case. At the end of the meeting, Dr. Shed makes a Diagnosis roll, modified by everyone's complimentary skill checks.

The roll fails, so Dr. Shed orders tests done. His team executes them using Physician, Physiology, Pharmacy etc, nurses assist them with Physician and Electronic Operation (Medical) skills. Each roll counts as complimentary.

The team returns to Dr. Shed with test results and they run another differential, combining test result bonuses with new theories (Diagnosis rolls).

Dr. Shed shuts them all up and stares off into the distance as he makes his Diagnosis roll. He succeeds, prescribes treatment and orders his team to deliver it.

On Critical Success, the treatment is extremely effective, but unconventional, so ever-present Dean of Medicine Dr. Muddy is objecting. Now the team has to somehow bypass this obstacle.

GURPS Stealth & Camouflage Guide Update: Half-Ghillie, Face Masks, Black Camouflage, Bright Colors

 Half-Ghillie, Sniper Coat, Hunting Shirt

    The Stealth & Camouflage guide penned by me includes homebrew rules for something TL8 gunmen call a half-ghillie or sniper coat, as pictured above, a comfortable and useful piece of camouflaging equipment for those who wish to not be burdened by the weight and discomfort of a full ghillie.

Only problem, it is homebrew and thus not available in all games. The rules I imagined for it were clunky too, so it's not a good show. But as my knowledge of GURPS grew, I discovered a way to make such an attire completely rules legal!

1) Open Low-Tech on page 126. An item called Hunting Shirt (TL1) is listed.

This is conceptually the same item as half-ghillie, or rather it's ancient ancestor. It is heavy though, at a whopping 5 lbs. But it is a full outfit, in a sense, no other camouflage equipment is needed to wear it.

2) Time to modernize it. Open High Tech on page 65, look at Clothing Technology Table.

We'll assume that TL1 Hunting Shirt corresponds to TL5 attire. Low-Tech doesn't have a similar table, so I will not speculate what would happen if it did. To bring it to TL7, we divide weight by 2.

End result is a Hunting Shirt (TL7), weight of 2.5 lbs. It  comes either in plain dull color (Simple Camouflage, +1) or basic WW2/Post-WW2 pattern (Basic Camouflage, +2). Use rules and price as for TL1 Hunting Shirt. It can be worn standalone as Ordinary Clothes (HT63), but I'd recommend wearing pants too.

Such item saw great use during WW2 by both Allies and Axis powers, since ghillie suits weren't much of a thing back then.

Made with TL8 fabrics, weight is 1.25 lbs instead. Cost for Advanced Camouflage (+3) option is $150.

3) Let's modernize it even further! Back to HT65 Clothing Technology Table.

Multiply TL7 weight by x0.5 for TL8 technologies.

Modern Sniper Coats are seldom standalone pieces, offering at best head, back and shoulders coverage, more of a net than a garment. Thus it is considered Summer Clothes (HT63), for x0.5 of the weight, but requiring the user to wear their uniform, or otherwise matching camouflage outfit underneath to gain full benefit.

End result is a Sniper Coat (TL8). It comes either in plain dull color (Simple Camouflage, +1), basic service pattern like Multicam (Basic Camouflage +2) or specialist camo like Tropentarn (Advanced Camouflage, +3). It requires matching camouflaged clothing to work, advanced camo clothing for advanced camo sniper coat etc. Consider it an upgrade for an existing uniform, rather than a standalone item. Another benefit, it is quick to don and doff, and can be worn over protective equipment - huge advantage over a Hunting Shirt.

The bonus for the uniform and sniper coat do not stack, but one can still improve the sniper coat with local vegetation, strips of camo fabric etc by making Camouflage roll as for normal ghillie. Maximum camouflage bonus is +5.

Example: Wearing Tropentarn uniform (Advanced Camouflage) gives +3 in arid environments. Adding Sniper Coat (Tropentarn) on top gives +0, for total of +3. A roll of Camouflage and some resources gives +1 per margin of success, up to +2 for +5 total.

Alternatively, if one is daring enough, they can cover their (almost) naked body with Camouflage Paint, the same one used for face painting (Seals in Vietnam 24, LT126). Reasonably, this would count at least as Simple Camouflage (+1), and thus work with Sniper Coats, either Simple or matched to the environment. But for this, seek your GM's permission.

Weight of 0.63 lbs. Price is $25 for Simple Camouflage, $50 for Basic Camouflage, $75 for Advanced camouflage.

P.S.: The resulting weight of a TL8 sniper coat is half of a realistic item. If you feel that it is an issue, simply use statistics and rules for TL7 Hunting Shirt, with TL8 weight already listed (1.25 lbs).

Face Masks

LT126 officially states that hoods, masks and veils can be coloured to assist in camouflage. Any head covering that extends over the face acts liks camouflage paint (LT126, Seals in Vietnam 24).

Black Camouflage and Bright Colors

LT126 provides official rules for Black Camouflage and Bright Colors. It also speaks of darker shades of patterns normally used for daylight camo still giving a +1 bonus. An example of such camouflage is Multicam Black. Standard Multicam counts as Basic Camouflage and gives +2 bonus. Multicam Black only gives +1 in same environments. Though if GM permits, camouflaging against a shadow (not inside of it) would still provide full +2.

GURPS Firearm Customization Draft 1

 GURPS Firearm Customization

A deeply modified AR-15 carbine. Base weapon is a variant of RRA LAR-15 (TS63), or one of dozens copies of the AR-15 present in GURPS. A maximum Ergonomics configuration with compensator.

    What is a firearm? A device to ignite powder, a metal tube to propel projectile and ideally a way to hold it all. Since it's inception, the core of the firearm has not changed. But as the centuries progressed, humans fell in love with firearms more and more. Dirty handgonnes gave way to beautifully fowling pieces fetching high prices from aristocrats. Brain-clubbing musket pistols were replaced with fine officer's handguns, a symbol of authority. The musket's offspring is a precision crafted sniper rifle, made of space age polymers, firing a scarce-material bullet around the horizon's bend. And as the proliferation and love of firearms grew, the desire to improve it, to make it yours grew exponentially, and thus the art of gunsmithing and firearm customization appeared.

    There are many reasons to improve firearms: make it more accurate, easier to handle, deadlier, more appealing. An average GURPS character will seldom have ability to create a fully unique firearm, that's why many resort to modifying their equipment to suit their needs. And since GURPS does not go into too many details on this matter, this work will try to improve the aspect of firearm modification within GURPS 4e.

Statement on worldview

    As with everything about GURPS, GURPS is a game for entertainment. I love GURPS realistic AND fun, and this work will reflect that. Where baseline 4e assumes something is 'below resolution' or 'a reason to take weapons bond', I will round it up to the point where it can finally be resolved and have tangible gameplay effect. Because of that, some parts of this article will be somewhat cinematic, but in a way that is expected of fiction that pays extreme respect to the firearm and the act of shooting it.

What firearms can be modified?

    Ostensibly, all of them. Firearms are made out of parts that were manufactured by a human being. An equally skilled human being could manufacture the same part - with improvements - and install it upon the base firearm. Indeed many firearms are simply variants of older design, improved in the blueprint and manufactured with modifications. Many locales have gunsmiths, professionals in the way of assembling and modifying firearms. A custom job is expensive, but sometimes worth it.

    Reasonably, a firearm that becomes a modification platform is mostly unheard of before TL6, with most firearms of that era offering what GURPS calls 'Accessories', an optic mount and maybe an engraving. More over, the firearm has to be popular, either widely adopted or experiencing massive commercial success. There's little reason to mass manufacture parts for a firearm that is not in use. Of course, custom parts shops are a rarity reserved for the rich until TL8, and manufacturing process before the advent of plastics is rather complicated. Don't expect a fully custom TL6 chassis for your M1921 Thompson Machine Gun.

    It is up to the GM and players to figure out what weapon has large enough parts aftermarket, but most TL7+ firearms do, especially mass-adopted platforms like Kalashnikov and AR-15/M16. Worth mentioning are TL6 wonders that are Colt M1911 and FN Browning HP, both still quite effective, used and with large aftermarket of parts.

How compatible is this system with baseline 4e solutions?

    Ideally, save for overlooked bugs, two systems are fully compatible and can be used together, separately or combining options. The important thing is to watch out for 'double dipping', gaining double benefit from effectively singular upgrade. As such, as part of this system, firearms will receive quality ratings such as Fine (Accurate), and the firearm will not be able to receive the same rating from another source, though it can become Fine (Very Accurate) if it receives the appropriate modification, for appropriate price. Do not allow firearms that are already half-way down the custom part tree to benefit from generalized upgrades. A firearm with free-floating barrel installed cannot be made Fine (Accurate) with a generalized option!

Part I: Modifying Firearm Parts

    Each firearm, or most of them, consists of six parts that directly affect it's performance in user's hands: 

Muzzle Device - A device attached to the barrel can alter firearm's behavior by way of directing and trapping gasses, or burning out the excess powder and gasses.

Barrel - the channel through which the bullet is propelled onward towards the target.

Chassis - Provisions for comfortably holding the firearm with both hands.

Controls - Elements of the firearm that engage it's functions - fire, safety, magazine ejection etc, as well as other internals.

Peripherals - Stock and/or grip for comfortably holding the firearm, shouldering it, directing it.

Only one of each, unless stated otherwise, can be present on a firearm. Many firearms already come with all or some versions of these parts. Whatever effect they have is included in the firearm's statistics table entry or firearm's description.

Each part can be optimized for either Ergonomics, Precision or Recoil Control. Each part, in addition to listed benefits, increases it's rating in these three fields. Consult the table below for effects of each rating. Ratings themselves are unneccessary for play, simply modify weapon's statistics and add appropriate notes to it's description. The ratings are non-cumulative, and each next step replaces the effects of the previous one.

Ergonomics Rating

Ergo 1	+1 to Holdout
Ergo 2	+1 to Holdout, +1 to fire in Close Combat
Ergo 3	+1 to Holdout, +1 to fire in Close Combat, Ignore -1 bulk from attachments
Ergo 4	Improve Bulk by 1

Precision Rating

Pres 1	Aiming for 4 seconds grants Acc+3 bonus.
Pres 2	Firearm is now Fine (Accurate), +1 Acc, if baseline firearm has 2 or more Acc.
Pres 3	Fine (Accurate), Aiming for 4 seconds grants Acc+3 bonus.
Pres 4	Firearm is now Very Fine (Accurate), +1 Acc, if baseline firearm has 4 or more Acc.

Recoil Control Rating

If you use fractional recoil rules, then each step simply reduces Rcl by 0.25 down to minimum of 1.

RclCtrl 1	Firing at ROF3+ grants +1 to Guns skill.
RclCtrl 2	Firing at ROF3+ grants +1 to Guns skill. Reduce Firearm ST by 1.
RclCtrl 3	Firing at ROF2+ grants +1 to Guns skill. Reduce Firearm ST by 1.
RclCtrl 4	Reduce Rcl by 1 to minimum of 1.

Part 1.1: Custom Firearm Parts

Firearm parts use Cost Factor (CF) as it appears on LT14. Tally up total CF, add +1 and multiply firearm's cost to find out it's final cost.

Each custom part, unless otherwise specified, grants extra -1 familiarity penalty.

Any combination of parts that amounts to +1 CF or more counts as Styling (HT11) for free, but only when dealing with those who appreciate modern or modified firearms. Too many gun owners prefer stock items!

Installing these parts is Adding Accessories (TS68) and is a complicated process.

Muzzle Device

• Flash Suppressor - An open, tube-like device that burns out excess gasses and powder, completely eliminating the muzzle flash. The shooter thus cannot be spotted by his weapon's flash and his view remains unobstructed. +1 Ergonomics, +0.25 CF, 0.1 lbs.
  Expensive version often serves as attachment base for a Quick-Detach Suppressor. +0.35 CF
  Cheap version is simply called Flash Hider (TS76), it does not improve Ergonomics.
  
• Compensator (TS76) - A small device covered in vents that redirects excess gasses that escape the barrel to counter-act weapon's recoil. +2 to Hearing and Vision rolls to locate shooter in the dark, Firearm ST-1, extra -2 familiarity penalty, +1 Recoil Control, +0.5 CF. Weight x1.1
  Expensive version often serves as attachment base for a QD Suppressor, which retains the Compensator's benefits while removing the bonus to locate shooter in the dark. +0.75 CF
  Cheap version is an attachment on many firearms and it's statistics already include it's effect. Firearm ST-1, +0.1 CF. No Recoil Control improvement.
  
• Unthreaded barrel - High quality Match barrels are often left without a thread in order to not disturb it's harmonics. Match barrel without a thread adds an extra +1 Precision, but the firearm loses it's ability to mount Muzzle Devices.

Barrel

• Pencil Barrel - Thin profile barrel decreases firearm's weight and changes it's balance. For purposes of sustained fire (HT85), it takes 75 shots to overheat. +1 Ergonomics, +0.25 CF, Weight x0.9
• Match Barrel - Named so for competitive matches, or for it "matching" the firearm perfectly. This barrel is either made to tight tolerances, or picked as best out of a manufacture batch. +1 Precision, +0.5 CF
• Bull Barrel - Also known as Heavy Barrel, weighting the barrel down reduces muzzle flip and allows longer sustained fire (HT85), treat it as Light Machinegun barrel. +1 Recoil Control, +0.5 CF, Weight x1.1

Chassis

• Free-Floating Chassis - Chassis that mounts in a way that does not come into contact with the barrel, increasing accuracy and stability by removing areas of excess clamping. Example is Hogue Free Float Tube. +1 Precision, +0.25 CF, x1.05 weight. Many handguns already come with free-floating chassis, it's stats are accounted for in firearm statistics.
• Low-Profile Chassis - Slim, lightweight chassis that sits as close to the barrel as possible, often opting for keyhole mounts instead of rails. Cutouts on exterior often expose the barrel. An example is Magpul MOE SL Handguard. +1 Ergonomics, +0.25 CF Weight x0.95.
• Heavy Chassis - Large chassis with ample space for accessories, sometimes with weighted inserts near firearm receiver. An example is M14 Modular Chassis by TROY. +1 Recoil Control, +0.5 CF, Weight x1.1

Controls

• Match Controls - Light trigger and precision fire control group ensure consistent pull that does not disturb the firearm. +1 Precision, +0.25 CF.
• Ergonomic Controls - Elongated switches and anatomical, streamlined shape greatly improve comfort of use. Grants Lightning Fingers (TS39) with this specific weapon. +1 Ergonomics, +0.25 CF.
• Recoil Buffer - Weights and rubber buffers are distributed in the receiver to lighten felt recoil. +1 Recoil Control, +0.5 CF, Weight x1.1

Peripherals

• Ergonomic Peripherals - Short stock like Troy M7A1 and a streamlined pistol grip allow for quick and comfortable work with the firearm. +1 Ergonomics, +0.25 CF, Weight x0.9
• Sniper Peripherals - Solid, often thumbhole stock with myriad of adjustments available: length of pull, cheek rest, extendable monopod. Allows for stable, user-specified shoulder position. +1 Precision, +0.25 CF, Weight x1.05
• Recoil Peripherals - Wide, often rubberized stock with solid, wide grip for best control and least recoil felt. +1 Recoil Control, +0.5 CF, Weight x1.1

Foregrip

• Angled Foregrip - This sort of foregrip allows for comfortable thumb-over-bore barrel handling and pressing the stock into the shoulder without turning it into a pivot point. +1 Recoil Control, $50, 0.5 lbs
• Handstop - This device prevents user's hand from slipping in front of the barrel or past the sweet spot for handling. User quickly achieves ideal grip by sliding the palm down the foregrip until it hits the handstop. +1 Fast Draw (Longarm or Pistol) when drawing into two-handed stance. +1 Ergonomics, $25, 0.1 lbs.
• Vertical Foregrip - See TS75. Multiply any fatigue lost from handling the weapon by 0.75

Part 1.2 Gunsmithing

See TS68. Just like before, watch out for double-dipping.

Custom barrel lengths

Many firearms can support different barrel lengths that alter it's performance. A spare barrel costs and weighs 20% of the firearm. Players may substitute the price of the barrel from an expensive firearm for a cheaper one if they share firearm family and caliber. Cheaper AR15 barrel for M16A4 will fit more expensive Mk 18 Mod 1 (HT121)

Installing a new barrel is a Adding Accessories (TS68) and is a complicated process.

Subcompact and Compact Barrels - See TS69.

Tactical Barrels - Barrels for use with suppressors. See Tactical Carbine.

Patrol and Long Barrels - This is an option that increases barrel length slightly. This is a difficult option to apply realistically because, while shortened barrel invariably harms performance, extended barrel does not ALWAYS improve it. At certain barrel lengths, the power of a projectile is wasted as it has to pass one tier of rifling after another. Most longer firearms and handguns can only benefit from Patrol barrel, while shorter carbines receive full benefit of a long barrel... And stop being carbines.

Patrol Barrel - Also called mid-length. Multiply Damage and Range by 1.1. +0.5 lbs. When used on an M4A1, it creates 16-18" Rifle akin to MK12 SPR.

Long Barrel - Multiply Damage and Range by 1.15, +0.75 lbs, +1 Acc, worsen bulk by -1. Super compact (like SMGs) or already lengthy firearms (like Sniper Rifles) will not be able to benefit from this.

Part II: Firearm Accessories

Tbd

 GURPS Armor: Ballistic Face Mask

Having a face and keeping it intact is important. How're you gonna eat those tasty tacos if you left all your teeth at the site of the latest shootout? Do not be afraid, there are many bullet resistant items on the market that you can purchase to cover up this important hit location.

One of these is a Ballistic Face Mask, also known as Smooth Mask. It is a simple mask made out of the same material as TL8 Ballistic Helmet (HT70), with similar padding on the inside and two holes for your eyes to peek through. It is officially adopted by Taiwanese Special Forces and... that's it. In movies and videogames it is often used by bad guys due to it's intimidating, feature-less appearance. Favorite of bank robbers! The mask itself has neglible effect on field of view, reducing it by no more than 10 degrees. GURPS simply ignores this. It's real life protection rating is NIJ IIIA, which translates to 12 DR in GURPS, stopping most handgun bullets, buckshot pellets and even assault rifle rounds fired from ulta-short carbines like HK53A3(HT116) or AKS74U(HT114)

It is actually quite challenging to purchase authentic item of this type, with many companies offering knock-offs of dubious quality. It's quite hard to tell what exactly you just bought, until you get shot while wearing it...

By virtue of covering a user's forehead, this face mask is incompatible with majority of modern ballistic helmets that sit close enough to the forehead, though certain designs like tanker helmets with elevated top, as well as Leather Helmet (HT69), can fit over or under it. Layering armor on skull has no penalties. A pair of large tactical goggles can, theoretically, be worn over eye-holes to provide protection, but users will seldom wear them due to lack of comfort. Theoretically, a custom job can add inserts into the eye-holes that are effectively Ballistic Sunglases, giving eyes 4 DR and increasing price by $50. Gas Mask is also unusuable with such a face mask due to the inability to create a full seal. On the other hand, you can wear it UNDER a space suit helmet or biohazard suit helmet, given that it's a design that feeds air into the helmet itself and not just the mask underneath it.

To address various issues with the design, a half-mask variant is offered that protects only the face, but is fully compatible with modern ballistic helmets. Theoretically, a ballistic face shield can be worn over it, doubling the protection.

When compared to ballistic faceshields that attach to helmets: (+) It is a standalone piece that needs no extra mounting, (+) It has anatomical form and thus allows proper-ish cheek wield, ignoring rules for Masked Shooting (TS13), (+) It has better protection compared to transparent ballistic plastic, (-) It does not protect the eyes, (-) You cannot use a gas mask with it.

Statistics:

TL8 Ballistic Face Mask, Loc: Face & Skull, DR 12F, Cost $600, Weight 3 lbs, LC 4

TL8 Knock-Off Ballistic Face Mask, Loc: Face & Skull, DR 10F, Cost $500, Weight 2.5 lbs, LC 4

TL8 Ballistic Half-Mask, Loc: Face, DR12, Cost $300, Weight 1.5 lbs, LC 4

TL8 Knock-Off Ballistic Half-Mask, Loc: Face, DR10, Cost $250, Weight 1.2 lbs, LC 4

The masks can have a custom-designed styling to assist in intimidation or simply for aesthetics. Use rules for Styling on HT10. Clown designs are oddly popular.

On the other hand, virtually any tailor can create a camouflaged fabric cover for the mask. Cost is $6*Cost Of Camouflage. Alternatively, one can simply use paint and duct tape to permanently add a camo pattern. Either way, when such camouflaged mask is worn with camo uniform, add an extra +1 to camouflage bonus (See LT126).

If GM permits, the mask grants +1 to Intimidation attempts done while wearing it.

GURPS Demolitions: Custom Shrapnel

 GURPS Demolitions: Custom Shrapnel

Explosives are fun. Adventurers are always able to find things to blow up, such as Cthulhu spawn or a werewolf or a nazi tank. Except, in GURPS, the concussive force of the explosion runs out of steam very quickly. Man-portable charges are rarely lethal at 5 yards, let alone 10, so a person may feel discouraged when a big boom doesn't really kill anyone.

How is the issue resolved IRL? Well, one solid way to increase your explosive's lethality is to encase it into shrapnel-creating object. That's how a hand grenade is made - fragmenting shell and an explosive charge.

GURPS does not readily have rules for custom shrapnel explosives, but with the help of Kromm's post and Kalos's math affinity, there is now a way to create custom shrapnel for your satchel charge.

1) Take your explosives and figure out it's damage using rules on B414.

2) Gather shrapneling material.

3) Roll Explosives (Demolitions) to assemble the device. Success by 0 yields a device with up to 1:1 ratio of shrapnel and explosives. For example, 1 lb of C4 can have up to 1 lb of shrapnel, for total of 2 lb. This is equivalent to a pipe bomb in box on TS67.

For every success after 0th, you can decrease the amount of explosive needed by 5%, or increase amount of shrapnel by 5%. Maximum ratio is 19:1, with only 5% of the device being explosives. This is equivalent to factory made aircraft bombs!

4) Calculate shrapnel damage using this formula: 

x^1/3*2.35, result in dice

x=shrapnel material weight in lbs

5) Record the device's statblock: It's explosive damage, it's shrapnel damage and weight of the device.

Example:

A Werewolf Hunter wants a handmade explosive that launches silver shrapnel but doesn't explode too hard.

He takes 1 lbs of Liquid Explosive Foam (REF 1.1) and prepares a smithy to forge silver casing.

He rolls Demoliton (Explosives) and succeeds by 9, creating a very-well designed device with explosive content of only 5%.

If he wants to, he can create a 2 lbs portable satchel, with 0.1 explosive and 1.9 shrapnel material.

1.9^1/3*2=2.47 or 2d+2, see box on HT166

End result: Dmg 4d [2d+2] cr ex, Wt. 2 lbs

If he wants to, he can encase 1 lbs of explosives in 19 lbs of shrapnel, retaining the 19:1 ratio.

19^1/3*2=5.33 or 5d+1

End result: 26d+1 [5d+1] cr ex, or 6dx4+8 [5d+1] cr ex, Wt. 20 lbs.

Optional rule: Involving explosive's REF

If you have noticed, shrapnel damage has no relation to how much damage the explosive outputs, or it's REF. Folks in the thread that the Krommpost is from insist that it is realistic.

If you believe otherwise, feel free to divide the final weight of explosive filler by it's REF. Assume everything above was said about REF 1 explosive.

For example, you assemble a device that is 1 lb shrapnel and 1 lb REF 1 explosives for a total of 2 lb. If you use REF 1.4 plastic explosive instead, you only need 0.7 lbs of it to achieve the same result as 1 lb REF 1 charge. The device's final weight is 1.7 lbs when using plastique. One must be careful with this optional rule, as it allows miniscule amounts of explosive (like REF 5 Fuel-Air mixture) propel teeth-shattering amount of shrapnel. Alternatively, an unskilled person can make more effective bombs if they just use a higher REF explosive.

Notice, the damage from the explosion is STILL related to the weight of explosive. Using less explosives means the explosive damage is reduced as well. This only allows you to further reduce explosive to shrapnel ratio.

GURPS Firearm: ALFA .357 Magnum, UK-Legal Muzzleloading Caplock Revolver

 GURPS Firearm: ALFA .357 Muzzleloading Caplock Revolver

Ah, United Kingdom. Homeland of tea parties, colonialism and quirky weirdos who save the world from weekly calamities (that mostly happen in London). They also have great gun laws that allow one to own such beautiful handguns like these:

Just kidding about the last one. But yeah, handgun ownership in UK is not the same as it was at the start of 20th century. Doctor Watson had to turn his Webley in, and his modern counterpart from Sherlock is straight up breaking the law as he runs around modern-day London shooting an illegal, smuggled in SIG P226. None the less, inventive people exist, and they readily find loopholes in the law to permit their fellow countrymen to enjoy handgun shooting like proper gentlemen.

Meet ALFA Series .357 Muzzleloading Revolver

ALFA .357 begins it's life as bona-fide cased cartridge .357 Magnum revolver, built in a Czech factory. It's relatively unknown, and is built for civilian market. The magic happens when it's almost complete. A number of ALFA .357s are sent on to a small, grassroots manufacturer in UK without a cylinder - technically not a firearm since it cannot chamber or shoot anything. The manufacturer, Westlake Engineering, assembles their own cylinder, but not a typical one. This cylinder operates on a caplock design, like early TL5 revolvers of the Wild West, requiring all the proper stuff of filling the slots with powder, pressing a bullet in, sealing it with a cap, etc, the difference being - it uses smokeless powder and modern .357 projectiles. This is an ingenious design, as UK gun laws do not regulate the length of muzzleloading firearms, allowing to dispose of weird shoulder things and to have any conceivable barrel lengths.

This weapon is LC3 in UK, being legally a muzzleloader, only requiring a basic firearms permit to own. The weapon has to be registered, alongside any spare cylinders, and the license usually holds up to 5 items, allowing for 1 Revolver and 4 spare cylinders. Spare cylinders are costly, usually no less than $250, Wt 0.3, but the weapon itself comes with two - one in gun, one spare.

Performance-wise, recommended loadings output behavior on par with .38 Spc. While the revolver itself is able to sustain .357 loads, the cylinder is less reliable - if using .357 Magnum loadings, Malf 16. Available projectiles are Solid and Hollow-Base Wadcutter (Treat as Solid and Hollow Point, respectively). WPS and CPS remain the same as with cased cartridges, use either .38 Spc or .357 Magnum values depending on load.

Weapon comes in 4 barrel lengths:

6" - In table

4" - 2d pi, bulk -2,  Wt 2.1/0.3

3" - 2d-1 pi, bulk -1, Wt 1.9/0.3

2" - 2d-1 pi, bulk -1, Wt 1.8/0.3

Magnum loadings:

6" - In table

4" - 3d-1 pi

3" - 2d+2 pi, rcl 5, ST 11

2" - 2d+2 pi, rcl 5, ST 11

Reloading is the same as for all cap&ball revolvers, (10i). Speedloaders are impossible. On the bright side, the cylinder is not held in place, so it can be swapped out rather quickly. Shooter can pre-load all of his cylinders at home and simply swap them out as the firefight goes.

1: Swing the cylinder out
2: Remove the cylinder and discard it. Keeping it is an extra Ready maneuver.
3: Draw a spare cylinder

4: Insert the cylinder onto it's base

5: Swing the revolver closed

In short, it's a solid piece for a civilian UK gun owner, something to defend yourself from a robbery, or while investigating a murder mystery. The weapon can come with a mount for sights and other improvements for sporting use, making fine (accurate) variants available. Do note that UK frowns upon any self-defense, armed or not, so consult your GM regarding all this, and don't use my advice on the matter IRL.

.gcs file (4.2)

Credits to Kalos for helping me figure out the damages and range of this thing.