Mr. Insidious Reviews- GURPS Action 4: Specialists

(Disclaimer: I decided to write this review because these are my genuine views of the product.)

Action 4 is undoubtedly an iteration of the Specialty packages Kromm created for his GURPS campaign, The Company, back in 2009. This is a good thing.

Reading through The Company Document (page with link here, direct attachment link here) is interesting, as many of specialties are lifted almost verbatim (I'll bold examples) from the word document to Action 4.

For example, The Languages Speciality from The Company Document (which I'll call TCD from here on out):

Languages

Every Company operative is expected to be bilingual, at least – but a trained interpreter is a valuable resource for a squad, given that there’s no way of knowing where the next job will be. You’re multilingual in the extreme and have a trained ear even for languages you don’t know. This specialty is most effective when paired with something like Impersonation, Social Engineering, or Spin Doctor.

Advantages: Acute Hearing 1 [2]; Language 1 (Native) [6]; Language 2 (Native) [6]; Language 3 (Native) [6].

Perks: Accent (any one for any language known) [1].

Skills: Linguistics (IQ/H) [4].

And the same from Action 4:

 Linguist
25 points
You’re a trained interpreter or just a “citizen of the world.”
You’re multilingual in the extreme and have a trained ear.
Advantages: Acute Hearing 1 [2]; Language Talent* [10]; Language (any at Native) [4]; Language (any other at Native)
[4]; Language (yet another at Native) [4].
Skills: One of Gesture (IQ/E) [1], Lip Reading (Per/A) [1],
Public Speaking (IQ/A) [1], or Writing (IQ/A) [1] – or Linguistics (IQ/H) [1] in a realistic campaign, though Action
doesn’t use that skill.
* When doubling up, choose Cultural Adaptability [10] or
Voice [10] the second time.

So, both include Acute Hearing 1 as well as Three Languages at Native Comprehension. TCD has 4 points in linguistics and a perk, while Action 4 springs for Language Talent and a single related skill at 1 point. This is pretty indicative of a lot of the packages from TCD to Action 4- they ditch perks and they tend to skew skills towards more of an action oriented game.

Records Falsification from TCD:

Records Falsification

You can fake just about any kind of document: identity cards, ledgers, police reports, and (in a pinch) banknotes. Given the Company’s shadowy existence, this specialty is in great demand. Company ops don’t have to do this sort of work themselves – they can request it from their handlers in advance – but field Agents often run into situations and timelines that render such orders infeasible during an assignment.

Perks: One-Task Wonder (Administration defaults to full IQ when filling in/interpreting forms) [1].

Skills: Accounting (IQ/H) [2]; Computer Operation (IQ/E) [1]; Counterfeiting (IQ/H) (from Forgery) [4]; Electronics Operation (Media) (IQ/A) [2]; Electronics Repair (Media) (IQ/A) [1]; Forgery (IQ/H) [12]; Photography (IQ/A) [2].

 And from Action 4:

 Records Falsification
25 points
You can fake documents of most kinds: identity cards, ledgers, photographs . . . even banknotes, in a pinch. To falsify
digital records, tack on Computer Intrusion (p. 13).
Skills: Accounting (IQ/H) [4]; Administration (IQ/A)
[4]; Computer Operation (IQ/E) [1]; Electronics
Operation (Media) (IQ/A) [4]; Forgery* (IQ/H) [12].
* Counterfeiting (IQ/H) defaults to Forgery-2,
which usually suffices because it rarely arises in
Action. If it’s essential to a character concept, take
it instead of Forgery and use Forgery at its Counterfeiting-2 default.

 Both have a spattering of the same skills, although the point values differ a little between the two. Perhaps the biggest difference are the skills that later get removed with Action 4- Electronics Repair (Media) is completely ditched, as is the perk in favor of putting actual points in Administration. Action 4's specialty just makes more sense than the one in TCD.

So what do we know about Action 4?

• Action 4 has effectively been in development for almost 6 years since the specialty packages concept have been kicking around Kromm's head since around that time (at least)
• Action 4 is sleek, lean, and based off something that works- I used TCD for my Agency 17 game and all of my players ended up with very capable, interesting characters to play. I still suggest using specialties to my players to this day, and I'll likely allow players the choice of choosing between the ones laid out in TCD or Action 4.
• Hell, I still routinely build NPCs off TCD to this day.
• There's new specialties in Action 4 completely left out of TCD, such as Journalist, Bon Vivant, Researcher and Fireman, which expands from purely the espionage roots of TCD into incorporating a wider selection of Action Roles.
• Action 4 takes the default agent template of TCD and breaks it down to a lower point total and then encourages people to select from power-ups which allows for even made tailor-made characters without moving away from Templates.

 I only have a few complaints:

• I would love to see this expanded to non-action genres, although many specialties could easily be converted without much effort.
• Somewhat more realistic specialties would also be fantastic

All in all? Action 4 is a solid product, and one that I bought immediately with full confidence that I would get a great deal of use out of it. I personally feel it is applicable for many campaign styles besides Action alone, and that gives it a great amount of utility. I strongly suggest buying it.

Prohibition Mobsters: Sessions 2 and 3

The players went back to Jack, explaining that Bruno was gone. After a long wait for Sam to get back from rousing Moran's crew into a useless search of the Hudson River for a booze shipment, Jack returned with their new crew member- a WWI vet with an appreciation for heavy weapons.

The hijacking of the booze shipment went more or less without a hitch. Thanks to a third player (still unidentified by the players) chasing down the shipment, the players really only had to clean up after the escort and chase vehicles were done shooting each other to shreds.

After securing the booze, the PCs had a week to stew.

Than Lester Montange, another capo within the Barberini family, had a job. One of the Barberini's drinking establishments/gambling parlors had been tossed by the O'Malley Family, an Irish outfit heavily involved in illicit gambling. Turns out, two Families, the O'Malleys and the Zambitos, have been slugging it out for a few months over who gets the bulk of gambling within NYC.

Some questions to their extended social circles reveals that the O'Malleys were told by Three-Finger Moran that the Barberini place was a Zambito establishment.

Lester tells the crew to hit the O'Malleys.

Despite a failed area knowledge check, the group locates an O'Malley bar, and case the place. It's being watched by three guys- one in a window across the street, and two in a vehicle parked in an alleyway.

Vinnie and Red head inside to get the watchman. Vinnie lockpicks the door, sneaking inside. The crappy floor gives him away, but Vinnie manages to slip around back the guy. Vinnie garrotes him.

The poor shmuck failed his ST roll by 5. Vinnie succeeded his ST+3 (due to using a garrote) check by 8, meaning the guy took 13 cut damage to the neck. I didn't bother making HT checks.

The second guy in the apartment that they didn't know about comes out about this time. Vinnie and Red pummel him down, breaking both of his hands in the process.

With the lookouts out of the way, the crew assembles in the overlook point to plan, when Moran's guys phone in. Sam manages to affect a shitty Irish accent, convincing them that he was posted. They tell him that they're leaving since it's obvious that the Barberinis didn't take the bait.

The PCs immediately prove that assessment wrong by sneaking Red and Sam inside the bar, then having Vinnie and Tony beat up the bouncers and enter with guns blazing. They empty out the bar and begins smashing everything in sight.

To top it off, they make off with a cargo truck with a small shipment of booze the O'Malleys were unloading in the back of the bar.

Overall take:

• One cargo truck
• Small shipment of booze
• Cash register
• One fairly shoddy shotgun

I Killed a PC in the First Session

Last Saturday I started a new campaign centered around Prohibition Mobsters trying to make it big in 1920's NYC. Here's how it went.

• Four PCs- Sam (Played by the same guy who played Virgil in Agency 17), Bruno, Roseanna ("Red"), and Vinnie
• 150pt total
• Red and Vinnie are both playing minors (16 or 17 years old)

The PCs are called into a speakeasy by their local Capo, Jack Bennedetto. Jack works for the Barberini family, and so do the PCs. Jack's learned that the Baker Gang, a smalltime outfit working out of Newark is sending a shipment of booze South around Manhattan to try and avoid having another shipment hijacked going through the heart on NYC.

This, of course, means the players should have an easy time hijacking the very same shipment.

The players pump Jack for details. The Bakers are politically insignificant. They only manufacture booze, they sell to other outfits who ultimately distribute the product. Most families buy from them only when shit hits the fan and their normal supply routes have been compromised.

Sam sets out to get in contact with his brother-in-law, Teddy, an excellent wheelman. He then does some digging, meeting a soldier of the Vespucci family. The Vespuccis have been keenly aware of the trouble that the Baker Gang is having- their last three shipments from them have all been hijacked.

Sam is not pleased to learn it seems to be his nemesis, Jack "Three Finger" Moran who is involved. Moran is Irish, territorial, and feisty. Sam sets up some smoke and mirrors, hoping to convince Moran's gang that the next Baker shipment is going by boat.

Meanwhile, the others decide to scope out Newark. Locating a diner owned as a front by a member of the local criminal elite, they manage to fast-talk their way into getting Bruno a job at a 'rubbing alcohol' plant.

Bruno attempts to so some reconnaissance  while Red and Vinnie are stationed outside, but Bruno is an amateur actor at best, and he arouses suspicion. He's confronted by some armed thugs in the parking lot outside, and is convinced to go back inside.

Bruno is questioned by the boss of the factory, but doesn't break under interrogation. They're convinced he's a cop.

Meanwhile, Vinnie tries to sneak into the factory, even getting into a supply closet via a window, but without any firearms, and outnumbered, he wisely stays out of sight.

Bruno eventually makes a move, attempting to get his armed guard in a headlock. The guard takes aim, just to get socked in the chest. Firing his shotgun twice at Bruno, the guard misses due to the bulk and shock penalties.

Bruno misses on his next attack as the guard dodges and retreats. The guard opens fire again, and Bruno fails his dodge, taking seven shotgun pellets. Bruno is hit in the torso, groin (twice), right arm (twice), the leg, and his hand, for a total of 26 damage, as well as a crippled arm and hand.

Bruno does make his HT checks, but the players taps out knowing that continuing the fight is pointless. More members of the factory are moving in, some drawing firearms.

The session ends with Bruno's body being loaded into the same truck the players think they have to hijack.

Important Lessons:

• Bruno didn't go for an all-out attack while trying to grapple the guard
• Retreating out of close combat to avoid bulk penalties is powerful
• Bruno never should have gone back inside the factory. Range penalties work in your favor when you're running away from people with guns.
• A lot of the PCs invested a great deal in melee brawling skills, a poor decision considering they're operating in the era of the Tommy Gun
• Acting at default, Fast-talk at 12 and Streetwise 11 aren't going to cut it if you're trying to infiltrate an enemy outfit.

Italian Mob Rank/Status

Monster Hunters is ongoing, despite a long (almost month long) break in sessions due to numerous real life things going on. The game's plot is as thick as ever, which has made me increasingly reticent to blog about it since describing what's going on would take ages.

For a new campaign, I'm thinking about Prohibition Era crime- the likes of Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel, and so on. It would involve trying to scrabble up the ladder within the organization, pulling off jobs, fending off other gangs, and inevitably clashing with police.

Associate members of the mob are pretty easy to peg- Rank 0, 2pts (as per Social Engineering pg. 15). This comes with a -2pt Duty to the Family (representing getting asked to do jobs above and beyond the normal criminal endeavors and the cut of profit that gets sent up to the bosses). All PCs would be given this to start.

Rank increases at 2pt/level, with the mob representing a 10pt Patron for Requests for assistance. This is to model individuals like Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel who had clout within the mob without being able to fully capitalize on the Mob's power due to their ethnicity.

Made Men receive Criminal Rank in the family, at 3pts/level, replacing rank that they previously held before. (IE: Rank 3 previously is now Rank 2) The mob represents a 15pt patron for Made Men when making a request for assistance.
Made Men are subject to a -10pt vow:
-Code of Silence (Never talk to Authorities or seek their help)
-No talking about business to non-members
-Cannot fight or kill fellow members without Boss' Permission
-Must pay tribute
-Cannot commit adultery with other family members' wives
And also a -5pt Duty.

Breaking the vow or refusing to accept an order from the boss is punishable by death.

But Made Men enjoy privileges:
-5pt Legal Immunity within Organized Crime Circles. This represents the fact that Made Men are not to be attacked without permission from the Man's boss.
-Reputation 4 (Large Class of People, Criminals: -50%)- 10pts

Soldiers generally have rank 1-3, with a cap of 3. Rank 0 would represent a  member not currently in the good graces of the family.

Capos have rank 4-6.

The Underboss and Consigliere are rank 7.

The Boss/Godfather is rank 8.

The levels for the 2pt rank for non-Italians is roughly similar, with rank 4 meaning that an individual is in responsible for a group of individuals below them, with the size of that group increasing with each level of rank.

Status:
Most Made Men are expected to be Status 1 or 2, with higher ranking Capos (Rank 6 especially) likely edging into Status 3. The Underboss and Consigliere would both be Status 3 or 4, and the Godfather would be Status 4 or 5 (Al Capone). This status is purchased separately from Rank.

Any thoughts or comments are appreciated.

The Endless Legions: Impalers

I ran a combat last session involving Impalers, and while effective at taking on the weakest combatant who was in the fight, they didn't exactly pose a significant threat to the players.

So as I go through introducing you all to the Impaler, I'll likely talk about the failing points they had last session.

Impalers

Impalers are part of the Endless Legions of Hell. Used primarily to crack defenses as shock troops, Impalers are characterized by the black tar that seeps from their bodies constantly. This tar hardens, covering their entire body in a protective shell and forming the claws and spines for which they are named. Impalers can fire spines from their bodies, allowing them to attack at range.

ST: 13        HP: 13         Speed: 7
DX: 15      Will: 13        Move: 7
IQ: 13        Per: 13         Weight: 200lbs
HT: 12       FP: 12          SM: 0

Dodge: 11  Parry: 13     DR: 20 (Ablative)

Traits: Claws (Long Talons); Combat Reflexes; Damage Resistance 20 (Ablative); Regeneration (Extreme, DR Only, Requires Ready)*; Spines Innate Attack (Detailed Below); Spines (Long); Unfazeable
Skills:Innate Attack (Projectile)-16; Karate-18; Wrestling-19;

Claws (18): 1d+2(5) cut or impaling; reach C.
Spines (21): 1d small piercing damage; range 100, Acc 3, RoF 30, Shots N/A, Rcl 1


*Restores 20 DR/second due to scaling effects of having DR 20
 

Impalers originally had only 10 DR. While enough to prevent the less damage heavy characters from immediately cracking through and dealing HP damage to them, Fiona swinging her great axe for 5d+3 had no issue getting through to the gooey center. Increasing this DR to twenty both ensures that two or more attacks will be required to start affecting the Impalers' HP, and that regenerating the shell for a turn is more of a worthwhile investment.

Now, for combat options, Impalers can actually make decent use of Spraying Fire, and Quick Shooting. I decided to give their claws a very high armor divisor to ensure that they could target the most beefy member of the PCs, without needing high damage to punch through DR.

The high RoF of spines is what really makes Impalers dangerous against unarmored targets. On a skill roll of 16, an Impaler is still going to score 5 hits against a target within 2 yards. That requires a margin of success of 4 to completely avoid the attack, which most characters with a dodge at or below ten will fail- consistently. Given that a roll of 10 is hitting with 11 shots, it's clear why armor is important while fighting them.

The Endless Legions: Mayhems

The Endless Legion is the seeming mass of demonic beings that aren't powerful enough to claim their place within the meritocracy that is demonic nobility. A large portion of it is effectively a caste system enforced by which species a demon is- it's a rare imp that survives long enough to overcome the weakness of its birth.

One such species, used as troops by the nobility, are Mayhems, named because of the chaos of limbs and weapons that ensues when they enter a melee.

Mayhems look a great deal like a normal human, at least until they reveal the two extra arms that are generally hidden inside the chest cavity. At this point, it becomes obvious that their spines and arms are elongated (SM +1, arms have SM+2, a reach of C-2), and that they can use all fours arms to attack separately. Once they reveal their arms their height increases to almost seven and a half feet tall.

The spine of a Mayhem is exposed and can be attacked from the front. When the spine is crippled, the upper torso breaks free of the legs, reducing the Mayhem to crawling about on four arms to move around. This effectively gives them the horizontal disadvantage, making it impossible for them to move and hold more than a single weapon at the same time.

 Mayhems frequently use weapons with extended melee reach to enable themselves to attack foes who cannot close in to attack without risking a thicket of sharp death.

Mayhem

ST: 13            HP: 13           Speed: 5.5
DX: 13          Will: 10          Move: 5
IQ: 10            Per: 10           Weight: 200lbs
HT: 9             FP: 9              SM: +1
Dodge: 8        Parry: 10       DR: Only skull and spine

Fright Check: -2 (Experienced monsters hunters quickly acclimate to fighting these)

Claw (14): 1d+1 crushing. Reach C-4.
Grapple (15):  No damage. Gains +2 to ST per extra arm used to choke/strangle, up to +4.
Spear (14):  1d+3 impaling (1d+4 if held by two hands). Reach 1-3 (One-handed), 1-3,4* (two-handed)
Long Spear (14): 1d+3 impaling (1d+4 if held by two hands). Reach 2-4 (One-handed), 1-4,5* (two-handed)
Halberd (14): 2d+10 cut. Reach 2-4,5*.
Halberd (14): 2d+9 imp. Reach 2-4,5* May get stuck.
Halberd (14): 1d+4 imp. Reach 3-5*

Traits: Claws, blunt; Extra Arms 2 (Long 2; Extra-flexible, Switchable); Extra Attack 3; Injury Tolerance (No Vitals; Independent Body Parts (Upper Torso Only; No reattachment)); Night Vision 5; Striking ST 1.
 Feature: Spine can be targeted from the front, different crippled spine effects

Skills:
Brawling-14; Climbing-18; Polearm-14; Spear-14; Wrestling-15

Allowing allies to take advantage of Feint

So, the combat in my game is starting to get slightly stale for my tastes, and I've always been slightly irked by how much better deceptive attack seems compared to a feint- the improved turn economy of deceptive attack is highly desirable.

A feint, done right, draws your opponent into a state of weakness so that you can then smash in their face, taking advantage of it.

My thinking is, a good enough feint might open up a hole in an enemy's defense so glaring that even allies can take advantage.

Proposal:
Any feint that imposes a penalty of -3 or more to a defense roll can be taken advantage of by allies, not just the combatant who originally used feint.