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There’s nothing quite like getting a bunch of bite-sized goodies for next to nothing – and perks fit the bill! A perk is a minor advantage that costs only 1 point. Perks are essentially penny candy for your PC; despite being small and inexpensive, perks are big on flavor. Just a few can make an ordinary character concept extra-ordinary. This is to a great extent because perks are open to interpretation and rarely raise game-balance concerns, which encourages players and GMs alike to cast aside rules and consider personality.

The GM decides how many perks PCs can have. Perks are minor traits, so it probably won't break anything to set no limit. Like quirks, however, perks are characterization aids above all, and a character with scads of them risks coming across as scattered. As well, while the individual perks are reasonably balanced, it’s impossible to check every possible combination – and unlimited access means greater odds of some unanticipated super-combo. A suggested limit, then, is one perk per 25 starting character points, excluding racial perks. This lets the typical 150-point starting PC purchase up to six perks, which seems about right next to five quirks. As always, the GM has the final say.

This work uses three symbols to indicate special properties of perks:

* – The perk is cinematic and only suits larger-than-life heroes. If it affects combat, the GM should restrict it to warriors who have Gunslinger (p. B58), Trained by a Master (p. B93), or Weapon Master (p. B99).

† – The perk requires specialization by advantage, piece of equipment, rule, skill, task, technique, etc., depending on exactly how it works. Read the description and pick a suitable specialty. The perk has no effect outside that one narrow area.

‡ – The perk comes in levels, exactly like an advantage that comes in levels. Each level is effectively its own perk and costs 1 point, but for compactness’ sake, write it on your character sheet only once, along with level and total point cost; e.g., Courtesy Rank 3 [3].

These mundane perks shape your personal appearance. See Exotic Perks for superhuman alternatives, Clothing Shticks for perks that influence how your clothing looks, and Social Perks for perks that affect how others react to your social position rather than your looks.

You have some well-defined set of features in spades. You might be markedly pale or tan, the epitome of blondes or redheads, or a muscleman – or perhaps you have idealized Chinese or Irish or Orcish looks. Whenever you interact with an NPC who fancies those looks – due to a quirk, GM fiat, or a note in a published adventure – you function as one Appearance level higher, cumulative with any specified reaction bonus. For instance, if you’re a Classic Redhead with Average looks, an NPC with the quirk “Prefers redheads (+2 reactions)” would react to you at +2 for his quirk and another +1 because you count as Attractive.

You blend in. Your face is hard to pick out or remember. You get +1 to Shadowing in crowds, while others have -1 to rolls made to recognize you from a lineup or mug shots – or even to recall meeting you! You can’t have both Forgettable Face and Distinctive Features (p. B165). Unnatural Features (p. B22), and Appearance above Attractive or below Unattractive, are likewise off-limits, except when this perk is actually an exotic ability.

You simply look honest, reliable, or generally harmless. This has nothing to do with your reputation among those who know you, or how virtuous you really are! People who don’t know you will tend to pick you as the one to confide in – or not to pick you, if they’re looking for a potential criminal or troublemaker. You won’t be spot-checked by customs agents and the like unless they have another reason to suspect you, or unless they’re truly choosing at random. You have +1 to trained Acting skill for the sole purpose of “acting innocent.”

Regardless of your true ethnicity, race, or sex, your looks never trigger bigoted NPCs’ biases or Intolerance disadvantages (although your words might!). Moreover, if someone like you would normally have a Social Stigma in your setting, you lack that Stigma – and if the Stigma is racial, this perk acts as a small Unusual Background that lets you buy it off at the usual cost.

You must specialize by type of looks. Two common examples:

Androgynous: With minimal effort, you can ensure that you're mistaken for whatever sex is convenient. Above-average Appearance with the Androgynous modifier means you don’t need this perk.

Passing Complexion: Your ethnicity isn’t readily apparent to onlookers.

At the GM’s discretion, this perk is cinematic or even exotic if there's no believable way to explain others mistaking your appearance.

You look great in posed, still photographs. Anyone looking at your picture reacts as if your Appearance were one level higher (if you already have Transcendent looks, you get another +1 to reactions). To look good in moving pictures, buy full-fledged Appearance.

You might have incredibly powerful musculature for your size, be augmented in a manner that doesn't change your appearance, or have ST that simply doesn't align with your body type (for example, being strong enough to pick up a car while still maintaining an actress's figure). Either way, you're Stronger Than You Look. Purely visual attempts to guess your ST are likely to be misleading, although ultra-tech solutions (scanning for bio-enhancements, cybernetic upgrades, superpowers, mystical levels, etc) will still detect your power level normally. A similar perk might be available for other underestimations (Smarter Than They Look, for the underestimated blonde…)

These are minor advantages for veteran warriors, each representing a little extra training, a trick, a social edeg, or access to a cinematic rule. Regardless of the campaign’s limit on perks, it’s recommended that the GM limit fighters to one combat perk per 20 points in combat, military, and/or police skills, and then allow one extra perk per 10 points spent on the skills and techniques of a combative character template, fighting style, or similar abilities package that offers combat perks. Combat-effective perks from other categories – notably Shticks, Skill Perks, and Unusual Background Perks – count as combat perks for this purpose.

Below, an asterisk (*) indicates a cinematic perk that requires Gunslinger (for ranged weapons) or Trained by a Master (for martial arts or melee weapons). Perks with a † require specialization by skill, weapon, etc., as noted. An item marked ‡ might simply be a campaign option that’s free to those with the appropriate cinematic advantage or even to everyone, but in a game where it isn’t universal, it’s a perk; see Cinematic Option.

You’ve practiced using gymnastics to catch enemies off-guard. You may use your Acrobatics skill to feint and may improve the Feint (Acrobatics) technique. The GM may allow similar perks for other noncombat skills: Dancing Feints for Dancing, Sexy Feints for Sex Appeal, and so on.

You’ve learned to kick as a natural extension of flips, jumps, and spins. Roll against Acrobatics-2 to hit with a kick. Kicking techniques can likewise default to Acrobatics. Acrobatic kicks don’t receive Brawling or Karate damage bonuses, however. As with Acrobatic Feints, above, other skills may have related perks; e.g., Dancing Kicks for Dancing.

You’re not restricted by having two hands full of weapons. You can open doors, reload, and so forth without putting anything down. This doesn’t help you fight using a weapon in either hand – take Ambidexterity (p. B39), Dual-Weapon Attack (p. B230), and/or Off-Hand Weapon Training (pp. 16-17) for that. You must specialize by one-handed weapon skill.

You can shoot down incoming projectiles! You must specialize by shooting skill. Your basic Parry is (shooting skill/2) + 3.

Modifiers: -15 for the small target and short time window; +1 for Combat Reflexes or +6 for Enhanced Time Sense; Enhanced Parry (Area Defense), if the GM permits that advantage; full Accuracy, regardless of weapon, if you have Gunslinger; any rapid-fire bonus (you may fire up to your gun’s RoF).

Any success stops the projectile. Any failure doesn’t! This perk is highly cinematic – don’t sweat details like where misses go or the target’s exact SM and speed. However, the GM is free to make rockets and missiles (rather than bullets, daggers, or arrows) easier to hit, or to limit this perk to such targets only.

You’re accustomed to fighting in armor. This perk comes in levels. Each level lets you ignore -1 in encumbrance penalties to attack or parry with Judo, Karate, or a fencing skill. For instance, two levels mean you have no penalty up to Medium encumbrance, -1 at Heavy, and -2 at Extra-Heavy. You must specialize by skill: Armor Familiarity (Judo), Armor Familiarity (Rapier), etc.

You’ve practiced assembly and disassembly drills on a weapon until you can do it in your sleep. Roll against the relevant Armoury or shooting skill specialty to accomplish this in record time: 10 seconds for a handgun, 30 for a long arm (e.g., rifle), or 60 for a support weapon (e.g., rocket launcher). Conditions are unimportant – you can do this upside down, blindfolded, underwater, etc. You also get +2 on rolls for Immediate Action to clear malfunctions. You must specialize by weapon skill. This can specialize by Beam Weapons or Gunner skills as well as by Gun type, for anything man-portable (even if it needs power-armor assistance to carry it). It can also be specialized in Armoury (Battlesuits), although field-stripping a suit of power armor takes at least five minutes even with the perk.

You can shoot machine guns from the hip and fire shoulder-launched missiles while steering a car with the other hand. When wielding a heavy weapon with any Artillery or Gunner skill – or with the GL, LAW, or LMG specialties of Guns – you may ignore any † (two-handed) or M (mounted) note on its ST, and all extra crew requirements, as long as you meet the ST listed for it in the table. This lets you use it one-handed, sans loaders or assistants.

You can ricochet bullets off surfaces to hit a target behind a hostage, around a corner, etc. The DR and HP of the things you’re bouncing shots off aren’t important – what matters is that these objects are convincingly hard. Roll to hit as usual, using the full range along the indirect path to the target, and add -2 per ricochet. You must specialize by shooting skill.

You have trained non-intuitive shooting positions from cover with minimum exposure of your body. See Using Cover for the effects of cover on ordinary shooters, which already assume you’re using cover as effectively as you can. With this perk, you profit from the same cover as if it were one step better (up to heavy; you can’t get total cover), but also suffer the disadvantages! You must specialize by shooting skill.

Examples: To shoot around a corner or other vertical cover, you normally expose both arms, one shoulder, and most of your head, giving medium cover. By placing your support hand against the cover and bracing the weapon on your thumb, you can lean farther behind the barricade, only exposing part of the head, the shooting arm, and the hand of the supporting arm, giving heavy cover.

Lying prone and using the street curb as protection gives you medium cover at best (against an opponent far enough away; otherwise only light cover!). With Barricade Tactics, you know how to get heavy cover by lying on your back and turning the weapon on the side, sighting along the sidewalk top, only exposing part of your head and the shooting arm.

You’ve practiced fighting in a team to perform battle drills like Counterattack or Peeling (see Tactics in Action for more information). To use this, the team leader (who must have this perk!) orders the drill. This requires a Ready maneuver that counts as his form-up action, regardless of what others do. All other team members must choose on their first turn following the order: opt out or opt in. If you opt out, combat continues normally for you; you don’t get the perk’s benefits. If you opt in, you must take a Ready maneuver to get in position, check the positions of your teammates, etc. This is known as “forming up.” If you opt in but lack the perk, make a Soldier-5 or Tactics-3 roll. Success means you form up; failure means you Do Nothing. Next turn you can decide again to opt in or out. Shooters who have formed up may:

• Ignore Hitting the Wrong Target (pp. B389-390) for allies who have formed up. Everybody in the team automatically positions himself to avoid being in the line of fire of other team members.
• Halve the penalty for Firing Through an Occupied Hex (p. B389) to -2, if the occupant has formed up.
• Get one free movement point that can be used only to negate some of the extra cost for changing facing, moving past an ally, or sidestepping or stepping backward to take his place in the formation (see Movement Point Costs, p. B387).
• Opt to turn a Wait maneuver into Move or Move and Attack, allowing faster team members to move after slower ones when that would be convenient. Normally, Wait can only be turned into Attack, Feint, All-Out Attack, or Ready (p. B366)!
• Roll at +2 to spot something of tactical importance (e.g., a threat) if another member of the formed-up team has already noticed it.

Shooters need 20 hours of familiarization (p. B169) for each specific team (infantry squad, SWAT team, police patrol unit, adventurer group, etc.) they train with.

With a flick of the wrist, you can give your bullets a curving trajectory much like that of a spinning bowling ball or cue ball. This allows you to ignore -2 of the total penalty for cover, intervening figures, and target posture (see Target, p. B548). You must specialize by shooting skill. The GM decides whether beams can curve!

You’ve learned a highly developed body of effective bites for close-quarters use. You may roll against Karate to attack with a bite and add its damage bonus to biting damage.

Prerequisites: Weapon Master (specific weapon) and Melee Weapon skill at 18+.

When wielding a weapon covered by your skill, you may treat it as if it were one class better for the purposes of parrying; e.g., “unbalanced” becomes “normal” and “normal” becomes “fencing.” It has no effect on fencing weapons or weapons that cannot parry in the first place, but removes -1 worth of penalties inherent to the weapon, such as those from knives. The GM may allow multiple levels of this perk, giving you a cumulative bonus, but this requires an additional skill level prerequisite of +3 per increase.

For example, two levels this perk would let you wield a scythe like a fencing weapon, but would require Two-Handed Axe/Mace (or Blade!) at 24.

A drawback of Blocking spells (p. B241) is that a wizard can cast only one per turn. You’ve learned to overcome this for one particular spell – much as a warrior can dodge repeatedly and, with difficulty, even parry multiple times. Each use after the first is at a cumulative -5 to skill. You must specialize by Blocking spell.

Having multiple versions of this perk lets you cast several different Blocking spells per turn. Base the penalty on the total number you’ve already cast, regardless of details. For instance, with both Blocking Spell Mastery (Iron Arm) and Blocking Spell Mastery (Ward), you could cast Iron Arm vs. a spear thrust, then Ward at -5 against a Foolishness spell, and then another Iron Arm at -10 to stop an axe blow.

Blocking Spell Mastery has one further benefit. It enables you to choose the All-Out Defense (Increased Defense) maneuver (p. B366) for Blocking spells. This gives +2 to any roll against a Blocking spell for which you know this perk. All other rules for All-Out Defense apply normally.

You have an elongated jaw optimized for trapping prey. You can opt to hold on after you bite; thus, the bite doubles as a grapple. On later turns, you can worry, which counts as an attack but always hits – simply roll biting damage! If your victim’s SM is three or more greater than yours, you can only do this to an extremity (hand, foot, etc.), and the grapple is considered one-handed. If his SM is only one or two larger, you can target anything, and the grapple is treated as two-handed. The same is true if his SM is equal to or smaller than yours, but you can also attempt to pin him while standing! The catch is that foes get +3 to target your protruding snout, allowing them to attack your face (not skull) at only -2.

Once per game session, you may declare that you are using this perk while taking an Aim maneuver. If you do so, instead of the usual benefits of aiming (including those from Gunslinger), you give your target -1 to their active defenses against your aimed attack for every level of this perk. This can be combined with a normal Aim maneuver in consecutive turns after the first spent aiming.

Example: David is using an Acc 5, 5.56mm assault rifle (Champions, p. 62) and has Gunslinger and Bullet With Your Name On It 2. Without aiming, he gets +3 (half his weapon’s Acc) to his attack rolls thanks to Gunslinger. If he aims for one turn, he can either get the full Acc of his weapon as a bonus or give his target -2 to their defenses (using Bullet With Your Name On It). If he aims for two turns, he can get both benefits. Aiming for additional turns allows him to get a total of +6 to hit after three seconds and +7 after four seconds, in addition to the -2 penalty to his target’s defenses.

If the campaign doesn’t generally use Cinematic Knockback (p. B417), being able to produce that effect is a perk. Note that movies are the only place you’ll see this perk in action, because it’s totally unrealistic! Even large-caliber rifles and autocannon can’t push around a human. The “knockback” some people claim to have witnessed is the victim jumping in surprise or staggering from injuries.

You must specialize by shooting skill. Not just any gun will do, though! The weapon must be covered by your specialty and suitably imposing: a 12-gauge, not a runty .410; a .44 Magnum, not a dinky .22.

The alternatives described under Cinematic Combat Rules (p. B417) generally don’t cost points because they’re campaign options: Everybody uses them or nobody does. The GM may wish to allow certain rules that normally aren’t used in the campaign on a PC-by-PC basis, however. Access to each of these is a perk. Suitable choices for individual character abilities are Bulletproof Nudity, Cinematic Knockback, Flesh Wounds, Infinite Ammunition, and TV Action Violence. The GM should require specialization by skill for perks that modify attacks; e.g., Cinematic Knockback.

For detailed examples, see Cinematic Knockback and Infinite Ammunition. However, any perk marked ‡ could work this way.

You’ve integrated limited grappling moves into your Boxing, Brawling, or Karate skill – choose one. Whenever you grapple a standing opponent’s head, neck, or torso (only), use your striking skill for the attack roll. This is rarely worth the point if you already know a grappling skill!

You can use a pole weapon to aid balance and make impressive vaults in combat. To benefit from this perk, you must first take a Ready maneuver to grip your weapon properly. After that, you may either add (Reach - 1) to combat uses of Acrobatics and Jumping, or add Reach to vertical or horizontal Jumping distance – choose each turn. Returning to a fighting grip requires another Ready; learn Form Mastery (below) to make this a free action after a stunt. You must specialize by Reach 2+ pole weapon: Combat Vaulting (Halberd), Combat Vaulting (Long Spear), Combat Vaulting (Quarterstaff), etc.

You may buy two levels of this perk. Combat Vaulting 2 permits one free grip change per turn. You could attack and change to a vaulting grip one turn, then vault and change to a fighting grip the next – or change to a vaulting grip and vault one turn, then change to a fighting grip and attack the next.

In campaigns that pay lip service to legal niceties, it’s usually illegal to carry concealed firearms without suitable Legal Enforcement Powers and/or Rank. People who lack those advantages need a permit for this, which counts as a perk. Optionally, action-movie cops who have Legal Enforcement Powers can obtain a “Heavy Weapons Permit” perk to legitimize assault weapons and explosives for police work!

A Concealed Carry Permit allows a civilian to carry a concealed handgun and use it for legally justified self-defense. Even with a permit, schools, courthouses, airports, private enterprises, etc., may forbid you to have a concealed weapon on their property, either turning you back or hanging onto the gun until you leave. Individuals with suitable social advantages – typically Legal Enforcement Powers or Military Rank – don’t need this perk for equipment used “on the job.”

In a modern society with CR3 for firearms – most U.S. states qualify, including Florida, Nevada, Texas, and Virginia – a Concealed Carry Permit is available to almost any citizen. It’s forbidden to those with Social Stigma (Criminal Record or Minor) or diagnosed with severe psychiatric problems: Paranoia, Split Personality, or anything else that gives -2 or worse to reactions. Many jurisdictions also exclude those known to suffer from other conditions, including Addiction, Alcoholism, and Epilepsy.

Governments with CR4 for guns, such as Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Russia, Switzerland, and some U.S. states (including California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York) have higher requirements – there must usually be a substantiated threat to the applicant’s life. Only high-level politicians, judges, district attorneys, millionaires threatened with kidnapping, and similar people can claim this. Courtesy Rank 1+ or Status 2+ may stand in for the legitimate need. Occupation can play a role – in most societies, licensed hunters are allowed to carry a handgun for protection against dangerous animals or poachers while on hunting grounds, and merchants carrying large sums or dealing in valuables (or guns!) will also often be allowed to carry. Even cabdrivers may apply in some countries! A Concealed Carry Permit in a CR4+ legislation should be modeled with a 3-point Unusual Background instead of a perk.

Some legislations, like Japan and the U.K., but also parts of the U.S. (like Illinois, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.), have CR5 specifically for handguns, making a Concealed Carry Permit impossible. Long arms which aren’t concealable (Bulk -4 or worse) are typically unaffected.

You can use a full-automatic weapon (optionally, even a shotgun!) to cut holes through walls, floors, and ceilings – like a jigsaw through plywood. Each magazine emptied creates an opening big enough to admit one SM 0 person (or two people clinging to each other).

You must specialize by shooting skill. The weapon matters less and need not be one that could actually chew through the target’s DR or HP. In the movies, this perk works fine with everything from 9mm machine pistols to powerful science-fiction assault rifles. Cookie Cutter only allows dramatic exits and entries, though. You can’t use it to bypass armor or the plot – no destroying vault doors in crime stories!

You don’t experience “tunnel vision” under fire and can quickly update your mental picture of the battlefield. When making pop-up attacks (p. B390), you don’t suffer the -2 to hit provided that the target is no further away in yards than your Per plus Acute Vision (if any). This perk is redundant if you have Enhanced Time Sense or Gunslinger.

You’ve learned to catch attackers’ hands and feet using your abdominal muscles (or rolls of fat!). Once per turn, you can attempt a standard unarmed parry against a punch or a kick to your torso, but using your body instead of a limb. Success lets you use a follow-up technique capable of trapping an attacker – e.g., Arm Lock – “hands-free.” This is a cinematic combat version of Hands-Free (p. 16).

You can kick with pointy-toed boots for thrust-1 piercing damage, plus unarmed skill bonuses.

Cinematic: You’re familiar with every make and model of gun within a particular shooting skill specialty. You can pick up any such weapon and fire it with no unfamiliarity penalty (see p. B169). If the Gun! or Shooter! wildcard skill is used in the campaign, this perk becomes superfluous – if you are capable of using all Guns specialties, there’s no need for familiarity with specific makes and models…

Realistic: You're familiar with a wide, but finite, list of different weapons due to your training or expertise - this is typical for spies and special ops soldiers, and a list of 5 to 15 weapons is common, but even several dozen isn't unrealistic - for example, all service weapons within a particular category for your country, as well as a variety of obsolete and foreign weapons; or a broad variety of weapons within a particular category used in an ongoing combat engagement or environment.

This perk is cinematic, but a version that covers a large-but-finite list is realistic for spies and soldiers who receive lavish training. The GM decides what constitutes such training and which models it covers. Alternatively, the GM may see familiarity as fussy and ignore it; in effect, everybody is Cross-Trained for free.

You’re a natural sniper. You can accurately gauge range, windage, thermal effects, and so on, allowing you to attempt Precision Aiming without special equipment. Since you aren’t fooling with ballistics tables, spotting scopes, etc., you may reduce the total time required to claim your Precision Aiming bonus by 10% (round up) after all other calculations. You may buy this perk several times; each level improves your margin by 10% (to a maximum of Deadeye 3, with a 30% reduction).

Immediately after you send an enemy to the ground by tripping him, dealing a major wound, knocking him out, killing him, etc., you may make a “kill face,” pose with your katana in his liver, or the like for a free Intimidation attempt (no need for a Concentrate maneuver). Roll as explained under Uttering Threats. The -5 for combat does apply, but you get +2 for a knockout or +5 for a fatality, plus another +1 if body parts come off!

If you use a weapon loaded with two or more different types of projectiles, you can always fire a type of your choice, as long as there’s still one remaining in the weapon. This is entirely cinematic, of course, as there’s no way the cartridges can rearrange the order in which they are loaded! For extra fun, the GM can demand that, similar to a cinematic martial artist announcing the name of his next maneuver, the PC has to shout out loud which round he’s going to shoot! You must specialize by shooting skill.

You’re talented at fighting dishonestly. You get +1 on success rolls for Dirty Tricks and similar improvised combat deceptions. The GM may extend this bonus to any feint or attack made before combat begins, or the first illegal blow you make under formal tournament conditions, if he feels that it represents a real “sucker punch” rather than a free combat bonus. Unlike most perks, this one comes in three levels: two points give +2 to your opening shot and three points grant +3.

You’re guaranteed to go out with a bang! If the dice sentence you to death but not to instant death (like an execution or a nuclear blast), roll 1d+1 for the number of seconds you get for a dying action (see Dying Actions, p. B423). During this time, you suffer all injury effects except unconsciousness or death, but you can otherwise do whatever you want. Then you die.

You’ve mastered the mythical art of fighting while intoxicated (see pp. B439-440). When you’re tipsy or drunk (p. B428), treat the -1 or -2 to DX as a +1 or +2 bonus in a fight. Penalties to IQ and self-control rolls apply normally!

You can use a single Ready maneuver to draw two items, one with either hand. Specialize by particular left hand/right hand combination; e.g., Dual Ready (Detonator/Bomb) lets you ready an explosive in your right hand and its radio control in your left hand, while Dual Ready (Axe/Pick) lets you ready an axe in your left hand and a pick in your right hand. Dual Ready is redundant for items you know how to Fast-Draw – but not everything allows Fast-Draw.

You have access to firearms that haven’t entered production (see High-Tech and similar sources for introduction dates). In a more realistic campaign, this means prototypes; the GM may limit you to guns a year or two down the road. In a cinematic game, if even one weapon of a given type (e.g., “belt-fed machine guns”) already exists, you can have any gun like that from your TL! You must pay for this hardware with starting money – or, more likely, as Signature Gear. Each broad category of weapons has its own specialty: Early Adopter (Pistols), Early Adopter (Rifles), etc.

Example: In 1969, U.S. Army Special Forces and Navy SEALs in Vietnam had access to a pre-production version of the Colt M203 grenade launcher (High-Tech, p. 142) – even though it wasn’t officially adopted until 1970, and not widely available until 1974.

Prerequisites: Melee Weapon skill at 12+.

Each level of this perk gives you +2 to ST for the purposes of determining if a weapon becomes unready (p. B270) after you attack with it. You must specialize by skill. This perk comes in levels, but each level increases the prerequisite skill required by one. For example, if you had Blade!-16, you could take five levels of this perk, giving you +10 to ST to see if your weapon becomes unready on top of the ST 17 warriors start with!

Prerequisites: Occultism at 14+; either Weapon Master and Weapon Bond or Trained by a Master; plus others (see below).

You’ve created a mystical resonance in or physically applied a specific substance to your weapon, giving it the ability to count as an item The Enemy is vulnerable to. All attacks must be physical; you treat your hands or a melee weapon, and strike your opponent in such a way as to enable the justification for the power-up’s effects. If you’ve smeared wolfsbane on your gloves, then attacking with a dagger or a kick won’t get the enhancement. If you’ve channeled chi into your attacks, any melee blow might suffice, with or without a weapon, gloves, etc.

Each equivalence requires its own perk (and the GM may invent others). The version of this perk for unarmed attacks does not requires Armoury skill.

Dryadic Fusion: These attacks count as wooden weapons. Prerequisite: Armoury (appropriate for weapon) and combat skill 12+.

Touch of Iron: These attacks count as iron weapons. Prerequisite: Armoury (appropriate for weapon) and combat skill 13+.

Silver Soul: These attacks count as silver weapons. Prerequisite: Armoury (appropriate for weapon) and combat skill 14+.

Flame Heart: These attacks count as fire, though damage doesn’t become burning. Prerequisite: Armoury (appropriate for weapon) and combat skill 15+.

Sun Binding: These attacks count as sunlight. Prerequisite: Armoury (appropriate for weapon) and combat skill 16+.

Magical Echo: These attacks count as magical weapons. Prerequisite: Armoury (appropriate for weapon) and combat skill 17+.

Blessed: These attacks count as holy weapons. Prerequisite: Armoury (appropriate for weapon) and combat skill 18+.

Whenever you acquire a new Esoteric Material Bond, you must spend hours equal to the weapon’s weight preparing it in order to utilize this perk. (For unarmed attacks, treat your “weapon” as if it weighed ST/10 lbs.) If you have multiple Esoteric Material Bond perks, each one takes its own amount of time to prepare it. The GM can rule that some perks don’t “stack” on a given weapon; check first before purchasing two or more such perks for the same armament! If you lose the weapon you’re bonded with, you lose the perk as well.

Certain weapons have a built-in skill penalty due to their unusual balance relative to other weapons used with the same skill. You’ve trained enough with such a weapon that you no longer suffer this penalty. You must specialize by weapon; e.g., Exotic Weapon Training (Three-Part Staff) to avoid -1 to Two-Handed Flail skill for the three-part staff (see GURPS Martial Arts). This is a combat form of Exotic Equipment Training (p. 9).

You may declare that a given NPC or small group is someone you did a favor for once and who wants to help you. (The GM may modify or veto choices that don’t make sense.) Roll 3d after using this perk: On 7 or more, it disappears from your character sheet. On 6 or less, you may immediately use unspent character points to buy the person or group as a Contact at the usual cost, minus one. If you intend to do this sort of thing often, consider buying the I Have a Friend power-up (p. 16) instead!

Your fast-draw is really fast. In any Quick Contest of Fast-Draw to see who draws first, add 1 to your margin; e.g., failure by 1 becomes success by 0. This perk also gives you a chance to outdraw a rival who has Enhanced Time Sense: If you beat him by 10+ in the Quick Contest, or roll a critical success and he doesn’t, you win!

You may buy this perk several times. Each level improves your margin by 1. The GM sets the limit, if any – perhaps two levels in a realistic campaign. Specialties match those for Fast-Draw.

Your knowledge of The Enemy gives you an advantage in combat against creatures within your specialty. Choose one knowledge skill listed under Know Thy Enemy (see Enemy Knowledge, p. 6). If your skill is at level 15, the monster’s attack and defense rolls are at -1 against you, because you can predict its behavior. At skill 20, their rolls are at -2.

Monsters with IQ 6+ may roll a Quick Contest of Perception against your skill after their attack misses due to this perk. If they win, they suffer no penalty for the remainder of the combat! Otherwise, you continue to enjoy the bonus, but your opponents may roll again every turn.

You have a move that’s especially deadly against beaten foes. You must specialize by attack: Finishing Move (Brawling Punch), Finishing Move (Neck Snap), Finishing Move (Smallsword Thrust), etc. When you use the chosen attack on someone you have stunned or knocked out in melee combat, add +1 per die of damage.

You’re not limited to the meager effects of buckshot when firing a scattergun – your shotgun blasts actually explode! When shooting at inanimate targets (cars, ground, etc.), each shotshell round acts as a small grenade: Damage becomes 3d cr ex, RoF and Rcl are as for firing slugs, and other stats are unchanged. When shooting directly at people, your shells still deliver shot.

This trait only suits over-the-top campaigns, but it is just a perk – you could achieve comparable results for 0 points by buying exotic ammo. It’s inspired by action movies where heroes without military weapons can blow up things simply because it’s dramatic.

They can’t hit what they can’t see! Whenever you take cover behind anything large enough to hide you, ignore Cover (p. B407) and Overpenetration (p. B408). Lampposts, trees, car doors, stacks of cardboard boxes, sofas, and the ever-popular overturned saloon table will shed enemy bullets like tank armor, regardless of DR and HP. This only works against small arms – and only while you hide. As soon as you expose yourself, the world works normally again.

If you opt to use the turn immediately after one on which you knock down or kill a foe to try any of the gambits under Taunt and Bluster (Dungeons, p. 12), you may execute an impressively bloody flourish that gives +4 to your roll for that task.

Unlike most fighters, you can combine Mighty Blows (p. B357) with All-Out Attack (Strong), improving its damage bonus to the higher of +2 per die or a flat +3. You can also do this with the Committed Attack (Strong) maneuver from GURPS Martial Arts, raising its damage bonus to the better of +1 per die or a flat +2. Either use costs 1 FP per attack.

Like Flourish, but faster: At the end of any turn on which you knock down or kill an enemy, you may attempt one of the ploys under Taunt and Bluster (Dungeons, p. 12) as a free action. You get no special bonus.

When using a weapon that works with multiple skills, you must normally specify the skill you’re using once, at the start of your turn. You’ve practiced fluid shifts between forms and can change skills repeatedly, during your turn. For instance, you could start your turn using a spear with the Staff skill, switch to the Spear skill to attack, and then return to Staff for parrying. You must pecialize by weapon: Form Mastery (Naginata), Form Mastery (Spear), etc.

Night vision goggles severely restrict the wearer’s vision (see Night Vision Equipment, pp. 19-20). While nothing can be done about Colorblindness due to the monochromatic black-and-green images, practice can offset other drawbacks. Your ranged attacks are at -2 (instead of -3), and you instinctively scan from left to right in a box-shaped pattern, which negates No Peripheral Vision completely.

Switching between one- and two-handed grips, or a regular grip and the Defensive Grip in GURPS Martial Arts, usually takes a Ready maneuver. You’ve practiced until this has become second nature. You can do either grip change (or both) as a free action once on your turn, before or after your maneuver. For instance, you could make a one-handed katana cut and end your turn in a two-handed Defensive Grip. Next turn, you could shift to a regular two-handed grip and attack. You must specialize by weapon; e.g., Grip Mastery (Katana).

If using a firearm that requires two hands to cock, this lets you cock the weapon as usual but end your turn with a hand free (e.g., to parry or Fast-Draw a pistol). You must specialize by shooting skill; Grip Mastery (Pistol) and Grip Mastery (SMG) are popular.

You know a body of tactics for use when you’re lying face-up, lying face-down, or crawling and your opponent is also in any of those postures. In that situation only, you get +1 in all grappling Contests – pins, chokes, attempts to break free, etc. If your foe knows Ground Guard, too, your bonuses cancel out.

You have a sixth sense about guns pointed at you. You must specialize by shooting skill. Whenever somebody has you in the sights of a gun used with that skill and you can see him, make a Per-based skill roll. Success lets you know whether his gun is loaded and functional, or whether it's jammed, safetied, or otherwise can't shoot you. You can also use this perk to detect the status of a weapon carried by any ally within arm's reach.

Some gun Shticks let gunslingers impress an audience. Others have practical uses. All require specialization by skill. Make a skill roll to perform the Shtick without dropping or accidentally discharging the firearm. A few examples:

Next Time, It’s Your Head*: You’re adept at intimidating rivals by shooting at their clothing or minor personal accessories. Make a standard attack at -2 or the penalty for the nearest body part, whichever is more severe. A hit does no damage, but lets you try Intimidation against that foe as a free action, at a bonus equal in size to half the attack penalty, rounded up. Some examples: Severing a belt or a necktie is a torso shot (no penalty), and gives -2 to hit and +1 to Intimidation. Cutting a cigar in half is a face hit, at -5 to hit and +3 to Intimidation. Shooting off a hat would be a skull attack, for -7 to hit and +4 to Intimidation. The GM may also assess your victim minor penalties for being without his belt, hat, etc.

Stone-Cold Killer*: Every shot you fire is an instrument of intimidation! You don’t just shoot enemies – you blast them through windows, blow off their limbs, and produce fountains of gore. On any turn during which you shoot someone and inflict a wounding effect beyond mere injury – crippling, knockdown, death, etc. – make an immediate shooting skill roll. Success lets you try Intimidation against any witnesses as a free action.

Trick Reload: You can reload a gun using a complicated trick. Describe this when you buy the perk; you might drop a magazine and kick it into the magazine well, or toss two shells into the open breech of a double-barreled shotgun. Your Fast-Draw (Ammo) roll doubles as an Influence roll (p. B359) for the purpose of impressing (not intimidating or asking help from) onlookers.

Twirl: You can present a gun butt-first as if to surrender it… and then make a shooting skill roll to ready it instantly, with time left to attack. Failure means you drop or accidentally discharge it. When using a single-action revolver, you can fire it after this move – the spin cocks the hammer! In the Old West, this was called the “Road Agent Spin.” This perk is cinematic for any firearm but a handgun (one-handed weapon with Bulk no worse than -3).

Wall o’ Lead*: You know how to keep heads down by shooting up the scenery! On your turn, state that this is your goal and make any attack or series of attacks that your abilities allow. However, you don’t wound those whom you “hit.” Instead, make a group Intimidation attempt against everyone you would have hit. Apply the penalty for group size for the total number of foes fired on, but add the rapid-fire bonus for all shots fired. For instance, if you spray two RoF 10 machine pistols at 10 mooks and “hit” six men, you get -2 for trying to intimidate 10 people but you also get +4 for RoF 17-24, since your total RoF is 20!

You know the exact state of the gun you’re using. It’s almost as though it speaks to you! You must specialize by shooting skill. Whenever you pick up a gun covered by that skill, you immediately know whether the safety is on, whether it’s jammed, and whether there’s a bullet in the chamber (handy for Russian roulette). You also know how much ammo is left, and of what type, should you not already know that for some reason.

You can fire big freaking guns. Add +1 to your ST for the sole purpose of avoiding penalties for insufficient ST to wield firearms. You may buy this perk twice, for double the benefit, in a realistic campaign – or as many times as the GM is willing to allow in a cinematic game! This ST does count for the purpose of Army of One, and it stacks with levels of Huge Weapons (ST).

You can use weapons that would normally be too large for your SM or ST. There are two specialties:

Huge Weapons (SM): Add +1 to effective SM for the sole purpose of determining what weapons are “oversized” for you.

Huge Weapons (ST): Add +1 to ST for the sole purpose of avoiding penalties for insufficient ST to use weapons. This never affects damage!

You may take either or both twice, for double the benefit. “Big hands” is as likely an explanation as training; thus, this perk isn’t specialized by skill or weapon.

You’ve practiced fighting with everyday items. These weapons might be improvised for others but they’re familiar to you. Ignore skill penalties (only) when wielding them. You must specialize by combat skill. You can learn Improvised Weapons (Brawling) or Improvised Weapons (Karate) to use improvised fist loads effectively.

Use of improvised weapons was widely taught to wartime FCCT students. Specialties include:

• Broadsword and Shortsword: Sticks and light clubs were favorite weapons, including improvised weapons (p. 19) such as an umbrella or a branch “broken off a tree.”
• Garrote: While purpose-made wire garrotes were available to Commandos and agents, students were also trained to substitute a belt, scarf, or toggle rope as a rope garrote (see Martial Arts, p. 224).
• Karate: Trainees were taught how to use a steel helmet (p. 20) with a Targeted Attack (Karate Two-Handed Punch/Neck) or a matchbox (p. 19) with Targeted Attack (Karate Hammer Fist/Jaw).
• Knife: Any small item usable to stab, such as a nail file, trowel, or fountain pen (Martial Arts, p. 224).

You never run out of ammunition, regardless of your weapon’s Shots statistic. This is an extremely unrealistic ability but such a stock feature of gun fu stylists – and indeed most cinematic gunmen – that it’s probably unfair to treat it as anything more than a perk in a cinematic game. It’s easier to tell a story when the characters don’t have to sweat fussy details like acquiring and carrying ammo, counting shots, and reloading!

There are two variants:

Over-the-Top Ammo: This version is the least realistic but also the most common: You truly have infinite ammo! You can go on shooting forever without reloading, and you have no need to carry or even pretend to carry ammunition, much less buy it or worry about it as encumbrance. Gunslingers in Westerns use this option: Every moviegoer knows why a “six-shooter” is called that, but most directors regard the painfully slow reload times for 19th-century weapons as a deadlier threat to drama than the jarring fiction of bottomless revolvers. Cheesy military action movies also use this variant – the worst B movies give even disposable antitank weapons multiple shots.

Quasi-Realistic Ammo: This version adds a veneer of realism. You might carry spare ammo and reload during lulls in the shooting, but you never have to pause to reload in a gunfight. The GM may require you to pay for ammo and magazines – and perhaps limit you to thatmany shots total – but you can still ignore their encumbrance. For example, in Last Man Standing, gunman “John Smith” fills some two dozen magazines and frequently reloads his Colt .45s, but in action, he often fires more shots than the 16 rounds his two pistols could hold – and he doesn’t seem to be carrying all those magazines! Those magazine-filling scenes, however, help the viewer suspend disbelief.

The GM decides what version to use, and he may wish to make it a campaign option.

You can intuitively tell what’s wrong with certain machines or systems. Halve all haste penalties (p. B346), round down, when diagnosing a problem (only); this lets you make an instant diagnosis at only -5 to skill! When you take this perk, you must specialize in Armoury, Electronics Repair, or Mechanic – for example, Insider Glance (Mechanic) would affect the use of all Mechanic specialties.

You can maintain one personal weapon without needing the Armoury skill. You must specialize by gun, which is often Signature Gear. Roll against IQ instead of Armoury to fix that firearm or install standard accessories. For two or more guns that require a given Armoury specialty, it’s more efficient to spend 2 points for Armoury at IQ level than to buy multiple copies of this perk.

You’ve toughened a body part through exotic exercises. This provides resistance to injury – either a bonus to resist harm from breaks and locks, or DR against strikes – and the right to buy optional abilities. Details depend on the body part, each of which is its own specialty:

Iron Arms: You have +3 to ST and HT rolls to resist injury from Arm Lock, Wrench Arm, and the like. You may optionally purchase DR 1 or 2 (Partial, Arms, -20%; Tough Skin, -40%) [2 or 4] or Striker (Crushing; Limb, Arm, -20%) [4].

Iron Hands‡: Prerequisite: Trained by a Master. You have DR 1 (Partial, Hands, -40%; Tough Skin, -40%) [1]. Once you’ve acquired this perk, you may elect to buy a second level of DR [1] and/or Blunt Claws [3].

Iron Legs: You have +3 to ST and HT rolls to resist injury from Leg Lock, Wrench Leg, and similar techniques, and may optionally acquire DR 1 or 2 (Partial, Legs, -20%; Tough Skin, -40%) [2 or 4].

Iron Neck: You have +3 to ST and HT rolls to resist injury from chokes, strangles, and Neck Snaps, and may optionally buy DR 1 or 2 (Partial, Neck, -50%; Tough Skin, -40%) [1 or 2].

You’re adept at deliberately grazing foes – perhaps to take prisoners or live up to the Pacifism disadvantage. You must specialize by shooting skill.

Before attacking with a suitable weapon, you may declare the maximum injury that you’re willing to inflict with the attack, regardless of damage rolls or number of shots fired. If you hit, find injury as usual and use the lower of that or your stated limit as the actual wound. If the campaign uses Cannon Fodder (p. B417), you can say “0 HP”; this lets you drop mooks without truly harming them, in true comic-book fashion.

This is an example of a Cinematic Option perk. It effectively allows firearms to “pull punches” as described on p. B401.

Prerequisites: Lore!.

Choose a monster type listed under Know Thy Enemy (see Enemy Knowledge, p. 6). When making resistance rolls against abilities used by that type of monster, you can replace an attribute roll with a Lore! roll based on that attribute, if that would be better.

You’re adept at operating your gun’s controls. If manipulating a safety, selector switch, or anything similar normally takes a Ready maneuver, you can do so as a free action by making a successful shooting skill roll at the start of your turn; any failure simply means the task takes its usual turn. If such a task works this way for everyone, you roll at +4. In a cinematic campaign, Lightning Fingers (Pistol) even lets you spin a revolver’s cylinder to the exact chamber you want – useful if the gun is loaded with different ammo types or has one round left, or when you want that chamber to be empty. You must specialize by shooting skill.

This perk is only available to those with fully functional extra arms instead of legs. Foot manipulators aren’t sufficient!

You’ve trained to exploit your unusual physique against opponents who are accustomed to fighting ordinary bipeds. When you punch or use weapons held in your lower arms, opponents parry at -1. This doesn’t work against leg/foot parries or the Jam technique (assuming that the fighters are more or less face to face), or if you and your opponent are fighting inverted with respect to each other (“head to foot”), or against fighters who have extra arms instead of legs themselves – they tend to anticipate such moves instinctively!

Only a few “spacer” styles teach this trick, and finding an instructor can be very difficult. On the bright side, spotting which instructors will not know it can be rather easy.

Sifu Bruce Lee once said, “… unless a human being has three arms and four legs, there can be no different form of fighting. Basically, we have only two hands and two feet.” In 2155, I’m afraid this is something a fighter can no longer safely assume. – Anonymous JKD instructor

Prerequisites: Blade! at 16+.

Pick a particular melee weapon skill not covered by Blade! Some GMs may permit you to choose Cloak, Shield, or Thrown Weapon (any bladed).

All uses of the chosen skill now default to Blade! at full skill. The GM may wish to limit warriors to one or two specialties of Make It Work for balance, or to keep skill lists from expanding outrageously. This may be generalized to other wildcard skills if the GM wishes.

You use only half your vehicle’s speed, where favorable, when assessing speed/range penalties (pp. B469, 550). You may take this perk a second time, in which case vehicle speed doesn’t count at all where unfavorable. You must specialize by shooting skill.

When you fire a weapon for which you have bought the appropriate specialty of this perk, it will spew forth a yard-long flame from the muzzle. This gives a +2 bonus to Intimidation (p. B202). If you’re in close combat (pp. B391-392), the attack also becomes incendiary (inc)! Others are at +3 Vision to spot you firing in the dark. In actual movie-making, this is the result of special blank loadings, which are used to make the guns look more impressive. Sometimes they are even required because otherwise the muzzle flash can’t be seen at all, due to how a camera only captures a limited number of frames.

You’ve trained at fighting on a rocking ship or boat. You may ignore the -2 to attack and -1 to defend for bad footing under those circumstances.

You’re adept at striking from the clinch. You must special- ize by unarmed striking skill. Whenever you’ve grappled a standing opponent’s head, neck, or torso (only), you get +1 to hit when you strike that foe with your skill.

Yours is a video-game world where guns only hurt enemies. Whenever you accidentally hit another PC, a friendly or neutral NPC, or anybody but a genuine opponent, you inflict no injury – even with automatic fire or explosives! Depending on the campaign, knockback may still occur (making friendly explosives a handy means of travel), and deliberate shots may still hurt (if not, then you can even shoot allies to signal them).

You’ve practiced a combat skill enough with your “off” hand that you can ignore the -4 for using that hand (see Handedness, p. B14). This benefits all actions based on that skill – including perks and techniques. You must specialize by skill; any shooting or Fast-Draw skill qualifies, although gun fu practitioners mostly learn it for Fast-Draw (Pistol) and Guns (Pistol).

This perk completely replaces the Off-Hand Weapon Training technique on p. B232. It has nothing to do with Dual-Weapon Attack (p. 27), though – to shoot two guns at full skill, improve that technique or buy Extra Attack.

You can operate a lever- or pump-action long arm one-handed and without changing your grip. The gun’s RoF becomes 1. Roll against the appropriate Guns specialty before each shot. Failure wastes your turn; treat it as a Do Nothing maneuver. Critical failure means an immediate roll on the Critical Miss Table (p. B556)! You must specialize by Guns skill.

In anything but an over-the-top game, this perk works only for lever-action weapons, as these can be spun around the lever loop – which generally requires modification to enlarge it to avoid breaking your fingers! You must specialize by Guns skill.

You have practiced non-combat firearm drills that normally require two hands – especially readying, reloading, and clearing malfunctions (see Immediate Action) – with only one hand; e.g., by tucking the gun in the belt, between the legs, or under the arm, or by pressing it against an immobile object. While others need three times as long as usual for such tasks or can’t do them at all, you can do them and in only twice the time. You must specialize by Guns specialty.

You’re an expert at finding your stuff, or maybe just remarkably organized. Whenever the GM rules that you need more than one Ready maneuver to pull out equipment other than a weapon in combat – typically 1d seconds if in a pocket or 2d seconds from a pack (see p. B383) – halve this and round down.

You’ve practiced coordinating your attacks with a team. This is a modified, animal-oriented version of Teamwork (Martial Arts, p. 52), for surrounding an opponent. Everyone in the pack must take a Concentrate maneuver to “call in,” which communicates their location and intentions. Most packs develop unique calls to hide their intentions; if a target can hear and understand the calls, he gains a +1 to all active defenses against the pack for the duration of the fight. The entire pack then acts at the same point in the combat sequence as its slowest member.

Fighters may transfer the benefits of Feints or Ruses to teammates, and ignore the -2 to attack enemies in close combat with them; however, they cannot brace, parry or block for them. You must specialize by pack; only those in that pack enjoy the benefits.

You can carry a loaded, cocked firearm shoved through your waistband without any risk of accidental discharge – even if you leave the safety off!

Prerequisite: Lame. You’ve developed fighting moves that exploit the lurching gait caused by your Lame disadvantage (p. B141). You suffer the usual effects of Crippled Legs or Missing Legs, but you may sideslip as an alternative to retreating, moving a yard to either side instead of away – for you, staggering off to the side is as effective as retreating! Moreover, your All- Out Attacks are wildly unpredictable and give opponents -1 to defend.

You can roll against Beam Weapons (Pistol) or Guns (Pistol) – you must specialize – to pistol-whip people. Treat this as a punch with brass knuckles. You can also parry melee attacks at (shooting skill/2) + 3, and even use this parry when slapping aside guns in close combat (see p. B376).

You’re adept at applying force precisely when wrestling. Except when rolling to hit or for an active defense, you may opt to shift normally DX-based grappling rolls to ST. Moreover, whenever you make a ST roll that usually enjoys a ST bonus from Sumo Wrestling or Wrestling – e.g., the roll to break free – you may waive your bonus and attempt a ST-based Judo, Sumo Wrestling, or Wrestling roll instead.

Prerequisites: Lore!.

Choose a monster type listed under Know Thy Enemy (see Enemy Knowledge, p. 6). When making attacks against a specific weak spot for a monster of that class, you get your relative skill level in Lore! as a bonus to offset the hit-location penalty if you make a successful Lore! skill roll. Example: A sage with IQ 16 and Lore!-20 has a relative skill level of +4 and Precision Strike (Vampires). A Lore! roll lets the hunter recall that a vampire’s head must be removed to kill them, while the perk offsets up to -5 in hit-location penalties to target that specific area.

Pick a particular skill that covers psychotronic weapons. When using that skill, you may roll against the better of your DX, weapon skill, IQ, IQ-based weapon skill, or Science!. This only applies to uses with the chosen skill and only with psychotronic weapons you’ve made.

By streamlining every motion, you can reload in record time! You must specialize by reloading scheme: Belt (for machine guns), Breechloader (for double-barreled shotguns), Detachable Magazine (for most modern automatics), Internal Magazine (for tube-fed shotguns or clip-loaded pistols), Muzzleloader (for black-powder guns), Swing-Out Revolver (for modern revolvers), etc. See Reloading Your Gun (High-Tech, pp. 86-88) for a full list.

A successful Fast-Draw (Ammo) roll lets you reload as a free action for a detachable magazine, or with a single Ready maneuver if using a charger clip or speedloader. In all other cases, it chops 25% off reload time, after the reduction for Fast-Draw and Double-Loading – round up, but with a minimum savings of one second.

Examples: Reloading a double-barreled breechloading shotgun with ejector takes four Ready maneuvers with Fast-Draw, three with Double-Loading, and two with Quick Reload (if the shooter lacks Double-Loading, it takes three).

Reloading a six-shot loading-gate revolver takes 14 Ready maneuvers with Fast-Draw and 11 with Quick Reload.

Reloading a six-shot swing-out revolver takes nine Ready maneuvers with Fast-Draw, six with Double-Loading, and five with Quick Reload. Employing a speedloader reduces this to four with Fast-Draw and one with Quick Reload!

Reloading a 5-round internal tube magazine gun (with a loading gate) takes eight Ready maneuvers with Fast-Draw, six with Double-Loading, and five with Quick Reload (or six without Double-Loading).

Reloading a 5-round internal box magazine gun takes six Ready maneuvers with Fast-Draw and five with Quick Reload. Using a clip drops this to one.

Reloading a belt-fed weapon takes three Ready maneuvers with Fast-Draw or two with Quick Reload.

While this perk may seem cinematic, world-class competition shooters have demonstrated similar feats on high-speed film, some reloading their pistols in as little as a half-second! Few people have it, though, as it requires an inordinate amount of practice, and is of most use for trick and sport shooters. The GM should enforce the modifiers noted under Fast-Draw, and may apply additional penalties to specific firearms that are more awkward to reload than others – e.g., due to an inconveniently positioned magazine release.

For crossbowmen, this perk means that you have trained at reloading crossbows quickly. You must specialize in Hand-Drawn Crossbow or Goat’s Foot. With Quick Reload (Hand-Drawn Crossbow), a successful Fast-Draw (Arrow) roll reduces the time reload a hand-drawn crossbow by two seconds instead of by one. Combined with Heroic Archer (Crossbow) (p. 23), you can reload in one turn! Quick Reload (Goat’s Foot) may be purchased twice, and reduces loading time by five seconds per level. A crossbowman with Heroic Archer (Crossbow) and Quick Reload 2 (Goat’s Foot) can reload his bow in five seconds, or four with a successful Fast-Draw (Arrow) roll.

Quick Reload (Muzzleloader): This specialty of Quick Reload (above) comes in levels, for 1 point/level. At level 1, a successful Fast-Draw (Ammo) roll reduces your reloading time for any black-powder weapon by 25%. Level 2 cuts it by 50%; level 3, 75%; and level 4 (the maximum) reduces your reloading time to just three seconds!

You’ve practiced holstering or sheathing your weapon quickly. A successful Fast-Draw roll shaves one second off the time needed to stow your weapon, reducing it from two seconds to one in most cases. Specialties match those for Fast-Draw (p. B194): Quick-Sheathe (Knife), Quick-Sheathe (Sword), etc.

Firearms have two unique specialties:

Quick-Sheathe (Long Arm): Unslinging or slinging any long arm requires two Ready maneuvers. A successful Fast-Draw (Long Arm) roll gets the gun out in just one second. This perk lets you roll against Fast-Draw (Long Arm) to sling it in one second as well. (Add a second to all times if the slung position is on the back.)

Quick-Sheathe (Pistol): Getting a handgun into or out of its holster takes one Ready maneuver. A successful Fast-Draw (Pistol) roll draws it as a free action. This perk lets you roll against Fast-Draw (Pistol) to stow it as a free action, too.

You’ve perfected the art of juggling a one-handed weapon between hands. Shifting a weapon to an empty receiving hand normally demands a Ready maneuver, but becomes a free action with this perk. Swapping two weapons between full hands normally takes two Ready maneuvers, but requires just one with Quick-Swap. You can use this perk once per turn, on your turn. (Old West shootists, who often drew two pistols but only fired the one in their dominant hand, called this trick “crossing the border.”) You can use this perk once per turn, on your turn.

You must specialize by one-handed weapon skill: Quick-Swap (Pistol), Quick-Swap (Rapier), etc. If two different weapons are involved, you need this perk for both skills.

You punch or kick so quickly that it’s difficult for opponents to trap your limb. You get +1 on all rolls to avoid such techniques as Arm Lock and Leg Grapple when they follow an enemy parry. You must specialize in Rapid Retraction (Punches) or Rapid Retraction (Kicks). The GM may allow Rapid Retraction (Bites) for nonhumans.

You can hold a shuriken, straight razor, or tiny knife between your toes while kicking barefoot, enabling your kick to inflict thrust-1 cutting damage, plus bonuses for unarmed combat skill. A special variant is available if you have High- Heeled Heroine (p. 14):

High-Heeled Hurt*: Prerequisite: High-Heeled Heroine. You can kick with high-heeled footwear, dealing thrust-1 large piercing damage, plus unarmed skill bonuses.

Changing Reach with certain long weapons covered by the Kusari, Polearm, Spear, Two-Handed Axe/Mace, Two-Handed Flail, or Whip skill requires a Ready maneuver. You’ve prac- ticed until this has become second nature. You can change Reach as a free action once on your turn, before or after your maneuver. You must specialize by weapon; e.g., Reach Mastery (Glaive).

Whenever you shoot, you can opt to let your weapon to blast you straight back. This is Cinematic Knockback in reverse: Apply any knockback for your damage roll to yourself. This movement is in addition to anything allowed by your maneuver. Without Gunslinger, you’re at -2 to DX rolls, can’t retreat, and can’t use Acrobatic Dodge – just as for a Move and Attack. With Gunslinger, this is free, unpenalized movement!

One of your senses is less prone to overloading, much as if you had a weaker version of Protected Sense. You must specialize by sense. For instance:

Robust Hearing: You may ignore -1 in Hearing penalties due to noise and get +1 to HT rolls to resist deafening effects (gun shots, flash-bang grenades, etc.). Robust Vision: You may ignore -1 in Vision penalties due to bright light and get +1 to HT rolls to resist dazzling effects (muzzle flashes, flash-bang grenades, etc.).

You have practiced shooting cleanly through a rope; for example, to save a man from being hanged or to shoot down a chandelier. In reality, this is very difficult, not only because of the size of the target (SM -13 or worse), but also due to rope being Unliving (p. B380) and piercing attacks doing little damage because of that. This perk lets any hit with a bullet cut a rope, regardless of such details as damage, DR, and HP. Range and size modifiers apply as usual!

You’re adept at protecting less-capable or exposed allies. You can sacrifice a parry defense to parry an attack on an ally standing beside you within your weapon’s Reach. You must specialize by melee combat skill.

Prerequisites: Lore!.

Your words of wisdom are particularly helpful to your fellow hunters. Choose one knowledge skill listed under Know Thy Enemy (see Enemy Knowledge, p. 6). When you use that trait as a complementary skill to aid a teammate’s actions, instead of the usual bonus, the teammate gets half of your margin of success (round down, minimum 1). On a critical success, add your full margin of success to the teammate’s roll!

This perk models the common myth that a shotgun blast spreads enough to wound multiple targets, especially at close range. When you fire a shotgun loaded with multiple-projectile rounds (shot or flechettes, not beanbag, slug, etc.), you may use Spraying Fire (p. B409) just as if you had a full-automatic weapon. Multiply out RoF – e.g., RoF 3×9 behaves like RoF 27 – but keep Rcl fixed at 1 for all targets.

You can make your fighting moves more effective by shouting out their names before executing them: “Dragon’s Claw,” “Eagle’s Beak,” etc. Doing so before an attack gives your foe -1 to defend against it, while doing this before an active defense gives you +1 to defend. If attacker and defender both do this, the modifiers cancel out. You may use each Secret Style perk just once per battle.

You may use this power-up a number of times per game session equal to its level. It allows you to declare that one of your bullets has one of the payload options listed under Special Ammo (Champions, p. 63).

You’ve drilled extensively at fighting from behind a shield wall. You can sacrifice your block defense to block an attack on an ally standing beside you. Furthermore, you may ignore the -2 to attack when holding a large shield (p. B547).

You’ve trained at using a melee weapon to press and over- bear the enemy. Whenever you make an armed shove or slam – whether a shield rush (p. B372) or one of the long-weapon options in GURPS Martial Arts – add a damage bonus similar that which Sumo Wrestling gives unarmed shoves and slams: +1 per die at skill DX+1, or +2 per die at DX+2 or better. You must specialize by Melee Weapon skill.

You can add a silencer to any weapon for which you have bought the appropriate specialty of this perk (following the usual Guns specialties). Silencer (Pistol) is probably most common. In keeping with traditional movie conventions, the weapon does not need to be prepared for attachment! You can also silence ordinary revolvers or other firearms that are realistically unsuitable for sound suppression. You still have to buy the suppressor as usual. However, its Hearing penalty is doubled as per the Cinematic Silencers rules (High-Tech, p. 159).

You’re trained to hit a semi-exposed target by bouncing the bullet down a wall or under a vehicle he’s using for cover. The deformed bullet ignores up to -2 for cover, but basic damage is halved and any armor divisor is lost. Less-lethal baton rounds or rubber bullets (High-Tech, pp. 168, 174) allow a skip shot off the ground; this removes the -2 to hit the legs (p. B552) and leaves damage characteristics intact.

Skip-shooting is sometimes used as an emergency technique if a shooter can’t reach a target behind cover, and taught by police agencies for riot control with shotguns or grenade launchers. It works only if the projectile can be skipped along a suitable hard surface, like a concrete wall, asphalt street, or steel bulkhead – not a sandy beach. HP, frangible, and similar projectiles are designed to break up easily, and cannot be skip-shot.

Shooters who try this without the perk suffer the full -2 for cover or the legs. Roll normally, but any result other than a critical success means they just shoot the wall, cover, or ground!

Certain techniques require a specific “setup” before execu- tion. You’ve learned an alternative setup. Your specialty must name one technique and spell out the change. For instance, if you can use Arm Lock after a Karate parry instead of after a Judo parry, you have Special Setup (Karate Parry > Arm Lock).

You’ve learned how best to draw a heavy bow. If you know Bow at DX+1, you can shoot a bow of your ST+1 instead of your ST. Bow at DX+2 or better lets you use a bow of your ST+2. You need a strong bow to see range and damage improvements; there’s no effect when shooting a bow of your ST or less.

Similar perks may exist for weapons that require a mini- mum ST to cock rather than to draw or shoot. For instance:

Crossbow Finesse: You’ve learned to optimize leverage when cocking a crossbow. If you know Crossbow at DX+1, add +1 to ST for the sole purpose of cocking crossbows. If you have it at DX+2 or better, add +2.

Style Familiarity means you’ve studied and/or practiced a fighting style; for the full ramifications, see the Combat Styles section. Paying a point to be familiar with a style gives the following benefits:

• You can acquire the style’s combat perks, learn its cinematic skills (provided that you have Trained by a Master or Weapon Master or Gunslinger as appropriate), improve its techniques whenever you have the points, and in some cases buy “optional traits” that are generally off-limits to PCs. For that one style, Style Familiarity serves as a global Unusual Background perk for all of these things.

• You’re familiar with the style’s culture and don’t suffer the -3 for lack of Cultural Familiarity when using such skills as Connoisseur (Weapons), Games, Savoir-Faire (Dojo), or Teaching to interact with co-stylists.

• You have an implicit understanding with rival combatants who use that style. When delivering a challenge, penalties for lack of Cultural Familiarity never apply.

• You get +3 to Soldier or Tactics to coordinate tactics with fellow stylists.

• In most settings, you have the equivalent of a 1-point Claim to Hospitality with a school or an instructor.

• If your opponent has studied one or more styles and you have Style Familiarity with them all, you may reduce the defense penalty from his feints and Deceptive Attacks by -1; you’re aware of his styles’ tricks and tactics!

• You’re automatically familiar with every weapon your style covers in your setting (GM’s decision). In effect, Style Familiarity includes a limited form of Cross-Trained. Only buy Cross-Trained separately for familiarity with weapons outside your style.

Where styles represent purely military training regimes – such as ARC-P, Military Zero-G, or many instances of Cocerdelmi - or focus primarily on long-range weapons - such as Battledress Training or Remote Sniping – most of these benefits may not amount to much. Military-trained fighters probably share their teachers’ culture anyway; they will have difficulty gaining access to schools on military bases where they don’t belong, and firearms don’t lend themselves to much feinting. In compensation, stylists may automatically be considered to be familiar with any equipment (especially weapons) associated with the style or its schools. They may also receive +3 to Gesture or Soldier skills to coordinate tactics with others trained in the same style.

You’ve studied low, stable stances for fighting on unfavorable ground. This lets you ignore the -2 to attack and -1 to defend for a specific type of bad footing. Specialties include:

Sure-Footed (Ice): Frozen puddles, lakes, etc. – and waxed floors!

Sure-Footed (Sand): Beach or desert.

Sure-Footed (Slippery): Mud, oil, and blood (but not grappling a slippery opponent).

Sure-Footed (Snow): Snow, loose or packed.

Sure-Footed (Uneven): Rocks, corpse piles, etc.

Sure-Footed (Water): Water no more than waist-deep.

The GM may allow others. See, for example, High-Heeled Heroine and Naval Training.

Sure-Footed doesn’t aid DX in general, or Move. For that, buy Terrain Adaptation.

You’ve practiced fighting in a team. To use Teamwork, everyone in the squad must take a Ready maneuver to “form up.” After that, the entire group acts at the same point in the combat sequence as its slowest member. On the team’s collective turn, each member may choose his actions freely. The sole requirement is that after everyone in the original formation has taken his turn, they’re all still adjacent to one another (in adjoining hexes). If anyone gets separated, the team must form up again – with or without the straggler.

A fighter who’s formed-up may:

• Brace a teammate in front of him and within a yard, adding 1/5 (round down) of his ST or HP, as applicable, to his ally’s score when his friend resists a slam (p. B371), executes a shove (p. B372), or suffers knockback (p. B378). This is a free action.

• Feint and transfer the benefits to another teammate who can reach the same foe.

• Ignore the -2 to attack enemies in close combat with teammates (p. B392).

• Sacrifice a parry or a block to defend a teammate behind him from a long weapon or missile that passes within a yard (through his hex).

You must specialize in working with a particular small group (e.g., an adventuring party). Only those with the same specialty can form up and enjoy these benefits.

You’re a master at pimping-out “tactical” gear. All of your equipment is either matte black or camouflage, and sports numerous after-market add-ons. Whenever you wield a weapon or wear armor that you’ve personally customized, you get a bonus to all Influence rolls and reaction rolls made in combat: +1 if you’ve added one to three custom accessories (a paint job counts as one), +2 for four to eight, +3 for nine to 15, and +4 for 16 or more. Useless accessories (like any Tacticool Gadgets) count as two. This perk doesn’t grant you the accessories – you must buy those as usual!

Example: Bubba Lee Jones has the Tacticool perk. He totes a Colt M4A1 carbine (High-Tech, p. 119) to which he has added a twin-drum magazine (High-Tech, p. 155), a reflex sight (High-Tech, p. 156), a night sight (High-Tech, p. 156), a tactical light (High-Tech, p. 156), a targeting laser (High-Tech, p. 156), and a set of accessory rails (High-Tech, p. 161) to actually mount all the stuff. That’s six items, so he gets +2 to his Intimidation roll when he busts through the door with this baby – he calls her “Dita.”

You need only take this perk once, but you only get the single largest bonus for your most-accessorized item, no matter how much “tactical” gear you shlep. (In the example, Bubba would still get +2, not +4, if he brought along Dita’s sexy twin, Rita, and held one in each hand.) This isn’t tied to any specific item, but tweaked-out configurations are personal – the bonus isn’t transferable if you lend your friends your kit, and another user’s hardware never gives you a bonus.

You’re adept at getting your weapon back into action. If a malfunction occurs, you can attempt Immediate Action as a free action on any later turn. You must specialize by shooting skill, and you have to be familiar with the specific weapon to use this perk.

You can see the paths of your bullets as they speed toward their target! Whenever you fire more than one shot at a target per turn, you get a noncumulative +1 to skill.

This becomes a realistic perk for experienced shooters (with Acute Vision and Guns at DX+2 or better)!

A Trademark Move is a prescription for a full turn’s worth of combat actions. Write down every detail when you buy it; e.g., “All-Out Attack (Strong) using Broadsword, for 2d+3 cutting, thrown as a Rapid Strike with a chop to the neck, at skill 13, followed by a Deceptive slash at the torso giving -2 defenses, at skill 14.” Damage and attack rolls can improve with ST, DX, and skill, but all weapons, maneuvers, combat options, and hit locations remain fixed. In return for committing a point to such a specific move, you’re at +1 on all skill rolls made to execute it exactly as written – no substitutions.

A Trademark Move must be distinctive – no “Attack with Broadsword to torso.” The GM is free to forbid one that isn’t! A Trademark Move can also be a Finishing Move (above).

You can pull off difficult noncombat shooting tricks that allow you to perform in a gun show, a circus, or a similar event. Make a skill roll at -4 whenever you attempt a trick. You must specialize both by shooting skill and by a general class of tricks, for example:

Aerial Target Shooter: You can shoot glass marbles, coins, etc. thrown into the air. Some targets will be destroyed; others, neatly holed. Alternatively, you can put six shots into a can before it drops down, or split flying playing cards lengthwise. This also requires a successful Throwing roll by either yourself or your assistant.

Chicago Typewriter: You can use bullet holes (or laser beam marks) to “write” or “draw” on a wall, car door, etc. How fast you can write depends on RoF. You need on average eight shots per letter. However, shotguns, mechanical machine guns, miniguns, grenade launchers, and other inaccurate weaponry will only work in a cinematic campaign.

Tack Driver: You can hit a nail with a bullet, driving it into the wood. Alternatively, you can shoot out all markings on a playing card pinned to a target, or shoot off the cigarette from the mouth of an assistant.

Trick Shooter only works in noncombat situations, on inanimate objects. Maximum range is Per, plus any levels of Acute ision, in yards. Penalties for restricted vision are doubled.

You’re trained to work with another warrior to move and fight while wielding a large spear or polearm, which must have Reach 3+. Once you and your companion have both taken a Ready maneuver to grasp the weapon, you move and choose maneuvers as a single fighter with these stats:

• The worse Basic Speed, Move, and Spear skill of the pair.

• Effective ST equal to the stronger man’s ST plus 1/5 the other man’s ST, rounded down, for the purpose of damage, resisting knockback, etc.

• Effective HP equal to the higher HP score of the pair plus 1/5 the other man’s HP, rounded down, for the purpose of making or resisting slams.

The front man can let go with one hand as a free action, if necessary. He can even draw a one-handed weapon and fight at full skill with that weapon – although the team still moves as a single fighter with the lower Basic Speed and Move, and the pike cannot be used to attack during this time. To resume pike use, the front man must take another Ready maneuver. If either fighter gets separated, he must take a new Ready maneuver to get back on the pike; until then, he’s fighting individually while his partner drags the giant spear.

If either fighter lacks this perk, the team cannot combine ST or HP, but still uses the worse Basic Speed and Move, and fights at the lower Spear skill, -2!

You’ve adapted armed parrying motions to the empty hand. This lets you use a Melee Weapon parry – unmodified by a weapon’s Parry stat – as your unarmed parry. You’re at -3 against non-thrusting weapons and risk hand injury if you fail; see Parrying Unarmed (p. B376). You must specialize by Melee Weapon skill; Unarmed Parry (Rapier) is most common, and used while wearing a mail glove. If you also want to strike, learn Boxing, Brawling, or Karate instead.

You have practiced shooting a handgun with the grip up, using the ring finger (or even the pinkie) to squeeze the trigger. You can ignore the -2 penalty to Guns (Pistol) that would ordinarily result from holding the weapon wrongly. As you can't see the sights, you can't take Aim or All-Out Attack (Determined) maneuvers – only Attack or Move and Attack.

Upside-Down Shooting is today more at home with cinematic shooters, but it was developed to deal with a specific tactical problem – that you have to draw your handgun from the belt or a cross-draw or hip holster with the off-hand (because the opposite hand is otherwise engaged or out of commission). In such a case, it is faster to use Upside-Down Shooting than to try to reverse the weapon first (the latter gives a -2 Fast-Draw penalty; the former gives no penalty). Don’t forget to match this with Ambidexterity or Off-Hand Weapon Training, or you will also suffer the -4 penalty for using the off-hand.

No matter how many guns you carry, their weight never counts as encumbrance. Moreover, you need not concern yourself with the practicalities of how and where you carry them all. The weapons are still there, though – get Gizmos for undetectable guns.

You’ve adapted the moves used with one group of melee weapons to another class of weapons. This lets you wield the weapons covered by one weapon skill using a different skill and its techniques, with all of the benefits and drawbacks of that skill, provided the replacement skill defaults to the usual one at no worse than -4 and uses the same number of hands. Each adaptation is a separate perk; e.g., Weapon Adaptation (Shortsword to Smallsword) lets you use the Smallsword skill to fight when equipped with a Shortsword weapon – complete with fencing parries, superior retreats, and encumbrance penalties.

In a cinematic campaign, the GM may permit any adaptation, even Knife to Halberd. He might also allow adaptation of Reach C weapons to unarmed skills – e.g., Knife to Karate – complete with unarmed damage bonuses.

Equipment perks grant improved access to gear and/or make specific items or classes of items work better. For perks that reflect built-in equipment, see Accessory (p. 10).

You can obtain gear that’s slightly better than run-of-the-mill items in your world – although still of the prevailing TL. Perhaps you invented the process or bought from a limited production run. You must specialize by narrow category: Better Pistols, Better Powerstones, Better Rapiers, etc. You must acquire the equipment with starting money or as Signature Gear. The GM determines the benefits. Many GURPS supplements offer options to improve the looks, durability, or weight of gear, and the GM may allow a one-step improvement in a single category (but not for quality – good, fine, etc.). For items with introduction dates, like guns in GURPS High-Tech, you might instead have early access to prototypes. Otherwise, the GM may allow stats commensurate with hardware worth 50% more than what you spent.

You can buy one category of gear more cheaply. Explain why: “in” with a dealer, guild membership, belong to a race that favors its own, etc. If you can’t exploit these ties – e.g., you’re buying guns from a Tennessee shop, not Yuri the Russian – you pay full price.

The discount depends on scope: Broad Category (ground vehicles, dwarven goods, guns): 10%. Large Subcategory (cars, dwarven weapons, rifles): 20%. Small Subcategory (sports cars, dwarven blades, sniper rifles): 30%. Specific Class (Italian sports cars, dwarven axes, Russian sniper rifles): 40%.

The GM may allow another 10% off if such purchases are hard to set up (e.g., you must journey to the Pixie Lands). Halve the final discount for items worth more than campaign starting money (e.g., spacecraft).

If both Better and Cheaper Gear would apply, you must choose one per acquisition.

This perk comes in levels. Each instance lets you use one Gizmo (p. B57) per game session – but only to reveal a nearly insignificant item that’s ubiquitous in your setting but that you didn’t say you had. This limits you to things like books of matches, dead rats, packets of gum, pencils, etc.

You own a piece of equipment (e.g., sensor or vehicle) or a kit (tool, medical, etc.) that’s uniquely suited to you. You must acquire it with cash or as Signature Gear. When you use it, you get +1 to the skill associated with that equipment, regardless of the gear’s actual quality. This is cumulative with any bonus inherent to the hardware.

This perk reflects the fact that you’re used to your stuff; in the case of a kit, you might even have assembled the contents. Like Weapon Bond, this isn’t a magical enchantment or spiritual attunement. The equipment simply has the perfect level of comfort, fit, balance, and so on. If the gear is lost or destroyed, the Equipment Bond doesn’t transfer to new hardware – but you can acquire a new Equipment Bond in play. Each Equipment Bond is a 1-point perk. You must pay the usual price for the equipment, but you can acquire it as Signature Gear.

Certain equipment – fancy cameras and musical instruments, experimental jets, etc. – has a built-in skill penalty due to complex controls or unusual balance rather than poor quality. You’ve trained enough that you don’t suffer this penalty. You must specialize by particular piece of hard-to-use gear; e.g., “F-102 jet fighter.” This perk applies whenever you operate any item of that class; it isn’t particular to your personal example. See Exotic Weapon Training for the combat version.

You can maintain something of yours – typically electronics, vehicles, or weapons – without needing formal repair skills. You must specialize by particular item; e.g., “My ’76 Dodge Ram.” Roll against IQ instead of Armoury, Electrician, Electronics Repair, Machinist, or Mechanic to fix or install standard accessories on your equipment. To do custom work or maintain an identical item that isn’t yours, you’ll need actual skills.

This perk is inefficient for two or more pieces of gear that require a single repair skill between them. Such skills are IQ/A, so spending the 2 points on one of them would give IQ level for all purposes.

You’ve learned to compensate for the limitations of a bulky environment suit and may ignore its DX penalties. The Environment Suit skill (p. B192) still sets an upper limit on effective skill – you just don’t suffer extra DX penalties. You must specialize by Environment Suit skill: Suit Familiarity (Diving Suit), Suit Familiarity (Vacc Suit), etc.

Prerequisite: Superhuman abilities.

You have a costume that’s compatible with your superhuman abilities. You won’t damage it by using them, and if your body changes size, form, or substance, it changes with you.

Thanks to personal ties to a gun shop owner, an arms dealer, or a manufacturer, you get a discount on certain gear. You have to be able to contact your supplier to capitalize on this perk. You must specialize by category, which determines the markdown:

All guns, ammo, and accessories: 10%.

Category (e.g., guns, ammo, or accessories): 20%.

Subcategory (e.g., rifles, rifle ammo, or scopes) or Manufacturer (e.g., H&K, Federal, or Bushnell): 30%.

Anything more specific (e.g., H&K submachine guns): 40%.

Halve the discount on items whose base cost exceeds campaign starting money.

You own a weapon that’s uniquely suited to you. Its quality might be no better than normal, but when you use it, you’re at +1 to effective skill and all techniques based on that skill. This isn’t a supernatural attunement, nor does it require a specially modified weapon; it’s a matter of balance, fit to your hand, and intimate familiarity.

You can have a bond to a weapon of any type or quality. The bond changes neither the weapon nor its price. If you lose the weapon, you lose this perk – although you can buy a new Weapon Bond in play. To avoid such fates, buy the weapon as Signature Gear.

This perk is almost universal among gun fu practitioners. Note that many gunmen use sets of weapons – especially paired handguns. To get the above benefits with all of those weapons, buy one perk per weapon.

Individuals with superhuman powers can use perks to rep- resent their powers’ most trivial abilities. Perks defined as part of a power are subject to the power’s limitations but get the benefit of the power’s Talent on any rolls required to use them.

For inspiration, here’s a modest selection of perks for a few powers from GURPS Powers:

Air: Accessory (Vacuum Cleaner), Air Jet, Perfume, and Pressure-Tolerant Lungs.

Animal Control: Call of the Wild, Feathers, Fur, Good with (Animal), Limited Camouflage, Pet, and Scales.

Body Alteration: Compact Frame, Extreme Sexual Dimorphism, Hands-Free, Iron Body Parts, Limited Camouflage, Long Fingers/Thumbs, Natural Pockets, No Visible Damage, Striking Surface, and almost any Appearance perk – any of them Switchable.

Body Control: Acceleration Tolerance, Chi Resistance, Controllable Disadvantage (physical), Cotton Stomach, Focused Fury, Iron Body Parts, Parthenogenesis, Reproductive Control, Rinse, Sanitized Metabolism, and Special Exercises.

Death: Brotherhood (Zombies or similar undead), Carrier, Covenant of Rest, Dramatic Death, Immunity to (Specific Disease or Specific Poison), and Rest in Pieces.

Healing: Medical Accessory perks like First Aid Kit, Hypo, Medical Gear, and Surgical Instruments.

Illusion: Illumination, Limited Camouflage, Perfume, and Appearance perks, possibly made Switchable.

Life: Covenant of Rest, Parthenogenesis, Reproductive Control, and Rest in Pieces.

Light: Illumination, Periscope, and Robust Vision.

Magic: Almost any supernatural perk pertaining to magic.

Sound/Vibration: Accent, Accessory (Stereo System or Ultrasound Scanner), Extended Hearing, Penetrating Voice, and Robust Hearing.

Telepathy: Brotherhood, Controllable Disadvantage (mental), Good with (Social Group), and Influence Shticks.

In this case, Accessory perks don’t represent physical gadgets but the ability to emulate their effects.

In addition, any power that can generate webs or vines might have Climbing Line and Swinging. The Rule of 17 perk fits powers with many resisted abilities. Sartorial Immunity suits powers that generate force fields capable of protecting against fuss and muss. And supers often justify Clothing Shticks and Supersuit via powers.

Exotic perks are subject to the restrictions on exotic advantages (p. B32). Typically, they have one of these explanations:

• Cybernetics, genetic engineering, magical transformation, etc. What’s possible depends on the alterations available in your game world.

• Racial templates for nonhumans, robots, etc. This doesn’t grant general access to exotic perks – just the ones on the template.

• Superhuman powers; see Power Perks (p. 11). See GURPS Bio-Tech and GURPS Supers for other low-cost exotic traits, including 0-point features, further details on these perks, and 2- and 3-point advantages.

Your body incorporates a useful gadget that provides minor benefits not covered by a specific advantage. You might even be an item of the specified type, built on points; e.g., an intelli- gent magical harp would list Accessory (Harp) among its perks. The following Accessories are usually acceptable, pro- vided that you’re big enough to contain (or be) the item:

• Everyday household or office equipment in your setting: Cigarette Lighter, Fan, Flashlight, Laser Pointer, Stereo Sys- tem, Vacuum Cleaner, etc.

• Specialized tool or electronic device of your personal TL or less. Low-tech options are things like Hammer, Pick, and Shovel. High-tech tools are more interesting. Testing and diagnostic instruments like Dosimeter, pH Meter, and Ultrasound Scanner are valid perks. A Hypo perk can carry a single dose of a drug (bought normally). The Mini Tool Kit, Micromanipulators, and Molecular Manipulators perks let you make trivial repairs on items of the appropriate scale, regardless of the skill needed.

• Kit of basic equipment for a single skill of your personal TL: Cleaning Equipment (for Housekeeping), Climbing Line and Grapnel (Climbing), First Aid Kit (First Aid), Lockpicks (Lockpicking), Medical Gear (Physician), Surgical Instruments (Surgery), etc. If the skill requires a specialty, so does your kit. Equipment good enough to grant a skill bonus cannot be an Accessory.

• Computer. This can run the utility software standard for ordinary desktop or smaller computers in your setting – word processor, spreadsheet, e-mail, games, etc. It can’t run software good enough to grant advantages or skill bonuses, or real-time combat aids like targeting programs. The GM may set a Complexity limit. A suggestion is (SM + TL - 5); e.g., a SM 0 person at TL9 could at most implant a Complexity 4 computer.

• Any of the above for others to use: Biomonitor gives medics +2 to skill rolls to treat you; Terminal lets allies use your Accessory (Computer); Video Display enables you to display images received via your Telecommunication advantage (or stored in your mind, if you have Digital Mind); and Wet Bar is great fun, even if refills get expensive!

• Nanotech that exists in your setting and doesn’t grant effects expressible as a full-fledged advantage.

• One-shot weaponry (e.g., a rocket in a finger) that requires repair skills to reload. A reusable, reloadable weapon requires a full-fledged Weapon Mount (p. B53).

• Vehicle component that doesn’t emulate an attack, defense, ranged sensor, or full-featured communicator: Airlock, Headlights, IFF Transponder, Siren, Tow Cable, etc. Many Accessory perks ape other exotic perks; e.g., climbing equipment is Climbing Line (below), a fan is Air Jet (below), flashlights and headlights are Illumination (below), a cigarette lighter is Ignition (below), a mirror is Periscope (p. 11), and a shovel is Burrower (below). The above lists aren’t exhaustive – they’re intended strictly as examples!

You can project a constant stream of air strong enough to scatter dust and extinguish candles at two yards. This might be a respiratory feature, a magical gift, or the result of air powers. It has no combat effect.

You can dig with your body as if equipped with a shovel. See Digging (p. B350) for speed; this is almost certainly slower Tunneling (p. B94).

You can generate a climbing line at will, in the form of a silk thread, spider web, or similar. This gives you improved climb- ing ability (p. B349) and can also be used with Swinging (p. 16). Buy Binding (p. B40) if you want to entangle foes.

Prerequisite: Female. You can carry implanted embryos of certain other species to term. This might only work for closely related species, or it might be more general.

You have exaggerated primary male or secondary female sexual attributes. This gives +1 to Sex Appeal – but also +1 to others’ attempts to identify you, and -1 to Disguise or Shadowing when trying to remain anonymous.

You have feathers. These prevent sunburn and help shed water, eliminating up to -2 in penalties for being wet – notably for Cold (p. B430).

You have fur. This prevents sunburn and serves as an Unusual Background justifying Damage Resistance 1-3 (p. B46), Spines (p. B88), and/or Temperature Tolerance 1-3 (p. B93), depending on the fur. You must buy these other traits separately.

You can produce a steady flow of direct current, not unlike a battery. Your maximum sustained power output in watts equals your Basic Lift in pounds before considering any ST- modifying advantages or enhancements. For short-term exertions, make a ST roll to perform such feats as turning over a car’s engine.

You can produce a small spark that can light candles, fuses, lanterns, tinder, and other Highly Flammable or Super-Flam- mable material (p. B433) with a touch. You can inflict 1 point of burning damage by touch, once per object.

You can emit light from your body. This could be due to light powers, a supernatural nimbus, cool flame, or built-in lamps. This is usually equivalent to a flashlight (a narrow 10- yard beam) or a torch (lights a 2-yard radius) – but for vehicles built as characters, it’s as bright as the headlights standard on a vehicle of that type.

You are totally immune to a single specific disease that exists in the campaign setting. This can occur in low TL settings; Immunity to Plague would be useful at TL4! At high TLs this could be granted by a vaccine, but see Resistant (below) for broader protection

As a realistic trait, this means you’re totally immune to an extremely rare or specific metabolic hazard that DR wouldn’t affect; e.g., Immunity to Gas Narcosis.

As a fantasy trait, you – or your race – are immune to the damaging environmental hazards of one specific locale or narrow type. The operative words here are “specific” and “nar- row”! Not “Immunity to Fire” or “Immunity to Corrosives,” or even “Immunity to Lava” or “Immunity to Acid,” but things like “Immunity to Mount Doom” (if you’re adapted to one spe- cific volcano) or “Immunity to Swamp Acid” (if your world’s fantasy acid swamps don’t harm you).

You’re totally immune to one specific poison – it simply has no effect on you.

Your surface (fur, paint job, skin, etc.) blends in with a particular terrain or vegetation type, giving +2 to Camou- flage and Stealth when posed still and unclad against a suitable backdrop. For instance, a gargoyle with Limited Camouflage (Stone) would get a bonus next to a rock face (and possibly +2 to Acting to “impersonate” statuary!), while a tiger with Limited Camouflage (Jungle) would be hard to see in his wilderness home.

You don’t have Claws (p. B42), but your digits are long enough that when you target the eyes with a barehanded strike or eye gouge, you get the ¥4 wounding modifier for the skull. If you have Talons or Long Talons, you don’t need this perk.

Your body can easily accept foreign tissue transplants, with no roll for rejection required. This is only applicable in TL7+ settings, and only if cloned or synthetic organs are unavailable or are significantly more expensive than other types. Since this is due to an abnormally lax immune system, you may not have HT higher than 12 or Resistant to Disease (but may acquire it through treatments such as Panimmunity).

Humans and other animals which evolved in a gravity field suffer from a slow loss of bone density when they live in microgravity or zero gravity. The bones become fragile as they lose calcium. This can be prevented by vigorous daily exercise or drug treatments. If someone lives in microgravity without taking these precautions for six months, make a HT roll. A failed roll indicates a loss of one point of ST; a critical failure gives Vulnerability (Crushing Attacks 2) [-30]. Genetic engineering may be used to prevent this problem, granting this perk.

Prerequisite: Unkillable.

Regardless of your injuries, you don’t look wounded until you reach -10¥HP. You can be crippled, but your limbs can’t be amputated and your eyes can’t be put out – crippling injury leaves them in place but nonfunctional.

Prerequisite: Female.

You can trigger pregnancy by inducing voluntary hormonal changes via biofeedback, or by taking a pill. The fetus is effectively your clone. This is a perk if you can also use sexual reproduction; it’s 0-point feature if you can only reproduce this way.

Your body generates its own natural scent, which most people find pleasing. You have +1 on reaction rolls where a pleasant smell makes a difference.

You’re able to bend or reflect light, either with a material object (making this perk an Accessory) or using a light-control power, so that you can see over obstacles and around corners. This requires continuous Aim maneuvers, and you can’t see directly in front of you while doing so.

Your lungs and other organs can handle a wider range of atmospheric pressures than an ordinary human’s. Add either thin or dense atmospheres to the range of pressures you can breathe without penalty, and shift the penalties for thinner or denser atmospheres, respectively, by one class; see Atmospheric Pressure (p. B429).

This is strictly a racial perk. You can buy a specific set of exotic and/or supernatural advantages that are allowed but not mandatory for your race, but off-limits for most other races in your setting. For instance, if you belong to a demonic species that’s superficially human but sometimes has Claws, Innate Attacks, Strikers, and/or Teeth, then your race might have “Demonic Gifts.” The GM lists the optional advantages and decides whether you can buy them in play. He might waive this perk for a race whose extra options aren’t all that remarkable – or require one perk per advantage for powerful, rare abilities.

Prerequisite: Female.

This perk comes in two versions:

Fertility Control: You can control your fertility. Adjusting hormone levels takes about a day.

Reabsorption: You can absorb an early fetus back into the womb. Make a Will roll to cancel the pregnancy.

You can moisten the exterior of your body at will, becoming damp enough to negate ongo- ing damage due to Cyclic (pp. B103-104) contact effects. You can extinguish flame if you’re on fire, flush away acid or poi- son, and so on. Each use costs 1 FP that you can only recover if you have access to water; see Dehydration (p. B426).

You’re totally clean. Your body produces minimal, sani- tized waste products, and you never suffer from bad breath, excessive perspiration, or unsightly skin problems. This gives -1 to attempts to track you by scent and +1 to reaction rolls in close confines (cramped spaceships, submarines, eleva- tors, etc.).

You have scales. This prevents sunburn and serves as an Unusual Background for Damage Resistance 1-5 (p. B46), which you must buy separately.

Prerequisite: Damage Resistance 3+ without Flexible, Force Field, or Tough Skin. You have a hard body surface that increases barehanded damage. Your punch counts as having brass knuckles and your kick works as if wearing heavy boots. This gives +1 to damage. If you can’t turn this off, there are no additional effects; if you can switch it off and on, your perk is hidden when not in use but you suffer Bad Grip 3 while using it (such control usually exists for a reason!).

These mundane perks are skill-like – learn them using the rules for skills (pp. B292-294). Where it matters, treat ordinary Cultural Familiarity (p. B23) as a mental perk, too.

Prerequisite: Relevant Language at Broken or better spoken comprehension.

You’ve practiced an accent for a particular Language advantage until it has become second nature. You never have to make the rolls under Accents (p. B24) for this. If your comprehension is Broken or Accented, though, you’ll come across as uneducated, giving -3 or -1, respectively, to impersonate a sophisticated or intellectual individual (but +1 to impersonate a rube!).

You can enter a trance at will. This requires one minute of complete concentration and a successful Will roll, at -1 per additional attempt per hour. This trance gives +2 on rolls to contact spirits, etc. You must make a Will roll to break your trance. If you fail, you can try again every five minutes.

Prerequisite: Animal Empathy.

Your attunement with beasts lets you ignore up to -5 in penalties when you use skills such as Animal Handling on frightened, man-eating, mutant, or wild animals. If there’s a real animal in there, you can treat it more-or-less like a tame one, provided that you have appropriate skills.

A number of physical skills can serve as a focus for attaining trance states. They don’t routinely provide this benefit, but can do so in conjunction with this perk.

You can apply a particular DX-based skill as a spiritual discipline. A successful skill roll grants +2 to your rolls to attain trance, for Acrobatics, Dancing, or a Combat Art skill, or +2 to your partner’s rolls, for Erotic Art (as in tantra or some alchemy variants). You must specialize by skill.

You can inflict one specific mental disadvantage on yourself by making a Will roll, at -1 per additional attempt per hour. Valid options include Callous (benefits Intimidation), Easy to Read (helpful for convincing others you’re telling the truth when you really are), Flashbacks (to fake insanity), and Split Personality (for impersonations that can get past a psych evaluation). Berserk is off-limits – it already includes similar rules of its own.

You can accurately gauge distances within line of sight without using tools. Error is around 5%; where relevant, the GM will secretly roll 2d-7 for the percentage, keeping negative numbers. The only combat effect is that you don’t need a rangefinder to benefit from rules that require one.

You get +3 on success rolls for a specific, lengthy noncombat task – at the cost of -5 to rolls for everything else, much as if you had Single-Minded (p. B85). Focused is only allowed for tasks where both modifiers regularly matter; e.g., Focused Driver might give +3 to Driving but -5 to Area Knowledge and Navigation, and Perception rolls to notice road signs. The GM’s word is final.

You have the Animal Empathy advantage (p. B40) for one specific species – dogs, horses, whatever.

You enjoy the Sensitivity advantage (p. B51) – an IQ-3 roll to sense intent and +1 to Detect Lies and Psychology – when dealing with one specific group: kids (anyone under 12 years of age), old folks (adults over 65), wizards, etc. “Men” and “women” are much too broad for this purpose!

You’re good at finding potential employees. You get +2 to the rolls under Finding a Hireling (p. B517). This is only useful in campaigns where the PCs regularly need to recruit troops, staff their base, etc.

This is like Headhunter, above, but the shoe is on the other foot: you’re an expert at finding work. You get +2 to the rolls under Finding a Job (p. B518). This only matters if the GM makes jobs and income a meaningful part of the campaign.

For Languages (pp. B23-25), spoken comprehension by default specifies one’s ability to speak and understand a tongue. It’s common to be able to understand but not speak a language, however – and rarely, someone can speak by making sounds without knowing their meaning. Either is a perk, writ- ten as, for instance, One-Way Fluency (Understands French) or One-Way Fluency (Speaks French). Effective comprehension is Accented – or Native, if you have Language Talent – and no IQ roll is required.

This works like One-Way Fluency, above, but for written language. For instance, One-Way Literacy (Reads French) would let you read French at the Accented level but not write it, while One-Way Literacy (Writes French) would do just the opposite.

You can withstand physical nuisances with ease; for instance, you could spend hours in a mosquito-infested swamp without scratching or swatting. You may ignore up to -2 in penalties for such distractions on long tasks (at least an hour); e.g., on Stealth rolls when crawling through 100 yards of nettles and biting ants.

A Fright Check normally fails on any roll of 14+, regardless of modified Will; see The Rule of 14 (p. B360). This perk means you only fail on 15+. Will and bonuses (like Fearlessness) must total 14+ for this to be useful, of course!

Some of these mundane perks might be “learnable” via exercises, at the GM’s option.

You get +3 to HT rolls to resist the effects of high acceleration (p. B434).

Your body metabolizes alcohol with remarkable efficiency. You can drink steadily for an indefinite period with no major detrimental effects. Binging affects you as it would anyone else. You get +2 on all HT rolls related to drinking.

You have a non-disadvantageous form of Social Disease (p. B155) where the ailment – choose one – doesn’t visibly afflict you. This lets you undetectably infect others via social contact (see Contagion, p. B443), which can be useful for long-term biological warfare. Short-term, diseases inflicted this way cause nothing worse than itching and scabs; really bad effects take months or years. For a plague speedy and deadly enough for tactical use, buy Innate Attack and add Cyclic.

You’re a natural phone booth-stuffer! You can tuck in limbs and ball yourself up to reduce effective SM by one. Doing so takes 10 seconds – and while you’re crunched up, you can’t do anything besides talk. You get +1 to Escape when the goal is to fit through a narrow space.

You can inflict one specific physical disadvantage on yourself by making a HT roll, at -1 per additional attempt per hour. This must be an easily faked problem: breaking wind at will to get Bad Smell, talking strangely to emulate Disturbing Voice, dislocating your shoulder to simulate the effects of One Arm, and so on. Epilepsy is off-limits – it already includes similar mechanics.

You can fall asleep in all but the worst conditions, and can sleep through most disturbances. You never suffer any ill effects due to the quality of your sleep. You get an IQ roll to notice disturbances and awaken, just like anyone else; success is automatic if you have Combat Reflexes.

Extended Hearing (High) lets you hear – barely – the sounds covered by Ultrahearing (p. B94). Extended Hearing (Low) does the same for Subsonic Hearing (p. B89). To use either, the environment must be silent in the normal audible range and you must make an active Hearing roll at -3. This perk never gives skill bonuses.

You’re totally immune to one specific disease that exists in the campaign setting. At high TLs, vaccines sometimes grant this perk.

Your body can easily accept tissue transplants, cybernetic parts, undead limbs, and so on. You’re exempt from rolls to see whether they “take.” This is only worth the point in a setting where such implants are available to PCs and carry the risk of rejection.

You have overlapping fat rolls, a hollow left by surgery, or an unusually flexible body orifice that enables you to conceal things. This works like one level of Payload (p. B74), with whatever inconveniences the GM deems suit your ability. Some interpretations have the potential to offend, and the GM is free to forbid them – but people have trained their bodies this way.

No matter how much you drink, you will never get a hang- over. This doesn’t mitigate the effects of intoxication – it just eliminates the unpleasant aftereffects.

You can really make yourself heard! In situations where you want to be heard over noise, others get +3 to their Hearing roll. At the GM’s option, you get +1 to Intimidation rolls if you surprise someone by yelling or roaring.

You have +3 to resist one specific poison. You might be able to acquire this through slow acclimatization. This perk is less effective than Immunity to (Specific Poison) (p. 11), but available to anyone.

One of your senses is less prone to overloading, much as if you had a weaker version of Protected Sense (p. B78). You must specialize by sense. For instance:

Robust Hearing: You may ignore -1 in Hearing penalties due to noise and get +1 to HT rolls to resist deafening effects (flash-bang grenades, Thunderclap spells, etc.).

Robust Vision: You may ignore -1 in Vision penalties due to bright light and get +1 to HT rolls to resist dazzling effects (flash-bang grenades, Flash spells, etc.).

You have +3 to resist Seasickness (p. B436) and any similar form of motion sickness.

These represent weak psi abilities or supplement existing ones in some way. Only psis with the abilities or Talent for that power can have them; though none take a power modifier, all are considered part of that power. This means they can be canceled by Anti-Psi, affected by psychotronics, etc., but also that any rolls required to use them get a bonus from the power’s Talent. They do not require their own psionic skills unless the description specifically says so.

When you indulge in one particular drug or closely related family of drugs (choose when buying this perk), the attribute or success penalties are turned into bonuses for the purpose of psi use! This does not affect any other rolls; a shaman with Ecstatic Psi (Peyote) would be at +5 to psi rolls when hallucinating but still at -5 to do anything else.

You do not have to make a skill roll to join a gestalt (pp. 9- 11); merely making physical or telepathic contact is enough.

You don’t have enough psionic ability to show up on Psidar (Psionic Powers pp. 41-42) or do anything useful by yourself… but it is there, nonetheless. You can join a psionic gestalt and contribute FP to any cost incurred. There is no other effect; you do not add a skill or power bonus. You must roll against the better of IQ or Expert Skill (Psionics) to join the gestalt. If you later buy psionic Talent or abilities, the GM may let you “spend” the point from this perk on them. In settings where everyone is a little bit psionic, this may be a ubiquitous 0-point feature instead of a perk.

Other versions of this perk exist for power sources that allow gestalts – e.g., in a world where priests can combine their powers, characters can buy Weak Latency (Divine).

Gaze Into the Abyss: Any psi who tries, and fails, to read your thoughts or emotions will receive only the impression of a deep, soulless void. The first time this happens with a given psi, he must make a Fright Check.

Hostile Dampening: Your innate ability to suppress psionic powers makes you unnerving to psis on a subconscious level. You get +2 to Intimidation and +1 to Interrogation when using them against someone with psionic abilities.

Nonthreatening: Opponents with a psionic version of Danger Sense or Precognition are at -1 to their rolls to get early warnings regarding you or your attacks.

Personal Awareness: You have trained yourself to recognize when your mind or body is acting without your permission. Any mundane (i.e., not psionic or anti-psionic skill) rolls you make for Detecting Psi (pp. 11-12) are at +2.

Simple Defense: Anyone who uses harmful psi on you must make a second skill roll (or Will roll, if better) to avoid a headache (-1 to all DX, IQ, skill, and self-control rolls) for 1d seconds times his margin of failure. Those with High Pain Threshold ignore this; Low Pain Threshold doubles the penalty. Multiple headaches are not cumulative.

Skeptic: Your disbelief makes it harder for others to work psi. Any psi within two yards of you is at -1 to his psionic skill rolls if you are watching him. If five skeptics (i.e., people with this perk) are watching a psi in person (not over a video feed, etc.), he is at -1 to psi skills regardless of distance to the skeptics – not cumulative with the previous penalty. This becomes a -2 penalty with 10 skeptics, a -3 penalty with 20, and so on. A psi in a world where skeptics are common will have to be careful not to attract attention!

Tolerance: You have +3 to resist one specific psionic ability – e.g., Tolerance (Confuse). This is redundant with Psi Static and cumulative with Resistant to Psionics (both p. 26).

Astral Accessory: You have a piece of Signature Gear that you can bring with you when you use Astral Travel. This perk must be bought separately for each item, which must weigh BL lbs. or less.

Astral Awareness: You are always subconsciously aware of astral barriers, even when you are in the real world. You automatically know whenever you are in an area of Screaming (p. 25), within an expanded psionic field, etc.

Near-Death Projection: You can astrally project when you’re dying from a mortal wound (p. B423). If you have Astral Travel, you can use it normally in this circumstance, with no activation time or skill roll. If not, treat yourself as having Astral Travel 1 and a skill of IQ-6 (plus Talent), but you can only project while mortally wounded. If you are successfully stabilized or healed, your duration ends immediately.

Projection Clock: You always know how long you’ve been projecting and exactly how much time you have left on the astral plane, down to the second. The time dilation of the inner plane never throws you off. This is redundant if you have Absolute Timing.

Retractable Cord: When you use Cloaking, you may also hide your silver cord. This prevents others from knowing from which direction you came, and it allows you to impersonate a native.

Subjective Navigator: You never get lost on the inner astral plane, no matter how weird and twisted a path you have to take. This is redundant if you have 3D Spatial Sense, but not if you just have Absolute Direction.

EVP: You can generate “electronic voice phenomena” – electronic signals that microphones pick up as sounds – without actually speaking. This does not let you create sounds you wouldn’t be able to make with your mouth (though the Mimicry advantage (p. B68) and skills (p. B210) can get around this). However, it gives you +2 to Singing when using an electronic microphone (you can “double” yourself) and allows you to speak into a walkie-talkie silently. You must be touching the microphone.

Interface: You can use a computer just by touching it. This only works on computers that normally have some sort of input device. The perk gives you no special hacking ability, but it’s useful if you cannot get to the keyboard – and it looks really cool.

Light Amplification: You can focus light, to remove all darkness penalties in an area with a radius of (10 + current darkness penalty) yards. For example, if the current darkness penalty is -4, you could light up a six-yard radius.

Phreaker: You can touch any phone cable and talk as if there was a phone at that location. Regular charges may still apply! This is readily detectable and makes a lousy bug.

Power Source: You can provide energy for small electronics, as long as they remain in contact with your skin. You can power devices that use Tiny or Extra-Small batteries (or AA power cells) indefinitely. Those that use Small batteries (or A power cells) cost 1 FP per hour per device. Replacing Medium batteries (or B power cells) requires 1 FP per minute per device. You cannot activate larger devices and under no circumstances can you power an energy weapon. See GURPS High-Tech (p. 13) for batteries and GURPS Ultra-Tech (p. 18) for power cells.

Static Control: You can manipulate static electricity within feet (not yards) equal to your Will. This can let you get someone’s attention (but not damage or stun him) with a shock, slowly (about four inches per second) move things that weigh no more than a postage stamp, or damage a computer’s memory if you can see the inside of the case. Roll IQ (plus Talent) to use this perk.

Universal Remote: You can control any device as if you had its remote control in your hand. Of course, this has no effect on devices that don’t use a remote.

Note that Accessory can be used to create many new EK perks, just as it was used for Interface (keyboard/mouse), Light Amplification (lantern), Phreaker (phone), and Universal Remote (remote control).

Card Sharp: You have an uncanny knack for guessing what cards someone is holding. This lets you “pass” a Zener card test with an IQ (plus Talent) roll and gives +1 to Gambling when playing a card game.

Dowsing: You can locate sources of potable, underground water. This requires a forked stick or pendulum and an hour of slowly walking around the area. The GM will make a Per (plus Talent) roll for you, minus normal range penalties to the closest large, underground reservoir. Success only tells you that it’s nearby; you must dowse repeatedly to narrow the location down. Alternatively, the GM can roll once per full day of dowsing. If successful, you have located the water. With GM’s permission, you can take this perk for other substances (e.g., Dowsing (Oil)), but in all cases, it only locates large, underground reserves of the substance – Dowsing (Gold) won’t help you find missing jewelry.

Exposition Sense: When you sit down with the newspaper, radio, or TV to try to find news relevant to your current situation, you will always discover it on the first try – if it exists. Additionally, when receiving communications (memos, voice mail, email, etc.), you can quickly pick the important one(s) out of the junk mail, spam, etc. This useful ability is a mere perk because it is as much a convenience for the GM as it is for the player.

Forecast: Your Meteorology/Weather Sense (p. B209) rolls to predict the weather take half the normal time penalties. If someone is controlling the weather supernaturally, you will realize this on a successful roll, but you will not know whom.

Insider Glance: You can intuitively tell what’s wrong with certain machines or systems. Halve all haste penalties (p. B346) when diagnosing a problem (only); this lets you make an instant diagnosis at only -5 to skill! When you take this perk, you must specialize in Armoury, Electronics Repair, or Mechanic skills – for example, Insider Glance (Mechanic) would affect the use of all Mechanic specialties.

Know-It-All: You can predict things, but only a fraction of a second before they happen (e.g., you could call out the lotto numbers without looking as they’re being drawn on TV). This is mainly useful for impressing people who don’t notice that you’re always a little late with your predictions, but it gives +1 to Driving or Running in a cold-start race (you know when the gun’s about to go off) or to Fast-Draw for classic “high noon” duels.

Visions (Aspected Dream): A weak combination of Visions (Dreams) and (Aspected) (p. 39) – you can get visions while sleeping, but only for one specific aspect. This perk does take a skill (Visions, IQ/Hard) or the GM can roll your IQ-6 default (plus Talent) each night.

Good Neighbor: You bring minor luck to the NPCs around you. Their cars break down less often, they win a little more from lottery tickets, and so on. This gives you a +1 reaction from anyone you’ve lived near or worked with for over six months, as they subconsciously realize the connection.

Karma Bank: Every time you roll a critical failure, you get a “karma point.” You can spend one karma point later, before rolling, for +1 to any skill or damage roll. Every critical success you roll removes one unspent karma point (no effect if you have none). All unspent points are lost at the end of each game session.

Loaded Dice: You can manipulate random number generators (including dice) to make a specific value come up about thrice as often as it should. This impresses parapsychologists and gives you +1 to Gambling when playing games of pure chance (e.g., roulette).

Lucky Break: Once ever, you can move any success roll up one step, where the steps are critical failure, failure, success, and critical success. Then this perk (and the character point spent on it) disappears! This can be cheaper than Influencing Success Rolls (p. B347), but it must be bought in advance and only psis with Probability Alteration abilities or Talent can do so. It can be bought multiple times.

Misfire Master: Weapons in your hand have their Malfunction (p. B407) number increased by 1, with Malf. 18 becoming no Malf. number. Make sure your GM will be using the (optional) Malfunction rules before taking this perk! This does not affect advantages with the Unreliable (Malfunction) limitation.

Moneyclip Magnet: You have a knack for finding loose bills and coin on the street. This lets you support yourself as if you had a job appropriate to your Wealth and TL (p. B517), if you spend 40 hours a week at it.

Shopper’s Blessing: You tend to skip over merchandise destined to spoil or break easily. In the grocery store, you get the best apples in the crate, and in the electronics store or car dealership, you rarely get a lemon. You save 5% on your cost of living due to reduced maintenance and replacement costs. If an NPC is trying to sneak poor merchandise past you in play, the GM should give you +1 to any rolls to notice it, but that’s all – your blessing only goes so far.

Healing Bond: You have a special insight into one person’s body and aura. Your penalties for healing this patient (for difficult diseases or multiple attempts, not for the feats under Getting Tricky, pp. 7-11) are halved; round down. You may buy this perk multiple times for different patients, but not for yourself.

Life Support: With constant concentration, you can keep a mortally wounded patient stabilized (p. B424) until surgery can be performed. If you stop concentrating, he goes back to mortally wounded status (p. B423) immediately. You may stop and reestablish Life Support on a patient multiple times, but he rolls for death once for every 30 cumulative minutes without it – using this perk for a few seconds every 15 minutes won’t guarantee his survival.

Natural Doctor: You can perform medical skills with no equipment at -5 to skill, and with improvised equipment at no penalty.

Pharmaceutical Probe: You can tell if a prescription or over-the-counter drug is expired, contaminated, a placebo, etc., by holding it in your hand. This takes one minute of concentration and a Pharmacy (any) roll, plus Talent, at -4 if you are not familiar with the drug.

Postmortem: With a minute of close examination and a Forensics (plus Talent) roll, you can accurately identify the time and cause of death of any corpse less than two days old. For older corpses, apply a penalty from the Size and Speed/Range Table (p. B550), reading “yards” as “days.”

Psychic Surgery: By making skin-to-skin contact with a patient, you can perform surgery without making incisions. This does not reduce the time required or offset any of the skill penalties, including the -10 (-5 if you have Natural Doctor) for lack of equipment. It guarantees a sterile environment, avoids leaving a bloody mess to clean up, allows for safe surgery on hemophiliacs, and so on. The patient’s recovery time is unchanged.

Soothing Touch: You can relieve someone’s distress with your touch, easing his emotions and pain. This requires constant concentration on your part. While touched, the subject gets +1 on any self-control rolls (for his disadvantages) and on any roll to recover from being stunned.

In addition to the above, many healers have Sanitized Metabolism (p. B101).

Blood Healing: You recover 1 HP or 1 FP (your choice) the first time you touch the body of a living, sapient (IQ 6+) creature that you personally killed or mortally wounded.

Controllable Lifebane: You can choose to emit a lifedraining aura, as for the Lifebane disadvantage (p. B142). This requires a Will roll (plus Talent) to turn on or off, at -1 per additional attempt per hour.

Invigoration: Absorbing ambient psychic energy gives you +1 to HT rolls (but not to HT-based skills) if someone within two yards of you is using a psionic ability. Multiple psis do not give a bigger bonus. You cannot be the source or the target. This is not a psi-detection ability; you will be unaware of the bonus until you fail a HT roll by 1 and the GM informs you that you actually succeeded.

Pleasant Theft: Your vampirism feels good to the victim. You have +1 to use Influence rolls (p. B359) on the subject until he recovers the characteristic you drained. At the GM’s option, any blatant theft – including Steal Life (p. 52) – is an exception to this.

Poison Charm: If you obtain a reaction of Very Good (or better) from a potential victim, they resist your next Psychic Vampirism attack at -2. This penalty fades if their reaction changes before you target them.

Schadenfreude: You can feed on happiness stolen from others. This gives you +2 on any Acting or Fast-Talk roll to convince someone of something that will make him miserable.

Social Vampire: You can steal energy in a social or performance setting. If you are interacting with a group of 20 or more people (e.g., at a party, or performing in front of an audience), you may recover FP as though you were resting – or at twice the usual rate if you are physically resting at the same time. Members of the group, selected randomly, lose the extra FP that you regain. Anyone with mental defenses (e.g., a Mind Shield, the Mind Block or Mental Strength skills, Anti-Psi abilities) is immune.

Note that many psychic vampires have the Honest Face perk (p. B101) as well.

Aerokinesis: You can create and direct a light breeze nearby. Useful for getting attention or staying upwind of game, and gives +1 to resist gas attacks as long as you see them coming.

Chill Factor: You can condense the water vapor in the air into a palm-sized ice cube (suitable for TK Bullet use) or chill a drink (or similar-sized object) as if it had spent 15 minutes in the freezer. Either use takes 2d seconds.

Gecko Grip: In stressful situations, you exert a slight attractive force from your hands, enhancing your ability to grip. This gives you +1 to Climbing and ST rolls to avoid falls or to catch yourself while falling.

Hydrokinesis: You can use your TK Grab on liquid as if it were a solid object, without the need for a container.

Ignition: You can heat your finger up enough to light a cigarette – this does 1 point of burning damage to any object, once per object only.

Small-Scale TK: You can move very small objects very slightly – e.g., you can’t pick up a pen, but you can nudge it to make it roll. You can spin a psi wheel, manipulate candle flames to make them dance and grow or shrink, and so on. Any such use requires constant concentration and an IQ (plus Talent) roll. If you later buy TK Grab, the GM may let you “spend” the point from this perk on it.

Strong Blade: You can psychokinetically reinforce any weapon you’re holding. Your melee weapons are considered one quality level higher for the purpose of Parrying Heavy Weapons (p. B376), and have +2 on any HT rolls to avoid breaking if damaged (see Damage to Objects, p. B483), as long as you’re holding them.

TK Tether: You have a special non-transferable bond with a single piece of equipment with weight no greater than your BL (or your TK Grab BL, if better). If this item is “loose” and within two yards, you can call it to your hand, ready, with a single Ready maneuver. This avoids the need for DX rolls, Change Posture maneuvers, and standing still while you grab it (see Readying Weapons and Other Gear, p. B382). A “loose” item is in no one’s possession – e.g., lying on the ground, hung on a wall rack, being thrown to you by a friend, etc. If you know Fast-Draw for the bonded item, you may roll at -4 to ready it instantly, but failure means it is flung 1d yards in a random direction!

Umbrella: You can protect yourself from rain, snow, etc., as if you were carrying an umbrella.

Avatar: You can project a mental image to accompany your telepathic abilities. For example, when you Telesend to someone, in addition to your voice, he may get a flash of a koi pond with eight fish swimming in a circle. An avatar allows you to be easily and quickly recognized if there is any doubt to your identity, and determines the impression left with the people who don’t know you. You can hide your avatar, and you can change aspects of it, but the fundamental concept remains the same.

Deep Study: You can facilitate the learning process, thanks to your ability to share information directly with another’s brain. If you are studying under a teacher or a student is studying directly under you, in a one-on-one environment, reduce the study time required for any purpose by 10%. However, the teacher or student must knowingly cooperate and be willing for you to overlap minds on a regular basis over an extended period. If he isn’t a close friend, this may require a Very Good reaction or better; many people have a strong sense of privacy.

I Know What You Mean: Your unconscious use of Telepathy helps you communicate in situations where words are of limited use. Your IQ rolls to understand Broken languages (p. B24) are at +2 . . . and if you’re speaking a Broken language, others get the same bonus to understand you! Apply the same bonus (on either side) to Gesture (p. B198) default rolls when you’re communicating with someone via hand signals.

Intimidation Factor: You come across as more powerful than you actually are to anyone reading your mind. Telereceive and similar abilities give accurate information on everything except the power level of your psi abilities, which are inflated by approximately 50%. Success by 3+ reveals the truth.

Ping: You can send a short telepathic message to another person with no information other than who you are and that you’re trying to contact him. If you have Telesend (p. 60), treat your level as one higher for this specific use. Otherwise, this requires an IQ (plus Talent) roll, and it takes the range penalties of your longest-ranged Telepathy ability. For example, if you had Ping and Emotion Sense 3 (p. 58), your roll could take long-distance modifiers.

Synchronize: You may “sync up” with anyone you are in telepathic contact with. This lets you finish each other’s sentences and perform actions in perfect timing, which is useful when you each must do something at precisely the same time. You and he can “form up” for things like coordinated attacks (GURPS Powers, p. 165) and the Teamwork perk (GURPS Martial Arts, p. 52) instantly, without taking a Ready or Wait maneuver.

Tactical Reading: While you are using Telereceive on a foe, instead of reducing penalties from his Feints and Deceptive attacks, you have a flat +1 bonus to defend against all of his attacks.

Bamf: You may choose to have your teleportation make a loud noise (usually by ’porting away an excess amount of air) and/or visual effect, at the point of origin, the point of arrival, or both. This can make a very useful distraction.

Castling: You can make short-range “swaps” with your allies. If you are within one yard of a willing target, and there is no barrier between you, you and he can exchange places instantly. This requires an IQ (plus Talent) roll and costs 1 FP. You both retain your original orientation and do not have to make a Body Sense roll. This counts as your step (p. B368); it cannot be used if you’ve already taken a step and cannot be used in response to an opponent’s actions unless you had taken the Wait maneuver to do so.

Coin Trick: You can teleport objects no larger or heavier than a coin from one hand to the other. This gives +2 to Filch, Pickpocket, or Sleight of Hand rolls when only a single, small object is involved.

Exo-Draw: When you make a Fast-Draw skill roll, you can teleport the weapon straight into your hand. The game effect is to remove any penalties for holster or scabbard, even if the weapon is peace-bonded or the holster is snapped closed and under your jacket. You must specialize; specialties are the same as for Fast-Draw (p. B194). In some circles, this is known as a “BSG Fast-Draw.”

Expulsion: You can remove foreign matter from your body, either by teleporting it out of your system or by leaving it behind when you teleport yourself. (In the former case, it appears on the floor about a yard away.) This requires an IQ (plus Talent) roll. If you fail, you cannot try again. It is a good way to get rid of shrapnel, poison, bad food, drugs, etc. If the matter had an ongoing effect (e.g., damage) that was resisted or could be avoided by an attribute roll, you get another such roll immediately, at a +2 bonus. This perk cannot be used on toxins that have already spread throughout your system (GM’s call – anything at least halfway through its maximum cycles usually qualifies).

Inertia Control: Your experience helps you counter teleportation when attacked. You have +3 to resist any attempt to teleport you against your will.

That Extra Inch: You can instinctively “blink” a thrown object just a little bit closer to your hand. This gives you +2 on any roll to catch something (see Catching, p. B355).

A Shtick is a cool move or slick feature that occasionally gives minor benefits in play. It isn’t exactly physical or mental, and while a flashy Shtick might seem exotic, it could be entirely mundane in a cinematic game. It’s up to the GM whether a given Shtick suits his campaign.

Some heroes, especially superheroes, are able to go adven- turing in the craziest getups without suffering the logical bad effects. Each particular knack for improbable couture is its own Shtick. Any such perk might give +1 to Influence and/or reaction rolls in a social situation where its sudden revelation would impress – or +2 if, in the GM’s opinion, it’s exceptionally dramatic and relevant to the scene.

Examples:

Cloaked*: You can wear a cape, a cloak, or a katana-length trench coat and yet move about unimpeded. This garment never gets tangled in doors or machinery, and foes can’t tug on it in combat. Your perk doesn’t stop you from entangling them in a cloak, but you must buy the Cloak skill (p. B184) to do so. The most suitable setup for a reaction bonus is a dramatic entrance or exit.

High-Heeled Heroine*: You can run, climb, fight, and so on while wearing high heels without suffering any special penalty for bad footing. In effect, you have a form of Sure-Footed. This can give a reaction or Sex Appeal bonus in situations best left to the imagination.

Looks Good in Uniform: This is a highly specialized version of Fashion Sense (p. B21). When wearing your legitimate service uniform (military, police, etc.) for official purposes, others react to you at +1. You can’t dress others or claim a bonus under any other circumstances.

Masked*: You can put on a mask that covers only your eyes and nose – and become unrecognizable! Your best friends won’t believe your two identities are the same person. The GM may allow similar perks that work by putting on or taking off glasses, changing hairstyles, or wearing a wig.

Sartorial Integrity*: Your clothes never get torn or dirty – even after combat, swimming the Nile, etc.

Skintight*: You can wear a costume or clothing under another outfit without bulges and without anything showing, allowing you to perform quick costume changes.

Some warriors practice moves that are mostly for show but aren’t entirely worthless. A few generic examples appear below. Be sure to customize them with nifty names! All require specialization by combat skill.

Flourish: On the turn after you knock down or kill a foe, you may opt to perform an impressive flourish. This takes a full Ready maneuver and requires a skill roll. Success lets you use Intimidation with the maximum +4 for “displays of strength.”

Follow-Through: On any turn during which you knock down or kill an enemy using the chosen skill, make an immediate skill roll. Success lets you try Intimidation (p. B202) against any remaining foes as a free action that turn. A good example here is chiburi: flicking blood off a sword blade, practiced by Japanese swordsmen.

Twirl: Twirling a handgun, sword, or other weapon lets you present it hilt- or butt-first as if to surrender it… and then make a skill roll to ready it instantly, with time left to attack. Failure means dropping the weapon, accidentally discharging a firearm, etc.

You have a trademark pose, stare, or walk that lets you use a specific Influence skill – Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Intimidation, Savoir-Faire, Sex Appeal, or Streetwise – without conversation, contact, or appreciable time. This only works in person (not via phone, telepathy, etc.) and still requires an Influence roll (p. B359), but it enables you to act quickly and silently (thus, Voice modifiers never apply).

Examples:

Convincing Nod: Whenever you need to get into a place where you don’t belong, you can nod as though you recognize those watching (e.g., security guards) to fake your way past. This demands a standard Influence roll with Fast-Talk.

Disarming Smile: In any sticky situation where Diplomacy is a possible solution, you can just smile and shrug by way of an Influence roll.

Fearsome Stare: You can use Intimidation without saying a word: simply cross your arms and glower. This conveniently leaves no evidence of a weapon, recorded threats, bruises…

Gangster Swagger: Your manner of walking is a full-time use of Streetwise. The GM will make a secret Influence roll whenever this might impress low-life enough that they don’t randomly pick you to hassle.

Haughty Sneer: You can make doormen at exclusive hotels, salesmen at expensive shops, bank managers, and so on back off merely by peering down your nose and making an Influence roll with Savoir-Faire (High Society).

Sexy Pose: You can use Sex Appeal simply by thrusting your chest out, cocking your hips, licking your lips, etc. This is useful when you can see but not safely approach your mark; success can convince him to approach you.

Standard Operating Procedure exempts you from having to tell the GM that your PC is doing something that’s second-nature for him. You always get the benefit of the doubt. Things like reloading and refueling “off screen” are valid, but you must have had access to sufficient ammo, fuel, and/or power at some point – and the GM is free to debit your ammo supply or bank account whenever this perk does its magic.

Examples:

Back to the Wall: You always sit with your back to the wall and keep a minimum of one piece of improvised cover (e.g., a table) between you and the exits. This is most useful when you have the Flimsy Cover perk! The GM must warn you when you can’t do all this!

Check the Crowd: Whenever you’re in a crowded area, you’re constantly using skills like Body Language and Observation to look for trouble. The GM will always roll for you if there’s something worth noticing.

Cleaning Bug: You attend to the maintenance of your gun(s) religiously – you frequently and regularly disassemble, clean, and lubricate your weapon, check the magazines, etc. You’ll do that whenever you return from shooting, before doing anything else. Your firearm(s) will never fail you from lack of maintenance (High-Tech, p. 80).

Energizer*: Your battery-operated gear gets fresh cells or a recharge between action scenes.

Full Tank*: Your vehicles are always fully fueled when you arrive at an action scene. If you operate an armed vehicle, it’s also reloaded.

Last Man Out: Whenever there’s any doubt whether you locked the car doors, closed the vault, turned off the stove, etc., there is no doubt – you did it.

Move Under Cover: You always seek out the nearest cover available, even on the move.

Off-Screen Reload*: Your weapons that use ammunition or power cells are reloaded between action scenes. You must have had access to reloads while “off screen”, and the GM is free to debit your ammo supply or bank account whenever you claim this perk’s benefits.

On Alert: You always have full kit packed and ready to go in the event of emergency. This doesn’t mean you react faster (get Combat Reflexes for that) – it just means always being able to scoop up all your gear without wasting valuable time.

Sleep with One Eye Open: When visible movement occurs around you as you sleep, even activity that wouldn’t be loud or startling enough to rouse most people, you’ll awaken on a successful Vision roll. You’ll still be stunned (see p. B393) unless you also have Combat Reflexes!

Room Check: You carefully scan any room you enter for available exits, number of people, potential threats, etc. (In general, use Observation skill to notice points of interest; roll against an appropriate skill like Tactics to put observations to good use.)

Like a Hawk: You keep a close watch on some person or item of interest: a dependent, a buddy, other members of the party, etc. This may help you quickly notice an absence, a change in behavior, etc. With the GM’s permission, the target of your attention can vary (such as “current client” if you are a bodyguard). Keep in mind that a large number of targets or a hard-to-follow target will seriously divert your attention from everything else.

People Watcher: Similar to Like a Hawk, but you watch strangers around you while resting or when otherwise given a chance. This may be out of some academic interest, nefarious intent (spotting “marks” to scam), or just a general love (or fear!) of people.

Position Player: Similar to Like a Hawk, but you pick a certain direction or area to watch. This generally means acting as the rear guard who scans the path behind, the flank guard who watches one side, and so on – even the point-person on the alert for threats ahead, overhead, or underfoot (pick one).

Forager: You keep a constant eye out for some class of item as you travel: herbs, small game, firewood, etc. This may aid passive Scrounging attempts.

Clean Freak: If there’s clean water, you wash. If there’s soap, you use it. And if there was a chance to decontaminate your gear safely, you did it. You’ll always qualify for any small bonus to HT rolls vs. contagion from such measures.

Marching Order: You maintain a predetermined position within a certain group when on the move. This is useful for soldiers on the march – or dungeon raiders creeping down a corridor. (Individual PCs with this SOP will maintain a general position within an unruly group, but overall order may be a mess if all members of the party don’t buy it.)

No Surprises: (Also known as And Stay Down or Check the Bodies.) After a fight (or during, if you have the time), you check whether downed foes are truly down, or tied up, or in whatever state you want them. Given a choice, you never turn your back on a downed foe until you’re sure it’s safe! (This SOP goes well with a cautious attitude… or Bloodlust. Hapless horror story characters, meanwhile, take the opposite action – Never, Ever Check the Body – as an inevitably fatal quirk.)

Loot the Bodies: You work over corpses for coins, gear, or whatever you can steal. Eww. (Come on, you do this anyway; you just don’t have to say it any more.)

Always at Hand: You keep a specified item close at hand, even when sleeping. A handgun under the pillow is a classic example. (The GM can rule on what “close at hand” means; a large item like a shield won’t reasonably always be on your person. If in doubt, call it 1d6 seconds away.)

Ammo Reclaimer: You collect unbroken arrows or other reusable ammo after a fight. (How many can be found in good shape is up to the GM; if nothing seems reasonable, try rolling 1d6 to get 10-60% reclaimable.)

Up to Data: You keep your address books, journals, notebooks, databases, and other information stores up to date, in good condition, and backed up (if computerized).

Dear Diary: You reliably maintain a diary, log, or other record of information, typically adding to it once per day. Give the GM a brief description of the sort of information you keep, and its level of detail. (This could be a copious amount, or even a running stream of note-taking – but serious demands on time and attention may apply.)

Topped Off*: You always keeps some category of item replenished (e.g., drugs and supplies in your medical kit). (This is similar to Energizer, Full Tank, and Off-Screen Reload.)

Equipment Check*: You always keep some category of item checked, repaired, and ready (e.g., your bard keeps his musical instrument tuned, oiled, and ready to play, or your warrior sharpens weapons and checks armor after every fight). (This, too, is akin to the above-mentioned perks.)

Caretaker*: You check, feed, and otherwise care for a pet, mount, etc. at appropriate times (generally at least once per day). (Again, this is in a similar vein to the above-mentioned perks.)

Checklist: You reliably run through a checklist of tasks, typically when changing locations, starting or ending a job shift, or at the end of the day. Examples include a “closing time” round of checks (doors, window, stoves, etc.) for an innkeeper, a final security sweep for a night watchman, or a daily round of trap checking and resetting for a hunter. (This is a minor variation on Last Man Out, more clearly defined as running through a formal or informal list of procedures.)

Leave No Trace: You are careful to erase traces of your presence and activities. This should generally require an SOP for each key action: hiding your tracks while walking, picking up your bullet casings, wiping fingerprints, erasing traces of computer usage, etc. (The result may be penalties on foes to find you through Tracking, Forensics, Criminology, and so on – but keep in mind that effective erasure generally entails considerable time and skills.)

Pickled Piper: Also known as “Brahms and Liszt” (a real term!) or “Dungeon Dean Martin”. You actually do sing or play better when soused (+1 skill instead of a penalty). (This is the performance version of Drunken Fighting, the combat perk that lets you fight better when drunk. Leave some extra room in that lute case for one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer.)

Theme Song: You’ve composed a signature tune for the adventuring party. Playing it as a buff has the effect of Encouragement (Dungeon Fantasy: Dungeons p. 11). Give the bard’s Musical Instrument or Singing roll a +1 for every player (bard player included) who sings or hums it!

Stay Tuned: You always keeps your instruments in top condition (repaired, tuned, oiled, de-slimed, etc.). This is simply Equipment Check, a perk from the Standard Operating Procedures list above, renamed for musicians.

Vocal Range: A leveled perk representing ability to hit unusually high and low notes. Buy up to 4 levels in the high direction for a piercing treble, up to 4 levels in the low direction for a rumbling bass. This has no major game effect, but would make a bard more distinctive, and perhaps let a singer mimic a famous soprano or properly sing the Frog King’s favorite basso march. It could even – GM’s call – act as an enhancement or requisite for an unusual Singing technique or Bard-Song. (If your game is hyper-focused on musical feats, try this instead: Assume a character has a vocal range of (HT or Singing)/4 octaves, centered on some arbitrary pitch. This perk effectively becomes an Average technique, adding to HT or Singing for that calculation.)

Built-in Instrument: Some sort of loud anatomical scraper, chirper, etc.; perfect for Coleopteran bards, if not cricket for other races.

These perks affect defaults, modifiers, and/or techniques for many varieties of skills. Most are legal for combat skills in particular, and count as combat perks in that context. All can be learned in play.

Despite having Social Stigma (Uneducated), you have been able to master one particular “book-learned” skill at adult or possibly advanced levels. This perk especially suits prodigies in such fields as Hobby (Chess), Mathematics, Musical Composition, or Tactics. If you buy off the Social Stigma, this perk loses its value. In compensation, you can reduce the cost to remove the disadvantage by one point per Advanced Learning perk, up to a total of four points saved. Five perks automatically buy off the Social Stigma.

In some TL4 societies – e.g., Renaissance Europe and early Ming China – nascent experimental science exists alongside older natural philosophy. Each Anachronistic Skill perk grants access to one specific scientific skill that isn’t otherwise available until TL5, such as Meteorology, Pharmacy (Synthetic), or Physician. The GM may define variants for other skills or small groups of skills, or even permit Anachronistic Skill in other campaigns where appropriate (bleeding-edge cybernetics development, for example).

You’ve trained a skill to use an attribute other than its usual controlling score. The GM decides what to allow, and the change should make sense. Some guidelines:

DX-based skills with a complex technological aspect can shift to IQ (“Battlesuit based on IQ”), while those that involve fine work or hand-eye coordination can move to Per (“Driving based on Per”).

IQ-based skills for small tools can go over to DX (“Lockpicking based on DX”), those used to find or follow things can move to Per (“Shadowing based on Per”), and those with a supernatural angle can shift to Will (“Ritual Magic based on Will”).

HT-based skills for movement can shift to DX (“Swimming based on DX”), those with a social side can move to IQ (“Sex Appeal based on IQ”), and those for cinematic combat effects or resistance can become Will-based (“Body Control based on Will”).

Will-based skills can generally drift to IQ (“Exorcism based in IQ”), and those with cinematic combat effects or that aid resistance can shift to HT (“Power Blow based on HT”).

Per-based skills involving hand-eye coordination or fine manipulation can move to DX (“Search based on DX”), and most Per-based skills can shift to IQ (“Detect Lies based on IQ”).

This affects routine skill use but doesn’t override a GM- or scenario-mandated roll based on a specific attribute (see p. B172). For instance, if an adventure calls for a Per-based Lockpicking roll, Attribute Substitution (Lockpicking based on DX) doesn’t let you make a DX-based roll – you have to make a Per-based roll like anybody else.

You must specialize by skill and attribute, as in the examples. Nobody may have more than four Attribute Substitution perks.

You have a background that gives you skill defaults available only to those who grew up or lived in a specific locale, worked in a particular profession, etc. This doesn’t grant the skills, nor does it give defaults for skills that normally have no default for anyone. It merely allows default rolls for things that the GM feels aren’t general knowledge in the game world. For instance, any New Yorker could try Area Knowledge, Current Affairs (Regional), Geography (Regional), History, or Law (Municipal) for New York at default. If he wanted the same benefits for Chicago, that would be a perk.

The GM should give the benefits of appropriate Background Knowledge for free to any PC with a decent backstory. This perk exists to let players simply declare they have some hard-to-justify history without explanation, or play PCs with implausibly broad past experiences.

You’re trained at fighting on a fast-moving chariot. You can ignore combat penalties for speed and uneven ground. This doesn’t compensate for penalties due to using a vehicle with solid wheels.

You’re familiar with all makes and models of equipment used with a particular skill. If the skill has specialties, you must also name the specialty. When working within your area, you never suffer unfamiliarity penalties (see Familiarity, p. B169). This perk is cinematic, but a version that covers a large-but-finite list is realistic for spies and soldiers who receive lavish training. The GM decides what constitutes such training and which models it covers.

Cross-Trained is most common for Driving and Guns, but is available for any skill that uses equipment.

You’ve received instruction in one specific technological skill above your personal TL; e.g., a TL7 test pilot might have Cutting-Edge Training (Piloting/TL8 (Aerospace)). At the GM’s option, this perk may come with minor social connections, such as a trivial Claim to Hospitality among participants in the same training program. It often has Duty or another social obligation as a prerequisite.

This perk is cheaper than High TL (p. B23) for those with fewer than five specialties. If someone manages to get Cutting-Edge Training in five areas, the GM may opt to let him replace his five perks with High TL 1 for the same points!

In a setting that spans many TLs, the GM may treat this perk as having levels, one per TL. In that case, our test pilot would pay 2 points for Cutting-Edge Training 2 (Piloting/TL9 (Aerospace)).

You know a little about a set of related skills – but not enough to have a full point in any of them. Select eight skills (which must have defaults) that you can use at +1 to the usual attribute default. You can trade in two choices for one at default+2, or four choices for one at default+3. If a skill has an unusually generous default, you can’t raise it to the level that actual points in the skill would buy.

Example: Mr. Mack the science teacher dabbles in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics (Applied), and Physics, all of which default to IQ-6. He trades his allowed eight skills at default+1 for four at default+2, and has all four skills at IQ-4.

The selected skills still count as defaults, not as studied skills. You can’t default other skills to the improved defaults and don’t benefit from rules that apply only to people who “know” a skill.

You’ve learned what corners can be cut without causing too many disasters when it comes to a particular skill. This lets you ignore up to -2 for haste; see Time Spent (p. B346). Thus, if a noncombat skill can be hastened, you can safely use it in just 80% of the usual time. You must specialize by skill.

You can perform tasks using a body part other than the one a particular skill usually assumes. In most cases, this means a feat that requires a hand but not fine manipulation, performed without using the hands. For instance, Hands-Free (Driving) lets you steer a car with your knees at no penalty.

This perk is allowed for combat skills. In that case, it’s cinematic and a separate perk for each task the skill allows. For examples, see Akimbo (p. 5) and Cotton Stomach (p. 5).

Once per game session, you can add your level of this perk to one of the following skills: Hidden Lore, Lore!, Theology, Occultism. This represents the hard-won knowledge of the generations of champions who came before you, which has been passed down to you. You may not have more than four levels of this perk.

You’re an expert in an area far narrower than Optional Spe- cialties (p. B169) allows. You get +5 to one skill in some specialty so obscure that it takes at least three words to describe and is unlikely to matter more than once in an adven- turer’s career; e.g., Hyper-Specialization (Top Quark Mass Models) for Physics, Hyper-Specialization (Trivalent Flu Vac- cines) for Bioengineering, or Hyper-Specialization (Trapped- Ion Quantum Computers) for Engineer.

You must specialize by skill and area of expertise. Hyper- Specialization is only possible for IQ-based “knowledge” and “scientific” skills unless the GM makes an exception.

Prerequisite: Attribute or skill at 16+.

You’re exempt from skill or attribute rolls to perform one specific background task not directly relevant to such adventuring situations as combat, investigation, and theft. This most often affects “off-screen” rolls against skills used to get from A to B, like Area Knowledge, Driving, and Navigation. Each perk exempts you from one task; this can involve multiple skills, but you must have 16+ in any score for which you want the GM to waive success rolls.

Examples:

Swinging: Whether in the city or in a jungle, you can travel above the ground by swinging on vines, ropes, artificial spider webs, or similar. With this perk, you can routinely find new places to attach your lines, or new vines already in place, without having to make repeated skill rolls. You must have Perception or Observation, Acrobatics, and whatever skill you use to cast or shoot your swinging lines at 16+.

Transporter: This perk enables you to get your vehicle and all its passengers and cargo safely through known, friendly or neutral territory without having to make skill rolls. You must have your vehicle operation skill and relevant Navigation specialty – plus Area Knowledge for the area you’re crossing – at 16+.

Urban Jungle Gym: Prerequisites: Acrobatics, Climbing, and Jumping at 16+. You’re exempt from skill and attribute rolls to perform the moves under Climbing and Parkour when traveling from A to B “off-screen.” The game effect is that the GM will let you use full Move through an urban area, regardless of what’s in the way. You’re leaping between rooftops, taking shortcuts, etc.

You’ve practiced a particular skill enough with your “off” hand that you can ignore the -4 for using that hand (see Hand- edness, p. B14). This extends to all defenses and techniques based on that skill – including feats of fine manipulation, unlike Hands-Free (above). You must specialize by skill; any skill qualifies, including combat skills, if it has applications that normally use only one hand.

This perk completely replaces the Off-Hand Weapon Training technique on p. B232 (but you can still call it that when buying it for a weapon skill). The Off-Hand Training perk is cheaper than Ambidexterity for those with fewer than five specialties. If someone is dedicated enough to buy five perks, the GM should let him replace these with full-fledged Ambidexterity for the same points!

There’s one specific trick you can do with a particular skill… without knowing the skill! This can’t be the skill’s primary use, a combat move, or anything done at a penalty. Any other task is acceptable. To perform your trick, roll against the skill’s controlling attribute.

Example: A crook who can always hotwire a car without knowing Mechanic could take OTW (Hotwiring Cars), because that’s a near-trivial use of Mechanic, not a primary application, and not combat-relevant. Mechanic is an IQ-based skill, so he must make an IQ roll for the deed. For another example, see Intuitive Repairman (p. 9).

The tasks and techniques listed for a skill represent its basic “sub-skills.” You know some less-orthodox methods. You can learn techniques that don’t default to a skill as if they did, with the usual default penalties (if a technique’s penalties vary by controlling skill, use the easiest). Alternatively, you can add specific skill applications – like getting a parry based on the skill – which techniques don’t cover. Either must be borrowed from another, related skill.

The GM sets the scope of each specialty. It might be as sweeping as Skill Adaptation (Brawling techniques default to Karate) or as narrow as Skill Adaptation (Alchemy-style elixir analysis is possible with Herb Lore).

Many combat perks are forms of Skill Adaptation. For examples, see Acrobatic Feints (p. 5), Acrobatic Kicks (p. 5), Clinch (p. 5), and Unarmed Parry (p. 8).

This perk allows you to adapt a technique you know for one skill to any other skill for which it’s legitimate simply by spend- ing the points – no instruction required. You must specialize by technique. For instance, if you have Technique Adaptation (Feint) and at least one point in Feint (Karate), you can go on to raise Feint (Judo), Feint (Shortsword), and so on whenever you can afford it.

This perk is most common for combat techniques, but isn’t limited to them. It isn’t meaningful in a campaign where the GM doesn’t require training to learn techniques!

You’ve trained so intensively at a technique that you enjoy a higher maximum level. You must specialize by technique. This must have a normal maximum of full skill or better, which dis- qualifies techniques that “cannot exceed prerequisite skill-x,” as well as combat techniques based on active defenses. A skill’s core uses aren’t eligible; e.g., Technique Mastery (Kicking) and Tech- nique Mastery (No-Landing Extraction) are fine for Karate and Piloting, respectively, but Technique Mastery (Punching) and Technique Mastery (Fly Plane) aren’t. If the standard maximum is full skill, yours is skill+4. If the limit is ordinarily greater than skill, yours is two levels higher (e.g., skill+6 with Arm Lock).

Prerequisites: Serendipity or Area Knowledge (any) at 16+.

Spend 1d x 5 minutes and make a Perception roll, or an appropriate Per-based skill roll, to find electrical outlets, Wi-Fi, Ethernet ports, phone jacks, etc., with a penalty equal to the connection’s current distance from you (use standard range penalties, p. B550) plus 10. Alternatively, the player may use the Long-Distance Modifiers (p. B241) plus 5. For example, if the nearest phone jack is 100 yards from the champion, the penalty is 0 (-10 + 10).

Success means you find exactly what you need; critical success gives you more than you were looking for or some additional benefit. Failure wastes an hour or gives -2 on rolls to use what you find, while critical failure means you think you’ve found what you’re looking for, but it’s tainted somehow (e.g., bad wiring or slow connection speeds). For example, you could use this perk to find a standard Internet connection on a success, a gigabit connection on a critical success, or a connection with 56k speeds that’s also been tapped by the master vampire you’re hunting on a critical failure.

You can perform a specific task with a particular skill from a posture other than the usual one, thereby avoiding posture penalties. This perk only makes sense for skills that would take posture penalties in the first place! Combat skills are the obvious example, but in that case you must specify one combat technique. For instance, Unusual Posture (Karate kick while lying down) eliminates the -4 attack penalty when on the ground for Karate kicks only; to avoid the penalty for all Karate applications, get Ground Fighting (p. B231).

Social perks provide position, privilege, friendly associated NPCs, or similar benefits on a modest or temporary scale. They make excellent rewards for successful adventures. Note that any 1-point Favor (p. B55) counts as a social perk.

You have a physical base of operations separate from any holdings implied by your Status and from property bought with money. This is easily accessible but lacks obvious ties to you. Subtract three from your Status level and consult the table on p. B266 (or your campaign’s equivalent) to determine quality; thus, Base is only useful at Status 1+ in most settings. Use the rules for Secret (p. B152) to establish whether the world can connect you with your Base.

One narrow group of potential foes – military unit, mon- ster species, street gang, etc. – doesn’t like you but remains neutral toward you if you stay out of their way. They must know you’re there. Thus, this perk only works if you’re visible and identifiable.

If the perk is mundane, it’s usually the result of being known to the target group. For instance, mobsters might avoid killing the boss’ son, while soldiers probably won’t gun down their old commanding officer.

If the perk is for fantasy monsters, like zombies, the things ignore you as long as you aren’t hostile. Perhaps you simply don’t smell like food!

Members of this group will shove you aside if you get between them and anything or anyone they’re out to attack, break, eat, rob, etc. If you do anything more hostile than get in the way, or refuse to step aside, you become a valid target. Of course, letting them act unhindered may make you an accessory to a crime . . .

Brotherhood guarantees an automatic good reaction in return for your respect. As with all NPCs, some encounters with the affected group may involve predetermined reactions; these override your perk. Supernaturally controlled NPCs may likewise ignore it.

In settings where nations defend borders and restrict such things as voting rights and property ownership to citizens, each PC is assumed to be a citizen of one particular state, complete with passport, Social Security Number, etc. Each citizenship beyond the first is a perk. This isn’t Cultural Familiarity (p. B23) – you might “inherit” citizenship through a parent without ever encountering the associated culture!

You have an honorary social advantage: Courtesy Rank (p. B29) for Rank, Emeritus Professor for Tenure, Ex-Cop for Legal Enforcement Powers, Honorary Title for Status, and so on. This most often represents a symbolic reward (e.g., “the key to the city”), a purchased title, or credentials deactivated after retirement.

Courtesy Title comes in levels: 1 point per 5 points the full advantage costs. Its only benefits are the legal right to use a fancy title (+1 to reactions per full 5 points) and avoid any skill penalties the GM imposes for trying to impersonate the real McCoy.

If you also have a full-fledged advantage, you can “stack” this perk with it to get your title on paper. For instance, Rank 4 [20] plus Courtesy Rank 2 [2] entitles you to present yourself as having Rank 6, although you only have the authority of Rank 4.

You have a completely reliable Alternate Identity (p. B39) that you can use for one encounter – arms deal, border crossing, etc. Then it’s gone, and your point value drops by a point.

You have a 1-point Claim to Hospitality (p. B41) with some- one. Name the friend and his place of residence. When you visit him, you’ll have somewhere to stay. He’ll react to requests for aid like any NPC, but at +3. He isn’t a Contact, much less an Ally, and won’t get involved in adventures.

You have, or used to have, a form of Status that isn’t recognized in the reference society. You must specialize in a specific group; when you’re among them, they react as if your Status were equal to your (Status + Hidden Status). This could apply to an aristocratic captive sold into slavery in an alien culture, whose fellow slaves still give him special treatment; or to a crime boss who is disdained by the larger society but treated with respect among criminals.

It’s normally assumed that in the course of learning the skill(s) for a regulated activity – Law if you represent others in court, Physician if you practice medicine, Piloting if you fly, etc. – you earn any necessary license. In some settings, though, licenses carry modest social benefits that qualify as perks. The GM should add up the following elements:

• Courtesy Rank [1/level] if the profession has Rank.

• Cultural Familiarity [1] if ordinary people have -3 to influence or impersonate those in the profession.

• Debt 1 [-1] if there are professional dues.

• Duty (6 or less; Involuntary; Nonhazardous) [-2] if there’s periodic testing of skills.

• Enemy (Small group; Watcher; 6 or less) [-1] if the professional association has an aggressive oversight committee.

• Favor [1] if the licensee gets one legal “bailout” (once used, he’s on probation).

• Independent Income 1 [1] if the profession enjoys cash incentives or tax breaks.

• Quirk-level Code of Honor (Professional) [-1] or Vow [-1] if the profession takes “honor” seriously.

• Trivial Reputation (below) [1] if the profession is well-regarded in some quarters.

A positive total merits a License perk. The actual sum isn’t important – the benefits overlap and are rarely worth more than 1 point all told. What matters is that the License is basically advantageous.

Example: Pilots might get Courtesy Rank 3 (“Captain”) [3]; Debt 1 (Dues) [-1]; Duty (Yearly test) [-2]; and Favor (Lawyer will be provided in the event of serious accident) [1]. “Pilot’s License” is therefore a perk.

License is unnecessary if you’re already buying Status to represent membership in a prestigious profession. A new graduate from med school might need Medical License [1] in some settings, but an established doctor with Status 1 [5] wouldn’t.

You’re good at searching for a particular type of person. You get +2 to search rolls in one of the categories under Searching for People (pp. 22-24), Searching for Organizations (pp. 45-46), or Searching for Households and Communities (p. 58). This is only useful in campaigns where the PCs regularly need to conduct searches. Examples:

Headhunter: You’re good at finding potential employees (Hirelings, p. 22).

In the Know: You have unusually good connections for finding illegal favors or relationships (Concealed Activities, pp. 23-24).

Party Animal: You can easily find companions when you want to have a good time (Companionship, p. 23).

Political Hack: You know your way around a government bureaucracy and can easily identify the office that deals with any particular problem (Government Offices, p. 46).

Tracer: You’re good at finding individual people who don’t want to be found (Known Individuals, p. 24).

You hold a minor civil office, like dogcatcher or reeve. This isn’t merely Courtesy Title (above) – you possess real authority equivalent to 5 points of Legal Enforcement Powers, Security Clearance, Status, or similar. However, this has such limited scope (e.g., “Authority over dogs in the town of Castle Rock”) that it’s only a perk. A more expensive social advantage or lack of social disadvantages is often a prerequisite, and you may have a Duty.

If a piece of gear has a Legality Class (LC) equal to or greater than your setting’s Control Rating (CR), anybody without Social Stigma (Criminal Record) may own it. But if its LC is lower, it requires a permit. A permit is a perk – one per equipment class. For weapons, concealment lowers LC by one; e.g., handguns are LC3 but treated as LC2 for concealed carry, so Concealed Carry Permit is a perk in most modern states, which are CR3+.

Individuals with suitable social advantages – typically Legal Enforcement Powers or Military Rank – don’t need this perk for equipment used “on the job.”

See also Control Rating and Legality Class (p. B507).

You have a small, ordinary pet – cat, ferret, hamster, parrot, etc. This is equivalent to a modest Ally balanced by being a modest Dependent, but don’t bother doing the math. Aside from companionship, a pet grants occasional, minor benefits; e.g., a kitten might hiss at ghosts and give you +1 to reactions from cat fanciers.

Buying an animal as a Pet rather than with cash secures the GM’s promise to do what he can to avoid terrible fates for it provided that you do your best to keep it out of harm’s way. It’s effectively Signature Gear. If you want an attack dog or a shoulder dragon, buy an Ally!

You’ve spent many hours practicing a specific secondary persona, and thinking about it, if it’s a fictitious role, or studying video and other records of the original subject, if it’s a real person. This cancels the -3 for an unrehearsed persona or the -5 for not knowing the subject well (Walk the Walk, pp. 37-38). If you actually know the original subject well, you don’t need the perk. If you start out with this perk, you already have such a role; if not, you can buy the perk for a specific person after the end of a session in which you have studied that role closely.

The other people in your social circle trust your judgment, or defer to you. You don’t hold formal Rank, or have the highest Status; but if you decide that someone is “our sort,” he’s in. See Inner Circles (p. 59) for more. This can easily be a villainous trait!

You don’t need to shout. You can speak quietly and people will feel compelled to listen. You get +1 to Intimidation, as if you were shouting loudly, without actually having to do so. This perk may be considered cinematic, and disallowed in realistic campaigns, at the GM’s discretion.

Rather than do the detailed calculation under Reputation (pp. B26-28), just treat +1 to reactions from a specialized group of people (e.g., “Women of the Tokugawa Clan”) as a perk.

You have an ordinary civilian vehicle (no fighting vehicles or spy cars!) separate from anything implied by your Status, and not bought with Signature Gear or money. This is an anonymous-looking backup vehicle that isn’t linked to you. Subtract three from your Status level and consult the table on p. B266 (or your campaign’s equivalent) to determine quality; in most settings, Vehicle is only useful at Status 2+. Use the rules for Secret (p. B152) to resolve whether nosy rivals connect you with your Vehicle.

These perks concern arcane training or your ties to the supernatural. In each case, you must specify the perk’s origin or “power source” (see pp. B33-34) – chi, divine, magic, psionic, spirit, etc. – unless this is obvious. This means the perk is subject to any limitations on the chosen phenomenon; e.g., a magical Named Possession is powerless without mana. Just about anything under Exotic Perks (pp. 9-12) could also be considered supernatural when associated with a supernatu- ral power. See also Power Perks (p. 11).

Charms resemble Unusual Training (p. 21) but bestow supernatural, intuitive (not learned) knowledge. Each Charm waives the spell and Magery prerequisites for one particular spell. You must pay points for the spell like any other IQ/H or IQ/VH skill, and Magery gives its usual bonus. You can’t cast the spell unless you have at least Magery 0 or are in an area with high or better mana.

For divine magic, a Charm waives the need for Power Investiture – such spells don’t have spell prerequisites – and does let you cast the spell. However, you can only choose spells offered by your god.

You can rally your chi to get +3 to resist a specific, hostile chi-based effect. You must specialize by resisted ability, usually a cinematic martial-arts skill. Examples include Chi Resistance (Invisibility Art), Chi Resistance (Kiai), and Chi Resistance (Pressure Points).

You’ve promised a god or a spirit that you’ll carry out particular (usually good) acts in its name. In return, it has vowed to give you a restful death. When you die, it will be impossible to summon, reanimate, or resurrect you – in body or in spirit – unless your benefactor wills it. Attempts to raise you as undead or possess your corpse will simply fail. High-tech medicine can still resuscitate you, however.

You’re guaranteed to go out with a bang – a morbid but spectacular Destiny (p. B48). If a roll of the dice indicates that you’ll die for sure from anything but instant death (e.g., execution), roll 1d+1 for the number of seconds you get for a dying action (see Dying Actions, p. B423). During this time, you suffer all effects of injury except collapse due to death or unconsciousness, giving you time to prime grenades, run burning off the cliff, etc. Then you die.

This is worth no points in campaigns where the GM routinely lets everybody do this!

This perk exists only in backgrounds where each wizard must study with a particular academy, guild, or master that teaches a small subset of known spells. Paying a point for familiarity with a school gives these benefits:

• You understand the arcane principles that undergird the school’s spells, and thus can always use measures such as Counterspell and Ward at full skill against any of its spells, even if you don’t know the spell you’re trying to defeat.

• You can acquire the school’s spells by spending earned points in play.

• You’re acquainted with the school’s culture. When dealing with another wizard who has the same perk, neither of you suffers -3 for lack of Cultural Familiarity when making Savoir- Faire rolls, Teaching rolls to pass along the school’s spells, or similar.

• You have the equivalent of a 1-point Claim to Hospitality (p. B41) with an academy, guild, or archmage. This mostly means that you have somewhere to stay while studying. Similar perks may exist for schools that teach alchemical formulas, rituals, and so on instead of “spells” as such.

You own a ritually named possession; details depend on the setting, and may involve oaths, spells, or inscriptions, and/or require a fine-quality, holy, or similarly special item (GM’s deci- sion). This perk grants that article the potential for gaining special abilities. It earns character points at the same rate as you when you perform deeds of supernatural significance. Each point can be exchanged for 25 energy points’ worth of enchant- ments chosen by the GM (optionally increasing the posses- sion’s value as Signature Gear). Use the standard rules for magical enchantment to determine what’s possible – but note that the power involved might be divine, psionic, spiritual, or otherwise nonmagical. You can have multiple perks, but then the Named Possessions evenly split the points they earn.

In settings where names have magical power, having a name unknown to anybody but the gods is a small but potent advantage.

You have a Higher Purpose (p. B59) so inconsequential that “Higher” is pretentious. You get +1 on all success, damage, or reaction rolls made in pursuit of a trivial goal like “Make mar- tinis.” This most often manifests as +1 to reactions from those who share your mania. Gods sometimes grant Purpose perks as backhanded rewards.

Thanks to innate holiness or a sacred pact, anything that you, personally, slay can’t be resurrected or reanimated by external means, like Resurrection and Zombie spells. Once it’s down, it’s down for good, and won’t be returning. This doesn’t bypass your victim’s advantages. If he has some form of Injury Tolerance, Regeneration, Supernatural Durability, or Unkillable that would cause him (or part of him) to “get better,” too bad.

In high-magic worlds where the Final Rest spell is common and provides similar benefits, the GM may tone down this perk to avoid undermining magic. It might only spontaneously confer immunity to necromancy that costs up to 20 energy points, spoiling Skull-Spirit, Summon Spirit, and Zombie, but not major spells like Lich, Resurrection, and Wraith. For non-spell effects, use the nearest spell effect to decide.

You’ve practiced overcoming great resistance with a particular resisted supernatural skill: cinematic martial-arts skill, Enthrallment skill, spell, etc. The Rule of 16 (p. B349) kicks in one level later for you, becoming the Rule of 17. You must specialize by skill.

The GM may allow multiple levels of this perk (making it Rule of 18, Rule of 19, etc.), setting the limit at whatever he considers “balanced.”

GURPS Magic includes a simple black-magic system, which GURPS Thaumatology expands into broader rules for spirit-assisted casting. If the GM uses either, each contract with a suitable spirit is generally a perk. See the relevant rule- book for details.

You have a very minor Destiny (p. B48). This perk grants you a single critical success when you need it and then disap- pears, lowering your point value by 1 point. The effect is like paying in advance for Buying Success (p. B347). You receive your critical success even if that would usually cost more than a point in the situation, but the GM – not you – picks when it happens, in light of your Destiny.

These are one-point Unusual Backgrounds (p. B96) for those with specific rare gifts but not access to a broad category like “psi” or “super-powers.” For a perk that provides access to a trait, the trait’s cost is separate – the perk merely enables the purchase.

Some combat styles and schools offer (or claim to offer) access to other abilities normally classified as cinematic. At the GM’s option, this may be legitimate, at least some of the time. For example, optimized exercise and diet regimens, backed up by biotech and futuristic medicine, might indeed give somewhat exotic results, from surprising levels of Striking Strength to more or less functional Pressure Points skill. In short, things often said to be theoretically within human grasp but not practically attainable might be quite mundane in the far-flung future. Represent this by adding versions of Special Exercises or Unusual Training to the relevant style’s perks list.

Prerequisites: Skill at 19+ for level 1, skill at 21+ for level 2, or skill at 23+ for level 3; plus Gunslinger for Gun specialties, Trained by a Master for unarmed skills, or Weapon Master for weapon skills.

Where most people’s critical success range is capped at a 6 or less if effective skill is 16+, yours is not. Each level of this perk increases this range by one, if your effective skill is at least 10 higher. For example, two levels of Enhanced Critical would let you critically succeed on an 8 or less, if your effective skill was at least 18+.

Taking this for a wildcard skill increases the cost to 5/level just as if it were a wildcard perk (p. 5), but applies to all uses of that particular trait.

The GM may wish to restrict the number of skills this perk can be bought for (e.g. three skills at most) or put a cap on the maximum number of levels that can be bought (e.g., five levels at most, whether that’s three levels for one skill and two for another or five perks for five different skills). Regardless of allowed levels, critical-success range cannot increase beyond 9.

The rules are full of advanced and optional rules that change how the game works in particular situations. Usually, these don’t cost points because they’re campaign options – either everybody uses them or nobody does. However, the GM may allow certain rules that normally aren’t used in the campaign on a PC-by-PC basis. Access to each of these is a perk.

Options that cost FP or character points to exercise are the fairest. For instance, each aspect of Influencing Success Rolls (p. B347) and Extra Effort in Combat (p. B357), as well as Flesh Wounds and TV Action Violence under Cinematic Combat Rules (p. B417), could be an Extra Option perk in a campaign where those rules don’t universally apply.

Rules that inflict penalties are usually fine, too. For example, the GM may not want to use the complicated new hit locations in GURPS Martial Arts – or his campaign might be set before medicine knows about those locations! Then an Extra Option could enable a warrior familiar with one of those locations to target it at the standard penalty. Indeed, many optional rules in Martial Arts could work this way, with access to them becoming attractive special abilities for skilled fighters. If either kind of rule expands the spectrum of an advantage, cinematic skill, or spell, the GM should require a separate Extra Option perk for each trait that can benefit from the added option. The same goes for cinematic or supernatural rules options available for mundane skills, like the most extreme cinematic rules in Martial Arts: specialization by skill is advisable.

Finally, rules that demand significant time or effort are good candidates. In particular, lengthy, difficult ceremonial magic and enchantment methods from GURPS Magic and GURPS Thaumatology make excellent perks for wizards in campaigns that don’t use those options in general. These perks shouldn’t require specialization by spell, as long setup times and the need for special resources balance potency.

This works identically to Extra Option, above, except that instead of granting access to a specific, beneficial optional rule that generally isn’t used in the campaign, it gives an exemption from a particular, detrimental optional rule that is used in the campaign. For instance, Rules Exemption (Maintaining Skills) would allow a PC with high skill levels to keep them without practice in a campaign that uses Maintaining Skills (p. B294). As with Extra Option, exemptions that apply in cinematic or supernatural situations should have narrow specialties. For instance, if the GM requires material components for spells in his campaign, the ability to ignore them is a distinct perk for each spell.

For examples of exemptions from the standard rules, see No Nuisance Rolls and Standard Operating Procedure.

In some campaigns, only characters built using a particular character template, trained in a given fighting style, or taught at a specific school can buy certain skills, techniques, and perks. With the GM’s permission, this perk lets you buy such abilities without being from the correct background. You must specialize by school, style, or template.

You can buy one particular skill that’s possible in your game setting but not taught to entire academies or professions – or possibly to anyone. This usually means Hidden Lore specialties, spells, and ritual magic Paths. If the skill normally isn’t even possible in your world, this perk can’t help (but see Unusual Training, p. 21).

You pursue an exercise regimen that grants access to an attribute level or advantage that’s usually cinematic or off-limits for your race. Each trait requires its own perk.

Examples:

Attributes: Special Exercises (DX), Special Exercises (IQ), and Special Exercises (HT) come in levels, with each level let- ting you exceed the racial norm in that score – 20, for a human – by one.

Secondary Characteristics: Special Exercises (Will) and Spe- cial Exercises (Per) work much the same way as higher attrib- ute limits, but each level lets you exceed the norm by two. Each level of Special Exercises (Basic Speed) lets you increase Basic Speed by one beyond the normal two levels, while each level of Special Exercises (Basic Move) lets you increase Basic Move by one past the usual three levels. For HP and FP, take Special Exercises (HP can exceed FP by 100%) and (FP can exceed HT by 100%).

Advantages: Special Exercises (DR 1, Ablative), Special Exercises (DR 1, Tough Skin), Special Exercises (Arm ST 1), Special Exercises (Lifting ST 1), and Special Exercises (Strik- ing ST 1) are typical. Each level extends the right to buy one level of the indicated advantage.

The GM should consider limiting humans to two or three levels of any Special Exercises that comes in levels, if he wants them to be remotely believable characters.

You can use and improve a technique that’s otherwise forbidden in the campaign. Most often, the GM will let you buy off a common skill penalty as a Hard technique in a setting where no technique for that exists. Each exemption requires its own perk.

This is Secret Knowledge (p. 20) for techniques, with the added facet that you can sometimes coin new techniques.

With sufficient training, certain cinematic skills and techniques might work in reality. You’ve studied one of these. Unusual Training lets you buy a cinematic capability in a realistic campaign, or without a prerequisite advantage such as Gunslinger, Trained by a Master, or Weapon Master. Since what’s “cinematic” is often not the feat but the ability to perform it unrestricted, the perk might specify a set of “believable” circumstances that must be true to use the skill or technique.

Examples:

Unusual Training (Breaking Blow, Only vs. well-braced objects out of combat): Lets you break boards.

Unusual Training (Dual-Weapon Attack, Both attacks must target the same foe): Lets you improve the Dual-Weapon Attack technique for use on one opponent. You still have the full -4 to attack adjacent adversaries simultaneously.

Unusual Training (Musical Influence, Only on tame pets): Lets you be a snake-charmer.

Unusual Training (Combat Jumping): This allows chambara-style jumping distances (full distance, not halved) in combat; it is most beneficial to realistic martial artists under low gravity. Using it requires both Acrobatics and Jumping skills at DX or better.

Unusual Training (Free-Fall Roll): Flashy spacer combatants may have this perk, which enables the fighter to train in and use the Roll with Blow technique, but only in zero-G.

Many classic zombie traits amount to mere perks. They’re normally available only on a “racial” basis – that is, as part of a zombie template. Most non-zombies would need an Unusual Background to justify such things.

Supernaturally created zombies are often genuinely unholy. Holy objects they touch (though not holy weapons used to smite them!) and sacred ground upon which they walk are desecrated by the merest contact. Restoring the blessing requires a Concentrate maneuver and a Religious Ritual roll, at a minimum. Until this is done, the power of such desecrated resources cannot be drawn upon for any reason – for instance, to fight the zombies or their master.

Living zombies and those created by weird science almost never have this perk. Undead animated by mana alone – not by magically summoned evil spirits – frequently lack it, too. And the same goes for zombies sent by the gods, which are unlikely to be imbued with a power inimical to their creators.

Desecrator regularly accompanies the Can Be Turned By True Faith quirk (p. 66), and may require the Functions and Detects as Evil feature (p. 67) as a prerequisite in some game worlds.

The zombie carries an ordinary pathogen (not zombie plague). Unlike Infectious (p. 67), which is a 0-point feature, this trait costs points because it can eventually weaken or kill opponents who escape, which is valuable to the zombie if it strikes again or wants to eat the victim’s corpse. It’s a mere perk because the operative word is “eventually.” Such pestilence runs its usual course, and symptoms can take a long time to present, even for a serious disease: one to three weeks for tetanus, two to 12 weeks for rabies, and so on. If the disease progresses on a speedier, cinematic timescale, see Affliction or Innate Attack.

There are several distinct forms, and a zombie archetype may have more than one of these:

Pestilent Ability: The zombie has a ranged superhuman ability – usually an Affliction or an Innate Attack – that conveys disease to those it affects. Anybody who suffers injury or affliction caused by the ability is subject to Contagion (p. B443). Such exposure counts as “prolonged contact,” making the roll HT-2. Any failure means the victim contracts the disease.

Pestilent Presence: The zombie harbors a disease to which it isn’t susceptible. Unlike Pestilent Ability, this isn’t carried by an attack that can be dodged or resisted; thus, it’s easier to shrug off (it isn’t forcefully delivered) but harder to see coming. Merely being in the zombie’s presence requires a roll as for Contagion. This is typically at HT+1 for “brief” contact, but even being in the same room calls for a HT+4 roll. Any failure means the victim contracts the disease.

Pestilent Wounds: The zombie causes infection in those it wounds through biting, or with barehanded cutting or impaling attacks (such as Claws). This calls for at least 1 HP of injury to the victim. If the target has an open wound, then 1 HP from any unarmed attack that brings the zombie’s bare, unarmored flesh into contact with the target’s body will do. If left untreated, the subject must check for infection (p. B444) afterward. The base roll is HT+3, as usual, but the -3 for a locale with a special infection always applies, for a net HT roll. Any failure means the victim suffers an ordinary infection.

These perks cause specific diseases. Each disease requires a separate perk. The nonspecific infection on p. B444 is one possible choice for Pestilent Wounds.

Some undead zombies are vermin-infested, while living ones might spread via unusually large parasites. This trait can represent either situation. The zombie contains a swarm of vicious little creatures (making this perk functionally identical to Payload 1, dedicated to housing the nest). On any turn when the zombie suffers a major wound or knockback, or is knocked down, roll 3d. A 12 or less means the swarm boils out. If the zombie is destroyed, the swarm appears automatically.

The swarm fills one hex on a combat map and uses Swarm Attacks (p. B461). It is not under the zombie’s control, but fights because it regards the zombie as its nest.

While the zombie is moving, the swarm stays with it, preferentially attacking non-zombies in close combat with its carrier. If there’s no one there, it will travel up to one yard away to a target – and if there’s nobody there, either, it will return to the zombie’s hex until a target presents itself. However, it will only settle down once the zombie stops fighting. If the zombie is destroyed, the swarm becomes a free-roaming monster.

There are two varieties of swarm. Either moves with its host (use the zombie’s Move) until the zombie is destroyed; then it uses the listed Move. Bigger, stronger zombies with more HP have room inside for larger, tougher swarms.

Crawlers: Crawling bugs, snakes, rats, or something else that moves along the ground (including exotic “tomb worms”). Scuttles or slithers at Move 4. Inflicts cutting damage equal to the lower of 1d or the zombie’s thrust; armor protects normally. Dispersed after losing HP equal to half the zombie’s (round up).

Flyers: Small flying bugs, realistic or fantastic. Flies at Move 6. Stings for 1 HP of injury per turn unless the victim is completely protected. Dispersed after losing HP equal to the zombie’s.

Don’t use Swarm for zombies that can spew or emanate vermin at will. Build that as an attack in the spirit of Acidic Vomit or Deadly Cloud (see Innate Attack, p. 53), with a suitably grotesque “special effect.”

The zombie – usually one created by toxic waste or a serum – is poisonous. It can’t necessarily attack using poison (if it can, see Innate Attack, p. 53), but it’s unsafe to eat and produces dangerous gases when burned in open air. In most fiction where this is true and the result of exposure isn’t “you become a zombie,” the effects are potentially lethal.

If the GM doesn’t feel like inventing poisons, here’s a “generic” interpretation: As a digestive agent, there’s a 15- minute delay and the HT roll to resist takes a penalty equal in size to the zombie’s HT/2, rounded down. As a respiratory agent, there’s no delay but the penalty is -3 less severe (thus, a HT 11 zombie that gives a HT-5 roll if eaten causes a HT-2 roll if cremated and the smoke or ashes are inhaled). Either way, it inflicts 1d toxic damage repeating at hourly intervals for six cycles.

Even more so than Pestilent, this perk does little to benefit the zombie, which must be consumed – by fire or enemies – before the ability matters. It still costs a point for the reason that it’s a disincentive to hunters who would turn flame or vicious dogs on the zombie, and might make survivors rethink destroying it if there’s a risk that its body could fall into the water supply or its blood may be splattered across their food cache.

In a setting that uses GURPS Magic, undead zombies are assumed to be immune to Death Vision (they’re already dead!), Sense Life (they aren’t alive), and Soul Jar (they might have an evil spirit, but they have no soul), and also to Steal (Attribute) and Steal Energy, which are assumed to drain vital essence that the undead no longer possess. This is considered a feature – Affected as Dead (p. 67) – because the same zombies can be detected by Sense Spirit, manipulated by Control Zombie and Zombie Summoning, repelled by Pentagram, and harmed by Turn Zombie. They simply trade vulnerability to one small assemblage of spells for susceptibility to another.

Certain zombies enjoy immunity to spells from both lists, however. Given that there are 800+ spells in Magic, either set of five spells would be collectively “Rare” for the purpose of Resistant (p. B80), making total Immunity worth a mere 5 points. Zombies that are immune to one set and specific spells from the other must buy each additional immunity at 1/5 of this cost – that is, as a perk for each spell.

Other sorts of zombies might have similar immunities in settings where spells exist, at the cost of 1 point per specific spell.

You are practiced at using magic in the thick of combat. When attempting to maintain concentration on a spell while defending against an attack (p. B366), you roll at unmodified Will rather than at Will-3. You must specialize by spell.

You must have the Berserk disadvantage (p. B124) to learn this perk. You are practiced at working yourself into a frenzy, adding +4 to the Will roll to deliberately go berserk. When you go berserk deliberately, you also get +1 to the roll to snap out again.

To learn this perk, you must have Alternate Form with Reduced Time 5 (+100%), allowing you to shapeshift instantly at the start of your turn (see Free Action, Powers, p. 154). Shape Mastery then allows you to shapeshift once per turn at any time, even during someone else’s turn or in the middle of a maneuver! For instance, you could attack once as a human and once as a wolf when using an All-Out Attack (Double). This perk is required for the options listed under Shapeshifting in Combat (below).

Shapeshifters with the Shape Mastery perk (above) and forms with different Size Modifiers or morphology meta-traits (p. B263) have trained to use shapeshifting actively in combat, changing size and shape suddenly to throw their opponents off-balance.

Defense: By altering form during any active defense, the shapeshifter benefits as though he had retreated (p. B377) without having to move away from his attacker. His defense roll is based on his final form.

Escape, Evasion, and Feint: When breaking free from a grapple, evading, or feinting with an unarmed combat attack, the were gains +2 if he shifts during the attempt. His roll is based on his final form. If he uses this tactic more than twice against the same opponent, the surprise value wears off; reduce the bonus to +1.

If using Powers, these benefits stack with power defenses (Powers, p. 167) and using abilities to aid skills (Powers, p. 162). The shifter may add half the relevant power Talent, if any, to a defense roll while shifting, or make an IQ roll to add a further +2 to escape, evasion, and feint rolls.

When you pick up any item that could carry the Staff spell, it works as if it did bear that spell while you have it ready. It isn’t actually enchanted, and it immediately loses its power when you let go. This is essentially a modified Accessory perk (p. B100).

You have received exotic powers because of training, such as a Berserker’s spiritual protection. This is a supernatural version of Special Exercises (Martial Arts, p. 51), giving access to a power that might not normally be available in the campaign. The advantage itself must be bought with a power modifier (p. 24) that reflects the source of the special ability. This perk suits a high-fantasy campaign.

Prerequisite: Resistant to whatever causes zombies.

In settings where Resistant to Disease, Nanomachines, Poison, or Prions is effective against zombie plague, this perk makes your advantage better. It boosts the +3 level to +8, or the +8 level to full Immunity, against that specific danger.

When you encounter zombies, you get an IQ-3 roll to deduce their general motivation (“following orders,” “hunger,” “revenge,” etc.). You also receive +1 on any Psychology, Tactics, or Teaching roll the GM requires for “taming” or outflanking zombies.

Out of combat, zombies in hordes ignore you provided that you walk no faster than they do – maybe you smell like them! For this to work, you must stay in the horde and let the zombies see and jostle you. If you walk with zombies that cause a contagion roll (see Contagion, p. B443), you roll at +1 for “touched briefly” at best. If combat breaks out, then regardless of who starts it, the zombies will recognize you for what you are.

Prerequisites: Hazardous Materials (any) and NBC Suit at 16+.

You’re exempt from routine skill rolls to don or decontaminate hazmat gear: masks, suits, etc. This has no effect on extraordinary uses, or on rolls to handle dangerous stuff rather than to suit up.

The NBC Suit skill (p. B192) doesn’t limit your DX or DX-based skills when wearing biohazard gear that isn’t bulky enough to give at least -1 to DX.

You taste terrible to flesh-eating beings. They can smell this, making them reluctant to bite you. Whenever one could bite you, roll 3d (in a horde attack, roll once per turn for all of them):

3-6 – It’s desperate, and bites you anyway.

7-14 – It opts to attack in some other way: grapple, punch, etc.

15-18 – Wow, you’re gross! It attacks a nearby ally, or avoids you if you’re alone.

In a campaign world that has undead zombies, you’ll never join them. Zombie plague – or zombie bites – may kill you, but that’s truly the end. If there are spells, serums, mad-science rays, etc. that reanimate the dead, they flat-out fail on your corpse. Think of this as insurance for your pals!

Whatever “wrongness” triggers the Frightens Animals disadvantage (p. B137), you sense it on a Perception roll, or a Smell roll if it’s a pheromonal thing. (The Animal Friend Talent adds its level to this sense roll.) You don’t experience the fear yourself; you simply sense that the target individual has that quality that causes panic or disgust in animals, which may suggest a demonic origin or the like.

In fantasy games, this perk makes sense for characters with the Outdoorsman Talent, Sense Evil, high Perception, druidic abilities, or ties to the bestial world (an animal totem, an “animal” race, etc.).

The Animal Empathy advantage already includes this perk, as suggested by the Frightens Animals text: “Anyone… with Animal Empathy – reacts to you at -1.” Animals themselves don’t need this perk; they already sense Frightens Animals (in the form of fear).