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rpg:gurps:other:getting_in

Getting In

Getting into – or out of – a secure location can accompany the tasks under Gathering Intelligence, be the highlight of a raid or a heist (see Grabbing the Goods), or be a goal in itself (as in a prison break). In all cases, a hero with Danger Sense gets a secret Perception roll before being eaten by guard dogs, fried by an electric fence, etc. Success warns him that he'll be in danger if he continues – but not what the danger is!

Surveillance and Patrols

The top threat to would-be sneaks trying to enter a secure area isn't alarms or deadly exotica like mines – it's being spotted. In the movies, tripping an alarm just gets the bad guys looking for you; being seen means they've found you. If the crew can't silence them in one second of violence, a chase or a fight ensues, making further stealth impossible!

To evade detection by patrols, roll the Quick Contests under Subtlety. Remember that BAD rates the enemy leader's effective skill (e.g., BAD -4 is effective skill 10 + 4 = 14), accounting for night-vision gear, patrol density, etc. Having a good plan for dealing with this mitigates BAD (see The Mission Plan) – and once on-site, the squad can use Observation as a complementary skill, noting the patrol schedule and thus eroding BAD even further for this one application.

Cameras: Security cameras may cover every corner and have lights or night vision, but there are rarely enough guards to watch all those screens. Keeping to the shadows or darting past while the cameras are panned away is a standard Stealth attempt, except that the guards use the better of Vision or Electronics Operation (Security). If a hacker has already overcome BAD to hack into and control networked cameras (see Hacking), ignore BAD and the Quick Contest, and make a simple Stealth roll to walk into any area that's watched by cameras alone. Any failure means being seen.

Guard Animals: If guard animals are present (GM decides), these account for -2 of BAD for patrol and surveillance purposes. Dealing with the beasts can partly erase this: Animal Handling becomes a complementary skill for the sole purpose of the rolls under Subtlety. If the animals lack handlers, any success on Animal Handling allows an unmodified, uncontested Stealth roll to walk past (the animals are distracted, bribed with food, etc.), while failure means the usual Contest takes place – and critical failure means the animals attack and any guards notice the commotion!

Insertion

Isolation is such an effective security measure that the first part of getting in is likely to be getting on-site! If an “interesting” location is accessible using a large vehicle with a single controller, or on foot, use Travel. The rules below are for when each hero must operate – or at least wear – his own insertion equipment. To make this a team effort instead of leaving the hacker and face man behind on dives and jumps, use Got You Covered when the team attempts such an insertion. This is unrealistic but true to cinema: The gruff ex-Ranger makes sure that his geeky sidekick arrives in one piece. For all insertions, even those on foot, Subtlety is often needed!

Parachutes: Make a Parachuting roll to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. Any failure means the least-skilled squad member experiences a disaster. Consider trained skill and defaults (DX-4) – and on a tie, there's a collision that affects everybody at that skill level. Failure costs 1d HP of general bruising. Critical failure, or ordinary failure if the victim had an overloaded chute, means a fall from the full jump height; see Falls. (A jump from below a chute's minimum jump height counts as a critical failure for everybody dumb enough to try.) It takes 2 seconds to get out of the harness after landing.

Gliders: Use Piloting (Glider) for hang-glider infiltration. This works like parachute insertion, except that critical failure means the least-skilled aviator falls out of his glider in the course of taking damage. The craft crashes dramatically, preventing any attempt at stealth.

Boats: The operative skill for inflatable boats (“Zodiacs”) and speedboats is Boating (Powerboat). On a failure, roll 1d: 1-3 means subtlety is impossible; 4-6 indicates that somebody's gear (choose randomly) falls overboard and is lost. Critical failure sends the least-skilled person overboard (determine this as for parachuting); this foils stealth, costs him his gear, and requires him to roll against Swimming to avoid losing 1 FP (1d FP on a critical failure).

Divers: The Scuba skill covers insertions using scuba gear or dive torpedoes. Any failure means the squad loses the element of surprise; the bad guys hear motors or spot bubbles. Critical failure also means the least-skilled diver suffers an accident involving propellers or Big Fish; the victim may try a Swimming roll as a “saving throw,” with success meaning a mere 1 HP of injury but failure costing 1d HP.

Climbing

Climbing is one of the infiltrator's top methods for breaking into secure installations. Many valuable objectives are protected chiefly by being 40 stories up a steel-and-glass tower. When the lower floors are rotten with sensors and guards, a line tossed from the next roof over is often the simplest solution!

Except for the roll to toss a line, these rolls take a penalty equal to encumbrance, and a critical failure means a fall (see Falls, below).

Tossing Lines: Throwing a grapnel to snag a parapet, flagstaff, or other anchor within STx2 yards requires a Throwing roll. Ranged combat penalties don't apply, unless doing this in combat. Failure just means you must try again. Critical failure alerts the bad guys by smashing a window, pulling down the flagpole, etc.

Balancing: Roll Acrobatics to traverse something narrow, at -2 if it's taut or rigid (a ledge) or -5 if it's slack (an ordinary rope). A pole helps balance – add +2 for a 6' pole, +3 for a 10' pole. Failure means a fall, but allows a DX roll to catch something and try a pull-up (see below) to get back on. Critical failure (or failure on a DX roll to catch yourself) means a fall from the height of the crossing. Heroes with Perfect Balance don't have to roll!

Climbing: Assume that most climbs require one Climbing roll per story at -3 (or no penalty with suction cups) if scaling the side of a building, or one roll per 10 stories at only -2 (which can be offset by quality bonuses for climbing gear) for a rope straight up. Failure and critical failure work as for balancing.

Leg Up: A friend can boost you to reach a high area. He makes a ST roll while you roll Acrobatics at -2. If you both succeed, you can reach anything up to the sum of your heights and try a pull-up to get yourself up there. Failure by either of you lets you retry, but your partner must pay 1 FP per repeated attempt. On any critical failure, you collapse in a pile and each take 1d-3 HP of injury (DR doesn't protect).

Rappelling: You can drop at 12 feet (about a story) per second with a climbing kit or a rappelling kit. The whole trip requires just one Climbingroll at -1, which can be offset by equipment quality bonuses. Failure means your gear fouls and you get stuck halfway down; options are to climb back up the rope, wait for help, or sever the line and fall. Critical failure means a fall from halfway down.

Swinging: If you can affix a line to an overhead anchor (toss a grapnel, climb up and tie a rope to a flagpole, etc.), you can swing across a gap. The rope's effective length is the smaller of its true length and the distance from anchor to ground. You can swing a distance of up to 3/4 of that length from a vertical rope, or 1.5 times that length if it starts 45° off-vertical. Make an Acrobatics roll at the range penalty for that distance. Failure allows you to retry. Critical failure means a fall from your current height.

Parkour

Agile action heroes – especially assassins and infiltrators – often use athletics instead of ropes to access difficult areas. Many of these tricks are also valuable in chases. All of the rolls below take a penalty equal to encumbrance. Where failure indicates a fall, see Falls (below).

Diving: An Acrobatics roll at -4 lets you dive through a narrow opening – past the blades of a giant ventilation fan, under a closing garage door, between red-hot pipes, etc. Failure means you end up stuck halfway through, which may hurt! Critical failure adds 1d-3 HP of injury (DR doesn't protect).

Jumping: If an obstacle is small enough for anyone to hurdle, any action hero can do so with a simple DX roll. If it's wide, it calls for someone with the Jumping skill, who can run and jump up to skill/2 yards. In either case, success gets you across in one piece. Failure allows a DX roll to catch the far side (no consolation if jumping subway tracks when the train is coming!) and try a pull-up. Critical failure – or failure on the last ditch DX roll – means you end up in or on whatever you were leaping over. If that's a sheer drop, you take falling damage!

Pull-Up: Make a ST-based Climbing roll to pull yourself up onto anything you can reach: your height plus 1.5'. On a failure, you hang there and may retry, paying 1 FP per repeated attempt. Critical failure means a strained arm (crippled for 30 minutes) and a fall – bad, if you're trying to recover from another failed stunt.

Running Climb: If two obstacles are within a couple of yards, you can run at one and kick off back and forth between them to gain additional height before a pull-up. Use the better of Acrobatics or Jumping, at -4 to gain Basic Move/4 yards or -6 to gain Basic Move/2 yards (roundup). Failure means a fall from that height; critical failure means maximum falling damage!

Skidding: To cross an oil-slicked garage or similar, make a DX or DX-based Skiing roll at the combat penalty for bad footing – usually -2. You may kneel or go prone as a free action. Success lets you zip along at full Move the first second, halved (round down) per second afterward until Move is less than 1, which means you stop. Failure means you fall over if standing, or stop cold otherwise. Critical failure adds 1d-3 HP of injury (DR doesn't protect). If you dove or fell on something seriously slippery, roll DX-4 to stand up again!

Sliding: Roll against DX or Acrobatics – at -2 if seated or -8 if standing – to “surf” down the metal divider between escalators, a sloped awning, or anything similar. If you have a personal conveyance designed for zipping down slopes (skateboard, skis, etc.), you may roll against its operation skill instead, and the modifier is only -2 (the surface is less-than-ideal). In all cases, you travel at Move 5 and can go until you reach the bottom, but you must roll every turn. Failure means you slip off to one side; if there's a safe place to land, you end up standing there. Critical failure – or any failure when there's a vertical drop to either side – means you fall.

Spinning: You can spin to face any direction at the end of a full-out run by making an Acrobatics or DX-based Running roll at -2. Failure means you end up facing a random direction; roll 1d. Critical failure means you fall over. To spin after diving, skidding, or sliding, make the usual roll for that stunt instead, but at an extra -2.

Squeezing: Roll against Escape to wiggle through a narrow crack, like a door pushed open with a security chain in place. Success gets you to the other side. Failure means you won't fit, and can't retry. Critical failure means you're stuck and must be rescued.

Falls

Failure at many feats under Insertion, Climbing, and Parkour results in a big helping of crushing damage. Ignore the math on p. B431 and use the table below. Roll 12d for falls from above 100 yards – they're “terminal” in several senses!

Distance Damage Distance Damage Distance Damage
1 yard 1d 15 yards 3d+2 45 yards 6d
2 yards 1d+1 20 yards 4d 50 yards 6d+2
3 yards 1d+2 25 yards 4d+2 60 yards 7d
4 yards 2d-1 30 yards 5d 70 yards 7d+2
5 yards 2d 35 yards 5d+2 80 yards 8d+1
10 yards 3d 40 yards 6d-1 100 yards 9d+1

Fences

Nearly all secure installations have fences. Aerial insertion is rarely a practical way around these – the area inside most fences is watched (see Surveillance and Patrols), and a parachute or a glider will be seen. Usually, heroes must deal with a fence more directly.

To circumvent a fence, go over or through it (any fence lousy enough to go under is background color, not a serious obstacle). Attempting either gives any guards one extra chance to spot the intruders, who must win a Quick Contest of Stealth vs. the sentries' Vision to remain undetected.

Climbing Fences: Clambering over a fence calls for a Climbing roll. Apply BAD to skill to reflect tall or outward-sloping fences. Failure means just that, but each repeated attempt gives any guards another chance to spot you. Critical failure means you fall off: 1d-3 HP of injury (DR doesn't protect) and somebody notices you for sure!

Cutting Fences: Bolt cutters can make short work of a fence; there's little chance of failure. Quality fences take longer to cut, though. Time in minutes is the absolute value of BAD, minimum one minute. Success with Forced Entry halves this time; any failure doesn't. Don't apply BAD to this roll – it's already accounted for. Reroll Stealth every two full minutes.

Types of Fences

Security fences may have one or more special features:

Razor Wire: Make an additional DX or Escape roll, applying BAD. Failure means the barbs inflict 1d-3 cutting damage and snag you. You must then break free from ST 8 to get across. Each failure means another 1d-3 and an additional opportunity for the guards to spot you (or hear you cursing). To avoid these effects, toss something over it or cut it with bolt cutters!

Electric: Each attempt to climb the fence inflicts 3d burning damage. This is a good reason not to fail and have to retry – and to avoid getting snagged on razor wire. Bolt cutters have insulated handles but require a Forced Entry roll here (still halving time); failure means 3d damage, while critical failure causes 6d. To disarm the fence, roll vs. Electrician, applying BAD; you must have a tool kit. Failure means it's still live, critical failure also does 3d damage, and repeated attempts give the guards additional chances to see you.

Smart: The fence has sensors that detect and locate attempts to cut or climb it. To neutralize a section, roll vs. Electronics Operation (Security), applying BAD; you must have electronic lockpicks. Any failure means you're busted, exactly as if you had set off a security system!

Locks

Once an intruder is past any fences and has eluded any guards, he can silently defeat most doors by picking locks. The locks below come in many security grades. The GM can use BAD or assign a given lock any modifier from +5 (cheap doorknob lock) to -10 (fancy multi-key lock on a nuclear sub).

Mechanical Locks: Picking a standard lock requires aLockpicking roll, at -5 with a multi-tool or similar gadget, no modifier for proper picks, or +1 or +2 for good or fine tools. The GM decides whether the lock requires a key from one side or both – a major concern when the infiltrator goes in the back way and wants to let the crew in, or when he breaks a window and reaches for the lock (see Glass). Failure allows repeated attempts at a cumulative -1. Critical failure snaps off the pick in the lock; the tools used give -1 from now on and the team must resort to force to open the door.

Electronic Locks: These use numeric keypads or key cards. The infiltrator must have electronic lockpicks or Electronics Repair (Security) tools, but rolls against Lockpicking – not Electronics Repair. Failure allows repeated attempts at a cumulative -1. Critical failure short-circuits the tools permanently. Cutting power (see Sabotage) will open most civilian systems but cause those on prisons, secret bases, etc., to clamp shut, at which point force is the only option.

Biometric Locks: These require biometric input such as fingerprints, retinal scans, or voiceprints. If you can gain access to one and have electronic lockpicks, you can bypass it with an Electronics Operation (Security) roll. Failure and critical failure work as for standard electronic locks. A bypass isn't possible if, as is common, guards are watching the costly machine!

Secret agents with access to a legitimate user or a database can try an Assistance Roll to requisition special gloves for fingerprints, contact lenses for retina prints, and so on; these give an automatic, unsuspicious success. Anybody can attempt Electronics Operation (Media) to engineer a voice recording (obtained through bugs or intercepts) for voiceprints; the GM rolls secretly, with any success meaning the lock opens and any failure meaning it doesn't.

Safecracking

Use the rules under Locks to open safe and vault locks, with these changes:

  • Base time per attempt is an hour, not a minute.
  • Basic equipment for defeating mechanical locks is a stethoscope (not lockpicks). Any bonuses come from its quality. A search endoscope gives an extra +2, but requires drilling through DR first. Electronic locks require the usual gear.
  • Such locks are always high-security (-5 to -10), regardless of BAD, and there may be several.

Alternatively, wreck the thing using the rules under Doors. Note that a safe or vault's DR always protects its lock, too. Some typical DR and HP values:

Container DR HP
Document Safe 20 19
Business Safe* 120 73
Local Bank Vault* 400 127
Major Bank Vault* 800 345

* Often rigged with alarms that must be dealt with first; see Security Systems.

Doors

Soldiers, SWAT teams, and thugs don't fiddle with locks – they remove obstacles! These tasks automatically negate Stealth except where noted; everyone in the area gets an uncontested Hearing roll to detect each attempt. The GM decides whether anyone is present. The squad can attempt Audio Surveillance or Visual Surveillance to learn this before wailing on the door.

Bashing: You can destroy the door itself with a fire axe, go-bar, ram, etc. Forget attack rolls! Just roll the listed damage or that of the equivalent melee weapon (see tool's stats). Add +2, or +1 per die, for All-Out Attack (Strong) – and another +1 per die with Forced Entry at DX+1, or +2 per die at DX+2. The GM subtracts DR, multiplies by 1.5 if using a cutting attack, and reduces the target's HP until it reaches 0 and allows entry.

Blasting: Use the rules for Blowing Stuff Up(pp. 24-25). Explosives just sitting there roll damage as usual. Explosives packed in contact with the door inflict maximum damage. Subtract DR and apply penetrating damage to HP. At 0 HP, the door is mangled to the point where an unmodified Forced Entry roll can pry it open; at -HP, it's annihilated!

Forcing: A less-extreme option is to apply force to overpower the door's attachments, rather than destroy the entire door. Roll a Quick Contest: ST against the lock or hinge's HP. Add +2 to ST for a crowbar, fire axe, or go-bar, and +1 for Forced Entry at DX+1 or +2 at DX+2 – or alternatively, use a vehicle's ST to pull or push the door – but also apply a ST penalty equal to the hardware's DR. You must win to open the door. Repeated attempts have a cumulative -1 and cost 1 FP apiece (except with a vehicle!). For a chained door, victory busts the lock; you can then roll again to overcome the chain's DR and HP, sever the now-exposed chain, or squeeze in (see Parkour).

Prying: To pry apart a security grille or a prison door, use the rules for forcing.

Severing: Exposed chains, grilles, hasps, and padlocks can be cut rather than bashed, blasted, forced, or pried. Handle this like bashing with a cutting tool, with one exception: Bolt cutters and files (not hacksaws, torches, etc.) allow Stealth; roll against the lower of Forced Entry or Stealth to be sneaky.

Attached Hardware DR and HP

Unexposed chains, hasps, hinges, and locks can only be forced; exposed ones can also be bashed, blasted, or severed. You can use a drill or thermite to expose armored locks or hinges enough to blast them. For a drill, roll vs. Forced Entry; failure means you're heard, and critical failure also breaks the drill. Thermite uses Explosives (any), Machinist, or Mechanic (any); failure means an obvious fire or fire alarm, and critical failure also inflicts 3d burning damage on the user!

Hardware

Construction DR HP Examples
Weak 3 6 Bedroom door.
Standard 6 11 Suburban front door.
Tough 11 22 Commercial security door.
Extra-Tough 22 44 Institutional security door.

Door and Gate DR and HP

The door itself can always be bashed or blasted. Wood/plastic doors have ablative DR; other doors don't.

Door Construction Wood/Plastic Metal-Faced Metal
DR HP DR HP DR HP
Household Interior 1 18 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Household Exterior 1 23 4 23 4 28
Security 2 29 30 29 30 47
Blast N/A N/A N/A N/A 70* 60*

* At minimum!

Grille and Bar DR and HP

Security grilles, prison bars, and so on can be bashed, blasted, or severed. Cheap ones lack reinforcing cross-members, and can be pried. The stats below are per bar; defeating one bar lets a Skinny person pass, two lets most people squeeze by, and three admits Fat or Very Fat individuals. Add an extra bar for heroes with more than Light encumbrance!

Grille Construction DR HP
Ornamental (wire, soft iron, etc.) 3 6
Home or Cheap Commercial Security 6 11
Commercial Security, Biker Fortress 11 22
Teller's Cage (bank, Vegas, etc.) 17 33
Prison Cell or Heavy Teller's Cage 22 44

Glass

If a locked door has a small window in or next to it, you can cut or smash the glass, reach in, and simply unlatch the lock – unless the lock has keyholes on both sides (GM's decision). A large window is as good as a door. And sometimes, valuable art or a secret prototype is in a glass case. Glass is often rigged with security sensors, which are their own problem.

Regular Glass: In the movies, ordinary glass always breaks conveniently. Hit it with Brawling, shoot it with Guns, or make a Forced Entry roll (at +1 for a crowbar, fire axe, go-bar, etc.). Success breaks the glass. Failure lets you retry – although each attempt gives nearby enemies a Hearing roll to notice! Critical failure means you are heard and take 1d cutting damage unless your implement of destruction was ranged.

Security Glass: Other glass seems to be nearly indestructible. The hero throws a few heavy objects at it, watches them bounce off, and then tries something else (probably a big gun). Treat such panes as interior, exterior, or even security doors, and follow the standard rules for defeating doors.

Glass-Cutting: An infiltrator with a circle cutter can try a Forced Entry roll at -6 to cut a perfect circle out of any glass. Success bypasses the window silently – no Hearing rolls for guards. Failure by 6 or less breaks the window noisily. Greater failure means the window is intact, a horrible scratching noise alerts guards, and the cutter is dulled and of no further use on this job.

Barrier BAD-ness

While BAD affects many tasks, the rules for doors and glass ignore it. This is because visual style trumps common sense in action cinema. Of course a BAD 0 machine shop has big, chunky things with piles of HP, and of course that BAD -10 secret lab has delicate glass walls. Remember that guard, lock, and security system quality depends on BAD, though. Tackling even the flimsiest door in a clumsy or noisy way is far riskier when BAD is severe!

Security Systems

High-value targets are inevitably behind high-tech security systems. Triggering any such system notifies guards or authorities, bringing thugs, rent-a-cops, police, or troops. It may also sound sirens, activate floodlights, lock doors, drop grilles, or arm dangerous traps – see Locks, Doors, and Traps.

Detection: Spotting a security sensor requires a Vision-5, Observation,or Per-based Traps roll, with Acute Vision bonuses and darkness penalties. Action heroes are always on the alert – the GM rolls secretly against the team's best skill (separately for each group, when split up) to see if they notice each device before triggering it. This roll is subject to BAD if the sensor is concealed (but it's often left visible as a deterrent), and at -5 when fleeing or rushed. Discovery may also require special equipment; e.g., night-vision gear to see infrared laser beams. Any failure means setting off the alarm. Don't bother rolling if earlier information-gathering efforts or the team's bosses provided a schematic showing where everything is… provided the info is accurate, of course.

Disarming: Disabling a mechanical device or a simple electric circuit calls for a Traps roll. Eliminating an electronic system requires an Electronics Operation (Security) roll if the controls are accessible. If all that's available is a sensor housing, the burglar needs electronic lockpicks or Electronics Repair (Security) tools, must roll against Electronics Repair (Security)to crack the housing, and then has to make an Electronics Operation (Security) roll – and this bypasses the local sensor, not the whole system. Apply BAD to all of these tasks. The GM rolls secretly. Failure triggers the alarm, but the infiltrator will be aware of his mistake; critical failure looks like success until it's too late!

.50-caliber Remote Control: Silver-screen heroes routinely wreck security hardware – often with gunfire. This should work in action games! However, sensors are tiny (SM -10 or below) and/or tough (DR 12+), calling for a skilled assassin or shooter with a good weapon.

Pull the Plug: Cutting the power (see Sabotage) might work, if the target relies on outside power (GM's decision).

Disarm Security Network? (Y/N): A viable alternative when facing a computerized system is Hacking.

Rearming: By making the roll to disarm again, it's possible to reactivate a disarmed system (not a destroyed one!) after the squad has passed.

Sensor Types

Security systems in thrillers often use several distinct technologies. These shouldn't be left abstract – movies lovingly depict the heroes' clever workarounds for each one. A simple Electronics Operation (Security), Electronics Repair (Security), or Traps roll will identify any hardware found on-site or in a schematic.

Laser Beams: A screen of lasers, either infrared (invisible to the naked eye but not to night-vision gear) or visible-light (which can be revealed by dust or aerosol spray). The trigger is breaking a beam. Switching off the lasers requires access to controls, cutting power, or hacking. Limber heroes can instead avoid them – if they can see them (or memorize their location with Eidetic Memory). Roll against the lower of Acrobatics or Stealth to cross a protected area, applying BAD to reflect extra-dense or moving beams. Any failure sets off the alarm!

Motion Detectors: “Microwave fences” and ultrasonic sensors can detect movement over large areas. Like lasers, these can be shut off or avoided, if known about. To sneak past, win a Quick Contest of Stealth vs. the Electronics Operation (Security) skill of the guards or monitoring computers, which of course increases with BAD. While doing so, walking speed can't exceed Move 1/2.

Proximity Sensors: These can be rigged to a single item (e.g., a painting) or deployed over an area as an invisible “fence,” detecting physical contact or human presence within 5 yards, respectively. To defeat these, switch them off at the console, cut power, or hack the system – local detection and disarming won'twork, and simple stealth is ineffective. Alternatively, learn where they are and avoid them.

Seismic Detectors: Buried vibration sensors are impossible to see and impractical to tamper with – mostly, you have to know they're there. If you do, a simple Stealth roll, modified for BAD, lets you cross the protected zone at Move 1 without being detected.

Switches: Fences, locks, doors, glass, traps, the housing of fancier sensors, and even ordinary floors may be hooked into a security grid via pressure or anti-tamper switches. These are triggered by any attempt to cut the fence, pick the lock, force the door, etc. – disarm them first! Use the standard security-systems rules. One special consideration is that switches may be wireless and susceptible to a jammer.

Traps

Harmful traps are forbidden in most places. Action movies aren't one of those places. The GM should make the detection rolls noted here in secret, using the squad's best skill. Avoiding a known device in the open is automatic. One that covers an entrance or other choke point must be neutralized, however.

Contact Poisons: Chemicals that kill on contact are popular with cinematic assassins. Spotting them requires a Per-based Chemistry or Poisons roll. Acute Vision adds if the toxin is visible; otherwise, Acute Taste and Smell helps to sniff it out. These rolls often have penalties! Make a Hazardous Materials roll to remove the stuff; any failure means it splatters on someone. Victims could suffer anything from a flat 4d toxic damage to the nasty effects noted for nerve gas on p. B439.

Explosive Booby Traps and Mines: Make a Per-based Traps or Explosives (EOD) roll to notice these; a Soldier roll at -5 will do in a pinch. Disarming such a trap requires a standard IQ-based Explosives (EOD) roll – and anti-tamper devices give a penalty equal to BAD. Failure to detect or disarm such a trap means getting blown up! Traps rigged from grenades and explosives inflict standard damage for those things; mines deliver hurt in the 6dx2 [4d] cr ex range. See Explosions.

Remote-Controlled Weapons: Secret agents run into these all the time. Real systems are mounted high up (e.g., on a tower) to maximize coverage, and work only if a security system has alerted the human operators. Cinematic ones could lurk anywhere and operate under computer control. They're detected like other security systems, but “defeating” them involves not being seen (roll vs. Stealth, applying BAD) or destroying them (SM -2, DR 35, HP 8). A remote weapon's effective skill is 10 + absolute value of BAD. It does the usual damage for that kind of gun.

Tripwire Weapons: Make a Per-based Traps roll to find these, using BAD to reflect thin wires, clever placement, etc. Treat a known trap as a mechanical security system that can be disarmed with Traps – or with Armoury, if the weapon itself is in reach. Failure to detect and disarm the trap means being shot for the gun's usual damage. A trip flare is basically a signal flare rigged this way, intended to alert sentries; defeating one requires a Soldier roll or an Explosives (EOD or Fireworks) roll at +4.

rpg/gurps/other/getting_in.txt · Last modified: 2017/06/17 03:16 by 127.0.0.1

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