Line #23 TabletopGame/GURPSSupers


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cover_lgs.png]]
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3	''GURPS Supers'' is the [[TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} Generic Universal Role Playing System]]'s superhero expansion. Two editions were published in the 1980s as supplements for ''GURPS'' 3rd Edition; a completely new edition was much more recently published, actually a completely new book designed as a supplement for ''GURPS'' 4th Edition rules and linked to the recent ''GURPS Powers'' rules expansion.
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5	The first edition was criticized because it arranged superpowers in sets called "Power Groups" which players felt limited their character creation choices. This was fixed in the second edition, so that powers could be [[PointBuildSystem bought individually]]. (Power Groups were retained as an optional system.) The 21st century edition handles powers and abilities completely differently again, in line with the significant changes in the core ''GURPS'' rules.
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7	Another criticism of the original books was that you couldn't emulate the most powerful heroes from the comics (such as Franchise/{{Superman}} or Franchise/GreenLantern) because either they would be too expensive to adapt (costing thousands of character points) or their [[SwissArmySuperpower powers were too expansive]] and there were no exact equivalents for them (though these were problems faced by most superhero [=RPGs=] of the time.) On the other hand, ''GURPS Supers'' could handle the less absurd superheroes, and it produced many interesting original characters of its own. With the 4th Edition version, even cosmic-level heroes can now be reproduced, though most of the work for that was done in ''GURPS Powers''.
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9	Another problem the books had was the artwork; it was crude and uncolored, except on the covers. Again, the latest version has mostly better art, though still uncolored.
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11	There were several {{Sourcebook}}s put out for the game, the most famous being an adaptation of the ComicBook/WildCards superhero novels. The 1980s editions had [[TheVerse their own original setting]], detailed in ''Gurps IST'' (International Super Teams) which featured an AlternateUniverse where the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations effectively rules the world and uses superhero teams to keep the peace. The IST world was recently incorporated into the GURPS TabletopGame/InfiniteWorlds meta-setting. All of these can now be purchased in PDF form from Steve Jackson Games' website.
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13	!!Related tropes:
14	* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: with the "No Visible Damage" perk.
15	* CaptainEthnic: Avoided for the most part.
16	* CastFromStamina: GURPS in general allows a character to activate Extra Effort - by spending stamina and making a Will roll (with increasing penalties based on how much stamina is spent), extra dice proportional to stamina spent can be added to a power's effect. A power can also have Cost Fatigue limitation (either as a whole or for certain extra power levels) to allow for this effect without requiring a roll.
17	* CatFolk: The Meeranon from ''IST'' are telepathic humanoid tigers, who come in all coat patterns of Earth felines, from jaguar to tabby, and a few more such as ''green''.
18	* DeathDealer: In the 3E supplement ''Supertemps'', Blacksmith used a weapon that fired metal projectiles the size and shape of playing cards.
19	* DeathSeeker: The noble Japanese villain Mount Fuji.
20	* DieOrFly: Justified; see Meta Origin.
21	* DifferentlyPoweredIndividual: Called "Supers" or "Metas".
22	* DisabilitySuperpower: You CAN combine Blindness and vision powers.
23	* EmotionEater: in the 3E supplement ''Wild Cards'', Senator Hartman (AKA Puppet Man) and The Gatekeeper (owner of the Joker's Wild cabaret).
24	* {{Expy}}: The templates in GURPS Supers are all to some extent designed to let players play these. For example, the Archetype is most obviously for playing Franchise/{{Superman}}, but also includes "Amphibian" and "Super-Swimming" options if you'd rather play ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}. The Brick includes a "Man of Steel" option that's basically [[ComicBook/XMen Colossus]]. Most blatantly of all, the Man Plus comes with a [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica choice of "Superalloy Chainmail" or "Superalloy Medium Shield."]]
25	* FantasticLegalWeirdness: ''IST'' has several sidebars about such things as court telepaths, whether metahumans with healing powers need a medical degree, and other legal issues that come up in a world with powers.
26	* FantasticSlurs: "Crunchies" for nonpowered humans.
27	* FriendToAllLivingThings: The superheroine Lynx in the 3E supplement ''Supertemps''.
28	* HowDoIShotWeb: Many powers have an associated skill attached with them (along with a default rating for untrained power use). Particularly with new powers, the user may have a low chance of using them effectively, which can result in various mishaps (and if the power in question has a high rating and the "Full Power Only" limitation, this can be very dangerous for all around).
29	* {{Hulkspeak}}: Used by the Franchise/{{Frankenstein}}-like hero Patchwork (who is actually using ObfuscatingStupidity.)
30	* ImmuneToBullets: Several options.
31	* JetPack: In the ''Supertemps'' supplement the heroes Clone and New Javelin each had one.
32	* KidnappedScientist: Harold Wilkesom (Blacksmith) in the 3E supplement ''Supertemps''.
33	* LightningGun: Modular Man (from ''Wild Cards'') has one.
34	* LivingShip: The 'Ishb'kaukab in the 3E supplement ''Wild Cards'' are a race of whale-sized, telepathic, sentient creatures that live in deep space and have been genetically engineered by the Takisians into self-repairing spaceships.
35	* MagicPants: The "Costume" advantage prevented the character's clothes from being damaged (but not the character himself).
36	* MetaOrigin: In the IST world, powers mostly come from genetic manipulation by {{Precursors}}, turned latent due to solar radiation; often activated by stress.
37	* MisappliedPhlebotinum: Avoided, many Metas use their powers for legal gain.
38	* MySuitIsAlsoSuper: The Costume Advantage also allowed the clothing to adapt to the users' powers (ex. turning invisible.)
39	* NighInvulnerability: With the "Damage Reduction" advantage.
40	* {{Omniglot}}: The Omnilingual advantage.
41	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: The vampire superhero, Nightflick.
42	* PersonalityPowers: In the fourth edition, the standard superhero templates come with personality powers.
43	* PowerIncontinence: The "Uncontrollable" power limitation. A milder version is the "Full Power Only" limitation - while a power with levels ordinarily can be dialed back as the user feels necessary, if someone with "Full Power Only" uses it, they are unable to do anything less than full power. "Always On" is the stronger version - while someone with "Uncontrollable" might be able to avoid using their power at a given time, "Always On" is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. This can be anywhere from inconvenient (like Body of Steel or Body of Stone) to downright dangerous (like Body of Fire).
44	* RedEyesTakeWarning: Adventure ''School of Hard Knocks''. The supervillain Denier is nasty, chauvinistic, selfish and abusive. He also has blood-red eyes in his human form.
45	* ReedRichardsIsUseless: Averted, technology has advanced in the IST Earth thanks to the study of powers (and interaction with aliens.)
46	* ReverseShrapnel: The Ring of Fire power.
47	* SciFiGhetto: Discussed. In ''IST''. It's mentioned that sci-fi has become a massively dominant genre due to the public's love of supers, and has stopped being seen as a ghetto. [[invoked]]
48	* ShoulderCannon: ''Wild Cards''. The Modular Man can have two of these, one on each shoulder.
49	* ShoutOut (TabletopGames): See that article for examples.
50	* ShrinkRay: The power Shrinking with the Affects Others Advantage. In the ''Supertemps'' supplement the hero Nucleus' nanosuit has this power.
51	* {{Sleepwalking}}: One of the side effects of "Uncontrollable" is that a character might use their powers in their sleep. One explicit issue discussed is the problem of sleep-{{teleportation}}.
52	* TheSparkOfGenius: Appears in the 3E supplements ''Wild Cards'' and ''Supertemps''.
53	* SpeaksFluentAnimal: The superheroine Lynx in the 3E supplement ''Supertemps''.
54	* SuperRegistrationAct: In ''IST'', the US has the Department of Metahuman Information. It's technically voluntary, but they want private super teams to sign up (and those who really won't get with the program can face severe harassment), as well as giving the superteam the legal authority to make arrests. However, what's not spelled out is that the DMI are ''also'' a method of dodging the UN's rule against national military superteams, since if war breaks out, they'll have easy access to a large number of registered heroes who're already working with the government.
55	* {{Stripperific}}: One optional rule (meant for more four-color cinematic play, mostly for female supers, but males can take advantage of it, too) is a "Bulletproof Nudity" rule, where the character's defense increases in direct proportion with how much skin they're showing (with full nudity providing a +10 to damage resistance). The offered explanation is that foes are too DistractedByTheSexy to aim well (thus, it's recommended that the rule only be in place for characters with at least one level of Appearance). The canon character Flamin' Jane (who wears a LeotardOfPower with a flame-shaped CleavageWindow) benefits from it when in effect.
56	* UnitedNationsIsASuperpower:
57	** In ''IST'', the UN is strong enough to outlaw national military superteams and make it stick. In the world's first incarnation, this was imposed ''by threat of force'' on powers up to and including the Soviet Union. Later, this was [[{{Retcon}} retconned]] into being more of a mix of technological bribes and threats.
58	** It's also stated that several nations (The US, China, the Soviet Union, and many other major or regional powers) simply turned their military teams into something [[LoopholeAbuse considered legal]], such as having them (officially) report to a different, [[ExactWords non-military]] branch of the government, or making them government subsidised "private" superteams, while still having them set up to act as military superteams when needed.
59	** The UN does secretly have a cache of strategic nuclear weapons, despite having outlawed them.
60	* TheUnpronounceable: The alien race called Kyz, also from IST, use a partially-empathic language.
61	* WeaponizedTeleportation: 3rd Edition had Teleport with the Exoteleport enhancement. The ''Supertemps'' supplement had an {{NPC}} with the ability.

Context TabletopGame / GURPSSupers