Best of Pyramid, volume 2.pdf

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Compiled by Steven Marsh and Philip Reed
Written by John Aegard, John W. Baichtal,
R. Darrow Bernick, James L. Cambias,
Graeme Davis, Steve Dickie,
Steven W. Disbrow, John M. Ford,
Steven J. Hammond, Kenneth Hite,
Mike Kelly, Stephen Kenson, Jeff Koke,
Aric J. Liljegren, Laurence MacNaughton IV,
Dan Massey, Scott Paul Maykrantz,
Christopher Meinck, Erick Melton,
Michael Nelson, Craig Neumeier,
Derek Pearcy, Michael Phyillaier, Jr.,
Aaron Richardson, S. John Ross,
Anthony Salter, Michael S. Schiffer,
Scott Tengelin, Fred Van Lente,
and Fred Wolke
Additional material by Steven Marsh and
Roland M. Boshnack
Edited by Scott Haring, Steve Jackson,
Jeff Koke, and Susan Pinsonneault
Additional editing by Peter Dell’Orto
Indexing by Monique Chapman
Cover art by Jeff Miracola
Illustrated by Peter Bergting, Guy Burwell,
and Dan Smith
Additional illustrations by Steve Bryant,
Laura Eisenhour, John Hartwell,
Shea Ryan, and Alex Sheikman
Design, typography, and layout by
Alain H. Dawson, Alex Fernandez,
Jeff Koke, Richard Meaden,
Heather Oliver, Derek Pearcy,
Bruce Popky, Philip Reed, and
Gene Seabolt
GURPS System Design by Steve Jackson
Line Editor • Sean Punch
Production Manager • Gene Seabolt
Creative Director • Philip Reed
Prepress Assistant • Monica Stephens
Errata Coordinator • Andy Vetromile
Sales Manager • Ross Jepson
GURPS,
Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated.
Pyramid
and the names of all products
published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license.
GURPS Best of Pyramid 2
is copyright © 1994-1998, 2001 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Some art copyright www.arttoday.com.
ISBN 1-55634-542-9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STEVE JACKSON
GAMES
A
BOUT
GURPS
Steve Jackson Games is committed to
full support of the
GURPS
system. Our
address is SJ Games, Box 18957, Austin,
TX 78760. Please include a self-addressed,
stamped envelope (SASE) any time you
write us! Resources include:
Pyramid
(at
www.sjgames.com/
pyramid/).
Our online magazine includes
new
GURPS
rules and articles. It also
covers
Dungeons and Dragons, Traveller,
World of Darkness, Call of Cthulhu,
and many more top games – and other
Steve Jackson Games releases like
In
Nomine, INWO, Car Wars, Toon, Ogre
Miniatures,
and more.
Pyramid
sub-
scribers also have access to playtest files
online!
New supplements and adventures.
GURPS
continues to grow, and we’ll be
happy to let you know what’s new. A cur-
rent catalog is available for an SASE. Or
check out our website (below).
Errata.
Everyone makes mistakes,
including us – but we do our best to fix our
errors. Up-to-date errata sheets for all
GURPS
releases, including this book, are
available from SJ Games; be sure to
include an SASE. Or download them from
the Web – see below.
Gamer input.
We value your com-
ments, for new products as well as updated
printings of existing titles!
Internet.
Visit us on the World Wide
Web at
www.sjgames.com
for an online
catalog, errata, updates, Q&A, and much
more.
GURPS
has its own Usenet group,
too: rec.games.frp.gurps.
GURPSnet.
This e-mail list hosts
much of the online discussion of
GURPS.
To join, e-mail majordomo@io.com with
“subscribe GURPSnet-L” in the body, or
point your web browser to
gurpsnet.
sjgames.com.
The
GURPS Best of Pyramid 2
web
page is at
www.sjgames.com/gurps/
books/pyramid2/.
CONTENTS
I
NTRODUCTION
. . . . . . . . . 3 W
AREHOUSE
23 . . . . . . . . 78
OF
A
LEXANDER
79
T
ERRA
I
NCOGNITA
. . . . . . 4
T
HE
S
EVEN
B
OOKS
describes seven L
ACAN
. . .that
John M. Ford
volumes
S
ANCTUARY
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Magic, religion, and monsters in the big city,
by Aaron Richardson. (Pyramid
#27)
T
HE
G
HOST
S
HIP
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Graeme Davis expands the ship from
GURPS Horror.
(Pyramid
#12)
S
AN
J
UAN IN THE
O
NE
-
AND
-T
WENTY
. . . . . . . . 9
Steven J. Hammond gives us a look at a
cyberpunk San Juan. (Pyramid
#14)
T
HE
H
OTEL
F
UENTES
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
In Fred Van Lente’s hotel, “checkout time”
takes on a new meaning. (Pyramid
#11)
T
HE
I
NTERCESSION
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Every conflict needs a neutral ground. John
M. Ford gives an example. (Pyramid
#9)
T
HE
B
OTTOMLESS
P
IT
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Scott Paul Maykrantz describes this eternal
landmark of evil. (Pyramid
#7)
U-S
TORE
-I
T
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Derek Pearcy explores behind the locked
doors of rented storage. (Pyramid
#8)
illuminate the past and the future. (Pyramid
#9)
M
ORDAL
’
S
A
XE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
An item for the artistically inclined dwarf, by
Michael Phyillaier, Jr. (Pyramid
#8)
A
RACHNE
’
S
T
APESTRY
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
A mysterious Greek tapestry with a twist of
terror, by Christopher Meinck. (Pyramid
#16)
G
ORDON
’
S
G
LOVE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
A fencing glove that gives its owner immor-
tality, by Michael Phyillaier Jr. (Pyramid
#7)
T
HE
B
LACK
S
TYLUS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Be careful when you sign your name. Dan
Massey tells why. (Pyramid
#15)
T
HE
B
RAINMAKER
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
An artifact and adventure seed for a modern
or high-tech setting, by Anthony Salter.
(Pyramid
#14)
T
HE
C
ODEX OF THE
M
IND
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
John W. Baichtal reveals the effects of this
book on inquisitive adventurers. (Pyramid
#26)
T
HE
E
LECTRONIC
S
URVEILLANCE
P
LATFORM
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
A different sort of ESP, from Michael
Phyillaier, Jr. (Pyramid
#10)
T
HE
T
RUE
E
YE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
John Aegard shows the way to see the truth
. . . it’ll only cost you an eye. (Pyramid
#30)
L
IFE
S
TEALER
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Never trust a sword that offers immortality,
by Steve Dickie. (Pyramid
#19)
T
HE
C
HALICE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Michael Nelson shows that an object can
thirst for blood, too. (Pyramid
#11)
T
HE
E
CSTASY
V
IRUS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Incredible pleasure, addictive and deadly.
Who needs an immune system? By Steve
Dickie. (Pyramid
#18)
T
HE
C
URSED
S
WORD OF
H
SIMA
. . . . . . . . . . . 98
Steven W. Disbrow tells of a sword with its
own agenda . . . (Pyramid
#28)
S
ETTINGS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
C
YB
E
ARTH
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
In the aftermath of a devastating plague,
robots have carried on their master’s utopian
ideals. By James L. Cambias. (Pyramid
#17)
T
HE
H
OLE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
A multi-genre campaign background for any
game system, by Jeff Koke. (Pyramid
#1)
T
HE
U
NITY
W
AR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Stephen Kenson creates a near-future sci-
ence-fiction setting with a psionic twist.
(Pyramid
#28)
O
PTIONAL
R
ULES
. . . . . . 50
23 S
KIDDOO
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Fast history-changing for
GURPS Alternate
Earths,
by Kenneth Hite, Craig Neumeier,
and Michael S. Schiffer. (Pyramid
#21)
T
HE
Y
ALKANI
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
A new race for
GURPS Aliens,
by Erick
Melton. (Pyramid
#19)
U
NLIMITED
M
ANA
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
An update to the classic article by S. John
Ross. Super mages, beware! (Pyramid
#9)
M
ORE
P
OWER
! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Fred Wolke tells how to harness the power of
natural phenomena to drive great magics.
(Pyramid
#27)
T
HE
F
IVE
T
REASURES OF
R
AGATHAR
. . . . . . . 67
A fantasy adventure seed, by Scott Tengelin.
(Pyramid
#18)
S
ALVATION FOR THE
D
ISILLUSIONED
A
RCHER
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Bows and more bows, from magical to high-
tech, by Aric J. Liljegren and R. Darrow
Bernick. (Pyramid
#14)
M
AGIC ON THE
E
DGE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Stephen Kenson adds magic to the
GURPS
Cyberworld
universe. (Pyramid
#29)
P
AGE
R
EFERENCES
Rules and statistics in this book are
specifically for the
GURPS Basic Set,
Third Edition.
Any page reference that
begins with a B refers to the
GURPS Basic
Set
– e.g., p. B102 means p. 102 of the
GURPS Basic Set,
Third Edition.
Page
references that begin with CI indicate
GURPS Compendium I.
Other references
are CW for
GURPS Cyberworld,
CY for
GURPS Cyberpunk,
G for
GURPS
Grimoire,
M for
GURPS Magic,
PYi for
GURPS Best of Pyramid 1,
RO for
GURPS Robots,
and UT for
GURPS
Ultra-Tech.
For a full list of abbreviations,
see p. CI181 or the updated web list at
www.sjgames.com/gurps/abbrevs.html.
A
DVENTURES
. . . . . . . . . 100
F
IRST
C
ONTACT
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
A race of insects wants to join galactic civi-
lization. A science-fiction adventure by Scott
Tengelin. (Pyramid
#18)
L
OVING THE
D
EAD
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
No, it’s
not
what you think. A cyberpunk
adventure by Laurence MacNaughton IV.
(Pyramid
#17)
P
AWNSHOP
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
An adventure for
GURPS Warehouse 23,
by
S. John Ross. (Pyramid
#23)
G
OTHIC
S
URF
S
HOP
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Mike Kelly writes a
GURPS Cyberpunk
adventure for players with a taste for low-
budget movies. (Pyramid
#30)
I
NDEX
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
2
Contents
INTRODUCTION
We live in an era where we write
emails to people, then grow impa-
tient if we don’t get a reply in an
hour. (Or at least
I
do.) But when
Pyramid
#1 came out in 1993, instan-
taneous communications were
nowhere near as prevalent as today.
To put it in perspective,
GURPS
Cyberworld
came out at the same
time as that first issue; in the infor-
mation on the first page it invites
folks to call up Steve Jackson Games’
BBS, allowing connection speeds of
up to 2400 baud! (To
be fair, that text seems
to be older, as the first
issue of
Pyramid
also
says that connection
speeds of 9600 and
14.4k baud are possi-
ble. Then again, the
Cyberworld
universe
of the year 2140 pos-
tulated the existence
of mass storage CDs
that can hold 10 gigs
of data, or about 60%
of what today’s DVD
can hold . . . proving
yet again the differ-
ence between science
fiction and science fact
is that science fiction
is believable.)
Anyway, in the early
days of
Pyramid
it was
difficult to determine
what would emerge as “classics.” Oh,
sure, there were some articles that
stood out early on; “The Hole,” for
example, was from that very first
issue, and it would’ve been shocking
if it didn’t spark the imagination of
our fledgling readership. But the
reaction towards other pieces must
have been surprising; “Unlimited
Mana,” for example, still ranks in our
archives (as of this writing) as the
number one rated article!
But now, with the passage of time
and the clear eyes of experience,
we’re able to see what other classics
from the paper days of
Pyramid
deserve to be brought into TL8. And
choosing these articles hasn’t been
easy; there were a ton of neat articles
crammed into 30 issues. (Unlike, say,
my gaming notes from the early ’90s
. . . where phrases like “exploded his
very brain” and made-up songs like
“Metagirl” still haunt me. And I
won’t even talk about my first fantasy
The theme of this volume seems to
be portability; there are at least dozens
of ideas, scenarios, characters, rules,
and worlds that will fit in many cam-
paigns. We have a planet where robots
rule, a pawn shop with a sinister secret,
a city steeped in the madness of a
legacy of evil, a diplomatic first contact
in space, and a near-future of unravel-
ing conspiracies. We have a plethora
of cursed items, waiting to corrupt the
greedy or unsuspecting. We have bot-
tomless pits and U-Store-Its. And
what game
wouldn’t
benefit from a
time-traveling hotel? For practically
any time, any place, any background
(sound familiar?) there should be
some-
thing
you can scavenge for your own
games. And most of these ideas can be
used whole cloth for many campaigns.
(I must confess, however, that if the
number of back issue articles is any
indication, the bleak future of cyber-
punk worlds must have seemed more
likely in the early ’90s than today. But
at least they aren’t outdated, like the
scads of near-now nuclear holocaust
games from the ’80s.)
We’re happy to look back fondly
on the legacy of the paper days of
Pyramid.
I can only hope folks will
look back in 2008 at the tenth
anniversary of the electronic version
of
Pyramid
with such fond memories.
And I also hope that these articles –
in our opinion, more of the best that
Pyramid
has to offer – will help you
create your own fond memories.
And many years from now, you
may write your friends an email to
reminisce about these campaign set-
tings, weird artifacts, and adventures.
And when you do, the impatience of
the entire universe will have
advanced such that you’ll presume
your friends have been devoured by
wolverines when they haven’t replied
in 15 minutes.
– Steven Marsh
roleplaying mage named Zappo
Zam.) And, like
Best of Pyramid
Volume 1,
we’ve gone over the
articles and made sure they have
been updated to take into account
whatever new developments have
happened in the
GURPS
line.
(Remember the horrible dark ages
before
GURPS Compendium I
and
II?)
And we’ve even added some
completely new material in a couple
of places.
Introduction
3
Terra Incognita: Those little places that
are just like our world, only completely
different. What might you find when
you peek around the corner at these
untold pockets of unreality?
Anything . . . and then some. If
you’re afraid your campaign has
become a little stale, drop in a
ghost ship of tormented souls,
a pit to hell lined with chit-
tering faces, a city in New
York, or something
equally disturbing.
Sure, the PCs may be
cursing and fleeing
your little sur-
prises on the out-
side, but on the
inside they’ll
be thanking
you.

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