TM Stock #37-2654 C ONTENTS COVER ART INTERIOR ART Douglas Shuler Greg Hyland Matt Riggsby FROM THE EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 I T N HIS THE CIVIL ARTS IN GURPS . . . . . . . . . . . 4 by William H. Stoddard I THE PALAIS DU MONDE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 SSUE by Matt Riggsby MAP OF THE PALAIS DU MONDE. . . . . . . . 19 Flirtatious dance at a diplomat’s ball. Tense negotiations EIDETIC MEMORY: HAND OF HERMES . . . 23 with a desperado holding hostages, with nothing to lose. The by David L. Pulver vital speech to rally the people against their tyrannical over- SPEAKING IN TONGUES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 lords. Sometimes it’s not enough to sneak and kill. Sometimes heroes need to need to persuade, bluff, and intimidate. This by Jason “PK” Levine issue of Pyramidlooks at being social, from the interpersonal CITY MANAGEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 to the municipal. by Matt Riggsby Take your social interaction skills to the next level with The Civil Arts in GURPS. William H. Stoddard expands on RANDOM THOUGHT TABLE: the foundation of his ENnie Award-winning GURPS Social MEETING AND GREETING Engineering with optional GURPS techniques and styles that add additional depth to personal encounters. If you liked the BEFORE THE BEATING . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 rules in Social Engineering,you’ll go crazy for this crunch! by Steven Marsh, Pyramid Editor With your new mastery of interpersonal interactions, head ODDS AND ENDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 over to The Palais du Monde. Herein are the essentials for an adventure that revolves around intrigue and investigation, by featuring Murphy’s Rules GURPS Hot Spots: Renaissance Florence author Matt ABOUT GURPS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Riggsby. It includes character summaries (with GURPSstats), a detailed description of the sumptuous titular locale, and full- color maps. Test your civil-arts experience as you improve relations Good communication is as between monsters and monster hunters! This month’s Eidetic Memory by David L. Pulver – co-author of GURPS Fourth stimulating as black coffee, Edition – presents a rising charity organization called the and just as hard to sleep after. Hand of Hermes.This systemless article can add a diplomatic angle to any secret-supernatural setting, from GURPS –Anne Morrow Lindbergh Monster Huntersto GURPS Illuminati. How can you be a GURPShero gifted at Speaking in Tongues without spending a boatload of points? Check out GURPS Assistant Line Editor Jason “PK” Levine’s suggestions for apply- ing the rules as written to mitigate this problem – or use any of Article Colors the new options to add multilingual mayhem to your setting. You’ll need all the social-savvy you can muster to be part of Each article is color-coded to help you find your City Management. Using concepts introduced in Social favorite sections. Engineeringand GURPS City Stats,these guidelines explain how to improve an existing city or found a new one – includ- Pale Blue:In This Issue ing skill rolls and project costs. Brown:In Every Issue (letters, humor, editorial, etc.) Let this month’s Random Thought Table show you how to Dark Blue:GURPSFeatures take the fight out of the game, then interact with our Odds and Purple: SystemlessFeatures Ends that shoots first and doesn’t ask questions later. Finally, relax with a Murphy’s Rules that’s a real “scream.” This interper- sonal issue of Pyramidis one that folks will be talking about! Editor-in-Chief (cid:1)STEVE JACKSON Art Director (cid:1)SAMUEL MITSCHKE Chief Operating Officer (cid:1)PHILIP REED e23 Manager (cid:1)STEVEN MARSH Assistant Art Director (cid:1) Marketing Director(cid:1)BEN WILLIAMS GURPSLine Editor (cid:1)SEAN PUNCH BRIDGET WESTERMAN Director of Sales (cid:1)ROSS JEPSON Assistant GURPS Line Editor(cid:1) Production Artist (cid:1)NIKOLA VRTIS Page Design (cid:1)PHIL REEDand JASON “PK” LEVINE Prepress Checker (cid:1)MONICA STEPHENS JUSTIN DE WITT P M 2 A 2013 YRAMID AGAZINE PRIL F ROM THE E DITOR S S Engineering when it was released in 2011 (and GURPS City HOULD OCIAL Statsthe year before that), and the modular nature of Pyramid ENGINEERING HAVE will hopefully provide you ample opportunity to include these new options and rules to your game. Once you have new rules, B C T -T ? EEN ALLED ALK ECH it’s natural for more scenes or adventures revolving around those possibilities to spring up. In the same way that having Every time two people interact, each wants something from systems for spreading propaganda or codifying cities adds the other; it is from that tension that drama (or comedy) arises. those choices to your adventurers’ arsenals, we hope the That’s true in screenplays, real life, and – of course – the char- options herein spark ideas for new encounters that weren’t acters of roleplaying games. possible before. In fact, it might even set off whole adventures, Building off the foundations of systems like GURPSfrom the like a visit to the Palais du Monde (details start on p. 11). late 1980s – which included skills and systems for intimidation, haggling, acting, etc. – the mega-selling RPGs of the 1990s tried W H , W N to prioritize those social aspects of heroic (and villainous) inter- RITE ERE RITE OW actions. Entire settingswere built around the idea that dramatic This issue is all about being social! What better way to resolution might come from social interaction rather than at the practice than to talk to us about how we’re doing? Was this end of a sword or gun; the most powerful entities might not have issue better than a surprise visit from a friend? Or was there any direct combat abilities whatsoever. no party in our witty repartee? Tell us your thoughts via It is in this spirit of celebrating all things social that we pres- email at [email protected], oruse the space-age public ent this issue. The modular and expandable nature of GURPS communication methods located at forums.sjgames.com. made it easy for groups to incorporate GURPS Social Pyramid, GURPS, Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. e23, Social Engineering,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. Pyramidis copyright © 2013 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Submission of your photos, letters, humor, captions, and marginalia constitutes permission to Steve Jackson Games Incorporated to use them in all media. All such submissions become the property of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated and will not be returned. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this material via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the authors’ rights is appreciated. P M 3 A 2013 YRAMID AGAZINE PRIL T C A HE IVIL RTS GURPS IN W H. S BY ILLIAM TODDARD GURPS Martial Artsprovides rules for defining martial-arts command from more experienced officers; merchants learn styles: groups of skills and techniques that are learned together, to bargain by working for other merchants before they go as an integrated approach to fighting. Each martial art, from into business for themselves. Being good with people isn’t bare-knuckle boxing to fencing, has a Style Familiarity perk that just an instinct; it can be learned. Different ways of being grants a number of benefits. Later GURPSworks have general- good with people can also be defined as styles. These styles ized the idea of a style (for example, to magical schools). Among are the civil arts. other benefits, a style grants knowledge of the culture where a This optional extension of GURPS Social Engineering style originated, and often opens the door to schools or commu- shows how to create a style for social interaction, and it defines nities where it’s taught and practiced. a number of such styles. The focus is on styles useful in “adven- Social skills, too, are often associated with particular ture” situations. These civil arts do for “face” characters what social groups and cultures. Military officers learn the art of the martial arts do for warriors. T ECHNIQUES The styles build on techniques and perks from GURPS agenda) or bullet points. This offsets the penalty to an Influ- Social Engineering, but some new ones appear as well. A ence roll for a complex request. Roll against Agenda as modi- number of techniques are based on social skills, although fied by the penalty for complexity, or the basic Diplomacy skill, none of these arts include cinematic skills that have prerequi- whichever is less. You can’t gain a net bonus from applying this sites such as Trained by a Master or Weapons Master. How- technique to an inherently simple request! ever, some include other cinematic skills such as Musical Influence, or cinematic versions of skills such as Erotic Art. Badger Game Average See GURPS Social Engineering, p. 38. Without some dissimulation no Big Store business can be carried on at all. Hard – Lord Chesterfield Default:Leadership. Prerequisite: Leadership; cannot exceed Leadership+5. This is less a con in its own right than an enabler or enhancer R T for other cons. It has many variants, but all involve setting up EALISTIC ECHNIQUES what looks like an ongoing organization, but is really a false The realistic techniques include the following. front with nothing behind it –and therefore costs far less. The Big Store is a group performance effort with a formal Agenda leader, who makes the Big Store roll (see Team Efforts in GURPS Social Engineering, pp. 33-34). This complements a Average roll vs. the average Acting skill of the group’s members. If the Default: Diplomacy. members are all NPCs, the GM may assign them a rating of Prerequisite:Diplomacy; cannot exceed Diplomacy+3. Novice (effective skill 10), Trained (effective skill 12), Good (effective skill 14), or Elite (effective skill 16). Unfamiliarity or You are skilled at simplifying a complex request for aid or other penalties may apply: information by breaking it down into action items (in Latin, P M 4 A 2013 YRAMID AGAZINE PRIL • -2 to both the Big Store and Acting rolls if the leader and Ordinarily, requests for aid or information have a -3 modi- group haven’t worked together for at least two weeks. fier if helping or answering would endanger the subject. If you • -2 to both the Big Store and Acting rolls if the mimicked have invested in Dangerous Request, you can reduce or negate organization is a type the leader and group haven’t rehearsed this modifier by suggesting that your higher standing makes it together at least eight times. moredangerous to refuse to help you. • -2 to the Big Store roll if the physical setting is a quick improvisation (creating an elaborate “stage set” avoids this Elevated Speech penalty; higher-budget setups can give bonuses as for high- Average quality equipment). Default:Savoir-Faire (High Society). A Big Store can act as an enhancer to many sorts of long Prerequisite: Savoir-Faire (High Society); cannot exceed cons, and even some kinds of short cons. When it’s used that Savoir-Faire (High Society)+5. way, treat the group’s Acting as a complementary skill to the main roll for bringing off the con. However, having multiple You have mastered a variety of formulae for honoring and “performers” doubles the modifiers: -4 for critical failure, -2 for expressing good will toward a social elite. You can use Ele- failure, +2 for success, +4 for critical success. vated Speech in Influence rolls for standard requests made in Some long cons requirea Big Store setup to make them pos- public, such as gaining admission to a royal court. sible at all. Roll a Quick Contest of the group Acting skill (aided by the Big Store roll) vs. the mark’s IQ. If it works, the mark Elicitation accepts the setup as a bookmaking operation, charity, church Hard or temple, stock brokerage, or whatever sort of organization it Default: Prerequisite skill. pretends to be, and the con can proceed. A comparable, though Prerequisite:Any Influence skill except Intimidation; cannot less elaborate, setup is needed for some short cons, such as for- exceed prerequisite skill+5. tune-telling fraud (where the “fortune teller” offers to remove a curse from the mark’s money). This technique provides a subtler method for getting infor- mation than Interrogation. In fact, ideally, the subject doesn’t realize he was being questioned, or doesn’t know what the topic was! Basically, Elicitation is a request for information, handled Whew! After a tango like that not as a reaction roll but as an Influence roll. The questioner approaches the topic indirectly, while overtly seeming to con- the couple ought to get married. verse about something else; apply a penalty of the questioner’s choice to the Influence skill, and the same penalty to the sub- – Robert A. Heinlein, ject’s Will. If you have bought up Elicitation, roll against either The Number Elicitation with the penalty applied, or the unmodified Influence skill, whichever is less; that is, Elicitation lets you steer the con- of the Beast versation in a less obvious way, but is never more effective than just coming out and asking. Going Viral Close Dancing Hard Hard Defined in GURPS Social Engineering,p. 81. Default:Dancing. Prerequisite:Dancing; cannot exceed Dancing+5. Hinting In couples dancing, where you have the same partner for an Hard entire dance, you can use Close Dancing in an Influence roll Defined in GURPS Social Engineering,p. 81. toward a partner who is capable of being romantically inter- ested in you. This may represent any level of contact from the Irony touching of hands to a full-body embrace; the effect comes from being a little closer than is culturally accepted. Hard Defined in GURPS Social Engineering,p. 81. Cutting Out Mission Assignment Hard Defined in GURPS Social Engineering, p. 81. Hard Default:Leadership-5. Dangerous Request Prerequisite:Leadership; cannot exceed Leadership. Hard Roll against Mission Assignment when you are sending Default:Savoir-Faire (High Society)-3. NPC members of a combat team into danger, but not going Prerequisite: Savoir-Faire (High Society); cannot exceed yourself (see p. B204). On a success, they carry out your orders Savoir-Faire (High Society). as if you were there. P M 5 A 2013 YRAMID AGAZINE PRIL Pig in a Poke of the correct totals. Roll a Quick Contest of Short Change vs. IQ; your margin of victory acts as a penalty to the victim’s Hard Per or Observation roll to resist your Sleight of Hand. Some Default:Fast-Talk. short-change artists have an accomplice ask the victim for Prerequisites:Fast-Talk; cannot exceed Fast-Talk+5. service immediately afterward, delaying his realization that he has a problem. One of the oldest con games, going back to the Middle Ages. It involves selling a “pig” concealed in a bag for a cus- tomer to butcher. Roll a Quick Contest of Fast-Talk vs. IQ; if Sociometry you win, the victim is distracted from actually looking in the Average bag. The animal in the bag, though alive and squirming and Defined in GURPS Social Engineering,p. 81. about the size of a piglet, turns out to be a cat or a small dog. The Gold Brick is another version of this scam. The White Spanish Prisoner Van Scam (selling supposedly hot, bootlegged, or off-the- books goods, often electronic, that turn out to be defective or Hard worthless) combines Pig in a Poke with Big Store (for the See GURPS Social Engineering,p. 38. van, uniforms, and packaging; see pp. 4-5). Truce Piggybacking Hard Hard Default:Savoir-Faire (Military). Default: Intelligence Analysis-5. Prerequisite: Savoir-Faire (Military); cannot exceed Savoir- Prerequisite: Intelligence Analysis; cannot exceed Intelli- Faire (Military)+4. gence Analysis. When a military force (of at least five people) under your The big challenge in memetics is getting a newly introduced command is in a potential combat situation with another mil- meme past the resistance of the target population (treated as a itary force, you may attempt Truce rather than relying on a Quick Contest of Propaganda vs. average Will). Piggybacking reaction roll. Roll a Quick Contest of Truce vs. Will. If you win, bypasses this resistance by attaching the new meme to one the other side has a Good reaction. If you tie or lose, roll their that is alreadycurrent in the target population. Treat the mar- reaction normally. gin of success on the Piggybacking roll as a penalty to the effec- tive Will of the target population. Modifiers: +2 if you succeed at a Leadership roll first, as it makes your force look more prepared for battle. If you are leading a force larger than what your Military Rank justifies, a penalty equal to the difference between your Rank and that “She is my ears and tongue,” normally required for command. said Lord Peter, dramatically, C T “and especially my nose. She asks INEMATIC ECHNIQUES questions which a young man Cinematic techniques go beyond what is usually considered realistic, to the kinds of things that are described in legends or could not put without a blush.” epics, or shown in movies. The GM may decide not to allow them at all. If they are permitted in a campaign, many of them – Dorothy Sayers, have advantages as prerequisites, and usually cannot be Unnatural Death attempted by someone without those advantages, though the GM may decide otherwise. If so, they still cannot be improved from the default unless all the prerequisites are met. Shell Game Beguilement Hard Hard See GURPS Social Engineering,p. 38. Default:Prerequisite skill-5. Prerequisites: Voice and any of Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Per- Short Change formance, Politics, Public Speaking, Sex Appeal, or Singing; Hard cannot exceed prerequisite skill. Default: Fast-Talk. You have learned to pitch your voice to appeal to a Prerequisites:Fast-Talk and Sleight of Hand; cannot exceed hearer’s emotions. Roll a Quick Contest of Beguilement vs. Fast-Talk+5. Will after you have spoken for a minute. If you succeed, the hearer’s Will is reduced by your margin of victory for any Short-change artists have tricks for getting more money Influence rolls you attempt in the next hour. You can have back from a store clerk or bank teller than they handed over, this effect on an entire crowd or a single person, but if you by engaging in multiple exchanges involving stacks of small apply it to an entire crowd, you gain the benefit only when bills, which overload the victim’s mind so that he loses track you try to influence the entire crowd. P M 6 A 2013 YRAMID AGAZINE PRIL Crowd Song In attempting to establish a relationship of personal trust (see Building Trustin GURPS Social Engineering,p. 40), you Hard can make an immediate offer, rather than waiting a month to Default:Musical Influence. gain trust. Buying up this technique reduces the penalty for Prerequisites: Musical Influence and Singing-12; cannot such immediate offers. If the offer is accepted, it represents exceed Musical Influence+5. trust in your visible personal integrity. This technique only applies with an initialoffer; if that’s not accepted, you still need As seen in many musical comedies, when you start singing, to wait a month before the next offer to avoid a -2 penalty. you can inspire your listeners to form a chorus, singing and (optionally) dancing. Apply your margin of success as a bonus to their Singing and Dancing skill; if they don’t have these Power Gaze skills, start at their default values. A member of the audience Hard who doesn’t want to take part can resist with Will, but he’ll Default:Intimidation-5. stand out dramatically if he succeeds, and will feel the urge to Prerequisites:Charisma 1 and Intimidation; cannot exceed make his exit. If the entire audience is hostile, they can all try prerequisite skill. to resist with a single roll vs. average Will. This is the direct gaze of a king or other superior, which in Fascination legend lesser mortals cannot meet. Roll a Quick Contest of Power Gaze vs. Will at the first meeting of eyes. If you win, the Hard other person must lower his eyes, and for the duration of the Default:Sex Appeal-5. encounter, his Will is at a penalty against your Influence rolls Prerequisites: Charisma 1 and Sex Appeal; cannot exceed equal to your margin of victory. If you succeed by 5 or more Sex Appeal. points, he must make an immediate Fright Check, at a penalty equal to your Charisma. Fascination is achieved by gazing steadily into the eyes of a This effect requires a meeting of eyes at close range; apply potential lover. It does not work on anyone who could not be a -1 penalty per full yard of distance. sexually attracted to you, or who cannot see you. It’s normally done at close range; apply a penalty of -1 per full yard of sepa- ration. After five minutes, roll a Quick Contest of Fascination Resonance vs. the target’s Will; your Charisma adds to this roll. Hard The effects are somewhat like those of Hypnotism. Your Default:Prerequisite skill-5. target is not put to sleep, but will passively gaze into your eyes Prerequisites:Voice and one of Performance, Public Speak- as long as you hold his gaze, and he will respond to your sug- ing, or Singing; cannot exceed prerequisite skill. gestions as if he had made an Excellent reaction roll. You can- not give him “posthypnotic suggestions.” He has a penalty When you recite a poem (with Performance or Public equal to your margin of victory in the Quick Contest to notice Speaking) or sing a song (with Singing), the quality of your ordinary interruptions. He has no penalty to notice threats to voice helps make it stick in people’s minds. Roll a Quick Con- his life or his highest values. If he does notice any interrup- test of Resonance vs. the average Will of the audience. Any tions, the fascination is broken. audience member who tries to recall the poem or song after- ward gets your margin of victory as a bonus to IQ for a roll Personal Guarantee to remember the words and melody. If this doesn’t work on the first such try, the person has forgotten the song. He may Hard get another attempt, if he attends another performance and Default:Diplomacy-2. if the bonus from that performance is higherthan the previ- Prerequisites: Charisma 1 and Diplomacy; cannot exceed ous bonus. Diplomacy. S -I S OCIAL NTERACTION TYLES Social-interaction styles work like martial-arts styles. Each The total cost of a civil art is 1 point more than the number style is represented by a Style Familiarity perk; for example, a of noncinematic skills it includes. If you have the correct Style salesman would buy Style Familiarity (Salesmanship). The Familiarity, you can buy one of the style’s perks per 10 points prerequisite for buying a Style Familiarity is having 1 point in invested in the style’s techniques and required skills. See each of the noncinematic skills that make up the style. Style GURPS Social Engineering, pp. 77-79, for perks. Familiarity in turn is a prerequisite for raising the style’s tech- Note that it’s rarely cost-effective to buy a large number of niques above their defaults. Style Familiarity also gives you +1 techniques for one skill. It’s usually a better idea to pick one or on all rolls to notice orresist the style skills of a fellow practi- two techniques as “signature moves” and specialize in them. tioner; e.g., Style Familiarity (The Short Con) gives you +1 to Style Familiarities are available for the following civil arts. notice or resist someone’s use of Fast-Talk that was learned as These are only a few samples! Use them as inspiration for part of The Short Con style. inventing other civil arts as needed for a campaign and culture. P M 7 A 2013 YRAMID AGAZINE PRIL B A Skills: Body Language, Fast-Talk, Sleight of Hand. ARDIC RTS Techniques:Badger Game, Pig in a Poke, Shell Game, Short 8 points Change. Bards are not only performers and entertainers, but pre- Cinematic Skills:Persuade, Suggest. servers of knowledge, in the form of memorized stories and Cinematic Techniques:Beguilement. poems, which they are expected to pass on to others. In many Perks:Forgettable Face, Honest Face, In the Know. cultures, they also have a religious function, being thought of Optional Traits as divinely inspired. Bards typically perform for kings and the nobility, and have suitable manners for royal courts. Advantages:Charisma, Voice. Rival bards may compete in a variety of ways, from riddle Disadvantages: Callous, Compulsive Lying, Greed, Impul- contests to mocking songs. Exchanges of mockery (“flyting”) siveness, Laziness, Secret, Social Stigma (Criminal Record). can be aided by the Irony technique, which bards may apply to Skills: Carousing, Fortune-Telling, Intimidation, Merchant, Singing as well as Public Speaking. In legend, bards sometimes Panhandling, Scrounging, Sex Appeal. know how to physically injure others through curses or satires. The typical image of a bard is of a singer accompanying The Long Con himself on a stringed instrument such as a harp or lyre. Bards 5 points often focus on one particular member of the audience while The long con is a more systematic approach, often involv- singing or telling stories (Cutting Out). ing elaborate planning. The mark is kept believing in the scam Skills: Expert Skill (Bardic Lore), Literature, Musical Instru- while more and more of his money gets into the con man’s ment (Harp or Lyre), Poetry, Public Speaking, Savoir-Faire hands. A really successful long con may get the mark not only (High Society), Singing. to drain his bank account, but to liquidate his assets. Techniques:Cutting Out, Elevated Speech, Irony. Skills: Acting, Body Language, Leadership, Psychology Cinematic Skills:Any Enthrallment skill, Musical Influence. (Applied). Cinematic Techniques: Beguilement, Crowd Song, Techniques:Big Store, Cutting Out, Spanish Prisoner. Resonance. Cinematic Skills: Persuade. Perks:Equipment Bond (Musical Instrument), Named Pos- Perks: Forgettable Face, Honest Face, In the Know, session (Musical Instrument). Rehearsed Role, Teamwork. Optional Traits Optional Traits Advantages: Charisma, Eidetic Memory, Legal Immunity, Advantages: Alternate Identity (Illegal), Charisma, Fashion Patron (The Muses or similar deities), Patron (Royal or noble Sense. family), Rapier Wit, Voice. Disadvantages:Callous, Greed, Secret, Social Stigma (Crim- Disadvantages:Code of Honor (Professional). inal Record). Skills: Acting, Connoisseur (Literature or Music), Diplo- Skills: Connoisseur (Visual Arts), Finance, Forgery, Mer- macy, Games (Riddles), Heraldry, Musical Composition, Reli- chant, Occultism, Religious Ritual, Savoir-Faire (High Soci- gious Ritual, Teaching. ety), Streetwise. C G ON AMES C OURTESANRY Confidence men separate gullible people from their 6 points money, using a wide variety of traditional routines, or “games” (also known as “confidence tricks” or “scams”). The art of sexual attraction has been practiced by women American idiom divides these into two categories, each of who act as companions of the wealthy and powerful, from which can be defined as a distinctive art. The target of a con ancient Greek hetairai to Victorian adventuresses. The game is called the “mark.” essence of the courtesan’s role is ambiguity: Her manner and Con games, as defined here, don’t include investment frauds presence convey an allure that respectable women avoid, but such as pyramid schemes, or other manipulations that target without an overt statement of availability. Moreover, she entire populations, such as many Internet frauds. The essence of commonly isn’tavailable to anyone who’s interested – only to the con, short or long, is playing on the psychological vulnera- those she chooses to accept. Her admirers expect to provide bility of an individual mark. Targeting mass audiences through her with costly gifts or even pay her cost of living. However, Propaganda or other skills calls for different arts than the con. money doesn’t directly change hands, and she doesn’t quote a price or haggle over it. The Short Con The Enthrallment skills can take Dancing or Sex Appeal at 12+ as a prerequisite, rather than Public Speaking. 4 points Skills: Acting, Carousing, Dancing, Savoir-Faire (High Soci- The short con is the more opportunistic approach to fraud. ety), Sex Appeal. It includes cons that take less than a day – sometimes only Techniques:Close Dancing, Cutting Out, Elicitation, Hinting. minutes – and that separate the mark from whatever money or Cinematic Skills:Any Enthrallment skill, Erotic Art. valuables he has on hand. The deception doesn’t have to last Cinematic Techniques:Beguilement, Fascination. for long – just enough time for the con man to get away. Short Perks: Classic Features, Haughty Sneer, Honorary Title, cons don’t bring in a lot of money, but they can target a new Sexy Pose. mark every day, or even multiple marks in the same day. P M 8 A 2013 YRAMID AGAZINE PRIL Optional Traits relations, from serious negotiation to participation in elabo- Advantages: Appearance (Attractive, Beautiful, or Very rate social events. This is specifically the art for the person who Beautiful), Charisma, Empathy, Fashion Sense, Smooth negotiates with a foreign government. Diplomatic personnel Operator, Voice. may perform other tasks, from routine paper shuffling to espi- Disadvantages:Jealousy, Social Disease. onage, but those skills aren’t central to the art of diplomacy. Skills: Body Language, Connoisseur (any), Current Affairs Skills: Acting, Current Affairs (Politics), Detect Lies, (High Culture, People, or Travel), Diplomacy, Makeup, Musi- Diplomacy, Law (International), Public Speaking, Savoir- cal Instrument, Public Speaking, Singing. Faire (High Society). Techniques:Agenda, Elevated Speech, Elicitation, Hinting. D C EEP OVER Cinematic Skills: Hidden Lore (Conspiracies), Persuade. Cinematic Techniques:Beguilement, Personal Guarantee. 5 points Perks:Cultural Familiarity, Political Hack. Operating in deep cover is a form of espionage, most often practiced by agents of hostile governments, though undercover Optional Traits police officers may adopt similar methods to gain information Advantages: Charisma, Language, Language Talent, Legal on criminal gangs. The deep-cover operative sustains a false Immunity, Smooth Operator, Voice. identity over months or even years, hoping to get into a position Disadvantages:Code of Honor (Gentleman’s). to acquire critical information, or influence a hostile organiza- Skills: Area Knowledge, Dancing, History, Observation, Pol- tion into policies that hurt its own interests. Often he becomes a itics, Research, Writing. “sleeper,” taking no overt hostile action, making no attempt to communicate, and operating without aid or support – until a key M EMEHACKING message sends him into action, from revealing secret informa- tion to sabotage or even assassination. Other agents may have a 8 points message drop or secret communication channel. This is the applied science of designing memes — complexes Deep cover requires total involvement in a role over a long of symbolic information that can be communicated from one span of time – it’s the ultimate in immersive roleplaying. Such mind to another — for maximum penetration into a target pop- a role can become virtually a secondary personality. The oper- ulation. It exists in worlds where memetics is a real science, ative will need to study his fictitious life story and home town such as the Transhuman Space setting. in depth. Memetics does have one-on-one applications, from teach- Skills:Acting, Area Knowledge, Observation, Stealth. ing to behavioral therapy, but memetech focuses on influenc- Cinematic Skills: Mental Strength. ing populations. A trained memeticist has the skills needed to Perks:Controllable Disadvantage (Split Personality), Cultural measure the current attitudes of a population, design a mes- Familiarity, Forgettable Face, Honest Face, Rehearsed Role. sage to change those attitudes, and deliver that message to a large number of people. Optional Traits Skills: Expert Skill (Memetics), Intelligence Analysis, Advantages: Alternate Identity (Illegal), Eidetic Memory, Mathematics (Statistics), Propaganda, Psychology (Applied), Language. Research, Sociology. Disadvantages:Secret. Techniques:Going Viral, Piggybacking, Sociometry. Skills: Forgery, Holdout, Mimicry, Research, Savoir-Faire Perks:Equipment Bond (Computer). (any), Streetwise. Optional Traits D IPLOMACY Advantages:Mathematical Ability, Memetics Talent. Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Professional). 8 points Skills: Administration, Area Knowledge, Current Affairs, Going beyond the single skill for which it’s named, the art Intelligence Analysis, Market Analysis, Politics. includes a wide range of abilities suited to a career in diplomatic If he had entertained any suspicion of the beautiful girl in his arms, if anyone had suggested that she was trying her best to pump him, he would have smiled the sort of smile which only the top-drawer diplomat can achieve. – E.E. Smith, First Lensman P M 9 A 2013 YRAMID AGAZINE PRIL M L Skills: Body Language, Merchant, Psychology (Applied). ILITARY EADERSHIP Techniques:Cutting Out. 4 points Cinematic Skills:Persuade. This is knowing how to lead men into combat. More specif- Perks: Networked (Leads). ically, it’s the art of doing so face to face, characteristic of Optional Traits organized armies from TL1 through TL5 – though it’s often taught to officers in more modern armies as well. This style is Advantages:Charisma. mainly for company-grade officers (Military Rank 3 and 4), Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Professional), Greed, who can know their soldiers as individuals, and whose main Workaholic. concern is with tactical decisions. The emphasis in this style is Skills: Administration, Carousing, Connoisseur (Fashion, on “leading from the front” by setting a personal example. Visual Arts, Wine, etc.), Current Affairs (Business, Travel), Military leaders may want to apply Cultivating a Persona Fast-Talk, Public Speaking, Research. (GURPS Social Engineering,p. 61). The art of military leadership doesn't include skills that V IRTUS apply directly to combat. Officers should complement it with at least moderate skill in Tactics and in whatever weapon(s) 3 points their soldiers use. It does include the Soldier skill, representing Named for one of the three key ancient Roman virtues familiarity with a variety of military tasks – enough, at least, to (virtus,“manliness” or “valor”), this is a mode of conduct in judge how well a soldier is performing his assigned duties! which men, especially upper-class men, were trained. It has The Enthrallment skills for a military leader take Leadership analogs in many aristocratic or warlike cultures. In essence, at 12+ as a prerequisite, rather than Public Speaking. They it’s knowing how to behave in a way that will gain others’ reflect, not storytelling, but establishing command through respect – not by boasting or obvious threats, but by quiet, charismatic leadership. implacable firmness. Theodore Roosevelt’s motto “Speak softly and carry a big stick” conveys the idea well, though Vir- Skills:Leadership, Savoir-Faire (Military), Soldier. tus falls out of style in societies with organized law enforce- Techniques:Cutting Out, Mission Assignment, Truce. ment. Even so, something akin to it survives in criminal Cinematic Skills: Persuade, Suggest. organizations, with Savoir-Faire (Mafia) replacing Savoir- Cinematic Techniques:Personal Guarantee. Faire (High Society). Machismo (based on Streetwise) is Perks:Looks Good in Uniform. more distantly related, with less subtlety. Optional Traits Skills: Intimidation, Savoir-Faire (High Society). Advantages: Charisma, Combat Reflexes, Military Rank. Techniques: Dangerous Request, Hinting. Disadvantages:Code of Honor (Soldier’s), Sense of Duty. Cinematic Skills:Mental Strength. Skills:Expert Skill (Military Science), Games (Wargames), Cinematic Techniques:Power Gaze. Heraldry (Coats of Arms/Mon), Law (Military), Psychology Perks:Fearsome Stare, Haughty Sneer, Social Arbiter, Soft- (Applied), Religious Ritual, Tactics. Spoken. S Optional Traits ALESMANSHIP Advantages:Fearlessness, High Pain Threshold, Indomitable. 4 points Disadvantages:Bloodlust, Callous, Code of Honor (Gentle- The skill of selling goes back to the earliest civilizations; cer- man’s), Fanaticism, No Sense of Humor. tainly by the time of Greece and Rome, every town had a mar- Skills: Soldier. ketplace filled with eager vendors. The art can be used either by merchants bargaining over their own wares or by employees A A BOUT THE UTHOR authorized to make deals for their employers. The optional rules for extended haggling in GURPS Social Engineeringare a nat- William H.Stoddard is a professional copy editor, special- ural fit to this art, but it encompasses much more than agreeing izing in scientific and scholarly books in fields ranging from on a price, from spotting a potential buyer to closing the deal. aerospace technology to archaeology. Fortunately, he likes Salesmanship, as presented here, does not include cheating reading nonfiction; his research library is threatening to take customers or pushing defective goods on them; for that sort of over his apartment, and he regularly visits the nearest univer- thing, see Con Games (p. 8). Salesmen are rarely saints, and sity library for supplemental reading. His other pleasures they may exaggerate the quality of their goods, or conceal how include cooking, reading science fiction and alternate history, little they’re actually willing to take – but in many lines of busi- and running and playing in roleplaying games; he has been ness, repeat sales are more profitable in the long run, and that doing the latter since 1975, when he first encountered means selling people things they actually want. Of course, part Dungeons & Dragons. His previous work for Steve Jackson of the art is helping customers to discover things they didn’t Games includes writing GURPS Social Engineering, the latest knowthey wanted. editions of GURPS Supersand GURPS Low-Tech, as well as The Leads perk works like Headhunter or Jobhunter composing Pyramidarticles on such subjects as formal dances (GURPS Power-Ups 2: Perks,p. 13) or the other Networked and sexual situations in roleplaying games. He lives in San perks (GURPS Social Engineering,p. 79): It gives +2 to any Diego with his cohabitant Carol, two cats, two computers, and roll to find a buyer for something you have to sell. far too many books! P M 10 A 2013 YRAMID AGAZINE PRIL