Core House Rules

The table rules that differ from the GURPS Basic Set. These apply in every Shattered Earth era; nothing here is fantasy-only.

Damage: Know Your Own Strength

Damage uses the KYOS revised table (each +1 ST ≈ +10% real strength). Read thrust and swing directly:

ST	Thrust	Swing	ST	Thrust	Swing
8	1d-4	1d-2	13	1d+1	2d-1
9	1d-3	1d-1	14	1d+2	2d
10	1d-2	1d	15*	2d-1	2d+1
11	1d-1	1d+1	16**	2d	2d+2
12	1d	1d+2	* UB 5 pts ** UB 10 pts

Beyond 16 (monsters): continue the progression — 17 = 2d+1, 18 = 2d+2, 19 = 3d−1, 20 = 3d, and so on.

Grappling: Control Points & Grapple Power

Grappling uses Fantastic Dungeon Grappling: a successful grapple deals Control Points (CP) equal to your thrust (from ST + Lifting ST levels, +1 per die with Wrestling at BSM+1, etc.). CP stack; your Control Maximum (CM) = your Lifting ST. CP on you impose DX penalties against your own CM: 1/10 CM −2 · 1/2 CM −4 · 1× −6 · 1.5× −8 · 2× −12. Break free by attacking to remove your CP roll from yourself. Bigger creatures add their SM difference to grapple attack rolls; six-plus limbs add +2 CP per attack; multiple attackers dogpile.

Grapple Power: GP = max(0, ⌊(attacker LST − defender LST) ÷ 3⌋) — added to CP inflicted on a hit and CP removed on a Break Free.

Raw mass tells: a troll at Lifting ST 22 grapples a knight at LST 12 with GP +3 on every hit. Technique still matters — and so do spells that move Lifting ST.

Skills: Half-Stat Defaults

Skills default to ⌊Attribute ÷ 2⌋ (+1 Easy, +0 Average, −1 Hard). Points buy upward from there at standard GURPS costs against the governing attribute. Every skill is assigned to one of the ten attributes — never a generic IQ or DX.

Disadvantages: Worth 0 — and Worth Playing

Disadvantages give no points back at creation; take between none and a few, purely as character. In play, a disadvantage well and appropriately played earns bonus character points that session. The colorless build saves nothing and earns less.

Trait Rulings

Campaign rulings on specific advantages — bought QP, Fearlessness, Block Mastery, the spellcasting advantages — live in the Traits Ledger on the Advantages page. Powerstones and staves are covered with the rest of the mage's tools in A Player's Guide to Magic.