GURPS: Star Frontiers, Part 2

AI Art by @nightcafestudio

Today, I created my doctor character, and back when my brother and I played the original Star Frontiers, this loose-knit group of the fighter pilot's friends went on to form the crew of his ship.

I know this character well, but GURPS had some disadvantages that fit her personality perfectly. She was never combat-oriented, so a pacifist who only fights in self-defense plus post-combat shakes fit her well. She is a rich girl, the local physician's daughter, who enjoys horse riding and dance music. She went to medical school because her father paid for it, and she has this listless, bored life of just hanging around and not knowing what to do with her life.

For weapons, she uses a needler with sleep drugs. She gets dual use out of that when she needs to sedate a horse and knows a little veterinary medicine. She probably works as a nurse at the local clinic and as a veterinarian assistant. She owns a hoverbike, knows nothing about fixing it, and keeps a backpack with her medical gear in case she needs to make a house call to a ranch. The pack is 50 pounds, so she can carry it in the field on her back, but it encumbers her seriously. She has a small medical kit on her webbing and a few other handy items she can throw on in a pinch.

In GURPS, you need a medical physiology for each race so she can also treat Vrusk. They probably joke she treats them like a horse, but she would laugh. This physiology skill lets her avoid penalties when doing medicine, surgery, or first aid on the Vrusk. She must learn the physiology of other races on which she wants to perform medicine. Like the mechanic and electrician skills, she needs to specialize.

I can see the 5E players rolling their eyes. Healing skill is healing skill! Why does this need to be so specific? This is slowing the game down! Why is this so complicated?

I put her on a damaged space station, and she had to treat a wounded Drasalite with a crushing injury. In that case, her lack of physiology knowledge will be a huge problem and a significant source of tension. She will need to make do or look it up on a medical computer to try and reduce the penalty. If the Drasalite survives, she will definitely want to spend her XP on getting familiar with alien physiology to ensure that it never happens again.

To a doctor, this is an essential upgrade and capability. You make the skills too rules-light, and you lose this moment. But on a more significant level, GURPS is all about these moments when you have the right skill (and equipment) at the right time or frantically trying to make due, roleplay to reduce penalties, and hope for an excellent dice roll.

AI Art by @nightcafestudio

The equipment game is essential, too, especially in sci-fi. You can't just say "healer's kit and a tool proficiency" to perform surgery to stop internal bleeding. She is a doctor, a lifesaver, and while science-fantasy characters would wave their hands and cast a glowing nano-healing spell, she would drag over a surgery kit, wash her hands, and get busy saving a life. She would set up a transfusion with another Drasalite; even though unfamiliar, she would make it work with some research and roleplay. She would stabilize the patient and get them resting in the ruins of the recovery room until a rescue ship could arrive. Her pilot/mechanic friend could repair some of the damage to bring the machines back online and stabilize the rolls with that life-support equipment.

In 5E sci-fi, a medicine skill roll and a repair skill roll are against a challenge rating. Due to the game's science-fantasy genre, there are likely 'special powers' that prevent much of this from being done, with the character's nano-healing power for combat. Wave your hand, top off hit points, and everything is okay.

In GURPS, she puts points into skills, has a healer trait that makes everything easier and has to use specific knowledge - some of which she lacks and needs to make up for. Her friend has to bring computers and medical machines online with his repair skills as time runs low. She needs to make a few skill rolls in different areas to prepare and perform her lifesaving miracles. She needs to find the right gear for the job and possibly have her friend blow open a storage locker. She needs to roleplay, find someone for a blood transfusion, and sit them still next to the patient.

That unique collection of skills and talents is her character class, powers, and abilities.

Very few people will remember that 5E moment since it is either 'cast a spell' or so simplified nobody would care. Very few moments in rules-light games are worth remembering, typically only boss fights, roleplay, or silly mistakes.

In GURPS, that 'saving a life' fight - almost like a mini-game - feels like a combat where life and death hang in the balance. That moment will be remembered for years. Any moment in a more robust game can become an epic battle against the odds.

And saving that life will also prove why she exists.