Digging out the space map that I created back in February, I’ve decided to spin up a character and play solo. For inspiration, I’ve decided to use the image of the power-suited figure on the second cover of GURPS Third Edition. I’ve decided to use the same rules and stick, initially, to seeing what I can build with just the Basic Set and GURPS Space (First Edition).

Looking through the character creation notes for starfarers in GURPS Space, I am quite taken with the idea of a Bounty-Hunter. In fact, stealing the name of a deceased NPC from my fantasy game, I am imagining Hunter Tavros and operating in his heavily-armoured vacc suit and carrying the backpack-powered energy weapon shown in the image. I have visions of him stomping through space station hallways in search of perps who have tried to skip worlds and escape punishment.

Tavros is a no-nonsense bounty-hunter operating for the newly founded Federation centred around the world of Kosmos. He goes where official lawmen cannot and, although his methods are sometimes questionable, all know that he operates alone. He’s not hugely experienced but he knows enough to get the job done. He’s well-paid for the jobs he does, preferring the low-life marks who the police are too short-staffed and under-funded to track down.

I think I’ll start by making a list of likely skills that he’ll be using on missions. GURPS Space suggests the Thief/Spy skills will be most helpful. That said, I also want to spec out the power armour and weapon. GURPS Basic Set doesn’t have anything beyond TL8, so I flip into GURPS Space.

The first thing to note is that the First Edition of Space has weapon stats for First and Second Edition GURPS, so I’ll need to either reference GURPS Update or slip into a later publication for the numbers. To be honest, this is the sort of forensic exploration of old games that I love so it’s no hardship. I’m here for the learning. For reference, I decide to grab my GURPS Ultratech (Second Edition) book off the shelf too.

I’m envisioning a TL9 universe, so I decide the armour is an Exoskeleton Heavy Combat Armoured Vacc Suit. It has PD 6, DR 50, and protects all parts of the body. Half the DR counts for falls and similar. It has ST 15. It takes 2 minutes to put on and 1 minute to take off. The gloves will reduce DX and DX-based skills by two except for Driving, Piloting and similar non-fine manipulation tasks. It comes with a life-support pack and he carries a 24-hour air tank; let’s add on a helmet light, water and food system, waste relief system, a medium-range communicator, and a HUD (+3 to hit); total cost: $36830, 151.5 lbs. Tavros needs the Exoskeleton and Vacc Suit skills to operate the EAVS.

Looking in Ultratech, it seems the Blaster becomes a technology at TL9. What the heck – this is roleplaying! Even if the term “blaster” feels a bit cheesy, I’m all in for some fun with high-energy weapons. Let’s make that gun a Blaster Rifle, costs $3000, weighs 10 lbs, and is powered by C-type power cells, so I pick up 4 spares at $400 and 2 lbs of weight.

This all means that I need to fund some $40000 of gear where the baseline wealth is $15000 at TL9. Wearing the suit, his basic gear puts him at Heavy encumbrance (3) with that built0in suit strength of 15. Cool! On to creating Tavros himself: 100 points, -40 disadvantages, and 5 quirks.

I decide to give him Wealthy [10 points] to gain x5 basic wealth = $75000. I also like the idea of giving him a positive Reputation as a “Hunter”, opting for +2 Reaction Modifier [10 points] with all law-enforcement types [1/2 value] all of the time [no modifier] = 5 points.

Attributes are straight-forward: his ST can stay at 10 due to the exo-armour; his DX and IQ need boosting; HT at 11 would be fine. DX and IQ at 13 costs 60 points, and HT 11 costs 10 points. Let’s start with those but look for opportunities to boost them if it’s possible once I get the skill list sorted.

Skills then. He needs: Vacc Suit (M/A); Exoskeleton (P/A); Beam Weapons (Blaster) (P/E) with +2 for high IQ. From here, I browse through the list of skills in Basic Set by category. This is a very useful feature of Third Edition and something that makes character creation easier when you’re a newbie than with Fourth Edition’s encyclopaedic layout.

• Not bothered with Animal Skills nor Artistic Skills.
• Athletic yields Free Fall (P/A), Running (P/H) because it increases Basic Speed, Throwing (P/H).
• Combat offers Fast-Draw (Rifle) (P/E), Fast-Draw (Knife) (P/E), Karate (P/H), Knife (P/E), Shortsword (P/A) for the ability to wield a baton or blade, and Speed-Load (Power Cell) (P/E).
• Craft skills offer Armoury (M/A) for repair of his kit, and Cooking (M/E).
• Language skills offers me Gesture (M/E) for quick hand signals.
• Medical yields First Aid (M/E).
• Outdoor skills grabs Climbing (P/A), Navigation (M/H), and Tracking (M/A).
• Professional offers Computer Operation (M/E), and Electronics Operation (Communications, Computers, Security Systems, Sensors, and Weapons) – five specialisms that each need to be bought separately (M/A).
• Scientifically, I choose Astrogation (M/A) in case he needs it, and Criminology (M/A). I also add Mathematics (M/H) and Research (M/A).
• Social skills yields Area Knowledge (Federation) (M/E), Carousing (P/A) based on HT, Diplomacy (M/H), Fast-Talk (M/A), Leadership (M/A), Merchant (M/A), Savoir-Faire (M/E), Tactics (M/H).
• Thief/Spy skills lets me choose Detect Lies (M/H), Holdout (M/A), Interrogation (M/A), Lip Reading (M/A), Lockpicking (M/A), Shadowing (M/A), Stealth (P/A), Streetwise (M/A), Traps (M/A).
• Vehicle skills nets Driving (ATV) (P/A), Piloting (Spacecraft) (P/A). I’m not sure if he’ll have access to a spacecraft yet, but I’m keeping the option open by giving him some skill.

That’s 15 Physical skills (14 based on DX) and 32 Mental skills. Even at 1/2 each, that’s going to cost 23.5 points. There is a fair case for raising IQ to 14 [+15 points] to offset the cost of those Mental skills, especially if we go beyond the 1/2 level with more than half of them. In the end, I don’t do this but the thought was there.

Having written all the skills down and spent points, I end up with 31 points total on those. I decide to buy a Pirate’s Code of Honour [-5] and Sense of Duty (Federation) [-10] as Disadvantages. Leaving me 4 points, I decide to grab Strong Will +1 [4 points] to round him out. That adds up to 100 character points.

Time to do the character sheet and done! Oh, except to roll for appearance.

Game on!