Shadowjack's GURPS House Rules

Like most GMs, I have house rules. If you see a trait in my write-ups that seems unfamiliar to you, or has a different cost, look it up on this list to see what's what. This list also contains some of my private rulings.

360° Movement

New type of Terrain Adaptation, suggested by Dr. Kromm.

Ablative

Ablative DR is available in ratios from 1:1 to 1:20. This rule came from "Maz" on the official GURPS forum.

Absorption

Absorption has been greatly expanded, per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Androgynous

This Appearance modifier has been revised. It may be applied to any of the sexual attractiveness traits: Sexy, Handsome/Beautiful, Very Handsome/Beautiful, or Transcendant. You appeal sexually to any orientation, but the penalty from those who dislike you is raised to -4, and kicks in if you have only -2 or more in other negative reactions.

Ammo Select

New Enhancement for Innate Attack, from Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Archaeology

This is a /TL skill, and is specifically the technical skill of identifying and recovering artifacts. It does not cover more than incidental knowledge of ancient cultures; for that, you'll want Anthropology, History, an appropriate Expert Skill, etc.

Arm DX

Reduced cost, per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Armor Divisor

(100) available, per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Arm ST

Reduced cost, per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Art History

A variant of #Literature, for visual arts.

Artificial Intelligence

This is Computer Programming (AI), renamed to be an explicit skill of its own.

Astrobatics

Another Acrobatics variant, for zero-gravity stunts and landings.

Boating

Appropriate Boating specialties can handle large ships as well as smallcraft, in the same way that one can use Submarine or Shiphandling (Submarine) with subs, and Pilot (Lighter-Than-Air) or Shiphandling (Airships) with airships.

Body Sense

This applies not only to teleportation, but to any unusual form of movement or transformation. Suddenly turned into a frog? Melded with a wall and just emerged? Picked up and thrown by a whirlwind? Body Sense will help you.

Bombardment

This is now compatible with Rapid Fire and recoil modifiers; each of the individual Bombardment attacks is treated as its own rapid fire attack. You may even give an Area Effect attack two Rapid Fire modifiers, the first to disperse the area effects, and the second for the bombardments within those area effects.

Bombardment can be Skill-Based, for -0%; instead of a fixed attack number, you direct the Bombardment yourself using #Exotic Ranged Attack.

Born Commander

This is the Born Admiral and Born Tactician talents, combined and renamed for better universality. You must specialize in a particular type of warfare: Land, Sea, Air, or Space.

Brakeman

This is another Crewman variant, for working on trains.

Cartography

This is a /TL skill.

Cathexsis

New Disadvantage from Alan Atkinson. An obsessive bond to a specific object, person, or place; it comes in levels from -1 to -15, like Delusion.

Chronic Affliction

The Chronic Pain rules can be expanded to a huge variety of chronic disorders:

• • Choking, for severe asthma: -25 points, interval measured in seconds.
  • Coughing/Sneezing: -5 points, interval measured in hours.
  • Daze, for petit mal seizures: -12 points, interval measured in minutes.
  • Drowsiness, for narcolepsy: -25 points, interval measured in hours.
  • Drunkenness, for certain neural disorders: -5 points, interval measured in hours.
  • Ecstacy: -25 points, interval measured in minutes.
  • Euphoria: -8 points, interval measured in hours.
  • Hallucinations: -12 points, interval measured in minutes.
  • Heart Attack: -75 points. Always use the x1 interval cost.
  • Itching: -2 points, interval measured in hours.
  • Nausea: -8 points, interval measured in hours.
  • Pain, Moderate: -5 points, interval measured in hours. (This replaces Mild Chronic Pain.)
  • Pain, Severe: -10 points, interval measured in hours. (This replaces Severe Chronic Pain.)
  • Pain, Terrible: -15 points, interval measured in hours. (This replaces Agonizing Chronic Pain.)
  • Pain, Agonizing: -25 points, interval measured in minutes.
  • Paralysis: -40 points, interval measured in hours.
  • Retching: -12 points, interval measured in minutes.
  • Seizures: -25 points, interval measured in minutes. This is another way to represent Epilepsy, but you can still take that trait instead.
  • Tipsiness, for certain neural disorders: -3 points, interval measured in hours.
  • Unconsciousness: -50 points. Always use the x1 interval cost.

Chronic Depression

This disadvantage now has a self-control roll.

Cinema

A variant of #Literature, for the cinematic and video arts.

Circus Performance

A new catch-all skill, covering all sorts of strange carnival acts. IQ/A or DX/A, usually, with specialization required in a particular act. Examples are Contortionist, Fire Eating, and Sword-Swallowing.

Combat Art, Combat Sport

These are now Techniques, rather than separate skills, per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Combat Training

New Technique. You may buy off Reluctant Killer's to-hit penalty as a general technique (not tied to any skill or attribute), up to +0. If you eliminate the penalty entirely, then you may Aim at the target normally. The self-control roll and Fright Check rules still stand.

Command

New Modifier for Patron, +0%. If you own and command an organization yourself (e.g. private corporation, personal army, your own ship), take both the highest level of Rank in the organization and the organization as your personal Patron, to represent your ability to use the company's assets for your own private purposes as you wish.

Common Sense

This is now just a 1-point Perk. I feel a GM's job includes giving advice anyway, and at 10 points, the people who really needed it weren't going to take it anyway.

Computer Operation

At appropriate tech levels, this may serve as an Influence skill when giving orders to AIs (similar to Savoir-Faire).

Cone

This is now compatible with Rapid Fire.

Control

Control can provide a little DR, per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Costs Fatigue

Increased cost, Reverend P. Kitty's house rules. and discussions on the official GURPS forum.

Cultural Familiarity

Cultural Familiarity penalties may range from -0 to -3, depending on similarity.

Dependent

If your character has children, only take them as Dependents if you want frequent "rescue the baby" plots. Otherwise, consider a Nonhazardous Duty.

Desperate Killer

See #Reluctant Killer.

Ditz

New Disadvantage, which is essentially IQ-based Klutz. Max. IQ 13, and you must make an IQ roll to get through each day without making a social gaffe, leaving the motor running and the lights on, mixing up important files, etc.

Doesn't Breathe

I've split off most of the various Doesn't Breathe modifiers into their own traits, for better cost scaling. These traits are:

• • Doesn't Breathe (20 points)
  • Gills (10 points)
  • Gills Only (0 points)
  • Oxyen Absorption (15 points)
  • Oxygen Combustion (10 points)
  • Oxygen Storage (10 to 18 points)

Doesn't Stack

New Limitation for DR, -40%, replacing Can't Wear Armor. Your DR doesn't stack with any other source of DR. This could be thought of as Accessibility: Not While Wearing Armor.

Dropping

Defaults at -4 from Artillery (Bombs).

Dual-Mode

New Enhancement for Innate Attack, from Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Duplication

Adopted Reverend P. Kitty's house rule regarding large groups of Dupes.

Elderly

New Disadvantage, adapted from GURPS 3e. -1 point per level, max. 3 levels; for each level, you have already passed one of the aging thresholds.

Enemies

Remember that Enemies are after you specifically; those acquired due to your job or social standing are just part of the territory, and go away if you change careers. The exception is if you are especially notorious (e.g. Most Wanted), or if one of them is after you for personal reasons.

Enthrallment

New Enhancement for Charisma, from Reverend P. Kitty's house rules, which serves as the gatekeeper trait for the bardic Enthrallment skills.

Erotic Art

This is an IQ-based skill, and defaults to HT. With alien species, Physiology modifiers apply.

Exotic Ranged Attack

This is the Innate Attack skill, renamed for clarity. (After all, the skill can be used with more abilities than just the Innate Attack advantage.)

A new specialty is Bombardment, for use with Skill-Based #Bombardment attacks.

Expert Skills

Some new Expert Skills include:

• • Espionage/TL, equivalent to Military Science: understanding of the state of intelligence operations around the world.
  • Occultism, which is no longer a mere IQ/A skill
  • Terraforming/TL

Extended Lifespan

Reduced cost, per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Extremely Impressive

New Appearance tier: 20 points, +5 to reactions when seen. Like Transcendant, this is clearly supernatural.

Fatigue Also, Fatigue Only

New Enhancements for Unhealing, from Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Feathers

This is unnecessary if you already have Natural DR, Spines, or similar.

Fighter

New Modifier for Trickster, +0%, for those who seek challenging battles. You need not kill your foes, unless you also have Bloodlust.

Folklore

A variant of #Literature, for oral tradition.

Fortune-Telling

Specialization is not required, because the particular props you use aren't as important as your ability to lead on the mark.

Fragmentation

This Enhancement has been provisionally revised and expanded to make it possible to model claymore mines, video game danmaku, etc. (This is untested, sorry!) The modifier comes in two forms:

Fragmentation, Burst

New Attack Modifier, +50%, requires Bombardment and Follow-Up. When the first attack hits, the fragmentation rolls to hit each target within (5 yards per die of damage) using the Bombardment skill, modified by penalties for range and target size/posture.

(Example: The default fragmentation in GURPS Basic Set is a cutting attack with Bombardment 14, -5%; Extra Recoil 2, -20%; Follow-Up, cost varies; Fragmentation, Burst, +50%; Rapid Fire 5, +70%. Total modifier: +95%, not counting the Follow-Up cost.)

Fragmentation, Directional

New Attack Modifier, +50%, requires Bombardment and Rapid Fire. Lay the line of attack as for a Cone. The fragmentation attacks everyone within a 60° arc along that line, out to its maximum range, using the Bombardment skill, modified by penalties for range and target size/posture, and the RoF bonus. Calculate hits for the closer targets first, to see that any fragments that stop cannot move on to hit farther targets.

(Example: The claymore mine in GURPS High-Tech is a small piercing attack with Bombardment 8, -20%; Fragmentation, Directional, +50%; Increased 1/2D, x5, +10%; Increased MAX, x2, +5%; Rapid Fire 700, +350%. Total modifier: +390%.)

Friend of a Friend

New Limitation for Allies, from Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Fur

This is unnecessary if you already have Natural DR, Spines, or similar.

Gills, Gills Only

See #Doesn't Breathe.

Gliding

I don't see why Gliding must include Cannot Hover – I could imagine alien critters that hang in the air like spores – so I've split out the costs; you can take the traits separately.

Guilt Complex

This disadvantage now has a self-control roll.

Hardened Killer

See #Reluctant Killer.

Hazard Suit

This is NBC Suit skill, renamed for better universality. These days it's called CBRN gear anyway, or some other acronym.

Hydrosuit

A new Environment Suit variant, for those fishnaut suits filled with water that allow intrepid Deep Ones to explore up on land.

Hyperawareness

This is Sensitivity skill, renamed to avoid confusion with the Sensitive advantage.

Hyperjump

Expanded per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Impressive

This Appearance modifier has been dropped, and is instead the name of an Appearance tier of its own: 12 points, +3 reactions when seen.

Impudent

New Disadvantage, suggested on the official GURPS forum. Check self-control when dealing with those of higher Rank or Status, or you mouth off and double the penalty for having lower Rank or Status.

Indefatigable

New Advantage, from Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Interrogation

This skill is cinematic. For realistic interrogations, use an Influence skill to convince the subject to talk to you, Interviewing to conduct the actual interrogation(s), and Criminology or Intelligence Analysis to figure out whether you learned anything useful. Torture assists Intimidation for inducing someone to talk, but it gives a penalty to the subsequent Interviewing roll.

Interviewing

New Skill: IQ/A, defaulting to IQ-5, Detect Lies-4, Interrogation-3, Intelligence Analysis-6, Psychology-4, or Social Sense-4; Cultural Familiarity penalties apply. This is the practiced ability to question someone, whether in a formal interview or a casual social situation, getting them to admit more than they would knowingly volunteer, and piece it together into a coherent narrative.

Kinship

New Modifier for Claim to Hospitality, +0%. A normal claim to hospitality is no more than a friendly professional relationship, but kin relations can be very strong, and so include a reciprocal Sense of Duty. "Blood is thicker than water."

Languages

I've renamed the level names for better clarity. For spoken languages, the tiers are None, Broken, Conversational, and Fluent. ("Accented" is a silly name, because everyone has an accent.) For written languages, the tiers are Illiterate, Semi-Literate, Literate, and Educated.

Law-Abiding

This is the Honesty disadvantage, renamed to make it clearer just what it does.

Laziness

This disadvantage now has a self-control roll.

Lifestyle

Your Lifestyle is automatically determined by your Wealth (if you support yourself) or your Status (if another person, or society in general, provides for you). Look on the appropriate Cost of Living table to see what you get.

Literature

Specialization required, similarly to History or Law.

Longevity

Reduced cost, per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Long-Lived

New Modifier for Reawakened, +0%, to represent immortal characters who are remembering skills they once had but have not used in ages.

Long-Term Effects

New Disadvantage, from Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Lover

To represent a steady romantic relationship with an NPC who is not a Dependent, take Sense of Duty toward that individual plus Claim to Hospitality 1, making this a -1 point Quirk. If your love is another PC, or your feelings are unrequited, you don't get the Claim to Hospitality, so simply take a straight Sense of Duty.

Lunacy

This disadvantage now has a self-control roll.

Manic-Depressive

This disadvantage now has a self-control roll.

Mathematics

This is now an IQ/VH skill, with no specialization; the listed specializations are optional, as with Biology or Physics. (Seriously, six different skills for math?)

Mechanic

A new specialty is Sapper, for the deployment (and sabotage) of military equipment, e.g. barricades and barbed wire, prefab bunkers, etc. Use this to lay mines, but not to disarm them.

Medical Care

This is Physician, renamed for clarity. (It seems silly to tell people "surgeons use Surgery, physicians use Diagnosis, and nurses use Physician".)

Megalomania

This disadvantage now has a self-control roll.

Moron

New Disadvantage from S. John Ross: -10 points. It's basically Common Sense in reverse: If you, the player, have a clever idea, your character must roll IQ in order to think of it themselves.

Mortal

New Limitation for Unkillable, from Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Music History

A variant of #Literature, for music and song.

Must Traverse Distance

New Limitation for Warp, from Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Natural Memeticist

This is Memetic talent, renamed to avoid confusion with Memetics skill.

Occultism

This is now an IQ/H Expert Skill.

Off-the-Shelf Looks

This can be applied to negative Appearance, too.

Oxygen Absorption, Oxygen Combustion, Oxygen Storage

See #Doesn't Breathe.

Pacifism

Reluctant Killer has been split off into its own disadvantage; the others are equivalent to Vows. If you also have Guilt Complex or some level of Reluctant Killer, violating your Pacifism can trigger a mental breakdown, during which you must roll Will to offer any sort of violence toward anyone.

Parents

If your parents (or other childhood guardians) are alive and well and on good terms with you, consider taking this 2-point advantage.

If you're living with or off your parents (i.e. you're a minor or shut-in), this is equivalent to Patron (Ordinary Individuals, Appear 9-; Minimal Intervention, -50%) [3] plus Trivial Obligation: dumb shit my parents make me do [-1].

If you're an independent adult, this is simply Claim to Hospitality 2 (Kinship, -0%) [2].

If your character is a minor, and your parent is another player character, this is a 0-point feature for you, while they have the trait Ward.

Paleontology

This is a /TL skill, with no specialization required; the listed specializations are optional. This is specifically the technical skill of identifying and recovering fossils. It does not cover more than incidental knowledge of ancient species; for that, you'll want Biology or an appropriate Expert Skill.

Paranoia

This disadvantage now has a self-control roll.

Patron

Added a 5-point level, for an ordinary person or small organization. This is intended for juvenile adventures: while in the grand scheme of things your parents or school club are trivial, in your day-to-day life they can have tremendous impact.

Place of Power

New Advantage, for use with the Ritual Path Magic rules: 1 point per level. You already control a consecrated ritual space that has a history or location that grants +level to all energy-gathering rolls. You are entirely familiar with the location and have placed wards upon it at your highest possible skill level against any category of threat that you are aware of. Others can use the space, but they have to get past you, first.

Planetology

This is Geology when dealing with planets other than Earth.

Politics

Voice gives no bonus to Politics; this is the skill of political deal-making, not making speeches.

Procrastinator

New Disadvantage from Arthur Shipkowski: -5 points, with a self-control number. You must check self-control to start a project on your own initiative, -1 per extra day you have available, or +1 per day you're behind schedule. Once you begin, or if someone forces you to start, you work normally.

Professional Skills

Some new Professional Skills include:

• • Animal Husbandry/TL
  • Childcare, with optional specialization in "Own Children".
  • Fire Direction Controller/TL, who works alongside Artillery and Forward Observer.
  • Household Management, the skill of the butler, hotelier, steward, or family matriach.
  • Logistics/TL, the vital skill of supplying an organization in the field.

Psychology

This is Psychology (Experimental) renamed, and is a /TL skill.

Radiation Tolerance

Eliminated for seeming rather over-priced for such a rarely-useful and weirdly-working trait. Use Resistant to Radiation or Immunity to Radiation, instead.

Rapid Fire

I've adopted this house rule from Mark Langsdorf (No School Grognard): When using rapid fire, follow the normal rules until you get to the RoF Bonus To Hit. Instead of that chart, look up the number of shuts fired on the Speed/Range Table in the "Linear Measurement" column, and use the corresponding "Size" bonus to hit. (Example: Firing an M-16 with RoF 12 at full auto falls between the 10 yd and 15 yd lines, so use the +4 bonus for 10 yds.) Calculate the MoS normally, then divide by the weapon's Recoil value, then subtract 1. (A successful Dodge defense subtracts an additional 1 plus their MoS.) Look up that bonus on the Speed/Range Table in the "Size" column. The corresponding "Linear Measurement" is the number of shots that hit the target, minimum 1, up to the total number of shots fired. (Example: That M-16 hits by 4. It has Rcl 2, so divide by 2 and subtract 1, getting +1, which means 3 bullets hit.)

Regrowth

Reduced cost, per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Reluctant Killer

Reluctant Killer has been split off from the other forms of Pacifism; I do use the rule that the base level is normal. Different tiers of the trait have different names:

• • Hardened Killer: 10 points, no penalties or rolls needed. You may kill freely.
  • Desperate Killer: 5 points, self-control 15, -2 penalty.
  • Reluctant Killer: 0 points, self-control 12, -4 penalty.
  • Very Reluctant Killer: -5 points, self-control 9, -6 penalty.
  • Extremely Reluctant Killer: -10 points, self-control 6, -8 penalty.

You may buy off the penalty to hit with #Combat Training.

Retractable

New Enhancement for Binding, from Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Roping

This is the Binding technique, renamed to avoid confusion with the Binding advantage.

Rush of Pain

New Advantage from S. John Ross.

Sailor

This is Seamanship skill, renamed for brevity, and to fit better alongside the other Crewman skills.

Scales

This is unnecessary if you already have Natural DR, Spines, or similar.

Second Nature

New Enhancement for Enhanced Move, from Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Self-Destruct

Reduced cost, per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Sexy

New Appearance tier: 8 points, +2 to reactions when seen in general, or +3 if sexual attraction applies, but instead the -2 jealous reaction from those who already dislike you.

Short Lifespan

Reduced cost, per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Shyness

There's now a -3 level, called "Very Severe Shyness."

Side Effect

You may also apply the Irritant or Reduced Advantage modifiers.

Signature Gear

Signature Gear scales differently, per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Social Sense

This is Psychology (Applied) renamed for clarity. When dealing with alien species, your other social skills are capped at your level in the Social Sense speciality for that species (just as with #Artificial Intelligence and AIs).

Soothsaying

From GURPS Magic, this is the skill of divination and interpreting omens. IQ/A, requires specialization by technique.

Sophantology

This is Anthropology when dealing with non-human sapients (as there are obviously no anthropoi involved).

Soul of a Poet

This is Poet talent, renamed to avoid confusion with Poetry skill.

Spacesuit

This is Vacc Suit skill, renamed for better universality. I like Traveller, too, but most people just call them spacesuits.

Statesman

This is the Natural Statesman talent, renamed to sound more natural to my ear.

Static

Resistible is no longer a limitation but rather the first level of Static, per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Stubbornness

This disadvantage now has a self-control roll.

Student of the Arcane

This is Occultist talent, renamed to avoid confusion with Occultism skill.

Supercharge

New Enhancement for Striking ST, from Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Techniques

Use the "Average" pricing for ALL Techniques, whether Average or Hard. There's no difference now.

Terminally Ill

Eliminated, except for use in Afflictions, Divine Curses, and the like.

Time Worked

This trait replaces Independent Income (and sometimes Debt): ±1 point per level, max. ±20 points. By default, you spend an average of 50 hours per week to maintain your lifestyle; this time is unavailable for adventuring without consequences. Each level adjusts this time by ±5% either direction. The minimum is 0 hours for 20 points, for a completely independent income with no obligations; the maximum is 100 hours for -20 points, where practically every waking hour must be devoted to your masters. In a military campaign, ignore this trait for most soldiers or crewmembers, as everyone is on duty all the time.

Total Klutz

New Disadvantage, which is essentially IQ-based Total Klutz. As normal DItz, above, but in addition, any failure on an IQ roll or IQ-based skill roll becomes a critical failure!

Tradecraft

New Skill, IQ/A, defaults to IQ-5, Streetwise-3, Expert Skill: Espionage-3. The professional skill of being a spy: dead-drops, contact and evasion, use of signals and codes, the basics of recruiting assets, etc. Cultural Familiarity penalties apply.

Unaging

Reduced cost, per Reverend P. Kitty's house rules.

Understanding Soul

This is Empath talent, renamed to avoid confusion with the Empathy advantage.

Very Attractive

New Appearance tier: 8 points, +2 to reactions when seen.

Very Impressive

New Appearance tier: 16 points, +4 to reactions when seen.

Very Rapid Healing

The consensus on the official GURPS fora, and I agree, is that this should double all healing rates, whether natural, supernatural, or technological.

Very Ugly

New Appearance tier: -12 points, -3 to reactions when seen.

Ward

If another player character is your child, this is a -1 point Quirk to represent the legal responsibility you hold.

Wealth

I use the Abstract Wealth rules from Pyramid 3/44, plus some house rules which abstract income and cost of living.

Workaholic

This disadvantage now has a self-control roll.

Xenolinguistics

This is Linguistics when dealing with alien species.

Yogi

This is Psientist talent, renamed because I think "Psientist" sounds really dumb.

Wealth & Lifestyles

Use the Abstract Wealth rules from Pyramid 3/44: Alternate GURPS II.

Ignore the Cost of Living rules. Instead, your character automatically receives a Lifestyle (as on the Status tables), which is supported either by your Wealth or your Status.

If you are supporting yourself, whether working for pay, maintaining investments, or hunting/farming/fishing, then your Lifestyle is based on your Wealth. The Lifestyle accoutrements are your private property and hirelings; you can sell off and shift households whenever you wish.

If you receive support based on your social position, whether high office, the dole, or marriage, then your Lifestyle is based on your Status. The Lifestyle accoutrements belong to those who provide your position, so you can't sell them; on the other hand, you don't have the responsibility of having to maintain them.

Rank in an organization might also provide a Lifestyle while you're "on duty", but this will be at the needs of the service, and will be greatly reduced in the field, or in budget-conscious or ascetic organizations. A good rule-of-thumb would be to base it on the "free" Status provided by your Rank.

Wealth	Status	Lifestyle	Notes
5 (Homeless) [-40 points]		-3
6 (Destitute) [-30 points]	-2 (Serf, street person) [-10 points]	-3	"Dead Broke"
7 (Working Poor) [-20 points]		-2	"Poor"
8 (Working Class) [-15 points]	-1 (Bondsman, poor citizen) [-5 points]	-1
9 (Tradespeople) [-10 points]		-1	"Struggling"
10 (Middle Class) [0 points]	0 (Freeman, apprentice, ordinary citizen) [0 points]	0	"Average"
11 (Upper Middle Class) [10 points]	1 (Squire, merchant, priest, doctor, councilor) [5 points]	1	"Comfortable"
12 (Wealthy) [20 points]	2 (Landless knight, mayor, business leader) [10 points]	2	"Wealthy"
13 (Very Wealthy) [30 points]	3 (Landed knight, guild master, big city mayor) [15 points]	3	"Very Wealthy"
14 (Millionaire) [50 points]	4 (Lesser noble, congressional representative, Who's Who) [20 points]	4	"Filthy Rich"
15 (Multimillionaire) [75 points]	5 (Great noble, multinational corporate boss) [25 points]	5	"Multimillionaire 1"
16 (Billionaire) [100 points]	6 (Royal family, governor) [30 points]	6	"Multimillionaire 2"
17 (Multibillionaire) [125 points]	7 (King, pope, president) [35 points]	7	"Multimillionaire 3"
18 (Megacorporation) [150 points]	8 (Emperor, god-king, overlord) [40 points]	8	"Multimillionaire 4"
19 (Small Nation) [175 points]		9
20 (Medium Nation) [200 points]		10
21 (Large Nation) [200 points]		10
22 (Wealthy Nation) [200 points]		10
23 (Multiplanetary) [200 points]		10
24 (Galactic Empire) [200 points]		10

If you are the sole supporter of a sizeable household, reduce Lifestyle level by one. Note that in most traditional households, the wife and older children are most definitely working to support the household, even though their work may not be directly paid in money.

If you're always travelling, reduce Lifestyle level by one, to reflect the cost of temporary accommodations and eating out, or maintainance and supply for vehicles and packbeasts. If you live a nomadic existence, then a basic civilian boat, caravan, etc. can be included, but a large ship or the like should be taken as Signature Gear or Patron (Command), with your Lifestyle representing your personal quarters within the ship.

The Base Perk allows you to maintain an entire additional Lifestyle at 3 levels below your own, for the use of an alternate or secret identity, as a home base for a frequent traveller, or to support an ally.

[Source: self]

Sample Lifestyles

Lifestyle -3

• Medieval: Shared quarters somewhere uncomfortable, the rags on your back.
• Modern: Bunk in a flophouse or shelter, or a patch of sidewalk.
• Ultratech: Room in a shelter, or squatting in an abandon; whatever tech you can scrounge or steal.

Lifestyle -2

• Medieval: Serf's cottage, rented room in town, or a place in a corner of a large establishment; clothes.
• Modern: Small or shared apartment, or decaying house in a bad neighborhood; public transport or a "beater" car.
• Ultratech: Small or bad rooms; public transport; some web access; chancy medical.

Lifestyle -1

• Medieval: Rural cottage or room in town, change of clothes, shared mule/ox or rare horse rentals.
• Modern: Apartment or heavily-mortgaged house; used car; maybe insurance.
• Ultratech: Shared rooms or heavily-mortgaged house; public transport; web access; some medical.

Lifestyle 0

• Medieval: Rural cottage or rooms in town, maybe a servant, change of clothes, mule/ox/rented horse.
• Modern: House or large apartment, car, full medical insurance.
• Ultratech: As modern, plus house computer w/NAI and AR.

Lifestyle 1

• Medieval: Country or town house, or quarters in your patron's place; one or two servants; wardrobe; horse and mules.
• Modern: Nice house or condo; new car or a couple of older ones, maybe a boat or RV; housekeeping service.
• Ultratech: As modern, plus wearable computer and AI w/security service.

Lifestyle 2

• Medieval: Fine house, or grand quarters; staff and a squire; wardrobe; warhorses or handsome mounts.
• Modern: Large house with grounds, and other properties; couple of expensive cars; housekeeper.
• Ultratech: Big smart house, maybe other properties; couple of smartcars; AI manager, implanted netlink; full medical.

Lifestyle 3

• Medieval: Manor, keep, or large town house; servants and captains; some court wear; stable for entourage.
• Modern: Small mansion and other properties; small yacht, various luxury cars; a handful of servants.
• Ultratech: Small mansion and other properties; aircar and smartcar; human aide and web security.

Lifestyle 4

• Medieval: Castle, manor, or great house, maybe estates too; all the necessary servants and soldiers.
• Modern: Mid-sized mansion and properties; yacht or private aircraft, limo and cars; many servants.
• Ultratech: Mansion, holiday home, city apartment, aircar, small staff, automated security.

Lifestyle 5

• Medieval: Good castle or manor, some lesser holdings; a stable for your household.
• Modern: Large mansion, couple of townhouses; executive jet, yacht, fleet of cars; staff and bodyguards.
• Ultratech: As modern, plus extensive web access, AIs, and human aides.

Lifestyle 6

• Medieval: Palace, castle, or mansion, and other estates; competent guards, lots of servants and stables.
• Modern: Huge mansion, other residences; jet, yacht, fleet of vehicles; hundreds of employees.
• Ultratech: Estate and other suites; supersonic aircraft; extensive access; aides, servants, and bodyguards.

Lifestyle 7

• Medieval: Palace and castles; knights; more clothes than you'll ever use; stables filled with fine horses.
• Modern: Palatial mansion, multiple rural retreats; jumbo jet, large yacht; entire agencies devoted to you.
• Ultratech: Mansion and rural retreats; luxury travel, orbital access; AIs on call; extensive support.

Lifestyle 8

• Medieval: Multiple palaces and hunting reserves; leading nobles compete to serve you; your own government.
• Modern: Huge estate, multiple mansions; private airline and ocean liner; small private army.
• Ultratech: Several luxury residences; interplanetary travel; unlimited information; invisible protection.

[Sources: compiled from official books, mostly Basic Set and Transhuman Space]

Time Worked

[±1 point per level, max. 20 levels] This replaces Independent Income and normal Debt.

Normally, you must spend about 50 hours per week to maintain your Lifestyle. This includes working at job sites, domestic chores, commuting, routine maintenance, shopping, standing in line, religious observances, keeping up social connections, grovelling, hunting, or whatever else is part of your regular occupation. This time is unavailable for adventuring without consequences. For some occupations, this time may be averaged over the year, e.g. periods of intense activity (planting, harvest) alternated with periods of slack time (winter).

It costs ±1 point to adjust this time by ±5% either direction. The minimum is 0 hours for 20 points, representing a completely independent income with no obligations; the money just comes in, and you spend it. The maximum is 100 hours for -20 points, at which point practically every waking hour must be devoted to your masters.

[Source: self]