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MyGURPS - BAE LP, Loot, and Ammo

BAE LP, Loot, and Ammo

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Loot

It's the GM's job to reward the Vault Hunters with loot (glorious loot!) for accomplishing things. In general, these guidelines are fair for a party who takes down a group of minor enemies (a bandit camp, a skag den, etc.) or 1-2 major ("mini-boss") enemies. Adjust to fit other situations.

Double the number of players and add one (2×P + 1). That's roughly how many rewards to give the group. The GM will need to decide how to divvy these up based on the situation; e.g., a Maliwan lab will have plenty of ammo and guns but little money, while a skag den would have undigested money and guns but no ammo boxes.

Types of Rewards

  • Ammo Boxes: Each box allows a character to completely refill one type of ammo. The GM can specify, but it's usually fine (and always easier) to just let the player get whatever type they need.
  • Gear: Roll a random item, either in advance or afterward. (Heck, make the players do it. You've got enough to do as GM!)
  • Health Vials: A health vial restores the most recent Wound taken by the character (if it's within the Golden Hour). Taking multiple health vials will not heal multiple Wounds; the hero is unaffected by health vials until Wounded again.
  • Money: In the form of LP (see below).

Some adventures should include a guaranteed high-quality drop; e.g., if the characters are raiding a Hyperion outpost, there might be a boss's chest with either a single Orange Hyperion item or two Purple ones. Other additional rewards can be less tangible, like a valuable contact or piece of intel.

Loot Points (LP)

To keep things as fast, fun, and furious as possible, Savage Borderlands doesn't track every last dollar the Vault Hunters have. Instead, this is abstracted into Loot Points. At lower levels, LP are money, while at higher levels, they're Eridium or possibly Torgue Tokens. Don't sweat the details; what's important is that they can be used to acquire gear and upgrades!

Each Vault Hunter tracks their own LP. They may trade it freely, but it is not an inherently "shared" resource. It can be spent in a variety of ways:

In the Field

While out killing that which needs killing, Vault Hunters can spend their LP for emergency help.

Bribery: If an enemy can be bribed (GM's call), LP are a good way to do it. For a single bandit, 1 or 2 LP is usually good for a +1 or +2 bonus on Persuasion. The wealthier the enemy, the more this may cost.

Find an Ammo Box or a Health Vial (1 LP): See Loot, above. This represents a bit of luck, "stumbling across" a needed cache. This can be done mid-fight, as an action.

Get Catch-a-Ride Access (1 LP): Unlocks access to Catch-a-Ride stations for a full day, for the payer only. They cannot spawn more than one vehicle at a time, though, so if the group needs multiple vehicles, they'll need multiple members to pay this cost. See BAE Vehicles for options.

Use a Fast-Travel Station (0+ LP): Most fast-travel stations are free to use — at least, for those with the right access codes — but some are run by private businesses or mercenaries and charge for use. (And some aren't available for any cost, and instead require Hacking or a special key.) Once registered at a fast-travel station, a character can travel to any other fast-travel station at which they're also registered.

Use a New-U Station (1-3 LP): If a hero is killed, that player may spend 3 LP to resurrect them at the nearest New-U station. If the dead hero has just 1 or 2 LP, the New-U station will still work . . . but may steal some ammo, spawn the character further away, etc. (GM's call). If the dead hero has 0 LP, though, they're staying dead for now; when their friends can next get to a New-U station, they may spend 3 LP of their own money to bring them back

Use a Vending Machine (varies): The GM decides where these show up and how full they are; i.e., how many times each can be used. Usually all three cluster together, but not always. (The division here intentionally varies from that of the video game.)

  • Ammo Machine: 1 LP to refill one ammo type or 2 LP to refill all ammo types for one hero.
  • Equipment Machine: 1 LP to generate a random piece of gear.
  • Medical Machine: 1 LP for a health vial, 2 LP for full treatment. "Full treatment" is useful if, after healing your most recent Wound with a health vial, you still have Wounds remaining. It involves shoving your arm into the machine where it heals one additional Wound (as long as it's within the Golden Hour). Any further Wounds can only be treated by an actual medical vendor (below); they won't respond to further field treatment.

At a Vendor

While in a town or equivalent — large camp, space station, particularly important area within the subconscious of the person whose mind they're in (y'know, the usual) — the Vault Hunters will have access to vendors, actual purveyors of goods who will have a better selection than the vending machines.

At a medical vendor, players can heal any number of Wounds (ignoring the Golden Hour) for 1 LP per Wound. Most medical vendors also sell shields; use the rules for buying a specific item type from a weapon vendor (below).

A weapon vendor offers a wide variety of options:

  • For 1 LP, get a White item of your choice, making all decisions about it (as for BAE Starting Gear). In game, this represents the Vault Hunter buying and throwing out several inexpensive random White items until they find one they want.
  • For 1 LP, roll a random item (Green or better), but you get to pick the manufacturer (e.g., Vladof) or pick the type (e.g., "light pistol" or "grenade mod"). Note that "melee weapon" is its own type; if you want to specify what sub-type of melee weapon you get, that's another +1 LP, sorry.
  • Roll as above, but guarantee a Blue item. (Not "Blue or better", mind you. Blue.) This costs 2 LP at Novice, 3 LP at Seasoned, 4 LP at Veteran, 5 LP at Heroic, and 6 LP at Legendary; +1 to specify melee weapon sub-type.
  • Roll as above, but guarantee a Purple item. This costs twice what a Blue item costs.
  • (No, you can't get an Orange item this way.)
  • Buy body armor or physical shields.
  • Buy an Advanced Backpack. This costs 3 LP, weighs 5 lbs., and lets the wearer carry 20 lbs. more gear. (Suggestion: Write the weight as -15 lbs.)
  • Raise your ammo capacity (see below).

There are other vendors offering specialized items, with availability and prices set by the GM. In general, assume that most small purchases are covered with incidental funds rather than charging LP. If a player wants a tool kit, let them have it for 0 LP. If the team needs to crash at a hotel, that's 0 LP too unless it's ritzy as hell (e.g., when open, the Handsome Jackpot hotel cost 10 LP per night). If the GM feels like purchases are pushing the limit, she can ask the party to pay 1 LP to cover expenses (or 2 LP if it feels like they're trying to abuse or rules-lawyer this).

Other Uses

The great thing about a tabletop RPG is that there are no limits to what the players might do. Maybe they'll invest LP into a business startup. Or pay the local bandit camp LP to protect the town. Or just spend some LP to catch the latest film premiere from director Buff Film Guy. Don't think of the rules above as restrictive; treat LP like you'd treat cash in any RPG.

Ammo

Ammo is weightless, generated via digistructing rather than carried in physical magazines. Because it's not a physical item, ammo cannot be traded with others or looted off of bandit corpses, but it can be reloaded out in the field by finding "ammo boxes" (which replenish one's ammo stores digitally).

Every Vault Hunter starts off with the same base ammo capacity:

  • Pistol Ammo: 45
  • SMG Ammo: 75
  • Assault Rifle Ammo: 60
  • Sniper Rifle Ammo: 30
  • Shotgun Ammo: 30
  • Rocket Launcher Ammo: 9
  • Protean Grenades: 3

They may later spend LP while at a weapon vendor (not a vending machine) to permanently increase this carrying capacity. Each type of ammo increase is a separate purchase. Some increases are available only at a higher rank. Once the Vault Hunter hits Legendary, there is no limit; the LP cost progression continues indefinitely (doubling every two levels).

All costs are cumulative; e.g., raising grenade capacity to 5 costs 2 + 3 = 5 LP.

Minimum RankLPPistolSMGAssaultSniperShotgunRocketGrenade
Novice2+15 (60)+25 (100)+20 (80)+10 (40)+10 (40)+3 (12)+1 (4)
 3+15 (75)+25 (125)+20 (100)+10 (50)+10 (50)+3 (15)+1 (5)
 4+15 (90)+25 (150)+20 (120)+10 (60)+10 (60)+3 (18)+1 (6)
Seasoned6+15 (105)+25 (175)+20 (140)+10 (70)+10 (70)+3 (21)+1 (7)
Veteran8+15 (120)+25 (200)+20 (160)+10 (80)+10 (80)+3 (24)+1 (8)
Heroic12+15 (135)+25 (225)+20 (180)+10 (90)+10 (90)+3 (27)+1 (9)
Legendary16+15 (150)+25 (250)+20 (200)+10 (100)+10 (100)+3 (30)+1 (10)

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