This GURPS Action supplement lists hazards from the real world (or at
least the cinematic world) for use in action games.
The organisation is not the most obvious: one heading per letter
of the alphabet. Explosives are under O for Ordnance (so are fireworks
and flares); poisons might be under B for Botanical, C for Chemical,
or M for Medical. Some sections are more general: D for Devious lets
PCs search for something dangerous that isn't otherwise covered, and G
for Generic mentions a variety of household items (a good combination
with the Improvised Weapons table in GURPS Martial Arts).
The book is unusual in that it's all about the hazards of everyday
life, rather than being shot or stabbed or fireballed; when the party
next has a chase through a kitchen, they can be gassed by spice clouds
or burned by frying oil; or perhaps they'll get into a fight in a
rubbish pile, or aboard a yacht, or in a logging camp. While the rules
are great to have, this book also serves as a list of suggestions
where action scenes can happen with interesting context.
(One of the standard conflicts in the Die Hard generation of action
films is the improvising smart guy, the Trickster, versus the
well-armed tough guy. This book is full of things for the smart guy to
do.)
Some of the best material here is in the surrounding text; the
beginning of the book describes how to get foes into hazardous
situations (whether by knockback, manhandling or trickery, the last
expanded in X Marks the Spot), while the end looks as which sections
are most appropriate to particular types of campaign.
This is all good solid practical GURPS material, and while there's
certainly a cinematic bias I think it could be useful for any GM
dealing with games set in something like the modern world if violence
breaks out with any frequency; several points of difference between
action films and the real world are explicitly noted. It's definitely
being added to my list of books to have handy during games. Action 5:
Dictionary of Danger is available from
Warehouse 23.
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