Handy Artifact · Cursed Gadget · Wild West 1800s
The Devil's Revolver
Demon-forged, blood-fed, irreplaceable — a relic of wickedness loosed upon the world
Color Key — Base Cost Enhancement Impose Disadvantage Attribute Penalty Follow-Up Delivery Gadget Limitation Power Modifier Limitation
A demon imbued this revolver with evil intent sometime in the 1700s and let it loose to create chaos. It passed through generations of your family, driving each wielder to madness and ruin. The gun draws blood from whoever holds it — forming solid blood bullets with each pull of the trigger. The demon within is fickle and wilful. Displease it, and the gun turns against you.
Damage
6d+3
piercing (pi)
Armor
÷2
target DR halved
Accuracy
+4
to Guns (Pistol)
Ammo
costs 1 HP/shot
I
Innate Attack — The Blood Bullet
7 pts
Piercing (pi) — 6d+3
Solidified blood, shaped mid-flight by something that wants you dead. 6.9 dice × 5 pts/die = 34.5 → 35 pts base.
Base Cost
35 pts
Armor Divisor (2)
The bullet doesn't ask permission of your armor. Target DR is halved before damage is applied.
Enhancement
+50%
Accurate +4
It finds the mark. Something in the gun remembers every target it has ever wanted. +4 to Guns (Pistol).
Enhancement
+20%
Follow-Up → Affliction 4
The curse doesn't need a second invitation — it enters with the bullet. +0%: carrier carries nothing worth pricing.
Follow-Up
+0%
Breakable
Demon-forged, not God-made. DR 16–25 (−5%) + machine (−5%) + cannot repair (−15%) + SM −4 (−15%).
Gadget Lim.
-40%
Can Be Stolen
It has changed hands before. It will again. Only stealth or trickery — not force — can take it.
Gadget Lim.
-20%
Unique
There is only the one. It cannot be replaced, and it knows this. Character points lost permanently if it goes.
Gadget Lim.
-25%
Spirit
Something lives inside the metal. It has appetites of its own, and they don't always match yours. Fickle reaction roll + Required Disadvantage — see Section III.
Power Mod.
-25%
Corrupting
Every shot leaves a stain. Not on the target — on you. Track per GURPS Horror p.146.
Limitation
-20%
Costs Hit Points 1
It takes something from you each time. A nick, somewhere you barely feel it. The blood was already drawn before you pulled the trigger. 1 HP per shot.
Limitation
-20%
Enhancements Total
+70%
Limitations Total
-150%
Net (-80% cap) → Final
35 × 0.20 = 7 pts
II
Affliction 4 — The Curse in the Wound
8 pts
Delivered the moment the bullet breaks skin. The target rolls HT-4 to resist — armor means nothing now, the curse is already inside. Fail by one: one minute of this. Fail by four: four minutes. Fail by ten: you can do the arithmetic.
Affliction 4
Four levels pressing down. The curse doesn't ask — it commands. 4 × 10 pts = 40 pts base; each level is another −1 to the HT roll.
Base Cost
40 pts
Follow-Up
Rides the wound in. No separate roll, no range. The bullet already did the trespassing. +0%.
Follow-Up Delivery
+0%
Easy to Kill 5 — Impose Disadvantage
The cursed briefly forget how to stay alive. −5 to every HT roll where failure means death. The margin between wounded and dead shrinks to nearly nothing. 5 × −2 pts = −10 pts → +10%.
Impose Disadv.
+10%
Vulnerability ×2 Piercing (Common) — Impose Disadvantage
The flesh remembers the first bullet and opens itself to the second. All piercing wounds deal double injury after DR. −30 pts → +30%.
Impose Disadv.
+30%
Attribute Penalty — ST -2 and HT -2
The body loses faith in itself. ST −2, HT −2 — weaker grip, dimmer constitution, harder rolls to survive what comes next. 4 × 5% = +20%.
Attr. Penalty
+20%
Attribute Penalty — DX -1
Hands that hesitate. Eyes that lag a beat behind. DX −1 — every skill that needs a steady hand. +10%.
Attr. Penalty
+10%
Breakable / Can Be Stolen / Unique / Spirit / Corrupting / Costs HP
The curse is leashed to the gun. Where it goes, so goes this.
All Lims.
-150%
Enhancements Total
+70%
Limitations Total
-150%
Net (-80% cap) → Final
40 × 0.20 = 8 pts
Impose Disadvantage
Easy to Kill 5
The body forgets how to hold on. −5 to every HT roll to survive at negative HP. The window between wounded and dead quietly closes.
Impose Disadvantage
Vulnerability ×2 Piercing
The flesh offers no argument to the second bullet. Every piercing wound doubles after DR — each shot that follows lands like two.
Attribute Penalty
ST -2 / HT -2
The strength goes first, then the stubborn will to survive. −2 to all HT-based rolls — and the death checks get harder with every second that passes.
Attribute Penalty
DX -1
A half-beat delay on everything that needs a steady hand. −1 to all DX-based skills — attack, defense, anything that requires you to be where you meant to be.
III
Spirit Reaction — The Demon's Will
Before every shot, the demon decides. The GM rolls 3d — unmodified, no talent bonus, no soft modifiers. Ask too many times and it grows surly: −1 cumulative per attempt within the same hour. Let it rest a full hour and the slate clears.
19+ Excellent Something like eagerness. Activates normally. +2 to the attack roll.
16–18 Very Good Willing, for now. Activates normally. +1 to the attack roll.
10–15 Neutral It cooperates. No modifier.
7–9 Poor The trigger pulls but nothing answers. Refuses to activate. The blood was already drawn — 1 HP paid regardless.
3–6 Very Bad The demon has decided you deserve it more. Gun turns on the wielder — GM determines the form. 1 HP paid either way.
IV
Per-Shot Combat Sequence
1 Spirit Reaction — GM rolls 3d unmodified. Check Section III. The demon decides first.
2 Pay 1 HP — the gun has already drawn it. Refusal, backfire, clean shot — no difference. You bleed either way.
3 Attack Roll — Guns (Pistol) ± reaction bonus. Target dodges only. No parry for a bullet.
4 Hit — Armor Divisor (2) — halve target DR. Roll 6d+3 piercing, subtract halved DR.
5 Follow-Up — any penetrating damage triggers the curse. Target rolls HT-4. DR is irrelevant — the curse is already inside.
6 Curse Lands — all four effects hit at once. Duration: 1 minute per point they failed the HT-4 roll by.
7 Corruption — GM marks it down. Another stain. Track per Horror p.146 — this is how the gun unmakes you, use by use.
Rules Sources — Basic p.61 Innate Attack Basic p.102 Armor Divisor Basic p.105 Follow-Up Basic p.35 Affliction Basic p.116-117 Gadget Lims. PU8 p.12 Costs HP PU8 p.12 Corrupting Powers p.27-28 Spirit Powers p.110 Fickle Horror p.146-148 Corruption