TEXT: Written by SEAN PUNCH
  Illustrated by JOHN HARTWELL, 
  ED NORTHCOTT, and JASON WALTON
  Additional Material by KENNETH HITE, JASON “PK” LEVINE, NICHOLAS LOVELL,
  PHIL MASTERS, SCOTT MAYKRANTZ, DAVID MORGAN-MAR, DAVID L. PULVER,
  MATT RIGGSBY, WILLIAM H. STODDARD, and MICHAEL SUILEABHAIN-WILSON
  POWER-UPS
  WILDCARD SKILLS7
  TM
  TM
  STEVE JACKSON GAMES
  Stock #37-0146
  Version 1.0 – August 2014
  ®
  Reviewers: Jason “PK” Levine and Steven Marsh
  GURPS, Pyramid, Warehouse 23, the all-seeing pyramid, Power-Ups, Wildcard Skills, and the names of all products published 
  by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are trademarks or registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license.
  GURPS Power-Ups 7: Wildcard Skills is copyright © 2014 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved.
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  GURPS System Design T STEVE JACKSON
  GURPS Line Editor T SEAN PUNCH
  Chief Operating Officer T PHILIP REED
  Managing Editor T MIRANDA HORNER
  Assistant GURPS Line Editor T JASON “PK” LEVINE
  Production Artist and Indexer T NIKOLA VRTIS
  GURPS Project Manager T STEVEN MARSH
  Director of Sales T ROSS JEPSON
  Art Direction and Prepress Checker T
  NIKKI VRTIS
  Page Design T PHIL REED and JUSTIN DE WITT
  GURPS FAQ Maintainer T VICKY “MOLOKH” KOLENKO
  
   INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . 3
  Publication History . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  About GURPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  1. DEFINING WILDCARDS. . 4
  ANATOMY OF
  A WILDCARD SKILL . . . . . . . . . 4
  Point Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
  Scope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
  Controlling Attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Defaults. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Bonuses From 
  Relative Skill Level. . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Optional Rule: Conditional-to-
  General Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  WHAT TO INCLUDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  Which Skills? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  How General?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
  How Many? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
  Contrasting Multi-Skill Traits. . . . . 10
  ADDITIONAL BENEFITS . . . . . . . . . 10
  Wildcard Familiarity . . . . . . . . . . . 11
  Wildcard Tech Level . . . . . . . . . . . 11
  Extra-Broad Perks 
  and Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
  Hyper-Competency . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
  Implicit Perks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
  Other Bonuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
  Wildcard Benefits Table . . . . . . . . . 14
  INTERESTING CASES . . . . . . . . . . . 15
  Style Wildcards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
  Supernatural Wildcards . . . . . . . . 16
  Psionic Wildcards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  Template Wildcards. . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  Ultimate Template Wildcards . . . . . 18
  Weapon Wildcards. . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
  To the Skills . . . and Beyond!. . . . . 20
  2. USING WILDCARDS . . . 21
  WILDCARDS IN THE CAMPAIGN . . . 21
  When Not to Use 
  Wildcard Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Deciding How Wildcards Work . . 21
  Ditching Standard Skills. . . . . . . . 22
  WILDCARD SKILL ROLLS. . . . . . . . 23
  Selecting the Skill . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  Negotiations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  Finding the Target . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Bonuses From Other Traits . . . . . . 24
  YET MORE OPTIONAL RULES!. . . . 25
  Compensating for Difficulty . . . . . 25
  Using Wildcards Together . . . . . . 25
  Wild Criticals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  3. EXAMPLES . . . . . . . . . 27
  Art!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Assassin! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Barbarian!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Bard! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Blade! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
  Boat! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
  Bow! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
  Businessman! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
  Cleaner!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
  Cleric! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
  Computers!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
  Courtier! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
  Demolition Man! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
  Detective! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
  Drive!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
  Druid! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
  Encyclopedist! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
  Explorer!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
  Face Man!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
  Fake! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
  Fist! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
  Gun! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
  Hacker! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
  History!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
  Holy Warrior!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
  Horseman! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
  Hunter! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
  Infiltrator!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
  Inventor! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
  Investigator! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
  Katana! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
  Knight! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
  Lore! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
  Magic! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
  Map! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  Martial Artist!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  Mechanism! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  Medic! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  Medicine! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  Memetics! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  Money! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  Move! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  Negotiator! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  Occult!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  Perform! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  Pilot! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  Pirate! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  Psychologist!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  Scholar!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
  Science!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
  Scout! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
  Security! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
  Servant!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
  Shooter! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
  Spy! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
  Stick! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
  Swashbuckler! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
  Sword!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
  Talker!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
  Ten-Hut! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
  Thief!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
  Throw!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
  Wheel Man! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
  Whip!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
  Wire Rat! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
  Wizard! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
  INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
  WILDCARDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
  CONTENTS
  2
  CONTENTS
  
  One of the greatest strengths of GURPS is also one of its
  weaknesses: all those skills. The skill selection is broad enough
  that the game lives up to its claim to let you play any character
  you want. The catch? It’s so broad that it can be difficult to fig-
  ure out who that character is!
  Hidden within this complexity is a related puzzle: How to
  decide which skill applies to a task. When the PCs encounter a
  security system, do they use Electronics Operation, Electron-
  ics Repair, or Traps? What’s the best skill for an autopsy –
  Diagnosis, Forensics, or Surgery? And does this even matter
  for larger-than-life heroes? Sometimes you want to get on
  with the game, shouting, “Of course the world-class cat bur-
  glar can neutralize the alarm!” or “Dr. Quincy has years of
  experience with this!”, and then rolling the dice.
  Fortunately, GURPS includes a solution to these difficul-
  ties in the form of wildcard skills. And since the GURPS Basic
  Set limits its discussion of this topic to a 400-word box,
  there’s lots of room to explore the concept. Which brings us
  to the goal of GURPS Power-Ups 7: Wildcard Skills, which
  is to offer new tricks for wildcards, elaborate on old ones, and
  catalog all such skills published to date.
  Get ready to get wild!
  PUBLICATION HISTORY
  This is the first edition of GURPS Power-Ups 7: Wildcard
  Skills. It includes all the wildcard skills published in the
  GURPS Basic Set and its supplements up to November 2013,
  notably those found in GURPS Action 1: Heroes, GURPS
  Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers, GURPS Monster
  Hunters 1: Champions, GURPS Social Engineering, and
  GURPS Supers. Rules and advice for using these traits fill
  about 75% of this work, and are largely original content –
  though Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) hails from GURPS
  Monster Hunters 1: Champions and was developed in
  GURPS Power-Ups 5: Impulse Buys.
  ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  Sean “Dr. Kromm” Punch set out to become a particle
  physicist in 1985, ended up the GURPS Line Editor in 1995,
  and has engineered rules for almost every GURPS product
  since. He developed, edited, or wrote dozens of GURPS Third
  Edition projects between 1995 and 2002. In 2004, he pro-
  duced the GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition with David
  Pulver. Since then, he has created GURPS Powers (with Phil
  Masters), GURPS Martial Arts (with Peter Dell’Orto), GURPS
  Zombies, and the GURPS Action, GURPS Dungeon Fantasy,
  and GURPS Power-Ups series . . . among many other things.
  Sean has been a gamer since 1979. His non-gaming interests
  include cinema, mixology, and Argentine tango. He and his
  wife, Bonnie, live in Montréal with their cat, Zephyra.
   INTRODUCTION
  INTRODUCTION
  3
  About GURPS
  Steve Jackson Games is committed to full support of
  GURPS players. Our address is SJ Games, P.O. Box 18957,
  Austin, TX 78760. Please include a self-addressed, stamped
  envelope (SASE) any time you write us! We can also be
  reached by e-mail: info@sjgames.com. Resources include:
  New supplements and adventures. GURPS continues to
  grow – see what’s new at gurps.sjgames.com.
  Warehouse 23. Our online store offers GURPS adven-
  tures, play aids, and support in PDF form . . . digital copies
  of our books, plus exclusive material available only on
  Warehouse 23! Just head over to warehouse23.com.
  Pyramid (pyramid.sjgames.com). Our monthly PDF
  magazine includes new rules and articles for GURPS, sys-
  temless locations, adventures, and much more. Look for
  each themed issue from Warehouse 23!
  Internet.
  Visit us on the World Wide Web at
  sjgames.com for errata, updates, Q&A, and much more.
  To discuss GURPS with our staff and your fellow gamers,
  visit our forums at forums.sjgames.com. The web page
  for GURPS Power-Ups 7: Wildcard Skills can be found
  at gurps.sjgames.com/power-ups7.
  Bibliographies. Many of our books have extensive bibli-
  ographies, and we’re putting them online – with links to
  let you buy the resources that interest you! Go to each
  book’s web page and look for the “Bibliography” link.
  Errata. Everyone makes mistakes, including us – but
  we do our best to fix our errors. Up-to-date errata pages
  for all GURPS releases, including this book, are available
  on our website – see above.
  Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the
  GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition. Page references that
  begin with B refer to that book, not this one.
  Depend on it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget
  something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have
  useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.
  – Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet
  
  The GURPS Basic Set describes more than 200 standard
  skills, many of which are subdivided into specialties. To these,
  add special-purpose examples from supplements; e.g., the 800+
  spells of GURPS Magic. This diversity is a posi-
  tive thing in realistic campaigns! An entire world
  needs a plethora of activities, studies, and profes-
  sions to feel plausible. Even gaming that privi-
  leges story over realism benefits from such
  detail, because the greater the number of skill
  permutations, the stronger the protection of the
  protagonists’ dramatic niches.
  Still, that doesn’t suit every possible game . . .
  or gamer! In particular:
  • In cinematic campaigns, the heroes are
  defined more by dramatic roles than by plausible
  qualifications or arbitrary game-mechanical clas-
  sifications. Every moment spent worrying about what skills to
  learn or use increases the odds of the rules derailing the story.
  • Even in realistic campaigns, dramatic-minded gamers
  rarely find staggering skill diversity compatible with fun. They
  prefer streamlined simplicity.
  • In either kind of campaign, new GURPS players might
  find that “plethora” means “headache” and that “diversity” is a
  codeword for “crippling decision paralysis.”
  • Regardless of campaign type or
  player preference, a group that’s short on
  gaming time might want to hasten the
  processes of creating characters and fig-
  uring out what skills to use.
  For these situations, the Basic Set
  offers an alternative treatment of skills:
  wildcard skills (p. B175). Often called sim-
  ply “wildcards,” and recognizable by the
  exclamation point at the end of the skill
  name (e.g., “Sword!”), each of these spe-
  cial skills reflects knowledge of every facet
  of a broad-yet-coherent area. In brief:
  Wildcard skills include and replace all specific skills within
  their area.
  How they accomplish this is the focus of the remainder of
  this supplement!
  CHAPTER ONE
  DEFINING
  WILDCARDS
  Like standard skills, wildcard skills cost character points
  and interact with attributes. They differ in several important
  ways, however.
  POINT COST
  Wildcard skills have triple the point cost of Very Hard skills
  shown on the Skill Cost Table (p. B170). For ease of reference,
  use the Wildcard Cost Table (below) instead.
  SCOPE
  As noted already, a wildcard skill includes and replaces all
  specific skills within its area. At the most basic level, this
  means it takes the place of an entire list of ordinary skills.
  Which skills is a big topic, more important to GMs (and writ-
  ers!) than to players; see What to Include (pp. 6-10). Players
  mostly need to know the following:
  • Standard skills the wildcard replaces fully. If a wildcard
  encompasses a given skill without qualification, it can replace
  that skill for all uses of all specialties. This includes finding
  defaults. Assume this case unless the wildcard’s write-up spec-
  ifies otherwise!
  • Specialties the wildcard replaces fully. If a wildcard is
  described as taking in only certain specialties of a skill, it can
  replace that skill for all uses of those specialties only. Specialties
  outside the wildcard must be bought separately or used at
  default. Skills that require specialization and permit defaults
  between specialties default normally to the wildcard.
  ANATOMY OF A WILDCARD SKILL
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  4
  Wildcard Cost Table
  Skill Level
  Attribute-3
  Attribute-2
  Attribute-1
  Attribute+0
  Attribute+1
  Extra +1
  Point Cost
  3
  6
  12
  24
  36
  +12
  
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  5
  • Skills the wildcard replaces conditionally. The typical wild-
  card specifies some skills that it replaces only under thematically
  appropriate circumstances: when influencing a particular class
  of people, performing specific tasks, wielding certain weapons,
  working with a subset of items, etc. If the conditions aren’t met,
  the wildcard doesn’t apply – use a skill (wildcard or standard)
  that does apply, or resort to a default. When standard Skill A
  defaults to standard Skill B, it doesn’t default to a wildcard that
  includes Skill B only conditionally, though the GM may allow a
  default roll in a situation where this specific use of Skill A satis-
  fies the conditions unambiguously.
  Defaults are the trickiest concept mentioned so far. See
  Defaults to Wildcards (below) for a detailed explanation.
  CONTROLLING ATTRIBUTE
  The Basic Set states that wildcard skills covering mainly
  intellectual pursuits are IQ-based, while those pertaining
  chiefly to physical actions are DX-based. This leads to two
  meta-game problems:
  1. Wildcards reflect dramatic themes, and not every such
  theme revolves around the use of specific attributes. A wildcard
  might encompass DX-, IQ-, HT-, Will-, and Per-based tasks, or
  even entire skills, because they all suit its “high concept.”
  2. Wildcards are questionable deals if the skills they benefit
  are mostly or exclusively based on a single attribute. For
  instance, why pay 12 points per level beyond attribute-1 for a
  wildcard that covers IQ-based skills when IQ [20/level] minus
  the price of Will [5/level] and Per [5/level] costs a mere 10
  points/level? Additional Benefits (pp. 10-15) provides some
  relief, but wildcards work best when they span tasks depend-
  ent on many attributes.
  Thus, it’s best to think of wildcards in terms of Relative Skill
  Level (p. B171); e.g., 3 points buy attribute-3 (so
  record that rather than “IQ-3” or “DX-3”), while 36
  points give attribute+1 (instead of “IQ+1” or
  “DX+1”). This more clearly shows that the purchase
  grants broad-based competence. It also accelerates
  play when using Bonuses From Relative Skill Level
  (below), Finding the Target (pp. 24-25), and options
  such as Boosted Attribute Defaults (p. 6) and Other
  Bonuses (pp. 13-15).
  Still, rules for matters other than tasks occasion-
  ally differentiate on the basis of which of DX, IQ,
  HT, Will, or Per controls a skill. For instance, the
  teaching and learning aids in GURPS Ultra-Tech
  work differently for IQ-, DX-, and HT-based skills.
  Similarly, the Zombie spell in GURPS Magic pre-
  serves DX-based skills but not IQ-based ones. There
  are many other examples. Consequently, it’s some-
  times necessary to associate a specific attribute
  with a wildcard – if only nominally.
  For these purposes, use the attribute that controls the
  largest number of standard skills the wildcard covers; e.g., a
  wildcard encompassing eight DX-based skills and seven IQ-
  based ones is DX-based. In the event of a tie, let high concept
  decide . . . a wildcard that covers DX-based Gunner, Piloting,
  etc. and IQ-based Electronics Operation, Mechanic, and simi-
  lar technical skills in equal numbers might be DX-based if it’s
  for ace pilots, IQ-based if it’s for geeky technicians.
  DEFAULTS
  Wildcard skills have no default. To use one and exploit 
  Additional Benefits (pp. 10-15), you must spend at least 3 points
  on it – it doesn’t exist below attribute-3 level. On the other hand,
  all of the standard skills within wildcards retain their usual
  defaults; the mere existence of a wildcard covering, say, Acrobat-
  ics and Broadsword doesn’t prevent people who lack it from
  rolling against DX-6 and DX-5, respectively, for those skills.
  Things get more complicated in the other direction, though.
  Defaults to Wildcards
  When Skill A defaults to Skill B, it might default to a wild-
  card that encompasses Skill B. Use the following rules:
  • Standard skill the wildcard replaces fully. When a wildcard
  includes a skill without qualification, it counts as that skill
  when working out defaults to it; e.g., a wildcard that covers
  fully general Acrobatics but not Body Sense allows a Body
  Sense default at wildcard-3, because Body Sense defaults to
  Acrobatics-3.
  • Specialty the wildcard replaces fully. As above, but only for
  defaults to the included specialty; e.g., if a wildcard covers
  Engineer (Civil), then other forms of Engineer default to wild-
  card-4 because Engineer specialties mutually default at -4 . . .
  but if the GM rules that Engineer (Parachronic) doesn’t default
  to other Engineer specialties, the wildcard won’t help.
  • Skill the wildcard replaces conditionally. Generally, this
  doesn’t allow defaults. The GM may make exceptions in situa-
  tions where the conditions are met unequivocally; e.g., a wild-
  card that counts as Acrobatics only while fighting with a sword
  wouldn’t normally give a Body Sense default, but it would be
  reasonable to permit a wildcard-3 roll should the swordsman
  be teleported during a swordfight. See Conditional-to-General
  Defaults (p. 6) for a related optional rule.
  Improving Standard Skills 
  From Wildcards
  If the GM hasn’t replaced all standard skills with wildcards
  (Ditching Standard Skills, pp. 22-23), then individual standard
  skills – even those included in wildcards – can be bought at
  their usual point cost. In that case, it’s fairest for these to be
  cheaper for people who’ve bought high levels of related wild-
  cards, as follows.
  Bonuses From Relative Skill Level
  The rules sometimes assess bonuses on the basis of relative skill
  level. The most common examples are damage bonuses (from Box-
  ing, Brawling, Karate, Throwing Art, and Weapon Master) and ST
  bonuses (from Forced Entry, Sumo Wrestling, Throwing, Throwing
  Art, and Wrestling). Where a wildcard includes standard skills that
  grant such benefits, use its relative skill level to determine these; e.g.,
  a cinematic martial-artist who buys attribute+2 level with a wildcard
  covering “all unarmed combat skills” enjoys bonuses commensurate
  with DX+2 level in those skills. Identical logic applies to any rule that
  judges characters on relative rather than absolute skill level. Specific
  wildcards may offer generous exceptions, as described in Other
  Bonuses (pp. 13-15).
  
  • Improving a standard skill the wildcard replaces fully.
  Your level with the standard skill equals your level with the
  wildcard, based on the standard skill’s normal controlling
  attribute. If such a level would cost at least a point, you can
  improve it by paying the usual point-cost difference to raise
  the standard skill. Example: A wildcard you have at attrib-
  ute+3 level includes Chemistry (IQ/Hard). This gives you
  Chemistry at IQ+3, which would cost 16 points on its own.
  Chemistry at IQ+4 would cost 20 points. Thus, you could
  increase Chemistry by a level for 4 points, which is less than
  the 12 points to increment your wildcard by a level – a good
  deal if all you want is better Chemistry.
  • Improving a standard skill that defaults to one the wildcard
  replaces fully but does not include. Apply the default penalty
  between the standard skills and then follow the rules above.
  Example: Suppose that wildcard known at attribute+3 includes
  Chemistry but not Explosives (Fireworks) (IQ/Average). Fortu-
  nately, Explosives (Fireworks) defaults to Chemistry-3. Chem-
  istry at IQ+3 gives you that Explosives specialty at IQ+0. That
  would normally cost 2 points, while IQ+1 would be 4 points, so
  you could increase Explosives by a level for 2 points, which is
  much cheaper than raising the wildcard.
  • Improving the general form of a conditional standard skill.
  In a campaign that uses Conditional-to-General Defaults (below),
  the fully general version of a skill the wildcard includes in con-
  ditional form can be improved from default. This works like the
  previous case, except the default penalty is always -2 and the
  improved general skill level replaces the wildcard level for spe-
  cial-purpose use only if higher. Example: Attribute+0 level in a
  wildcard that acts as Acrobatics (DX/Hard) only in swordfights
  gives attribute-2 with general Acrobatics. Thus, the swordsman
  knows Acrobatics at DX-2. Since that normally costs 1 point on
  its own, while DX-1 costs 2 points, improving Acrobatics by a
  level for all other purposes costs the warrior 1 point. He still uses
  DX+0 in swordfights, though!
  These three possibilities are mutually exclusive. First, if
  more than one of them would apply, for whatever reason,
  always use the cheapest. Second, that latter two don’t “stack” to
  enable a conditional skill to act as its general case in order to
  reduce the point cost to improve a different skill that defaults to
  it (e.g., conditional Acrobatics doesn’t count as general
  Acrobatics at wildcard-2 and thus allow Body Sense to default
  to Acrobatics-3, or wildcard-5), because that would violate
  Double Defaults (p. B173).
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  6
  Conceptually, the conditional standard skills included in
  wildcards are almost indistinguishable from optional spe-
  cialties (pp. B169-170). The GM may declare that they’re the
  same thing, and allow the general case to default to the spe-
  cific one at the usual -2. Thus, a wildcard that conditionally
  replaces a skill can stand in for that skill under less themat-
  ically appropriate circumstances, but at -2. As always, if the
  hero boasts another, higher default – to an attribute or
  another skill (standard or wildcard) – use that instead.
  Though this option weakens high concept somewhat, it
  more than makes up for that by facilitating suspension of
  disbelief. It’s implausible that someone with experience
  using a skill one way would enjoy no benefit at all when try-
  ing to use it another way! On the other hand, this approach
  does give heroes even greater cinematic competence. 
  In a borderline-realistic campaign that employs wildcards
  less as amazing abilities than as simplifications, the GM
  might prefer something more modest:
  Steeper Defaults: If the GM finds -2 too generous, he can
  make the penalty -3 or worse. At -4, such defaults will be
  comparable to those typically seen between required special-
  ties. At -5 and below, attribute defaults will often be better.
  Boosted Attribute Defaults: More radically and less gen-
  erously, the GM might just add the wildcard’s relative skill
  level to the attribute default, where beneficial. For
  instance, if a wildcard functions as Acrobatics in a sword-
  fight, having it at attribute+5 gives +5 to the DX-6 default
  for general Acrobatics; the swordsman can try Acrobatics
  at DX-1 outside of combat.
  Optional Rule: Conditional-to-General Defaults
  From the GM or writer’s perspective, designing wildcard
  skills can be challenging. It’s certainly a task best broken down
  into parts. Before embarking on this process for the first time,
  glance ahead to Wildcards in the Campaign (pp. 21-23).
  WHICH SKILLS?
  The Golden Rule of wildcard-skill design is easy to grasp:
  A good wildcard should encompass all of the standard skills
  essential to its high concept.
  Concocting a wildcard applicable to a range of interesting
  tasks associated with a well-defined facet of the action is the
  apex goal – above game balance, realism, and everything else
  but fun – and two principles are essential to achieving it:
  1. The high concept is linked to what someone interesting
  (like a PC!) does to move the plot forward.
  2. All of the standard skills included and/or the tasks they
  accomplish are related in some fashion. An effective way to
  ensure this is to start with a “rules object” that both shares the
  wildcard’s high concept and involves a skill list – excellent
  examples being character templates, job prerequisites, martial-
  arts styles, and Talents – and have the wildcard encompass the
  same group of skills.
  WHAT TO INCLUDE
  
  In most cases, this means following one of the patterns
  below. These categories often overlap, however – and that’s
  fine. For instance, for the purpose of defining Cleric!, what
  matters most is that the cleric’s player has one skill to worry
  about instead of a huge list; contrasting “divinely inspired holy
  man” as an archetypal role, “religious concerns” as a broad
  subject matter, and “priest” as a profession, though an interest-
  ing mental exercise, is of secondary importance.
  Epitome or Role
  The strongest wildcards are associated with someone’s place
  in the story. This might be a timeless archetype emergent from
  mythology or folklore (“mother figure,” “wise man,” “trickster,”
  etc.), or a part common in popular fiction, like “hard-boiled PI,”
  “mad scientist,” or “swashbuckler.” Some such roles resemble
  occupations or social positions (below), but don’t be fooled –
  what’s important for this kind of wildcard is that it provides an
  individual with the competence to do everything that’s expected
  from him or her as a character, which may well deviate from the
  skill set of any plausible job. The included skills are those needed
  to meet plot exigencies, based on the designer’s knowledge of
  upcoming adventures. Ultimate Template Wildcards (p. 18) is
  especially appropriate in this case.
  Broad Subject Matter
  Almost as strong are wildcards that encompass all actions
  pertaining to interesting subjects. Examples vary by genre but
  often include detective work, finances, inventing, medicine,
  nature, personal mobility, social influence, theft, and vehicles.
  Such skills are convenient in campaigns in which the heroes
  are so much larger than life that each fills several niches, some
  of which overlap; e.g., every PC in a space-opera campaign
  might know the wildcard that covers starship operations, and
  then the ship’s captain adds one for leadership and tactics, the
  chief surgeon adds a medical wildcard, and so forth. If an
  activity would suit a Talent (pp. B89-91), then it could work as
  this kind of a wildcard.
  Special Ability
  Another option is to shine the spotlight on wildcard skills’
  less-than-realistic nature, transforming them from merely cine-
  matic to outright exotic or supernatural. The skills they include
  might be mundane, but linking them into a unit and making
  extensive use of Additional Benefits (pp. 10-15) can yield gifts no
  more plausible or less amazing than Flight or Mind Control.
  Such wildcards resemble those for broad subject matter (above).
  What makes them impressive is that they’re reserved for people
  who qualify for “special abilities” – usually PCs. The gifted are
  differentiated by their gifts, and wildcards enjoy a seat at the
  table with spells, powers, cinematic martial-arts skills, ultra-tech
  implants, and so on. This structure is often tied to Unusual
  Backgrounds or built into a template set.
  Occupation or Social Position
  In a larger-than-life campaign, even ordinary jobs (the sort
  on pp. B516-518), socio-economic groups (castes, social classes,
  etc.), callings and vocations (like the “cleric” and “wizard” of
  dungeon fantasy), and so on may give rise to wildcard skills. If
  the game will focus on high adventure instead of on daily life 
  and job rolls – or if it will emphasize the extraordinary feats of
  people in these walks of life, rather than their workaday skill
  sets – then assign each occupation or position a wildcard
  encompassing its “job skills” or the skills that would appear on
  its character template (see Template Wildcards, pp. 17-19). The
  details of this list matter only while defining the wildcard; 
  the player has just one trait to write down on the character
  sheet. Save this for situations where complexity warrants it; it’s
  overkill for a job with one or two prerequisites!
  Other Training
  Countless other realistic pursuits – from academic subjects
  through martial arts to the operation of ultra-tech vehicles –
  are defined by multiple skills. If the GM is tempted to include
  such structured knowledge in a cinematic campaign where the
  component skills won’t matter that much, it would be reason-
  able to adopt the treatment recommended for broad subject
  matter (above). This helps protect exciting areas of knowledge
  from getting smeared across the character sheet and losing
  their identity. For instance, to keep kung fu cool, the GM might
  use wildcards to simplify the lengthy styles in GURPS Martial
  Arts (which can consist of a jumble like Acrobatics, Breath
  Control, Judo, Jumping, Karate, Meditation, Philosophy, half a
  dozen Melee Weapon skills, and a raft of techniques), as
  described in Style Wildcards (pp. 15-16).
  Culture or Race
  Rarely, everybody with a given ethnic, biological, or other
  origin can perform certain feats of skill. Such stereotyping is
  widespread in tales that put drama ahead of realism, especially
  pulp stories – consider the “Red Indians” in classic Western
  yarns, every one of whom knows Axe/Mace, Bow, Camouflage,
  Riding, Tracking, etc. Wildcards offer a concise alternative to
  complex templates in such cases. Follow the guidelines given
  for occupations or positions (above), but include the skills that
  would appear on a racial or cultural template instead of an
  occupational one. Alternatively, adopt the simplification in
  Ultimate NPC Wildcards (p. 18).
  HOW GENERAL?
  It’s rare for every skill appropriate to a cinematic role, pro-
  fession, culture, or similar concept to be equally fitting. Age of
  Sail swashbucklers customarily know all there is to know
  about swords, but use Acrobatics mostly to swing from rigging
  and dodge attacks. Space Patrol captains have no difficulty jus-
  tifying Shiphandling (Starship) and Strategy (Space), but their
  Tactics skill is meant for space combat, too – not for urban
  warfare and clearing buildings. And so on. Fortunately, wild-
  card skills can handle such variations in depth.
  Fully General Skills
  If every aspect of a standard skill suits the wildcard, then
  include it without comment. In play, someone with the wild-
  card truly knows that skill for all purposes. Find his level by
  adding the wildcard’s relative skill level to the appropriate con-
  trolling attribute; e.g., a hero with DX 14 and attribute+1 in a
  wildcard that includes Acrobatics and Jumping functions
  exactly like someone who bought Acrobatics-15 and Jump-
  ing-15 individually. Wildcards should consist mostly of unre-
  stricted skills, or they’ll be less attractive than standard skills.
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  7
  
  Specialties
  Required Specialties (p. B169): When a wildcard includes
  standard skills that require specialization, it should stick to
  specialties that match its high concept. This might mean one
  or a small number of specialties, like Guns (Pistol) for a wild-
  card aimed at Old West card sharps; all but a few specialties,
  like Guns (all but Gyroc and Musket) for modern-day com-
  mandos; or every specialty, like Guns (all) for masters of gun
  fu. Each included specialty functions like any other fully gen-
  eral skill; it’s “conditional” only in the sense that specialties
  cover particular subject matter, and faces no restrictions
  within its area. As required specialties mutually default in most
  cases, including any of them allows the user to try some or all
  of the others at a penalty; see Defaults to Wildcards (p. 5).
  Optional Specialties (pp. B169-170): Conditional skills
  (below) completely supplant these. See Conditional-to-General
  Defaults (p. 6) for an optional rule formalizing this equivalence.
  Conditional Skills
  If a standard skill makes sense only when used in a manner
  befitting the wildcard’s high concept, and that skill doesn’t
  have required specialties that align with the con-
  cept, the wildcard can and probably should include
  a rider restricting the skill’s applicability. Common
  examples include:
  • Only rolls in suitable game-world circumstances.
  Many a wildcard is limited by the environment in
  which it works. One for starship captains will qualify
  several of its skills with “in space” or “in space com-
  bat,” while one for sneaky ninja (or vampires!) may
  well restrict some activities to “after dark.” Two com-
  mon qualifiers for wildcards intended for heroic PCs
  are “only in combat” and “only when fighting with
  (weapon type).”
  • Only rolls in suitable dramatic circumstances.
  Wildcards are inherently cinematic, so it’s fitting
  for them to discriminate on dramatic grounds; e.g.,
  “can stand in for any medical skill to save the life of
  a dying friend” or “counts as Leadership when
  Destiny is on the line.” The operative concept is that a story
  concern – not something objective, like target audience, time of
  day, or weapon type – determines applicability.
  • Only rolls for certain standard tasks. The rules for many
  skills describe several distinct applications. A wildcard might
  cover only a subset of these: “Acting only for impersonation,”
  “Fast-Talk and Intimidation when attempting specious intimi-
  dation,” “any Melee Weapon skill for the express purpose of
  making a parry,” etc.
  • Only rolls involving particular attributes. An important
  refinement of the previous case is the wildcard that works only
  for DX-, IQ-, HT-, Will-, or Per-based rolls against some skill.
  This needn’t coincide with the wildcard’s nominal controlling
  attribute; e.g., a wildcard for commandos might be mostly DX-
  based and about fighting, yet add “Per-based Traps rolls” for
  spotting mines and tripwires.
  • Only rolls to interact with specific types of people. A skill for
  dealing with people might discriminate on the grounds of age,
  nationality, profession, race, sex, or almost anything else:
  “functions as Fast-Talk when interacting with politicians,”
  “can replace Diagnosis and Physiology when examining the
  undead,” and so on.
  • Only rolls to work with specific kinds of equipment. Use this
  to narrow a skill to a specific subset of applicable gear: “Escape
  to get out of handcuffs” for a wildcard for cops, “Fast-Draw
  (Long Arm) to ready rifles” for one befitting snipers,
  “Broadsword to wield a club” for one covering blunt weapons,
  and so on. Specialties for technical skills that require them, and
  weapon tables for combat skills, can be inspirational.
  This list isn’t exhaustive. The GM can get as weird as he
  likes! What matters is that all such limits are clear to the play-
  ers and ultimately reducible to “Only when using the skill in a
  manner consistent with the high concept.”
  When such conditions aren’t met, the wildcard doesn’t
  apply. See Scope (pp. 4-5) and Defaults (pp. 5-6) for important
  ramifications. The GM who dislikes sharp discontinuities can
  either include only fully general skills or permit Conditional-to-
  General Defaults (p. 6).
  Finally, a warning: A wildcard that consists exclusively of
  conditional skills merits reexamination. It’s often better to rep-
  resent such a high concept using not a skill but a Higher Pur-
  pose (p. B59) that aids all tasks consistent with a goal.
  Techniques
  In a way, the technique is the ultimate in conditional skills, in
  that it specifies a skill use and permits heroes to spend points to
  become better at that one task without aiding everything else the
  skill covers. This suggests an interesting way to make wildcards
  more attractive for the points: Have them encompass not just
  skills, but also certain techniques that default to those skills, all
  at full wildcard level. For instance, a martial-arts wildcard that
  includes Karate might also work as Back Kick, Elbow Strike,
  Jump Kick, Kicking, Knee Strike, and Sweeping Kick – and
  someone who knows that wildcard at attribute+2 level can use
  Karate and all those techniques at DX+2. This lets him do much
  of what Karate normally allows without worrying about fussy
  default penalties.
  However, it isn’t a good idea to throw in techniques that buy
  off situational combat penalties – e.g., Ground Fighting –
  unless they’re an unusually apt fit to the wildcard’s high con-
  cept. Dealing with being knocked down, on bad footing, in the
  dark, etc. is an important part of the drama! Fancy “secret
  techniques” with massive default penalties should likewise be
  learned separately rather than included.
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  8
  As part of the Elite Special 
  Forces Unit of the Federated Army,
  you are an expert in the use of all
  weapons and spacecraft needed 
  for this mission.
  – General Munro, 
  in The Fifth Element
  
  Techniques included in wildcards cannot exceed their usual
  limits relative to the parent skill. For instance, the Ear Clap
  technique in GURPS Martial Arts is capped at Karate-1, so
  someone with a wildcard that gives Karate and Ear Clap would
  use the latter at wildcard-1, not wildcard+0.
  For more on how wildcard skills interact with techniques,
  see Counting Techniques (p. 10), Techniques for Wildcards
  (p. 12), Techniques in Style Wildcards (p. 15), and Wildcard
  Techniques (p. 20).
  HOW MANY?
  The short answer to “How many standard skills should a
  wildcard skill include?” is “However many you need to cover
  the high concept properly.” Wildcards cost the same regardless
  of the number of skills they encompass or what conditions
  apply, and whether or not they come with techniques, super-
  natural skills, or Additional Benefits (pp. 10-15).
  It’s important to recognize the economics of character
  design, though. Most skills are of Average difficulty, meaning
  that 1 point buys attribute-1 level while 2 points purchase
  attribute+0. Comparable competence at a wildcard costs 12
  and 24 points, respectively. At entry level, then, wildcards are
  “competitive” only if they include 12 or more skills. Given that
  wildcards serve many of the same purposes as Talents, it’s
  worth noting that this is consistent with what GURPS Power-
  Ups 3: Talents calls “smooth Talent cost.”
  At the high end, consider that the broadest Talents cost 15
  points per +1 to arbitrarily many skills. There’s no strict upper
  limit to skill count, but as Power-Ups 3 warns, a Talent that
  benefits more than 17 skills may be too broad. Scaling this
  bound to the 12 points/level at which wildcards plateau gives a
  soft cap of around 14 skills.
  The upshot of all this is a useful generality:
  The rough target range for wildcard breadth is 12 to 14 stan-
  dard skills.
  There are many possible exceptions to this guideline,
  though. A general exploration of these follows – and
  Interesting Cases (pp. 15-20) discusses some special cate-
  gories. The GM who prefers to fly by the seat of his pants is
  invited to ignore all that . . . if the goal of using wildcards is
  to simplify character design and accelerate game play, a good
  start is to avoid bean-counting!
  Skill Difficulty
  The above analysis assumes that wildcards include mostly
  Average skills. This isn’t always true. At the one-point level:
  Easy skills are at attribute+0. A wildcard at attribute+0 costs 24
  points. Thus, it takes 24 Easy skills to be competitive, mak-
  ing each equivalent to 12/24 or half of an Average skill.
  Hard skills are at attribute-2. A wildcard at attribute-2 costs 6
  points. Thus, it takes six Hard skills to be competitive, mak-
  ing each equivalent to 12/6 or two Average skills.
  Very Hard skills are at attribute-3. A wildcard at attribute-3 costs
  3 points. Thus, it takes three Very Hard skills to be competi-
  tive, making each equivalent to 12/3 or four Average skills.
  Consequently, if the GM wants to do detailed math to keep
  wildcards competitive, it wouldn’t be completely illogical to
  count Easy skills as half a skill apiece, Average skills as one,
  Hard skills as two, and Very Hard skills as four, and then add
  up these numbers when aiming for 12 to 14 skills.
  Conditional Skill Count
  Conditional skills aren’t as valuable as general ones. As has
  been explained already, they’re effectively optional specialties,
  which are a step easier (see pp. B169-170). Use Skill Difficulty
  (above) and treat them as a step less difficult when trying to hit
  the target; e.g., general Acrobatics is Hard and counts as two
  skills, but Acrobatics only useful in a swordfight is Average and
  counts as just one. It’s simplest not to count conditional Easy
  skills at all, but the GM can call them 1/4 of a skill apiece if the
  math seems important.
  Skill Overlap
  Wildcards that include many ways to do the same thing,
  or sets of skills that could be bought cheaply via defaults,
  aren’t as good a deal as ones that offer a selection of largely
  independent skills. It’s fairest to give such wildcards more
  breadth to compensate.
  The most common case is the wildcard that includes a “mas-
  ter skill” and several skills that default to it. Merchant is a clas-
  sic example, with six skills that default to it – at IQ+4 and above,
  it’s cheaper to raise Merchant and improve these other skills
  from default than to pay for attribute+4 in a wildcard that
  includes them all! Many clusters of Melee Weapon skills have
  this property, too; Shortsword is the target of six defaults as well.
  In such cases, count the master skill at face value and the rest as
  Easy; e.g., Administration, Merchant, and Propaganda (all IQ/A),
  and Accounting, Economics, Finance, and Market Analysis (all
  IQ/H), would count as one Average skill (Merchant) and six Easy
  ones, equivalent to four Average skills instead of 11.
  In a larger-than-life campaign, dramatic overlap or the desire
  to get on with the game can produce similar redundancy. For
  instance, the choice of which scientific skill a pulp scientist
  “should” use is largely academic – indeed, the GM might be
  foggy on when to use Chemistry and when to use Physics – while
  Cryptography challenges tend to blend into Computer Hacking
  tasks for cinematic hackers. If the GM plans to run the game
  that way, he’s free to treat any set of skills as if they defaulted
  among themselves. Count the hardest skill at face value and the
  rest as Easy; e.g., one Average, 10 Hard, and two Very Hard sci-
  ences would count as one Very Hard skill and 12 Easy ones,
  equivalent to 10 Average skills instead of 29.
  Skills that require specialization – such as Driving, Elec-
  tronics Operation, Engineer, Guns, and Piloting – are a spe-
  cial case. Talents treat any number of specialties of such a
  skill as one skill. To be competitive with Talents, it’s a good
  idea for wildcards to do the same. Count a skill once, at its
  usual difficulty, no matter how many of its specialties the
  wildcard includes.
  Here, too, unrelated skills can end up in the same situation
  as related ones. Notably, there’s no default between Boxing,
  Brawling, and Karate – or Judo, Sumo Wrestling, and
  Wrestling – yet within each of these sets, the overlap is so great
  that there’s little added value to knowing more than one of the
  skills. Treat these as effective specialties of the same skill, using
  the difficulty of the hardest skill in the cluster; e.g., Karate
  (DX/H) is equivalent to two Average skills, but a wildcard that
  includes it could count as Boxing and/or Brawling as well, if
  the GM felt that was warranted.
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  9
  
  Wildcard skills are simple, cinematic, and fun, but not with-
  out their problems. The big one is that – point-for-point – heroes
  built with them end up with lower skill levels than those who
  focus on a few of the standard skills they include. For instance,
  the 36 points needed to purchase Sword! (p. 36) at attribute+1 
  is nine times the 4 points for a DX/Average sword skill at DX+1.
  With 36 points, a character could have that ordinary sword skill
  at DX+9, enjoy an eight-skill-level edge in a fight, and boast sev-
  eral other weapon skills at respectable defaults (e.g., Short-
  sword at DX+9 gives Broadsword at DX+7; Jitte/Sai, Knife, and
  Tonfa at DX+6; and Saber and Smallsword at DX+5).
  As well, while it’s best to view wildcards in terms of rela-
  tive skill levels and not give them strict controlling attributes
  (see Controlling Attribute, p. 5), it often makes sense for wild-
  cards to spotlight skills controlled by just one of DX, IQ, HT,
  Will, or Per. This, too, is unattractive: DX without its Basic
  Speed component costs 15 points/level, IQ sans Will and Per
  costs 10 points/level, Will and Per cost 5 points/level apiece,
  and selling off FP and Basic Speed can give HT for a mere 2
  points/level, all of which makes paying 3, 6, or 12 points to
  improve a wildcard based on one of these scores a rotten deal.
  Though DX might look like an exception, that’s only true for a
  character without other DX-based skills. Even with a disadvan-
  tage limit to prevent players selling back piles of secondary
  characteristics, it’s difficult to see what wildcards offer. And
  regardless, when heroes can have several wildcards, full DX
  and IQ are a better deal – why raise two DX- or IQ-dependent
  wildcards past attribute-1 level, for 24 points total, when full-
  on DX or IQ costs a mere 20 points?
  This is why it’s important to design wildcards that offer
  more than one-dimensional competence, and that spread their
  skills across multiple attributes. Even then, however, gamers
  (particularly “power-gamers”) will gravitate toward whatever
  gives the highest levels in key abilities – usually DX, IQ, and
  combat skills – for the fewest points. For wildcards to stay in
  the running, they need some extra oomph.
  What follows are ways to make wildcards more competitive
  by empowering them to bend, even break the rules. They’re com-
  pletely optional; the GM decides which ones to use. “Everything
  except what the GM explicitly forbids” is recommended. All of
  these suggestions together aren’t half as troublesome as stan-
  dard skills cranked up to extreme levels like attribute+9!
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  10
  Wildcard skills aren’t the only traits that link groups
  of standard skills. The GM contemplating allowing 
  them needs to be familiar with how they differ from the
  other possibilities.
  Wildcard Skills vs. Talents
  Talents (pp. B89-91) and wildcard skills share the goal
  of using a single trait to improve several skills at once.
  However, a Talent is meant to be a plausible inborn apti-
  tude for objectively related skills, whereas a wildcard is
  learned and doesn’t concern itself unduly with realism – it’s
  about dramatic ability and skill interrelationships.
  These two mechanics are intended as alternatives. If a
  wildcard and a Talent exist to cover the same skills, and the
  GM permits a character to have both, the Talent doesn’t
  improve skills covered by or defaulted to the wildcard.
  Obviously, this means Talents shouldn’t include wildcards
  – that would be superfluous at best, unbalanced at worst.
  The GM might want to offer only one or the other for spe-
  cific groups of skills, or in the campaign in general.
  Wildcard Skills vs. Expert Skills
  Expert Skills (pp. B193-194) and wildcard skills both
  specify lists of skills they can replace. However, an Expert
  Skill can only answer factual questions about a narrow
  theme, whereas a wildcard enables all tasks – including
  practical ones – relevant to a broad “high concept” (though
  a few conditions might apply). As well, an Expert Skill never
  allows technique use, while a wildcard does. And an Expert
  Skill doesn’t get Additional Benefits (below). This is why
  Expert Skills are so much cheaper; compare, say, IQ+0 for
  4 points to attribute+0 for 24 points.
  These two categories of skills aren’t strictly alterna-
  tives. In principle, someone could have both. In practice,
  a wildcard automatically includes and stands in for any
  overlapping Expert Skill, so a character with the wildcard
  skill would only list the Expert Skill separately if he had
  raised it past default (Improving Standard Skills From
  Wildcards, pp. 5-6) to be better at answering factual ques-
  tions. And to state the obvious: Expert Skills cannot stand
  in for wildcards!
  Contrasting Multi-Skill Traits
  ADDITIONAL BENEFITS
  Counting Techniques
  Techniques default to master skills that the wildcard (presum-
  ably!) covers, so they’re always subject to a version of Skill Overlap
  (p. 9). Therefore, if the GM considers skill counts vital for balanc-
  ing wildcards, it’s only fair to treat each technique as an Easy
  skill. For instance, adding Karate (DX/H) and six techniques to a
  wildcard skill is equivalent to including five Average skills.
  Given that techniques can be improved for a mere point
  per level, some gamers view them as “Very Easy” skills. Thus,
  it might seem fairer to count each as just 1/4 of a skill, like a
  conditional Easy skill (Conditional Skill Count, p. 9). How-
  ever, as techniques work at full wildcard skill level even when
  they have extreme default penalties such as skill-10, it’s more
  balanced not to do this.
  
  WILDCARD FAMILIARITY
  A goal of wildcard skills is to remove the need to worry
  about finicky subdivisions of knowledge within a field. It
  would be consistent with this aim to exempt wildcard-users
  from Familiarity (p. B169) – which epitomizes, even glorifies
  such complications – and all similar rules. Doing so means that
  heroes with wildcards are fully acquainted with all of the
  equipment, personalities, procedures, situations, and so on rel-
  evant to the included standard skills, and never suffer any
  penalty attributed purely to novelty, obscurity, or unfamiliar-
  ity. The list includes but isn’t limited to:
  • The -3 for unfamiliarity with a culture (p. B23). Wildcards
  confer the benefits of Cultural Adaptability (p. B46) with all
  included skills.
  • All penalties for different models of gear (p. B169), such
  as those described under Armoury, Artillery, Boating, Bow,
  Computer Operation, Driving, Electronics Operation, Elec-
  tronics Repair, Forward Observer, Gunner, Guns, Liquid 
  Projector, Mechanic, Photography, Piloting, Scuba, Shiphan-
  dling, and Submarine.
  • The -2 to Artist (p. B179) for an unfa-
  miliar medium, -5 to Dancing (p. B187)
  for an unfamiliar dance, -4 to Stage Com-
  bat (p. B222) for an unfamiliar weapon, -5
  to Writing (p. B228) for an unfamiliar
  subject, and all similar penalties for artis-
  tic experience.
  • Physiology Modifiers (p. B181), the -2
  to -4 to Gardening (p. B197) for unfamil-
  iar crops, the -2 to Veterinary (p. B228) for
  an unfamiliar animal type, and any other
  penalty for not knowing a species.
  • Penalties to Computer Hacking,
  Computer Operation, and Computer Pro-
  gramming (all p. B184) for unfamiliar
  software, including programs and pro-
  gramming languages.
  • The -1 to -10 that Computer Hack-
  ing (p. B184) and Electronics Operation
  (p. B189) assess for obsolete knowledge (“away from the field
  for a long time”), and the similar -1 per day that Current
  Affairs (p. B186) imposes for time away from news media.
  • Penalties for new regions, like the -2 to -4 to Gardening
  (p. B197), -2 to Merchant (p. B209), -1 to -10 under Navigation
  (p. B211), -1 or worse for Prospecting (p. B216), and -3 to
  Streetwise (p. B223). However, if knowledge of time or place is
  a skill’s entire point – as with Area Knowledge – the modifiers
  in Geographical and Temporal Scope (p. B176) apply except
  when offset by Other Bonuses (pp. 13-15).
  • The -2 to Shiphandling (p. B220) for an unfamiliar crew,
  to Teamster (p. B225) for unfamiliar animals, and to any other
  skill for not knowing the specific beings involved.
  • Any penalty for a weapon being “exotic,” like the trident,
  qian kun ri yue dao, and three-part staff in GURPS Martial
  Arts, and the penalties that book assesses when using or facing
  a melee weapon for the first time. This obviates the need for
  Exotic Weapon Training perks.
  These waivers are cumulative – there’s no limit to the
  penalty erased. For instance, when using Dancing for a new
  dance (-5) from a foreign culture (-3) with a new troupe (-2), a
  wildcard lets the dancer ignore the entire -10. Likewise, a wild-
  card that acts as Physician can wipe out -2 for unfamiliar med-
  ical gear and -6 for alien physiology simultaneously.
  A warning: Such penalties are often overlooked! The GM
  must remember to enforce them on characters who aren’t
  using wildcards for this benefit to be meaningful.
  WILDCARD TECH LEVEL
  The /TL designator on technological skills is another example
  of a fussy subdivision. Generally, heroes with wildcard skills can
  ignore Tech-Level Modifiers (p. B168) for all TLs at or below the
  campaign TL (or their TL, if that differs owing to High or Low
  TL). For instance, in a modern-day campaign, a shootist with a
  wildcard that encompasses Guns could use primitive TL3
  gonnes, TL4 flintlocks, TL5 caplocks, the TL6-7 weapons of the
  World Wars, and the TL7-8 firearms we know today – all with-
  out TL penalties. Exactly as with Wildcard Familiarity (above),
  this rule depends on the GM enforcing penalties when standard
  skills are used; e.g., if TL8 gunmen without wildcards have -2 to
  shoot and -3 to repair TL6 weaponry, firearms-
  related wildcards become more attractive.
  Wildcard Ultra-Tech
  If the campaign includes limited or secret
  “future-tech” or superscience, the GM may
  decide that since a wildcard is intrinsically
  cinematic, it includes comprehension of
  that, too. This can range from knowledge of
  a few bits of “bleeding edge” tech (effectively
  a built-in version of the Cutting-Edge
  Training perk described in GURPS Power-
  Ups 2: Perks) on up to the functional equiv-
  alent of High TL (p. B23). If nothing else,
  heroes should be able to function at full
  wildcard level when a mad inventor hands
  them some completely new device relevant
  to their skills!
  If a wildcard exists specifically for mad
  inventors, and acts as a cinematic skill to
  accompany Gadgeteer, it ought to waive the first -5 for work-
  ing at a TL above that of the campaign; see p. B475.
  And if the campaign includes weird tech that penalizes ordi-
  nary folks, cross this rule with Wildcard Familiarity (above) to
  wipe out that penalty for wildcard-users. Wildcards are cine-
  matic, so it’s only fair that they’re ideally suited to cinematic
  equipment – be that TL(5+3) “steampunk” gear, TL3^ magi-
  tech, or wonders too strange for a numerical TL.
  EXTRA-BROAD PERKS
  AND TECHNIQUES
  Two classes of traits that enhance skill use often require
  specialization by skill: perks (pp. B100-101) and techniques
  (pp. B229-233). Unless the GM rules otherwise, wildcard skills
  are legitimate specialties for these abilities. The player buys the
  perk or technique once – at the usual cost, not at triple cost like
  the associated wildcard – and it works with every applicable
  standard skill the wildcard covers. As this can save a lot of
  points, it makes wildcards more attractive to characters who
  would have many such traits, notably martial artists.
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  11
  
  Perks for Wildcards
  Skill-specific perks bought for wildcards benefit all included
  skills that would reasonably benefit from them. For example, if
  a ninja with a wildcard that encompasses many Melee Weapon
  skills has the Off-Hand Weapon Training perk for his wildcard,
  he takes no off-hand penalties with any of the relevant weapon
  skills, while if he has Quick-Swap for it, he can swap any two
  weapons it covers. Likewise, a ship’s surgeon with the Efficient
  perk for her medical wildcard can ignore -2 for haste whether
  she’s using her skill to work sensors with Electronics Operation
  (Medical), treat injuries using First Aid, formulate a cure that
  requires Pharmacy, or extract alien parasites via Surgery.
  The GM needs to make sure that nobody takes perks 
  that don’t matter. For instance, the Cross-Trained and Exotic
  Weapon Training perks are meaningless when using Wildcard
  Familiarity (p. 11), while Cutting-Edge Training is redundant
  with Wildcard Ultra-Tech (p. 11). Perks that float tasks between
  skills included in the wildcard are similarly pointless; this
  affects Acrobatic Feints, Acrobatic Kicks, Pistol-Fist, Skill Adap-
  tation, Unarmed Parry, Weapon Adaptation, and so on. See
  Implicit Perks (below) for a related topic.
  Conversely, it’s important not to overdo it. Attribute Sub-
  stitution is potent – the GM should be certain that he wants
  players floating every use of their wildcards to their charac-
  ters’ highest scores before permitting it. (Mind you, that
  option would definitely make wildcards attractive!) Extra
  Option perks that switch on powerful skill-related rules for wild-
  cards can also get out of control. And while Shticks for wild-
  cards aren’t overpowered, it’s less fun if there’s no difference
  between, say, Fearsome Stare and Sexy Pose.
  And a few perks can swing either way. Hyper-Specialization
  is a great example. It’s almost worthless to have an obscure
  specialty that applies to only a single constituent of a broad
  wildcard . . . but if the player concocts a specialty that applies
  to most or all of the included standard skills, the “rare” +5
  could become common and overpowered.
  To learn more about the perks named here, see GURPS
  Power-Ups 2: Perks.
  Techniques for Wildcards
  If a technique that would logically apply to a wildcard isn’t
  already included in the skill (Techniques, pp. 8-9), the player can
  default it to the wildcard at the usual penalty, and then improve
  it to its normal limit at the regular point cost. After that, it works
  with any of the wildcard’s standard skills for which it makes
  sense. For instance, if our ninja spends 5 points to buy Dual
  Weapon Attack (p. B230) at wildcard+0, his attacks with any two
  weapons his wildcard covers are at no penalty.
  The cost of a technique is the same no matter how many
  standard skills benefit from it. Work by Touch (p. B233) might
  cover only Explosives, Lockpicking, and Traps, even if the
  wildcard includes a dozen other skills. Lifesaving defaults to
  Swimming alone, so while any wildcard that covers Swimming
  allows it, it gains nothing from being based on a wildcard. In
  either case, there’s no discount for being less broad than the
  Dual-Weapon Attack example.
  The decision as to whether a wildcard should include a tech-
  nique or allow the player to buy it is left to the GM. This might
  depend solely on how “universal” the technique is among people
  who possess that wildcard in the game world. However, as it’s
  less-than-appealing to have to pay for extra techniques when
  they apply to only a small subset of the wildcard’s standard
  skills, narrow examples are good bets for inclusion. Conversely,
  extremely broad techniques that work with everything can get a
  little overpowering, so asking players to opt in and pay for them
  is fair – they’re still very good deals, after all!
  For much more on techniques – including numerous exam-
  ples and a design system – see GURPS Martial Arts.
  HYPER-COMPETENCY
  Wildcards become much more competitive with standard
  skills when those who have them can sometimes dictate out-
  comes. A higher skill level isn’t as important when you enjoy
  the ability to guarantee the occasional success – or even criti-
  cal success!
  The justification used in the GURPS Monster Hunters
  series – where this option first appeared – is that a wildcard-
  user is like a whole team of experts in one body. Where the
  average person might use one standard skill, or at best a few in
  succession, the wildcard-user can bring an entire set of skills to
  bear with a single success roll. The higher the skill level, the
  more synergies emerge.
  GURPS Power-Ups 5: Impulse Buys builds on this idea but
  takes a somewhat more story-oriented outlook: Wildcard skills
  are abilities for larger-than-life campaigns, and since cine-
  matic heroes tend to enjoy both an unrealistic breadth of com-
  petence and the favor of the plot, why not use an existing tool
  – wildcards – to represent both?
  If either rationalization suits the campaign,
  read on . . .
  Wildcard Points
  The core mechanic of hyper-competency is
  that every full 12 character points spent on a
  wildcard skill bestow one Wildcard Point (WP)
  for that skill; the Wildcard Benefits Table (p. 14)
  shows this progression alongside some other
  possible effects of wildcards. The player can
  spend WP as character points on the options
  under Influencing Success Rolls (p. B347) if the
  outcome hinges directly on that wildcard. Unlike character
  points, WP are fully refreshed at the beginning of each game
  session! Another difference is that they don’t accumulate if
  unused. For instance, 24 character points in a wildcard give 2
  WP to spend on uses of that wildcard each session – and
  whether you spend 2, 1, or 0 WP this session, you’ll have 2 WP
  next session.
  As WP are associated with specific wildcards and are regu-
  larly spent and refreshed, it’s helpful to represent them with
  glass beads, jellybeans, poker chips, or something else color-
  coded to the skills that grant them.
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  12
  Implicit Perks
  As Perks for Wildcards (above) explains, wildcards sometimes “include”
  perks by dint of how such skills work. The GM is welcome to add others
  to sweeten the pot; e.g., a weapon wildcard could bestow the effects of sev-
  eral combat-related perks, much as it might cover techniques. Always
  spell these out for the players!
  
  Being Hyper-Competent
  Players can spend WP on several kinds of “meta-game” out-
  comes, and may chip in character points – or, where appropri-
  ate, Destiny Points, Impulse Points, or Serendipity Points from
  Impulse Buys – to meet some or all of the associated costs.
  Buying Success (p. B347): This is the main use of WP. They
  can only be spent when rolling against the wildcard that
  granted them, unless the GM rules otherwise. To make wild-
  cards competitive with standard skills, the GM may permit WP
  to purchase critical successes in combat!
  Flesh Wounds (p. B417): If a hero is wounded while using a
  wildcard, he can spend its WP on this rule. For instance, a
  swashbuckler who critically fails a parry with his wildcard, and
  who cannot afford the 2 or 3 WP to invoke the previous rule to
  turn his defense into a regular failure or a success, could still pay
  1 WP after the blow strikes to ensure that it’s just a flesh wound.
  Player Guidance (p. B347): Spending WP this way is allowed
  if the proposed result is tied directly to the use of the skill; e.g.,
  when rolling against a wildcard to find clues, success and 2 WP
  (or critical success and 1 WP) might let the player declare that
  a specific kind of evidence is present.
  Other Options for Wildcard Points
  The GM with access to Impulse Buys may permit players
  spend to WP on any option described there, as long as the wild-
  card granting the WP is used for a skill roll pivotal to the out-
  come, or could at least explain the results. For instance:
  • Buying Effect with the results of wildcard use.
  • Miraculous Recoveries, if Flesh Wounds would apply but
  be inadequate.
  • Opt-In Options related to skills the wildcard covers.
  • Perking Things Up, if the wildcard or a skill it encom-
  passes is associated with specific perks.
  • Upgrading Margins with the wildcard (this makes 
  wildcards more competitive with high standard skill levels
  in Contests).
  Not all options suit every wildcard! Some wildcards suggest
  additional possibilities:
  • Bullet Time with combat-oriented wildcards.
  • Divine Intervention with wildcards for clerics.
  • Favors in Play with social wildcards.
  • Points for Energy with wildcards that work magic.
  • Trading Points for Money with financially oriented 
  wildcards.
  The GM should not allow uses that permanently increase
  the character’s point value, however. In particular, character-
  point wagers are always inappropriate for WP.
  Variations on Hyper-Competency
  If the GM feels that this rule still doesn’t make wildcard
  skills tempting enough, he’s welcome to alter the parameters.
  Some suggestions:
  Accelerated Wildcard Points: For a boost that makes entry-
  level wildcard purchases appealing without drastically chang-
  ing the way the game plays at higher skill levels, set WP equal
  to (relative skill level)+4. The effects appear in the “Accelerated
  WP” column of the Wildcard Benefits Table (p. 14).
  Even Larger Pools: Multiplying the suggested 1 WP per 12
  character points by two or more will dramatically increase
  wildcard skills’ competitiveness with standard skills. At 1 WP
  per 6 character points, the effect is similar to everybody who
  knows wildcards having Luck or Serendipity with Aspected.
  Going to 1 WP per 3 character points makes even novice wild-
  card-users capable of impressive feats, and WP spending is
  liable to replace dice-rolling as the primary determiner of fate.
  Common Pool: To give players an incentive to consider
  multiple wildcard skills – and to insure against costly abilities
  sitting unused – have WP from all sources fill a single pool
  that can be spent on any use of wildcards. For example, a
  hero who has two wildcards at attribute+0 and one at attrib-
  ute+1 has 7 WP to spend on outcomes related to any of the
  three skills. This is a simple way to make wildcards more
  attractive without drastically changing the campaign’s feel. It
  also reduces bookkeeping!
  Universal Pool: The GM might even generalize the common
  pool so that WP can be spent in any situation, not just circum-
  stances related to wildcards. For instance, that hero with 7 WP
  could buy success with any old skill, invoke Flesh Wounds
  against any injury, and so on. To keep wildcards relevant in
  their own right, it’s advisable that more options be available
  when they are used than when they aren’t.
  OTHER BONUSES
  Improving a wildcard to a high level might grant bonuses in
  areas other than success rolls for the skill, in accordance with
  this general guideline:
  At the GM’s option, a positive relative skill level with a wild-
  card skill doubles as a bonus to activities directly related to 
  that skill.
  Just as a wildcard can replace any skill the GM agrees fits its
  high concept, its bonus can assist any appropriate statistic or
  roll. Whatever the bonus, it’s always free – it never costs Wild-
  card Points (p. 12) to invoke. This flexibility has limits, though.
  First, a wildcard bonus can never “stack” with itself. For
  instance, it might work as a damage bonus or a ST bonus with
  a melee weapon, but never as both at once.
  Second, the GM – not the player – decides when a bonus
  applies. If full relative skill level seems too generous under
  the circumstances, he’s free to halve it and round up. The
  Wildcard Bonus Table (p. 14) summarizes the regular and
  halved schemes. The GM who feels that these progressions are
  stingy is welcome to be more liberal, perhaps reading the “WP”
  or even “Accelerated WP” column of the table as the bonus!
  Sample Bonuses
  Below are many suggestions for how to apply the wildcard
  bonus, including some situations where it’s advisable to halve
  the modifier. Players are encouraged to propose these and
  other benefits – this list isn’t exhaustive. Just remember that
  the GM has the final say.
  (Gamers familiar with GURPS Power-Ups 3: Talents will see
  a strong resemblance between these examples and the list of
  “alternative benefits” recommended for Talents. That’s inten-
  tional – wildcards and Talents cover similar ground. Remember
  the crucial difference, though: A wildcard doesn’t have a single,
  fixed bonus. Cinematic flexibility is the whole point.)
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  13
  
  • A bonus to rolls related to the wildcard’s high concept and
  to which no skill applies. For instance, a wildcard for inventors
  might help rolls on the Enigmatic Device Table (pp. B478-479),
  and any wildcard could aid IQ rolls for learning, memoriza-
  tion, or recall of its subject matter. This benefit extends to Will
  rolls for extra effort with the wildcard, and to HT rolls to avoid
  FP losses to any athletic feats it enables, if it doesn’t encompass
  a standard skill that can serve in this capacity. The bonus
  might even work for rolls that explicitly disallow skills, when
  the wildcard seems especially relevant; e.g., ST rolls to break
  free of bonds that don’t allow an Escape roll, for a wildcard
  built around freedom of movement. For rolls of fewer than
  three dice, like the 1d for initiative under Partial Surprise
  (p. B393) or for weapon breakage under Parrying Heavy
  Weapons (p. B376), halve the bonus.
  • A bonus to rolls to use conceptually related advantages. A
  wildcard for healers may add its bonus to the IQ roll to use the
  Healing advantage, while one for combat veterans might ben-
  efit the Per roll for Danger Sense.
  • A bonus to DX, IQ, HT, Will, or Per rolls to resist skills
  covered by the wildcard (e.g., a social wildcard that includes
  many Influence skills could fairly benefit Will rolls against
  those skills) or diametrically opposed to it (thus, a wildcard for
  detectives might grant its bonus to penetrate deceptions involv-
  ing Acting and Fast-Talk, and to defeat concealment skills like
  Holdout and Stealth). It would be logical to extend this benefit
  to rolls to resist malign influences studied by the skill: HT rolls
  against poisons for a wildcard that covers them, resistance
  against supernatural attacks for a wildcard pertaining to the
  occult, and so on. Halve such a “defensive” bonus if it affects
  Block, Dodge, or Parry rolls.
  • A bonus to DX, IQ, HT, Will, or Per rolls to avoid bad
  effects encountered in the course of using the wildcard. A nau-
  tical wildcard might benefit DX and HT rolls for rocking decks,
  seasickness, and similar shipboard hazards, while one for
  ranged combat could aid Will rolls to keep Aim with relevant
  weapons. This may encompass rolls to recover from failures
  and critical failures with the wildcard; e.g., a wildcard that cov-
  ers unarmed combat might benefit DX rolls to avoid falling
  down after missing with a kick, while any physical wildcard
  may lend its bonus to HT rolls required for critically failed
  attempts at extra effort. Again, halve such a bonus if it modi-
  fies active defense rolls.
  • A bonus to reaction rolls made by or Influence rolls
  (p. B359) attempted on people who witness the user’s impres-
  sively broad skill. This usually means “after a successful wild-
  card skill roll,” which must generally benefit the target (repair
  his equipment, cure his wounds, fight off his enemies, etc.).
  However, an artistic wildcard might affect the attitude of audi-
  ence members who merely watch a performance. It would be
  reasonable to halve the bonus if it benefits reactions from all
  suitable individuals, all the time (e.g., animals for a beast-tam-
  ing wildcard, or spirits for a shamanic one), unless that group
  is tiny or rare.
  • An offset against penalties for circumstances relevant to
  the skill, particularly those under Equipment Modifiers
  (p. B345) and Geographical and Temporal Scope (p. B176). If
  Familiarity (p. B169) and Tech-Level Modifiers (p. B168) aren’t
  ignored completely thanks to Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) and
  Wildcard Tech Level (p. 11), add those to the list.
  • An Accuracy bonus when aiming relevant ranged
  weapons. The GM may want to restrict this to heroes with
  Gunslinger or Heroic Archer. Except in highly cinematic
  campaigns, this modifier is best halved.
  • A ST bonus when wielding relevant muscle-powered
  weapons (modify the mount’s ST when the wildcard encom-
  passes the Lance skill or allows Riding rolls to run people down).
  The GM may restrict this to heroes with Weapon Master. For
  skills that already give an effective ST bonus, like Brawling and
  Forced Entry, use this bonus instead of the usual one but leave
  it open-ended. This is a great way to make wildcards more
  attractive, though it can radically alter the face of combat.
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  14
  This table summarizes the effects of several optional
  rules described in Additional Benefits (pp. 10-15).
  Points: Character points spent on the wildcard skill.
  Skill Roll: Roll to use the wildcard as a skill based on
  any given attribute.
  WP: Wildcard Points granted when using basic Hyper-
  Competency (pp. 12-13). For extra-generous benefits with
  Other Bonuses (pp. 13-15), read the number as a bonus.
  Accelerated WP: Wildcard Points granted when using
  the eponymous option under Variations on Hyper-
  Competency (p. 13). Again, this can be interpreted 
  as a bonus.
  Wildcard Bonus: Typical bonus when using Other
  Bonuses.
  Half Bonus: Conservative bonus for potent instances of
  Other Bonuses.
  Wildcard Benefits Table
  Points
  Skill Roll
  WP
  Accelerated WP
  Wildcard Bonus
  Half Bonus
  3
  Attribute-3
  0
  1
  0
  0
  6
  Attribute-2
  0
  2
  0
  0
  12
  Attribute-1
  1
  3
  0
  0
  24
  Attribute+0
  2
  4
  0
  0
  36
  Attribute+1
  3
  5
  +1
  +1
  48
  Attribute+2
  4
  6
  +2
  +1
  60
  Attribute+3
  5
  7
  +3
  +2
  72
  Attribute+4
  6
  8
  +4
  +2
  +12
  +1
  +1
  +1
  +1
  +1/2 (round up)
  
  • A bonus to damage when using the wildcard to deploy
  poisons, traps, etc. that don’t depend on the user’s ST. A simi-
  lar bonus might apply to the first strike made after using a
  stealthy or tactical wildcard to set up an assassination attempt
  or an ambush. A further possibility is a damage bonus against
  foes studied by the wildcard; e.g., a Demonologist! skill might
  grant bonus damage against demons.
  • A comparable bonus to HP restored, if the wildcard con-
  cerns healing, not harming.
  • A bonus to somebody else’s roll, when the wildcard directly
  aids others. The classic example is a bonus to HT rolls to
  recover from crippling, disease, or injury treated using a med-
  ical wildcard. A wildcard intended for a leader might give a
  bonus to his side’s rolls to hear or understand him, or to their
  Fright Checks. Halve the bonus if it adds to others’ rolls to act
  rather than to passive rolls like those in the examples – but
  when the wildcard is used for a complementary skill roll, this
  is cumulative with the usual bonus!
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  15
  Several common classes of wildcard skills merit additional
  thought. If seeking specific examples for inspiration, Chapter 3
  presents a long list!
  STYLE WILDCARDS
  Many GURPS supplements offer structured “fighting
  styles.” The GURPS Martial Arts series covers systems for
  unarmed combat and muscle-powered weapons; GURPS Gun
  Fu and GURPS Tactical Shooting address firearms training;
  and other volumes (e.g., Transhuman Space: Martial Arts
  2100) contain combat arts suited to particular settings. Each
  style consists of a list of required skills; inventories of tech-
  niques, cinematic skills, and perks that, though not mandatory,
  are still deemed to be standard teachings; and menus of truly
  optional traits of every kind. To “know” a style, a warrior must
  buy a special perk – Style Familiarity – and spend at least one
  point on each of the required skills.
  Obviously, that’s a lot to keep track of! This makes simplify-
  ing styles an ideal job for wildcard skills. As a bonus, the cine-
  matic nature of wildcards is a great fit to campaigns filled with
  raging combat action – particularly action involving implausi-
  ble martial-arts skills such as Kiai and Power Blow.
  Skills for Style Wildcards
  A wildcard for a style – generically Style!, though actual
  examples will have names like Jujutsu! and Future Kill! – can
  include several distinct sets of skills:
  Required Skills: Without exception, the wildcard should
  include all skills expected of someone who “knows” the style.
  Optional Skills: If the style is light on techniques (below)
  and required skills, the GM might have the wildcard incorpo-
  rate whatever optional skills he believes would contribute
  meaningfully to feel or function. When in doubt, reread the
  style description.
  Cinematic Skills: The wildcard should also include all these.
  As they require a pricey enabling advantage such as Gun-
  slinger, Trained by a Master, or Weapon Master, don’t count
  them when doing detailed math (see How Many?, pp. 9-10).
  The high cost of the prerequisite trait and a wildcard makes it
  unlikely that the results will be underpriced.
  Techniques in Style Wildcards
  Whatever else it includes, a style wildcard should always
  remove the need to learn the style’s individual techniques. 
  The warrior may make an unpenalized skill roll (often but not
  necessarily DX-based) for any of his style’s techniques – realis-
  tic or cinematic, core or optional. Techniques that aren’t part
  of the style but that default to standard skills that the wildcard
  covers default to Style! at the usual penalties; see Techniques
  for Wildcards (p. 12).
  As techniques that default to full skill don’t benefit from this
  arrangement, the GM may want to use the following option:
  A Style! user can roll against the maximum level allowed for
  any technique his style offers. If a technique has no maximum,
  use skill+3.
  Though this is presented as the norm in GURPS Gun Fu
  and GURPS Martial Arts, handle with care. It can lead to
  unbalanced results, such as the 3 points for Shaolin Kung Fu!
  at attribute-3 granting Arm Lock (Judo), Arm Lock (Staff), Dis-
  arming (Staff), Feint (Karate), and Feint (Staff) all at DX+0
  when those same points would buy Staff at only DX-1 and Judo
  and Karate at a mere DX-2. It may be fairer to phase in this ben-
  efit more gradually: attribute-3 gives full skill (DX-3), attrib-
  ute-2 gives skill+1 (DX-1), attribute-1 gives skill+2 (DX+1), and
  only attribute+0 gives skill+3 (DX+3) – all still capped at the
  technique’s usual maximum.
  Finally, remember that cinematic techniques – unlike cin-
  ematic skills – don’t require Trained by a Master or Weapon
  Master to use. Style! skills include these for all users.
  Additional Benefits for Style Wildcards
  Style wildcards implement Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) in
  two different ways. First, even attribute-3 level in a Style!
  grants the equivalent of the associated Style Familiarity perk,
  eliminating the -3 for dealing with co-stylists from other cul-
  tures and -1 in active defense penalties from the style’s feints
  and Deceptive Attacks. Second, it bestows full familiarity
  with every weapon the style covers, comparable to the Cross-
  Trained perk. Don’t buy either perk separately.
  Style! skills always permit Extra-Broad Perks and Techniques
  (pp. 11-12), too. The stylist may purchase his style’s Style Perks
  for a point apiece regardless of points spent on the wildcard –
  and for those that require specialization by skill, Style! is a legit-
  imate specialty and the perk benefits all applicable standard
  skills the wildcard encompasses. The GM might even build in
  truly iconic Style Perks; see Implicit Perks (p. 12). Similar think-
  ing applies to techniques: When improving a non-style tech-
  nique, it can be learned for Style! and works with all included
  standard skills for which it makes sense.
  INTERESTING CASES
  
  Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) isn’t required – though if con-
  sidering it for the campaign, style wildcards should be first in
  line. Wildcard Points from a Style! skill are applicable to any-
  thing combat-related, particularly Flesh Wounds while fighting
  and buying effect in the form of bonus damage. Bullet Time fits,
  too, but is so cinematic that the GM may wish to reserve it for
  heroes with Weapon Master or Trained by a Master.
  As for Other Bonuses (pp. 13-15), the most fitting benefits
  are things like improved DX rolls to avoid falls after kicking –
  and possibly shifts away from the worst results on the Critical
  Miss Table (p. B556). Bonuses to resistance rolls against cine-
  matic martial-arts skills (like Kiai and Pressure Points) might
  represent the fighter’s strong chi. And ST bonuses with muscle-
  powered attacks are exceptionally appropriate, if the GM
  allows them at all.
  SUPERNATURAL WILDCARDS
  Wildcards are unrealistic to begin with, so it’s no great stretch
  to have them function as spells or similar “skills of power.” The
  GM might bundle any collection of related skill-based superhu-
  man gifts into a wildcard. Doing so affords several benefits:
  Better stories. In non-RPG fiction, wielders of such capabili-
  ties are more likely to possess broad, flexible gifts than to have
  discrete skills. This makes wildcards a perfect match! By impos-
  ing fewer limits on what’s possible, wildcards reduce the odds of
  the rules interfering with creative roleplaying and storytelling.
  Simplified character sheets. Many categories of supernatural
  skills are extensive in a way that mundane skill sets are not,
  leading to “busy,” confusing character designs. This is espe-
  cially true of magic spells. A small number of wildcards can
  work wonders here – literally and figuratively.
  Unified power levels. Individual supernatural skills encour-
  age players to create one-trick ponies. It’s more balanced – and
  truer to most source material – for heroes with special abilities
  to possess a definitive level of broad proficiency. Wildcards
  accomplish this naturally.
  There are potential pitfalls, too. Notably, because each
  supernatural skill grants a new superhuman ability, lumping
  many together can blur character concepts and upset game
  balance. The general guidelines for wildcards need adjustment
  to allow for these factors.
  In all cases below, remember that the wildcards in question
  bestow superhuman abilities. Any Unusual Background the
  GM requires for cinematic skills, Imbuement Skills, spells, etc.
  should apply equally to wildcard versions of such things.
  Wildcard Magic
  As GURPS Magic suggests, spellcasting might be treated as
  a wildcard skill. There are two main possibilities:
  Magic! A single wildcard covers all magic-use – though
  there might be Wizardry! for mana-based magic, Theurgy! for
  the sanctity-based kind, and so on. A magician can roll against
  skill to cast any spell he wants, at a penalty equal to the spell’s
  prerequisite count (see GURPS Magic, pp. 223-237, or GURPS
  Thaumatology, pp. 261-267). This has the huge advantage of
  being extremely simple. However, turning all but the most basic
  spells into penalized uses of a costly skill makes low-points wiz-
  ards almost useless . . . while lumping magic into a single skill
  elevates high-points wizards to gods. This option also stamps
  out the distinctions between magic-users – everybody’s abilities
  are equally broad (or narrow). It’s best saved for campaigns that
  feature an enormous diversity of superhuman capabilities (such
  as GURPS Supers), where there may be but one spellcaster in
  the PC party or even the entire game world.
  College! Each college – or roughly 35 spells, if sorting
  spells on some other basis – is a separate wildcard skill. This
  allows a greater variety of magic-users. As well, removing the
  threat of godlike universalists means there’s less need to use
  prerequisite counts as a control mechanism; the GM might
  let casters attempt any spell within the college at full skill,
  relying on casting time, energy cost, and Magery level (see
  below) for balance. If that seems over-generous, the GM may
  use prerequisite count divided by two, three (as suggested in
  GURPS Thaumatology), or more, rounding as he sees fit. Just
  like Magic!, College! skills may differentiate by power source;
  e.g., Fire Wizardry! needs mana while Fire Theurgy! requires
  sanctity (and suits disciples of the Fire God).
  The GM can mix these approaches, too. Clerics might learn
  Theurgy! for access to all spells on a modest list – and perhaps
  demonologists acquire Demonology!, shamans buy Shaman-
  ism!, and so on for similar selections – while mana-based wiz-
  ards study a host of individual College! skills. In that case, what’s
  important is that each skill covers roughly the same number of
  spells (or at least a comparable range of useful spells).
  Magery doesn’t add to these wildcard skills – no player will
  pay 12 points to improve one wildcard by a level if it costs a
  mere 10 points to increase all magic-related skills by a level,
  unless wildcards are rotten with Additional Benefits (pp. 10-15).
  Spells ought to retain their Magery prerequisites, however; e.g.,
  a caster needs Magery 2 to cast Rain of Fire, or Magery 3 to try
  Create Servant, regardless of his wildcard level. As well,
  Magery plays its usual role in setting the maximum output of
  Missile spells and magic covered by Magery and Effect
  (p. B237). All this applies equally to other spellcasting Talents,
  such as Power Investiture.
  Magical wildcards have leave to cover a huge number of
  skills because spells overlap a great deal; see Skill Overlap
  (p. 9). (This also explains why Magery boosts far more spells
  than ordinary Talents do skills.) Nevertheless, a college of
  magic – or all magic – is big swath of powerful knowledge, so
  such wildcards should include few other skills, all of which
  might be conditional. “Thaumatology when dealing with this
  kind of magic” might be everything, though a wildcard can
  always stand in for Artist (Illusion), Body Sense, Innate Attack,
  etc., if required by a spell it covers.
  Wildcard Cinematic Skills
  The cinematic skills that Trained by a Master and Weapon
  Master enable need not be exclusive to Style Wildcards (pp. 15-
  16). Perhaps not all users of these feats are martial-artists; some
  might be other highly disciplined individuals, like yogis. Or
  maybe Style! skills cover strictly realistic standard skills, and cin-
  ematic warriors learn a separate Chi! skill that replaces Trained
  by a Master or Weapon Master as the enabler for those feats.
  Whatever the case, wildcards covering cinematic skills
  require a solid high concept linking the individual parts, much
  as College! skills tie together related spells. Forceful Chi and
  Inner Balance – a pair of Talents from GURPS Martial Arts –
  cover two of the broadest themes commonly encountered.
  They encompass 14 skills apiece, suggesting these wildcards:
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  16
  
  Forceful Chi! Breaking Blow, Erotic Art, Flying Leap, Hyp-
  notic Hands, Hypnotism, Invisibility Art, Kiai, Power Blow,
  Precognitive Parry, Pressure Points, Pressure Secrets, Push,
  Throwing Art, and Zen Archery.
  Inner Balance! Autohypnosis, Blind Fighting, Body Con-
  trol, Body Language, Body Sense, Breath Control, Dreaming,
  Immovable Stance, Light Walk, Lizard Climb, Meditation,
  Mental Strength, Mind Block, and Sensitivity.
  Notice that both incorporate a mixture of cinematic and
  more-or-less realistic skills. Unlike Magic! and College! skills,
  these aren’t so broad that they cannot fairly include other capa-
  bilities. The same goes for wildcards that cover unrealistic
  skills unrelated to chi or martial arts; e.g., one that functions as
  Enthrallment skills and Musical Influence might also serve as
  most of the skills listed for Smooth Operator and Musical
  Ability (p. B91).
  Wildcard Imbuement Skills
  GURPS Power-Ups 1: Imbuements offers a wildcard
  possibility for its special skills: A wildcard version of any
  Imbuement Skill costs triple but works with every applica-
  ble combat skill – and possibly with skills for noncombat
  equipment. For instance, someone with Burning Strike! can
  turn any weapon to flame, be it a staff, a sword, an arrow
  from a bow, or a bullet from a gun.
  With so many Imbuement Skills, this can mean a lot of
  wildcards. In a high-powered campaign where there are
  many different kinds of superhuman abilities – the sort of
  environment where Magic! is more fitting than College!, for
  instance – the GM may instead allow wildcards that replace
  every Imbuement Skill applicable to a given combat skill.
  For example, Imbue Pistol! would work as all Imbuement
  Skills that suit weapons used with Guns (Pistol). This is a
  very potent capability, so the GM might want to make the
  associated weapon wildcard (pp. 19-20) a separate skill and
  perhaps even a prerequisite; e.g., Imbue Pistol! requires a
  separate Gun! skill.
  In either case, the user still needs an appropriate level of
  the Imbue advantage. For instance, Burning Strike requires
  Imbue 2, so only someone with Imbue 2+ could learn Burn-
  ing Strike! or use Imbue Pistol! as Burning Strike (Pistol).
  Additional Benefits 
  for Supernatural Wildcards
  Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) and Wildcard Tech Level (p. 11)
  are unlikely to matter for supernatural wildcards, since such
  skills seldom cover the operation of gear. The same usually
  goes for Extra-Broad Perks and Techniques (pp. 11-12) – super-
  natural skills rarely support such traits – but there are notable
  exceptions. In particular, the techniques for adjustable spells
  in GURPS Thaumatology, and the perks normally specialized
  by spell in GURPS Thaumatology: Magical Styles, can be
  extremely powerful when they apply to many spells at once;
  the GM may want to forbid the likes of extra-broad Far-Casting
  and Huge Subjects perks, and techniques that add Cosmic to
  dozens of spells.
  Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) demands careful thought,
  too. The GM might prefer not to allow wizards casting spells,
  warriors using Breaking Blow against armor, etc. to buy their
  way out of their abilities’ special critical failure results. Trading
  Wildcard Points for energy can get out of hand, too – especially
  for wizards. On the other hand, if these expenditures are
  allowed, few players will complain about getting their points’
  worth! One interesting option is to assume that supernatural
  wildcards have a stronger influence on Fate than the usual
  kind, and let associated WP constitute a “universal pool” (see
  Variations on Hyper-Competency, p. 13) that can affect just
  about any outcome but one related to the wildcard.
  Other Bonuses (pp. 13-15) works well for these skills. For
  instance, wildcard bonuses might add to Per rolls to detect
  associated effects, resistance rolls against the self-same abili-
  ties, damage or healing with such capabilities, and reaction or
  Influence rolls where supernatural entities are concerned (so
  the Demonology! skill makes it easier to bargain with demons).
  The GM could assign different benefits to each supernatural
  wildcard, fine-tuned to the skill’s focus. Perhaps wildcard
  Imbuement Skills add a bonus to basic weapon damage when-
  ever they’re used, while Magic! aids a mage’s rolls to sense
  magic items and mana levels, and to resist spells.
  TEMPLATE WILDCARDS
  Character templates, especially those describing high-pow-
  ered roles, can be complex mazes of interdependent lists and
  choices. Wildcard skills offer a way to turn them back into the
  “quick-start” tools they were meant to be. The path is relatively
  straightforward – a template already has a high concept that’s
  easily adapted to a wildcard!
  Simplifying Templates
  To simplify an existing template, begin by bundling its pri-
  mary and secondary skill lists into a wildcard skill. If the tem-
  plate makes a Talent mandatory – say, Green Thumb for a druid
  or Business Acumen for a merchant – then add in all of the skills
  that covers, too. These steps will usually do the job, but if the
  included skills are too few in number (less than a dozen) or over-
  lap excessively (e.g., a lengthy collection of Guns skills for a com-
  mando), then add background skills to flesh out the wildcard.
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  17
  Psionic Wildcards
  Supernatural Wildcards (pp. 16-17) is silent on the skills
  in GURPS Psionic Powers because psi abilities are advan-
  tages, and psi skills merely make them work better; because
  people who want to be good with many psi skills can buy
  cheap Talents; and because the value of a wildcard would
  fluctuate from “nil” for one ability, through “minimal” for a
  narrow power like Teleportation, to “genuinely useful” for
  a telepath. Still, the GM is free to replace Talents with psi
  wildcards (e.g., Telepathy!) that include all of the power’s
  skills and techniques; function as Expert Skill (Psionics),
  Hidden Lore (Psis), and mundane skills required to notice
  psi use, where that particular power is involved; and stand
  in for Body Sense, Brainwashing, Dreaming, Exorcism,
  Hypnotism, Mental Strength, Mind Block, and Psychology
  when used with or against that power. There might even be
  a Psionics! skill that does this for all psionic powers –
  though that’s advisable only if the campaign has many spe-
  cial abilities, each with a similarly sweeping wildcard.
  
  Occasionally, a template covers a group of related profes-
  sions or requires numerous choices from lists. If its divisions
  seem needlessly tedious, just assume that the wildcard is for
  cinematic polymaths and includes everything. If the distinc-
  tions are meaningful, or if lumping all the skills together would
  result in excessive breadth, it’s better to come up with several
  wildcards – one per strong subtype – and reduce the necessary
  decisions to one: “Which wildcard do I pick?”
  After that, remove the incorporated skills and associated
  Talents from the template. Replace them with the wildcard or
  choice of wildcards just worked out. Spend the points assigned
  to the deleted traits on as much of the wildcard(s) as they’ll
  buy. Add leftovers to discretionary pools for advantages, back-
  ground skills, and special abilities.
  Template-specific wildcards don’t replace the relevant tem-
  plates’ standard skills in the campaign in general. They’re for
  people for whom all of the constituent skills are vital – that is,
  for heroes built using the associated templates. Characters
  designed freeform or based on unrelated templates buy indi-
  vidual skills normally. A simple-but-effective way to make this
  clear is to name template wildcards after the matching tem-
  plates (or vice versa).
  Not every template needs a wildcard! Some templates may
  involve too few skills for this to be worthwhile. Templates
  meant for ordinary NPCs instead of or as well as PCs – or for
  people who aren’t supposed to wield special abilities in cam-
  paigns where wildcards represent such (see Special Ability, p. 7)
  – may omit cinematic components by design. It might even be
  that the only templates with wildcards are those without other
  exceptional abilities such as powers and magic spells.
  For a more radical simplification of templates with wild-
  cards, see Ultimate Template Wildcards (above).
  Wildcards as Template Building Blocks
  Another alternative is for the campaign to feature a broad
  wildcard skill set spanning all the tasks the GM believes are
  likely to really matter, and to define character templates
  through combinations of these. If templates already exist, a
  practical method is to dump all of their skills together and then
  divvy up the combined list among a modest number of wild-
  cards (about twice the number of templates works) whose high
  concepts match key activities. Then for each template, identify
  one to three standard skill sets that most overlap wildcards,
  and reassign their point allotment to the associated wildcards.
  Make sure that a few points remain to buy important standard
  skills that fall between the cracks.
  For instance, a high-fantasy campaign might specify just three
  key combat wildcards (Archery!, Light Weapons!, and Heavy
  Weapons!), plus several noncombat wildcards (Outdoorsman!,
  Rogue!, Social!, etc.). The charismatic bard then receives Social!
  and a little Rogue!, leaving combat to standard weapon skills; the
  cunning thief gets Rogue! and a touch of Light Weapons!; the
  pure fighter pours everything into Heavy Weapons!; the hardy
  barbarian splits points between Heavy Weapons! and Outdoors-
  man!; and the equally wilderness-loving ranger enjoys Arch-
  ery! and Outdoorsman!, relying on standard skills in a melee.
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  18
  If the GM wants, template wildcards (p. 17-20) needn’t
  name any standard skills. Instead, each wildcard enables a
  character built using the associated template to perform
  every skilled task definitive of whatever the template repre-
  sents: culture, dramatic niche, occupation, etc. The wild-
  card includes all skills conceivably tied to the template,
  subject to an overarching condition: “Only when playing
  my role.” Thus, such a wildcard covers a role’s tasks more
  than its skills.
  When a character is playing his part in the campaign,
  every skilled activity involves a roll against the most suit-
  able attribute modified by his relative skill level with his
  template wildcard. When he isn’t, he’s stuck using standard
  skills. In borderline cases, the GM’s word is final – though
  it’s more fun to put it to a vote!
  For this to work out, the gaming group has to agree on
  a set of roles, and then every player must buy a wildcard
  associated with such a role. Everybody needs to be a good
  sport, too. If the group contains power-gamers who strive
  to stake a claim to every possible task – or players who
  can’t agree to an equitable division of labor between char-
  acters with similar skills – this approach is doomed.
  Ultimate NPC Wildcards
  Most rules for wildcard skills tacitly assume that it’s PCs
  who use them. This needn’t be so. An NPC might have a
  wildcard that amounts to “The skill of everything the plot
  calls for me to know or be good at.” This is an extension of
  ultimate template wildcards to characters for whom brief
  stats blocks or scrawled notes take the place of templates.
  This device makes it straightforward to grade NPCs as
  anything from “fodder” with attribute-3 level to “experts”
  with impressive competence. When the GM isn’t tracking
  NPC point value, it simplifies many impromptu encounters
  to “Pick a level and get on with the adventure!”
  Friendly/Neutral NPCs: Experts have Sage!, servants
  know Flunky!, kindly strangers use Samaritan!, and so on.
  The GM might spend the points of Allies, Dependents, and
  Patrons on such skills.
  Contacts (pp. B44-45): These are trickier than Allies
  because they’re defined by a skill level, not a point total.
  Wildcards are so broad that Contacts who have them cost
  triple – just as wildcards do relative to Very Hard skills. 
  A “Contact!” can provide any sort of help that has a plausi-
  ble relationship to his area of expertise.
  Hostile NPCs: Foes boast wildcards like Guard!, Mug-
  ger!, Orc!, and Thug! – and Enemies might spend points on
  skills like this. These mostly cover standard skills for vio-
  lence and deception.
  Monsters: Even nonsapient enemies can play. Rather
  than worry about all the skills a tigress might have, give her
  Tiger! at, say, attribute+2 so she can climb, fight, and stalk
  at DX+2, swim at HT+2, track at Per+2, and so on.
  Ultimate Template Wildcards
  
  As this simple example illustrates, the wildcards go with tasks
  rather than specific templates. For a complete worked exam-
  ple, see GURPS Monster Hunters 1: Champions.
  Additional Benefits 
  for Template Wildcards
  For the first class of wildcard skills – those corresponding to
  templates – anything in Additional Benefits (pp. 10-15) might
  fit, but the starring role goes to Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13).
  This gives players a potent tool for playing their characters’
  roles with style. The GM may want to consider invoking this
  rule for all wildcards in the campaign, but using the “acceler-
  ated” schedule for Wildcard Points for template-specific skills
  and/or allowing heroes to spend their WP on a wider range of
  options when performing their templates’ core functions.
  For the second category of wildcards – building blocks –
  extra benefits are especially important. Heroes will often have
  more than one wildcard, and this costly collection will seem
  inefficient if it brings nothing special to the table. Here, too,
  anything works but Hyper-Competency works best. A particu-
  larly effective tool is to allow all the wildcards that define a
  template to use the “common pool” option (p. 13) and thus
  empower each other in play.
  In either case, don’t skimp on Other Bonuses (pp. 13-15).
  The best options focus less on the wildcards’ constituent skills
  than on beefing up the templates the wildcards serve to define.
  Bonuses to rolls to use template-specific advantages are espe-
  cially effective. The same goes for bonuses that replace the
  most attractive benefits of expensive advantages; e.g., spending
  points on a wildcard that gives bonus Accuracy, instead of on
  Gunslinger or Heroic Archer – or on one that grants a ST
  bonus, instead of on Weapon Master – can yield impressive
  results. Tricks like restricting bonus poison and trap damage to
  assassins and thieves, bonus healing to medics, and initiative
  bonuses to fighters can also bolster each template’s niche.
  And bonuses to allies’ rolls can help to explain why a team
  boasts adventurers built on a wide range of templates.
  WEAPON WILDCARDS
  Among the wildcard skills most interesting to adventurers
  are those concerned with weapons. Many of these group
  weapons on the basis of fighting styles or wielders (assassins,
  commandos, knights, ninja, etc.); see Style Wildcards (pp. 15-
  16) and Template Wildcards (pp. 17-19), respectively. But some
  are all about the weapons, and weapon skills overlap – a lot.
  Point-for-point, wildcards covering them leave warriors rolling
  against lower numbers than opponents with standard skills.
  Thus, careful design is crucial.
  Core Weapon Skills
  Most fighters stick to a few weapons. This and defaults
  between weapon skills largely erase concerns about excessive
  breadth or niche invasion. Be generous – let the wildcard cover
  a wide range of related hardware! For instance:
  • Wildcards for blunt weapons should include Flail, Staff,
  and Tonfa; conditional Axe/Mace and Two-Handed Axe/Mace
  for maces and unbalanced clubs; and conditional Broadsword,
  Shortsword, Smallsword, and Two-Handed Sword for bal-
  anced clubs.
  • Wildcards for firearms might cover most or all Beam
  Weapons, Guns, and Liquid Projector specialties in the set-
  ting, plus suitable Gunner and Artillery specialties for 
  man-portable weapons. Add Crossbow, too, unless it truly
  doesn’t fit.
  • Wildcards for swords ought to encompass Broadsword,
  Jitte/Sai, Knife, Main-Gauche, Rapier, Saber, Shortsword,
  Smallsword, and Two-Handed Sword. If the setting features
  suitable superscience, include Force Sword.
  One-note wildcards – e.g., Pistolero! or Rapier! – can work,
  but demand more of everything described in the sections below.
  Accompanying Combat Skills
  Weapon skills are rarely used on their own. Make sure the
  wildcard turns the user into a well-rounded warrior. Valuable
  accompaniments are:
  • Fast-Draw specialties related to the weapons and their
  ammunition.
  • Blocking skills – Cloak and Shield – for melee fighters.
  • Thrown Weapon specialties for melee weapons designed
  to be hurled.
  • Parry Missile Weapons, if the wildcard includes balanced
  melee weapons.
  Conditional Skills for 
  Creative Weapon Use
  Cinematic fighters often use weapons in unpredictable ways!
  Add conditional skills for unorthodox weapon usage, such as:
  • Forced Entry for turning weapons on inanimate objects.
  • Garrote, if the wildcard covers flexible weapons used
  with Flail, Kusari, or Whip. Archers might get “Garrote for
  use with bowstrings.”
  • Knot-Tying, if the wildcard covers something like Lasso
  or Whip.
  • Melee skills for close-in work with ranged weapons; e.g.,
  a firearms wildcard might note “Axe/Mace, Brawling, Staff, or
  Two-Handed Axe/Mace to butt-stroke, pistol-whip, or club
  with a gun, plus Spear for bayonets.”
  • Throwing or Throwing Art for chucking whatever the skill
  covers; e.g., “Throwing to toss grenades and empty guns at ene-
  mies, or spare weapons and ammo to allies” for a firearms
  wildcard, or “Throwing Art when hurling arrows” for an
  archery wildcard.
  • Unarmed skills for use with melee weapons, such as
  “Brawling to pummel in close combat” and “Judo to execute
  throws after achieving an armed grapple.”
  Other Skills for Weapon Wildcards
  All but the least-flashy weapon wildcards count as Acrobat-
  ics and Jumping when a roll against one of those skills is
  needed while wielding a suitable weapon. Add “Stealth to get
  into position for a sneak attack,” if the wildcard focuses on
  small, concealable weapons.
  Good weapon wildcards also enable several IQ-, Will-, and
  Per-based rolls, such as:
  • Armoury to maintain and repair the weapons.
  • Connoisseur and/or Merchant to recognize and evaluate
  the weapons.
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  19
  
  • Intimidation when brandishing the
  weapons.
  • Tactics when rolling to deploy the weapons
  optimally.
  Techniques and Cinematic
  Skills for Weapon Wildcards
  Lengthy lists of techniques and cinematic skills
  are better suited to Style Wildcards (pp. 15-16).
  Still, include anything that’s iconic in fictional
  source material, notably:
  • Armed Grapple technique (GURPS
  Martial Arts, p. 67) for a wildcard intended for
  melee weapons, Entangle technique (Martial
  Arts, p. 71) for one built around the kusari or
  whip, or Hook technique (Martial Arts, p. 74)
  for one focused on polearms. This lets the hero
  snag foes at full skill when using the weapons to
  grapple rather than strike.
  • Sweep technique (Martial Arts, p. 81) for a
  wildcard concerned with long weapons, as using
  these to trip people is very common in fiction.
  There’s something to be said for including Pole-
  Vault Kick (Martial Arts, p. 87) as well.
  • Throwing Art skill, if the wildcard covers
  thrown weapons. Such a wildcard should be able
  to throw anything.
  • Zen Archery skill for a wildcard used 
  with bows. For slings, crossbows, etc., it’s fair
  to go with “Works like Zen Archery when using
  these weapons.”
  Additional Benefits 
  for Weapon Wildcards
  Extras are essential to keep weapon wildcards
  competitive with standard weapon skills. The
  most basic package is Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11)
  and Wildcard Tech Level (p. 11) with all weapon
  types covered by the skill and known in the cam-
  paign world, and the option to exploit Extra-Broad
  Perks and Techniques (pp. 11-12). Consider using
  Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) here even if not
  allowing it for other wildcards – battle pits stan-
  dard and wildcard skills against one another, and
  no other single benefit gives wildcard-users the
  fighting chance this one does.
  Other Bonuses (pp. 13-15) is a big topic. A good
  low-key option is a wildcard bonus to rolls to avert
  mishap, particularly DX rolls to avoid falling
  down and Will rolls to retain Aim, when fighting
  with the included weapons; this might even shift
  rolls on the Critical Miss Table (p. B556) or Firearm
  Malfunction Table (p. B407) away from the worst
  results. Applying half the bonus to the 1d rolled for
  weapon breakage (p. B376) is also nice. To really
  beef up wildcards, have the bonus augment ST for
  muscle-powered weapons, apply to Acc for ranged
  ones (halving it outside of highly cinematic
  games), and/or shift rolls on the Critical Hit Table.
  DEFINING WILDCARDS
  20
  To the Skills . . . 
  and Beyond!
  Readers may feel inspired to apply the theory behind wildcard
  skills – collecting many related, narrow traits into a single encompass-
  ing one – to things other than skills, whether to facilitate cinematic
  play or simplify the game. Below are a few ideas.
  Wildcard Techniques
  Techniques are essentially narrow, inexpensive skills based on
  other skills. It stands to reason that if a wildcard skill can replace
  many standard skills, floating between attributes as needed, then a
  wildcard technique might replace several standard techniques, moving
  from skill to skill as required.
  If the GM wants, any technique that requires specialization and
  allows at least three specialties can be bought as a wildcard technique
  for triple the point cost of the desired relative level. It works with any
  skill to which it defaults. Associated perks (Technique Mastery, Unique
  Technique, etc.) need only be bought once. The Technique Adaptation
  perk becomes superfluous. No other rules (e.g., maximum level) change.
  Example: Feint (p. B231) is a Hard technique that defaults to full
  skill for any unarmed combat or Melee Weapon skill. Spending 2, 3, 4,
  or 5 points buys it at skill+1, skill+2, skill+3, or skill+4 (the maximum),
  respectively. Feint! costs 6, 9, 12, or 15 points, and grants +1 to +4 to
  feint with any combat skill capable of it. The Technique Mastery
  (Feint!) perk costs its usual 1 point, and allows +5 for 18 points or +6
  for 21 points.
  Wildcard Advantages
  Wildcard Contacts: As Ultimate NPC Wildcards (p. 18) notes, a Con-
  tact! who provides a wildcard skill costs triple. This is like buying a wild-
  card skill by proxy.
  Wildcard Languages: Triple the cost of a language (pp. B23-25) for
  ability in a whole family of related languages (Afro-Asiatic!), every lan-
  guage used in a large geographical area (Southeast Asia!) or country
  (Russia!), or all tongues common among a large social group
  (Trader!). The GM may allow Language Talent to work normally and
  offer massive savings; it might even be a prerequisite for wildcard lan-
  guages. For details, see Pyramid #3/54: Social Engineering.
  Wildcard Powers: Quadruple the cost of any advantage-based abil-
  ity, after all modifiers. This can then stand in for any other ability that
  costs no more than its basic (non-quadrupled) cost, if the player and
  GM can agree on a way it could serve the desired purpose. For other
  considerations, see GURPS Supers.
  Even Wilder!
  To go beyond this, follow the rough guidelines implied by the
  examples above and elsewhere in this supplement:
  1. Anything skill-like (skills, skills-by-proxy, techniques, languages,
  etc.) uses triple point cost. Innate traits (most advantages) use quadru-
  ple cost.
  2. The point-cost multiplier applies to the generalized trait but not
  to enabling or enhancing ones; e.g., languages but not Language Tal-
  ent, spells but not Magery.
  3. Maximum effect is set by points in the base trait before the
  multiplier.
  
  Defining wildcard skills – the subject of Chapter 1 – is
  certainly the most involved step, but understanding 
  their role in campaign set-up and game play also merits
  careful consideration.
  USING WILDCARDS
  21
  The decision to use – or not use! – wildcard skills is the
  GM’s, to be made at the start of the campaign. Though What to
  Include (pp. 6-10) appears earlier in this work to help explain
  wildcards, its lessons are best applied after contemplating the
  following points.
  WHEN NOT TO USE
  WILDCARD SKILLS
  Wildcard skills can be fun, but before using them, it’s
  important to know when not to use them. Sweeping skill diver-
  sity, though complex, is sometimes appropriate!
  For one thing, having many individual skills is realistic.
  Think of the countless jobs and hobbies out there, and the myr-
  iad lessons and experiences these entail. While it’s unquestion-
  ably simpler to stuff all human endeavor into a few pigeonholes,
  the results will feel unrealistic. In a campaign about believable
  people in plausible situations, bite the bullet and use standard
  skills – wildcards are a bad fit to high-realism gaming.
  Wildcards don’t always suit larger-than-life games, either.
  Cinematic campaigns often involve teams of PCs (if only 
  ragtag ones!), with each player’s fun rooted in “spotlight
  moments” where only his character’s abilities will do. When
  wildcards can cover sharply distinct areas of knowledge, one
  per character, they enhance this experience – but that relies on
  the heroes being very different. Many stories are about parties
  of adventurers in the same line of work: buddy cops, three
  Musketeers, thieves from the same guild, and so on. For these,
  fine skill distinctions are key characterization elements, and
  wildcards may be too clumsy a tool for the job.
  Finally, even if realism isn’t an issue and the heroes differ
  so much that each can have his own wildcard, it’s important
  to make the players happy. Reducing the size of the skill list
  is a godsend when it speeds character creation for gamers
  who are new to the system or strapped for time. But if the
  group consists mainly of GURPS veterans who prefer to
  tweak, wildcards actually add complexity. The players will
  seek different skill levels in various key areas, and end up
  using rules like Improving Standard Skills From Wildcards
  (pp. 5-6) to concoct character sheets more complicated than
  ones that feature only standard skills . . . so why not use stan-
  dard skills in the first place?
  DECIDING HOW
  WILDCARDS WORK
  The GM who feels that the campaign’s realism level – and
  players – would support a “hand-waving” treatment of skills
  and tasks has several important follow-up decisions to make.
  How Many Wildcards in the Campaign?
  Highly variable! If templates define the campaign’s major
  roles, each might feature a wildcard, while taking the “building
  blocks” approach results in roughly twice as many skills; see
  Template Wildcards (pp. 17-19). If the players are designing
  characters freeform to fit dramatic niches, the GM might work
  with them to develop one wildcard per PC – and interesting
  categories of NPCs could likewise get one apiece. Interesting
  Cases (pp. 15-20) leads to a wildcard for each fighting style,
  Imbuement Skill, magical college, psi power, weapon, etc., and
  these may well coexist with wildcards for niches or templates.
  What’s imperative is to avoid overlap between wildcards likely
  to be bought together, and to ensure that especially broad wild-
  cards have prerequisites: Imbue, Magery, Trained by a Master,
  Unusual Background, etc.
  How Many Per Character?
  Restrictions on wildcards per PC aren’t essential, and some
  categories (e.g., College! skills, p. 16) are meant to allow several
  at once. Still, it’s wise to set limits on wildcards associated with
  roles or templates, so that each hero has a clear niche. The
  expense of wildcards tends to drive players away from long
  lists, but why risk it?
  WILDCARDS IN THE CAMPAIGN
  CHAPTER TWO
  USING
  WILDCARDS
  
  Is an Unusual Background Required?
  Unless the GM rules otherwise, all that’s needed to buy wild-
  cards is an appropriate background story. However, if they’re
  special abilities in a campaign with “haves” and “have-nots” –
  whether by virtue of being wildcards at all (see Special Ability,
  p. 7) or because they’re truly superhuman in the sense of
  Supernatural Wildcards (pp. 16-17) – there may be a prerequisite
  Unusual Background, conceivably one restricted to PCs and
  high-profile NPCs. The GM sets its point cost, which should be
  modest unless wildcards offer potent Additional Benefits (pp. 10-
  15) or remarkable powers. Something between a perk per wild-
  card and a flat 5 points feels right.
  Which Optional Rules?
  This supplement is chock-full of optional rules. The GM
  must decide which ones are in effect. In particular, review
  Conditional-to-General Defaults (p. 6); everything under
  Additional Benefits (pp. 10-15); the special options in
  Interesting Cases (pp. 15-20), like higher technique levels for
  style wildcards, and whether wizards use Magic! or College!
  skills; Ultimate Template Wildcards
  (p. 18); Wildcard
  Techniques (p. 20); Yet More Optional Rules! (pp. 25-26); and
  Wild Criticals (p. 26).
  Can NPCs Have Wildcards?
  If wildcards are cinematic abilities for heroes – that is, the
  PCs – the answer is “no.” However, the GM is welcome to put
  arch-villains, important NPC allies, etc. on an equal footing.
  Some categories of wildcards might be reserved for NPCs; see
  Ultimate NPC Wildcards (p. 18). And usually, wildcards that are
  special abilities comparable to spells and powers are available
  to whoever who can afford them and any prerequisites.
  Wildcards don’t have to work the same way for PCs and
  NPCs, though. Those that exist only to simplify stats by reduc-
  ing entire skill lists to, say, Tiger! or Orc! might offer fewer ben-
  efits than ones that represent special abilities or cinematic
  competence. This most often takes the form of less-generous
  optional rules. For NPCs built on points, a double-standard
  that makes wildcards less potent should reduce or erase any
  Unusual Background for such skills.
  DITCHING STANDARD SKILLS
  The most radical option is to declare that only wildcard
  skills exist – that no PC can buy standard skills or improve
  them from defaults to wildcards. This simplifies character cre-
  ation immensely. Just as important, it eliminates the competi-
  tion between standard and wildcard skills. Applying Additional
  Benefits (pp. 10-15) aggressively enough might even wipe out
  the rivalry between attributes and wildcards; indeed, if most of
  those options are “switched on,” gauging how wildcards com-
  pare to other traits grows so subjective that dumping standard
  skills is worth considering for that reason alone.
  Doing this will affect many of the GM’s answers to the ques-
  tions in Deciding How Wildcards Work (pp. 21-22):
  How many wildcards in the campaign and per character?
  Making wildcards the only skills lets the GM set an important
  campaign-wide limit on character complexity. “One per tem-
  plate” or “one per niche” is unlikely to be satisfactory; that
  gives disappointingly one-dimensional characters. But it
  would be reasonable to group 200+ individual skills into, say,
  15 to 20 completely independent wildcards that cover the
  major tasks important to the genre and setting, and then to
  expect or even require each PC to pick four or five of these. If
  combat is to be a major theme, weapon wildcards can raise the
  number of wildcards and player choices . . . or the GM might
  ordain that each hero has to select a different martial-arts style
  and buy its style wildcard, over and above everything else. If
  wildcards correspond to magical colleges, those would likewise
  constitute an extra list, not part of the basic one.
  Is an Unusual Background required? Probably not, if every-
  body has to use wildcards – the extra trait is just a nuisance
  when the PCs are all on an equal footing. However, if some
  wildcards are more capable than others, the option to select
  them can fairly depend on suitable Unusual Backgrounds.
  Which optional rules? This becomes crucial, as now the
  rules controlling wildcards supplant large swaths of standard
  GURPS. For instance, if Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) applies at
  all times, many fussy modifiers disappear, greatly simplifying
  game play. If the campaign will be “all wildcards, all the time,”
  intricate options for wildcards become more attractive,
  because they replace skill complexity rather than compound it.
  USING WILDCARDS
  22
  A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan 
  an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, 
  write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone,
  comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone,
  solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program
  a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
  Specialization is for insects.
  – Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
  
  Success rolls for wildcard skills work identically to rolls
  against standard skills: they use the same rules for success and
  failure (and critical success and failure), margins, and so on.
  However, the fact that a wildcard can replace several standard
  skills – whatever attributes normally control them – affords the
  GM greater flexibility.
  SELECTING THE SKILL
  The typical wildcard skill replaces a specific set of standard
  skills. When a rule or an adventure calls for a particular skill,
  any wildcard that encompasses that skill can stand in for it.
  Add the wildcard’s relative skill level to the appropriate attrib-
  ute (see Finding the Target, pp. 24-25) and get rolling!
  Off-Label Use
  Don’t let the canonical skill list tie your hands, though. 
  A wildcard skill isn’t merely shorthand for a collection of
  standard skills – it embodies an idea. Any action directly
  related to its “high concept” is a legitimate use, even if it isn’t
  explicitly mentioned. If a task governed by a skill not listed for
  the wildcard is clearly in keeping with its concept, then it’s
  fairest for the GM to allow the wildcard to work. It’s much
  easier to be flexible about this than to spell out every last skill
  that might fit, subject to complicated conditions. A major goal
  of wildcards is to get away from big lists, after all!
  We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Skills! Don’t feel obliged even
  to specify a skill. If a task fits, pick a suitable attribute and
  allow a roll. This is how Ultimate Template Wildcards (p. 18)
  works, and it’s a perfectly reasonable way to handle any
  wildcard – at least when nobody feels like scouring the
  Basic Set for the skill that “officially” applies.
  Some Restrictions May Apply
  Things aren’t always free and easy, though.
  Conditions, Conditions: As Conditional Skills (p. 8)
  explains, applicability can be more than a matter of the right
  standard skill appearing on a list – some wildcards attach
  conditions to certain skills. If these stipulations aren’t met,
  no skill roll is allowed. Here, too, don’t let canonical lists tie
  your hands. The GM is free to rule that a task is so far out-
  side a wildcard’s high concept that the conditions on some of
  its skills apply to others that normally lack them. For
  instance, a wildcard for snipers might include fully general
  Guns (Rifle) and many skills qualified with “for rifles” – but
  if an unscoped rifle has its barrel and stock sawed off to con-
  vert it into a hand-cannon, the GM would be within his rights
  to rule that it’s functionally a pistol, not a rifle, and fired using
  Guns (Pistol), or wildcard-2.
  Decisions, Decisions: Sometimes it’s essential to pick a skill.
  If a task allows a roll against any of several skills, and modifiers
  or outcomes applicable to those skills differ, and the wildcard
  can stand in for more than one of those skills, the player must
  specify which skill he’s using his wildcard as before rolling the
  dice. “All of them!” is a valid answer only if the campaign uses
  Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) – in that case, if the player
  spends even a single Wildcard Point from the wildcard, for
  whatever reason, he enjoys the most favorable modifiers and
  outcomes from among its skills.
  If nothing else, the GM might want to use Hyper-Competency
  (pp. 12-13), Compensating for Difficulty (p. 25), and Using
  Wildcards Together (pp. 25-26) to offset the higher failure rate
  that accompanies somewhat lower overall skill levels.
  Can NPCs have wildcards? If wildcards are truly the only
  skills, this is a given. But in cinematic campaigns that pit
  shining heroes against faceless hordes, it’s more fitting to
  declare that NPCs are still stuck with standard skills. If so,
  it’s important to keep their skill levels modest, and there are
  but two sorts of NPCs: worthies who boast wildcards at lev-
  els at or near the heroes’, and supporting cast with standard
  skills at the same relative skill levels or below. For instance,
  if the typical PC has DX 14 and combat-related wildcards at
  attribute+2, for skill 16, then NPCs should have at most 16 in
  their standard combat skills; the GM should avoid “logic”
  that has NPCs spending the same 48 points on combat skills
  so that even DX 10 cannon fodder are running around with
  skill 22!
  USING WILDCARDS
  23
  Negotiations
  Everything under Selecting the Skill (above) and Finding
  the Target (pp. 24-25) is up to the GM. A player who feels that
  a wildcard should apply to a task has the right to ask permis-
  sion to use it. If the GM agrees, then it’s settled – work out the
  target number and roll them bones! If the GM doesn’t agree,
  there are options besides outright forbidding the attempt:
  A Matter of Degree: Not all justifiable uses of a wildcard
  are equally justifiable. The GM may allow a wildcard to work
  but apply a penalty from -1 to -10 based on how far he feels
  the player’s proposed use deviates from the high concept.
  Not Quite What You Wanted: The GM might permit the
  attempt but shift the roll to another controlling attribute –
  perhaps one that’s less favorable. This can be combined with
  the previous option; e.g., if the player asks to use Gun! as
  First Aid by firing off a magazine and then using the hot bar-
  rel to cauterize a wound, the GM could allow it at -5 . . . and
  rebase the roll from Mr. Hot Shot’s high DX to his mediocre
  IQ, since First Aid is IQ-based.
  Law of the Instrument: If using Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-
  13), the GM may let the player spend two Wildcard Points
  from the wildcard he wants to exploit to invoke Player Guid-
  ance (p. B347) before dice are rolled. This alters the situation
  to one where the wildcard genuinely applies, eliminating any
  penalty for deviating from the high concept. The GM might
  further allow this to change the attribute base; e.g., so that a
  hero with good IQ and so-so DX can capitalize on his expert-
  ise to turn a feat of pure agility into a matter of wits.
  WILDCARD SKILL ROLLS
  
  FINDING THE TARGET
  Wildcard skill levels are recorded in relative terms (see
  Controlling Attribute, p. 5): attribute-3, attribute+2, or what-
  ever. This makes it clear that the actual target number can vary
  depending on circumstances. As with the question of “What
  skill?”, the matter of “What attribute?” is up to the GM, and
  admits some subtleties.
  Using Wildcards With Attributes
  As explained in Using Skills With Other Attributes
  (p. B172), any skill might call for a roll involving any
  of DX, IQ, HT, Will, or Per (or even ST, though that
  should be rare). This remains true for wildcard
  skills. To make wildcard levels competitive with
  attribute and secondary characteristic improve-
  ments, the GM must strive to ensure that they get a
  workout in this regard.
  The nominal attribute base for a wildcard roll is
  the controlling attribute of whatever standard skill
  the wildcard is replacing. If an adventure or a rule
  calls for another score, then use that trait with the
  wildcard instead.
  Where things get interesting is when a wildcard
  represents vague competence rather than a specific
  skill (We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Skills!, p. 23). In that
  case – and in any situation, really – it’s the GM’s job
  to assign the attribute base that matches the essence of the task.
  This is usually obvious, but when inspiration is in short supply,
  these word menus may help:
  DX: Accuracy, balance, coordination, flexibility, grace, and
  precision. Athletics related to these things. Physical agility,
  artfulness, speed, and versatility. Matters of combat, fine
  craftsmanship, and vehicle handling,
  IQ: Creativity, education, inventiveness, knowledge, memory,
  organization, reason, wisdom, and wit. Mental agility, 
  artfulness, speed, and versatility. Matters of art, business,
  magic, math, medicine, science, social interaction, and
  technology.
  HT: Endurance, exertion, stamina, and vitality. Athletics related
  to these things. Physical fitness, focus, resilience, and resist-
  ance. Control over the body.
  Will: Dominance, presence, sanity, spirit, and wits. Mental fit-
  ness, focus, resilience, and resistance. Control over the mind.
  Per: Alertness, attentiveness, awareness, caution, sensitivity, vig-
  ilance, and wakefulness. Matters of information-gathering
  and observation.
  Using Wildcards Without Attributes
  Like standard skill rolls, wildcard rolls can be moved to a
  flat base, usually 10. This suits wildcards well, as their applica-
  tions span many attributes and the GM might desire an overall
  value to use in situations where no one score dominates. 
  It’s particularly appropriate for wildcards that represent an
  overarching supernatural capacity associated with standard
  skills based on a mixture of controlling attributes, especially
  when heroes and their rivals go head-to-head.
  USING WILDCARDS
  24
  Unlike standard skills, wildcards never enjoy perma-
  nent, full-time bonuses to base skill level from other traits.
  Instead, effective skill level gets modifiers pertinent to spe-
  cific tasks. Examining this case by case:
  Basic Attributes and Secondary Characteristics: These
  add to wildcards in the sense that wildcard rolls are
  against one of these scores plus relative skill level, unless
  the GM invokes Using Wildcards Without Attributes
  (above). As Controlling Attribute (p. 5) notes, it’s best to
  think in terms of relative skill level . . . and as with stan-
  dard skills, higher attributes and secondary characteris-
  tics don’t raise relative level.
  Talents: Talents – including Magery, Power Investiture,
  and other advantages that improve magic spells rather than
  mundane skills – never benefit wildcards. See Wildcard
  Skills vs. Talents (p. 10).
  Talent-Like Advantages: Some advantages are Talents
  in all but name; e.g., Charisma and Voice are effectively
  Talents for large groups of social skills. Treat these as Tal-
  ents and ignore them where wildcards are concerned. It’s
  fairest to allow players to decide whether to buy wild-
  cards or to stick with standard skills and advantages that
  boost them; to make wildcards competitive, the GM can
  restore reaction bonuses and the like via Other Bonuses
  (pp. 13-15). However, if an advantage other than a Talent
  exists primarily or exclusively to enhance just one or two
  skills (Absolute Direction, Brachiator, Chameleon, Elastic
  Skin, and Silence are all like this), the GM might permit
  its bonus as a task modifier when using a wildcard as one
  of those skills.
  Advantages Benefiting Tasks: Advantages that assist par-
  ticular kinds of tasks rather than lists of skills add their
  bonuses to effective skill level for those tasks – not to base
  skill level – for both standard and wildcard skills. Examples
  are Arm DX, Higher Purpose, Single-Minded, Versatile,
  and Visualization.
  Bonuses From Other Traits
  My name is Sherlock Holmes. 
  It is my business to know what 
  other people do not know.
  – Arthur Conan Doyle, 
  The Adventure of 
  the Blue Carbuncle
  
  Example: Forceful Chi! (p. 17) encompasses skills based on
  DX, IQ, HT, and Will, while Inner Balance! spans DX, HT, Will,
  and Per. The GM wants to have people with these skills match
  pure chi against pure chi, with no one attribute dominant. 
  A solution would be to roll a Quick Contest in which each party
  adds relative skill level to 10.
  In the most extreme case, the GM might rule that all uses
  of certain supernatural gifts work this way. In effect, (10 +
  relative skill level) becomes a new “attribute” possessed only
  by people who know the wildcard (remember, wildcards have
  no default), allowing those lucky few to use cinematic skills,
  cast spells, or whatever at that level.
  Finally, the GM can use this trick to compensate for the
  lower skill levels that result from the expense of wildcards, bas-
  ing rolls on 11, 12, or more instead of on 10.
  Using Wildcards for Figured Scores
  In any formula based on absolute skill level, replace “skill”
  with “attribute + relative skill level.” The attribute is the one
  that usually controls the standard skill in the formula. Perhaps
  most important, Block and Parry with a wildcard are:
  3 + [(DX + relative skill level)/2]
  This extends beyond success rolls. For instance, Speed-
  Reading (p. B222) multiplies reading speed by 1 + (skill/10), so
  wildcards that include Speed-Reading multiply reading speed
  by 1 + [(IQ + relative skill level)/10]. Likewise, nets (p. B276)
  use skill/5 in their range formula, which becomes (DX + rela-
  tive skill level)/5 for wildcards that cover Net. For a related con-
  cept, see Bonuses From Relative Skill Level (p. 5).
  USING WILDCARDS
  25
  Much of Chapter 1 – particularly Additional Benefits (pp. 10-
  15) and asides such as Conditional-to-General Defaults (p. 6) –
  is devoted to options that matter as much in play as during
  character design. Here are some additional possibilities, tied
  even less to defining specific wildcard skills than to how such
  abilities behave on adventures.
  COMPENSATING
  FOR DIFFICULTY
  An oddity of wildcards is that
  they’re balanced around mostly
  Average skills (How Many?, pp. 9-
  10) and priced at greater-than-Very
  Hard prices, yet may include skills
  of all difficulties. Among other
  things, this can lead to situations
  where masters of entire fields are
  bad at simple tasks. Optionally, the
  GM can pick a “standard difficulty”
  for wildcard tasks and apply modi-
  fiers to rolls that correspond to
  tasks executed with easier or harder
  skills. Possibilities include:
  Easy is Easy: The recommended
  treatment for cinematic campaigns
  is to assume that wildcards are so
  costly that only bonuses would be
  fair, and then to further suppose that
  because most skills are Average, this
  amounts to giving bonuses to wild-
  cards when they replace Easy skills.
  Uses of Easy skills are thus at +1.
  Easy is Trivial: In a highly cinematic campaign, the GM may
  raise the previous bonus to +2 for Easy skills and +1 for
  Average ones – or even give +1 per step easier than Very Hard:
  +3 for Easy, +2 for Average, and +1 for Hard. This make wild-
  cards a much better deal, and is most balanced when using
  wildcards only (Ditching Standard Skills, pp. 22-23).
  Average is Average: In a less-cinematic campaign where the
  GM regards wildcards as simplifications that mostly cover
  hordes of Average skills, Easy skills might still be used at +1 . . .
  but Hard ones get -1 and Very Hard ones suffer -2.
  For fairness, the GM should use one scheme campaign-wide.
  USING
  WILDCARDS
  TOGETHER
  Much of this work (e.g., How
  Many Wildcards in the Campaign?,
  p. 21) counsels the GM to avoid over-
  lap between wildcards that are liable
  to appear on the same character
  sheet. One way to make overlap less
  of a concern – and even turn it into a
  selling point! – is to permit wildcards
  that cover similar ground to reinforce
  one another. Variations on Hyper-
  Competency (p. 13) offers two options
  that rely on a finite resource
  (Wildcard Points): the “common
  pool” and “universal pool.” Below are
  possibilities for the GM who desires
  bonuses with unlimited uses.
  Complementary Skills
  The most modest method is to use
  the notion of complementary skills,
  introduced in the GURPS Dungeon
  Fantasy series. When this rule is in
  effect, if the GM agrees that a “master skill” would benefit from
  the application of a (different!) “complementary skill,” he can
  allow a roll against the complementary skill to help out. This
  gives a modifier to the ensuing master skill roll: +2 for critical
  success, +1 for success, -1 for failure, or -2 for critical failure.
  YET MORE OPTIONAL RULES!
  
  This mechanic is intended to promote teamwork, and nor-
  mally assumes that different PCs are using the complementary
  and master skills. However, wildcards effectively turn an indi-
  vidual into a team! Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) addresses
  this effect when a single wildcard’s individual skills aid one
  another. Permitting complementary skill rolls enables different
  wildcards to assist each other in a less-flashy way that doesn’t
  cost Wildcard Points.
  Complementary skill rolls are a nice fit to wildcards because
  such traits are so broad – there’s almost always a way to justify
  a connection between two of them, if the player’s imagination
  is good enough! The mechanic is easy to use, too, and unlikely
  to throw the game out of balance; the bonus it gives is small
  (+1 or +2) and not risk-free (the -1 or -2). The downside is that
  the GM will face a steady stream of player requests leading to
  additional dice rolls and associated judgment calls. As well, the
  results might seem too understated for a highly cinematic cam-
  paign, though that’s easily fixed:
  Rescaled Complementary Bonuses: To make high wildcard
  levels count, if the bonus from the “Half Bonus” column of the
  Wildcard Benefits Table (p. 14) exceeds +1, use that as the ben-
  efit the wildcard grants on a successful complementary skill
  roll. Critical success gives +1 relative to that. For instance, for
  someone with attribute+3 and a “half bonus” of +2, the range
  of effects becomes -2, -1, +2, and +3. The GM who wants really
  over-the-top action might use the full “Wildcard
  Bonus” column!
  Automatic Bonuses
  Another possibility is to use the essential concept
  of complementary skills without the associated skill
  rolls. If the player can convince the GM that one
  wildcard should benefit another, then it does. For its
  effects, refer to the “Half Bonus” column of the
  Wildcard Benefits Table (p. 14).
  This option has the upside of being somewhat
  faster to use; there are judgment calls but no addi-
  tional dice rolls. And though it does guarantee only
  bonuses – possibly large ones, at extreme wildcard
  levels – a major investment is needed to see any ben-
  efit at all. Thus, it’s probably balanced and might
  even be somewhat austere. To work around this
  stinginess, the GM can use this next optional rule:
  Complementary and Automatic Bonuses: If the
  GM desires larger bonuses and the gaming group
  likes rolling dice, add automatic bonuses to the stan-
  dard complementary ones (-2, -1, +1, and +2). The
  range of effects for that hero with attribute+3 level
  and a “half bonus” of +2 would then become 0, +1,
  +3, and +4!
  It’s All About the Points
  A different way to let multiple wildcards “stack” without
  extra dice rolls is to add the points invested in them whenever
  they cover the same standard skill for the purpose of a task.
  Look up total points on the Wildcard Cost Table (p. 4) or
  Wildcard Benefits Table (p. 14) to figure effective skill level. For
  instance, if Commando! and Gun! cover Guns (Rifle), then a
  sniper with 36 points in each of them has only attribute+1 for
  most tasks but effectively 72 points in shooting rifles, and
  therefore shoots at attribute+4.
  When assessing Other Bonuses (pp. 13-15), use only the
  highest bonus from among the relevant wildcards. Never sum
  bonuses or calculate them from total points. In the example,
  the bonus would be +1 for attribute+1 – not +2 for two wild-
  cards at that level, much less +4 for one at attribute+4!
  The GM might use this method in the same campaign as
  Complementary Skills (pp. 25-26) or Automatic Bonuses
  (above). Perhaps points add when two or more wildcards
  encompass exactly the same standard skill for a specific task,
  while complementary and automatic bonuses apply when they
  don’t. It’s up to the GM whether to allow hybrid cases, like per-
  mitting multiple skills to sum points for a complementary skill
  roll to aid a master skill roll that also involves total points . . .
  but as that would get annoying in actual play, an either/or
  approach is recommended.
  USING WILDCARDS
  26
  Wild Criticals
  In a cinematic game where wildcards compete with standard
  skills, increasing their critical success range can make them attrac-
  tive and foster a larger-than-life mood. Instead of critical success on
  3-4, rising to 3-5 at effective skill 15 and 3-6 at effective skill 16+,
  use one of these schemes:
  Open-Ended Criticals: For wildcards, the standard progression
  doesn’t stop! Success by 10+ is always a critical success: 3-7 at
  effective skill 17, 3-8 at skill 18, and so on.
  Slow Open-Ended Criticals: Every two levels of effective wildcard
  skill past 16 adds one to the range: 3-6 at effective skill 16-17, 3-7 at
  skill 18-19, 3-8 at skill 20-21, and so on.
  Relatively Critical: Wildcards start with a critical success range
  of 3-4 and add the “Half Bonus” from the Wildcard Benefits Table
  (p. 14); e.g., attribute+5 gives +3, making the range 3-7. Over-the-
  top campaigns might use the full bonus! Either way, the roll must
  succeed to be a critical success. Such a scheme makes high relative
  skill level worthwhile.
  Players love frequent critical successes, but it’s recommended
  that the GM set a maximum, whatever rule is used; 9 or even 8 is
  still generous.
  If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire 
  the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.
  – Mohandas Gandhi
  
  Many wildcard skills have appeared in GURPS supple-
  ments to date. What follows is a compilation of these. Wild-
  cards created for specific genre treatments (GURPS Action,
  GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, GURPS Monster Hunters, etc.) or
  campaign settings (e.g., Transhuman Space) have been edited
  to be more generic. Each entry notes its source(s) for gamers
  who want to understand it in its original context.
  The top goal of this collection is to furnish inspiration.
  These examples collectively illustrate most of the concepts in
  Chapters 1 and 2, and therefore aren’t uniformly broad, cine-
  matic, or generic; thus, using them all in the same game isn’t
  recommended. Instead, pick those that fit your campaign –
  either “as is” or with adjustments – and approach the rest as a
  source of insight when designing wildcards to fill any gaps.
  This inventory is canonical and exhaustive only in the sense
  that it includes every wildcard published so far . . . there’s
  boundless room for innovation!
  The wildcard skills are sorted alphabetically. For each,
  the name is followed by the attribute most often used for
  rolls against it – which, as Controlling Attribute (p. 5)
  explains, isn’t a hard-and-fast association. Then comes the
  following information:
  Skills: Standard skills the wildcard encompasses, including
  conditional skills and skill-like benefits.
  Suggested Benefits: Possibilities from Additional Benefits
  (pp. 10-15) that would fit especially well even if the campaign
  doesn’t otherwise use those options.
  Source(s): The GURPS supplement(s) the wildcard comes
  from. The title(s) alone should hint at especially appropriate
  and inappropriate genres and TLs.
  Notes: Any further comments, comparisons, and suggestions.
  Art!
  IQ
  Skills: Architecture, Artist, Camouflage, Carpentry, Cartog-
  raphy, Connoisseur (for all Artist specialties), Current Affairs
  (High Culture), Engineer (Civil), Jeweler, Makeup, and Smith
  (Lead and Tin). Also replaces Counterfeiting to fabricate fakes
  but not to spot anti-counterfeiting measures; Forgery to create
  artistic replicas but not false documents; and Propaganda to
  place subtle-but-pervasive messages in artworks. Can further
  act as Mathematics (Applied) when the previous skills require
  it, though not in general. Make a DX-based roll for any “crafts-
  man” Professional Skill that the GM feels has a significant
  artistic component.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for artistic
  experience, and to avoid obsolete knowledge with Current
  Affairs; bonuses to reaction rolls toward works created using
  Art! (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: Pyramid #2 (March 7, 2008).
  Notes: The original version – called Artist!, but renamed
  here to avoid confusion with the standard Artist skill – was
  intended for European Renaissance games. In that context, it
  can substitute for Physiology; artists were expected to under-
  stand the workings of the human body, and would visit dissec-
  tions and medical schools to educate themselves. At TL5+, add
  Photography instead. In magical settings, Art! might replace
  Symbol Drawing in applications that depend more on render-
  ing symbols properly than on grasping their use and meaning.
  Assassin!
  DX
  Skills: Fast-Draw (Knife and Pistol), Garrote, Knife, and
  Stealth. Doesn’t stand in for ranged-weapon skills in general,
  but for aimed or surprise shots out of combat, the user can roll
  against the higher of this skill or his combat skill with any
  ranged weapon. Make an IQ-based roll for Acting, Camouflage,
  Disguise, Holdout, Poisons, Shadowing, or Smuggling, or a
  Per-based roll for Tracking.
  Suggested Benefits: Bonuses to rolls for poison damage
  and/or to spot rival assassins (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Action 1: Heroes.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard.
  Barbarian!
  IQ
  Skills: Camouflage, Disguise (Animals), Mimicry (Animal
  Sounds and Bird Calls), Naturalist, Navigation (Land), and
  Weather Sense. Make a HT-based roll for Hiking, Running,
  or Swimming, or a Per-based roll for Fishing, Survival (any),
  or Tracking.
  Suggested Benefits: Bonus to resist natural hardships
  (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard. Compare Hunter!
  (p. 31).
  Bard!
  IQ
  Skills: Acting, Current Affairs (any), Diplomacy, Fast-Talk,
  Heraldry, Musical Instrument (any), Performance, Poetry, Prop-
  aganda, and Public Speaking. Make a HT-based roll for Carous-
  ing or Singing, or a Per-based roll for Detect Lies.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for artistic
  experience and culture; bonuses to reaction or Influence rolls
  after successfully using the wildcard to perform (Sample
  Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard.
  EXAMPLES
  27
  CHAPTER THREE
  EXAMPLES
  
  Blade!
  DX
  Skills: Axe/Mace, Broadsword, Knife, Polearm, Rapier,
  Saber, Shortsword, Smallsword, Spear, Two-Handed Axe/Mace,
  Two-Handed Sword, or any other skill when wielding an edged
  melee weapon that does cutting, impaling, or piercing damage
  – but not for crushing or ranged attacks. Also roll against
  Blade! for any physical action in which such a weapon is
  instrumental; e.g., Acrobatics to dodge during a swordfight or
  to exploit a longsword as a vaulting lever, Climbing to use
  knives as improvised pitons, or Forced Entry to hack through
  a lock or a door. Further replaces any roll required to grab,
  ready, or retain a bladed weapon, including all relevant Fast-
  Draw specialties, Dropping or Throwing to toss a bladed
  weapon to a friend, and DX rolls to catch one. Make an IQ-
  based roll for Holdout to conceal a blade, and for skills like
  Armoury, Connoisseur, Current Affairs, Merchant, and Street-
  wise when it comes to buying, pricing, recognizing, repairing,
  or selling bladed weapons; a Will-based roll for Intimidation
  when wielding such a weapon; or a Per-based roll for Observa-
  tion or Search to find one (even an improvised one).
  Suggested Benefits: Extra-Broad Perks and Techniques (pp. 11-
  12); ST bonus when wielding relevant weapons (Sample
  Bonuses, pp. 13-15), if the GM wants to go really over the top!
  Source: GURPS Monster Hunters 1: Champions.
  Notes: Originally a template building block (pp. 18-19). Com-
  pare Katana! (p. 32) and Sword! (p. 36).
  Boat!
  DX
  Skills: Boating (all specialties),
  and make an IQ-based roll for
  Shiphandling (Ship or Submarine).
  Allows rolls to operate any weapons
  system installed in a water vehicle,
  and for attack maneuvers with the
  vehicle itself.
  Suggested 
  Benefits: 
  Wildcard
  Familiarity (p. 11) and Wildcard Tech
  Level (p. 11) for water vehicles; bonus
  to avoid the effects of motion sickness
  (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Notes: As originally presented, this
  is a somewhat limited skill. The GM
  might add Knot-Tying, Meteorology,
  Navigation (Sea), Seamanship, and
  Submariner – plus Electronics Opera-
  tion (any) for vehicular systems,
  Freight Handling for cargos, and Mechanic for repairs, where
  water vehicles are involved. Compare Wheel Man! (p. 37).
  Bow!
  DX
  Skills: Blowpipe, Bow, Crossbow, Sling, Spear Thrower,
  and Thrown Weapon (Dart), as well as all related Fast-Draw
  skills. Make an IQ-based roll for Armoury pertaining to these
  weapons. Use Bow! in place of such skills as Acrobatics and
  Climbing for crossing or swinging from bow-launched climb-
  ing lines, and when shooting while dangling from high places.
  Suggested Benefits: Bonuses to Accuracy, to ST, and/or 
  to Will to retain Aim with relevant weapons (Sample Bonuses,
  pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Businessman!
  IQ
  Skills: Accounting, Administration, Current Affairs (Busi-
  ness), Economics, Finance, Gambling, Law (Contract and
  Corporate), Market Analysis, and Merchant, as well as Diplo-
  macy for business negotiations and Propaganda for commer-
  cial advertising.
  Suggested Benefits: Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) to allow
  the exchange of Wildcard Points for a little extra cash each
  game session; bonuses to reaction or Influence rolls after using
  the wildcard to close a deal (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Notes: Compare Money! (p. 34).
  Cleaner!
  IQ
  Skills: Camouflage, Freight Handling, Holdout, Housekeep-
  ing, and Smuggling – and also Animal Handling, Chemistry,
  Electronics Operation, Explosives, Forgery, and Hazardous
  Materials whenever the objective is to doctor evidence, dispose
  of it, or create fake records legitimizing it. Make a Per-based roll
  for Search or Tracking, or a DX-
  based roll for Stealth.
  Suggested 
  Benefits: 
  Hyper-
  Competency
  (pp. 12-13) to use
  player guidance to have the evi-
  dence disappear; bonus to spot the
  concealment efforts of rivals
  (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source:
  GURPS 
  Action 
  1:
  Heroes.
  Notes: Originally a template
  wildcard.
  Cleric!
  IQ
  Skills: Any Philosophy, Religious
  Ritual, or Theology skill for the
  priest’s faith, plus Diagnosis, First
  Aid, Hidden Lore (Demons, Spirits,
  Undead, etc.), Occultism, Public
  Speaking, Surgery, and Teaching.
  Make a Will-based roll for Exorcism
  or Meditation, or a Per-based roll for Esoteric Medicine (Holy).
  Suggested Benefits: Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) for divine
  intervention; bonuses to reactions from holy entities and/or to
  HP restored using this wildcard (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Sources: GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers and
  GURPS Supers.
  Notes: The Dungeon Fantasy version is a template wildcard
  for the classic fantasy healer-priest. The Supers variant is more
  generic, replacing medical skills (Diagnosis, Esoteric Medicine,
  First Aid, and Surgery) and knowledge of the occult (Hidden
  Lore and Occultism) with Group Performance (Conducting) and
  Law (Canon), and leaving Philosophy and Teaching implicit.
  EXAMPLES
  28
  
  The resulting wildcard is so narrow that the GM may want to
  beef it up by letting it function as any social skill – Detect Lies,
  Diplomacy, Leadership, Politics, Propaganda, Savoir-Faire,
  Teaching, etc. – when interacting with church officials, the
  faithful, or theologians. Compare Lore! (p. 32).
  Computers!
  IQ
  Skills: Computer Hacking, Computer Operation, Com-
  puter Programming, Cryptography, Electronics Repair (Com-
  puters), Expert Skill (Computer Security), and Mathematics
  (Computer Science and Cryptology). Gives familiarity with
  all programming languages that don’t require an Unusual
  Background. Can also be used to make Influence rolls against
  alien space probes, giant robots with logical puzzles, and sim-
  ilar entities.
  Suggested Benefits: Already gives Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11)
  for software. If alien space probes and giant robots exist,
  Wildcard Ultra-Tech (p. 11) and a bonus to reactions from such
  entities (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15) would also fit.
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Notes: Compare Hacker! (p. 31).
  Courtier!
  IQ
  Skills: Current Affairs (Headline News, High Culture,
  People, and Politics, as well as Sports for upper-class pas-
  times), Heraldry, Poetry, Politics, Public Speaking, and
  Savoir-Faire (High Society, obviously, plus Dojo if any mar-
  tial arts are considered important at court); Area Knowledge
  for the immediate environs of major palaces; and Games for
  the rules of combat tournaments and particularly fashionable
  games the GM deems relevant to courtiers. Make a DX-based
  roll for Dancing or any Sports skill that’s especially popular
  at court; a HT-based roll for Carousing or Singing; or a Per-
  based roll to attempt Observation within the bounds of a
  familiar court.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) to avoid
  obsolete knowledge with Current Affairs; Hyper-Competency
  (pp. 12-13) to exchange Wildcard Points for Favors in play or
  extra cash, originating from deals made at court; bonuses to
  reaction rolls from the ruling class and fellow courtiers
  (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: Pyramid #2 (March 7, 2008).
  Notes: Originally intended for European Renaissance
  games. In other settings, adjust the skill list to reflect the artis-
  tic accomplishments deemed fitting for courtiers.
  Demolition Man!
  IQ
  Skills: Engineer (Combat), Explosives (any), and Traps;
  Architecture and Mechanic when planting bombs in buildings
  and vehicles, respectively; Armoury (any), Artillery (any), and
  Expert Skill (Military Science) when dealing with explosive
  weapons; Chemistry to manufacture explosives; and Smug-
  gling to hide bombs. Make a Per-based roll for Search to find
  a hidden bomb. Make a DX-based roll to attack with Guns
  (Grenade Launcher or LAW), or to chuck hand grenades 
  with Throwing.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) with explo-
  sives; Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) to avert explosive critical
  failures; bonus explosive damage (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15),
  perhaps adding the “half bonus” to 6d in big blasts expressed
  as 6d¥n, so that attribute+3 turns 6d¥20 into (6d+2)¥20 for a
  satisfying +40 instead of an insignificant +3.
  Source: GURPS Action 1: Heroes.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard.
  Detective!
  IQ
  Skills: Criminology, Detect Lies, Electronics Operation
  (Security and Surveillance), Forensics, Interrogation, Law,
  Observation, Research, Savoir-Faire (Police), Search, Shadow-
  ing, Streetwise, etc.
  Suggested Benefits: Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) to use
  player guidance to find clues; bonuses to IQ rolls for the Empa-
  thy and Intuition advantages (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Sources: GURPS Basic Set and GURPS Monster Hunters
  1: Champions.
  Notes: Monster Hunters interprets “etc.” liberally to generate
  a template building block (pp. 18-19) suited to 400-point gam-
  ing. This version can temporarily replace any skill for the spe-
  cific purpose of finding evidence: Administration to finagle
  records; Biology, Chemistry, Housekeeping, and Physics to
  deduce what really happened from evidence; Body Language to
  keep tabs on people; and Savoir-Faire to coax (or trick) informa-
  tion from others. It can also serve as Intelligence Analysis to help
  put it all together. And it gives the Empathy and Intuition bene-
  fits suggested above. Compare Investigator! (p. 32).
  Drive!
  DX
  Skills: Bicycling and Driving (all specialties). Permits an IQ-
  based roll for Teamster. Allows rolls to operate any weapons
  system installed in a land vehicle, and for attack maneuvers
  with the vehicle itself.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) and Wildcard
  Tech Level (p. 11) for land vehicles; bonus to avoid the effects
  of motion sickness (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Notes: In its original form, this wildcard is somewhat spar-
  ing. The GM might include Navigation (Land), as well as
  Electronics Operation (any) for vehicular systems, Freight
  Handling for cargos, Mechanic for repairs, and Shadowing to
  follow another vehicle, where land transportation is involved.
  Compare Wheel Man! (p. 37).
  Druid!
  IQ
  Skills: Druidic specialties of Religious Ritual and Theology,
  as well as Animal Handling (any), Disguise (Animals), Herb
  Lore, Hidden Lore (any natural lore), Naturalist, Pharmacy
  (Herbal), Veterinary, and Weather Sense. Make a Per-based
  roll for Esoteric Medicine (Druidic) or any kind of Survival.
  Suggested Benefits: Bonuses to reactions from nature spirits,
  to resistance against natural hardships, and/or to HP restored
  using this wildcard (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard.
  EXAMPLES
  29
  
  Encyclopedist!
  IQ
  Skills: Area Knowledge (any), Current Affairs (any), all
  Expert Skills, Games (only for knowledge of the rules), all
  IQ-based Hobby Skills, and Research. Allows the user to
  answer any purely factual question, but not necessarily to
  understand those facts. Never enables practical tasks of
  any kind, and doesn’t encompass Hidden Lore.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) with
  the above skills; bonus to any IQ roll required for learn-
  ing, recall, etc. (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Explorer!
  Per
  Skills: Fishing, Survival (any), and Tracking, as well as
  Observation in wilderness environments. Make an IQ-based
  roll for any use of Anthropology, Camouflage, Cartography,
  Geography, Gesture, Meteorology, Naturalist, Navigation, or
  Traps that relates to wilderness or unexplored areas.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for new
  regions, and for culture in “first contact” situations; bonus to
  resist natural hardships (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Notes: This wildcard is somewhat austere, and might bor-
  row elements of Barbarian! (p. 27), Hunter! (p. 31), or Scout!
  (p. 35) in a more action-oriented game.
  Face Man!
  IQ
  Skills: Acting, Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Gambling, Leadership,
  Merchant, Propaganda, Public Speaking, and Savoir-Faire –
  and Administration and Psychology for the purpose of social
  manipulation. Make a DX-based roll for Dancing, a HT-based
  roll for Carousing or Sex Appeal, a Will-based roll for Intimi-
  dation, or a Per-based roll for Body Language or Detect Lies.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for culture;
  Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) for Favors in play; bonuses to
  reaction or Influence rolls after using the wildcard to make a
  first impression (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Action 1: Heroes.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard. Compare Negotiator!
  (p. 34) and Talker! (p. 36).
  Fake!
  IQ
  Skills: Acting, Disguise, Fast-Talk, Forgery, Fortune-Telling,
  Mimicry (Speech), Savoir-Faire, and Streetwise. Also replaces
  Leadership for group efforts to deceive or manipulate others.
  At the GM’s discretion, any skill that has an attribute or sec-
  ondary characteristic default and that isn’t restricted by pre-
  requisite skills can default to Fake! at the same penalty, where
  beneficial. This default cannot exceed the relevant attribute -1
  for Easy skills, -2 for Average, -3 for Hard, or -4 for Very Hard;
  that is, Fake! cannot be as good as actually spending a charac-
  ter point to learn a skill.
  Suggested Benefits: The ability to replace attributes when
  calculating defaults already amounts to an application of
  Sample Bonuses (pp. 13-15). Both Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11)
  for culture and a bonus to penetrate deceptions by rival fakes
  would also fit.
  Sources: GURPS Social Engineering and GURPS Supers.
  Notes: Compare Talker! (p. 36).
  Fist!
  DX
  Skills: Boxing, Brawling, Judo, Karate, Parry Missile
  Weapons, Sumo Wrestling, and Wrestling, as well as “tradi-
  tional martial-arts weapons” skills such as Staff and Tonfa. Use
  this in place of Acrobatics and Jumping in combat, and make
  an IQ-based roll for Savoir-Faire (Dojo) in social situations.
  Those with Trained by a Master may add esoteric and cine-
  matic skills for unarmed combat to the list. Fist! at DX gives +1
  per die to damage with strikes (including bites and other natu-
  ral attacks, and blows using fist loads), slams, and shoves, and
  +1 to ST for all grappling purposes; at DX+1, this rises to +2 per
  die to damage and +2 to ST for grappling. Fist! enjoys a +3
  retreat bonus when parrying, yet isn’t penalized for encum-
  brance or for parrying kicks or weapons.
  Suggested Benefits: Extra-Broad Perks and Techniques
  (pp. 11-12); damage and ST bonuses generalized past +2
  (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Sources: GURPS Supers and Pyramid #3/31: Monster
  Hunters.
  Notes: Pyramid #3/31 expands Fist! into a template building
  block (pp. 18-19) suitable for 400-point gaming. It exchanges
  “traditional martial-arts weapons” for weapons wielded with
  unarmed skills, but then adds many more skills: Body Language
  and Observation to realize that someone is about to throw a
  sucker punch; Climbing in combat; Detect Lies to see through
  empty threats made by fist-waving foes; Fast-Talk to engage in
  specious intimidation (p. B202); Forced Entry for smashing
  inanimate objects with bare hands; Intimidation (specious or
  not) when menacing others with barehanded pain; and Tactics
  for unarmed fighting. Compare Martial Artist! (p. 33).
  Gun!
  DX
  Skills: All Beam Weapons, Gunner, Guns, and Liquid Pro-
  jector specialties, and all associated Fast-Draw specialties
  (Ammo, Long Arm, and Pistol). Make an IQ-based roll for any
  use of Armoury (Heavy Weapons or Small Arms).
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) and
  Wildcard Tech Level (p. 11) for guns; Hyper-Competency
  (pp. 12-13) for Bullet Time; bonuses to Accuracy and/or to
  Will to retain Aim with relevant weapons (Sample Bonuses,
  pp. 13-15).
  Sources: GURPS Basic Set, GURPS Gun Fu, and GURPS
  Monster Hunters 1: Champions.
  EXAMPLES
  30
  I know very little about acting.
  I’m just an incredibly gifted faker.
  – Robert Downey Jr.
  
  Notes: Monster Hunters expands Gun! into a template build-
  ing block (pp. 18-19) suited to 400-point gaming. It allows Acro-
  batics, Dancing, Jumping, and so on to move in a gunfight;
  Brawling when pistol-whipping; Connoisseur, Current Affairs,
  Merchant, and Streetwise when it comes to buying, pricing, rec-
  ognizing, or selling guns; Crossbow for gun-like weapons; Drop-
  ping and Throwing to toss an empty gun at a foe or a loaded
  weapon to a friend (or DX to catch one); Holdout to conceal a
  gun; Interrogation, Intimidation, or Streetwise when negotiating
  at gunpoint; Observation or Search to spot a hidden weapon;
  Spear with an attached bayonet; and technical skills such as
  Electronics Operation, Explosives, and Mechanic specifically for
  stunts like using a perfectly placed shot to bypass an electronic
  keypad, set off or disarm a bomb, or disable a brake line. It also
  permits a DX-based roll to retain guns against disarms, Pick-
  pocket attempts, etc. Compare Shooter! (pp. 35-36).
  Hacker!
  IQ
  Skills: Computer Hacking, Computer Operation, Computer
  Programming, Cryptography, Electronics Repair (Computers),
  and Expert Skill (Computer Security). Can also stand in for
  Accounting, Cartography, Forgery, Research, or Speed-Reading
  when creating, seeking, reading, or altering digital files via com-
  puter – but not when working with printed or written records.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for software;
  Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) to allow Favors in play in the
  form of friendly insiders with passwords, and to trade Wild-
  card Points for money at hacked ATMs.
  Source: GURPS Action 1: Heroes.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard. Compare Computers!
  (p. 29).
  History!
  IQ
  Skills: All specialties of Anthropology, Archaeol-
  ogy, History, and Paleontology; the historical versions
  of Area Knowledge, Current Affairs, Geography, Her-
  aldry, and Sociology; and the “academic” and histori-
  cal elements of the various artistic skills (“Why, this is
  a lost Leonardo masterpiece, Billy!”). Also removes
  Cultural Familiarity penalties for all historical eras,
  and halves them for parallel histories.
  Suggested Benefits: Already offers Wildcard
  Familiarity (p. 11) for culture, and this could be 
  extended to Geographical and Temporal Scope (p. B176).
  Source: GURPS Infinite Worlds.
  Notes: Compare Scholar! (p. 35).
  Holy Warrior!
  IQ
  Skills: Leadership, Religious Ritual, Strategy, Tactics, and
  Theology. Also covers all Hidden Lore, Physiology, and Psy-
  chology specialties pertaining to evil monsters. Make a Will-
  based roll for Exorcism, Intimidation, or Meditation.
  Suggested Benefits: Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) for divine
  intervention; bonuses to reactions from holy entities and/or to
  damage to unholy ones (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard. Compare Lore! (p. 32).
  Horseman!
  DX
  Skills: Riding (Horse) and skills for cavalry weapons appro-
  priate to the setting, always including Lance. Replaces Acro-
  batics when mounting, dismounting, or engaging in “trick
  riding.” Make IQ-based rolls for Animal Handling (Equines),
  Packing, and Teamster – and for Veterinary when dealing with
  equines. A user with Animal Empathy or the Good with Horses
  perk can also make an IQ-based roll for Diplomacy or a Will-
  based roll for Intimidation against equines.
  Suggested Benefits: Bonuses to ST when wielding cavalry
  weapons, and to mount’s DX and HT rolls for hazards (Sample
  Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: Pyramid #3/53: Action.
  Notes: In a cinematic campaign with many broad wild-
  cards, it would be reasonable to include techniques that
  GURPS Martial Arts ascribes to mounted styles, or simply to
  allow users riding and fighting at the same time to do both at
  full Horseman! level.
  Hunter!
  IQ
  Skills: Animal Handling, Camouflage, Falconry, Mimicry
  (Animal Sounds and Bird Calls), Naturalist, Navigation (Land),
  and Traps. Make a DX-based roll for Riding, or for Stealth in
  wilderness conditions; a HT-based roll for Hiking; or a Per-
  based roll for Fishing, Survival, or Tracking, or to attempt
  Observation in the wilderness.
  Suggested Benefits: Bonus to resist natural hardships
  (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15) – and possibly a “half bonus” to
  active defenses against savage beasts, hunting accidents, etc.
  Source: Pyramid #2 (March 7, 2008).
  Notes: In times and places where upper-class hunters use
  chariots, Teamster might replace Riding. Compare Barbarian!
  (p. 27), Explorer! (p. 30), and Scout! (p. 35).
  Infiltrator!
  DX
  Skills: Acrobatics, Climbing, Escape, Filch, Forced Entry,
  Jumping, and Stealth – and Knot-Tying and Throwing for
  climbing lines and grapnels. Make an IQ-based roll for Camou-
  flage, Electronics Operation (Security), or Lockpicking, or to
  exploit Architecture or Cartography to plan a robbery. Make
  Per-based rolls to use Traps to detect security devices, and IQ-
  based rolls to disarm them – but never to set traps.
  Suggested Benefits: Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) for
  player guidance to find doors left unlocked and keys left unat-
  tended; bonus to rolls to spot rival sneaks (Sample Bonuses,
  pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Action 1: Heroes.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard. Compare Thief! (p. 37).
  EXAMPLES
  31
  Useful against savage beasts 
  . . . and hunting accidents!
  
  Inventor!
  IQ
  Skills: All specialties of Bioengineering and Engineer. Also
  acts as a Mathematics prerequisite for any other skill. Can
  replace any skill roll required for inventing (p. B473) or gad-
  geteering (p. B475)! This includes Concept, Prototype, analysis,
  and modification rolls – everything except the roll for a gad-
  geteer to find parts (which is usually covered by Scrounging,
  but sometimes requires a more specialized skill).
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) and Wildcard
  Ultra-Tech (p. 11) with all relevant gadgetry; Hyper-Competency
  (pp. 12-13) to use player guidance to find needed parts; bonus
  to rolls on the Enigmatic Device Table (see Sample Bonuses,
  pp. 13-15).
  Sources: GURPS Monster Hunters 1: Champions and
  GURPS Supers.
  Notes: Monster Hunters uses this skill as a template build-
  ing block (pp. 18-19). Supers spells out that “any skill roll
  required for inventing or gadgeteering” includes Armoury,
  Computer Programming, Electrician, Electronics Repair,
  Explosives, Machinist, Mechanic, Metallurgy, Smith, and
  Traps; any Expert Skills relevant to recognizing or identifying
  technological devices; and the technological applications of
  Weird Science. Compare Mechanism! (p. 33), which is better
  for settings that have yet to reach mature TL5.
  Investigator!
  IQ
  Skills: Criminology, Electronics Operation (Surveillance),
  Forensics, Intelligence Analysis, Interrogation, Photography,
  Research, and Shadowing; Accounting and Speed-Reading
  when the objective is to spot irregularities in records; and
  Computer Operation when accessing DMV records, finger-
  print libraries, Interpol databases, etc. Make a Per-based roll
  for Body Language, Detect Lies, Lip Reading, Observation,
  Search, or Tracking.
  Suggested Benefits: Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) to use
  player guidance to find clues; bonuses to IQ rolls for the Empa-
  thy and Intuition advantages (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Action 1: Heroes.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard. Compare Detec-
  tive! (p. 29).
  Katana!
  DX
  Skills: Both one-handed (Broadsword) and two-handed
  (Two-Handed Sword) use of the katana. May substitute for
  Breaking Blow, Fast-Draw, Intimidation, Power Blow, and
  Throwing when using that weapon.
  Suggested Benefits: Extra-Broad Perks and Techniques
  (pp. 11-12); bonuses to ST when wielding a katana – and to the
  katana’s rolls to avoid breakage, because it’s just that cool
  (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Fantasy-Tech 1: The Edge of Reality.
  Notes: A weapon wildcard (pp. 19-20) originally intended
  for the “legendary katana,” a TL3^ exaggeration of the histori-
  cal sword. The GM might add any skill taught by any version
  of Kenjutsu (see GURPS Martial Arts) – including Armoury,
  Blind Fighting, Flying Leap, Immovable Stance, Kiai, Mental
  Strength, Precognitive Parry, Savoir-Faire, and Tactics – for the
  katana only. Compare Blade! (p. 28) and Sword! (p. 36).
  Knight!
  DX
  Skills: “Heavy” Melee Weapon skills (Axe/Mace, Broad -
  sword, Flail, Polearm, Spear, Two-Handed Sword, etc.) and
  Shield – plus Lance and Riding (Horse), for mounted combat.
  Make an IQ-based roll for Leadership, Strategy, or Tactics, or
  when an Armoury or Connoisseur roll is called for to recognize
  or maintain arms or armor.
  Suggested Benefits: Bonuses to ST when wielding “heavy”
  melee weapons and/or to the Fright Checks of troops led using
  this wildcard (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard. For a “knight” in the
  mounted-combat sense, use Horseman! (p. 31).
  Lore!
  IQ
  Skills: Exorcism (at the usual -4 without holy advantages),
  Occultism, Research, and all monster-related specialties of Hid-
  den Lore. Also counts as Area Knowledge, Current Affairs, and
  History for researching local monsters; as Biology, Diagnosis,
  Expert Skill (Psionics), Physics (Paraphysics), Psychology, Thau-
  matology, Theology, and Veterinary for the specific purposes of
  identifying or discovering information about monsters or other
  supernatural foes; as Criminology, Intelligence Analysis, Obser-
  vation, Psychology, and Tactics when attempting to outwit such
  an enemy, divine its motivation, or predict its actions; and as
  Forensics and Search to comb through a former lair or the scene
  of a monster attack. Roll against the better of IQ or Lore! when
  using Empathy to recognize monsters disguised as humans, or
  Intuition to guess where monsters are or what they’re doing.
  Lore! doesn’t bestow supernatural abilities, but counts as the
  above skills where they’re prerequisites for such things.
  Suggested Benefits: Already offers bonuses to use Empathy
  and Intuition (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15). Wildcard Familiar-
  ity (p. 11) removing culture and physiology penalties for
  monsters would also fit.
  Source: GURPS Monster Hunters 1: Champions.
  Notes: Originally a template building block (pp. 18-19).
  Compare Cleric! (pp. 28-29), Holy Warrior! (p. 31), Magic!
  (below), Occult! (p. 34), and Wizard! (p. 37).
  Magic!
  IQ
  Prerequisite: Magery.
  Skills: Allows the user to cast any spell he wants at a penalty
  equal to the spell’s prerequisite count; see Wildcard Magic
  (p. 16) for important details.
  Suggested Benefits: Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) to allow the
  exchange of Wildcard Points for energy, if the GM wants a high-
  powered campaign; bonuses to damage and healing with spells
  (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15), for something less extreme.
  Sources: GURPS Magic and GURPS Supers.
  Notes: Supers also lets Magic! work as Hazardous Materials
  (Magical), Occultism, and Thaumatology. Compare Lore!
  (above), Occult! (p. 34), and Wizard! (p. 37).
  EXAMPLES
  32
  
  Map!
  IQ
  Skills: An encyclopedic knowledge of where places 
  are. This excludes unmapped dungeons or buildings, hidden
  fortresses, etc.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for new
  regions; Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) to use player guidance
  to find the right path; bonuses to rolls to avoid getting lost,
  and to resist supernatural disorientation (Sample Bonuses,
  pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 5: Allies.
  Notes: The original wildcard names no standard skills, leav-
  ing Map! to work like an ultimate template wildcard (p. 18) for
  someone whose role is knowing where things are. It could
  replace Architecture or Urban Survival to guess what’s around
  the corner in a building or on city streets, respectively; all Area
  Knowledge and Geography specialties for specifics about any
  region not restricted by Hidden Lore or an Unusual Back-
  ground; and Cartography and Current Affairs (Travel).
  Martial Artist!
  DX
  Skills: Judo, Karate, and any Melee Weapon or Thrown
  Weapon skill used with “exotic” weapons: Axe/Mace for kama,
  Flail for nunchaku, Jitte/Sai, Kusari, Smallsword for jo, Staff for
  bo, Thrown Weapon (Shuriken), and Tonfa. Also covers related
  Fast-Draw skills, and any use of Acrobatics, Climbing, Jumping,
  or Stealth in combat. Make a Will-based roll for Meditation.
  Suggested Benefits: Extra-Broad Perks and Techniques
  (pp. 11-12); ST bonus when fighting barehanded or with rele-
  vant weapons (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard. Compare Fist! (p. 30).
  Mechanism!
  IQ
  Skills: Carpentry, Current Affairs (Science & Technology),
  Lockpicking, Machinist, Metallurgy, and Traps; all Armoury,
  Artillery, Engineer, Explosives, Liquid Projector, Mechanic,
  and Smith specialties known in the game world; and any use
  of Mathematics (Applied) relevant to work with the previous
  skills. In a campaign where Weird Science exists, add its tech-
  nological applications to the list.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) and
  Wildcard Tech Level (p. 11) with all relevant gadgetry; Hyper-
  Competency (pp. 12-13) to use player guidance to find
  needed parts.
  Source: Pyramid #2 (March 7, 2008).
  Notes: Intended for games set at or below early TL5. Com-
  pare Inventor! (p. 32), which better suits mature TL5 and above.
  Medic!
  IQ
  Skills: Diagnosis, Expert Skill (Epidemiology), Hazardous
  Materials (Biological), Pharmacy, Physician, Poisons, Psychol-
  ogy, and Surgery – and also Chemistry when dealing with
  drugs, Forensics when conducting an autopsy, and Naturalist
  to know what toxin or venom is afflicting someone.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for physiol-
  ogy; bonuses to HT rolls to avoid joining the infected, to HP
  restored by healing, to reaction rolls from people cured, and/or
  to patients’ HT rolls to recover (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Sources: GURPS Action 1: Heroes and GURPS Monster
  Hunters 1: Champions.
  Notes: Monster Hunters expands Medic! into a template
  building block (pp. 18-19) suited to 400-point gaming. It makes
  First Aid and Veterinary explicit rather than leaving them
  implicit; extends scientific knowledge to Bioengineering, Biol-
  ogy (Biochemistry), Current Affairs (Science & Technology),
  Physiology, and Research; broadens technical skills to Elec-
  tronics Operation (Medical and Scientific), as well as Com-
  puter Operation for medical systems; and adds “alternative
  medicine” in the form of Esoteric Medicine, Herb Lore, and
  Hypnotism. It also folds in a social angle in the form of Admin-
  istration and Diplomacy when dealing with medical records
  and personnel, Law as applied to medical cases, and Influence
  rolls to request aid from medical professionals. Finally, it spells
  out that Wildcard Tech Level (p. 11) is in effect, removing penal-
  ties for low TL. Compare Medicine! (below).
  Medicine!
  IQ
  Skills: All specialties of Biology, Diagnosis, Electronics
  Operation (Medical), Expert Skill (Epidemiology), First Aid,
  Hypnotism, Pharmacy, Physician, Physiology, Poisons, Psy-
  chology, Surgery, and Veterinary. It may also include Bioengi-
  neering and/or Esoteric Medicine, at the GM’s option.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for physiol-
  ogy; bonuses to HT rolls to avoid joining the infected, to HP
  restored by healing, to reaction rolls from people cured, and/or
  to patients’ HT rolls to recover (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Sources: GURPS Bio-Tech, GURPS Reign of Steel: Will to
  Live, and GURPS Supers.
  Notes: Compare Medic! (above).
  Memetics!
  IQ
  Skills: Brainwashing, Diplomacy, Expert Skill (Memetics),
  Fast-Talk, Interrogation, Leadership, Merchant, Politics, Prop-
  aganda, Psychology (all specialties), Sociology, and Teaching.
  Suggested Benefits: Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) for Favors
  in play, to enlist someone well-disposed due to memetic
  manipulation; bonuses to reaction or Influence rolls after
  using the wildcard to instill a meme, and/or to rolls to resist
  such manipulation (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: Transhuman Space: Changing Times.
  Notes: Compare Psychologist! (pp. 34-35).
  EXAMPLES
  33
  It is not down on any
  map; true places never are.
  – Herman Melville, 
  Moby-Dick; 
  or, The Whale
  
  Money!
  IQ
  Skills: Administration, Fast-Talk, Finance, Merchant, and
  other appropriate skills used to obtain wealth and broker deals.
  Suggested Benefits: Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) to allow
  the exchange of Wildcard Points for a little extra cash each
  game session; bonuses to reaction or Influence rolls after using
  the wildcard to close a deal (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Creatures of the Night, Volume 1.
  Notes: “Other appropriate skills” would logically include
  those listed for the Business Acumen Talent but not mentioned
  above: Accounting, Economics, Gambling, Market Analysis,
  and Propaganda. Money! should allow Panhandling in a pinch,
  too. Compare Businessman! (p. 28).
  Move!
  DX
  Skills: Acrobatics, Aerobatics, Aquabatics, Body Sense,
  Climbing, Free Fall, Jumping, and Stealth. Works as Escape
  to move through narrow openings – and, at the GM’s discre-
  tion, as some forms of Dancing and Erotic Art. Make a HT-
  based roll for Flight, Hiking, Jumping, Running, Skating,
  Skiing, or Swimming. Any such HT-based roll results in
  +20% to the day’s travel in whatever mode of movement it
  covers. Move! can also take the place of any unarmed combat
  skill if performing some sort of fancy movement while attack-
  ing; Move! at DX+2 or better grants +1 per die to damage with
  such attacks.
  Suggested Benefits: Bonus to ST rolls to break free from ene-
  mies or restraints – and possibly a generalized version of the
  damage bonus (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Negotiator!
  IQ
  Skills: Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Interrogation, Merchant, Poli-
  tics, Public Speaking, Savoir-Faire, and Streetwise. Make a
  HT-based roll for Carousing or Sex Appeal; make a Per-based
  roll for Detect Lies.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for culture;
  bonuses to reaction or Influence rolls after using the wildcard
  to close a deal (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Social Engineering.
  Notes: Compare Face Man! (p. 30) and Talker! (p. 36).
  Occult!
  IQ
  Skills: Occultism, all Fortune-Telling and Hidden Lore
  specialties, and Expert Skills such as Cryptozoology, Demon -
  ology, Pneumatology, Ufology, and Vampirology. Also covers
  occult, supernatural, or weird aspects of Anthropology,
  Archaeology, Area Knowledge, Criminology, Current Affairs,
  History, Literature, Psychology, and Research. In some 
  campaigns, it may further encompass Alchemy, Dreaming,
  Exorcism, Herb Lore, Ritual Magic, Symbol Drawing, Thau-
  matology, and/or Weird Science, along with the creepier sort
  of Religious Ritual.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) removing
  penalties for obscurity, or a bonus that does this gradually
  (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15); Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) to
  trade Wildcard Points for energy to fuel ill-advised, poorly
  understood rituals.
  Source: GURPS Horror.
  Notes: Originally called “The Occult!”. Compare Lore!
  (p. 32), Magic! (p. 32), and Wizard! (p. 37).
  Perform!
  IQ
  Skills: Current Affairs (High Culture and Popular Culture),
  Electronics Operation (Media), Fire Eating, Fortune-Telling,
  Group Performance, Makeup, Mimicry, Musical Instrument
  (any), Performance, Public Speaking, and Ventriloquism.
  Make a DX-based roll for Dancing, Sleight of Hand, or Stage
  Combat; make a HT-based roll for Singing.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for artistic
  experience and culture; bonuses to reaction or Influence rolls
  after using Perform! to put on a successful show (Sample
  Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Pilot!
  DX
  Skills: Piloting (all specialties), and make an IQ-based roll
  for Shiphandling (Airship, Spaceship, or Starship). Allows rolls
  to operate any weapons system installed in an air or space vehi-
  cle, and for attack maneuvers with the vehicle itself.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) and Wildcard
  Tech Level (p. 11) for air and space vehicles; bonuses to avoid
  the effects of acceleration, motion sickness, and space sickness
  (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Notes: This is a minimalist wildcard as written. The GM
  might add Airshipman, Free Fall, Meteorology, Navigation
  (Air, Hyperspace, and Space), Parachuting, Spacer, and Vacc
  Suit – plus Electronics Operation (any) for vehicular systems,
  Freight Handling for cargos, and Mechanic for repairs, where
  air or space vehicles are involved – as befits the setting. Com-
  pare Wheel Man! (p. 37).
  Pirate!
  DX
  Skills: Acrobatics, Boating, Brawling, Climbing, Gunner
  (Cannon), Guns (Pistol), Intimidation, Jumping, Knife, Knot-
  Tying, Seamanship, Shiphandling, and Shortsword.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) and
  Wildcard Tech Level (p. 11) for all suitable ships and gunpow-
  der weapons; bonus to avoid the effects of motion sickness
  (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Supporting Cast: Age of Sail Pirate Crew.
  Notes: This could easily be broadened into an ultimate tem-
  plate wildcard (p. 18) for pirates!
  Psychologist!
  IQ
  Skills: Brainwashing, Criminology, Hypnotism, Interroga-
  tion, Propaganda, and Psychology. Make a Per-based roll for
  Body Language or Detect Lies; make a Will-based roll for
  Mind Block.
  EXAMPLES
  34
  
  Suggested Benefits: Bonuses to all rolls to resist madness or
  mental manipulation, to the reactions of people cured, and/or
  to patients’ rolls to combat mental illness (Sample Bonuses,
  pp. 13-15).
  Sources: GURPS Social Engineering and GURPS Supers.
  Notes: Might veer into cinematic skills such as Enthrall-
  ment and Mental Strength in some settings. Compare Memet-
  ics! (p. 33).
  Scholar!
  IQ
  Skills: Anthropology, Archaeology, Cartography, Eco-
  nomics, Geography, Heraldry, History, Literature,
  Occultism, Philosophy, Public Speaking, Sociology,
  Teaching, and Theology. Can also be used for Research
  in any humanities or social-sciences field, and as Writ-
  ing for scholarly works and popularizations (but not fic-
  tion or poetry).
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for
  artistic experience, culture, and/or new regions.
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Notes: Compare History! (p. 31).
  Science!
  IQ
  Skills: Astronomy, Bioengineering, Biology, Chemistry,
  Engineer, Geology, Mathematics, Metallurgy, Meteorol-
  ogy, Naturalist, Paleontology, Physics, Psychology, etc.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) and
  Wildcard Ultra-Tech (p. 11) with all sciences.
  Sources: GURPS Basic Set and GURPS Monster Hunters
  1: Champions.
  Notes: The Monster Hunters version – being a template
  building block (pp. 18-19) for 400-point campaigns – mentions
  that “etc.” includes Anthropology, Physiology, and Sociology,
  and in effect turns Science! into an ultimate template wildcard
  (p. 18) by permitting it to work for any skill roll to offer a “sci-
  entific opinion.”
  Scout!
  IQ
  Skills: Camouflage, Cartography, and Navigation (Land);
  Shadowing, but only when outdoors; and Gesture and Mimicry
  (Bird Calls) for signaling allies. Make a DX-based roll for Stealth,
  a HT-based roll for Hiking, or a Per-based roll for Observation,
  Survival (any), Tracking, or any use of Traps to spot traps.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for new
  regions; bonuses to resist natural hardships and/or to spot rival
  scouts (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard. Compare Hunter!
  (p. 31).
  Security!
  Per
  Skills: Body Language, Detect Lies, Observation, and Search.
  Make an IQ-based roll for Electronics Operation (Security and
  Surveillance), Expert Skill (Computer Security), Shadowing,
  or Tactics; Architecture to analyze security-related features of
  buildings; or Law in the context of a guard’s duties. Make a
  Will-based roll for Intimidation, or a DX-based roll for Knot-
  Tying or Stealth. Security! further allows DX-based rolls for
  one unarmed combat skill for restraining intruders and one
  weapon skill usual for guards in the setting, which might be
  the player’s choice or the GM’s campaign-wide decision.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for locations
  and security gear; Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) to allow Bullet
  Time for the specific purpose of protecting the client; bonus to
  reaction rolls from those protected (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Servant!
  IQ
  Skills: Administration, Computer Operation, Connoisseur
  (Wine), Cooking, Current Affairs (any specialty appropriate
  to the campaign’s scope), First Aid, Freight Handling, Gar-
  dening, Heraldry, Housekeeping, Makeup, Professional Skill
  (Curator), Savoir-Faire (Servant), Teaching, and Teamster –
  all as befits setting TL – as well as Accounting for household
  finances, Disguise to play the role of one’s employer, and any
  Hobby shared with that person. Also includes one Influence
  skill in addition to Savoir-Faire (Servant); Diplomacy is typi-
  cal, but other skills such as Fast-Talk, Intimidation, or Sex
  Appeal are possible, with a plausible rationale. Make a DX-
  based roll for Driving or Sewing.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for culture;
  bonus to reaction rolls from employers and/or those served
  (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Shooter!
  DX
  Skills: All Crossbow, Gunner, Guns, and Liquid Projector
  skills, plus associated Fast-Draw specialties (Ammo, Arrow,
  Long Arm, and Pistol). Covers any use of Acrobatics, Jumping,
  or Stealth to move around in a gunfight. Counts as Brawling
  when slugging someone with a pistol. Works as Forced Entry
  when shooting locks and doors. Stands in for Throwing when
  hurling a hand grenade or an empty handgun at enemies (or a
  loaded weapon to an ally!). Make an IQ-based roll for Armoury
  to get a gun working again.
  EXAMPLES
  35
  
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) and Wildcard
  Tech Level (p. 11) for guns; Hyper-Competency pp. 12-13) for
  Bullet Time; bonuses to Accuracy and/or to Will to retain Aim
  with relevant weapons (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Sources: GURPS Action 1: Heroes and GURPS Gun Fu.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard. Compare Gun!
  (pp. 30-31).
  Spy!
  IQ
  Skills: Any skill roll that would, in the GM’s opinion, fall
  under the typical activities of a spy. This does not include com-
  bat skills. Spy! can generally replace Acting, Current Affairs
  (Geopolitics), Disguise, Fast-Talk, Holdout, Interrogation, and
  Shadowing. Make a DX-based roll for Escape, Pickpocket,
  Sleight of Hand, or Stealth, or a Per-based roll for Detect Lies,
  Observation, Search, or Tracking. The GM may allow other
  skills, and even take suggestions . . . but if the players get too cre-
  ative, remember that Spy! covers activities directly related to the
  business of intelligence-gathering, not every exploit of cinematic
  secret agents (so no Carousing, Gambling, or Sex Appeal).
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) with any
  gear needed to complete the mission; Hyper-Competency
  (pp. 12-13) for any use that helps the spy survive against all
  odds, in true Bond fashion; bonuses to resist seduction or tor-
  ture, and/or to detect rival spies (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Lair of the Fat Man.
  Notes: This amounts to an ultimate template wildcard (p. 18).
  Stick!
  DX
  Skills: Axe/Mace, Broadsword, Flail, Shortsword, Small -
  sword, Staff, Thrown Weapon (Stick), Two-Handed Axe/Mace,
  Two-Handed Flail, and Two-Handed Sword for crushing
  weapons only. Use this in place of Acrobatics and Jumping in
  combat situations. Make an IQ-based roll for Armoury pertain-
  ing to these weapons. Users can wield two one-handed sticks at
  full skill without off-hand penalties.
  Suggested Benefits: Already includes Implicit Perks (p. 12).
  Extra-Broad Perks and Techniques (pp. 11-12) and a bonus to
  ST when using a blunt weapon (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15)
  would also fit.
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Notes: The GM may wish to give this wildcard depth com-
  parable to Blade! (p. 28) in a high-powered campaign.
  Swashbuckler!
  DX
  Skills: Fast-Draw, Melee Weapon, and Thrown Weapon
  skills for one-handed blades – Broadsword, Fast-Draw (Knife
  and Sword), Knife, Main-Gauche, Rapier, Saber, Shortsword,
  Smallsword, and Thrown Weapon (Knife). Also covers Boxing,
  Brawling, Cloak, Shield, and Wrestling, and any use of Acro-
  batics, Climbing, Jumping, or Stealth in combat.
  Suggested Benefits: Extra-Broad Perks and Techniques
  (pp. 11-12); bonus to ST when using a one-handed blade
  (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard. Compare Sword!
  (below).
  Sword!
  DX
  Skills: Broadsword, Force Sword, Jitte/Sai, Knife, Main-
  Gauche, Rapier, Saber, Shortsword, Smallsword, and Two-
  Handed Sword, as well as related Fast-Draw skills. Use in place
  of such skills as Acrobatics and Jumping for physical stunts
  while fighting.
  Suggested Benefits: Extra-Broad Perks and Techniques
  (pp. 11-12); bonus to ST when using a sword (Sample Bonuses,
  pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Basic Set.
  Notes: Compare Blade! (p. 28), Katana! (p. 32), and Swash-
  buckler! (above).
  Talker!
  IQ
  Skills: Acting, Leadership, Propaganda, Public Speaking,
  Teaching, and all Influence skills (p. B359): Diplomacy, Fast-
  Talk, Intimidation (with a Will-based roll),
  Savoir-Faire, Sex Appeal (with a HT-based
  roll), and Streetwise. Also acts as Adminis-
  tration, Carousing (with a HT-based roll),
  Fortune-Telling, and Politics when used in
  a social manner; Interrogation for casual
  conversations (not torture); Merchant for
  haggling (not estimating value); and any
  other skill required to persuade others
  through speech (e.g., if an NPC judge will respond only to Law,
  Talker! can replace Law to get a good reaction but not for a
  courtroom defense).
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) for culture;
  Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) for Favors in play; bonuses to
  reaction or Influence rolls after using the wildcard to make a
  first impression (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Monster Hunters 1: Champions.
  Notes: Originally a template building block (pp. 18-19). Com-
  pare Face Man! (p. 30), Fake! (p. 30), and Negotiator! (p. 34).
  Ten-Hut!
  IQ
  Skills: Any skill to use or repair military gear appropriate
  to the setting, plus any skill to repair (not use) military
  weapons, notably Armoury (Body Armor, Heavy Weapons,
  and Small Arms), Electronics Operation (Comm, EW, and
  Sensors), Electronics Repair (ditto), Engineer (Combat),
  Explosives (any), First Aid, Mechanic (for military vehicles),
  Parachuting (make a DX-based roll), and Scuba. Fully replaces
  Camouflage, Forward Observer, Gesture, Hiking and Run-
  ning (with HT-based rolls), and Stealth (with a DX-based roll)
  in the field, and stands in for Intelligence Analysis, Strategy,
  and Tactics for combat involving multiple fighters on a side.
  EXAMPLES
  36
  In my business, you prepare for the unexpected.
  – James Bond, in License to Kill
  
  On a military base, works as Acting to fit in and convince oth-
  ers that you belong there, Area Knowledge to answer questions
  like “Where’s the mess hall?”, and Architecture to know how
  buildings are laid out. And functions as Interrogation, Leader-
  ship, Propaganda, and Savoir-Faire (Military) when dealing with
  military personnel, and as all social skills when interacting with
  a member of the military as a member of the military (whether
  this is true or just an act), discussing military business.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) and Wildcard
  Tech Level (p. 11) for almost everything relevant to military
  activities; Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) for Favors in play on
  military bases; bonuses to reactions from military types
  (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Monster Hunters 1: Champions.
  Notes: Originally a template building block (pp. 18-19).
  Thief!
  DX
  Skills: Climbing, Escape, Filch, Forced Entry, Pickpocket,
  Sleight of Hand, and Stealth. Make an IQ-based roll for Hold-
  out, Lockpicking, Shadowing, Smuggling, Streetwise, or
  Traps, or for Gesture to signal allies. Make a Per-based roll for
  Search or Urban Survival.
  Suggested Benefits: Hyper-Competency (pp. 12-13) for player
  guidance to find doors left unlocked and keys left unattended;
  bonuses to damage rolls for traps and/or to rolls to spot rival
  thieves (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Sources: GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers and
  GURPS Supers.
  Notes: The Dungeon Fantasy version is a broad template
  wildcard for high-powered fantasy. The Supers variant is nar-
  rower, omitting Gesture, Holdout, Search, Sleight of Hand,
  Smuggling, and Urban Survival, yet adding only Electronics
  Operation (Security) and Merchant (to sell stolen goods).
  Allowing all of these skills wouldn’t be unbalanced. Compare
  Infiltrator! (p. 31).
  Throw!
  DX
  Skills: Bolas, Spear Thrower, and Throwing; thrown uses of
  Cloak, Lasso, and Net; all Thrown Weapon skills; and all
  related Fast-Draw skills. Make IQ-based rolls for Armoury per-
  taining to these weapons, and for Games skills such as darts.
  Lets you throw any object you can lift, as with Throwing Art,
  without requiring Trained by a Master or Weapon Master as a
  prerequisite. Having one of those advantages is still a prerequi-
  site for gaining the damage bonuses of Throwing Art, though.
  Use this in place of such skills as Acrobatics and Climbing for
  actions that benefit from throwing, such as climbing a tossed
  grappling line.
  Suggested Benefits: Bonuses to Accuracy, to ST, and/or to
  Will to retain Aim with relevant weapons (Sample Bonuses,
  pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Wheel Man!
  DX
  Skills: Boating, Driving, Piloting, and Submarine special-
  ties for vehicles small enough for one person to operate; any
  Gunner skill needed to fire built-in weapons on such rides;
  and Parachuting to bail out. Make an IQ-based roll for
  Artillery (any) or Electronics Operation (any) for vehicular
  systems, Freight Handling to pack a vehicle, Mechanic to
  make repairs, Navigation to plot a course, or Shadowing to
  follow someone in a vehicle.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) and Wildcard
  Tech Level (p. 11) for all relevant vehicles; Hyper-Competency
  (pp. 12-13) to use player guidance to find a handy vehicle wait-
  ing; bonus to avoid the effects of acceleration, motion sickness,
  etc. (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Action 1: Heroes.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard. Compare Boat! (p. 28),
  Drive! (p. 29), and Pilot! (p. 34).
  Whip!
  DX
  Skills: Flail, Force Whip, Kusari, Lasso, Monowire Whip,
  Two-Handed Flail, Whip, and melee uses of Cloak and Net. Make
  an IQ-based roll for Armoury pertaining to these weapons. Use
  it in place of such skills as Acrobatics and Climbing to climb
  up or swing from a whip; Garrote or Knot-Tying when choking
  or binding a foe with a flexible weapon; and suitable special-
  ties of Erotic Art.
  Suggested Benefits: Extra-Broad Perks and Techniques
  (pp. 11-12); bonuses to ST when using or trying to break free
  from a flexible weapon (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Supers.
  Notes: The GM may wish to give this wildcard depth com-
  parable to Blade! (p. 28) in a high-powered campaign.
  Wire Rat!
  IQ
  Skills: Electrician and all Electronics Operation and
  Electronics Repair specialties, plus any use of Camouflage,
  Holdout, Smuggling, or Traps to hide an electronic device such
  as an alarm, beacon, or bug. Make a Per-based roll for Search
  or Traps when the objective is to find such a gizmo, and for any
  use of Scrounging to locate parts.
  Suggested Benefits: Wildcard Familiarity (p. 11) and
  Wildcard Ultra-Tech (p. 11) with all relevant gadgetry; Hyper-
  Competency (pp. 12-13) to use player guidance to find
  needed parts.
  Source: GURPS Action 1: Heroes.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard.
  Wizard!
  IQ
  Skills: Alchemy, Hazardous Materials (Magical), Hidden
  Lore (any magical specialty), Occultism, Research, Speed-
  Reading, Teaching, Thaumatology, and Writing. Make a DX-
  based roll for Body Sense or Innate Attack when spellcasting,
  or a Will-based roll for Meditation.
  Suggested Benefits: Bonus to resist enemy magic, thanks to
  understanding it so well (Sample Bonuses, pp. 13-15).
  Source: GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers.
  Notes: Originally a template wildcard. This covers all of a fan-
  tasy wizard’s trade except magic – it doesn’t allow spellcasting.
  Compare Lore! (p. 32), Magic! (p. 32), and Occult! (p. 34).
  EXAMPLES
  37
  
  Accuracy bonuses, 14.
  Advantages, bonuses to wildcards, 24;
  wildcard versions, 20.
  Attributes, bonuses from wildcards, 14, 15;
  bonuses to wildcards, 24; boosted
  defaults, 6; controlling, 5; using
  wildcards with, 24.
  Benefits, 10-15; eliminating penalties, 11;
  for style wildcards, 15-16; for
  supernatural wildcards, 17; for template
  wildcards, 19; for weapon wildcards, 20;
  perks, 11, 12; table, 14; techniques, 11,
  12; see also Bonuses, Hyper-
  Competency.
  Block characteristic, wildcard formula, 25.
  Bonuses, 13-15; automatic, 26; based on
  points, 26; damage, 5, 15; for style
  wildcards, 16; for supernatural
  wildcards, 17; for template wildcards,
  19; for weapon wildcards, 20; other
  traits and, 24; relative skill level and, 5,
  13-15; ST, 5, 15; table, 14; see also
  Benefits, Hyper-Competency.
  Broad subject matter concept, 7.
  Campaign use, 21-23; not using wildcards,
  21; template wildcards, 17-19; see also
  NPCs.
  Cinematic skills, for weapon wildcards, 20;
  wildcard versions, 16-17.
  Combat, bonuses, 5, 14, 15; wildcards,
  15-16, 19-20.
  Contacts advantage, 18, 20.
  Critical results, 26.
  Culture concept, 7.
  Damage bonuses, 5, 15.
  Defaults, boosted attribute, 6; conditional-
  to-general, 6; for wildcards, 5; skills to
  wildcards, 5; steeper, 6.
  Epitome concept, 7.
  Expert Skills, 10.
  Familiarity penalties, 11.
  Fighting styles, 15-16; combat bonuses, 5,
  14, 15; see also Weapon Wildcards.
  GURPS, 3, 4, 15, 22, 27; Action, 27;
  Action 1: Heroes, 3, 27-33, 36, 37;
  Basic Set, 3-5, 23, 29, 30, 35, 36; 
  Bio-Tech, 33; Creatures of the Night,
  Volume 1, 34; Dungeon Fantasy,
  25, 27, 8; Dungeon Fantasy 1:
  Adventurers, 3, 27, 28, 29, 31-33, 
  35-37; Dungeon Fantasy 5: Allies, 33;
  Fantasy-Tech 1: The Edge of Reality,
  32; Gun Fu, 15, 30, 36; Horror, 34;
  Infinite Worlds, 31; Lair of the Fat
  Man, 36; Magic, 4, 5, 16, 32; Martial
  Arts, 7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 20, 31, 32;
  Monster Hunters, 12, 27, 29, 31-33,
  35; Monster Hunters 1: Champions,
  3, 19, 28-30, 32, 33, 35-37; Power-Ups
  1: Imbuements, 17; Power-Ups 2:
  Perks, 11, 12; Power-Ups 3: Talents, 9,
  13; Power-Ups 5: Impulse Buys, 3, 12,
  13; Psionic Powers, 17; Reign of
  Steel: Will to Live, 33; Social
  Engineering, 3, 30, 34, 35; Supers, 3,
  16, 20, 28-30, 32, 33-37 ; Supporting
  Cast: Age of Sail Pirate Crew, 34;
  Tactical Shooting, 15; Thaumatology,
  16, 17; Thaumatology: Magical Styles,
  17; Ultra-Tech, 32; see also Pyramid,
  Transhuman Space.
  Hyper-Competency, 12-14; for style
  wildcards, 15-16; for supernatural
  wildcards, 17; for template wildcards,
  19; for weapon wildcards, 20; using
  Wildcard Points, 13, 23.
  Imbuement Skills, wildcard versions, 17.
  Influence bonuses, 14.
  Language Talent advantage, 20.
  Languages, wildcards for, 20.
  Magery advantage, 16.
  Magic wildcards, 16.
  NPCs, monsters, 18; ultimate wildcards,
  18; wildcards and, 22, 23; see also
  Template Wildcards.
  Occupation concept, 7.
  Parry characteristic, wildcard formula, 25.
  Perks, covered by wildcards, 12; for
  wildcards, 11, 12, 15.
  Point cost, 4, 9, 10; skill difficulty and, 9;
  table, 4.
  Powers, wildcard versions, 20.
  Psionic wildcards, 17.
  Pyramid, #2, 27, 29, 31, 33; #3/31: Monster
  Hunters, 30; #3/53: Action, 31; #3/54:
  Social Engineering, 20; see also
  GURPS, Transhuman Space.
  Race concept, 7.
  Reaction bonuses, 14.
  Role concept, 7.
  Secondary characteristics, bonuses to
  wildcards, 24; using wildcards to
  determine, 25.
  Skill rolls, 23-25; compensating for
  difficulty, 25; criticals, 26; finding 
  the target, 24-25; player input, 23;
  selecting the skill, 23; using wildcards
  together, 25-26.
  Skills, absolute level formula, 25; choosing,
  4-5, 6-10; cinematic, 16-17;
  complementary, 25-26; concept
  categories, 6-7; conditional, 5, 8, 9, 19;
  difficulty cost formula, 9; familiarity
  penalties, 11; fully general, 7-8;
  Imbuement, 17; improving from
  wildcards, 5-6; in style wildcards, 15;
  number of, 9-10; reasons to use
  wildcards, 4, 21-23; replacing standard,
  22; standard vs. wildcard, 10, 21;
  suitability of specific, 7-9; see also
  Benefits, Bonuses, Defaults, Specialties,
  Techniques.
  Social position concept, 7.
  Special ability concept, 7.
  Specialties, choosing, 4, 8; cost of, 9;
  weapon, 19; see also Perks, Skills,
  Techniques.
  ST (Strength) bonuses, 5, 15.
  Style wildcards, 15-16; combat bonuses, 5,
  14, 15; see also Combat, Weapon
  Wildcards.
  Success rolls, see Skill Rolls.
  Supernatural wildcards, 16-17, 20.
  Tables, wildcard benefits, 14; wildcard cost,
  4.
  Talents, bonuses from, 24; psionic, 17;
  using with wildcards, 10; wildcards
  compared to, 9, 10, 13.
  Tech level modifiers, 11.
  Techniques, choosing, 8-9; counting, 10; in
  weapon wildcards, 20; in style
  wildcards, 15; for wildcards, 11, 12;
  wildcard versions, 20.
  Template wildcards, 17-19, 21, 22;
  building blocks, 18-19, 21; building-
  block examples, 28-32, 33, 35-37;
  ultimate, 18.
  Training concept, 7.
  Transhuman Space, 27; Changing Times,
  33; Martial Arts 2100, 15; see also
  GURPS, Pyramid.
  Ultra-tech, 11.
  Unusual Background advantage, 22.
  Weapon bonuses, 5, 14.
  Weapon wildcards, 19-20; examples, 27-
  33, 35-37.
  Weird tech, 11.
  Wildcard Points (WP), 12-13; gaining, 12,
  14; table, 14; using, 13, 23; see also
  Hyper-Competency.
  Wildcards, definition, 4; design tips, 6, 20;
  Golden Rule of design, 6; high concept,
  6; problems of, 10, 21; vs. Expert Skills,
  10; vs. Talents, 9, 10, 13.
  INDEX
  38
  INDEX
  
  Art!, 27.
  Assassin!, 27.
  Barbarian!, 27.
  Bard!, 27.
  Blade!, 28.
  Boat!, 28.
  Bow!, 28.
  Businessman!, 28.
  Cleaner!, 28.
  Cleric!, 28-29.
  College! (collection), 16.
  Computers!, 29.
  Contacts!, 20.
  Courtier!, 29.
  Demolition Man!, 29.
  Detective!, 29.
  Drive!, 29.
  Druid!, 29.
  Encyclopedist!, 30.
  Explorer!, 30.
  Face Man!, 30.
  Fake!, 30.
  Fist!, 30.
  Forceful Chi!, 17.
  Gun!, 30-31.
  Hacker!, 31.
  History!, 31.
  Holy Warrior!, 31.
  Horseman!, 31.
  Hunter!, 31.
  Infiltrator!, 31.
  Inner Balance!, 17.
  Inventor!, 32.
  Investigator!, 32.
  Katana!, 32.
  Knight!, 32.
  Language! (collection), 20.
  Lore!, 32.
  Magic!, 16, 32.
  Map!, 33.
  Martial Artist!, 33.
  Mechanism!, 33.
  Medic!, 33.
  Medicine!, 33.
  Memetics!, 33.
  Money!, 34.
  Move!, 34.
  Negotiator!, 34.
  Occult!, 34.
  Perform!, 34.
  Pilot!, 34.
  Pirate!, 34.
  Psychologist!, 34-35.
  Scholar!, 35.
  Science!, 35.
  Scout!, 35.
  Security!, 35.
  Servant!, 35.
  Shooter!, 35-36.
  Spy!, 36.
  Stick!, 36.
  Swashbuckler!, 36.
  Sword!, 36.
  Talker!, 36.
  Ten-Hut!, 36-37.
  Thief!, 37.
  Throw!, 37.
  Wheel Man!, 37.
  Whip!, 37.
  Wire Rat!, 37.
  Wizard!, 37.
  INDEX
  39
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/GURPS [multi]/4th edition/GURPS 4e - Power-Ups 7 - Wildcard Skills .pdf