GeologyTL

IQ/Hard

Defaults: IQ-6, Geography (Physical)-4, or Prospecting-5.

This is the science dealing with the structure of planets – their crust, mantle, and core. A geologist knows about minerals, oil, ores, etc.; about earthquakes and volcanoes; and about fossils. In the field, he can attempt to find water by using an “eye for country” (see Survival, p. 223). You must specialize by planet type. See Planet Types (p. 180) for details.

Planet Types
Biology, Geology (p. 198), and Meteorology (p. 209) require you to specialize by “planet type,” as does the “Physical” specialty of Geography (p. 198). If you do not specify a planet type, your native planet type is assumed – so if the campaign will never leave your home world, save space and just write “Geology,” “Biology,” etc. GURPS sorts planets into six broad categories for these purposes.

Earthlike: Essentially, all habitable worlds.

Gas Giants: Jupiter/Uranus types.

Hostile Terrestrial: Venus types.

Ice Dwarfs: Comets and small moons composed almost entirely of snow or ice.

Ice Worlds: Rock worlds covered by a frozen “ocean.”

Rock Worlds: Most moons, asteroids, etc.

Unless otherwise specified, all planet-type specialties for a given skill default to one another at -4.