Quote:
Originally Posted by KingJohn
Which is to say: The ENTIRE PLAN, which we all are ready and prepared for and want to enact, involves the wizard hindering people and the Knight stomping them. Why should this be a pain *solely* because the Knight has a better DX *and wants to give it up*?
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If you're thinking you've found a flaw in GURPS, you're right. We've simply hand waved this issue for years and years. If you give up your initiative order, that's fine in our group. I'm sure my players all think it's RAW to do so.
But, this isn't a GURPS-specific flaw. It's a flaw with turn-based game play.
Here's another issue with the turn-based game play.
Imagine the adventure party is all walking down a narrow, three-foot-wide dungeon of death hallway. Knight's in front, then wizard with light spell, then thief-guy, then elven archer. (Of course, the problem with turn-based game play you've just discovered crops up here because the two highest Speed characters are in back.)
In most scenarios, in reality they'd all be walking together, never more than a few feet apart or so. But, if they're doing this with Move maneuvers, that's not the case. At all.
If the wizard's light only illuminates three hexes (hypothetically) and the Knight moves six, he's in darkness for some reason.
"But we're all walking together; the wizard should be right behind me."
In reality, that's the case, but not in turn-based game play.
Some might point out that walking means moving one hex at a time and that's fine. I'm just using this as an example and that doesn't negate it.
Imagine the group is jog/running at down the hall at their slowest member's Move. Maybe it's Move 5. Same thing.
Now, if the knight goes first and he steps on a five-hex-wide pit trap that opens beneath him, and he's at the far edge, realistically, all of the adventurers should fall into it -- they're all running together! But, not when using Move maneuvers to game it out. The knight went first and moved five hexes forward, triggered the trap, and fell into the pit. Because it wasn't his "turn," the wizard doesn't run off the edge and there are four empty hexes between the knight and him. In reality, they all would have been in adjacent hexes and thus all would have fallen when the floor dropped out from under them.
Another example. Good Guy halfling thief (Speed/Move 6.25) wants to throw a lever on the wall 6 hexes away. Bad Guy giant ogre (Speed/Move 6) is in an adjacent hex and knows Good Guy wants to pull the lever. He wants to capture Good Guy and gobble him up.
In reality, Good Guy would make it maybe one or two hexes before Bad Guy would reach him. But, in turn-based play, Good Guy will take a Move maneuver and make it all the way to the switch, then Bad Guy will move to him.
Imagine gaming out an American football game with miniatures on a hex battle mat. If someone on the defensive line had the highest Speed, he could just run right around the offensive line and sack the quarter back before anyone else moved. It's a little more complex than that, but you'll understand my point.
There are a number of problems with turn-based play. I don't have the solution to them and I guess no one else does either as the few other systems I've played are all the same in this regard...