[talonthehand]

Originally Posted by dds_ks

Well, "CP total" is the only way to put it in a system that doesn't know "experience point based character levels". Most systems that I know had some way to detect the character level.
Well, in fact, now that I think about it, some of those system never made it to the American market as (in one case) nobody cared about translations or (in some other cases) market introduction failed because it's hard to establish a new product in an already existing market.

But the core "problem" still persists: You see a villain. It's a human. You can judge his ST, maybe also DX (smooth movements) and HT (pale skin).
Now your question is: Fight or Flight & call the cavalry. Inf fact you make your decision on your judgement of the GM: Does he like direct confrontation? Then it's probable that the power of the villain is not too high.
Or does the GM prefer subtle approaches? Then maybe many villains are too strong for direct attacks, and if you attack directly, then this probably will end in a heroic defeat...

In real world there wouldn't be a clear destinction between weapon skill and (general) DX, so "smooth movements" could give you some insight. And in real world, there's not the danger of somebody having 52 CP in a weapon skill. Of course, there are some special forces with high skill, but at least you should know whether your own skill is "fair", "great" or "close to best possible". In GURPS, there is no limit to skill. You could even invest hundreds of CP or more - which maybe might even be appropriate for a Jedi fighting in battles ("The Clone Wars"), who potentially have to parry dozens of blaster shots per second, each parry at a cumulative -2.

The Aura-spell gives you a chance to see hidden traits, but the list of possible readable traits is quite short.

Did roguebfl's post not help with this?