Quote:
Originally Posted by Skarg
What do you think of allowing engaged figures to move away but suffer a free extra attack from the figure(s) they disengage?
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Not for it. This is one of the TFT mechanisms that allows a less armored-no armored character to survive. Without armor, you are gambling that you are faster, so you can very often disengage if you are outmatched and be immune that turn to a regular type of attack, waiting for some other opportunity, strategy, or companion to help you out. Or you force your opponent to attempt HTH, with all of its risks. Or you can perhaps make an aimed shot, disarming or knocking down or out your opponent before he can strike you well.
Our experience, which maybe I didn't make clear enough earlier, is that TFT allows an interaction to be resolved in an interesting and enjoyable way in a reasonable length of time, fundamentally for three reasons.
In TFT, each side does its thing at once, or together, getting it done. GURPS is one guy at a time, while everyone sits and waits.
And while TFT has Defend and Disengagement options, there isnīt a lot of parrying or blocking to be had, the damage from each attack is, in effect, summed up in a single roll.
Lastly, if I remember correctly without dragging from storage my ruleset, GURPS turns are meant to be about half as long as TFT, effectively time slicing more finely and doubling the time required for an engagement. And truly, we found interactions to take about twice as long, and with more downtime for each player, to boot.
The important point to me is that TFT has a somewhat unique turn sequencing and options, using engagement and a UGO IGO mechanic, and sums up sword play into a single die roll to determine whether someone is rewarded with hits or not. This means more time can be spent on the adventure part of the evening, and not an overly long amount on more precisely animating the details of a fight. And in the end, for me and others like me, it makes the difference that is the difference between a system I look forward to playing, and one I do not.
I wonīt say TFT is better, just preferred by some number of players. And since everyone else has been satisfied with available rules and adventures these past four decades, it would be nice to have the TFT option available once again for those that prefer it, for whatever reasons they present.