Originally Posted by Rick_Smith
Hi all,
After TFT died, I bought a lot of GURPS stuff. I tried to move my players over to GURPS a couple times, but it did not take. It just seemed slower. I reasoned that we knew TFT really well, but GURPS was slow because we didn't know the more complex rules. So I started a GURPS campaign and we played it until all of use knew GURPS backwards and forwards. We were not slow because we didn't know the rules.
The PC's knew the importance of good active defences, and put a lot of points into them. My NPC's felt the same way.
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Normally, a fight against a bunch of mooks results in the PC's getting a wound or two and the mooks dying. (Or some die and the rest run away.)
In TFT, a PC swings and hits, the enemy swings and hits, the PC swings and hits and the combat is over. Nice and quick.
In GURPS, the PC swings and hits, but enemy parries. Enemy swings and hits, and PC parries. PC swings and hits and Enemy parries. Enemy misses. PC swings and hits and enemy misses his parry! Enemy swings and hits and PC parries. PC swings and hits and enemy parries. Enemy swings and hits, but PC parries. PC hits, enemy misses parry and combat is over.
Exactly the same result, but the GURPS fight takes 3 times longer than TFT to play out.
After that, we went back to TFT and stayed there.
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I game mastered a pbem game in Dave Seagraves Thail campaign, and - foolishly - I used his rules, rather than my own. He had an auto parry rule, and for the characters with a high DX, well, they were not hit much. Fighting NPC's with high DX was slow and frustrating.
I STRONGLY recommend against any sort of parrying as a free action in TFT. If you want complex and realistic cut and thrust, then play GURPS.
If you want to be harder to hit, get a Blur ring, or add some talents where anyone attacking you thru your front hexes gets a -3 adj DX to hit you. I have made such talents and they work. I really like the roll to hit, then roll for damage mechanic in TFT.
If you just like the idea of cut and thrust, clashes of swords, then fine. But don't make parrying a free action, which comes into play on EVERY attack.
Warm regards, Rick.
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