Player wants GURPS version of D&D Weapon Focus feat?

[Fred Brackin]

You still haven't said what the point value for the game is. If it was 150 pts the good advice would be "Don't." because there won't be anyone with enough Skill to make Rapid Strikes and Multiple Parries adequately.

Even at 250 that's not enough for Cinematic Skills and probably only one Rapid Strike. Agaisnt just one it's probably better to make one Weapon Parry and one Shield Block. Then there's Dodge and having a good Dodge is extremely useful.

All this worrying about flurries of Rapid Strikes and making Multiple Parries against them is for a game at 400pts or more.

[RyanW]

Has Weapon Focus changed substantially since 3.5? Because there it was just +1 to hit. Which is just higher skill in GURPS. It's just a way to briefly ignore that you are playing a strict class/level system. Edit: I used the word 'just' too many times in this paragraph, didn't I?

And as a gateway to Weapon Specialization, which could be as simple as "high enough skill to reliably hit the vitals/skull" in GURPS.

[Anders]

Weapon Master without the damage bonus? For one weapon I'd peg that at 10 or 15 points. But for a skill like Broadsword, which can be used with a lot of different weapons? No, I think 20-25 points is fair.

[TerryW]

In D&D Weapon Focus means you're better with one particular style of weapon then other fighters of similar background, training, and experience. Every fighter can use swords, but you're noticeably better than most with longswords. That doesn't really map directly to GURPS except as a higher skill.

Techniques can go a long way to differentiating two fighters with otherwise identical skills. You might want to ask your player "better than most warriors at what, specifically?" A warrior with Aggressive Parry and Disarming will fight differently than someone with Reverse Grip and Spinning Strike.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by thom

OK, after taking all the feedback to my player, I'm back with a new idea. What would y'all think the pricing should be for the following benefits:

1] the ability to halve the Rapid Strike penalty for one weapon skill (i.e. Broadsword)
2] the ability to halve the Multiple Parries penalty for that one weapon skill
3] access to all the cinematic abilities listed under the Weapon Master advantage for that one weapon skill.

I'm still of the opinion that 15 character points would cover all this, but I'd like to know what the experts think...

I wouldn't consider myself an expert, but covering one weapon skill is probably at least a Small Class, for [30] with Weapon Master. Your proposed benefits are basically "Weapon Master without a damage bonus," (sure, there's also the lack of improved defaults, but I don't really feel that should count, given anybody with Weapon Master is likely to go ahead and invest in the skills their favored weapon(s) use). If you feel lacking the damage bonus is worth a -50%, sure, that pricing works... but I feel that's giving a bit too much of a discount.

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

You still haven't said what the point value for the game is. If it was 150 pts the good advice would be "Don't." because there won't be anyone with enough Skill to make Rapid Strikes and Multiple Parries adequately.

Even at 250 that's not enough for Cinematic Skills and probably only one Rapid Strike. Agaisnt just one it's probably better to make one Weapon Parry and one Shield Block. Then there's Dodge and having a good Dodge is extremely useful.

All this worrying about flurries of Rapid Strikes and making Multiple Parries against them is for a game at 400pts or more.

What are you defining as "adequately"? Because simply getting Broadsword-15 - only [20] for a character with DX 10 - means Weapon Master will let you do a two-attack Rapid Strike at skill 12, while Broadsword-18 [32] will let you do a three-attack Rapid Strike at skill 12 (or a two-attack one at skill 15). That's not a tiny investment for a character with [150], of course, but if your primary role is basically "sword guy" in a DF-like campaign, such investment should be expected. Heck, the Eldhud Swashbuckler example character in Delvers to Grow: Fast Delvers has Rapier-15 (16 with her favorite weapon) when she's at the Novice level (that is, when she has all of [62] to work with... and [20] of that is tied up in simply being an Eldhud!).

[Christopher R. Rice]

Kromm notes that one specific weapon for Weapon Master is worth 15 points.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Kromm notes that one specific weapon for Weapon Master is worth 15 points.

Interesting because B99 states "One specific weapon. 20 points."

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by maximara

Interesting because B99 states "One specific weapon. 20 points."

One specific weapon is katana or bow or knives. One particular specific weapon is what he's talking about here - as in my katana or my bow.

[thom]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

One specific weapon is katana or bow or knives. One particular specific weapon is what he's talking about here - as in my katana or my bow.

Yep...in D&D (for example) a fighter specializes with one weapon (ex: 1H longsword) & builds on that. So the player wants to buy a longsword and -using the Broadsword skill - grow with that weapon only.

Yes, he understands about having a backup weapon (and skill) and a ranged weapon (and skill). But he wants to build/grow his capabilities with the longsword only. That is, he cares about Rapid Strikes only with the longsword; and multiple parries only for the longsword; not with any other weapon. The goal is that any time he picks up a longsword (any longsword) he gains these benefits; otherwise he gets nothing for this advantage.

I agree with the groupmind about the increased skill costs (which is why I stripped it out); and I (the GM) am not allowing any damage bonus. So now I'm trying to find a fair cost for what remains...that help any?

thom

[Christopher R. Rice]

The Weapon Specialist power-up on p. 22 of GURPS Monster Hunters Power-Ups 1 might be what you are looking for...