11-04-2018, 11:51 AM | #1 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Australia
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Failed attack rolls
The interpretation of what a failed attack roll means, comes up from time to time in my gaming. Kromm made the comment in a similar thread, quoted below, in which he says "you stood there doing nothing but defending". This has some implications, one of which is, does an unbalanced weapon become unready on a failed attack roll? Literal interpretation would suggest...
No opening = No swing of weapon (doing nothing) = Weapon is not unready. If you are below zero HP, does a failed attack roll mean you "do nothing", hence no need for an unconsciousness roll? What are your thoughts? Does a failed melee attack roll always mean do nothing and no swing of the weapon? Quote:
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Bro! Do you even GURPS? Last edited by Ronnke; 11-04-2018 at 12:14 PM. Reason: Added extra stuff. |
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11-04-2018, 12:12 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Failed attack rolls
I'd flatly reject the Kromm-take there, for the reasons you mention and many more.
The second paragraph is good. The first and third don't play well with the rules.
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I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
11-04-2018, 12:44 PM | #3 |
Banned
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
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Re: Failed attack rolls
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11-04-2018, 12:52 PM | #4 | |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: Failed attack rolls
Quote:
GURPS combat is an abstraction of something much more complex and dynamic, and it is important not to mistake the abstraction for a simulation.
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The Path of Cunning. Indexes: DFRPG Characters, Advantage of the Week, Disadvantage of the Week, Skill of the Week, Techniques. |
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11-04-2018, 03:05 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Re: Failed attack rolls
"Swing and a miss" seems to be the obvious answer to me.
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11-04-2018, 09:08 PM | #6 |
Join Date: Nov 2015
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Re: Failed attack rolls
Pyramid 3-34 got a tweak for hesitating instead of actually missing
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11-05-2018, 05:38 AM | #7 |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Re: Failed attack rolls
Yeah, but just if you attacked with success margin of 1. On the other hand, it's a clue about that failed attack not means lack of attack.
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11-05-2018, 06:32 AM | #8 |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: Failed attack rolls
The problem with "swing and miss" is that it's hard to do.* Yes, a person can do it, but most swings don't miss. It's very weird to imagine people are swooshing weapons around every second and missing all the time. It's much more like a real fight if they're only seeing and/or capitalizing on openings every few seconds. Save swooshing for critical failures. It creates no inconsistency with the rules to assume this:
* One of the most common criticisms of GURPS is in the vein of, "Gee, how can an ordinary person swing a baseball bat at someone's head and miss? But that's what happens with -5 for the default penalty and -5 for the head, even with the +4 for Telegraphic Attack!" The obvious answer is, "They didn't swing."
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
11-05-2018, 06:37 AM | #9 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Australia
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Re: Failed attack rolls
In this case would an unbalanced weapon still become unready?
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Bro! Do you even GURPS? |
11-05-2018, 07:36 AM | #10 | |
Join Date: Dec 2014
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Re: Failed attack rolls
Quote:
This seems problematic for a variety of reasons. The ability to capitalize on openings seems a separate skill than hitting - a skilled Mixed Martial Artist with Boxing-15, Karate-15, Judo-15, Wrestling-15 would be very good at timing openings against an average (say skill 10 or 11) opponent. But you give them a baseball bat, assuming they don't train to fight with a bat (skill at default), and suddenly they lose their ability to judge distance and openings? Assume that character had DX 12 and Broadsword-7. A skill of 7 would mean they would be worse at judging timing and openings than a weakly skilled amateur with DX 10 and 1 point in Broadsword. How does that make any sense? |
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