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02-13-2018, 10:02 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Feb 2018
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Negative Hit Point effects
Hi all,
I'm trying to learn the GURPS rules by running some mock combats of various sorts. One question I have is about negative hit points. Unless I'm missing something, there are NO combat penalties for being in negative hit points, as long as you succeed in the HT roll to stay awake, and aren't suffering from a previous Stun. Is this correct? Thanks. |
02-13-2018, 10:12 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Negative Hit Point effects
No, you are at 1/2 Basic Speed and Basic Move, and you must roll HT every turn to stay conscious.
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02-13-2018, 10:16 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Feb 2018
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Re: Negative Hit Point effects
But do either of those directly affect your ability to swing a sword, shoot a gun, kick an opponent? I ran a combat, one opponent was at -12 hit points out of 11, so a total of 23 damage, but still able to fight normally, with an HT of 12 he made his consciousness roll every time. It just seems like there should be a more significant penalty for going into negative hit points.
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02-14-2018, 06:42 AM | #4 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Cockeysville, MD
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Re: Negative Hit Point effects
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02-14-2018, 07:10 AM | #5 |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: Negative Hit Point effects
The note about putting your opponent on a timer is a good one. Unless you have ranged weapons, I can move away from you and you won't be able to close the distance. You'll eventually loose consciousness.
If ranged weapons ARE on the table, dodge becomes much more important and your dodge is now in the nether regions.
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02-14-2018, 07:16 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Feb 2018
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Re: Negative Hit Point effects
Hi everyone,
Thanks so much for all of the information. I have a lot more insight now as to how movement can affect combat. In my mock combat, I basically had 2 fighters toe to toe slugging it out, so to speak. But if the unslowed character moves out of range of the injured character, isn't it a Move & Attack at -4 to get back into range without being attacked herself? Otherwise, they are back on even footing again, as long as the injured party keeps making HT rolls. I will definitely look at the effects in the Martial Arts books, and I'm already considering some house rules around repeated shock. In my combat, the injured party was kicked for at least 3 points of damage every turn for 5 rounds, but missed in the 6th round, so no penalty to his attack after that. I'd think he'd be reeling for more than 1 second after being kicked 5 times in a row. |
02-14-2018, 07:31 AM | #7 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada
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Re: Negative Hit Point effects
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02-14-2018, 08:00 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Cockeysville, MD
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Re: Negative Hit Point effects
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Another good option is Evaluate which is allowed for any target that you can reach with a Move and Attack. If they make it into step space after a turn then all the better. The last thing that I would purpose is that when you GM enemies... don't make them suicidal! Most people that are fighting to stay conscious are going to loose their will to fight. They will offer surrender, try to flee combat, or just collapse and feign death. Fights don't have to go on to the bitter end.
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--- My Blog: Dice and Discourse - My adventures in GURPS and thoughts on table top RPGs. |
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02-14-2018, 08:09 AM | #9 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Austin, TX
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Re: Negative Hit Point effects
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In a duel situation like that, the unwounded fighter (call him fighter A) should have used a Move to break contact and move away from his opponent (fighter B), and then let fighter B chase after him. This sets up three options: * If Fighter B stays still, Doing Nothing, then Fighter A can use Move maneuvers to circle around him at a distance, trying to get behind him. This forces Fighter B to either risk getting All-Out Attacked from behind, or taking some other maneuver to turn and risking unconsciousness. Even with HT 12, he's pretty unlikely to stay standing for 5 seconds. * If Fighter B uses an All-Out Attack to close the distance and attack, Fighter A can hopefully defend against one round of attacks (he can still retreat, after all) and then try something like an attack to the vitals or face against his defenseless foe. * If Fighter B uses a Move and Attack, he's unlikely to hit with a maximum skill of 9. Assuming the two fighters end up facing each other and Fighter B attacked with his right arm weapon, Fighter A can then All-Out Attack to step to his left and step again into Fighter B's right flank hex. Fighter A then makes two attacks, or an attack at +2 damage, or an attack to the vitals, skull, or face, and Fighter B's only defense is a Dodge - at half his normal Dodge and with another -2 penalty for an attack from the flank. Even if Fighter B is a dodgy ninja who started the fight with a Dodge of 12, he's rolling against a 4. When Fighter B hits 0 HP, he's at an enormous disadvantage if his opponent plays it smart.
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02-14-2018, 10:12 AM | #10 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
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Re: Negative Hit Point effects
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