Combat Reflexes without defense bonus

[Icelander]

Combat Reflexes has always been GURPS shorthand for 'combatants who matter in a heroic adventure' and distinguishing those from 'everyone else'. If a character in a campaign featuring as much violence as the typical RPG (usually orders of magnitude more than real special operators ever see) does not have it, he's probably not suitable to go on adventures with the other PCs. He might be a really nice Patron, Ally or Contact if he makes sure to stay home, but if he goes on adventures with them, he'll be a Dependent they don't get any points for.

Originally Posted by Anthony

fast-draw, in particular, is a skill people don't value much.

Huh. I have a very different experience.

Note that while Fast-Draw (Pistol) or (Sword) is a somewhat rare circus trick in real life, albeit one studied by the occasional real experts and very useful in tactical situations if mastered, Fast-Draw (Longarm) is a basic part of tactical training. It's used to quickly ready a rifle or other longarm that is slung over your back, hanging on a patrol sling, secured by a retention device, perched against a wall, lying next to you in a vehicle or basically carried or stored in any way other than held in a two-handed shooting position ready to fire.

In my experience, PCs that are good at combat will have Fast-Draw about as high as their weapon skill, until their Fast-Draw maxes out at around skill 18-21, which means that you can reliably (16 or lower) instantly ready a concealed pistol from an Undercover Holster in an inconvenient location, like in an IWB holster at the small of the back or under heavy clothing.

That allows a PCs to be able to shoot immediately upon spotting a threat, no matter where they are or how inappropriate it would have been to walk around openly armed and prepared to fire. As that will describe an awful lot of situations where PCs nevertheless get attacked, Fast-Draw can be as important as Guns... or even more important.

The best Guns skill in the world is kind of useless if you have to spend a whole second on a Ready action after you spot your enemies drawing their weapons, because then your enemies spend their next second of action filling you with lead before you ever get to roll against Guns.

And yes, Observation and high Per is important too. Without it, you are not a heroic adventurer, you are an annoying escort mission for the other PCs.