FAILED parry means contact too? (Zombies)

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Varyon

I'm also not certain if weight in the hands (that is, the weight of the weapon itself) should count more than weight on the hands (in the form of gloves or similar).

The key factor is the distance from the lever (shoulder or elbow), so if we were comparing Sap Glove to Fist Load I would say no.

The problem is moreso when you get to holding things which extend outside of the palm like a reach 2 sword, because then the centre of it's mass is no longer in your palm, it's beyond it.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Letting you trade the damage from an Aggressive Parry to get an immediate Beat attempt would match the way Beats tend to work a good deal better, and would also make them actually be used, so this would probably be a Good Idea.

We should probably calculate whatever ST penalty would result in how much less damage an aggressive parry does compared to a punch/elbow though.

Originally Posted by Varyon

If you have skill 16+, a 17 is a normal Failure, not a Critical Failure. Thus, if the foe has Parry 14 or 15 (such that they crit fail on a roll of 17 or 18), boosting that to 16 or 17 with a Telegraphic Attack makes them less likely to suffer a Critical Failure (as they now only crit fail on a roll of 18, with is 1/4th as likely as before).

True.. I forgot about this part, it's like a tertiary outliar to the usual "difference of 10" math.

Originally Posted by Varyon

That would probably be acceptable, yes.

There's even something along these lines when you crit miss with a gun.

[OldSam]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Um...I don't roll for a parry when the attack failed. GURPS combat is slow enough.

I wouldn't do that normally, too, the case of checking for possible issues regarding Zombie contact, may be another thing though (in a dramatic situation something like that can be interesting ;)). *

But with respect to "slow", which game(s) do you compare? IME there are a lot of RPGs where combat is slower, e. g. Shadowrun 4 or 5 to name examples. If we are on a similar level of detail I find GURPS to be quite fast actually, if the GM is experienced and uses a few tricks and the players know their most important options, not just saying "I attack" etc.

For instance it is very important to regularly use options like deceptive attack, all-out-attack, feint, targeted attack etc., avoiding simple basic attacks. GURPS with lite options (or GURPS with a newbie group in general) on the other hand really can be quite slow very often, because of simple attack/block, (counter)attack/block or dodge sequences.


*: Though before playing the GM should explain that this "fail -> contact" situation may occur (for both sides, players or opponents), if the GM decides that way, so the players are prepared.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by OldSam

the GM should explain that this "fail -> contact" situation may occur (for both sides, players or opponents), if the GM decides that way, so the players are prepared.

B557 two possible "miss results in contact" too:

Details are up to the GM – perhaps you trip and fall on your head, or walk face-first into an opponent’s fist or shield.

That could actually be a dangerous thing if you had some kind of flaming face and your opponent's fist was vulnerable to fire damage. The ability of GM to determine details basically allows them to avoid beneficial situations like that, though. The other though...

If attacking a foe armed with a ready impaling weapon, you fall on his weapon!

That's usually a bad thing, but not if you have some kind of "my fire aura melts metal spears" ability and end up destroying your enemy's spear because you miss him so bad.

This seems to be an automatic hit (ie it doesn't matter how tiny this guy is, no matter how dark it is, you WILL make contact with his spear) but I think it might be fair to let the spear-wielder make an active defence (as if Striking At Weapons) if he doesn't want this contact to happen, whether it be to protect the person he's going to impale, or to protect his weapon from contact with them.