Game Geekery - GURPS Content Posts

[Landwalker]

1. I'd probably change to "But keep in mind that [most] impaling weapons base their damage on a character's thrust damage score." There are a couple of Basic Set swung impaling weapons (and Campaigns makes sure to discuss the rules for getting those picks stuck in your opponents).
   
   Similarly, there are a few thrust cutting attacks, and plenty of thrust crushing attacks (including the most basic of all, the ol' knuckle sandwich).
   
   
2. Man, that ST 16 bandit only has 12 HP? I hope he took a glancing blow already earlier in the fight...
   
   
3. "Kerna’s broadsword thrusting damage (swinging attacks cannot target the Vitals)..."
   
   Swinging attacks definitely can target the vitals (see aforementioned pick—and perhaps once you get to the more advanced tutorials, the Martial Arts rule for making crushing attacks to the vitals). Cutting attacks, of course, never can attack the vitals.
   
   
4. High Pain Threshold (which the Bandit Bruiser is stated to have) gives a +3 to KD&S rolls that isn't accounted for in his failed roll after the vitals wound. (Pre-post Edit: Dripton beat me to this.)

[mook]

Thanks for the quick reply! Updated.

[mook]

Doh! Landwalker, how'd you sneak in there? :)

Good points, I'll tweak a bit in a couple hours when I'm out of work.

Thank you!

[Landwalker]

Originally Posted by mook

Doh! Landwalker, how'd you sneak in there? :)

Good points, I'll tweak a bit in a couple hours when I'm out of work.

Thank you!

I'm like a GURPS ninja. <_<

Always happy to help, especially if it means contributing to a GURPS-for-Newcomers "tutorial" run. Worked examples are the best way to learn anything, and the more that are out there to refer folks to, the better.

[philosophyguy]

Again, great work on the New to GURPS series.

As we get to more intermediate and advanced topics, one suggestion I have is to add a bulleted list towards the top of each post that identifies what new rules are going to be covered in the example. "Intermediate Combat" is thematic but doesn't communicate content. Having the list at the front would help the reader find relevant posts later, and it would also let the reader look for where the rules will apply as he or she reads (instead of encountering the rule after it is applied).

[Mr_Sandman]

In the example, the bandit makes an immediate HT check to avoid unconsciousness when taken to -4 HP. My understanding was that the unconsciousness roll is not immediate, but is made at the beginning of the turn of the character at or below 0 HP. Not that it makes much difference in a one-on-one fight. But a standing opponent might draw a few more attacks in a bigger melee, because you can't be absolutely sure whether they are going to fall on their turn.

I realize that this is really too minor a point to bring up in the context of "New to GURPS". I'm just checking for my own sense of getting things right. I run knockdown and stunning, and death checks as immediate upon receiving injury, but not unconsciousness from 0 or negative HP. That waits until the start of the injured character's turn. Have I been doing it wrong?

[mook]

Originally Posted by Mr_Sandman

My understanding was that the unconsciousness roll is not immediate, but is made at the beginning of the turn of the character at or below 0 HP. [snip] Have I been doing it wrong?

Technically you have, presumably because p. 419 says, "make a HT roll at the start of your next turn."

But Kromm weighed in on this some moons ago, i.e., "...make an immediate HT roll."

Originally Posted by philosophyguy

Again, great work on the New to GURPS series.

As we get to more intermediate and advanced topics, one suggestion I have is to add a bulleted list towards the top of each post that identifies what new rules are going to be covered in the example.

Thanks, philosophyguy! Good idea, I'll see about standardizing something like that. I'm kind of "planning as I go," not always the best way. :)

[mook]

Originally Posted by Landwalker

Man, that ST 16 bandit only has 12 HP? I hope he took a glancing blow already earlier in the fight...

Hehe, yeah -- I've corrected the mechanical errors you pointed out, but this kind of thing comes up a lot. That is, I already know what points I want to illustrate, and how I want to illustrate them, so I kind of start from the end and work backwards.

Makes for (hopefully) clear examples, but sometimes leads to oddities like the above. ("Luckily, this bandit is Ambidextrous!")

I had started writing another exchange that included using Mighty Blow for extra damage, but ultimately decided I wanted to save the 'Extra Effort' stuff for the Advanced posts. The quickest way to salvage what I already had was to just knock his HP down.

I've made mention now of a previous leg wound to retcon it. :)

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by mook

I've made mention now of a previous leg wound to retcon it. :)

Urr... unfortunately, that wouldn't affect the major wound threshold, which means the first attack would neither cripple the arm, nor cause a major wound.

[Mr_Sandman]

Originally Posted by mook

Technically you have, presumably because p. 419 says, "make a HT roll at the start of your next turn."

But Kromm weighed in on this some moons ago, i.e., "...make an immediate HT roll."

Thanks for the clarification. I know my players will prefer it that way. It's more viscerally satisfying to knock someone out right when you hit them, than for them to fall over a little while later.