On assembling teams for GURPS Action . . .

[vicky_molokh]

Greetings, all!

I'm currently taking part in an Action game, and I'm currently contemplating proper ways to 'assemble' a team for such games in general. Our team includes a Criminal Assassin, Security Chief Wire Rat/leader (me), Criminal Shooter and a Military Face Man as PCs, and two NPCs - a driver and some investigator, both of which appear occasionally.

I wonder how people try to pick the roles for teams of a given size - four and six seem the most balanced team sizes, but two and three are probably present too.

Here are some of my observations (I'm willing to hear yours):

• An Assassin can substitute for a Shooter or Infiltrator to some extent, or as a driver in a pinch. No fancy 'class skills', but some of the more general ones are easy to buy up (high DX). One of the most important roles, even if the campaign isn't about crooks.
• The Cleaner is probably one of the best all-around multitaskers. Can talk, shoot, drive etc.
• Demolition Man seems to be a secondary role, only appropriate once the team size is more than 4.
• Face Man seems good all-around too.
• Hacker seems tertiary (unless the campaign is centred around computers and electronics); only for teams>4.
• Infiltrator seems good at first sight, but not all campaigns call for a cat burglar. However, if it is a primary role, she can substitute for most other DX-based roles to some extent (again, driving and shooting come first).
• Investigator may be primary or secondary depending on campaign type.
• Medic seems secondary, but does boost a team's effectiveness considerably once team size is >4.
• Shooter is a primary that easily dual-classes into other DXists.
• Wheel Man is primary to secondary, but definitely a specialist. It's cool to have one, but he is either in the spotlight or far away in the background. Seems like a role which must dual-class into something.
• Wire Rat seems like a good support overall in a higher-tech game, especially espionage, cops or houserobbers type of campaigns. But it seems that it's a bit hard to multi-class with this one.

I hadn't analyzed the lenses in the above list. I'll add them later.

Thanks in advance!