08-03-2020, 11:46 PM | #11 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: GURPS Navigation (Land) and Terrain
I'm not sure that's relevant. If the terrain is "Mountain" that doesn't mean you're looking at a mountain off in the distance; it means you're actually walking through mountains. Mountainous terrain can block your view of the wider landscape, or force you to take non-straight-line paths.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
08-04-2020, 01:51 AM | #12 |
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Trondheim, Norway
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Re: GURPS Navigation (Land) and Terrain
In medieval Norway, "everyone" lived along the coast and traveled by boat if they wanted to get anywhere. Going from one village to a neighboring one would just as likely include sailing down one fjord and up the next, as going cross-country through forested wilderness.
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08-04-2020, 02:00 AM | #13 | |
Join Date: Dec 2013
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Re: GURPS Navigation (Land) and Terrain
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08-04-2020, 08:35 AM | #14 |
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Minneapolis, MN
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Re: GURPS Navigation (Land) and Terrain
There seems to be some internal rules disagreements about maps. After the End2 (p. 32) gives a +4 bonus for having a map as opposed to High-Tech (p. 52) which imposes -10 for not having a map. If one goes the After the End rules route, the bonus for having a map counters the penalty for most terrain.
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08-06-2020, 12:26 PM | #15 | |
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: New York City
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Re: GURPS Navigation (Land) and Terrain
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08-06-2020, 12:30 PM | #16 | |
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: New York City
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Re: GURPS Navigation (Land) and Terrain
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However, if you have a compass & experience it's hard to get lost. |
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08-06-2020, 05:52 PM | #17 | |
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: The Land of Enchantment
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Re: GURPS Navigation (Land) and Terrain
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So I might invert these. Sort of. You'd have to fit penalties for jungle and woodland in there, since you can't really see the surrounding topography well. They would probably just add a bit of penalty to the underlying topography, so that a jungle on a flat plain would be the worst. Of course, this assumes that you are using a topographical map. (My (rather extensive) experience is in modern-day orienteering.) But if you are doing celestial navigation, well, then all that matters is how well you can see the sky, so plains might be the easiest. But most modern land navigation uses a compass, map, and terrain association, and navigating a featureless plain with no landmarks is sort of the very definition of difficult, there. This is why the nascent GPS systems were so incredibly important during Desert Storm. (More experience speaking, there.) So I disagree with Bill. Quite intensely, actually.
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08-26-2020, 08:49 AM | #18 | |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Minneapolis, MN, USA
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Re: GURPS Navigation (Land) and Terrain
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08-26-2020, 09:18 AM | #19 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: GURPS Navigation (Land) and Terrain
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Watching people without these match the wrong peak to the one on the map and steadfastly refuse to change their minds until you're hours out of your way is something. In a game where navigating is just something you want a quick roll for to see if the party makes good time or not, or possibly screws up badly and gets lost every so often (so on a critical failure), but otherwise doesn't focus on it much, I'd just say that's part of Navigation. You have a map, or someone with local knowledge (and who doesn't blow the skill roll, which I'd allow as an assist to the main Navigation roll), so you're good. You don't, you eat the penalty. If it was a game where more detail was called for, I'd be looking for Cartography rolls, and possibly Naturalist ones as well, on top of the Navigation checks. However, I'd be looking carefully at the overall effects of these, because asking for lots of rolls tends to do odd things to the overall probabilities if you don't look out.
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08-26-2020, 10:48 AM | #20 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Panama
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Re: GURPS Navigation (Land) and Terrain
I think part of the difficulty of navigating in forested and rough terrain is the slow movement possible. If you say that a group need to make repeated navigation rolls, say for each 4 hour travel, the slower movement of jungle and mountain forces you to make more "rolls per mile", that in itself is a penalty and increases the chances of deviation and delays.
So, geographical landmarks may add bonuses, speed is a handicap in itself, visibility modifiers (foliage and mist for example) may be a penalty if using the stars, having a compass will eliminate visibility penalties (but maybe not grant bonuses), following a trail may add bonuses and may require vision or tracking rolls if there is low visibility. If the idea is to make the navigation interesting I believe the best approach is to make it varied and variable, it will depend on the circumstances and allow for some roleplaying and creative ideas (like marking old buildings ruin with a big red cloth so you have a ready made landmark in a post apocalyptic wasteland you are traversing). |
Tags |
gurps, navigation, terrain |
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