Sniper and Medic

[Ragitsu]

1. What are the necessary Advantages/Skills to choose when creating a skilled sniper in GURPS 4th edition? Is it possible to consistently pull off crazy shots (such as shooting a fly from half a mile away at dusk) with the Core rules alone?

2. I'm writing a game set in a near post-apocalyptic future with TL8/TL9 alien invaders, and I already know one of the PCs is going to be one of those healers able to whip up necessary equipment from virtually anywhere and pull off moderately to highly impressive results patching up his patients. What would he have to pick, and what house-rules would I have to employ to make this possible? Do keep in mind magic won't exist, and superscience is difficult to come by.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

1. What are the necessary Advantages/Skills to choose when creating a skilled sniper in GURPS 4th edition? Is it possible to consistently pull off crazy shots (such as shooting a fly from half a mile away at dusk) with the Core rules alone?

All you need is an absolutely absurd quantity of skill. And similarly absurd perception, I suppose, to be able to see the fly to begin with. No Advantages are needed, though Acute Vision is helpful for the seeing things very far away.

Adding High Tech is a good idea. In addition to accessorizing your rifle, you can grab the Precision Aiming mechanic and technique to make even more excessive shots.

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

2. I'm writing a game set in a near post-apocalyptic future with TL8/TL9 alien invaders, and I already know one of the PCs is going to be one of those healers able to whip up necessary equipment from virtually anywhere and pull off moderately to highly impressive results patching up his patients. What would he have to pick, and what house-rules would I have to employ to make this possible? Do keep in mind magic won't exist, and superscience is difficult to come by.

Well, cinematic, give him Gizmos he can use to pull out medical gear. You could go for scrounging instead, but realistically I don't think you can scrounge surgical supplies in your average forest.

The rest of it sounds like just high skill again.

[Ragitsu]

GM aside, is there a limit to the skill amounts?

[Icelander]

1) A sniper is more than just a marksman. Hitting the target is one facet of the job, but someone who's just a good shot is a sharpshooter more than a sniper. Fieldcraft and tactics are important, handled by such skills as Camouflage, Observation, Soldier, Stealth, Tactics and perhaps some more. Anything that is useful for a recon soldier is useful for a sniper. Most snipers in the modern day are also trained to call in artillery fire and air strikes, covered by the Forward Observer skill.

Many snipers learn how to maintain and build their weapons, with the Armoury (Smallarms) skill.

During some historical conflicts, soldiers were stationed in their operating areas long enough to develop Area Knowledge, but in the modern day, that's a rarity for first world soldiers in combat zones.

The ability to maintain position for a long time is important. That would be Single-Minded and/or the Perk Patience of Job (p. 13 Power Up 2: Perks).

Mental toughness is important. High Will, the lack of certain Disadvantages or the Perk Controllable Disadvantage (Callous) from p. 12 Power Up 2: Perks.

An Eye for Distance is covered by a Perk from p. 13 from Power Up 2: Perks.

The shooting part of the MOS is the Gun (Rifle) skill. I think that a decent sniper would need skill 14+ and that he'd want to take several levels of the Technique Precision Aiming (p. 251 High-Tech). A PC sniper might want to go for skill 18+ and Precision Aiming at 14+, to make him reliable within typical sniping distances. The Targeted Attack Technique (p. 252 High-Tech) for the Vitals, Face or Skull can allow all sorts of cool PC madness and is even realistic for some police marksmen.

2) A realistic field medic has a high First-Aid skill, a decent Diagnosis skill and maybe a low score in Surgery (with an Optional Specialisation in Trauma). Improvising bandanges is the Scrounging skill.

Punching all these skills up to their 20s allows for some pretty reliable field surgery, even without tools, but if the campaign allows it, you could also go with Gadgeetering (Medical) and/or Gizmos.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

GM aside, is there a limit to the skill amounts?

No. There's an optional rule that makes it a pain to maintain skills at levels higher than attribute+10, but that's as close as anything gets.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

GM aside, is there a limit to the skill amounts?

At above Attribute+10, though, it's likely that skill use will feel less and less realistic. Of course, that's not a problem for everyone, but I've found that even in high-kicking, horse-steroid, testosterone-fuelled fantasy games, it's better if the characters branch out into more skills than keep raising one to ridiculous levels.

Simply put, if someone has Guns (Rifle) skill 49, the bell curve won't handle him very well. The odds of him making an impossible shot to someone's right eye (-9) at a 1000 yards (-16) upside down (-4), while masturbating (-2) and making faces (-2) will be the exact some as the odds of him shooting a aluminum can a couple of paces away while plinking with his friends.

[Harald387]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

GM aside, is there a limit to the skill amounts?

There are no built-in limits to how high character skills can go. Many GMs place limits, though - 'Controlling Attribute +5', 'Controlling Attribute +10', and 'No higher than 20' are all examples I've seen.

Reliably shooting a fly (SM -14) at dusk (Lighting penalty -5) from a half-mile away (can't be arsed to find out how many feet there are in a mile; call it 500 meters for a half-kilometer, or a range penalty of -14) would require Guns (Rifle)-49.

Seeing a fly at dusk from a half-mile away would require some combination of Night Vision, Acute Vision, and/or Telescopic Vision, whether these be granted by equipment (a good telescopic sight) or inborn (naturally good eyes and decent night vision).

[Harald387]

Originally Posted by Icelander

while masturbating (-2)

Does this work differently in Iceland? Normally, rifles require two hands...

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Harald387

Does this work differently in Iceland? Normally, rifles require two hands...

You can shoot one with one hand, though. You'll just have real problems handling the recoil and can forget about quick follow-up shots unless you have it braced just right.

But hey, if it bothers you, switch the rifle for a pistol. Still got a 90% chance of making it on a default roll from your amazing Guns (Rifle) skill.

OTOH, yeah, it totally works differently here. Back in 2007, we used to pay EU-citizens in table scraps for those services, so we didn't have to sully our own hands. ;)

[Ragitsu]

Ah, okay. So it is doable by core rules alone. It probably won't come up, but it's a relief to know the ability is in place.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Simply put, if someone has Guns (Rifle) skill 49, the bell curve won't handle him very well. The odds of him making an impossible shot to someone's right eye (-9) at a 1000 yards (-16) upside down (-4), while masturbating (-2) and making faces (-2) will be the exact some as the odds of him shooting a aluminum can a couple of paces away while plinking with his friends.

Is there a way to fix the bell curve for this type of gameplay, or do you recommend another set of rules?