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Old 07-11-2014, 01:43 PM   #21
Nereidalbel
 
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Default Re: New to GURPS and concerned about combat

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Originally Posted by Arith Winterfell View Post
1. Attacker uses relevant skill to make attack, if rolled under skill, continue
2. Defender rolls defense roll of (Dodge, Parry, or Shield), if failed, continue.
3. Roll damage, see how much damage and how much damage is "absorbed/taken" by DR to see how much gets through. Apply damage.
Step 4. Apply Wounding Modifier to penetrating damage to determine total HP loss. Otherwise, you pretty much have it.

If you're using Psi in place of Magic, build powers with points, and apply the Psi (-10%) Power Modifier.
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Old 07-11-2014, 01:48 PM   #22
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Default Re: New to GURPS and concerned about combat

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Originally Posted by Arith Winterfell View Post

Also there was mention of Shield adding as a bonus to parry, which confused me as I thought using your Shield was its own sort of defense roll?
Both, actually. You can block with a shield, but its DB (Defense Bonus) is added to all of your defenses.
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Old 07-11-2014, 01:48 PM   #23
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Default Re: New to GURPS and concerned about combat

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Also there was mention of Shield adding as a bonus to parry, which confused me as I thought using your Shield was its own sort of defense roll?
The idea is that carrying a shield at all puts something between you and your attackers, giving a modest bonus to all defenses even if you don't use it as your primary defense.

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Originally Posted by Arith Winterfell View Post
Lastly, the fantasy setting I'm working on uses a measure of psionics which replaces traditional D&D magic. So the feel is something closer to having wizards/sorcerers in having magic that functions more like "the Force" from Star Wars, but without the Jedi focus on combat. I don't know if that effects anything in terms of how combat will be handled.
It really depends on the specifics of the effects you can achieve with it.
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Old 07-11-2014, 02:02 PM   #24
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Default Re: New to GURPS and concerned about combat

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It really depends on the specifics of the effects you can achieve with it.
And that hides some good advice for any GM new to GURPS: Don't worry about what it's called, look at the effects.
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Old 07-11-2014, 02:05 PM   #25
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Default Re: New to GURPS and concerned about combat

Shields work two ways:
  1. They allow an active defense called Block, figured at half your Shield skill + 3. (Things modify this, but that's the core formula.)
  2. They add a bonus to all active defenses, called Defense Bonus (DB).
A warrior with a Basic Speed of 5.00 ends up with a Dodge of 5 + 3 = 8. If she has a weapon skill of 14, she ends up with a Parry of 14/2 + 3 = 10. If she a Shield skill of 16, she ends up with a Block of 16/2 + 3 = 11. If her shield has DB 2, her effective defenses end up being Dodge 10, Parry 12, and Block 13.

It's important to know the difference between Shield (a skill), Block (an active defense figured from that skill), and Defense Bonus (a bonus to active defenses for carrying a shield). Shield skill is generally used at full value only to attack – bash or rush – with a shield. The defense always uses Block, which isn't used for anything else. And DB adds to Block, and also to Dodge and Parry, but not to full Shield skill for any reason.
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Old 07-11-2014, 02:27 PM   #26
Peter V. Dell'Orto
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Default Re: New to GURPS and concerned about combat

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Originally Posted by Arith Winterfell View Post
I feel unsure of where to start, especially in terms of keeping it simple both for myself as a new GM to GURPS and simple for my players to start out with me.
I highly recommend just starting out with the combat rules from p. B324 - 328, aka Combat Lite from the back of the Characters book. Play with those for a while, and then add on to there.

I'm not just talking from theory - I actually use those rules as the baseline core for combat in much of the combat in my own Dungeon Fantasy game, and I'm one of the guys who wrote the expanded combat options in GURPS Martial Arts (Kromm being the other.) You can have a great amount of fun with nothing more than those rules, plus a dribble of options added on later when you know more of what you need.

I personally only bust out the fully-detailed rules when we're playing some combat we all see as epic and important and worth spending much more time for a slight increase in fidelity. That's not that often in a dungeon crawl like I run right now.
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Old 07-11-2014, 03:24 PM   #27
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Default Re: New to GURPS and concerned about combat

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Originally Posted by Nereidalbel View Post
Step 4. Apply Wounding Modifier to penetrating damage to determine total HP loss. Otherwise, you pretty much have it.

If you're using Psi in place of Magic, build powers with points, and apply the Psi (-10%) Power Modifier.
Step 4. Apply Wounding Modifier, adjusted for any applicable Injury Tolerances, to penetrating damage to determine total HP loss.

Which reminds me. In the first post:
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Originally Posted by Arith Winterfell View Post
I've noticed a number of rules regarding damage reduction, how damage gets multiplied depending on if it penetrates DR
There are two "DR" advantages. The first is Damage Resistance (DR) which is subtractive from Damage before applying wounding modifiers. The second is Injury Tolerance: Damage Reduction (IT:DR) which is a wounding modifier acting as a divisor to any damage that penetrates Damage Resistance (DR). IT:DR (especially the high levels) is usually reserved for superheroes who can shrug off a punch that sends them through multiple concrete walls.
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Old 07-11-2014, 05:06 PM   #28
Arith Winterfell
 
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Default Re: New to GURPS and concerned about combat

Oh, I see. Yeah I meant Damage Resistance (I think I'm just used to it being called Damage Reduction, which is what it is called in D&D) : /

Thank you for the clarification there.

I suppose then I need to go make sure I have a good grasp of the various multipliers then for whatever damage gets through.


Additionally to a different post, thank you for clarifying the various defense types and how Defense bonus fits into that!
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Old 07-11-2014, 05:14 PM   #29
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Default Re: New to GURPS and concerned about combat

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I suppose then I need to go make sure I have a good grasp of the various multipliers then for whatever damage gets through.
It's pretty simple without the added complications of hit locations and Injury Tolerance. If you just use the Combat Lite rules and have humans fighting other humans, you can just remember (or look up) the basic wound modifiers. Unless you have a lot of firearms you probably won't even need most of the piercing types.
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Old 07-11-2014, 11:28 PM   #30
Arith Winterfell
 
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Default Re: New to GURPS and concerned about combat

I've noticed that about the pi- pi pi+ and pi++ (if I'm not mis-remembering the classifications) that many of those involved guns. And since I'm going in for a more traditional medieval fantasy approach to tech at the moment, I'm thinking guns won't really play a role as you noted.

You're right about the general element of humans fighting humans for the most part. I want to hold off on the complexity added by Injury Tolerance at least for the first few games.

(Huh, on an unrelated note this helpful post has raised a few more separate questions I might make separate posts on.)
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