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Old 08-26-2010, 08:34 PM   #111
Mailanka
 
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Default Re: Fighting machine with IQ=8 and Per=7?

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Originally Posted by Icelander View Post
I object to the inference that I would consider killing tigers with a spear to demonstrate the superiority of the human IQ in combat.

Because of my human IQ, I plan to have native beaters flush him out of cover and then shoot him with a scoped rifle.

My spear need not enter into it at all. As that would be bestiality, as it were.
It's not really your IQ that's allowing you to get native beaters to flush him out and shoot him with a scoped rifle. You could be IQ 8 or 18 and still achieve those things. Rather, this is a function of the fact that you live in a society (represented by attributes like wealth, status, cultural familiarity, tech level, and so on). Granted, this society resulted from the collective effect of human intelligence, but, in the context of discussing the usefulness of IQ for an individual character, it's not very pertinent. If we're going to discuss Tigers vs Humans in that context, you'd toss them both naked into a dungeon and see how well their various traits helped them.

Still, I find your point has some validity. If he drop two hypothetical fighters into a hypothetical, featureless, white room and tell them to fight, the guy who spent all his points on IQ will lose to the guy who spent all his points on DX and ST, but this describes no fight in GURPS ever. Fights happen in context. You need Perception to notice that interesting feature you could manipulate for victory in the middle of a fight, or to realize a stealthy character is about to ambush you. You need IQ for the Diplomacy, Savoir-Faire and Leadership necessary to convince a king to rally to your cause and help you fight the war necessary to defeat the Great Menace, and then you need Strategy to tell him where to send all those soldiers. You need Armoury to maintain that gun you're going to fire at that tiger, you need Traps to slow it down, you need Survival to understand that you should have people scaring it out of the forest, you need Area Knowledge to know the best place to do that, you need Camouflage to keep it from spotting you and Precision Aiming to make sure that shot hits its target exactly where you want it to.

Dexterity, Strength and Health are about surviving, winning, the fight right in front of you. IQ means not having that fight to begin with. The former helps you win the battle, but the latter lets you win the war.
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Old 08-26-2010, 11:10 PM   #112
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Default Re: Fighting machine with IQ=8 and Per=7?

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Originally Posted by Icelander View Post
I object to the inference that I would consider killing tigers with a spear to demonstrate the superiority of the human IQ in combat.

Because of my human IQ, I plan to have native beaters flush him out of cover and then shoot him with a scoped rifle.
That's not just IQ. It's 40 points of TL a certain amount of Wealth, and not being Mute and Bestial.
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Old 08-26-2010, 11:21 PM   #113
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Default Re: Fighting machine with IQ=8 and Per=7?

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Originally Posted by David Johnston2 View Post
That's not just IQ. It's 40 points of TL a certain amount of Wealth, and not being Mute and Bestial.
Naw, it's Icelander ruining my mental image of him as a crazy berserker.
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Old 08-26-2010, 11:23 PM   #114
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Default Re: Fighting machine with IQ=8 and Per=7?

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Naw, it's Icelander ruining my mental image of him as a crazy berserker.
Crazy Berserker at Law!
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Old 08-27-2010, 12:56 AM   #115
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Default Re: Fighting machine with IQ=8 and Per=7?

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Originally Posted by Mailanka
you need Camouflage to keep it from spotting you
It would be the most hard to do!

When I was young, I learned that tigers lived alone. But it was totally wrong! They live in family, like we do. Father and mother bring up their children together. This has been discovered only a few decades ago.

Why? Because tigers are not only very stealthy when they want to be; they also notice our presence very quickly. And as soon as tigers notice a man coming around, the father go in one direction while the mother go in another one, with the children. Yes, they use that trick to deceive humans. And many others...

To underestand that they live in family rather than alone, a biologist had to put video cameras in their territory. Once they were used to the presence of these cameras, they began to live normally again, that is father, mother and children together. The biologist was then very surprised!

On their own territory, tigers detect our presence far much before we can notice their. That is why killing them is so hard. And that is why Indians who want to kill a man-eater tiger never try it alone. Despite of all our technology and IQ.

Tigers are not stupid and savage beasts. They are intelligent when they do all what they do. They use a lot of tactics and strategy... They still have an IQ score of 4.

And they are very good at hiding themselves and moving silently. They almost always attack their prey in the back!

Which means that IQ is not so important for combats... It can help a lot, of course. But once the combat began, a fighter rather needs high scores in DX, ST and combat skills. Even firing a gun is based on DX.

A ST 15, DX 15, IQ 5 character could make an very good fighter. A ST 5, DX 5, IQ 15 one would better content himself with preparing the battle plan and... staying far, far away from the actual combat.
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Old 08-27-2010, 02:10 PM   #116
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Default Re: Fighting machine with IQ=8 and Per=7?

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On their own territory, tigers detect our presence far much before we can notice their. That is why killing them is so hard. And that is why Indians who want to kill a man-eater tiger never try it alone. Despite of all our technology and IQ.
Mostly they just destroy forests. Farming and Carpentry are both IQ based skills. We'll need to wait for CCoI for the Lumberjacking part, but I imagine it's also IQ based.
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