Simplified combat rules for non-combat intensive campaigns

[trooper6]

I think the high level of detail in the system makes super abstract combat not work so well...really, I think just the presence of hit points makes is anathema to super abstract combat. Also, I don't think just having a quick contest would be enjoyable enough.

I do have a suggestion, so I'm not a negative Nancy. I'd recommend buying and reading the game Cold City. I haven't read it in years, and it looks like my copy has gone missing so I can't refresh myself, but if I remember correctly they use a form of quick contests for combat, but with the sort of additions that I think are important to make such a system work in a fun way. Player A says what they want out of the combat and Player B says what they want out of the combat...and this should be narratively interesting. Not just, "I win." Then you have the quick contest...though, IIRC I think it was more like a GURPS regular contest than a quick contest.

The person who wins gets to narrate what happens. But, and my memory is fuzzy here, there are some nuances. Like if you both succeed in the roll but you win by more, your opponent also gets to dictate something about the outcome...though can't negate your overall goal. And...I believe there were stakes for losing...not hit points, because the game doesn't use them, but I think you lose an action die...which makes subsequent actions more difficult...so there should be some sort of penalty system set up with the more abstract combat that is similar. Maybe a -1 penalty to an attribute of the victor's choosing for the rest of the game session?

Anyway, while I still maintain that simple, abstract, and quick are all separate concerns, I think a narrative based combat system from another game (probably one of the indies) could be bolted onto GURPS to give the OP what he or she wants. But I'd also recommend checking out some of the indie games and see if maybe you wouldn't want to try using their system--or if you could use them as inspiration for heavy GURPS mods. I'd recommend checking out Cold City.

[The Rampant Gamer]

One other suggestion that seemed obvious to me when I first replied, but maybe isn't always considered - not every combatant is a frenzied do-or-die type. Maybe the heroes pull out the big guns and after the first guy falls to a hail of bullets the rest stage a retreat. Maybe after the first nasty sword wound the goblin drops his spear and exits, stage left? It isn't very Hollywood, but it's very realistic, and in a game where combat doesn't happen all the time, it might be the easiest way to ensure that fights don't drag on too long.

Just have to remind your players that it's not a video game, and the bad guys they fail to kill won't be able to quickly return to action if they've taken a six-point stab wound to the guts. Fled, sometimes, is as good as dead.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Why shouldn't it? GURPS has the complementary skills rule now.

Yes, but the only way to take into account secondary skills, without slowing play down to a pace that the OP will be unhappy with, is to pre-calculate single-roll values. And I'd be surprised if somebody has created a GURPS solution for that, prior to this thread. Or if anybody will create such a subsystem in response to this thread.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

Yes, but the only way to take into account secondary skills, without slowing play down to a pace that the OP will be unhappy with, is to pre-calculate single-roll values. And I'd be surprised if somebody has created a GURPS solution for that, prior to this thread. Or if anybody will create such a subsystem in response to this thread.

I'm not remotely seeing that.

Currently GURPS combat is

* You try to hit him
* If you hit, he tries to defend
* If he fails, you do damage
* If the damage is sufficient, he rolls for loss of consciousness, and again for stun/knockdown
* If he's still conscious, he tries to hit you
etc. for the other three steps

and you repeat that cycle, second after second, for multiple rounds.

Now you're saying that the only possible way to simplify combat is to go from potentially dozens of rolls to just one roll? Implicitly, that a system where you have a primary combat skill roll on each side, and maybe a handful of complementary skill rolls, for *an entire fight*—not even a dozen rolls and quite possibly much less—does not count as even a slight reduction from playing out the fight second by second?

I don't think that's reasonable.

Bill Stoddard

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Why shouldn't it? GURPS has the complementary skills rule now.

Very well. Take my suggestion upthread and add:
Each fighter rolls against his best weapon skill as a Complimentary skill for the Tactics/Leadership roll.

If the weapon uses ammunition it uses (10 shots x RoF)-MoS of the weapon roll.