How do You handle this?

[evileeyore]

In one campaign the GM had these little colored o-ring like rubber bands that we'd drape over the minis to show when one was under a status effect. He paired this with the status cards being handed to those Players.

It worked well to keep Players aware of what their Characters were suffering from.

[Tom H.]

Originally Posted by jcanup42

Situation
I was GMing a game last Saturday and the 5 PCs were fighting several foes in the final Boss fight (an Ogre Chieftain and his lesser Minions). Over the course of the battle, the different combatants (PCs and NPCs) took damage, became Stunned, Knocked Down, Prone, Crouching, took Major Wounds, Knocked Out, fell Below 1/3 HP, Died, etc.

There was a lot of different condition that each combatant had at different times, and each condition has its own modifiers that come with it. I went through several pieces of paper scribbling various notes and I am sure that I messed up a time or two.

You raised some great questions.

GURPS has great detail for small fights, but realistic large combats become difficult for a GM.

There is this whole area of GURPS not covered in the rules regarding applying the rules to actual play. Pyramid magazine would be a more compelling read to me if it was used to address these implementation issues. GURPS for Dummies did do its part in this regard though.

I was preparing a battle for the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game in which the party was to be ambushed by a large group of goblinoids.

I was experimenting with grouping them into teams of about four in which I could try to aggregate and abstract the application of actions, conditions, and damage per group.

For example, I would try to create a single objective for a group. I would move them together. Terrain was varied, but I would apply a single penalty for the whole group.

I considered applying hits and damage against the group as a whole and removing individuals as the damage reached thresholds to keep from identifying and tracking each individual.

I didn't want to stoop to the "cop-out" of some other RPGs where "minions" simply take one hit and are removed. I wanted the enemy to have a believable but simplified impact. And once the group was reduced, the individuals could break out of that abstraction to have a more varied end-fight.

To be sure, the DFRPG has some suggestions on simplifying combat, namley, minions are out at 0 HP and don't need to be tracked further.

I ran this game at a convention earlier this year and hope to post a review soon.

There were six players and I would have liked to have them just fight a smaller group of powerful foes. However, the adventure called for goblinoids. I needed to have them provoke a worthy threat. I figured somewhere around three goblinoids per player. That was going to be 18 foes for me to manage while teaching newbies the game.

I practiced with a friend, but as it turns out for the actual convention game, the party circumvented the goblinoid ambush. This was fortunate as we ran out of time for that encounter anyway.

The party took a shortcut through the woods right into the territory of the gigantic spiders. This was a more reasonable combat against 6 foes. More on that in another thread later hopefully.

[mr beer]

I use mook rules for non-boss monsters specifically to avoid this level of book-keeping. Noting conditions for one monster is easy.

For the players, you could try throwing them poker chips using one colour for Stun and another for negative HP. For postures, just orient the minatures on the map. Face down is flat, on the back in kneeling.

[Refplace]

All the ideas above are great, use what works for you and your group.
I like the Combat Cards and tokens for HP and FP for the players in a face to face game, especially new players. After awhile they often dont need the cards anymore but tracking damage and FP is handy.

For NPCs I usually just use tokens or the mook rules for a large group and pencil paper for smaller or tougher groups.
I often use ink so I would write HP as a number and roman numerals or just hash marks under that for damage. I used to have laminated cards I would make circles for HP then fill them in with dry erase markers.

[Tom H.]

What is the source of the aforementioned mook rules?

[Praxian]

Originally Posted by jcanup42

I realize that some of you run a more "Narrative" game. This question isn't for you.

This question is for those of you who use a battle-mat, miniatures and try to run realistic combats. Also, as a GM, I do not use a GM screen to hide my rolls. My players like it that way and they except the dice, as they fall. We've been playing games this way for decades and we have a lot of fun this way. I am an experienced GM, but I am actually new to GURPS.

Situation
I was GMing a game last Saturday and the 5 PCs were fighting several foes in the final Boss fight (an Ogre Chieftain and his lesser Minions). Over the course of the battle, the different combatants (PCs and NPCs) took damage, became Stunned, Knocked Down, Prone, Crouching, took Major Wounds, Knocked Out, fell Below 1/3 HP, Died, etc.

There was a lot of different condition that each combatant had at different times, and each condition has its own modifiers that come with it. I went through several pieces of paper scribbling various notes and I am sure that I messed up a time or two.

Question
What are your specific GURPS suggestions to help be better prepared for the next combat and to make orchestrating the combat easier?

Thanks - Jim

Print-outs / flash-cards. Print-out the combat charts, crit hit charts, fear charts, etc., and make flash-cards (multiples, one for each character is a good setup, so 4 players, 4 sets of condition cards).

[mook]

The numbered glass tokens and magnetic status markers put out by Alea Tools have been a complete godsend for combat in face-to-face games. The tokens are ferrous on the bottom, so the status markers stick to them, but the markers also come with adhesive circles you can stick on whatever you need them to attract to.

With a little color-coded key (Red = Damaged, Purple = Stunned, Blue = Crouching, whatever), you can tell the status of every combatant at a glance. One of the best RPG-related purchases I've ever made. Note that, unfortunately, the numbered glass tokens are almost always out of stock, but the magnetic markers are always around.

Dapper Devil also puts out a wide assortment of gaming tokens which I used for a while.

[Dustin]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

In one campaign the GM had these little colored o-ring like rubber bands that we'd drape over the minis to show when one was under a status effect.

I use these as well, you'll see them sold as "loom bands". I use red ones for characters that are "staggered" (1/3 HP) and other colors as needed on the fly. They're good for marking spell area effects too.

We also have a table custom of turning a figure 180 degrees around when it is kneeling (usually after getting up from prone), which is fast and works well.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by mook

With a little color-coded key (Red = Damaged, Purple = Stunned, Blue = Crouching, whatever), you can tell the status of every combatant at a glance. One of the best RPG-related purchases I've ever made. Note that, unfortunately, the numbered glass tokens are almost always out of stock, but the magnetic markers are always around..

Hey! I can use these little wooden tiles and some paint for that effect. Thank you for the inspiration. I used them for tokens at a previous job, never thought f it for gaming.

[talonthehand]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

In one campaign the GM had these little colored o-ring like rubber bands that we'd drape over the minis to show when one was under a status effect. He paired this with the status cards being handed to those Players.

It worked well to keep Players aware of what their Characters were suffering from.

That is a really cool idea - the next time I game with a map I may steal this.