Combat Example using The Terminator

[gjohanns]

O.k. so I was watching The Terminator and the opening combat sequence really got me wondering how well GURPS would mirror the scene. So I tried it... and it did very well! I am posting my write up here so people can pick it apart or comment as needed.

-- Combat Sequence –
Punk #2 (Move 5)
Punk #1 (Move 4.75)
Punk #3 (Move 4.5)
Terminator (Move 3.75)
** Because of Free Actions the beginning three turns may show the combatants out of combat order.
** Any attacks that do not specify hit location are assumed to target the torso.
--Combat Begins—
#Turn One
Punk #2: *Do Nothing [p. B364]* *Free Action: Talk [p. B363]* Hey, what’s wrong with this picture?
Punk #1: *Do Nothing*
Punk #3: *Do Nothing*
Terminator: *Evaluate Punk #1 [p. B364]* *Movement: Step [p. B363]*
#Turn Two
Punk #2: *Do Nothing*
Punk #1: *Do Nothing*
Punk #3: *Free Action: Talk* Nice night for a walk, eh?
Terminator: *Evaluate Punk #1* *Free Action: Talk* Nice night for a walk.
#Turn Three
Punk #2: *Do Nothing*
Punk #1: *Do Nothing*
Punk #3: *Free Action: Talk* Wash day tomorrow. Nothing clean, right?
Terminator: *Evaluate Punk #1* *Free Action: Talk* Nothing clean. Right.
Punk #2: *Free Action: Talk* Hey, I think this guy is a few cans short of a six pack.
#Turn Four
Terminator: *Free Action: Talk* Your cloths, give them to me. Now.
Punk #2: *Free Action: Talk* [Censored] you, [Censored]! *Ready: small knife [p. B366]*
Punk #1: *Ready: small knife*
Punk #3: *Ready: small knife*
Terminator: *All Out Attack: Determined [p. B365] – Punk #1 (Hit Location: Face [p. B399])* The Terminator rolls against his Brawling [p. B182] skill of 12, +4 from All out Attack :Determined, +3 from Evaluate, and -5 from Hit Location: Face for a skill of 14. He rolls a 7. Success. Punk #1 rolls against 7 for Dodge [p. B326]. He rolls a 14. Failure. Punk #1 is hit. The Terminator’s unarmed punch is 2d-1 crushing damage, plus +1 per die for Brawling bonus, and -1 for unarmed combat for a total damage roll of 2d. Roll of 7. Punk #1 subtracts 7 from his Hit Points, and is at -4 to DX and IQ from shock [p. B419] until the end of his next turn. The damage is greater than ½ of Punk #1’s HT of 12 and counts as a Major Wound [p. B420] to the face. Punk #1 immediately rolls for knockdown and stunning vs. his HT of 12 – 5 (Hit Location: Face) = 7. He rolls a 9, and fails. He falls prone, drops all items in his hands, and all of his Active Defenses are at -4. He must make a Do Nothing maneuver on his next turn, and then may roll against HT to recover [p. B420].
#Turn Five
Punk #2: *Evaluate: Terminator*
Punk #1: *Do Nothing* (-4 to IQ and DX; Stunned) Rolls against HT to recover from stunning. Roll of 13 against HT of 12. Failure. Punk #1 must take a Do Nothing maneuver next turn.
Punk #3: *Evaluate Terminator*
Terminator: *All Out Attack: Determined – Punk #2: Shove [p. B372]* The Terminator rolls against his Sumo Wrestling [p. B223] skill of 12 with a +4 from All out Attack: Determined for a skill of 16. He rolls a 12. Success. Punk #2 rolls against 8 for Dodge [p. B326]. He rolls a 9. Failure. Punk #2 is hit. The Terminator’s damage is 2d-1 with -1 per die for using only one hand to shove, plus +2 per die for Sumo Wrestling bonus for a total damage roll of 2d+1. He rolls a very respectable score of 12. This is doubled for a total of 24 points of damage. A shove only does knockback, and Punk #1’s ST of 10 means 24 is 3 times his ST-2 [p. B378]. Punk #2 is knocked back 3 yards. Unfortunately for him there is a hard, metal fence 2 yards behind him. Punk #2 collides with the fence. His HT is doubled to 20 for damage purposes against a hard immovable object [p. B431], his velocity is calculated from a move of 3 yards/second and yields a velocity of 8. 20 * 8 / 100 is 1.6. 1.6 rounds to 2d-1 damage. Damage is rolled 8. Punk #2 subtracts 8 from his Hit Points, and is at -4 to DX and IQ from shock. The damage is greater than ½ of Punk #2’s HT of 10 and counts as a Major Wound. Punk #2 rolls for knockdown and stunning vs. his HT of 10. He rolls a 16 and fails by more then 5. He falls unconscious. He also falls prone and drops all items in his hands. He will awake in 15 minutes [p. B423].

[gjohanns]

#Turn Six
Punk #2: *Attack - Terminator [p. B365]* Punk #2 rolls against his Melee Weapon: Knife [p. B208] skill of 11. He rolls a 4 for a critical hit [p. B556]. The Terminator does not get an Active Defense because of his previous All out Attack, and because a Critical Hit disallows defense rolls. Punk #2 rolls on the Critical Hit Table and rolls a 7. He then rolls damage for his small knife of thrust-1 impaling. ST 10 is 1d-2 for a total damage of 1d-3. He rolls a very acceptable 3 points of damage. Unfortunately for him the attack fails to penetrate the Terminators DR of 10 vs. impaling attacks, and the additional effects of the critical hit are ignored.
Punk #1: *Do Nothing* (Stunned) Rolls against HT to recover from stunning. Roll of 10 against HT of 12. Success. Punk #1 may act normally next turn.
Terminator: *All out Attack: Determined – Punk #3* The Terminator rolls against his Brawling skill of 12 with a +4 to hit from All out Attack: Determined for a skill of 16. Roll of 8. Success. Punk #3 rolls to Parry the unarmed attack [p. B327]. His Parry is ½ his Melee Weapon: Knife skill of 11 plus 3 for a total of 8. He rolls an 11. Failure. Again the Terminator’s unarmed punch is 2d-1 crushing damage, plus +1 per die for Brawling bonus, and -1 for unarmed combat for a total damage roll of 2d. The Terminator rolls a 7 for damage. Punk #3 immediately subtracts 7 from his Hit Points, he is also a -4 to IQ and DX until after his next turn. 7 is greater then ½ of Punk #3’s HT of 10 so it is a Major Wound. Punk #3 rolls against his HT of 10 to avoid knockdown and stunning. He rolls an 11. Failure. Normally the combatant falls prone, drops all items in his hands, and all of his Active Defenses are at -4. However, because the Terminator is in close combat the GM decides that Punk #3 falls towards the Terminator. The Terminator may decide if he allows him to fall to the ground. The Terminator declares that he will keep Punk #3 standing. Punk #3 must make a Do Nothing maneuver on his next turn, and may roll against HT to recover.
#Turn Seven
Punk #2: *Do Nothing* (-4 to IQ and DX; Stunned) Rolls against HT to recover from stunning. Roll of 11 against HT of 10. Failure. Punk #2 must take a Do Nothing maneuver next turn.
Punk #1: *Change Position – Prone to Kneeling*
Terminator: *All out Attack: Determined – Punk #3* The Terminator rolls against his Brawling skill of 12 with a +4 to hit from All out Attack: Determined for a skill of 16. Roll of 14. Success. Punk #3 cannot defend as he is stunned. The Terminator’s unarmed punch is 2d crushing damage. The Terminator rolls a 4 for damage. Punk #3 immediately subtracts 4 from his Hit Points, he is also a -4 to IQ and DX until after his next turn. Punk #3 is now at -1 Hit Points. Punk #3’s move is reduced to 3, and he must roll against his HT of 10 to avoid falling unconscious [p. B327]. He rolls a 13. Failure. Punk #3 falls unconscious.
Terminator: *Free Action: Release Punk #3 [p. 370]*
#Turn Eight
Punk #1; *Change Position – Kneeling to Standing* *All out Defense: Enhanced Dodge* *Move: ½ Move of 4*
Terminator: *Move: Step* *Evaluate: Punk #1*
#Turn Nine
Punk #1: *Long Action: Remove Cloths [p. B383]*
Terminator: *Evaluate: Punk #1*
-- End --

[Dalillama]

I suspect that the Terminator has a considerably higher brawling skill than that, to be honest.

[trooper6]

I personally don't start combat time until some body does something to start it...so I wouldn't have started combat time until your Round 4.

[The Benj]

Originally Posted by trooper6

I personally don't start combat time until some body does something to start it...so I wouldn't have started combat time until your Round 4.

The Terminator did: he started Evaluating. I've certainly started fights by evaluating for several seconds.

[Harald387]

Originally Posted by DAlillama

I suspect that the Terminator has a considerably higher brawling skill than that, to be honest.

For the first movie, he doesn't really need it. He's a nigh-unstoppable killing machine designed to get close to unsuspecting targets and take them out. He can afford to do things like Evaluate for bonuses, All-Out Attack, and Telegraph, because his targets are frequently dealing with total surprise, or attacks from behind, and simply aren't generally well-trained. Also consider that with his ST, his body is frequently considered a VERY heavy weapon, so his unarmed attacks are hard to parry.

Kyle Reese, a fairly well-trained human soldier, was able to give a single Terminator a very, very bad day. I just don't see them being incredibly skilled.

The second movie, of course, was a bigger challenge, and the T-800 in that film was an Action Hero rather than an Implacable Man. I might justify somewhat higher skills for that version, but he's still very much the 'slow and steady' brawler who simply absorbs all the damage you deal as irrelevant.

[Xplo]

Yeah, Terminators don't strike me as especially good brawlers; they simply use their strength and relative invulnerability to smash their foes into submission.

[gjohanns]

Originally Posted by DAlillama

I suspect that the Terminator has a considerably higher brawling skill than that, to be honest.

Looking just at the first movie, I tend to disagree. The Terminator does not use brawling unless he has no other weapon at his disposal, and when he does use the skill it seems very rudimentary. Watch the fight between him and Matt (Sarah's roommate’s boyfriend). He uses no advanced hit locations, no deceptive attacks. He uses Grapple and push/throw more than trying to punch or kick; smashing his opponent into walls, doors, whatever is available.

If you can suggest a scene that contradicts my points I am glad to hear it, but I am fairly set that the Terminator does not have a high DX and as such his DX based skills are all fairly low. He relies on AoA:Determined to give enough of a bonus to his skill to make an effective attack, and just allows his massive DR to absorb any damage he takes without active defenses.

This does not take into context the second or third films. The Terminator seems to have a bit of an upgrade going into the second film…

[gjohanns]

Originally Posted by Harald387

For the first movie, he doesn't really need it. He's a nigh-unstoppable killing machine designed to get close to unsuspecting targets and take them out.

Wow, ninja'd twice...

[arnej]

Originally Posted by gjohanns

skipping down to...
Terminator: *All Out Attack: Determined [p. B365] – Punk #1 (Hit Location: Face [p. B399])* The Terminator rolls against his Brawling [p. B182] skill of 12, +4 from All out Attack :Determined, +3 from Evaluate, and -5 from Hit Location: Face for a skill of 14. He rolls a 7. Success. Punk #1 rolls against 7 for Dodge [p. B326]. He rolls a 14. Failure. Punk #1 is hit. The Terminator’s unarmed punch is 2d-1 crushing damage, plus +1 per die for Brawling bonus, and -1 for unarmed combat for a total damage roll of 2d.

Very interesting analysis. One question: What is the damage modified by "-1 for unarmed combat" for up there - I was with you up til then... Is that a 4e'ism?

Arnej