11-06-2017, 06:34 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Nov 2017
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Attack is not opposed?
I was reading about GURPS online. I've never played before, but I've experience in D&D, Vampire the Masquerade, Star Wars by West End Games, etc. I see that if an attack roll is made, and succeeds, the defender rolls his (for example) parry skill independent of the attackers roll. Is this realistic?
If I was sword fighting, I suspect it would be much harder to defend against an expert swordsman than it would against someone of average skill. Ideally I'd like a game system where the PCs make all the rolls. For example for the enemy I could assume some reasonable default, and not roll the enemy's attack. Instead the PC would roll his defence skill against the static attacker's roll. For the sake of helping combat resolution to be quicker and thus combat more exciting. Has GURPS anything like that? |
11-06-2017, 06:41 PM | #2 | |||
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Attack is not opposed?
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11-06-2017, 06:46 PM | #3 | ||
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Attack is not opposed?
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11-06-2017, 06:49 PM | #4 | |
Join Date: Nov 2017
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Re: Attack is not opposed?
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ie: It's harder to defend against the expert swordsmith because his attack is so clever and well placed, and because he understands the motion of the blade so well. What you describe I don't consider the same thing. |
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11-06-2017, 06:55 PM | #5 | |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Attack is not opposed?
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Deceptive Attack can include things that you might not consider 'deceptive' as such, like a strike that's especially quick or directed so as to be difficult to counter. (Though it should be remembered that it works against all defenses, not only parries.)
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I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
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11-06-2017, 07:01 PM | #6 | |
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: earth....I think.
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Re: Attack is not opposed?
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If someone with a skill level of 12 fights someone with a skill level of 16, the parry scores are 9 and 11, the skill 16 person could take -4 to skill, dropping it to 12, when they attack which lowers the opponents defense from 9 to 7. That is technique in real life. Its harder to defend against the expert swordsmith because they can take bigger penalties and still land strikes. |
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11-06-2017, 07:13 PM | #7 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Attack is not opposed?
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Having Deceptive Attacks be retroactive - that is, imposing a -1 to defense for every 2 points by which you were under your target number - could do some of what you're looking for, but isn't very realistic and can make combat a bit more boring, as it removes some of the gambling nature from the contest. As for only having the players roll, treating NPC's as always rolling a 12 might not be horrible. A foe with Broadsword-12 could instead be interpreted as one who imposes a +0 to defense and a +4 to attack (he never makes deceptive attacks, and the characters can get away with giving him up to a +2 to Parry), while one with Broadsword-18 would impose a -3 to defense and -2 to attack (he always makes -6 deceptive attacks, and the characters must always impose a -1 to his Parry to hit him).
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GURPS Overhaul |
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11-06-2017, 07:35 PM | #8 | |
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Saint Paul, MN
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Re: Attack is not opposed?
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My two kids (5 and 8) and I sometimes whip out a hex grid to "play a GURPS battle" when we have a bit of spare time. We have a collection of characters that they choose from and then I pick a Dungeon Fantasy monster to put them up against. Most games I'll introduce a new maneuver or feature that they can try. Last night, for example, they battled two Frost Serpents who targeted them with breath weapons that largely ignored their armor. They used retreats to earn bonuses to their defenses and then used the terrain to their advantage, gaining partial cover for the archer. This forced the snakes to approach into melee range at which point the cleric could leap upon them with his flaming sword. (Alas, an inopportune critical failure caused him to drop the sword, leading to much hilarity and a near rout before their luck changed.) With that said, GURPS combat can be slow, especially if the GM pushes for more granularity than the players are capable of or interested in. In my more serious games, I tend to adjust the style of combat on the mood of the group and the needs of the story. Sometimes we do quick-and-dirty theater of the mind, or narrate past obvious results ("you mop up the remaining mooks..."), or even resolve the whole thing with a quick contest between key opponents (this can be surprisingly fun). Other times, we dive in for a hex by hex mega battle. I love the versatility. |
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11-06-2017, 08:04 PM | #9 |
Join Date: May 2009
Location: In Rio de Janeiro, where it was cyberpunk before it was cool.
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Re: Attack is not opposed?
Well what you propose does do that
Well, maybe more exciting to you =) But I certainly would not find combat where one side rolls against static numbers more 'exciting' regardless of how quicker it was. After playing GURPS for years, I actually enjoy the long combats. There are situations where it can get stale, but its always a great adrenaline rush for me. And I think thats because its always so deadly. Im ok with fighting a dragon over the course of 2 months worth of RPG sessions, for instance. GURPS rules are perfectly capable of creating the desired feel as expressed by you. Excelente swordsman can use deceptive attacks to impose penalties to the defenses of the defenders of his attacks by reducing his attack skill at a ratio of 2 to 1. So its much harder to defend against a highly skilled fighter than an amateur. I feel like you lose a big part of what dice games are about when you remove the die rolls for the enemy. They no longer can crit or critically fail, seems wrong to me. |
11-06-2017, 09:24 PM | #10 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Attack is not opposed?
GURPS offers a good balance between defense and offense, something that cannot be said about most RPG systems. This is especially true about dodge, which can be used against any 'normal' direct attack, and can be done infinite amount of times during a turn (usually representing general evasive movement rather than specific dodges).
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