Mailanka's Musings -- GURPS Content Post

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

I often times see Force Sword and Force Buckler in play used as a very mobile and aggressive style as people rely on the 3 DB awesomeness (combined with extremely light wait) to go wild with move and attacks and even committed attacks with a 'Trust the Shield' mentality

I wonder if that could work as a style?

Force Sword-And-Buckler, as described in the pyramid article I'm referencing, is slow and patient. I'm using that style because Psi-Wars is, ostensibly, lazy. The idea is to show that you can use existing material to good effect, rather than creating your own. But you can create your own!

There are a few things I've noticed in my playtests. First, move-and-attack prevents you from parrying with your weapon, which is deadly to a force swordsman. He typically has a parry of 13-14, and a dodge of 10. If he runs and attacks, then he will be cut down by blaster fire. Someone with a force buckler doesn't have this problem. You run, you slam into someone with your shield, and then you can freely parry (with your +3 DB) or, if you don't have precognitive parry, dodge with a +3 DB (so an average dodge of 13). We saw Dun Beltain do this in the iteration 3 playtest, and he was honestly as capable as several of the 300 point characters in later playtests.

Your comment about committed attacks is also very valid. Yes, you cannot parry after you make a committed attack and you suffer a -2... but look at all that block you have. The only problem is that you only have one block... but why should you? I haven't, but I see no reason why I couldn't, or shouldn't, introduce the multi-block rule. It's not ideal, but it doesn't need to be. Block once or twice, then go to dodge for the rest, using that +3 DB. It's also not a particularly heavy weapon, so it doesn't exactly slow you down.

The one draw back is that high mobility styles tend to put you in the thick of things, but shields tend to be very poor at blocking rear attacks and do not provide their DB penalty if you hit their wielder from the wrong angle. A Mobile Buckler-fighter would thus want to be well versed in tactics, and have SOPs like "Back to the Wall" as fairly standard. They would need to be careful and measured in how they charged and try to avoid letting people get behind them. The idea would have to be to use their mobility to keep their edge and advantage.

[Kalzazz]

This reminds me of the quote in 3e Spec Ops that I can't remember exactly, but roughly goes - 'where laziness seems like manic activity'

I've noticed the preferred tactic of the force sword / force buckler user is to do a Heroic Charge / move and attack with the Force Sword

Now they can't parry, but they can Block, and they can dodge (both of which get the +3 DB)

They also are semi popular at doing committed attacks, as they trust the shield, and theyve sunk enough points into shield they need to compensate a bit for their correspondingly lower force sword skill usually . . . though often they will just use basic attacks so they can still parry etc

I personally allow the Multi Block rule (at -5 per, reduced to -3/-2 with Weapon Master) . . . usually peoples dodge is high enough they don't actually use it much, since shield skill rarely gets raised sky high. But the +3 to dodge is awesome

I personally allow the 'improved chambara defenses vs rear attacks' to be used with force bucklers and other lightweight shields also . . . since if I can deflect a rear attack with my 2lb force sword Im sure I can manage it with a .5 lb force buckler!

That said, charging headlong into the fray with any sort of weapon allows greater risk of getting flanked and smacked in the back . . . I don't recall seeing any evidence that shield users are at any greater risk than anyone else (except that shields usually are not force bucklers, and thus way a ton, thus are wielded by people who put lots of points into brawniness so they not be immobile while carrying big heavy shields and other goodies, and thus put less points into zooming around like a hummingbird)

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

From Martial Arts page 126

Ah, right. When I searched Martial Arts I was looking for Sig Move (I thought they called it that too), but knew it was Trademark Move in DF.

But if we do want to encourage characters to take it, we allow the trademark move perk. Now, that perk specifies that players need to take exact values and use them precisely... but that's exactly how our signature moves already work! So, for a single point, you can get a "+1" to all uses of that specific move.

Okay, so they are Trademark Move Perks. I wasn't sure as Graceful Form does not list the Perk in it's list...

I found it exceptionally popular in CBR, so I ported it into Psi-Wars.

I rather expected that. ;)

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

I personally allow the 'improved chambara defenses vs rear attacks' to be used with force bucklers and other lightweight shields also . . . since if I can deflect a rear attack with my 2lb force sword Im sure I can manage it with a .5 lb force buckler!

There is a vast difference between swinging a 3 foot long weapon around behind you in time to parry something, and trying to get your arm behind you (facing the correct way!) in time. The first is far easier than the second (without just spinning around and facing the opposite the direction - which is just a wee bit cinematic).


Having fought with unrealistically light weight shields (Boffer LARP) i can say that blocking an overhand strike from the rear isn't hard, raise your shield above your head, crouch a bit, done. But anything coming in from a low or side angle from directly behind or the opposite flank from your shield? Impossible without turning around... and now you've turned around and exposed your back the foe in front of you.

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

I personally allow the 'improved chambara defenses vs rear attacks' to be used with force bucklers and other lightweight shields also . . . since if I can deflect a rear attack with my 2lb force sword Im sure I can manage it with a .5 lb force buckler!

That said, charging headlong into the fray with any sort of weapon allows greater risk of getting flanked and smacked in the back . . . I don't recall seeing any evidence that shield users are at any greater risk than anyone else (except that shields usually are not force bucklers, and thus way a ton, thus are wielded by people who put lots of points into brawniness so they not be immobile while carrying big heavy shields and other goodies, and thus put less points into zooming around like a hummingbird)

Right. It's not that they're at greater risk so much as they've lost more advantage. If you're going to build a character's strategy around a shield, you want that +3 DB as much as possible. A character without the shield doesn't have that DB bonus at all, of course, but he knew that going into the fight. He's focused on other means of defense (say, a cool power, or enhanced parry, or acrobatics, whatever).

So you've got your +3 DB and you want to maximize that. That means keeping people in front of you, or on your shield flank. Being in the middle of a fray removes that advantage as soon as people get on your right rather than your left, or on your rear. This isn't as much of a problem for an acrobatic character with timed defense and rear strike etc, because he has strategies for dealing with that. If you want a "grand melee" shield fighter, you have to develop your shield strategy accordingly.

(Note that most of the "defensive grip" styles, like Destructive Form, tend to have a similarly slow, patient and "keep them in front of me" approach. Serenity Form relies on Defensive Grip, but also uses Grip mastery to slide in and out of it as necessary, and seems very aware that people can get from behind because it's a "I need to be prepared for anything" style)

Anyway, my point in all of this is not "Shields can't do that," but "Shields work a particular way. You need to design your style around those considerations." You can definitely make a mobile shield style, but it'll look very different from the patient shield style that I've already shown.

[Mailanka]

Rounding out the week of force swordmanship is a post on the force sword itself: Alternate Force Swords

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

Rounding out the week of force swordmanship is a post on the force sword itself: Alternate Force Swords

No lightwhips? :( (reference: Lumiya and Githany, from EU sources; Lumiya's lightwhip appeared in Marvel Star Wars in '84 or so, in the initial post-Endor comics, back before everything was consolidated into a kind of "canon". Just goes to show you, Luke: don't trust your ex-girlfriends. Githany's was in the post-TPM Dark Horse comics, Jedi vs Sith, set in 1000 BBY, and later described in the novel Darth Bane: Path of Destruction and the "in-universe" (as in it was published in the real world as if it was written in the SW universe) book The Jedi Path.)

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

No lightwhips? :( (reference: Lumiya and Githany, from EU sources; Lumiya's lightwhip appeared in Marvel Star Wars in '84 or so, in the initial post-Endor comics, back before everything was consolidated into a kind of "canon". Just goes to show you, Luke: don't trust your ex-girlfriends. Githany's was in the post-TPM Dark Horse comics, Jedi vs Sith, set in 1000 BBY, and later described in the novel Darth Bane: Path of Destruction and the "in-universe" (as in it was published in the real world as if it was written in the SW universe) book The Jedi Path.)

There's a force whip already in GURPS Ultra-Tech, though it's noted as TL 12^ and I only went to TL 11^. If you want a style to go with it, I'd probably start by looking at monowire mugging.

[Mailanka]

The next chunk of new (or just modified) martial arts focuses on gunplay, with styles derived from Gun Fu and Tactical shooting to create Military Tactics for Psi-Wars.

[Humabout]

Oooh, more of my newest favorite blog. Keep it coming, Mailanka! This worked example type of stuff is what GURPS needs more of!

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Humabout

Keep it coming, Mailanka!

As you command.

Today, we round up our look at blasters with Outlaw Tactics, with a greater focus on pistols and common rifles, as opposed to military gear.