How to protect casters?
 

Lets say I'm playing a warrior. My friend is a squishy magic user. We are attacked by two Orcs. One of the Orcs rushes into combat with me. The other one goes around and attacks my friend. Except for using a ready Reach weapon I don't see how I can stop anyone from getting by me. Is there some mechanic like Threating or Opportunity Attacks that I am missing?

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Make sure the mage is armed and armored too, instead of setting him up as some sort of squishy target.
Squishy targets don't belong in combat unless they're meant to die.

You can do a sacrificial dodge to help out your friend, but really, don't allow squishy targets into melee combat.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

No. You can, of course, stab him in the back now that he's run past you, which in the real world discourages tactics like this, but GURPS doesn't really have much of a concept of zones of control, making it very hard to stop people from moving at will.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Beyond the Sacrificial Dodge, you can also Wait, and step in front of someone trying to do that type of thing.

Basically one has to remember GURPS combat is fast, taking place in 1 second intervals, so if you want to make sure someone doesn't get around you, you'll probably be reacting to them with triggered Wait actions instead of going out to attack them and allowing them to get by you.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

(You could also try to fast-talk the GM into letting you take some kind of penalty to attack/defenses/both in order to stick your leg out and trip Enemy #2 as he goes past... It's not a Mechanics thing, then, but a GM call as to whether a cinematic move like that fits with the campaign the GM desires to run.)

Re: How to protect casters?
 

True but usually a poor tactical option.

The big problem here is that the time scales of movement and striking are off. Realistically, it takes longer to go around someone than it takes for that person to turn and whack you.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

There's always the "keep anyone squishy as far away from danger as possible" maneuver. It involves either taking Ze's suggestion of armoring the mage, or the very reasonable option of not getting in a fight with two orc's when you have someone squishy on your side.

My suggestion for the "opportunity attack" type thing (I'm going by what the name sounds like, I don't know what it means in DnD terms) is to Wait for someone to enter your range.

But really, getting yourself into a fight when you have someone who's essentially helpless to defend and you're outnumbered two to one is just dumb.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

True, which is why a Wait maneuver lets you do it. If you're already in a fight with someone else, and you've already swung at them or parried something they swung at you, then you probably can't also turn to hit someone running past you if you weren't preparing for it.


Is there any rules-legal way of taking an AoA:Double and Wait-ing one? Would that be at all realistic?

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Hm. For some reason I was thinking of this as being the same orc as you engaged also running around you. Agreed that fighting one orc will keep you busy.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Take a look through this thread:
Melee Threat Area

In particular this post by Kromm, concerning a Technique built on the rules presented in Martial Arts:
Armed Interdiction

The Wait maneuver is the official way of doing this in GURPS, but if you insist on Attack-of-Opportunity style of effect, then that is how to do it. Consider carefully; allowing this technique has repercussions.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

General caster protection schemes in place in my current fantasy campaign.

1. Get them before they can get you. For fighters this most often means high damage attacks possibly enhanced with Targeted Attack, magical and Weapon Master bonuses. Add in Rapid Strike at appropriate level of power. For mages, first screw up as many as possible. Using Flash so they're all at -3 DX is good. Then finish off with efficient damaging spells like Flame Jet or Shocking Touch all extended by your Staff.

2. Stand more than 1 average Move behind the fighters. Flying or Levitating can help too.

3. Iron Arm or Blink at 16+

4. DR from leather armor with moderate magical enhancements or just go all magical when you've got enough money.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

First off, no matter how good a warrior you are, if you're outnumbered, they can get past you. The mage will want some protection from this inevitability. A staff in defensive grip is a good start, and quite fitting for a mage. Armor is also a good idea, just make sure there isn't so much that he's too encumbered by it.

As for the warrior, you have to change tactics if you're trying to keep people away from the mage. Wait is your friend. Specify that you're attacking the first one to try to get past you, and then do so. You can also use the Trip technique from MA, which lets you use a parry to trip someone passing through your hex or an adjacent hex. It can be very effective at stopping people, if done right, but it also costs you a parry. If you're really nice, your GM might even allow an armed version.

In any case, your roll switches from being an offensive killing machine, to being a wall of sharp steel. Many people have this tendancy to automatically go for the most agressive options in this situation, hoping to kill the enemy quickly, but if that doesn't work (And it often doesn't), then they've failed in protecting their companion. Holding your attacks, taking a defensive approach, and punishing anyone who tries to get by you is the way to go, and it can be very effective. Imagine one orc running up and bashing on your shield, while the other goes to run past you at the mage. Not only does he suddenly find a foot tripping him up and sending him to the ground, but he then recieves a held-back thrust into his back on the way down. Between the -4 for being on the ground (Or in this case, falling to the ground) and -2 for a side attack, he's not likely to defend. Even if he doesn't fall, it's still a side attack. One or two examples of this, and people are going to be very cautious about bypassing you.

But really, your best bet is to find a chokepoint like a doorway or narrow hall, where you can completely prevent them from bypassing you and getting to the mage. You can focus on being a meatgrinder while the mage is free to do whatever he wants... Which is hopefully helping you, of course.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

It's especially helpful to aim for the legs when your wait is triggered by the guy trying to get around you. Crippling a leg is a good way to ensure that the orc can't get to your caster.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Yep. I've never seen a seriously squishy wizard without spells like that, although Walk on Air is more popular due to FP cost.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Thank you. This thread has been most enlightening. I am still trying to shake off the D&D mindset as you can tell I'm sure.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

The wizard should be able to take care of himself, unless intentionally designed to be "incompetent" at combat.

Spells obviously. Just one or two will do. There are the obvious defensive ones and fairly obvious damage ones. Depending on the specialities of the mage there are also spells like Mental Stun (Mind Control), Rooted Feet (Body Control, Movement?), Darkness (Light/Darkness), any of the Illusion College can be used to buy time nicely, etc, etc...Really almost every College has a few (execpt Enchantment, Knowledge, and Meta).

Weapons Skills. Remember you don't have to be a "Great Warrior" 1 or 2 points in a weapon (Staff is particularly good +2 to parries) should get you to about 12 base skill (Staff that would give you a parry of 10). Since you are merely trying to survive until the warrior can help out no reason not to Parry and Retreat (or Dodge and Retreat if you are particullarly fast) that gets your Parry up to 11, that is a 55% chance to make it. If you want to attack instead of cascting spells your theoretical skill of 12 will give you a 60% chance to hit IIRC, you might even do damage. If you feel that isn't enough defense you can skip attacking, go AoD (Parry then Dodge if needed). Even if you get Hit once with a little Armor it will hurt, but you will likely still be concious. If you do get knocked unconcious you should survive so long as a few people took first aid.

My current character is a mage, has Staff skill of 12 (funny that) and Leather Armor for DR 2. I have a good mix of spells. I have been shot by a ST 15 crossbow at middling range 30ish hexes. I lucked out (I think the GM rolled a 1 for the damage 1d+5) and took 8 pts after armor (HT 10) wasn't stunned but did fall down. Stayed in the combat (casting spells) and took out one bandit later. In a totally different melee I was alone at first and was attacked by 2 Guards and a noble. I dodged and retreated once (successfully) then Cast Armor at the max +5 DR (9 FP at skill 15) to bring my total DR to 7. I focused on casting damage spells at the noble. After the guards bounced a few attacks off me they started going all out for +2 dam, the rest of the party showed up and we won.

Biggest thing for a Mage is to have a Plan. At character creation you should have a few ideas about what you Plan to do in combat (even if you are not playing a "battle mage") and if you didn't build a battle mage, after a little while as an "adventurer" he will start learning, unless disadvantages/mental defects prevent him...

Good Luck

Re: How to protect casters?
 

A Defensive Attack with the defense bonus option is probably a good idea when a dedicated caster has to get into melee, as are spells such as Armor and Shield, which grant DR and a defense bonus, respectively.

Also, don't forget the number of blocking spells which can be cast as a defense once per turn.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

A few problems with your math here. First, a skill level of 12 in staff gives you a parry of 11 (skill/2 + 3 +2). Next, rolling against an 11 is a 62.5% chance, and rolling against a 12 is 74.1%. All of which reinforce your overall point though, so no worries.

[Edit] You may have been thinking of rolling a D20, where 11 gives you 55% and 12 gives you 60.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Another approach is to give yourselves some distance between the fighter and the mage - enough that an orc can't get by the fighter and close with the mage in one turn. If everything works out right, the fighter can wheel and catch orc#2 in the back before orc#2 reaches the mage.

Remember that if orc#1 (the one who engaged the fighter) has already attacked for his turn, he doesn't get any sort of AoO when the fighter disengages.

This tactic works best if the fighter is built for speed and skill - he's likely to have to take a Move and Attack manuver. Some decent reach on the weapon would help - a rapier or similar might be best here.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Really, you should have enough people to form a line between the mage and the orcs. One mage and one fighter isn't an optimal ratio.

Bill Stoddard

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Experience has shown me that a few points dropped into even a mookish group of Allies isn't a bad bet for a wizard. Skeletons, for example, are worth negative points. They're a base 1-point Ally for just about any plausible mage. They have the +0% version of Minion (due to Slave Mentality) and no Special Abilities worth charging points for. So having one around constantly costs . . . 4 points. Having 10 around all the time costs 24 points. That's actually a pretty good investment: 10 screening fighters who can all be told to Wait every turn like a big bone shield, none of whom have to be fed. A really deluxe version might be Summonable, +100% on 15 or less instead, which costs 36 points -- handy if your necromancer has to be social and polite at times.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Generally, you do things in GURPS the same way you do them in real life. If you were sparring with someone in a boxing ring, and actually trading punches instead of dancing around looking for an opening, and right at that moment someone ran past you, you're not gonna be able to punch the second guy too, no matter how "open" he is. You're way too busy handling the first guy.

If you wanted to protect somebody, probably what you'd do is stand in front of them and say, "okay, anyone gets near us and I'm gonna let 'em have it." And at that point you're waiting for someone to come within whacking distance. In GURPS, that's a Wait maneuver. (And probably an Intimidation roll, if you actually say that.) But even then, if there's a bunch of enemies, and they all decide to rush you at once, there's no way you can stop them all at the same time; you can hit one, or maybe two if you're quick, and the rest run past you. So it goes.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Why a squishy magic user? This is GURPS. He can be fit, adventurous, armed and armoured.
If you use GURPS: Magic, the deal is cheap enough for him to afford a modicum of martial prowess.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Sure but there are actualy people who like to make squishy magic users as there characters. Most of time they do not even borther to read combat system carefully, they like other parts of game...from social engeneering, to mystery solving. Having fighting/tactics types together with non-combat types of players is sometimes unavoidable...they are your friends. But on the other hand GM has to be creative not to put non-combat types into combat - or better said - leave them other choices how to solve things, and give the fighter/tactics types opportunity to shine.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Noobs, take note of the 40-60 additional points for high DX implicit in the suggestion above. High DX will help you with your speed and your resistance to feints, but for comparable points you could have DX 10 and Staff 20 for a base Parry of 15 instead (and resist feints quite well), or drop 8 points on the same Staff 12 and blow the rest on better IQ and spells that make you hard to hit.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

This situation calls for a perk I invented: Interposing.

http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.p...&postcount=111

{EDIT: Note, this will also allow a person with a weapon of reach 2 to parry blows directed at a person standing directly in front of them, as a second line of pikemen can do for the first line.}

Re: How to protect casters?
 

I like that a lot.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Maybe I trample on my players' fun too much, but I tend to discourage character builds that leave the player out of action in any substantial scene. This saves me from worrying too much if the flow of a session over- or under-represents a type of activity. It doesn't take much -- usually 4 points is enough to give a brick something useful he can do at a cocktail party, or a give a diplomat some option in a fight.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

There are other uses for raw DX, uses that adventurer type mages might need to use on occasion. Bumping DX to 11 or 12 is not unreasonable for many mage characters and shouldn't be discounted or described as being for "noobs." Certainly, most characters I've played have been better served by reducing points spent on skills during creation and bumping attributes when possible. YMMV but, for my CP I'd consider the attribute approach when possible.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

I think he was saying "Noobs, take note:" Not "Noobs! Take note..."

That is, he was just pointing out what's going on there to the noobs, not calling the ones who did it noobs.


I hadn't thought of that. I like it!

Re: How to protect casters?
 

You'll still get more defensive horsepower out of Iron Arm or similar spell than Staff-parrying.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

That is correct, just making an alternate suggestion for anybody who may not have considered it. Sorry if that was unclear.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

You're spending Fatigue to do that, and you can't cast Iron Arm or any other Blocking spell while holding a Missile or Melee spell. So it's not a perfect defense in all instances.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

He He He. Comes from goofing off at work...

Rolling an 18 on my Mathematics roll and failing to correctly divide 12 by 2 and then add 3 and then add 2...

Your Math points are well taken. In my own defense; "I am a historian not a mathematician dammit!" -Dr. Len McCoy

As to stats vs skills...

I cannot think of a character I would design with a DX of less than 11, 98% of them would have at least 12. Base Dex has too many uses for me to see it otherwise. Of Course YMMV...

Re: How to protect casters?
 

All of the above is very true. I've seen a tactically oriented player use a fairly mediocre fighter to greater effect than a cerebral player could put a tactically awesome character. That's in a pregerated scenario. Now let the two types of players create characters that match their biases. It can get quite bad, but at the same time, it's a little unfair of the GM to say, "No, you can't create the character you want. You have to make him much more violent and combative." Thus, I think there's a large audience for advice on how tough-guy PCs can cover wimp PCs -- advice other than "Don't be a wimp, then!", I mean.

My only critique of the original post is that I hold out little hope that most of the likely advice will apply usefully to a two-man party. Formations resistant to flanking are only barely possible with three PCs, and really call for about six. Deep formations start around six and work better with huge groups of NPC spear-carriers. Neither is especially workable for two people. With parties that small, it's generally better to bite the bullet, avoid pitched battles, and have combat consist of "fighter holds off lone monster," "fighter is challenged to duel," "fighter distracts bad guys while friend sneaks," etc.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

And the ever popular...

"fighter dies with nobility, friend who ran away and lived mourns at his funeral."

Re: How to protect casters?
 

One interesting thing about this that comes to mind is that at the higher power levels that DF style (or even just really good operators) can chalk up, it strikes me that having a literal bunch of spear-carriers at your disposal is not only believable, but likely.

Think it...you're Zarg the Mighty, Victor of the Thousand Battles. Your very name will inspire fear in your opponents, and respect in the typical bystander. People will be coming to YOU with requests to be a student, or participate in adventures. It would be trivial not only for the magic user to summon up the skeleton army as Kromm suggests, but for the Fighter to have with him an Ally group of literal spear (or rifle...) carriers that are responsible for the defensive formations, allowing Zarg to direct the battle (lots of Leadership and Tactics rolls), single out dangerous critters (Mighty Warrior...HO!), and spend the needed PER and Wait actions to protect Ganderalfredo the Summoner of Lightning.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Echoed. A player in my campaign did something like this with his priest: "Gee, I could have DX 13 and Staff-14 or DX 12 and Staff-18." Since he wasn't a physical type -- and had HT 12, so that DX 13 just meant Basic Speed 6.25 instead of 6, and thus no better Dodge -- he chose the latter. The +4 to skill and resulting +2 to Parry was totally worth it. Being good enough with a staff to strike vital areas, attempt Sweep at default, etc., also paid off for him.

Generally, if you're trying to give your squishy character a self-defense tool, "He studied self-defense with this one particular, highly defensive weapon until he was very confident with it," makes far more sense than, "He's agile but has no real combat training." And if the latter is truly where you're going with the concept, it's often smarter to leave DX at 10 and use the 40 points for +2 to Basic Speed. A direct +2 to Dodge and Basic Move (for running away!) will generally keep you alive for longer. And high Basic Speed lets you act early and take a Move maneuver directly away from trouble before the bad guys can fall upon you.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

The things that always put Iron Arm out of the running in my games are (1) the one Blocking spell-per-turn limit (if you're being flanked, you're usually outnumbered, and if you're outnumbered, you're usually facing many attacks per turn), and (2) all the stuff Iron Arm is worthless against, particularly the missiles that tend to get rained down on wizards who are floating or hanging back. Well, those things and areas without mana.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

On a more modest level, I see this in my current campaign, too. The PC general has four praetorians at his beck and call -- ostensibly bodyguards, but really more like gofers -- and these chaps generally get put on the party's flank, where they protect the potion-tossing artificer and death bolt-slinging priest. Now these are low-grade Allies, worth perhaps only 1/4 to 1/2 their PC's points . . . but the PC is worth around 900 points and the NPCs have "leveled up" to keep pace, so they're respectable 300-points-ish warriors. A pure 300-point warrior set to watch your flank does a respectable job.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

For 40 points you can also get HT 14, which not only gives you +1 to Basic Speed, Basic Move, and Dodge for free, but also means that 90% of the time, you won't stop functioning when you reach 0 hit points and won't die when you reach fully negative hit points. Compare, for example:

HT 10: reach 0 HP, 50% chance of being conscious on next turn
HT 14: reach 0 HP, 90% chance of being conscious on next turn, 81% on second next turn, 73% on third next turn, 66% on fourth next turn, 59% on fifth next turn, 53% on sixth next turn, 48% on seventh next turn

You can cast a lot of spells in half a dozen extra turns!

Bill Stoddard

Re: How to protect casters?
 

I second Bill's recommendation of HT instead of DX for mages. It works out very well overall. And don't forget that extra HT also comes with extra FP.

Additionally, if the fighter knows tactics, he can probably beat the default roll by the orcs by a decent margin. Check out the rules for tactics in MA, it'll let the fighter had out luck to the wizard based upon good tactical decisions.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

It's also entirely possible to hire mercenaries for cash-moneys, skipping the whole Ally issue entirely. This will be expensive, but in a DF game a successful adventuring party can afford to feed and pay a few Men-at-arms. If you have a healer in the group, the Men-at-arms are more likely to be confident that you'll bring them back alive, too.

You can then upgrade them to Allies if you decide you like having them around and can promote a good social relationship.

Hirelings - never underestimate their usefulness.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Really, I just have one word for you. Armor. In our Forgotten Realms in GURPS game, we noticed that our mage/cleric was getting himself stabbed full of holes on a regular basis. Add to this that he was also accident prone and took regular falling/tripping/stumbling damage and we figured it was time for a change. So, when we were awarded a suit of mithral chain, it went right on the mage! Now, between that and his DR 1 robe, he's actually capable of surviving long enough to heal the rest or us. So, really, just spend the cash and get your mage a bit of chain mail. It makes a world of difference.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

I came up with some interesting issue regarding casters. I have looked over my characters. In local GURPS groups campaing from 50 points to 150 points are most common - with hard demand on disadvatages being played and definetly not for free - at some power lovel most players are faced with option to chose there roles carefully. Investing in healing magic is most common but even that "cripples" the character.
My point is short - GM is responsible to choice what peril PC face during session. By my experience alost every local GM is influence by heroic and cinemmatism without realising it. That it self could lead to situations that party faces 2 on 2 situation or 3-3 4-4...Usualy GM do realise that even a good fighter would have hard time fighting two at ones, but they usualy set mooks as "little" weaker then main fighter or in low point games as strong as the non-combat guy. This with gurps realism during fights and healing periods could easily leave group stuck. (As healers have hard time healing themself.)

Is there any advice in Dungeon Fantasy - how to pre-set an ramdom encounter? For example situation where fighter and healer travel together. They are faced by 3+ monsters but only one of monsters is a chalange at all, and the its minions are just an extra turn or two to handle.


How was this not off-topic. Easily: How to protect casters? - get your GM understand situation better.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

This goes down to gaming philosophy and so the discussion probably doesn't fit here, but I'd like to point out that the characters have as much say in what they face (except in limited circumstances, like active, aggressive enemies that chase the PCs down constantly), because if a dungeon is too dangerous, they can simply leave and go to a different one. I understand there is a general assumption among gamers that PCs are the center of the universe and thus they can overcome any challenge they face simply by marching onward, but the game doesn't have to work that way. It is possible to have obstacles the PCs are not meant to overcome, and as long as the GM doesn't unfairly hide the facts, it is the players' or characters' fault if they attempt to do so anyways and fail.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Fault may be a bit strong. It depends on how the character is written. I have proceeded when I knew my character would fail, I have even proceeded when *he* knew he would fail. That was part of who he was "would rather die than quit"....

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Oh, thank you both for the clarification. Sorry for not catching the distinction. I did think that it was an uncharacteristically harsh comment by Gold & Appel.

-Rob

Re: How to protect casters?
 

I agree with both of you, for all of the stated reasons. (Indeed, the priest in my campaign eventually raised his HT for both the Basic Speed and the FP -- and because he was the messiah of the Death God and wanted to be immune to death, but that's an unrelated issue.) But elements of this decision tie into the earlier point about people wanting to play squishy mages: to some gamers, raising HT is a "fighter thing," and not in keeping with their vision of casters. So it goes. In that context, being small and skinny often makes "agile" seem more fitting than "healthy" . . . in which case definitions of "agile" that take form as +1 Basic Speed generally serve better than those that look like +1 DX, given the combat rules.

For that matter, the wizard's huge IQ will give him a decent Tactics level if he bothers. Whoever is using tactics, though, I agree that the options in Martial Arts are worth noting. In the OP's situation, the mapped version might actually be the better option, as it would allow the PCs to place their wizards far from enemies, and possibly behind allies or cover.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Incidentally, about breaking out of the D&D mindset don't assume that your bad guys will be ignoring the Fighter who does 1D8 per round to get to the Wizard who does 6D6 over a 20 ft radius.

Nyx the Barbarian does 4D6+16 with a flail and she tends to aim for the Skull (Targeted Attack naturally). She's also usually under the effect of Great Haste.

Aldehar the Incendiary is not to be taken lightly but even with lots of Magery he tends to wound (partly because of Gurps realistic explosion rules) when Nyx auto-kills.

Our bad guys tend to try and keep 2 guys on Nyx (difficult) before they even try and get around her to tackle Aldehar.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Fred's got a point. Do you go after the Swashbuckler who can feint (at Skill-26!) with one sword and then make a Deceptive blow to the neck with the other, or do you try to get past him to gack the mage who is casting Concussion and Dehydrate-25?

The swashbuckler kills more people, but the mage's Concussion stuns more attackers and keeps them out of the fight long enough for the Swashbuckler to kill them. If the Swashbuckler is dead, it might be possible to overwhelm the mage, but it's hard to kill the Swashbuckler when the mage is dropping Concussions everywhere.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Well, once you get to crazy point levels, there are options. For instance, the alpha fighter in my current group is just crazy-go-nuts insane at movement and combat. His vital stats include Basic Speed 10.25, Basic Move 14, Move 11 (Step 2), Extra Attack 2, Weapon Master (Shortsword & Shield), Teamwork (Other PCs), Sense of Duty (Personal companions), and Shortsword-28. Needless to say, when he decides to protect his personal companions, the ability to step 2 yards and the Teamwork perk come into play . . . but his real ability is what his step and Extra Attacks allow on offense: attack, step, attack, step, attack. It's kind of hard for bad guys to get past him, and smart bad guys gang up on him, even if the back-rank guys are hurling supernatural attacks.

And the party does one other thing to protect the soft targets: they put the fighter with ST 30, HP 36, Hard to Kill, Hard to Subdue, High Pain Threshold, Recovery, Very Fit, Teamwork, Gigantism, Two-Handed Sword-25, an iron stove for armor, and a three-yard sword back there. Hey, he can still reach incoming, and it kind of discourages people rushing the back ranks.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

The common tactic is to keep squishy casters at maximum spell range pummeling the enemy from afar with their nukes while the tank/s (meat shield/s) keep the enemy occupied in the frontlines.

If allowed, you could do a Taunt or similar to provoke them into attacking you (assuming you're the tank).

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Too much MMORPG... NOT GURPS.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Like I said before, I'm green to GURPS. I have no idea how customizable it is; I'm just thinking loudly.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

This would be in World of Warcraft. Not GURPS.

In GURPS, there is a range penalty, so the further away the Mage is, the more difficult the Attack roll is going to be...maximum spell range doesn't make a lot of sense. In WoW, you have no penalty to hit up to a certain range and beyond that you can't hit at all.

In GURPS, there is no such thing as a Taunt ability. I suppose you could create such power using Mind Control as a base with a bunch of Limitations.

Or I suppose you could build the Power with an Affliction (Using Multiplicative Modifiers):

Taunt (+180%/-20%): Affliction 1 (Malediction, +150%; Based on Will, +20%; Disadvantage, Obsession: Kill the Wielder of this Power--SC6, +10%; Costs Fatigue 1, -5%; Requires Speech, -10%; Requires Intimidation Roll, -5%) [23].
Notes: You are surrounded with red light as you yell taunts at one particular enemy. With a successful Intimidation roll, you two lock Wills. If you succeed in a Quick Contest you fill him with the Obsession to kill you rather than some other target. 23 points.

But here's the thing, that sort of super power strategy won't work for all campaigns. For example, I very often run games with no magic or powers at all. Or yes to magic, but no to powers. Or yes to powers only if you are some sort of mystic...or have some sort of power source where it makes sense for you to have the power. I probably wouldn't let a fighter take the Taunt power unless, I don't know, he had some sort of Pact with some sort of supernatural force.

So barring a special power that compels your enemy to fight you...the fighter would have to go with Wait maneuvers...maybe some Techniques like Armed Interdiction...and the Mage might want to be a bit less squishy.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

All Out Defend, Sacrificial Block or Parry, and Dodge & Retreat for the Wizard.


Cheers


QM

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Quite frankly, I thing you should read at least half a page of a GURPS rulebook first before...

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Or, at the least, read through the Combat Lite appendix in Characters (not sure if it got into GURPS Lite). It's a trimmed-down version of how combat works, suitable for most new players.

Mind you, a Taunt can also be done without statting it up. Just gotta be loud enough to make yourself a target and **** off the other guy. That's role-playing. :)

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Nope. Your friend needs to realize he's not playing D&D any more, and have the squishy buy some armor. Might also be good for him to learn 'Create Warrior', it's in the Illusion/Creation college. Other options include looking into the Body Control college- Spasm is a great way to cause people to drop things (like weapons), Tanglefoot can trip them up (and give you a couple moves of head start), and Fumble is a blocking spell that amounts to 'do not hit target, do not infict damage, go directly to the critical miss table'. It's one of my favorites. =)

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Tickle. If it works, it induces a SERIOUS incapacitating tickle-fest lasting 60 seconds.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

...which is part of the reason I keep mentioning "Jobs Table" when the "What would you like to see in Book X" threads roll around. It's not just 'how much can a PC make in the meantime' thing, it's a 'what's the going rate to hire someone with Mace-12' thing.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

A tweaked version of Rapier Wit could do it, too...

Taunt (5 pts)
Roll a quick contest of Intimidation or Public Speaking (you must choose when you purchase this advantage) against your opponents Will. If you win, your opponent forgets his other targets and attacks only you for 1d rounds.

All the normal Rapier Wit modifiers apply.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

See, if you're doing this in Gurps you can cut the tanks/meat shields out of the equation all together.

You just locate the enemy with Invisible Wizard Eye and if they're far enough away and you don't care about fallout you use Teleport other on the nuke. Or if your personal TL is high enough you use Create Antimatter.

If the enemy is too close for this you have to put up a Force Dome around yourself first.

The important thing about what I've said above si that even though my tongue was definitely in my cheek not a word of it was false.

Gurps really is a serious attempt at a univesal game system. Thus it has rules for actual nuclear weapons and magic set at Technology Levels so high that the Create Fuel spell that makes firewood at TL3 (medieval) and gasoline at TL 6 (1880-1940) does make antimatter at TL 11 (the far future, Star Trek more or less).

However, it only allows mages to throw really damaging explosive spells if they spend a lot of points on their characters. It will also give fighter PCs in the same campaign the same number of points and the result is usually that fighters rack up amazing body counts too.

If a mage told me that he wanted a bunch of zombies to stand between him and his enemies I'd probably tell him to go away and come back when he had a better idea whether they were literal zombies or not.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Speaking of tongue in cheek, that gave me an idea for a creature type:

Literal Zombies (they march through fields of fnords perhaps).

Or Literate Zombies (found in certain precincts of I.O.U.)

Or Littoral Zombies (who live on the beach).

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Not to mention the litteral zombies, leaving trash wherever they go.

I'm not sure mages would be well protected by some guys standing around singing "Time of the Season". Though maybe "Thunder Kiss '65" would work better.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Littering zombies, perhaps... thoughtlessly leaving themselves all over.

Litter zombies: Bearers for lazy necromancers.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

While I have yet to encounter a GM willing to let me have access to antimatter, this does raise an interesting possibility: using Teleport Other to deliver projectiles generated via missile spells, such as Explosive Fireball.

Viable? Pros/cons?

Wouldn't this bypass Missile Shield & related defenses?

Re: How to protect casters?
 

I believe you're looking more for Telecast, but I'm not sure. Missile Shield is no good against explosions anyways, but it does protect against falling objects.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Yeah. The usual tactic with Explosive Fireball against a Missile Shield-ed target is to not aim at them, but at the ground near to them.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Two orcs walk into a room and see an armored warrior and an unarmed old man.

If magic/psi/supers are rare or unknown, wouldn't the sensible tactic be to double team the warrior? Take him out and the geezer's helpless.

If magic etc. is common and well known, wouldn't the orcs assume anyone without weapons (in a dangerous situation) is a spellcaster? Wouldn't the sensible tactic then be to retreat and get magical back-up of your own?

Also, how well is magic understood by the average orc (or other opponent)? Are they go to say "Spellcaster? So what, My kid brother was a spellcaster, just take a swing at him every second so he can't concentrate and we're fine." or "Spellcaster? He'll turn us into newts!! Run!!"

Obviously if these orcs have tangled with the party before, then they would have a better idea of what they were up against.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Why would a spellcaster ever go without weapons to a Dungeon? So that he/she can't even parry?

Old men with no armor and no weapons ring the old martial arts master bell more than the caster bell for me :-)

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Not necessarily; any of a variety of people might be unarmored with a bodyguard. You should clearly take him hostage ;)

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Possible, but you are limited to what the missile can do immediately adjacent to the person. Explosive Fireballs will still explode, a plain Fireball would be a fire hazard, and most other missiles just plop on the ground and vanish. Lightning might be a winner, since it arcs, or the GM could rule it's like a dropped missile. Oh, and you'll need a buddy, one of you to cast the missile and one to cast Teleport Other.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

That doesn't agree with the MAGIC book ("Blocking Spells", pp.12-13).

Re: How to protect casters?
 

As said above, when Missile Shield is involved, Explosive Fireball is usually thrown on the ground next to the guy anyway.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Ah? I missed that, thanks!

So you can still hold Missile or Melee spells, but you can only cast 1 Blocking spell per turn, and it always takes Fatigue. They're better than I thought, but not perfect.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

Nothing is perfect But Iron Arm at 16 parries at 16. You do have to spend the FP but getting even a Staff parry up to 16 is going to cost you lots of points.

The Spell --
 

Consists of five parts:

1.) The Ritual. . . . pull pin.

2.) The Invocation . . . "2-4-6 trinitrophenol."

3.) The Casting . . . lob next to target.

4.) The Ducking . . . to avoid being collateral damage.

5.) The Squeegiing . . . to avoid being called a litterbug (or litter zombie.)

The Monty Python Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, of course, uses a different ritual.

Re: How to protect casters?
 

and your point is...?

Teleport Other is superior in that it does not taken penalties for a distant victim and is interfered by fewer classes of obstacles.

Now that I think about it, a missile spell delivered by T-O might be exempt from Missile Shield and Reverse Missile for the same reason a gun to the head would, if your GM has made that ruling like I did.