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mlangsdorf · 11-29-2008, 06:23 AM

GURPS doesn't have a Challenge Rating system, and I'm really not sure how useful it would be. I've seen encounters that should be walk-overs turn into very difficult fights, and I've seen my Big Bad Guy get killed in 3 turns.

General set of guidelines, though, for credible foes in combat:
Combat skill should be roughly equal to the PCs'
Their attacks should be capable of penetrating the PCs' DR and doing ~HP/3 net damage
Their DR should be capable of reducing a PC's hit to only doing ~HP/3 damage
The numbers should be equal on either side.

So if the PCs average weapon skill 16, are armed with broadswords at ST 13, and are wearing chain, then you're looking at foes with weapon skill 14, also wearing chain, and carrying hand axes.

The more you deviate from that formula, the easier or harder the fight will be.
* Highly skilled PCs will blow through the defenses of unskilled foes, and will rarely be hit. Unskilled PCs will never get blows through skilled foes' defenses.
* If the PCs are nigh-invulnerable to attack, that opens up a lot of options in combat. If the PCs will die from a single successful attack, combat becomes very hard to predict.
* If the foes die from a single hit, they won't last long in the fight, and you can throw in more of them. If the PCs can't damage their foes, then the fight will be very hard.
* Doubling the number of foes probably quadruples the difficulty of the fight. Halving it makes it easier.

A couple of other notes:

In low-tech/fantasy fights, shields are very powerful. Fighting dumb animals without shields is very easy; fighting veteran warriors behind large shields is very hard. You can radically change the difficulty of a fight by changing the foe from Shield-16+Medium shield to Shield-14+Small shield.

Because of the bell curve of the 3d6 system, small improvements in skill can lead to strange results. Skill-14 PCs should avoid combat and will rarely get successful hits in against defending foes. Skill-19 PCs can wade into combat, perform funky tricks like Rapid Strikes, and defend themselves against multiple foes. Skill-24 PCs can make successful attacks against a foe sitting on their back while the PC is lying on the ground. Think about what kind of combat environment you want when people are designing characters.

In high-tech combat, damage is very high and armor is generally inadequate. An assault rifle almost always drops an unarmored man, and a single shot from a battle rifle will likely kill. Sending lightly armored PCs against hordes highly skilled gunmen will result in multiple PC deaths. Alternately, you can pretty much play out Black Hawk Down, with highly skilled PCs killing hordes of unskilled, unarmored goons.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

11-29-2008, 06:23 AM	#10
mlangsdorf Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Austin, TX	Re: New to GURPs; not sure where to start GURPS doesn't have a Challenge Rating system, and I'm really not sure how useful it would be. I've seen encounters that should be walk-overs turn into very difficult fights, and I've seen my Big Bad Guy get killed in 3 turns. General set of guidelines, though, for credible foes in combat: Combat skill should be roughly equal to the PCs' Their attacks should be capable of penetrating the PCs' DR and doing ~HP/3 net damage Their DR should be capable of reducing a PC's hit to only doing ~HP/3 damage The numbers should be equal on either side. So if the PCs average weapon skill 16, are armed with broadswords at ST 13, and are wearing chain, then you're looking at foes with weapon skill 14, also wearing chain, and carrying hand axes. The more you deviate from that formula, the easier or harder the fight will be. * Highly skilled PCs will blow through the defenses of unskilled foes, and will rarely be hit. Unskilled PCs will never get blows through skilled foes' defenses. * If the PCs are nigh-invulnerable to attack, that opens up a lot of options in combat. If the PCs will die from a single successful attack, combat becomes very hard to predict. * If the foes die from a single hit, they won't last long in the fight, and you can throw in more of them. If the PCs can't damage their foes, then the fight will be very hard. * Doubling the number of foes probably quadruples the difficulty of the fight. Halving it makes it easier. A couple of other notes: In low-tech/fantasy fights, shields are very powerful. Fighting dumb animals without shields is very easy; fighting veteran warriors behind large shields is very hard. You can radically change the difficulty of a fight by changing the foe from Shield-16+Medium shield to Shield-14+Small shield. Because of the bell curve of the 3d6 system, small improvements in skill can lead to strange results. Skill-14 PCs should avoid combat and will rarely get successful hits in against defending foes. Skill-19 PCs can wade into combat, perform funky tricks like Rapid Strikes, and defend themselves against multiple foes. Skill-24 PCs can make successful attacks against a foe sitting on their back while the PC is lying on the ground. Think about what kind of combat environment you want when people are designing characters. In high-tech combat, damage is very high and armor is generally inadequate. An assault rifle almost always drops an unarmored man, and a single shot from a battle rifle will likely kill. Sending lightly armored PCs against hordes highly skilled gunmen will result in multiple PC deaths. Alternately, you can pretty much play out Black Hawk Down, with highly skilled PCs killing hordes of unskilled, unarmored goons. Hope that helps, and good luck!