Newbie GURPS GM Seeking Advice

[benz72]

When you run your mock combats you my want to consider bringing your players in on the last one. It will help them get a feel for three things
1) 1 second combat rounds
2) GURPS lethality
3) Combat sequence / options

All of these are imortant to have some familiarity with for a smooth session (if it includes fights)

A lot of D&D converts (IME) think they can do a LOT more in a 1 sec round than is reasonable (e.g. move to an attack position, swing a wepon and speak a paragraph) The short rounds don't let you do much in each one, but you get more of them and more detail. practice with the combat sequence and the most common options until they are very familiar.

GURPS doesn't increase PC hit points like that other game. A 350 point bad@$$ will die with the same wounds as his 50 point prepubescent nephew. He should be MUCH harder to hit and wearing better gear to soak up damage if he is hit, but he is not substantially more durable.
Somewhat related to this is the compete ubersuck of being outnumbered in melee combat. 5th level fighters may be able to wade through legions of goblin mooks, but 200 point fighters need to be wary of two or three of them working as a team, circling, keeping range and overwhelming his defenses.

Having everybody know what dice to roll and when (for the most part / basic stuff) will make the game go a lot more smoothly. Let your payers test drive a few mooks around in the arena before they take their new favorite PCs in to combat. Have them AoA with an opponent in range and see what happens to them when they get no defense roll next turn. Have them reload a crossbow for 4 (it is 4 right?) seconds while their friends are whacking opponents every turn. Have them take damaga and have to deal with shock penalties, reduced movement and fright checks.

Speaking of fright checks, this is an excellent tool for a GM to use to change the flavor of experience for PCs. Have the newbies roll at substantial penalties for their first encounter with horrible death, or their own major wound etc. As they get more experienced, reduce or eliminate the penalties and then eventually just stop having them roll for 'common adventurer' kinds of horrific things.

e.g. Havin a dead body fall on you would freak out lots of normal people, including newbs on their first adventure. After a while, you will need to throw more disturbing things at them if you want to create a creepy atmoshphere (one of their friends gets messily killed and splatters all over them, or rises from the dead and comes after them).

Good Luck