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07-18-2021, 05:34 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
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Combo Suggestions for point starved Witch wanting to be effective in melee?
Hi guys.
I recently started in a Monster Hunters campaign as a witch. So I already have a primary role of casting, but know that this campaign will require that everyone can defend themselves physically. I don't expect to be the best melee guy, but want to develop one particular melee combo that I can do effectively and consider my 'stick'. The character is Japanese, has only put a single point into broadsword (katana), karate and judo - so I've not started down any one path. I have a 16 Int and 14 DX. I am strongly thinking about getting Precognitive Parry so I can parry bullets. From that I could either get Iron Hands DR2 or use my katana (or maybe both). If I go the parry route, I'd like to use Counter Attack in my Combo. Since my Int is high I'd like to develop Feint (Ruse). Thats as far as I've gotten. Using the katana for some kind of attack might be good, since decapitation kills most monsters. Maybe Targeted Attack (neck)? Or I could go down the Judo route and do some kind of Arm Lock or Head Lock thing. I won't have the highest strength, so maybe I might not be effective against strong monsters with this type technique? I've never played a melee combatant in GURPS, so not sure about all the rules. I guess I could go either Karate or Judo with Iron Hands using Precognitive Parry, but hand strikes from Karate don't seem like they would be effective to kill monsters (not magic or silver). Though taking down humans and not killing them might be a good thing. Or develop the Lethal Eye Strike technique? And does a Throw make it easier to Target Attack someone? Say I throw some guy in such a way that his face and mine are really close - and then I Breath Fire (Innate Attack). Anyways, I am open to suggestions. What do you guys think might be a good combination? Probably Parry Counter Attack, Feint (Ruse) - unless this sounds like junk to you guys. Thanks, Mal |
07-18-2021, 10:08 PM | #2 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Combo Suggestions for point starved Witch wanting to be effective in melee?
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Then (after you've spent enough pts to earn a Style Perk) take the Perk for Technique Mastery:Judo Throw. Then you max out that Technique. It's not hugely offensive (though 1D6 damge isn't bad for low ST types) but the good thing is that it interrupts the victims attack sequence and requires him to spend a Turn just on a Stand Up action possibly followed up by movement if you've thrown him somewhere incovenient. As general advice get Martial Arts before you try to really get into this aspect. Watch out for available Technique Mastery Perks. They're a license to not play by the same rules as everyone else.
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Fred Brackin |
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07-19-2021, 05:00 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Pioneer Valley
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Re: Combo Suggestions for point starved Witch wanting to be effective in melee?
Mm. The problem is that we don't know enough about the challenges your character will face. What does "defend myself physically" mean? Does it mean that you need to be able to take out monsters by yourself? (And how tough are those monsters likely to be?) Or does it mean that you just need to be able to stay alive long enough for the dedicated melee fighters to bail you out? If the latter, then anything that keeps your defense up is A Good Thing. Shields help a lot there.
(Never mind that if you're thinking along the lines of the former, AND you're the party caster, perhaps some lessons on basic tactics to the other players will serve well.) If you're a casual melee fighter, one principle for the point-starved is that the more different ways to battle you know, the poorer you are in all of them. And if you think you have enough points for Iron Hands, and Precognitive Parry, and various techniques, and multiple skills ... for pity's sake do yourself a solid, bundle up all those points, and get an Ally: a dedicated bodyguard tasked for nothing else than keeping Bad Things from your throat.
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07-19-2021, 06:36 AM | #4 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
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Re: Combo Suggestions for point starved Witch wanting to be effective in melee?
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I'm not sure if I would enjoy it as much. I agree there is a ton of points being invested for Precognitive Parry, boosting it, and then developing a combo to do damage. My experience so far is that each character will have to be able to take care of himself and not expect the more melee type characters to save them. We are often outnumbered, not to mention firearm targets are usually random generated (so not necessarily the melee guys) and we don't have access to flak jackets or armor. So precognitive parry is my best bet for defense. And if I'm gonna parry, I may as well counter attack. And if I'm counter attacking I may as well work that into a combo. And my int is high, so I should probably Feint (Ruse). I know - slippery slope. And while an Ally would be cheaper point-wise, I think while he might be able to prevent a single target from damaging me, if we are outnumbered I still need to defend myself, and random gun fire would kill me guy easy enough. Varyon, Thanks for the post. You provided a lot of useful information. This post was written at the same time you posted, so I missed your comments until after sending it. I probably will have to deal with melee myself. While we have two guys that are more melee centric, what we have faced so far has use being outnumbered often and each party member can have one or more mobs on us at at time. So I think I have to develop melee at least enough to defend myself. So parry and either attack or judo throw. Both have their certain positives. I'll have to think more on it. Mal Last edited by Malleable; 07-19-2021 at 06:52 AM. |
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07-19-2021, 08:04 AM | #5 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Combo Suggestions for point starved Witch wanting to be effective in melee?
I missed that this was for a campaign that had already started. In that case, what sort of enemies are you typically up against, and what are your character's Path skills? At least for now, your best bet is to try to figure out what will help you that you already have - chances are good there are some rituals you could use (again, likely in Charm - or at least Conditional - form) to help you out right now, or at least once you've had a chance to prepare them.
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07-19-2021, 08:34 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
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Re: Combo Suggestions for point starved Witch wanting to be effective in melee?
My highest Paths are Mind, Chance, Crossroads and Magic. Another witch in the party has Body, Energy and Matter. We have been making charms to protect the party. Ghost Shirt and some others. So we have most the stuff covered, and my Magery and Int are high enough that I can fill my role pretty well; and my co-witch can fill hers.
We started off at 400 points, so I feel that while we just started I have my spell casting responsibilities pretty much covered and don't feel too much pressure to raise more casting paths or int. So future points will going towards combat related skills seems appropriate. Mal |
07-20-2021, 06:29 PM | #7 | |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Re: Combo Suggestions for point starved Witch wanting to be effective in melee?
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All a successful precognitive parry roll allows is the ability to use the parry skill to parry something that the character couldn't normally parry, such as a bullet. It slows down combat because of this second roll. It is also something that I would limit to martial arts specialists; it isn't something I'd allow to a dabbler. Your character is a witch. You have much better things to spend points on. Why are you trying to invade other character niches?
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07-21-2021, 05:48 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
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Re: Combo Suggestions for point starved Witch wanting to be effective in melee?
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Having already spent 400pts using the Witch template, and Thaumaturgy Rituals allow casters a much larger body of rituals from the start, and charms my spells are covered, but I am still woefully unprepared for combat. In my GURPS fantasy campaigns typical caster roles could be specialized with just focusing on Magic, but the modern monster hunters campaigns seem to require more combat. This is similar to a World of Darkness campaign I played in. I started out with spells, but realized that I needed to specialize in some melee combat if I was going to survive (Aikido Throw worked well). Thanks, Mal |
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07-19-2021, 06:33 AM | #9 | ||||||
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Combo Suggestions for point starved Witch wanting to be effective in melee?
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No complaints about Judo - personally, I feel it's the best grappling skill for the point investment. Quote:
Regardless, you're a Witch. Consider a ritual (probably in Charm form) that makes firearms less of an issue, such as DR that only works against ranged attacks (perhaps Semi-Ablative to save on energy; I know there's an example in GURPS Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic that is fully Ablative, but that actually bounces bullets back at the shooter), or similar. Quote:
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That aside, Counterattack is a pretty good option, provided you buy off the penalty. Do note that reliance on it calls for a reliable defense - you may want to use All Out Defense (Improved Parry) a lot in combat, then once you successfully defend follow that up with an Attack (or even Defensive Attack, depending on how resilient your foe is) using the Counterattack Technique. Ruse can be worthwhile when you have higher IQ than DX, but do note that it's problematic against certain foes, as it can be resisted by IQ, Per, or Tactics, in addition to DX. I believe it also requires you to use a social skill rather than a striking skill, so it's not a great option if your character doesn't also have "Face" skills. I suspect you'd be better off just buying up Feint. For someone that has "melee combatant" as a secondary role in the party, I think you want to go with either Counterattack or Feint, not both. Quote:
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07-19-2021, 01:05 PM | #10 | |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: Combo Suggestions for point starved Witch wanting to be effective in melee?
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The only times I actually did damage with the staff was parrying unarmed attacks, but that was fairly useful vs zombies.
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combat, monster hunters |
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