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Old 06-11-2012, 05:00 PM   #1
Phex
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Default Abstract Conflicts - An extension to GURPS Ultra-Lite

There are a lot of issues in GURPS Ultra-Lite which one can argue about: skill costs, balancing, no active defense etc. Nevertheless, there is one thing which I really missed in the system: abstract conflict resolution (Besides, also regular contests would make a nice and small addition to GURPS Ultra-Lite. But that should not be a topic here.). The aim of this post is to show you a possible extension to the Ultra-Lite system which allows such an abstract conflict resolution. It should be
1) simple,
2) very flexible,
3) unified (which also means it is meant to replace the original GURPS Ultra-Lite combat rules),
4) tacitcal and
5) promote narratives.

I will in the following assume that we have Characters which only consist of 1) Attributes (ST, DX, IQ, HT) and 2) wildcard skills. Prerequisite rules so far consist of 1) Success rolls and 2) Reaction rolls. This is basically the content of GURPS Ultra-Lite and nothing more is necessary; however the conflict resolution could also be implemented in a regular GURPS game with a full ruleset.

ABSTRACT CONFLICTS

There are situations where from a narrative or tactical point of view, a regular contest is not enough to resolve a competition (e.g. a sword duel or a chariot race). In such situations, one might use the present conflict rules. Three parameters have to be defined for each conflict: A conflict base roll (an attribute or skill on which all actions are based, e.g. warrior! or horses!), a damage base (an attribute or a fixed value which determines by what means any influence is transfered to the contrahent, e.g. ST or DX) and a ressource base (an attribute or a fixed value which represents a characters position in the conflict, e.g. HT or 10).

A conflict consists of several turns and ends when one of the characters gives up or when his conflict ressource has been sufficently reduced. The in-game length of each turn depends on the situation at hand and is beforehand determined by the GM (e.g. 1 second for a swordfight to 1 minute for a chariot race). The turn sequence is decided at the beginning of a conflict, the character with the higher conflict base roll begins; in case of a draw, choose a random order. Each turn, the active character may perform two actions, which can be: attacking, defending or doing something totally different. The latter depends on the situation and has to be ruled by the GM (e.g. movement in a swordfight or attacking the opponent with a whip in a chariot race).

An active character can choose to "attack"; his target may then choose to "defend" once or twice if he has enough actions left in this turn. Both "attacking" and "defending" should not be taken literally and can also represent a non-physical action or a whole set of complex actions related to each other. Each conflict attack is a success roll vs. the conflict base roll. Each conflict defense is a success roll vs. the conflict base roll / 2 + 3 (round down). If the defender succeeds or the attacker fails, nothing happens. If the target opted for two defenses, he can reroll a failed defense (the action is spent in any case); if he does not choose to defense at all, his defense roll counts as failed automatically (Also, a critical attack can only be defended critically). A successfull attack and a failed defense results in a "damage" roll, which is decided by the damage base and corresponds to the swing damage on the damage table (B16). Note that the damage really depends on the value of the damage base and not always on ST (e.g. a damage base of IQ 10 means 1d "damage", probably for mental tasks). The attacker rolls damage, this value is then subtracted from the defender's ressource with modifiers given by the GM (e.g. damage -2 for armor in a swordfight or damage -1 for an excellent chariot). Again, "damage" should not be taken literally and simply represents the weakening of an enemy with regard to the conflict.

If the ressource of a character reaches 0 or below, a success roll vs. the ressource base value has to be performed in every turn in which the affected character wants to act. If the ressource reaches its negative original value or below, the character immediately loses the conflict and has to perform a success roll vs. the Ressource base value in order to prevent the harshest possible outcome of the conflict (GMs decision, e.g. death or a axle fracture of the chariot). The regeneration properties of the Ressource as well as the results of its decrease are decided by the GM.

Examples

Sword duel
Conflict Base roll: fighting skill, e.g. knight!
Damage Base: ST
Ressource: ST
This corresponds to a simple GURPS fight. The damage is based on ST as usual and the ressource represents the phyiscal health of the combatants, it regenerates +1 with a successfull HT roll once per day. Weapons and armor of the combatants influence the damage roll. Each turn is usually 1 second long.

Chariot Race
Conflict Base roll: riding skill, e.g. horses!
Damage Base: DX
Ressource: fixed value, 10
The ressource is a fixed value which might stand for the horse endurance, chariot stabilty or position in the race (maybe all together). It gets reduced by other riders depending on their general agility (DX). The GM may rule that it regenerates with +1 per round. For an epic Ben Hur-like race one could simply raise the starting value. After a set number of rounds, the character with the highest ressource then wins. The ressource loses its meaning afterwards. A turn might take about 1 minute and correspond to a whole lap in the stadium.

Seduction
Conflict Base roll: social skill, e.g. party!
Damage Base: IQ
Ressource: IQ
One might rather choose Will instead of IQ if it is available. The ressource represents the character's resistance against the seduction attempt or, on the other hand, the endurance and charm of the seducer. Alcohol gives a damage bonus of +5 if the defender fails a HT roll! After the conflict, the ressource loses its meaning. A turn might take about 30 minutes.

Psychic duel
Conflict Base roll: psi skill, e.g. psi!
Damage Base: IQ
Ressource: HT
The ressource represents the FP of the combatants, it regenerates +1 per 10 minutes of rest. The combatants lose consciousness if they fail a HT roll when their ressource goes below 0. Each turn might only take a few milliseconds or hours, depending on the game world.

Options

It is possible to include more options to widen the tactical possibilities. Some ideas which correspond to regular maneuvers or attack options in GURPS fights are briefly listed here:

1) All-Out-Attack (Strong): Instead of doing two attacks, make one with increased damage. AT+AT -> AT, Dmg+2
2) All-Out-Attack (Determined): Instead of doing two attacks, make one with increased skill. AT+AT -> AT+4
3) Deceptive attack: lower your and your enemie's effective skill. AT-2 -> DEF -1 (cumulative, no AT skill below 10)
4) All-Out-Defense (Increased): Instead of doing two defenses, make one with increased skill. DEF+DEF -> DEF+2
5) Extra Effort: if appropriate, spend FP to gain skill or damage. 1 FP -> AT+2 or DEF+2 or Dmg+2

Without much work, it is easy to expand this list for even more possibilites. One should be aware that all of these options could be used for all conflicts, not only physical fights. In each case, they would represent a different action.

Conclusions

Let us reconsider our initial goals and if we achieved them:
1) Simplicity: No new mechanics were used.
2) Flexibility: The concept can be applied to arbitrary conflicts.
3) Unity: Only one generic scheme is necessary, this includes physical combat.
4) Tactical mechanics: Optional tactics can be added at will. Admittedly, all special rules have to be decided by the GM.
5) Narrative support: Depending on the playstyle of the group, each action of a conflict might need an appropriate in-game description to be allowed to be performed. This approach raises the narrative aspect by a huge step.

Things that I am not quite sure right now how to deal with: Shock through damage and the principle lack of a third or fourth defense against several attacks.


This is my concept so far. Is it worth to be further refined? I would be glad to hear some comments. Thank you!

Last edited by Phex; 06-12-2012 at 07:22 AM. Reason: update
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Old 06-11-2012, 07:05 PM   #2
ericthered
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Default Re: Abstract Conflicts - An extension to GURPS Ultra-Lite

this... looks decent and pretty flexible. I'm impressed.

One issue is that at the current moment high skill for defense will really drag things out: if the two greatest chariot racers have a skill of 20, they will be able to defend at 13, and that means most "hits" will be blocked. It could take a while.

Also, in a three way race, how do you handle things?
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Old 06-11-2012, 08:53 PM   #3
vierasmarius
 
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Default Re: Abstract Conflicts - An extension to GURPS Ultra-Lite

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
One issue is that at the current moment high skill for defense will really drag things out: if the two greatest chariot racers have a skill of 20, they will be able to defend at 13, and that means most "hits" will be blocked. It could take a while.
Presumably with a mechanic like Deceptive Attack or Feint, or situational defense penalties based on tactics or roleplaying. In other words, exactly as you deal with high defense scores in normal GURPS. =P
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Old 06-12-2012, 01:13 AM   #4
Phex
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Default Re: Abstract Conflicts - An extension to GURPS Ultra-Lite

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
Also, in a three way race, how do you handle things?
The easiest solution is to handle all conflict participants equally, so everyone could attack anyone with his actions during his turn. In other words, like in a regular GURPS combat without a hex map. Obviously, when two people quarrel, a third rejoices. However, I do not see a problem with such cases at the moment.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vierasmarius View Post
Presumably with a mechanic like Deceptive Attack or Feint, or situational defense penalties based on tactics or roleplaying. In other words, exactly as you deal with high defense scores in normal GURPS. =P
Yes, I have considered these tactical possibilities as "Options". They should be able to deal with high skills.
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