Survival skill FINDs terrain for Ambush; Tactics skill to best utilize it?

[thom]

So the PCs are helping out a rural group of hobbits being extorted by the Bad Guys. The baddies are returning in two nights for the payment-and they're sloppy. The PCs want to backtrack their path and set an ambush before the baddies hit the hamlet.

In breaking this down, I'm thinking they would use the Survival skill to locate the good/best general terrain to wait in along the baddies' previous path; and then make a Tactics roll to see if they can properly utilize/set up for the ambush. Does that seem reasonable to the group mind? Or any other suggestions? Thanks!

thom

[whswhs]

I don't see Survival as relevant. What is the best terrain for lying in wait seems to be a question of Tactics. I might allow Survival as a complementary skill.

As for properly setting up the ambush, at one level, I think that might be Camouflage, or maybe Stealth, to be concealed. At a higher level, it seems like Leadership. Though maybe the average Soldier skill of the force could be a complementary skill.

[thom]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I don't see Survival as relevant. What is the best terrain for lying in wait seems to be a question of Tactics. I might allow Survival as a complementary skill.

As for properly setting up the ambush, at one level, I think that might be Camouflage, or maybe Stealth, to be concealed. At a higher level, it seems like Leadership. Though maybe the average Soldier skill of the force could be a complementary skill.

Well, I was thinking that the PCs would follow the backtrail and, along the way, see what might be good terrain, and then have to make a Tactics roll. It seems a little incongruous (to me) to make a Tactics roll to "find" the best general terrain for an ambush. The hobbits have already volunteered to send their best to help the PCs conceal themselves when they set the ambush, so that's not a problem...

thom

P.S. To clarify, the baddies don't know about the PCs, the group arrived the day after the baddies first visited...

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by thom

Well, I was thinking that the PCs would follow the backtrail and, along the way, see what might be good terrain, and then have to make a Tactics roll. It seems a little incongruous (to me) to make a Tactics roll to "find" the best general terrain for an ambush. The hobbits have already volunteered to send their best to help the PCs conceal themselves when they set the ambush, so that's not a problem...

"If the enemy appears there, what would you do?" is basic training for military commanders going back to at least Classical Greece and was never necessarily connected with training to survive in the wild with limited equipment (the closest thing to that was hunting). Plutarch mentions it in one of his lives.

I would also let Area Knowledge complement the Tactics roll to set up the ambush.

[whswhs]

Where following the trail is concerned, the applicable skill would seem to be Tracking.

[Donny Brook]

For finding a type of terrain by knowing where it will occur, I'd suggest Geography (Physical).

[Rupert]

I think Tactics would be the primary skill - to set up an ambush you need to choose your spot, and lay out your forces, etc., and this is all one skill.

However, a complimentary skill could be Area Knowledge (which their local allies can provide) or Naturalist, which I think tends to be under-utilised and over-looked by many players.

There is a real-life name for a skill that'd let you locate a good ambush spot and set yourself up, but not necessarily actually execute a good ambush - Fieldcraft, but there's no one skill in GURPS that covers this, and it's one of those skills that's a little different depending on what your overall 'profession' is.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Rupert

There is a real-life name for a skill that'd let you locate a good ambush spot and set yourself up, but not necessarily actually execute a good ambush - Fieldcraft, but there's no one skill in GURPS that covers this, and it's one of those skills that's a little different depending on what your overall 'profession' is.

I've regarded it as the average of Stealth and Survival (relevant environment).

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

For finding a type of terrain by knowing where it will occur, I'd suggest Geography (Physical).

Or Area Knowledge.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by thom

Well, I was thinking that the PCs would follow the backtrail and, along the way, see what might be good terrain, and then have to make a Tactics roll. It seems a little incongruous (to me) to make a Tactics roll to "find" the best general terrain for an ambush. The hobbits have already volunteered to send their best to help the PCs conceal themselves when they set the ambush, so that's not a problem...

thom

P.S. To clarify, the baddies don't know about the PCs, the group arrived the day after the baddies first visited...

Tracking to follow the backtrail.
Survival, Geography, and Area Knowledge I would not let help here as the first is really irrelevant and the latter two would be more used to find good areas of possible ambush in an area. However your area is limited to the trail.
Tactics is going to be the best choice to figure out the best of the possible options for setting the ambush. Then Camouflage and Stealth to hide.
Survival might be useful to help if they could use the terrain or nearby animals to help the ambush, including making some traps like deadfalls or pit traps.
Survival might help in avoiding a bad spot for an ambush. Examples would be a dry river bed if a storm is incoming, where animals might alert people of your presence, etc. I could see Survival as a safety in the first case and a complimentary to camouflage in the latter.