Gaming Ballistic - GURPS Content Posts

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by SCAR

Ah yes, OK.

No problem. Thanks for reading the blog!

[DouglasCole]

Thursday is GURPS-Day, and today I return to the roots of the blog and actually talk about ballistics. Are the numbers listed for 1/2D range in GURPS sensible?

[DouglasCole]

Bringing my total-issue review to a close with a review of Steven's Random Thought Table, plus the Odds and Ends page.

This issue rocked on toast. Every single article was well written and/or filled with good stuff. It had the first part of what could easily have been a full e23 supplement on the Modern Warfighter. It had everything you could have ever wanted to know about one of the most famous attack helicopters ever. It had a gun company (for use as a patron or supplier) and a historical example of a gun that didn't hit it's target marketing-wise, and could break your shoulder and set your ship on fire to boot. It contained a lot of detailed optional rules for those whose willing suspension of disbelief does not extend to dodging bullets. For the supernatural set, it listed some things to blow out of the muzzle that aren't jacketed lead or mild steel. To wrap it up, the editor points out that firearms are plot devices as much as they are instruments of destruction, and a wise GM will treat them as both.

I'm biased towards such, but this was a great issue, and the title "Gunplay" doesn't really do justice to the breadth of material it covers. In fact, the only article that really dealt with actual gunplay is my own. The rest are equipment-based or plot-based, and more broadly useful than the issue's moniker might think!

[lexington]

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

Thursday is GURPS-Day, and today I return to the roots of the blog and actually talk about ballistics. Are the numbers listed for 1/2D range in GURPS sensible?

How does changing 1/2D interact with shotguns? Would you make the range at which the pellets are treat as a single mass a flat value?

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by lexington

How does changing 1/2D interact with shotguns? Would you make the range at which the pellets are treat as a single mass a flat value?

Not sure I've thought that one through much, honestly. Right now it's 10% of 1/2D, right? That would make it something like 12 yards. At that range, I believe a shot pattern is 6-12" in diameter, which is less than one 00 pellet every 4x4" area, with 2.75" shot. So that seems not right to me, and perhaps a flat "only for a couple of yards" would make more sense.

[DouglasCole]

Observation gets a lot of confusion and hate on the boards due to some fluff text in the beginning. Still, what's going on with Perception and other perception-based skills? When should each be used?

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

Observation gets a lot of confusion and hate on the boards due to some fluff text in the beginning. Still, what's going on with Perception and other perception-based skills? When should each be used?

Okay, this was very useful. Thanks!

[DouglasCole]

This is the first actual play report for Trail of Cthulhu, using the GUMSHOE engine. The GM decided to run a prequel adventure to get us used to the system and introduce the characters to each other.

[Kallatari]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Interesting. I vaguely recall some post by someone authoritative saying that camouflage, stealth and cloaking negate the plain sight bonus before applying other modifiers. Or maybe I'm misremembering.

Have you found the source to this, because I'm also interested in confirming this. Basically, I'm trying to determine exactly what ramifications giving a flat +10 bonus to all Vision rolls have against skills like Stealth and Camouflage.

The best I can see is that, using a "professional" skill level of 12 for Stealth or Camouflage will, on average, result in a success by 2 and thus a -2 penalty to be noticed. With Vision +10, the typical roll for the average guy will be against 20. A -2 brings it to 18, to which you add range and/or darkness.

Assuming normal daylight, to even brings the odds to even requires a -8 range, that's about 50 yards. Within 10 yards (-4), there's still a ~90% chance of being spotted. Basically, you'd never get close to a target with only skill 12 (or never be able to hide using camouflage) while within that range.

I guess my question is... is that realistic?


PS: Love your Gaming Ballistic articles. Great read, and gets me thinking over my own house rules.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Kallatari

I guess my question is... is that realistic?

For sneaking up on someone who's looking your direction, in open terrain, it's probably optimistic. An awful lot of the point of stealth skill is picking routes that aren't in open view, and/or moving when they aren't looking.