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Old 02-11-2022, 06:23 AM   #1
JoshBraggs
 
Join Date: Jan 2022
Default changing fighting mechanics themselves with homebrews?

Is it bad to have some weird homebrewed rules to the point where I'm changing fighting mechanics themselves? For example, I made it so that when an undead monster like a zombie is meant to roll for unconsciousness, I pretty much make it a death HT, and they roll to exist (And every time they take damage, they roll that again) (+ any death doors they have on top of it)
(So one zombie can get two death rolls at the same time)

Pretty much, I just give undead more than the normal amounts of HP but make it much easier for them to die when they reach negative HP levels.
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Old 02-11-2022, 06:47 AM   #2
Aldric
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Default Re: changing fighting mechanics themselves with homebrews?

As a GM you can make any new mechanic you think works for your game, and don't even need to assign it a point cost unless you want it to interact with player's point totals and even then, you can give it an ad hoc number that works for your and your campaign.

That said, there are already disadvantages like Easy to Kill or Fragile (Unnatural) that make whoever has them die faster, rolling twice might be an extra burden on you, when rolling once with a penalty, or failing automatically could make things easier.
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Old 02-11-2022, 06:50 AM   #3
whswhs
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
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Default Re: changing fighting mechanics themselves with homebrews?

In GURPS, you can adopt rules like that if they achieve the desired narrative effect. This isn't exactly like any existing GURPS alternate rule, but it's somewhat like Cannon Fodder (listed under Cinematic Combat Rules) and it's also somewhat like the Fragile disadvantage (especially the Brittle version), depending on whether you prefer a game mechanical convention or a different build.

As a simulationist GM, I would be careful to ask whether either approach is consistent with the way I think the world works. For a gamist GM, it would be important to ask how scenes will play out if you run them that way. I recommend giving at least a little thought to both questions. But if they idea seems to pass those tests, by all means adopt it. It's not rules-as-written, but GURPS GMs are allowed to use alternate rules.
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Old 02-11-2022, 07:47 AM   #4
Varyon
 
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Default Re: changing fighting mechanics themselves with homebrews?

Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
In GURPS, you can adopt rules like that if they achieve the desired narrative effect. This isn't exactly like any existing GURPS alternate rule, but it's somewhat like Cannon Fodder (listed under Cinematic Combat Rules) and it's also somewhat like the Fragile disadvantage (especially the Brittle version), depending on whether you prefer a game mechanical convention or a different build.
There was also something in a Pyramid article, I think from one of the DF-focused issues, that did something roughly akin to what the OP is looking for - low IQ foes don't have to make consciousness checks, but die more readily once they get to/below -1xHP.

Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
As a simulationist GM, I would be careful to ask whether either approach is consistent with the way I think the world works. For a gamist GM, it would be important to ask how scenes will play out if you run them that way. I recommend giving at least a little thought to both questions. But if they idea seems to pass those tests, by all means adopt it. It's not rules-as-written, but GURPS GMs are allowed to use alternate rules.
The suggested mechanics could still work for a simulationist GM. Note that, for objects, a failed "consciousness" check actually means they break, albeit in a manner that allows for repairs to be made. For such objects, a failed "death" check means they break in a manner that cannot be repaired. Saying "characters with Unhealing function like objects for purposes of consciousness and death checks" would be internally consistent with existing GURPS rules. It would also imply that zombies that "break" rather than "die" may be possible for a necromancer to re-raise, rather than needing to go find a different corpse.
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Old 02-11-2022, 07:59 AM   #5
whswhs
 
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Default Re: changing fighting mechanics themselves with homebrews?

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Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
The suggested mechanics could still work for a simulationist GM. Note that, for objects, a failed "consciousness" check actually means they break, albeit in a manner that allows for repairs to be made. For such objects, a failed "death" check means they break in a manner that cannot be repaired. Saying "characters with Unhealing function like objects for purposes of consciousness and death checks" would be internally consistent with existing GURPS rules. It would also imply that zombies that "break" rather than "die" may be possible for a necromancer to re-raise, rather than needing to go find a different corpse.
Sure. That's the kind of analysis that I would want to do, if I were running a campaign that had zombies in it. (Actually, my recently ending archaeological fantasy campaign did have a ritual that produced the equivalent of zombies, but no one in the campaign ever used it.)
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Old 02-11-2022, 12:13 PM   #6
VIVIT
 
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Default Re: changing fighting mechanics themselves with homebrews?

Quote:
Originally Posted by JoshBraggs View Post
Is it bad to have some weird homebrewed rules
No. Never! By hacking around with the system, you are using GURPS as intended. I'd argue that it's alright to riff on the rules any game, but GURPS in particular is intended to be experimented with. Go for it, man!

I agree with the other players that you should think critically about the implications of the changes you're making, but with a toolbox system like GURPS, you should always be doing that, even when you're using the rules as written! Some rules just aren't right for some campaigns, and this applies to the books' rules just as much as it applies to your own—even rules that the books don't explicitly mark as optional.
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Old 02-11-2022, 03:21 PM   #7
Anthony
 
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Default Re: changing fighting mechanics themselves with homebrews?

Quote:
Originally Posted by JoshBraggs View Post
Is it bad to have some weird homebrewed rules to the point where I'm changing fighting mechanics themselves?
The important things to avoid, IME, are:
  • House rules that means players can't rationally evaluate their chances at something they ought to be able to evaluate.
  • Continued fiddling so player have to keep relearning how things work.
  • Adding complexity without a compelling benefit. If you turn one rule into ten, you better be getting something worth nine rules out of it.
In the example you give, I don't see any real problems, the difference between unconscious and dead rarely matters for monsters.
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Old 02-11-2022, 03:34 PM   #8
johndallman
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Default Re: changing fighting mechanics themselves with homebrews?

I'd add: "Resist the temptation to change the rules so that an event that didn't come out the way you wanted would be awesome next time." Things don't repeat much, and it's easy to cause weird side effects.
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Old 02-11-2022, 03:49 PM   #9
sir_pudding
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Default Re: changing fighting mechanics themselves with homebrews?

Isn't this basically the "Worthy" variant of Cannon Fodder?
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