How should i run monsters?

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Anders

Or run a few training fights with the players. This also teaches them the system.

I think "and" might be better than "or." If you know how to produce adversaries that don't hopelessly outmatch the PCs, the training fights will be more instructive and less discouraging.

[Taneli]

Originally Posted by zionspelunker

Thanks for all the tips. Is there any good way to know what might be a good fight for my players or what is likely to kill them with ease?

Trial and error.

As in, start small and remember that you can always toss in more opposition, either into that encounter, or the next one, depending on your GMming style.

Pyramid #3/77 has a system for trying to accomplish this, see the link below. I always felt that it was too much effort for the benefits, but that's probably due to my GM style.

http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=133555

[AlexanderHowl]

I would generally start out the characters with a few barroom brawls (or the like), with enemies who really do want to avoid killing the characters. For example, have them deal with a common room of brawling soldiers. Just give the soldiers ST 12, DX 12, IQ 10, HT 12, Brawling-14, and Wrestling-12 (they will likely not be using their weapons or armor in a barroom brawl, so they can be ignored). They will have Punch-14 (1d-1 crushing damage) and Kick-12 (1d+1 crushing damage because of boots), and they will stop hitting anyone who falls down and will leave if they fall below HP/2 (it is all in fun, after all), and will have two parris at Parry-11.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

The first session of my last DF campaign started with a good ol' fashioned low-stakes bar brawl at the local tavern... of a Pixie village. It was funny to watch the PCs try to give a good accounting for themselves, while at the same time trying not to completely squish a bunch of teeny, tiny rowdy drunks with no compunctions about throwing some (literal) flying uppercuts.

[Donny Brook]

As fast as possible.

[Polkageist]

Others said it best, monsters are best built to their purpose without worrying about points.

As far as what makes a good fight, that's tricky. GURPS can be really tactical and something that's tough on paper could fold fast if its in a bad position. So 'good' is as much of how they fight as it is how powerful a monster is.

Stat-wise though, I try to look at the best DR of the front-line characters and adjust the damage dealt by attacks to on average penetrate. Say there's a DR 6 and a DR 4 that do most of the frontline work, I'd probably have the typical attack do 1d6+2 to 2d6 damage (lower for imp/cut, higher for cr). A big swinging smack that's a low percentage to-hit I would crank up to 3d6 in this example, and something that the monster could rapid-fire easily or bypass the frontliners (ranged attack? reach?) I'd roll down to 1d6+1 or 1d6. It all depends.
The same thing works in reverse so look at how much damage the group could do and try to tweak the DR, HP, and defenses to keep it to a reasonable level. Ignoring shock for the monster usually makes sense and keeps things simpler, but it is fun to let the party go nuts and stunlock a baddie.

[WingedKagouti]

One thing to be wary of is the HT score of the monster.

A low HT means the monster folds very easily while a high HT score can easily make the monster almost impossible to kill without reducing it to -5x HP.

The 12-14 range tends to be "fair" for most things that are meant to be dangerous without being nigh immortal. But something with HT 14 is still likely to hold out against much more damage than the HP would suggest.

[Ulzgoroth]

A singular 'boss' monster might be (even) more problematic in GURPS than in other games. If you throw in some giant creature with ST 30 or so, it's liable to either outright kill a PC or do nothing at all each turn...

[maximara]

Originally Posted by RedMattis

In GURPS statting out stuff like fire-immunity for character can be tricky.

By the book I would think this would be easy: Resistant (immune, Fire, very common) [30]

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by maximara

By the book I would think this would be easy: Resistant (immune, Fire, very common) [30]

That pretty much doesn't do anything. Resistant does not block damage, it assists in passing resistance rolls.