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Old 11-11-2016, 08:25 AM   #1
McAllister
 
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Default GURPS Mass Combat Styles

You know a thought I had the other day? People should be able to build a commander of a fighting force and feel like their character is distinct from others in the same role. As it is, you buy a ton of Strategy, you consider buying Administration if you have to be your own quartermaster, you put a point or two in Leadership, and then the only question you have is whether to invest in Luck/Super Luck/Serendipity to pull off increasingly unlikely martial feats. You could buy Intelligence Analysis if you're being your own intelligence chief, but since that uses the average of Strategy and Tactics, pumping Strategy works nearly as well! So how do we fix this?

My first thought was, Mass Combat styles. Like Martial Arts styles, but for Mass Combat. I'm not aware of any techniques that Mass Combat uses, or any perks oriented toward it, but why would I let that stop me?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

I encourage you to read this, use it, and/or provide feedback (either on the doc or in this thread). It draws from Mass Combat revised and Pyramid 3-44's Tactical Mass Combat (although I could probably integrate the latter better), so I'd also be interested in consulting other sources if there are more. Obviously, it's not where I'd want it to be if it were to be as complete a supplement as Martial Arts, even fore the sections that are included, but if by some coincidence I were involved in a game where someone wanted to play a commander, I'd present this as an option. Thoughts?
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Old 11-11-2016, 08:39 AM   #2
Mailanka
 
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Default Re: GURPS Mass Combat Styles

This actually looks really nice.

Is there going to be a standard place you're going to keep it? Are you going to keep it on a blog? Or do I just download it and forget who wrote it? It might be nice to have your name and some sort of sanitized internet contact information ("If you want to leave comments, send them to this e-mail that I created specifically for this stuff").
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Old 11-11-2016, 09:13 AM   #3
McAllister
 
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Default Re: GURPS Mass Combat Styles

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mailanka View Post
This actually looks really nice.

Is there going to be a standard place you're going to keep it? Are you going to keep it on a blog? Or do I just download it and forget who wrote it? It might be nice to have your name and some sort of sanitized internet contact information ("If you want to leave comments, send them to this e-mail that I created specifically for this stuff").
Good thinking! I've added the contact information I'm comfortable providing to the world. Feel free to download it (and, of course, subsequently tinker with it). I'll consider hosting it on a blog or whatnot if I take a few more ideas and develop them to at least this level. Thank you!
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Old 11-11-2016, 10:03 AM   #4
mlangsdorf
 
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Default Re: GURPS Mass Combat Styles

I had a similar thought about two weeks ago, and wrote about it here:
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=146760
It's a different approach, and I'm not sure it's entirely compatible with your approach, but it's another attempt to differentiate commanders.

I think your Administration techniques are really good. The Strategy and especially Intelligence Analysis techniques feel more like they're intruding on core uses of the skill though. Battle Strategy somewhat less so but I think it meshes poorly with my Higher Purpose solution.

The perks mostly look good. A couple of notes:
* Blitzkrieg - This is just really complicated. It also feels like it should be a Commander perk, not an Intelligence Chief perk.
* Early Warning - You should clarify that you only get the bonus if you actually take a Defense strategy.
* Knife in the Dark - Stylish, but the benefit is so conditional that it should be stronger, like +3 or so.
* Minuteman - This is much too complicated.

I'm not certain about the styles in general, but I'm definitely stealing the perks for my upcoming mass combat game.
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