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Old 03-26-2012, 12:02 AM   #1
hal
 
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Default GURPS OLD WEST: Intimidation and the Movies

Hello Folks,
One of my players was a bit discouraged about his "Intimidation" skill of 11 not being overly useful in game play. We started thinking about the various movies, one of which was the Outlaw Jose Wales. Then the player started wondering about "what if I have a 12 gauge shotgun - would that intimidate the opposition?"

So, here's my suggestion for this thread. Lets look at various of the movies and see what scenes could be described by the various rules in GURPS regarding intimidation. Chose any scene from any movie and then describe how it went down in GURPS terminology.

Perhaps we can get our juices flowing as to what constiutes some fancy use of intimidation (and other skills for that matter) to achieve a given result.

For instance - the infamous scene where Josey Wales is walking in town and meets up with the Union Soldiers. "Dying ain't much of a living" seems to be a perfect example where the reputation of the gunslinger combined with an attempt at using verbal intimidation made the soldiers more than willing to run.

How about OPEN RANGE with Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall? Would any of those scenes imply a successful use of Intimidation?
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Old 03-26-2012, 12:26 AM   #2
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Default Re: GURPS OLD WEST: Intimidation and the Movies

I think part of the problem he may be having is he's trying to pull cinematic-level Intimidation with an amateur skill level. The characters you're referencing likely have Intimidate in the 13-15 range, at least, plus pertinent Perks to pressure people and push them around. You can certainly let him stretch his modest skill by providing positive TDMs for roleplaying etc. Just understand that, by GURPS RAW, Intimidate 11 is not really that scary.
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Old 03-26-2012, 12:27 AM   #3
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Default Re: GURPS OLD WEST: Intimidation and the Movies

Terminator 2: T-1000 (Robert Patrick) smashes into helicopter cockpit and says "get out". Pilot nods his head, bails out.
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Old 03-26-2012, 02:53 AM   #4
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Default Re: GURPS OLD WEST: Intimidation and the Movies

Quote:
Originally Posted by vierasmarius View Post
I think part of the problem he may be having is he's trying to pull cinematic-level Intimidation with an amateur skill level. The characters you're referencing likely have Intimidate in the 13-15 range, at least, plus pertinent Perks to pressure people and push them around. You can certainly let him stretch his modest skill by providing positive TDMs for roleplaying etc. Just understand that, by GURPS RAW, Intimidate 11 is not really that scary.
Especially when one is dealing with NPCs with Will levels of 10 and 11 - it tends to be a crap shoot.

All in all, I guess I can't complain too much as a GM in this. Between his pirate's code of honor, his fast draw, and his gun skills - he'll be changing his reputation levels to where a +2 if people recognize him for a Wesly Hardin like character might help with his intimidation skills. Of course, were he to build up the skill to a 14 or 16, things might change a wee bit!

In any event, I'm going to have to wait until perhaps sometime later this week, and watch OPEN RANGE to see how things worked out in the movie and how it could have played out in a GURPS style game.
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Old 03-26-2012, 02:55 AM   #5
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Default Re: GURPS OLD WEST: Intimidation and the Movies

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Originally Posted by trans View Post
Terminator 2: T-1000 (Robert Patrick) smashes into helicopter cockpit and says "get out". Pilot nods his head, bails out.
T-1000's ability to do what he did was clearly not natural, which probably induced a "flight or flight" syndrome via a fright check rather than being an example of intimidation per se.

;)
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Old 03-26-2012, 03:44 AM   #6
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Default Re: GURPS OLD WEST: Intimidation and the Movies

Quote:
Originally Posted by hal View Post
T-1000's ability to do what he did was clearly not natural, which probably induced a "flight or flight" syndrome via a fright check rather than being an example of intimidation per se.
Good point.
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Old 03-26-2012, 04:38 AM   #7
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Default Re: GURPS OLD WEST: Intimidation and the Movies

Yeah, explain to him that comparing nearly any character Clint Eastwood played to a Skill 11 Intimidation is like complaining your ST 11 characters is breaking jaws as effectively as any of Arnies 80s characters. Eastwood was pretty much my go-to example for Intimidation is based on Will for a few different RPGS.
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Old 03-26-2012, 07:26 AM   #8
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Default Re: GURPS OLD WEST: Intimidation and the Movies

Quote:
Originally Posted by hal View Post
T-1000's ability to do what he did was clearly not natural, which probably induced a "flight or flight" syndrome via a fright check rather than being an example of intimidation per se.

;)
Fright Checks are possible but Intimadation covers this terriotry too.

Specifically the texytx grants +1 to +4 for displays of strength, bloodthirstiness or supernatural powers. On the Terminator otherwise mundane Earth the T-1000 rates a +4.

Then Appearancve counts and I'd call a silvery blob monster with human head on an unnatrual neck "Horrific". That's another +4.

You get a +1 for callous too.

So the T-1000 had a +9 in that situation and it's not surpising that it worked.

Menu choices from the 1st T-800's suggest some awarenessw of how to suiimulate human interaction and a learning capacity as well. Such a bot could be programmed with Intimidation at the start and/or rapidly improve the Skill. They do have Acting (which gives a Intmidation default) if not at a terribly high level at start.

So cinematic charactrs frequently have many bonuses.

To one of the orignal questions, probably any gun (or at least as big a gun as is normal for the situation) would probably grant a +1 under the "bloodthirstiness, etc" clause. A shotgun when everyone else has pistols at best would be a +2. Soemthing like a gatling gun would be a +3. A cannon or at least a buindle of dynamite would be +4 territory in Old West terms.
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Old 03-26-2012, 09:52 AM   #9
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Default Re: GURPS OLD WEST: Intimidation and the Movies

You could do worse than to add +|Bulk|/2, rounded down. Tiny holdout pistols (Bulk -1, so no bonus) would simply enable Intimidation; most ordinary pistols (Bulk -2 or -3) would give +1; the most monstrous pistols (Bulk -4), shorter shotguns (Bulk -4 or -5), and period carbines (Bulk -5) would give +2; and most period shotguns (Bulk -6) and rifles (Bulk -6 or -7) would give +3. I would actually add in the extra -1 to Bulk for a bayonet here – it could push a Bulk -5 carbine up to Bulk -6, for +3. I would also give period explosives, Gatling guns, etc. +4. To remain true to genre, the other guy's weapon ought to penalize you . . . "Mine is bigger than yours" fits the spirit of things. Thus, a holdout pistol (0) vs. a typical shotgun (+3) would give you -3, while a rifle (+3) vs. a six-shooter (+1) would give you +2.

You could get all fancy with this, working out a similar scheme for melee weapon Reach (polearms get +3, spears and greatswords get +2, most one-handed weapons get +1, and little daggers get 0). Thus, you'd get +2 to intimidate with a spear (Reach 2) vs. fists (Reach C), +1 with a spear vs. a saber (Reach 1), 0 with a spear vs. another spear, or -1 with a spear vs. a halberd (Reach 3). I would treat the modifier as a flat 0 if the other guy has ranged and all you have is melee, though. With any of these melee weapons, you'd have -1 to intimidate vs. a six-shooter, while if you had the pistol, you'd have +1 to intimidate someone with any melee weapon, however scary.

All this assumes that relative capabilities are clear to everyone. Something that the other party doesn't even recognize as a weapon wouldn't give any modifier until it showed its true colors. If it proves destructive beyond all reasonable expectations, like a phaser or a light saber, it would grant the same +1 to +4 extra that supernatural powers give, unrelated to visible weapon size. Thus, a little Bulk -1 phaser set to "dematerialize" or a Reach 1 light saber might still give +4 even if the other guy is behind a Gatling gun, once he has seen the phaser make someone go away or the light saber chop bullets out of the air and cut a horse in half.

I generally agree that skill 11 doesn't cut it, though. My rough rule is that if you intend to win fights via Intimidation, then you want Intimidation at roughly the same level as typical combat skills in the setting. Yes, this does mean that high-DX, low-Will warrior types will have to invest a lot more in a Will/A skill than they would in a DX/E skill to be effective. So it goes . . . being scary isn't the same as being a good shot.
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Old 03-26-2012, 09:59 AM   #10
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Default Re: GURPS OLD WEST: Intimidation and the Movies

You need Social Engineering. It has a whole section on Intimidation and crowds. Great supplement.
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