How tough should creatures be?

[Ulzgoroth]

Well, so long as he isn't being attacked in close combat, the hitman should be able to drop the creatures at a rate of 1 per 2 turns or better as long as the ammo holds up, and potentially do so using only 1-2 bullets per target.

The skills of the attackers are vitally important here. If they're fighting from default with DX 10, that's a very different thing from if they've got Brawling at 14+ (or Wrestling, which could go very poorly for your heroes). Knives are pretty unfortunate for the assassin unless he can lay hands on a Large Knife or two. But if he can do that and bring, say, ST 14 and Knife-16 (a large investment, to be sure...) he can do some very serious damage and have a decent parry or two which can mess up unarmed attackers' arms.

[Rasputin]

Don't set HT scores above 12 without a good reason. Mooks need to go down after a few blows.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Rasputin

Don't set HT scores above 12 without a good reason. Mooks need to go down after a few blows.

Or just use Cannon Fodder (or similar) for actual "mooks".

[Captain Joy]

Originally Posted by Silvermane

First question is, would 10 HP monsters be too tough for the 4 PCs? Considering that they will fight in groups.

Second, the characters are all 150 points and of various TL, (Mostly modern and nothing higher than 7.) Guns are around, but are rare, crappy and ill maintained. Think Fallout. How tough should enemies NORMALLY be?

To first order, I tend to compare combat skill levels. The number of hit points will determine how long it takes to overcome the creatures, not so much if they'll be overcome-able.

[DangerousThing]

Active defenses, DR, and attacks (both skill and damage) are very important.

A high active defense means that it will be extremely difficult to hit them.
A high DR makes it difficult to do damage.
A high attack skill and damage will make it very easy to damage the PCs.

The HT stat of the foe will determine how fast they go down from a wound as mentioned previously.

While it is good to have high HP, it doesn't matter as much in GURPS as it does in games where your only measure of defense is HP.

One thing in GURPS is that it is more likely you will drop a foe due to a failed HT roll than by killing him by straight loss of HP. Another is that doing damage to a foe usually gives him a penalty on all rolls for a round. This makes it easier to do damage the next turn, and so forth.

[Stripe]

I didn't read the thread, or even the OP very well.

Know that balancing monsters against PC's is something that has been discussed several times on here. Many minds have been shattered and lost upon the wastes of time attempting to devise a system like Patfinder/D&D/D20's challenge rating. Dungeon Fantasy's 'N' system that appeared in Dungeon Fantasy Adventure 1: Mirror of the Fire Demon is the closest thing we have.

There is no perfect way. Only experience and actual play-testing can help and those aren't perfect guides either.

Here is a good thread on the matter:

http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=108071

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Silvermane

I'm not GMing but my GM friend is asking me this question.

The PCs are starting in a prison in a Mad Doctor's castle and must escape. On the lower levels there are the failed Experiments, people who are still moving but are missing body parts. (Mostly the head) They're not any harder to kill than normal.

First question is, would 10 HP monsters be too tough for the 4 PCs? Considering that they will fight in groups.

Second, the characters are all 150 points and of various TL, (Mostly modern and nothing higher than 7.) Guns are around, but are rare, crappy and ill maintained. Think Fallout. How tough should enemies NORMALLY be?

I don't understand the question. The Mad Doc has no knowledge of the players' characters, so it makes no sense for him to create them more or less tough depending on how tough the players' characters are.

What does make sense is that he makes them as tough as he can, limited by his own present-time ability (he may be new at the creature-making business, or he may have been doing it for a long time) and the laws of physics of the world in which the campaign takes place, including any resources that must be expended in the process. If he can get ten very tough creatures for $20k or one extremely tough creature for $100k, he's got to make an in-character decision about how to spend his resources.

Also, you need to contemplate the consequences of mobile creatures with missing heads. I believe GURPS serves you at least reasonably well here, with disads such as Deaf and Blind and No Sense of Smell, and their realistic consequences.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

It really depends if the players treat combat as dangerous or hit points like D&D scuff marks.

I'm not sure that's something players can reasonably choose between. HP loss is serious in GURPS, as per the game mechanics, meaning that there is one reasonable reaction to it as a phenomenon.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Or just use Cannon Fodder (or similar) for actual "mooks".

Any rules that says an "unnamed NPC" dies after taking 1 HP of damage, risks disregarding the weapon loadout choices made by the player characters. One character opts to lug around an insanely heavy two-handed weapon, that does a lot of damage, suffering the encumbrance during the entire session (as well as the monetary outlay for the weapon, and quite possibly much higher monetary cost per piece of ammunition), while another character decides he'll just take along a rusty tooth pick.

The first character is entitled to benefit from his choice.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

I don't understand the question. The Mad Doc has no knowledge of the players' characters, so it makes no sense for him to create them more or less tough depending on how tough the players' characters are.

The Gamemaster does, however. Many people choose to tailor the treat levels of the game environment to the capabilities of their players and the PCs, rather than hew strictly to game universe consistency and internal logic.