How to make combat more exciting?

[c0matose]

Hey guys,

In pretty much all my gurps games up to now my friend (the one other person who plays GURPS that i know) has GMed for us, and has "pretended" not to know stuff for my benefit. I now feel like a bit of an ******* so ive offered to GM some nice long campaigns for him, mainly DF with some MH elements. My main question is how can i make combat quicker/more fun. DF says unless its a boss is has in effect 1 health and any hit will kill it, and minibosses have health but die at 0. Does anyone have any other methods for making it more exciting. Another question is how to i handle attack order? I remember when i played Warhammer FRP and you just went in initiative order, is it similar for GURPS with basic speed?

Thanks

(also share links to nice DF campaigns you have because I will either put no effort into it and it'll be boring or i'll put too much in and the heat death of the sun will occur before i finish)

[martin_rook]

What about GURPS combat do you feel isn't exciting? What areas are you looking for improvement in?

There are lots of optional rules that can make combat more or less lethal, more cinematic or more realistic, quicker or longer, simpler or more detailed.

[Anthony]

A lot of that depends on what you think makes combat exciting in the first place. For specific GURPS mechanics, I think the biggest thing that makes a fight drag out is situations with large numbers of marginally relevant attacks (e.g. low skill mooks).

[c0matose]

I really mean more cinematic. Sometimes i feel like all i say is "ok roll to hit" "ok hes dead" "roll to hit the next guy" "hes also dead" until theyre all dead.

[johndallman]

Sounds like changing the style of opponents might help. Rather than having lots of mooks, some mini-bosses and a boss - which is a trope, not a law of gaming - try having opponents who are comparable to the party, in numbers and individual capability, use tactics and fight to win. That should worry your players, if they're bored with mooks.

[A Ladder]

Exciting combat is more about pacing than anything else. If you let people sit there and decide what they need to do with no restraint on time, it gets kinda boring. Keep it snappy! This also has the side benefit of keeping your energy level up.

In my Pacific Rim campaigns I always write a "twist" into the combat to make it slightly more interesting than "Hit the Kaiju with your fist" again and again.

some sample twists:
Glass Vase: there is an object (McGuffin, Highly Valuable in $$, etc.) that is extreme fragile. It also happens to be the target of the opposition. The players will be forced to change their tactics from "Hit the bad guy" to "stop the bad guys from getting/breaking the Glass Vase" as well as trying to hit them. This could also be "protect the President from the assassins" as well.

Hazardous Terrain: The playing map has stuff that can kill/main the PCs even without the help of the bad guys. One time I had my DF party have to fight a bunch of fire slorn during an errupting volcano. Each round they had to move further from the encroaching lava, and get out of poisonous fume gas clouds. All the while the slorn were trying to eat them.

High Priority: Have the Big Bad Evil Guys be in a spot that keeps them from harm from the PCs but also allow the BBEGs be able to harm the PCs in a meaningful way each round. This forces the players to take different tactics. Do they sit there taking out the lame baddies, or do they rush forward (exposing thier rear defenses) to take out the guy that can harm them? IE Swarm of Goblins is in front of the Fireball throwing Wizard who has shield ogres around them.



For turn order I just find out which player has the highest speed and go clockwise around the table till all the players have gone. But I'm lazy.

[Not]

It's exciting if you care about the outcome. Perhaps you're fighting the wrong things?

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Sounds like changing the style of opponents might help. Rather than having lots of mooks, some mini-bosses and a boss - which is a trope, not a law of gaming - try having opponents who are comparable to the party, in numbers and individual capability, use tactics and fight to win. That should worry your players, if they're bored with mooks.

I have not found combat to be dull, but then, like John, I don't make much use of mooks. My usual assumption is that every fight is going to be a serious one for the heroes. That seems to raise the tension enough to keep them from getting bored.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I have not found combat to be dull, but then, like John, I don't make much use of mooks. My usual assumption is that every fight is going to be a serious one for the heroes.

You can have a serious combat with mooks. It just requires lots of mooks, which is something GURPS doesn't handle all that well.

[Tomsdad]

Originally Posted by c0matose

I really mean more cinematic. Sometimes i feel like all i say is "ok roll to hit" "ok hes dead" "roll to hit the next guy" "hes also dead" until theyre all dead.

1), describe more, and have the players describe more. Given GURPS rather more precise nature than most systems this can naturally follow the game effects .

So it's not: "I hit him with my sword" "Ok you hit him he goes down, next"

it's: "I thrust my sword into his torso (thrust attack non specific location, default torso)" "OK it enters his torso, he drops is sword, clutches at the wound and falls to the floor curled over in an vain attempt to protect himself from your next blow but currently unable to do more (well done a major wound, he fails his knock-down roll and suffers stun but not by -5)"

2). the second is counter intuitive to speed (but speed follows familiarity), but have the players use more combat options that way they are making meaningful decisions in how they are going about stuff and feel more invested in the immediate results of doing so. Introduce the options slowly though (its easy to get overwhelmed) and set up combats so those different options are more workable. So for example if your encouraging feints have the opponent use a weapons that need a ready after being used.

2a). Signature moves are cool, give everyone one for free (say up to a 10 point technique/combo), this will introduce combinations & techniques, but in a way that isn't overwhelming.

Teamwork perk give it to everyone