Pyramid #3/111: Combat II

[PK]

I need therapy?
Because I like crushing heads?
This is therapy.

— Rav Gel, Gladiatorial Champion

Before RPGs added all of that touchy-feely "roleplaying" stuff, they were war games -- skirmish-level battles between squads. And while that bit has been superseded by far more sophisticated and broad-reaching rule sets, the core is still there. Is there much difference between squad-level skirmishes and a typical party taking down a group of pirates? If you're going to be kicking butt, you want to be properly armed with the latest innovations, and that's Pyramid #3/111: Combat II.

• Some settings consider high-tech weapons diametrically opposed to magic, but there are plenty of real-world examples of mystical abilities attributed to The Witched Gun. S.A. Fisher and C.R. Rice tag-team this one, looking at the supernatural beliefs involving firearms and how you can make those a reality in your own campaigns.
  
  
• Grapplers sometimes get the short shrift in RPGs, with rules thrown in at the last minute as an afterthought. But both GURPS and the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game make it possible (if a bit challenging) to shine as The Wrestler in a fantasy game. This ready-to-use 250-point template includes new traits, plenty of advice, and a sample character.
  
  
• Wouldn't Car Wars be even more fun if it was an Astroduel! with spaceships zipping around in three dimensions? In this months' Eidetic Memory, David Pulver answers that question ("Uh, yes, obviously!") with a full setting designed from the ground up to facilitate this sort of thing -- along with four new ships and new rules for encounters and mini-missiles.
  
  
• We like to think of martial arts as being something refined and skilled, but any zoologist will tell you that Animal Combat Styles are a thing, too. Rory Fansler proposes six new GURPS Martial Arts styles, with 10 new techniques, to reflect the diverse way that various types of animals attack their prey or avoid their predators.
  
  
• Of course, the reason we run the planet and animals don't is our technology, and Creepy Charly is your best source for cutting-edge firearms and similar boom-boom gear. J. Edward Tremlett presents a very special gun-running contact who's more than he seems, with multiple variations to fit a wide range of games. I'd say more, but spoilers!
  
  
• And you just got punched by our Random Thought Table, which thinks that fair, carefully balanced fights are overrated.

—

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[Refplace]

Originally Posted by PK

[INDENT][INDENT][INDENT][I]
I need therapy?
Because I like crushing heads?

No, because you made me wait so long to post my review :)

The Witched Gun.
I liked this article, well researched and good flavor stuff with decent crunch.
My main (and petty) objection when reading it was how to classify it in the Pyramid Magic index thread. Seriously there is a little here for just about all the systems and for adding magic without a magic system.

The Wrestler
Wow, these guys are tough!
I like that Wrestling Master had an Under The Hood and most of it is pretty clear. However that increase to the Trained ST is an incredible power boost.
Its significantly better than what came with Technical Grappling.
I would love some behind the scenes on that.

But these guys really seem a viable option for a DFRPG game.


Astroduel!
Car Wars in space?!
This is a great setting and should be given its own book and possibly series, or a kickstarter box treatment.
Seriously this is a great Space Opera setting and I think the best one in that genre GURPS has produced.

Animal Combat Styles
I hope people like this, I tried to cover the major types and special attacks I and others have asked for.

Creepy Charly
Tremlets setting ideas always provide interesting ideas and help inspire.

Random Thought Table,
A good solid look at Strategy and ideas for just making combat more interesting. Solid reading, especially for newer GMs.

Overall great reading but the crown jewel of the issue IMHO is Astroduel! which I feel obligated to say again is a GREAT SETTING.
I like complex and rich settings, I really do. But this one is a simple beer and pretzel setting that can get more complex if you want it to.

[LoneWolf23k]

A Wrestler class for Dungeon Fantasy? Finally, a chance to create Los Tiburon in GURPS.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf23k

A Wrestler class for Dungeon Fantasy? Finally, a chance to create Los Tiburon in GURPS.

Ahhh, two years to late for me to use it for my Barbarian Ogress Wrestler... but i can maybe use it for future power up inspiration...

[J. Edward Tremlett]

I'm glad people like Charly. He's had an interesting voyage on his way to print :)

[Gollum]

Originally Posted by PK

• We like to think of martial arts as being something refined and skilled, but any zoologist will tell you that Animal Combat Styles are a thing, too. Rory Fansler proposes six new GURPS Martial Arts styles, with 10 new techniques, to reflect the diverse way that various types of animals attack their prey or avoid their predators.

And karatekas also know that their art comes from an attentive observation of animal combat styles ... I have to read that really interesting article!

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Gollum

And karatekas also know that their art comes from an attentive observation of animal combat styles ... I have to read that really interesting article!

Please let me know what you think after you do.
Also those styles can be learned for shapeshifters or adapted for other PC types.

[PK]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Ahhh, two years to late for me to use it for my Barbarian Ogress Wrestler... but i can maybe use it for future power up inspiration...

Our DF group has a (human) barbarian wrestler as well, focused on Power Grappling and Bonebreaker. After I showed them this template, they came up with a simple "cross-training" lens for it, just so that the barbarian can go ahead and make it "official" that he's a barbarian-wrestler. (He basically has everything on it already except for Wrestling Master and the martial-artists skills, which he's very excited to add.)

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by PK

Our DF group has a (human) barbarian wrestler as well, focused on Power Grappling and Bonebreaker. After I showed them this template, they came up with a simple "cross-training" lens for it, just so that the barbarian can go ahead and make it "official" that he's a barbarian-wrestler. (He basically has everything on it already except for Wrestling Master and the martial-artists skills, which he's very excited to add.)

I'm really curious how the Trained ST boost works in play or the Under the Hood part of Wrestling Master that enables it.
I dont like the flat +1 or +2 of various skills but this is much ,ore powerful than the version Technical Grappling came up with.

[PK]

Originally Posted by Refplace

I'm really curious how the Trained ST boost works in play or the Under the Hood part of Wrestling Master that enables it.
I dont like the flat +1 or +2 of various skills but this is much ,ore powerful than the version Technical Grappling came up with.

It sounds like you're talking about the Power Grappling perk? That's been around since Martial Arts, and thus long predates the concept of "Trained ST." It just extends the bonus from Wrestling with no upper limit.

If your campaign uses Technical Grappling, Power Grappling isn't a valid perk (see MA:TG p. 30). Normally you'd replace it with Special Exercises (Lifting ST), but since that's already part of Wrestling Mastery, the simplest fix is to charge 9 points for Wrestling Mastery in your campaign.