Mages and CQC (close quarters combat)?

[RyanW]

In my favored fantasy setting, if you don't have ten minutes to prepare a conditional casting, an automatic pistol is your best friend.

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Originally Posted by rerednaw

That is a question a few players had for me. In a situation where folks start at close range they felt that a mage (Magery 3 limit, no innate attack) would have trouble vs. a weapon master (...) how would one go about making a mage that could fare well in such situations? (...)

It depends, what is the budget of the character? Is this a character in the making or already in campaign?

I like most of the suggestions here, but IMO some require a lot of CP and/or may deviate the mage from specialization, which might be required to shine in a given magic school.

Anyway, the mage could be a fighter that actually infuses his weapons with magic. This is a whole other concept, though.

Originally Posted by Anthony

In general, the mage losing here is Working As Intended; mages generally have a lot wider range of options than warriors, so they should lose when forced into a situation that fits the specialization of a warrior. Honestly, my main problem here is that the mage has a chance of winning.

I pretty much second this.

[Michael Cule]

If the mage is going anywhere near a battle Reverse Missiles (or even just Missile Shield) is their friend. Five minutes of protection for quite a light cost.

A powered enchantment to put it up for them is even better.

Other than that, get away! or have automatic defences cut in. But Reflex casting is quite a high level spell.

[edk926]

It depends on the points. If it's say 250, you should be able to make a good battle mage. Both Banestorm and Fantasy have templates for lower point versions. Staffs and touch spells are your friend. You'd have to research casting times, but there should be good options in the Body, Mind, and Movement colleges. Luck could help as well.

[khorboth]

Originally Posted by rerednaw

That is a question a few players had for me. In a situation where folks start at close range they felt that a mage (Magery 3 limit, no innate attack) would have trouble vs. a weapon master. Or even a turtled tank with stacked armor.

A mage will not have the same amount of points available to put into physical stats that a non-mage would. As this determines Speed, it means the mage has to survive until his turn. This could mean 4 attacks from a dual-wielding weapon master.

And of course there is the fatigue issue...the warrior could be slashing long after the mage has used up his fatigue....

How would one go about making a mage that could fare well in such situations? (We’d be using GURPS Magic and the main rules.)
Thanks!

There are too many variables here. The first is total point value. At 75 points, I'd expect the mage to do ok. The fighter is only a bit more physically capable and the wizard will probably get off a spell to level things out. At 1500 points, if the wizard had no time to prepare, I'd expect the fighter to go through the wizard in a single round like a buzzsaw.

Second, how specialized are they? Is the wizard totally glass cannon vulnerable or has he spent some points hedging against this eventuality? A few points in weapon skills is a good idea, but not required. Old-world Dragonlance, for instance, would prohibit this. Is the fighter pure dumb brute, or is his will above an 8?

Finally, How much preparation time did they have? For a wizard, a few seconds to cast protective spells could be a life-saver. For a fighter, gearing up could be the thing.

Overall, though, I agree with Varyon. You're setting it up as "if things are tipped in favor of the fighter, will the fighter win?" the answer is probably "yah." On the other hand, if the wizard is not totally built to ignore defense they can probably hold out for a few rounds while calling for help. This seems pretty much in-genre to me. Don't let the orcs get to the wizard. If they do, rescue him quickly.