Martial Arts Campaign

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Dionysius

Second, i tested one combat with two cowboys duelling, and must say it was kind a strange. We were at 10 yards and it took many 'rounds' to get one kill, and most of the time, we were both lying. How can one shot (with tl5/6 revolver) cripple a leg? Or was this just a weird combat? :p

A few notes on gunfight reality:

• Modern pistols are optimized for combat at under 20' (7 yards). Even there, fewer than 1 in 4 shots fired actually hit. If somebody is shooting back at you, this can drop to 1 in 7 or worse! Historical pistols, including revolvers in the Old West, had less range and accuracy than modern ones. Gunfights frequently took place at shoving distance and still scored few or no hits.
  
  
• Almost any bullet is capable of crippling a limb or an extremity. I'll name no names, but I've known two unsafe real-world people who've been hit accidentally. One was temporarily unable to use a leg thanks to a hit from a .22 Short (1d-1 pi- in GURPS); the other, a hand thanks to a .177 pellet (1d-4 pi-). A .36 (1d+2 to 2d-1 pi) could do far worse things to your arms, legs, hands, and feet.
  
  
• One-hit kills aren't reliable occurrences with anything less than rifle-caliber rounds to the vitals or skull. Rifle hits to other body parts may kill, but that's usually a consequence of later blood loss and/or infection, not instant death in combat. Pistols are even less likely to kill with one shot, and might not even slow down your opponent. Incapacitation and death can certainly happen, but the odds of a "stop" from a single handgun bullet are in the 1 in 10 range.

Putting it all together, two people blazing away with six-shooters at 10 yards are very likely to score either no hits or random hits that chop up arms, legs, ears, noses, etc. Death, if it happens at all, will be from infection later on – or maybe blood loss, with enough hits. Gunfighters who – through some combination of luck, health, and medical care – survive a bunch of gunfights and the infections that follow will have gimpy knees, eyepatches, missing fingers, etc.

All of the above assumes you want realism. This is what GURPS delivers by default. For movie gunfights where shootists duel at 10 yards and the loser drops in one shot, give your gunfighters enough skill to absorb -4 for range and either -3 for the vitals or -7 for the skull. That's an extra 7-11 levels of skill. Add this to whatever you consider a "reliable" base, say 12 . . . so, skill 19-23. The movie situation is rather extreme! That's why the game often uses the term "cinematic" for it.

[davidtmoore]

You can save a few points for that expensive 19+ skill by buying Targeted Attack (Pistol Shot/Vitals).

Targeted Attack is a controversial technique, particularly for ranged weapons, but is legit RAW, and is a reasonable course of training for a gunslinger interested in one-shot kills for pistol duelling.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Death, if it happens at all, will be from infection later on – or maybe blood loss, with enough hits. Gunfighters who – through some combination of luck, health, and medical care – survive a bunch of gunfights and the infections that follow will have gimpy knees, eyepatches, missing fingers, etc.

I think it's important to note here that this matches historical accounts. There are very few real life fatalities in combat that occur in the exact same instant the wound is delivered. Usually people bleed out or die from infection.

[Kalzazz]

Ive usually found that semi auto rifles have ROF 3, with enough skill to reliably place all 3 shots into the vitals can fairly reliably get one kill/round with a rifle

[Dionysius]

Okay, Thanks a lot! But back to my Samurai 'issue' now ;)

I've seen the knight template indeed, but also read martial arts and it says: " Appropiate styles include Bajutsu, Bojutsu, Iaijutsu, Kenjutsu, Kusarijutsu,..." (p.243).

Hmm...this makes me drown a little, so how do i get a step closer to the Samurai template, with using some styles mentioned in the Martial Arts book. I would like to add that i am interested in an 'early samurai era', so before the boom of ryu students and before 'pistols' were invented...;)

gr.

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by Dionysius

Okay, Thanks a lot! But back to my Samurai 'issue' now ;)

I've seen the knight template indeed, but also read martial arts and it says: " Appropiate styles include Bajutsu, Bojutsu, Iaijutsu, Kenjutsu, Kusarijutsu,..." (p.243).

Hmm...this makes me drown a little, so how do i get a step closer to the Samurai template, with using some styles mentioned in the Martial Arts book. I would like to add that i am interested in an 'early samurai era', so before the boom of ryu students and before 'pistols' were invented...;)

gr.

For an Early Era Samurai, I'd say that
One of Kyujustu and Sojutsu (depending on whether they focus on fighting from horse or foot)(but require that they at least have some points in Spear, Riding, and Bow regardless,
and Kenjutsu (but NOT Iaijutsu or Nito Ryu)

Aikijutsu (although you could argue that Combat Wrestling was more realistic early enough), Bajutsu, Kusarijutsu, Naginatajutsu, and Shurikenjutsu should be available as OPTIONS in the template.

IMHO, of course.

[EDIT] if they don't have Aikijutsu or Combat Wrestling, they should probably put points in Wrestling or Judo regardless. No Low-Tech warrior would be completely helpless without his weapons.