[Technical Solutions] Complete Guide to Tanking in GURPS - Page 16

vicky_molokh · 12-28-2011, 12:12 PM

Greetings, all!

Given the somewhat counter-intuitive nature of the issue, I've decided to make a grand unified compendium of tips and tricks useful for 'tank' characters - those who defend the squishy wizards, clumsy nobles, and other high-priority low-defence targets of the party. This thread is intended as a listing and discussion of methods and traits that are useful in this endeavour in Low-Tech Fantasy.

Basic Assumptions
It is expected that the setting is most likely around TL3 or 4, that the characters are capable of at least rudimentary combat cooperation (e.g. the squishy one doesn't just charge into the fray without warning), and that mêlée combat is the primary threat for the squishy ones, even though ranged attacks are not to be ignored.

When / do you need a Tank?
A dedicated Tank character is required when the majority of these conditions are met:

The party contains 'squishy' characters that require more protection and/or don't have meaningful protection of their own in combat.
The party contains a dedicated damage dealer (or several) who are better off focusing on straight offence, not on defence and disruption.
The opponents are commonly easier to disable temporarily (sweep, disarm etc.) than to defeat instantly (kill/K.O./etc.). This also holds true when there are simply more opponents than can be defeated in a turn or two.

If neither of the conditions is true, just build a fighter that is tough enough to survive; don't bother with a tank build.

On survival
One of the more common misconceptions is that ability to soak a lot of damage is the primary trait of a tank. It is not. A tank who can withstand enormous amounts of damage, but does not present a credible threat to enemy damage-dealers is of little use. Instead, a tank must be able to disrupt enemy damage dealers and make sure that going after the PCs' squishy is non-trivial.
Still, HP gives both survivability and slam damage, which is good.

Equipment
A tank typically needs a set of equipment that is conducive to the role. Armour is, of course, useful, but it must not over-encumber too much, as movement speed can be paramount.
A tank's weapons would typically be either a weapon-and-shield, or a polearm. A shield is good for blocking, slamming, and possibly cover. A properly chosen polearm can benefit from the Staff skill and/or provide the ability to slam two opponents; it can also give the Reach benefit. Note that Polearms are likely Parry 0U weapons, so you will want to rely on Defensive Attacks more; also, consider adding a hilt (guard) to your polearms, as per LTC2.
If you absolutely must build an unarmed tank, definitely take Judo, as it best serves the purpose of disrupting attackers, including armed ones. In fact, you might want to take Judo as a secondary skill even as an armed tank, just in case you get disarmed or something.

Useful Traits
Here are some traits that tanks will find useful. Obviously, get Weapon Master if you can, as it provides many neat improvements. High Pain Threshold helps, but you can afford to skip it if necessary. Combat Reflexes are a must, as they allow you to snap into combat in case of an ambush much more efficiently.

Separate Styles can be found here.

Perks and Techniques
Form Mastery
This is good for staff/polearm tanks who want to benefit from longer reach and the staff grip on the same turn.

Sacrificial Parry
Useful to various extents, depending on whether you have Teamwork, a shield, and the Shield-Wall Training perk. If you're a Polearm tank, get it ASAP.

Shield-Wall Training
This Perk is absolutely essential for Shield Tanks, as it allows Blocking for an ally. The penalty removal is not to be underestimated either.

Shtick
An Combat Intimidation shtick can be useful, but is situational. This is most useful for passive/multi-target tanking.

Skill Adaptation and Special Setup
These Perks are useful to have when picking certain Techniques that do not fall under your primary skills (see below.)

Teamwork
Absolutely awesome Perk, and outright essential for a Polearm Tank. Parrying for a teammate is good all by itself, but the ability to make a Defensive Feint and transfer the benefit to the squishy wizard is awesome.

Disarming can be pretty efficient when maxed out, but not against 'dire' animals.

Feint is good when combined with Teamwork.

Hook is a powerful single-target disable, but isn't much use against a mob.

Shield Slam, while not typically listed among Techniques, can be devastating for a quick knockdown. In fact, it can be used as a gap-closer too.

Slams with Long Weapons, likewise.

Sweep is pretty good by itself, potentially disrupting a damage-dealer for about 2 seconds.

Trip requires some work to be useful, but can save a squishy from a charging opponent. To use it, you will need either the proper skill, or Skill Adaptation (Trip defaults to Polearm).

Flying Lunge - this can be used as a gap-closer in case you need to perform an attack 5-7 yards away from your current position right now.

Grand Disarm - think of this Cinematic Technique as a cross between a Whirlwind Attack (below) and a Disarm.

Whirlwind Attack is somewhat of a desperate measure. It doesn't do much good by itself, but it threatens a large number of targets, and it makes you an attractive target too, possibly drawing attention from the squishy.

Powers and Advantages
See Bears and Gem Knights.

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Manoeuvres and Tactics
A tank has two primary ways of denying offence to the enemy damage-dealers: active and passive. Active is disruption performed by offensive manoeuvres - Attack, All-Out Attack etc. Passive is the ability to Block or Parry against an attack that targets the squishy, the interruptions performed from a Wait Manoeuvre, and whatever cover the tank provides just by standing in the way.

Active tanking is better against single threats, as it allows putting a lot of pressure on the enemy damage dealer, and results in heavy disruption. Active tanking benefits more from having multiple attacks (from any source), since they can somewhat compensate for a missed roll or many simultaneous targets.
Passive tanking is potentially more viable against multiple targets, as it allows the tank to deny the most serious threat first when it comes for the squishy, without needing to decide which enemy damage dealer is the most threatening in advance. It also has the psychological advantage, in that in a reasonable group of sane NPCs, nobody wants to be the first to be whacked by the big'un.

Whatever build the tank has chosen, Waits should not be neglected if the threat isn't in range yet. Likewise, a passive tank should likely switch to aggressive disruption if the enemy damage dealer has already engaged the squishy, as there is little to be gained from a Wait at this point.

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If anyone is willing to add comments - additions, changes etc. - please do.
Thanks in advance!

12-28-2011, 12:12 PM	#1
vicky_molokh GURPS FAQ Keeper Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Kyïv, Ukraine	[Technical Solutions] Complete Guide to Tanking in GURPS Greetings, all! Given the somewhat counter-intuitive nature of the issue, I've decided to make a grand unified compendium of tips and tricks useful for 'tank' characters - those who defend the squishy wizards, clumsy nobles, and other high-priority low-defence targets of the party. This thread is intended as a listing and discussion of methods and traits that are useful in this endeavour in Low-Tech Fantasy. Basic Assumptions It is expected that the setting is most likely around TL3 or 4, that the characters are capable of at least rudimentary combat cooperation (e.g. the squishy one doesn't just charge into the fray without warning), and that mêlée combat is the primary threat for the squishy ones, even though ranged attacks are not to be ignored. When / do you need a Tank? A dedicated Tank character is required when the majority of these conditions are met: The party contains 'squishy' characters that require more protection and/or don't have meaningful protection of their own in combat. The party contains a dedicated damage dealer (or several) who are better off focusing on straight offence, not on defence and disruption. The opponents are commonly easier to disable temporarily (sweep, disarm etc.) than to defeat instantly (kill/K.O./etc.). This also holds true when there are simply more opponents than can be defeated in a turn or two. If neither of the conditions is true, just build a fighter that is tough enough to survive; don't bother with a tank build. On survival One of the more common misconceptions is that ability to soak a lot of damage is the primary trait of a tank. It is not. A tank who can withstand enormous amounts of damage, but does not present a credible threat to enemy damage-dealers is of little use. Instead, a tank must be able to disrupt enemy damage dealers and make sure that going after the PCs' squishy is non-trivial. Still, HP gives both survivability and slam damage, which is good. Equipment A tank typically needs a set of equipment that is conducive to the role. Armour is, of course, useful, but it must not over-encumber too much, as movement speed can be paramount. A tank's weapons would typically be either a weapon-and-shield, or a polearm. A shield is good for blocking, slamming, and possibly cover. A properly chosen polearm can benefit from the Staff skill and/or provide the ability to slam two opponents; it can also give the Reach benefit. Note that Polearms are likely Parry 0U weapons, so you will want to rely on Defensive Attacks more; also, consider adding a hilt (guard) to your polearms, as per LTC2. If you absolutely must build an unarmed tank, definitely take Judo, as it best serves the purpose of disrupting attackers, including armed ones. In fact, you might want to take Judo as a secondary skill even as an armed tank, just in case you get disarmed or something. Useful Traits Here are some traits that tanks will find useful. Obviously, get Weapon Master if you can, as it provides many neat improvements. High Pain Threshold helps, but you can afford to skip it if necessary. Combat Reflexes are a must, as they allow you to snap into combat in case of an ambush much more efficiently. Separate Styles can be found here. Perks and Techniques Form Mastery This is good for staff/polearm tanks who want to benefit from longer reach and the staff grip on the same turn. Sacrificial Parry Useful to various extents, depending on whether you have Teamwork, a shield, and the Shield-Wall Training perk. If you're a Polearm tank, get it ASAP. Shield-Wall Training This Perk is absolutely essential for Shield Tanks, as it allows Blocking for an ally. The penalty removal is not to be underestimated either. Shtick An Combat Intimidation shtick can be useful, but is situational. This is most useful for passive/multi-target tanking. Skill Adaptation and Special Setup These Perks are useful to have when picking certain Techniques that do not fall under your primary skills (see below.) Teamwork Absolutely awesome Perk, and outright essential for a Polearm Tank. Parrying for a teammate is good all by itself, but the ability to make a Defensive Feint and transfer the benefit to the squishy wizard is awesome. Disarming can be pretty efficient when maxed out, but not against 'dire' animals. Feint is good when combined with Teamwork. Hook is a powerful single-target disable, but isn't much use against a mob. Shield Slam, while not typically listed among Techniques, can be devastating for a quick knockdown. In fact, it can be used as a gap-closer too. Slams with Long Weapons, likewise. Sweep is pretty good by itself, potentially disrupting a damage-dealer for about 2 seconds. Trip requires some work to be useful, but can save a squishy from a charging opponent. To use it, you will need either the proper skill, or Skill Adaptation (Trip defaults to Polearm). Flying Lunge - this can be used as a gap-closer in case you need to perform an attack 5-7 yards away from your current position right now. Grand Disarm - think of this Cinematic Technique as a cross between a Whirlwind Attack (below) and a Disarm. Whirlwind Attack is somewhat of a desperate measure. It doesn't do much good by itself, but it threatens a large number of targets, and it makes you an attractive target too, possibly drawing attention from the squishy. Powers and Advantages See Bears and Gem Knights. ----------------------------------------------------- Manoeuvres and Tactics A tank has two primary ways of denying offence to the enemy damage-dealers: active and passive. Active is disruption performed by offensive manoeuvres - Attack, All-Out Attack etc. Passive is the ability to Block or Parry against an attack that targets the squishy, the interruptions performed from a Wait Manoeuvre, and whatever cover the tank provides just by standing in the way. Active tanking is better against single threats, as it allows putting a lot of pressure on the enemy damage dealer, and results in heavy disruption. Active tanking benefits more from having multiple attacks (from any source), since they can somewhat compensate for a missed roll or many simultaneous targets. Passive tanking is potentially more viable against multiple targets, as it allows the tank to deny the most serious threat first when it comes for the squishy, without needing to decide which enemy damage dealer is the most threatening in advance. It also has the psychological advantage, in that in a reasonable group of sane NPCs, nobody wants to be the first to be whacked by the big'un. Whatever build the tank has chosen, Waits should not be neglected if the threat isn't in range yet. Likewise, a passive tank should likely switch to aggressive disruption if the enemy damage dealer has already engaged the squishy, as there is little to be gained from a Wait at this point. ----------------------------------------------------- If anyone is willing to add comments - additions, changes etc. - please do. Thanks in advance! __________________ Vicky 'Molokh', GURPS FAQ and uFAQ Keeper Last edited by vicky_molokh; 07-09-2012 at 09:33 AM.