Subject: 11 rebnuN ,1 emuloV tsegiD QR ehT
This issue:
Knockback (Andrew Bell)
Gurps combat (Elliot Wilen)
Things I would like to see (Thomas E. Young)
Two-handed Weapon use (Steven A. Schrader)
Ed's note: Just in case you got confused, bracketed comments [like this] are
comments from me, the editor.
I hope nobody objects to me correcting the occasional typo or spelling error.
I spent a summer proofreading, and since then have been obsessive/compulsive
about spelling.
---
From: acb@duke.cs.duke.edu (The Ed)
Subject: Knockback
It seems to me that the weapon you're using should have a lot to do with what
amount of knockback you do. A shield used for attack, for example, should
do almost no damage (with the exception of spike shields). Instead, it
should be able to stagger an opponent. Likewise, a mace or other impact
weapon should do more knockback than an edged weapon or an impaling weapon.
Does anyone know of a system that differentiates well in this respect, that
could be used in an RQ system? The critical charts from Rolemaster deal with
this sort of differentiation, but not in a way that can be easily stolen.
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From: 8hum190@violet.Berkeley.EDU (Elliot Wilen)
Subject: Gurps combat (clarification/elaboration)
In answer to a couple questions raised by our illustrious editor:
1. GURPS does use hit locations, but they're optional. If you don't use them
you're basically assumed to always get hit on the torso, and so you use
a single armor value with no special effects. When your HP drop to
3, your movement (and dodge) is cut in half. Whey you've only
got 0 HP, you have to roll each round (against your Health, i.e.
Con) to stay conscious. Below 0, you fall immediately.
With hit locations, hitting a certain area has a special effect. Blows
to the cranium and impaling attacks on the abdomen do greater damage.
Damage over HT/2 to a leg or arm cripples it. Damage over HT/3 to
a foot or hand cripples it. Damage over HT/3 to the cranium stuns; over
HT/2 knocks out. (For other areas, exceeding HT/2 is needed to stun.)
Finally, if a crushing blow strikes the cranium or abdomen, there
is a chance of knocking out the victim if the blow does any
damage, or misses doing damage by 1 point.
There are a few ambiguities, in my opinion, but that seems to be how things
work. One thing I don't like is the way that crushing blows get special
treatment for knocking a person out--it doesn't matter whether you're
being hit by a sword or a cudgel if the force of a blow on your helmet
is the same. There's also a rule which gives the cranium a certain
amount of protection because of the skull, but it seems to ignore the
(extremely dangerous) effects of sword slash across the scalp, even if
it doesn't crease the skull.
One more thing about the way GURPS HL's work--you *must* aim to
hit a special location. Each location has a penalty to hit which
is subtracted when aiming for that area. If you don't take a penalty,
your blows will hit the torso, for no special effect. [I think they're
going about things in the wrong way, and I'm telling them so right now
(on the SJG BBS).]
Oh, incidentally (this will make a difference in your evaluation), the
human average for Health (HT), which is the value used for hit points,
is 10. Because of the way the costs/benefits work out, PC Healths
probably fit a bell curve centering around 11.
2. Re: having a weapon weighted properly for your strength--whether you
use the Damage Bonus (as in RQ or D&D) or base weapon
damages on the user's strength, this factor is either ignored or
it's assumed that people always get the appropriate weapon to
maximize use of their strength. However, GURPS does distinguish
between a small mace (swing+2, minimum ST to use 11) and a regular
mace (swing+3, min ST 12). In a way, this creates a breakpoint at
11/12, but one should keep in mind that there is a real difference
between these two weapons in weight and cost, no just damage, so
a stronger person might still use a small mace. Also, a person
who doesn't have the minimum ST for a weapon may still use
it at a penalty to hit (-1 per point lacking), but not damage.
--Elliot
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From: young@tahoe.unr.edu (Thomas E. Young)
Subject: Things I would like to see:
A poll taken on the various levels of ability of characters in other campaigns.
Example: Our group has about 6 regular players in it. Our combat ability
ranges from ~45% - 75% to hit with each characters primary weapon. Their
secondary weapon ~30% - 55%. We also have *no* magic weapons or items at
all, and very few magic spells ( only one person has heal and two people
have disruption).
[If you wish to participate, send me (acb) your info and I'll send it all on
to Tom so he can compile it. The pertinent info is:
How long you've played this character
Main weapon attack
Main weapon parry
Secondary weapon attack
Secondary weapon parry
Number of points of spirit spells
Number of points of divine spells
Number of sorcery spells
Number of points of magic point matrices/crystals/pow of bound pow spirits
Number of other magic items
Do this for any number of characters you're familiar with.]
Does anyone else experience the dreaded 'parry gap'. The majority of our
characters have an attack about 3-7% higher than their parry ( although
I have seen it as high as 16%).
[It gets worse, since only Humakti have a spell that seriously affects
parrying skill, and that only for people who have Cults of Prax. Many people
have bladesharp, ironhand/claw/beak/psuedopod, bludgeon, and/or several
divine spells that raise their attack skill. Thus this difference becomes even
more pronounced when magic is accounted for.]
Something else I would very much like to see is the stats on other player's
characters. It would be nice if every one could post their characters, but
most people probably wouldn't respond due to the time involved. I have
found that other players characters are excellent for NPC incounters.
[If you wish to participate, I'm foolish enough to offer to type in the info
myself. Send character sheets you wish included to:
Andrew Bell
207-15 Melville Loop
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
If you have other things you just don't have the patience to type in, you can
also send them to that same address. Expect some delays in seeing it though.]
Thats all for now. See ya,
Tom
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From: "Steven A. Schrader 237 - 8196"
Subject: Two-Handed Weapon use
Upon thinking about twohanded weapon use, I found several reasoning errors.
Conceivably the reason one can attack AND parry in the same round is that
the person has two hands that they can do things with. THAT makes sense.
Why then can a person using a two-handed weapon do the same thing? To
correct this I came up with the following: One can attack, Offensively Dodge,
Defensively Dodge, or Parry with each hand. When using a two-handed weapon,
both hands act as one so one can only do one.
An Offensive Dodge is a dodge in which the person can Attack that same round,
but 1 Sr AFTER the other combatant swings or +1 Sr , whichever is greater. (one
must time these things ya know %) )
A Defensive Dodge is a dodge that in which the person can not attack that
round, but can move out of range of the opponent(Similiar to disengaging).
The Dodge moves the person 4 M distant from the other combatant.
An Defensive dodge can be used after an offensive dodge to move the person out
of a combat situation unscathed. If any Dodge is Failed, then the person has
NOT moved and therefore could not have disengaged.
'Nother thing to help out two handed weapon use. Give a Bonus for damage.
Haven't figured out what yet, but I was thinking of using Str+Siz for
One-Handed use and Str*1.5+Siz for two-handed use.
-------
-- Steven A. Schrader
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