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GURPS ranged combat: Napoleonic vs. 1870
Aug. 4th, 2024 06:57 pm( Read more... )
Maybe magic, maybe mundane
Nov. 2nd, 2023 10:29 pmhttps://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MaybeMagicMaybeMundane for an introduction to the concept.
Right now, many people (probably most) think that magic doesn't exist in our world. So there must be a perfectly mundane explanation for anything seemingly magical - it's quite probable though that you (or I, or even anyone) don't know it yet.
For a DnD player, the magic is very real. You've got your spellbooks etc. and you see occasionally the good old trusty Fireball spell. You know, a good old ball of fire appears on the mage's hand and flies to the impact point, everyone in 30 ft. radius rolls a Reflex save to get half instead of full Xd6 damage.
For a medieval person, or at least for a medieval person as we think he/she was (it's not like we can ask around), the question of magic was... less certain. A lot of things were quite mundanely explainable, some weren't.
Say, was the legendary Excalibur a magic sword, or was it by change an exceptionally well-made sword in an age when most swords were somewhat underwhelming? Was Achilles's armor magically impenetrable, or was it just a well-worked high-tin-content piece?
An interesting applied question is how can a GM, with judicious usage of concealed rolling, maintain uncertainty? Does this NPC weapon wield a weapon with magically enhanced damage, or is he just naturally rolling high damage? Is this pendant really cursed, or is the wearer plain unlucky with saving throw rolls? Does this armor piece have a magical enhancement, or do the enemies just roll too low to get past its regular DR?
It appears that there is quite a possibility for an enterprising GM to do just that - with some concealed rolling, of course, and a careful selection of spells involved. That is, the spell effect is involved from a purely mechanical Doylian perspective; however, from the Watsonian point of view, the observed effect cannot be distinguished from a stroke of luck.
Right now, many people (probably most) think that magic doesn't exist in our world. So there must be a perfectly mundane explanation for anything seemingly magical - it's quite probable though that you (or I, or even anyone) don't know it yet.
For a DnD player, the magic is very real. You've got your spellbooks etc. and you see occasionally the good old trusty Fireball spell. You know, a good old ball of fire appears on the mage's hand and flies to the impact point, everyone in 30 ft. radius rolls a Reflex save to get half instead of full Xd6 damage.
For a medieval person, or at least for a medieval person as we think he/she was (it's not like we can ask around), the question of magic was... less certain. A lot of things were quite mundanely explainable, some weren't.
Say, was the legendary Excalibur a magic sword, or was it by change an exceptionally well-made sword in an age when most swords were somewhat underwhelming? Was Achilles's armor magically impenetrable, or was it just a well-worked high-tin-content piece?
An interesting applied question is how can a GM, with judicious usage of concealed rolling, maintain uncertainty? Does this NPC weapon wield a weapon with magically enhanced damage, or is he just naturally rolling high damage? Is this pendant really cursed, or is the wearer plain unlucky with saving throw rolls? Does this armor piece have a magical enhancement, or do the enemies just roll too low to get past its regular DR?
It appears that there is quite a possibility for an enterprising GM to do just that - with some concealed rolling, of course, and a careful selection of spells involved. That is, the spell effect is involved from a purely mechanical Doylian perspective; however, from the Watsonian point of view, the observed effect cannot be distinguished from a stroke of luck.
GURPS is dead
Oct. 23rd, 2023 06:25 pmGURPS isn't dead in the sense that there are plenty of gamemasters using it to run lots of campaigns. Problem is, the majority of those gamemasters are on the wrong side of 40, and once they kick the bucket or otherwise retire from gamemastering, GURPS will be well and truly dead.
Just for comparison, d20 systems like Pathfinder or DnD5e are alive and well. How did it come to this?
Don't get me wrong, GURPS is a terrific system. It has mountainloads of info, to the point that some GURPS manuals still are better than respective wiki articles. It has potential for gameplay and story integration not seen in DnD since ADnD2. It is astoundingly well-researched. And GURPS combat lends itself to realistic description of what's happening the way DnD never dreamed of.
Okay, Harnmaster (how many have even heard of it?) is another painstakingly researched system which reads almost as a historical and economical treatise on manorial England - and has a terrific default setting. Also consigned to the depths of the oblivion. There are doubtless many others. But GURPS was, at its peak, one of the top systems.
First, GURPS is hard. Seriously hard. It's harder than ADnD 2 was, not to mention Pathfinder/3e or later editions. As a GM, I still make mistakes (covered by the Zeroth Rule, of course, and "When in doubt, roll and shout").
Second, it's long. Including the basic set, I've read over a thousand pages in preparation for the current campaign. Even if you are a GURPS aficionado, you still need to read up or refresh a couple hundred pages (mostly of splatbooks) when switching to a substantially different setting, e.g. from Rome to pirates to steampunk to post-apocalypse. "Too long, didn't read" is in full effect.
Third, it's campaign-oriented. The previous two points hint at an obscene (by today's standards, not so by 80-s or 90-s though) amount of preparation. Makes sense for an overarching multi-session campaign with a complex plot, makes no sense for a one-shot adventure (for which, incidentally, ready-made Pathfinder modules using pregen characters are so good).
Fourth, it's too slow and too realistic. Space Odyssey, not Star Wars. It lends itself to a slower-paced, more thoughtful tempo rather than to hack-and-slash action DnD (or Savage Worlds) is so good for. A Sherlock Homes novel, not a buddy cop movie. While there certainly is a niche (and a pretty cosy niche) for such plot and pacing, it's decidedly not mainstream nowadays.
Bottom line, tabletop RPG systems have evolved, hand-in-hand with popular demand, to rules-light and a more cinematic/superhero feel. The tabletop society has moved in the same direction, and GURPS (along with many other, lesser known systems) is now a relic of the past, a living fossil.
And, eventually, destined to die out with its gamemaster populace.
Just for comparison, d20 systems like Pathfinder or DnD5e are alive and well. How did it come to this?
Don't get me wrong, GURPS is a terrific system. It has mountainloads of info, to the point that some GURPS manuals still are better than respective wiki articles. It has potential for gameplay and story integration not seen in DnD since ADnD2. It is astoundingly well-researched. And GURPS combat lends itself to realistic description of what's happening the way DnD never dreamed of.
Okay, Harnmaster (how many have even heard of it?) is another painstakingly researched system which reads almost as a historical and economical treatise on manorial England - and has a terrific default setting. Also consigned to the depths of the oblivion. There are doubtless many others. But GURPS was, at its peak, one of the top systems.
First, GURPS is hard. Seriously hard. It's harder than ADnD 2 was, not to mention Pathfinder/3e or later editions. As a GM, I still make mistakes (covered by the Zeroth Rule, of course, and "When in doubt, roll and shout").
Second, it's long. Including the basic set, I've read over a thousand pages in preparation for the current campaign. Even if you are a GURPS aficionado, you still need to read up or refresh a couple hundred pages (mostly of splatbooks) when switching to a substantially different setting, e.g. from Rome to pirates to steampunk to post-apocalypse. "Too long, didn't read" is in full effect.
Third, it's campaign-oriented. The previous two points hint at an obscene (by today's standards, not so by 80-s or 90-s though) amount of preparation. Makes sense for an overarching multi-session campaign with a complex plot, makes no sense for a one-shot adventure (for which, incidentally, ready-made Pathfinder modules using pregen characters are so good).
Fourth, it's too slow and too realistic. Space Odyssey, not Star Wars. It lends itself to a slower-paced, more thoughtful tempo rather than to hack-and-slash action DnD (or Savage Worlds) is so good for. A Sherlock Homes novel, not a buddy cop movie. While there certainly is a niche (and a pretty cosy niche) for such plot and pacing, it's decidedly not mainstream nowadays.
Bottom line, tabletop RPG systems have evolved, hand-in-hand with popular demand, to rules-light and a more cinematic/superhero feel. The tabletop society has moved in the same direction, and GURPS (along with many other, lesser known systems) is now a relic of the past, a living fossil.
And, eventually, destined to die out with its gamemaster populace.
GURPS Melee
Sep. 8th, 2017 12:11 pmРешил для уяснения модели покидать дайсы. Итак, в левом углу в красных трусах и полном обвесе (сегментата и так далее) позднеримский легионер Публий (спата/скутум), в правом углу в синих трусах и также полном обвесе (кожанка с рукавами) бретер Жан (рапира/баклер). Я не смог удержаться от искушения устроить борьбу кита со слоном.
Первая схватка была длиннее (11 раундов) и интереснее. В первом же раунде Жан втыкает Публию рапиру точно против сердца... но не пробивает лорику (3 против DR 5). Через несколько раундов Жан втыкает рапиру в район воротниковой зоны... но неубедительно (2 imp = 4 HP). В десятом раунде наступает развязка: Публий подрубает Жану ногу (7 raw - 2DR = 5 cut = 7 HP), тот в шоке падает, а следующим ударом Публий его добивает (8 raw - 2DR = 6 cut = 9 HP).
Вторая схватка развивалась по похожему сценарию, но с диаметрально противоположным результатом. Жан задевает Публия по шее (1 imp = 2 HP), Публий ранит Жана в ногу (4 raw - 2DR = 2 cut = 3 HP), после чего Жан мастерским ударом пробивает Публию горло (6 imp = 12 HP) - good night, sweet prince.
Мораль сей басни:
Броня реально работает, система локализации ударов(она же called shots) работает вообще на ура, щит работает (аллилуйя!). Активные защиты рулят до такой степени, что ой-ой: более половины атак проходили по схеме "ударил-попал-парировано/блокировано". От них есть смысл отказываться (полная атака) либо если по тебе совсем некому бить (добивающий удар Публия, Жан лежит и оглушен), либо если ты многослойный бронемишка с DR под или за 10.
Есть еще наметки по моралям, но их надо еще пошшупать.
Первая схватка была длиннее (11 раундов) и интереснее. В первом же раунде Жан втыкает Публию рапиру точно против сердца... но не пробивает лорику (3 против DR 5). Через несколько раундов Жан втыкает рапиру в район воротниковой зоны... но неубедительно (2 imp = 4 HP). В десятом раунде наступает развязка: Публий подрубает Жану ногу (7 raw - 2DR = 5 cut = 7 HP), тот в шоке падает, а следующим ударом Публий его добивает (8 raw - 2DR = 6 cut = 9 HP).
Вторая схватка развивалась по похожему сценарию, но с диаметрально противоположным результатом. Жан задевает Публия по шее (1 imp = 2 HP), Публий ранит Жана в ногу (4 raw - 2DR = 2 cut = 3 HP), после чего Жан мастерским ударом пробивает Публию горло (6 imp = 12 HP) - good night, sweet prince.
Мораль сей басни:
Броня реально работает, система локализации ударов(она же called shots) работает вообще на ура, щит работает (аллилуйя!). Активные защиты рулят до такой степени, что ой-ой: более половины атак проходили по схеме "ударил-попал-парировано/блокировано". От них есть смысл отказываться (полная атака) либо если по тебе совсем некому бить (добивающий удар Публия, Жан лежит и оглушен), либо если ты многослойный бронемишка с DR под или за 10.
Есть еще наметки по моралям, но их надо еще пошшупать.
