Gurps combat (clarification/elaboration)

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From: Elliot Wilen (8hum190@violet.Berkeley.EDU)
Date: Sat 18 Aug 1990 - 09:56:33 EEST


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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