Thursday, January 31, 2013

Tactical Tips : Active defenses.


It's not what you fight with that matters, it is where you will fight.

When someone strikes at you, you've got many options: Dodge the blow, Parry with a weapon or block with a shield. From these three options, you can always yield back by one step and get +3 to Dodge, or +1 to parry/block. Remember that a medium shield gives a +2 to any types of defense, not just block. This means that for as long as you can give away terrain, a fighter with a shield has a +5 bonus to dodging. For a "normal" person with some encumbrance and a Dodge of 7, this means a final Dodge of 12, or 75% chance to avoid being hurt. This also applies to your opponents, so there is value in trying to corner your foes as soon as possible (where they will Get Dodge-9, or 37% chance of success). 

Against missiles

Against arrows and bolts, you can always "hit the dirt" and dodge with a +3 bonus  (plus shield bonus). The downside will be that you will find yourself prone on (-4 to attack, -3 to defend, but from now on at -2 as you are a smaller target). Getting back up will cost you two turns, and this can be a long time in some situations.

Getting Fancy: parrying and blocking

Parrying and blocking can each be used only once per turn (1 second). They usually will be more potent than dodging since they are not affected by encumbrance. The down side is that both your weapon and your shield may get trashed in the process. Weapons made of steel shouldn't break unless parrying a critical hit kindof blow, or a very large and spikey weapon. A typical shield could get dinged when blocking strong blows, and require that you fix them up every now and then. It is unlikely that a shield will fall apart without any kind of warning, unless you block a battling ram with both hands. Also, unbalanced two handed weapons can only parry OR attack in a given turn. 

Of course, working as a team to use up the better block with one allies and forcing a dodging of the second attack is even better. But fighting as a team is a whole story in itself.

11 comments:

  1. Don't forget the +3 to dodge back and then to step forward if the opponent doesn't follow up into the empty space. If you can sacrifice the ground, it is a good tactic but you won't always want to give ground, depending on the circumstances.

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  2. Doesn't standing back up take 2 seconds of Change Posture maneuvers?

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  3. The savvy GM will populate the battlefield with fallen trees or clumps of stone or other things that prevent every dodge being supplemented by a fall back. And some of the most dynamic fights will involve combatants with weapons of different reach, each striving to hold the opponent to a range that suits them but discomfits their opponent.

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    1. Yeah, I'm making a bunch of generic pieces to create interesting settings on an hex grid. I'll post some pics when this is ready. My next vignette will be about combat actions, and I'll probably touch reach next.

      I also want to houserule some danger zones around players for swing attacks which can be negated by successful leadership actions.

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  4. You say you can only parry once - that's not true. It's -4 for each additional parry after the first, -2 with either a fencing weapon (Parry F) or Weapon Master/Trained By A Master, or -1 for both. That's on p. 376.

    Multiple blocks aren't allowed in the RAW until GURPS Martial Arts. There they are -5 each (-3 for appropriate WM/TBAM).

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    1. I'll fix the post, thanks for the comments. I'm also not a very experienced GM with combats in GURPS.

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  5. One thing to consider here for those with high parry/block scores are Defensive Feints and the Riposte action (both from Martial Arts). These are powerful actions that highly capable combat characters should look to exploit frequently. There are circumstances in which a Parry especially (with a Dwarven Axe or any balanced weapon) can trade scores over 12-14 for a real impact on your next attack. My DF Warrior Saint pretty typically has Parry-16 or Parry-17 (Skill-22 gives base of 14, +3 for the shield) and so I can, on a parry, accept a -3 to my Parry in exchange for a -3 to one of my foe's defenses next turn, if I recall correctly.

    Lastly: sometimes the best defense is a good offense! You mention Dodge and Drop as something you can do voluntarily that carries large penalties to attack and defense, but tripping, sweeping, or throwing your foe gives them that same -4 attack/-3 defense, which is a real advantage. Grappling them is -4 to DX, which carries large impact: It's -1 to Dodge and -2 to Parry and Block, assuming you can even do these.

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    1. Douglas. Good points. I may have to pick up a copy of martial art. But for these vignettes, I'm trying to keep it simple and introduce complexity slowly. As for tripping, grappling and slamming, I plan a whole vignette on this once that I discuss the possible combat actions (my next tactical tip). Your comments are great!

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    2. While I do truly love pimping Peter and Sean's book 'cause I like them, if you're into combat, Martial Arts and Basic together have nearly every possible answer. When I was writing Technical Grappling, more often than not, the playtest discussion boiled down to "well, why invent a new mechanic when there's one in Basic/Martial Arts that seems to work well already?"

      Um. Yeah. Precisely.

      Anyway, Martial Arts is a great book, and everyone should buy it. Twice.

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