So one last thing needs to be done to really get the rules ready for Player Character Creation. There are other minor alterations of the toolkit that is GURPS needed to evoke the sandbox setting that is Twilight: 2000, but most of those really revolve around peripheral issues tied to Random Encounter generation and management. I’ll get to those later and they will be less “GURPS Intensive” in their focus and more Setting-Intensive. But we need to talk about three things here first because they parlay into both how Player Characters and Non-Player Characters will be created in terms of purchased Advantages and how experience points can be spent specifically for those Advantages. The things we’ll discuss here are: Surprise and Initiative in Tactical Combat, The Combat Reflexes Advantage and Tactical Combat to Chase Combat Transition.
Surprise and Initiative in Tactical Combat
So GURPS has a fairly simple Tactical Combat System. Rounds are one second long. You can do one basic thing. Draw a weapon. Aim. Fire. Dive for cover. Move. Cast a Spell. etc.
There are a few exceptions. Most actions let a character can take one step (1 Yard). Some maneuvers allow a full move or a half move in addition to an attack. But these are very minor exceptions.
GURPS has two Secondary Characteristics we are gonna get into here: Basic Speed and Basic Move.
Basic Speed helps determine your running speed, your chance of dodging an attack, and the order in which you act in combat. To calculate Basic Speed you add your HT and DX together, and then divide
the total by 4 but you keep all .25 fractions that will exist. Combat is conducted by all Individual Combatants in order of Basic Speed. If there is a tie you go to Dexterity (DX). Still got a tie? A d6 roll-off occurs. A Character’s Basic Move is their Basic Speed, dropping the fractions, in Yards. That is the distance a character, on foot, assuming no issues with the ground (mud, etc.) can full move in a 1 second round.
So regarding Basic Speed, in a lower point campaign in a mundane setting without the fantastical (like Twilight: 2000) there will be a LOT of 5, 5.25 Basic Speeds. Maybe a 5.5. 5.75 would be exceptional. If you had a combat between a Fireteam of 6 and a Squad of 12 that would probably mean you might have two 5.5’s, maybe four 5.25’s and the other 12 combatants in the combat would be 5’s. DX’s dancing in the 10-12 range. That is a LOT of roll-offs. However GURPS’ central conceit of one second rounds and going in the order of your Basic Speed is clean. Neat. It allows for a Sam Peckinpah or Sergio Leone type of slo-mo combat. It’s a style. Cool.
We haven’t talked about Surprise and Initiative, though. How combat starts. Here is where it starts to get messy and asynchronous from the clean style we just talked about. GURPS has two levels of Surprise: Total Surprise and Partial Surprise.
GURPS Fourth Edition defines Total Surprise as: Adventurers, guards, etc. rarely suffer total surprise unless they are actually asleep. But total surprise would be appropriate if a group of werewolves came charging through the door of the local library (GURPS Fourth Edition Campaigns, p. 393). Frankly that isn’t a definition. Just an anecdote and some comments about how different types of NPCs might behave or be inclined. GURPS Fourth Edition goes on to define Partial Surprise as: This may occur when the defenders were expecting trouble . . . or when each party surprised the other! (GURPS Fourth Edition Campaigns, p. 393). So again a gauzy, woolly statement. I realty don’t know what any of this means, practically in a situation. I have an idea but these aren’t defined states.
GURPS Fourth Edition has a heckuva lot to say about the mechanics of Total Surprise and Partial Surprise, though:
Total Surprise: When the defenders are taken completely by surprise, they “freeze.” The GM rolls 1d6. This is the number of seconds that pass before the defenders can react at all. Until that time is up, they are mentally stunned and must take the Do Nothing maneuver. Exception: Those with Combat Reflexes never freeze, and treat total surprise as partial surprise. After the initial “freeze” ends, each defender must roll against his basic IQ at the start of his turn until he recovers. On a success, he must take Do Nothing that turn, but can act normally for the rest of the combat. On a failure, he is still mentally stunned; he may roll again at the start of his next turn. A low-IQ character, taken totally by surprise, could miss the whole combat! (GURPS Fourth Edition Campaigns, p. 393).
This is a mess. See that last sentence? Is that a good thing? Does IQ AUTOMATICALLY enter into reaction to sudden events? What about animals? Is a wolf always surprised and stunned despite its low IQ score in-game? Who are the “defenders?” Isn’t Combat order about Basic Speed Order? What are we talking about? Also, notice we see mention of an Advantage, Combat Reflexes, in the middle of all this. Why? I’ll get to my thoughts on that later but lets break down Partial Surprise first.
Partial Surprise: The GM should require each side to roll for initiative. To determine who gets the initiative, the leader of each side rolls 1d6. A leader with Combat Reflexes gets +2, or +1 if he doesn’t have Combat Reflexes but someone else on his side does (this bonus is not cumulative for more than one character). The leader with the higher IQ gets +1. Having even one point in Tactics skill gives +1 on initiative rolls; Tactics at level 20+ gives +2. The GM can apply other modifiers as he sees fit; e.g., if he thinks one side was more alert than the other. If one side is totally leaderless, the GM rolls for them. They get an automatic -2 to initiative. (This does not apply to animals or any other group with IQ 5 or less). The side that gets the highest roll gets the initiative, and can move and act normally. Everyone on the other side is mentally stunned, and must make IQ rolls on their turns, as described for total surprise, to snap out of it. However, with partial surprise, there is a +1 bonus to IQ on the second turn, +2 on the third turn, and so on . . . even low IQ characters catch on after a few seconds. Note that animals often have Combat Reflexes, which counteracts their low IQ. If the initiative roll is a tie, nobody was taken by surprise (GURPS Fourth Edition Campaigns, p. 393).
Notice again, “sides.” “Leaders.” All sorts of conditional modifiers. Another mess. And what it’s really about is using the Advantage “Combat Reflexes” to save the day. Or prop up the Advantage “Combat Reflexes.” Or both? The overreliance on “lose a Turn” (the Do Nothing maneuver caused by stun) for extended periods is also a death knell of game design (and a death knell for parties who are surprised). Everything here is really about getting the Player Character party to buy Combat Reflexes and essentially always Surprise the other “side” (what? Basic Speed. I mean…nevermind…) and wallop them while they are doing nothing. Boy, these Surprise and Initiative rules look like they almost come from a different game than the one that uses Basic Speed for individual combat turn order.
Combat Reflexes was cited four times in the above rules. Lets see what it is all about:
Combat Reflexes. 15 points. You have extraordinary reactions, and are rarely surprised for more than
a moment. You get +1 to all active defense rolls (see Defending, p. 374), +1 to Fast-Draw skill, and +2 to Fright Checks (see Fright Checks, p. 360). You never “freeze” in a surprise situation, and get +6 on all IQ rolls to wake up, or to recover from surprise or mental “stun.” Your side gets +1 on initiative rolls to avoid a surprise attack – +2 if you are the leader. For details, see Surprise Attacks and Initiative (p. 393).
Combat Reflexes is included in Enhanced Time Sense (p. 52). If you have ETS, you cannot also take Combat Reflexes (GURPS Fourth Edition Characters, p. 43).
Fifteen Points? If you purchased the effects this Advantage gives you individually, it would cost:
+1 all Active Defense Rolls (30 Points); +1 Fast Draw Skill (any, not just one weapon, so maybe 5 Points? It could be 20 or more but lets just say 5); +2 to Fright Checks (4 Points); +6 to Recover from Mental Stun or Wake Up (3? 6? Lets say 3 Points); +1 on initiative rolls to avoid a surprise attack – +2 if you are the leader (This gets really crazy. It could be +2, if the character is the leader, to say a party of 8 Player Characters and say 16 companion NPCs. What about the Range? I dunno, but lets call this 25 points to be quick); and lastly immunity to Total Surprise, period, defaulting to Partial Surprise (lets call that 5 points).
So for a quickie glance and add up we’ll call that a 15 point Advantage that gets you 68 Points worth of actual effects. So a 453% Return on Investment. You’d have to be an idiot NOT to get Combat Reflexes in any GURPS campaign where combat was going to be “a thing.” Its as if I offered someone $453 every time they gave me $100. Game Theory tells you that that isn’t an investment. The market will make it a norm. And any Advantage that is a norm isn’t really an Advantage.
Another issue regarding Combat Reflexes is that it is a binary choice with regard to GURPS’ surprise and initiative rules as written. There is no “stepping stone process” to purchase it in an ongoing Campaign which would reflect a Player Character slowly accruing experience in combat situations. Its an all or nothing proposition in terms of any advantages that deal with GURPS’ surprise and initiative rules. Obviously, I am going to tell you how I altered all this for this Setting and Campaign, but simpler solutions like “just don’t use Combat Reflexes” won’t work because they are so inexorably intertwined with GURPS’ surprise and initiative rules. And to be clear, I love this toolkit that is GURPS. I wouldn’t be spending time and effort lauding it and writing on this site if I didn’t. But this issue needs to be resolved here. So…
Cry Havoc Campaign Surprise and Initiative Rules (and Two New Advantages)
Surprise: Surprise is defined as a sudden combat situation where combatants expect no combat whatsoever. When a group of potential combatants are taken by Surprise, they “freeze.” The GM rolls 2d3. This is the number of seconds that pass before the defenders can react at all and are mentally stunned. This number is halved (round up) for any characters that have the Advantage Individual Combat Reflexes (New, Below). Until that time is up, they are mentally stunned and must take the Do Nothing maneuver. They may make an IQ roll every round stunned. If they succeed, they are able to break out of being stunned and perform actions normally on their next round. If they do not break out, the period of stun ends when the number of rolled seconds ends.
Off-Footed: Off-Footed afflicts any combatants who were possibly expecting combat but had not spotted, seen or were otherwise aware of the initiators of the combat. Whenever combat is initiated and participants have not spotted, seen or are otherwise aware of the initiator(s) of the combat all those participants are Off-Footed. Examples: If a sniper initiates an uncoordinated combat amongst a group of potential combatants, for instance, everyone except the sniper is Off-Footed. If a Fireteam initiates an ambush, the Fireteam is not Off-Footed, but everyone else is Off-Footed. If the same Fireteam had notified other friendly Fireteams via radio that they were opening fire, the other Fireteams that were notified are not Off-Footed, but everyone else is. Any combatant that is Off-Footed is mentally stunned for 1d3 Rounds, and must make IQ rolls on their turns, as described for Surprise, to snap out of it. If they fail, they may roll to “Break Stun” each afflicted round at the same modifier. If they do not break out, the period of stun ends when the number of rolled seconds ends. Those combatants with Individual Combat Reflexes (New, Below) may add +6 as a modifier to their IQ rolls. Those with the Coolness Advantage (New, Below) may add their Coolness level as a modifier to their IQ rolls.
Combat Round Order. In any Combat Round in GURPS, players move or act in order of their basic speed. If there is a tie, there is a roll off. This is modified by the two Advantages below.
Individual Combat Reflexes: (15 points) You have extraordinary reactions and are rarely surprised for more than a moment. You get +1 to any Fast-Draw skill, and +2 to Fright Checks (see Fright Checks, p. 360). You suffer Surprise effects for half the normal amount of time. You get +6 on all IQ rolls to wake up, or to recover from mental “stun” if Off-Footed. You always move first in the Turn Order; if other combatants have Individual Combat Reflexes, then order is determined amongst them by Base Speed. Individual Combat Reflexes may only be purchased if a Player Character already has a Coolness (see below) at Level 5. The points used to purchase Coolness Level 5 may be used towards the 15 point purchase of this Advantage (10 Points were already spent, so 5 more would be needed to be spent to acquire Individual Combat Reflexes). Coolness is then removed, and Individual Combat Reflexes is used instead. Individual Combat Reflexes may not be purchased if a Player Character has the following Disadvantage: Combat Paralysis.
Coolness: (2 points/level to a maximum of 10 points). You are difficult to surprise or catch off-footed in any sudden combat situation. Add your level of Coolness to your IQ on all IQ rolls to recover from surprise or mental “stun” if Off-Footed You always move first in the Turn Order unless someone has a higher Coolness level than you. If combatants have the same Coolness level, then order is determined amongst them by Base Speed. Those with Individual Combat Reflexes always go before anyone with any Coolness level. Coolness may not be purchased if a Player Character has the following Disadvantage: Combat Paralysis.
So comparing the above to the GURPS Fourth Edition rules, the Cry Havoc Surprise and Initiative Rules allow rolling of IQ Checks to break Stun immediately. Individual Combat Reflexes and Coolness do not contribute to those rolls against Surprise. But characters with Individual Combat Reflexes have that stun time halved. rolling 2d3 provides a bell curve and also ensures that Surprise will at minimum be 2 rounds while Off-Footed can be 1 round minimum. Twilight: 2000 1 and 2e had a stat called “Coolness Under Fire” (CUF) that allowed precedence in the combat turn order due to combat experience. The Coolness Advantage emulates this feel and also provides a non-binary stepping stone method for a character to go from “Zero to Hero” in terms of ability to deal with sudden combat situations. And Individual Combat Reflexes now costs something like 17-25 points (notice, no Active Defense Bonus) if you bought all the effects separately. Inflation has been reduced. But it is still a valuable Advantage.
As well, Tactical Combat now, from its initiation, leans into the Combat Round Order with Basic Speed as the final arbitrator even amongst those with Individual Combat Reflexes. There are no “sides” really, in terms of initiative. No We go/They go. There is just a combat. Peckinpah.
Tactical Combat to Chase Combat Transition (and Back Again)
In a previous post I outlined why I planned to use the Chase Rules from GURPS Action 2 Exploits. So what I need to deal with here is how, for this Setting and this Campaign, how we are going to handle a transition from GURPS Tactical Combat to Chase Rules Range-Band Combat and then back again. So…
Moving to Contact. For this campaign the “limit” of distance for normal tactical combat (One second rounds) is 100 Yards x 100 Yards on a hex map. This may involve “Movement to Contact” (all combatants moving but none initiating combat) or avoiding being seen and avoiding combat or whatnot. These periods of time will be handled in 10 second increments until combat is initiated.
Chase Transition. Combat will transition from Tactical to Chase if: 1.) Combatants are more than 100 Yards apart (a group have left the 100 x 100 yard map) or 2.) A group of combatants is in vehicles, moving. The current Tactical round will complete and then the combat will begin in “Chase Mode” (See Chase Rules in Campaign Resources). Chase will transition back to Tactical if either above condition ceases to exist at the end of a Chase round.
And that’s it. I await the hate mail. Probably no article until the Session Recap is up on 27 or 28 MAY 2024 (after the next Session).