[gurps] GURPS Weapon Skill Levels

[Captain Joy]

Anyone have a good general capsule description of the GURPS weapon skill
levels? I am looking for a way to describe how good a person is with a
weapon in general, beyond likelihoods of hit/damage/etc. What I am
thinking is something like:

At level X to Y, you are familiar with the weapon, and may have a
general idea of how to use it, but have not yet even mastered the basic
combat actions associated with its use.

At level Y to Z, you not only are considered very skilled in the use of
the weapon, when you have one in your hand you can do all those
crazy-assed martial arts moves that you see in the movies- just moving
around with the weapon is enough to scare off many potential assailants-
particularly those who also have some skill with the given weapon.

Etc. You get my drift. Any idea where such descriptions might live?

Thanks!
--
***@mac.com
"It's life, Captain, but not life as we know it." --Commander Spock

[Emily Smirle]

Post by Captain Joy
Etc. You get my drift. Any idea where such descriptions might live?

There isn't anything formal in print, and I can't recall off hand if we
had something like that in Martial Arts.

But I can suggest a few things:

At Skill 8 or less you may be able to handle the weapon without
accidentally injuring yourself, but you have to rely on Evaluating your
opponent (thereby reducing your attack rate) or on All Out Attack:
Determined (thereby leaving yourself wide open to counter attack), or on
Telegraphing your attacks (if you have Martial Arts) in order to hit
reliably at all. You're either slow and cautious, or you're flailing
around wildly and largely ineffectively. You can't use most fancy
options in combat simply because you don't have enough skill to try it.
You can't move and attack with a hope in hell of succeding, you can't
use deceptive attacks at all, and if you aren't an agressive person, you
may just hide behind something and make All Out Defenses, using your
weapon to protect yourself but otherwise not being effective.

At skill 12 or less you use many of the same tactical options as lower
skilled fighters, but you actually score blows fairly reliably when you
do so. You can use Evaluate and/or All Out Attack:Determined to boost
your skill enough for a tricky Deceptive Attack (but you can probably
only do it once or twice before your lack of defenses kills you). You
can start using regular Attack actions without several turns of circling
and Evaluating and have "ok" chances of hitting. Move and Attack starts
looking like it might work, sometimes. Your increased mobility on the
battlefield means you can try run-around attacks.

At skill 13 and 14 you can use regular Attack actions reliably. This
means now when you All Out Attack or Evaluate and Attack, you can start
trying to knock the legs out from under your opponents or bashing them
in the face or the vitals, and other more challenging hit locations. You
can Move and Attack reliably. You can start using Deceptive Attacks even
without extensive preparation, and Feints become more reliable
(especially against lower skilled opponents, of course).

At skills 16 and up you can start using fancy options on every attack
even without extensive preparation - always going for the throat or
vitals, always using Deceptive Attacks, etc, and when you really want to
kick ass and take names you can use Evaluate, Telegraphing attacks, and
All out Attack Determined for Mega Super Combo attacks with bells and
whistles on (better hit!). Your mobility and threat on the battlefield
have reached new peaks, because not only do you go charging across the
battlefield with a Move and Attack, but you combine it with hit
locations and fancy maneuvers as well.

[Brandon Cope]

Post by Emily Smirle

Post by Captain Joy
Etc. You get my drift. Any idea where such descriptions might live?

There isn't anything formal in print, and I can't recall off hand if we
had something like that in Martial Arts.

See p.45 of Basic Set, 3rd edition.
--
A generous and sadistic GM, Brandon Cope http://www.geocities.com/copeab

"It has fallen upon me, now and again in my sojurns through the world, to
ease various evil men of their lives. I have a feeling it will prove thus
with the Baron."
-- Solomon Kane ("The Castle of the Devil", Robert E. Howard)