Encounter: Onkolithos ripti

Kinda?

That title. That name. Rock Throwing Guy. I dunno why I can't think of a good name for him. I just had the idea to make a rock throwing enemy. if Rock Throwing Guy is too boring for you, I'm sure you can find another name somewhere that sounds cooler. For example, I just threw it in google translate, and got the name I just put in the title. No idea if it sounds weird to a Greek person, but it's good enough for me. Let's work out a 50ish CER brute using the GURPS throwing mechanics.

Now, for giggles, I understand that we could stat this as an innate attack and be done with it, but there is something interesting about a brute that literally picks up boulders and throws them. It's slow, intimidating, and raw in a way that "I magically make boulders appear in my hand every turn" isn't.

This Book!

I'm thinking I want 2d crushing damage for my weakish version of a miniboss. If we go to page 355 of Basic Set - Campaigns we find a lookup table that tells us how strong we need to be and how heavy the projectile needs to be to do 2d crushing. We need 21 strength to do 2d crushing by throwing a 44-pound boulder. Not really a boulder, but a good sized rock. Let's see, with just the bare necessities to throw that good sized rock decently, and nothing else, how many points are we at already in terms of CER?

Attack Skill	10	Active Defense	1
Affliction	0	Damage Resistance	0
Damage	7	Health	0
Fatigue Points	0	Hit Points	11
Move	0	Will	0
Total Offensive Rating (OR)	17	Total Protective Rating (PR)	12

That attack skill level of 10 includes 3 for trained by a master, a prerequisite of throwing art, which is required for someone who throws things bigger than a smooth object that fits in the palm. Likewise, the 1 point in active defense includes the bonus from trained by a master. With just this, we are about halfway there. Let's try adding some more hit points, health, and a high pain threshold.

Attack Skill	10	Active Defense	1
Affliction	0	Damage Resistance	0
Damage	7	Health	4
Fatigue Points	2	Hit Points	20
Move	0	Will	0
Total Offensive Rating (OR)	19	Total Protective Rating (PR)	25

We are now at 44 CER, and we need at minimum, 6 more, and at maximum, we need 11 more. I'm purposefully trying to keep DR down just because. Let's let him move fast, increase his will, and increase his active defenses, and pad it out with a few more hit points.

Attack Skill	10	Active Defense	3
Affliction	0	Damage Resistance	0
Damage	7	Health	5
Fatigue Points	3	Hit Points	23
Move	2	Will	2
Total Offensive Rating (OR)	22	Total Protective Rating (PR)	33

A 55. This feels like a good number for me. Somehow, 50 felt too weak, but this seems a bit better. Putting that together as an enemy we get the following:

ST: 21	HP: 33	Speed: 6.5
DX: 13	Will: 12	Move: 8
IQ: 8	Per: 12
HT: 13	FP: 13	SM: +1
Dodge: 9	Parry: 9	DR: 0

Rock Throw (15): Range 17 Yards, Acc 0, 2d crushing
Punch (13): Reach C, 2d-1 crushing.
Traits: Trained by a Master, High Pain Threshold, Obsession (Throw Rocks the Best)
Skills: Brawling-13, Throwing Art-15, Fast-Draw (Boulder)-13

He should have super big arms and look savage. This guy should be fought in a room conveniently filled with several boulders around him that are easily readied in a single maneuver. His Fast-Draw allows him to quickly pick up a boulder at waist height and throw it in the same turn, if possible. This guy feels like he'd be willing to set aside his differences if he met another cool strong person, but otherwise, he's just doing his job. As a mini-boss type enemy, feel free to let him use extra combat options for more survivability, like rolling for consciousness at - HP instead of instant victory.

Other Notes

This is a pretty simple monster as is with lots of ways to improve it. He could be downright dangerous with even a weak swing damage weapon, or a pretty good contender for wrestling, both would probably make him tremendously more powerful by themselves. He has 0 DR, and could be easily improved with 1 or 2 points of thick skin DR. Two or more cooperating and doing throwing tricks in a room could be a considerable challenge even against strong delvers.