Fundamentals: A Comparison of Ranged Weapons

A bow with a bayonet, am I right?

So, following up on yesterday's post on melee ranged weaponry and the typical pros and cons of each category, I decided to double down and compare the admittedly much shorter list of ranged weapons, including the thrown variants of many melee weapons. Let's take a look and see how they typically compare.

Fundamentals: A Comparison of Melee Weapons

Bow really only counts as a melee
weapon if you use that one advantage
in Dungeon Fantasy 11.

Today, I felt like cataloging a simple at-a-glance, broad stroke comparison between some of the important weapon categories, going skill by skill and explaining the pros and cons of them. There are a few important edge cases here and there, and a few... less important ones? But I hope this can be a useful quick glance for new players that need help making a decision and don't know where to look to find all the details.

Character Build: Make a (socially) Interesting Character

Well, you don't have to go this far.

So, you might say there is kind of a spectrum of GMing styles ranging from "I want my players to experience an awesome story", or more pejoratively, "railroad," and at the other end, you have, "I want to give my player all the tools and freedom they need to enjoy themselves however they want" or more pejoratively, "sandbox."
I kinda start closer to the sandbox end to flush out what my players are looking for, and when they hone in on it, I start filling in the details around the point of interest they choose. This means I react to what the players want to do by accommodating the things they work towards. In a pseudo-meta way, if the world shapes itself to what it looks like my players want.
Therefore, the only way something just "happens" to a player is:

• It is the natural consequence of something the player has done
• The player has spent points on something that catalyzes an interaction, (advantages with an appearance roll, or an enemy disadvantage)

So, let's dissect the second bullet point further, and see how we can have NPCs find a player character interesting enough to just go out of their way and talk to them.

Combat Maneuver: Feint

Real life example of a feint.

Feints, I feel, I do not utilize enough, maybe? They sound like something with a bit of a niche application, but they might be usable in the right circumstances. On the other hand, I really like deceptive attack. It's kinda fun (if not a little reckless) going for broke with the mindset, "eh, if I didn't miss with the deceptive attack, she probably would have dodged/blocked/parry anyway."
Today, I do little reflection on Feints and try to make them work for me.

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.

Sorcery: Homing Soulmass

I really really like this spell

Sorcery developed by Big Hat Logan. Fire homing soulmass. Life originates in the soul; no wonder the soulmass draws toward it. This sorcery is a window into seeker Logan's methods.

 A lot of the spells and magic effects in Dark Souls are pretty straight forward because of the type of game it is: brutal combat and exploration. Subtleties like social intrigue rarely enter into the equation. That said, I decided to model the most mechanically challenging spells first, trusting that if anyone cared to know how to calculate soul arrow, it would be nearly self-evident that it is nothing but Innate Attack. Homing Soulmass on the other hand has a bunch of complicated nuances that make it a little less straightforward. Let's see if we can put that one together.

Table: The Value of the Deceptive Attack

CORRECTIONS: I did not take into account the value of a critical hit in the original version of this table. I have fixed this now. Thanks, for the proofreading and careful eyes in the comments.

I made this chart in Excel out of curiosity that shows the utility of using a deceptive attack to improve the odds of hitting an opponent.

Attack Skill	Defense Skill	Unmodified Chance To Hit	1	2	3	4	5
10	8	37.51%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
12	8	55.34%	42.20%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
14	8	67.69%	62.37%	45.54%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
16	8	75.10%	76.34%	67.38%	47.77%	0.00%	0.00%
18	8	75.10%	83.75%	82.51%	70.73%	49.11%	0.00%
20	8	75.10%	83.75%	89.92%	86.62%	72.73%	49.11%
10	10	25.93%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
12	10	37.96%	31.94%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
14	10	46.30%	46.99%	37.51%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
16	10	53.71%	57.41%	55.34%	42.20%	0.00%	0.00%
18	10	53.71%	64.82%	67.69%	62.37%	45.54%	0.00%
20	10	53.71%	64.82%	75.10%	76.34%	67.38%	47.77%
10	12	14.34%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
12	12	20.58%	19.91%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
14	12	24.90%	28.93%	25.93%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
16	12	32.31%	35.18%	37.96%	31.94%	0.00%	0.00%
18	12	32.31%	42.59%	46.30%	46.99%	37.51%	0.00%
20	12	32.31%	42.59%	53.71%	57.41%	55.34%	42.20%
10	14	6.31%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
12	14	8.54%	9.65%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
14	14	10.08%	13.55%	14.34%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
16	14	17.49%	16.25%	20.58%	19.91%	0.00%	0.00%
18	14	17.49%	23.66%	24.90%	28.93%	25.93%	0.00%
20	14	17.49%	23.66%	32.31%	35.18%	37.96%	31.94%
10	16	2.74%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
12	16	3.19%	4.08%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
14	16	3.49%	5.19%	6.31%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
16	16	10.90%	5.97%	8.54%	9.65%	0.00%	0.00%
18	16	10.90%	13.38%	10.08%	13.55%	14.34%	0.00%
20	16	10.90%	13.38%	17.49%	16.25%	20.58%	19.91%

Dungeon Fantasy: Making Medicine Using The Basic Set.

Medicine!

I like item creation systems in games, as you can pretty much tell from the myriad articles on my blog for that purpose. One small element I glossed over is that there is a pricing system that seems to exist for converting advantages into single-use items already in the GURPS Basic Set. This is on page B425, in Campaigns. However, the point of the section is Ultra-Tech, and I do a lot of playing in TL3 and TL4. Playing with a bit of algebra, it seems like the fair conversion factor between that box and prices in dungeon fantasy is 12%. That is, calculate the price according to the medicine rules on page B425, and then multiply it by 0.12. You can then use the rules in Sages for calculating how difficult it would be to craft the medicine from the price.
Thanks to this guy here for pointing that out.

Innate Attack: Ki Blasts/Kamehameha

A friend that I am playing a Dungeon Fantasy campaign with asked for something similar for his Martial Artist character. This is probably a straightforward attack. He really likes Dragon Ball Z but I've never watched it. The key elements for describing the attack seem to be:

1. It's a launched projectile
2. It's got a moderate ability to modify the power level
3. It specifically calls out the need to use both hands
4. It has knockback
5. It depends on a longer charging time

So let's see how to stat this out.

Technique: Fast Sneak

This is something really quick I just devised. I think I read somewhere that when attempting to be stealthy, one must travel at half speed. Using the rules in Basic Set Campaigns p. 346 for Time Spent, one can double the rate of the work they are doing for a -5 penalty. Using the design rules for techniques in Basic Set Characters on p. 231, we can call it a "Hard Difficulty" technique because the consequences of failure are usually dangerous. The default is Stealth -5, and because it is predicated on Stealth, the obvious prerequisite is Stealth, and its maximum level is prerequisite skill. All together, it is:

Fast-Sneak

Hard

Default: Stealth-5

Prerequisites: Stealth; cannot exceed prerequisite skill

When attempting to be stealthy and travel at normal pace, roll against Fast-Sneak instead. Success allows stealthiness at full move. Failure has the normal consequences of a failed stealth roll.

Let's Invent a Thing: GURPS Basic set

I feel like there aren't enough examples of how inventing works online. I tried searching, and couldn't even find one. So let's try inventing something using GURPS invention and gadgeteering rules.