Posts

• Apr 19, 2023

  Fuzzy turns in GURPS Combat

  As you might know from reading here before, I hang out on the RPG.net forums a lot. Whenever a discussion about GURPS starts there, some people often complain they feel intimidated or annoyed by the 1-second combat turns.

  Other games tend to have a less granular concept of turn duration and of what exactly constitutes an action, so players used to them usually expect to be able to do one “complete thing” in each turn without bothering with detailed setup steps. For example, a ranged attack with a bow in D&D takes a single action that includes aiming, shooting, drawing a new arrow, and nocking it, all of which are distinct steps in GURPS.

  I actually like 1-second turns and will be keeping them in my games, but I present here a possible way to make them fuzzier for those groups who don’t enjoy them as much. This is a fairly fundamental change to the base GURPS system, probably lends itself better to games that used simplified combat rules instead of things like detailed hex maps and range measures.

  This also helps combat feel a bit more like what you might see in action movies or similar media, which tend to slow down things to make them easier to follow.

  Fuzzy Combat in GURPS

  Under this rule, a combat round is no longer exactly 1 second long. Now it takes an unspecified amount of time between 5 and 10 seconds long - enough for everyone to act once.

  Single-maneuver actions that can be resolved in a 1-second turn under the original rules still take 1 turn to resolve here. This includes most melee and ranged attacks, movement, and the Aim and Evaluate maneuvers. Advantages such as Extra Attack and techniques like Rapid Strike work exactly as written, with the same limitations, but read “seconds” as “turns”. The RoF stat retains its value for all weapons that have it, but read it as “shots per turn” instead of “shots per second”.

  Actions that would take multiple consecutive maneuvers over several turns to perform now take 1 turn per 10 seconds or fraction thereof they would originally take. Some examples:

  • Swapping magazines on a modern gun took 3 seconds, so now it takes 1 turn.

  • Reloading a musket took 40 seconds, so it takes 4 turns now.

  • Any spell that would require less than 10 seconds to cast can be cast in a single turn.

  • Searching through your pack for an item took 2d seconds. As the average of that roll is less than 10, it only requires a turn.

  • Picking a lock takes a minute, which means 6 turns. Accepting a -5 penalty to do it in 30 seconds means it takes 3 turns. This makes it possible to do during a fight.

  The Fast-Draw skill now encompasses a series of actions taken to speed up a given process. It can reduce the time an appropriate action takes by 1 turn, to a minimum of 0. So you can still use it to draw a weapon and attack on the same turn, or to reload a pistol and keep firing on the same turn. That musket is still going to take 3 turns before it can fire again. You might want to make it Average instead of Easy since a single roll covers a larger set of actions.

  These changes make characters such as archers and wizards more powerful in combat, since the number of things they can do over a given amount of turns has increased, while melee-focused character can still take more or less the same number of actions. Note that I have not tested how these changes interact with the magic system, so I can’t measure how much of an impact it’s going to have on spellcasters.

  Things we Avoided

  Note that we didn’t attempt to increase the effective number of actions by the same multiplier as the turn duration. If a character could attack every second under the standard rules, they don’t get to make 5-10 attacks in a single turn here. Aiming or Evaluating for multiple seconds gave you extra bonuses, but you don’t get them automatically here - you must perform those maneuvers for the same number of turns. Our goal is to remove multi-step complex procedures, not to keep counting seconds.

  Yes, this is more abstract and perhaps less realistic, and that is the point. If you want to keep tracking events second-by-second, stick with the standard rules.

• Apr 17, 2023

  I'm done with Threats to the Nentir Vale! Now what?

  The Wolf Runners were the last monster entry in the book, and after that there’s only a glossary index. So we’re done with this book!

  And not only that, we’re also done with my big project of reading all of the main D&D 4th monster books. I remember I started it January 1st 2019, with the first posts going into an RPG.net thread and appearing here shortly afterwards. So it took us a little over 4 years, 4 months, and 15 days to get it all done.

  Writing all of this was an interesting experience. The idea for the project came at a time when I was having a bit of a hard time coming up with subjects for posts to this blog, mainly because I was getting anxious about writing good articles. I’d think of something, then I’d begin writing, and then I’d get blocked or mired in an endless round of revisions.

  Writting commentary on D&D monsters, in contrast, felt extremely easy. I could sit down, cover a bunch of entries, and have them ready for a regular release schedule. Granted, I had a hard time sticking to any sort of schedule for most of the project’s runtime, but I think I did a pretty good job of it in Threats.

  Most people who read these entries here in the blog were probably 4e fans instead of the usual GURPS crowd, unless they happened to follow my RSS feed directly or something like that. None of those posts had a GURPS tag, so they didn’t appear in the aggregator I’m a member of.

  I still want to have a ready source of posts for Octopus Carnival, and I also really like the conversations I had in the RPG.net threads for the project, so I’m going to begin a new Let’s Read. There’s voting going on in the RPG.net thread for Threats, with the following candidates:

  • Neverwinter Campaign Setting for 4e. I have it, and I have opinions about it, so it’s a good subject.

  • Hell’s Rebels for Pathfinder, with commentary about converting it to other systems. Extremely convenient because I’ve already written a lot about it in this blog. Might also give me more incentive to actually finish the adventure path too.

  • Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game: A large enough effort that I’d need to give it serious thought. It would probably not be a page-by-page affair, but it definitely merit the GURPS tag.

  Check the thread linked above if you want to vote or comment on any of the entries. Otherwise sit back and enjoy the knowledge that there will soon be a new thing to occupy your usual Let’s Read slots.

• Apr 16, 2023

  Let's Read Threats to the Nentir Vale: Wolf Runners

  

  This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.

  The last entry in the book.

  The Lore

  Looks like the Raven Roost bandits have some competition! The Wolf Runners are another of the bandit gangs who prey on the Trade Road between Fallcrest and Hammerfast. They have this name because their leader, Sylish Kreed, has somehow gained the loyalty of a pack of grey and dire wolves, and has them aid the gang when they attack caravans.

  Kreed presents himself as the dashing rogue type, and tries to be civil and good-humored when dealing with his victims. The gang vastly prefers to take its victims’ valuables without a fight, and to leave them alive and free to go. This both lessens the heat upon them and gives them the opportunity to rob the same people again in the future.

  The counter-balance to this, however, is that Kreed is a terribly sore loser. If he ends up on the losing end of a battle, he’ll become sullen and obsessed with taking revenge on whoever beat him. He doesn’t necessarily want to kill the offender, but he won’t rest until he’s re-established his superiority.

  This sort of alpha-asshole behavior and the wolves might have tipped you off to the gang’s big secret: Kreed is a werewolf, having caught lycanthropy from a bite a few years back. He can transform at will most of the time, but for three days on every full moon he loses control, changes into a wolf, and goes off to live with his pack until his rational mind returns. Kreed’s condition is not public knowledge, though I guess his gang-mates know of it.

  His main lieutenant certainly does: that’s Eveni Redblade, a tiefling whom he rescued from the Dark Drake of the Moon Hills some time ago, and who as a result is completely loyal to him. Speaking of loyalty, the wolves are also loyal to Kreed personally, though they tolerate the gang and vice-versa.

  Wolf Runner ambushes tend to consist of a troop of archers hidden in the woods off to both sides of the road, while Kreed and his wolf pack block the path and handle the intimidation plus melee fighting that proves necessary.

  The Numbers

  Other than the unusual nature of their leader and his “understanding” with those wolves, the Wolf Runners are a typical bandit gang that uses typical bandit stat blocks. The wolves are also typical, using standard stats for grey and dire wolves from the Monster Vault.

  In this section, we get stats for Kreed, Eveni, and the Runners’ archers.

  Wolf Runner Swiftarrow

  With the wolves acting as melee muscle, many of the Runners focus on archery instead. Swiftarrows are Level 5 Artillery with 50 HP. They have decent melee and ranged attacks with a short swords and a longbow, and their Close Shot maneuver lets them make a free bow attack whenever an enemy moves adjacent to them, without provoking attacks of opportunity.

  Eveni Redblade

  The tiefling lieutenant is a Level 5 Skirmisher with 60 HP. She’s always On The Move, ending any slowing or immobilization effects on her at the start of her turns. She also does extra damage against targets granting combat advantage to her.

  Eveni fights with a Longsword whose basic strikes let her shift 1 square before or after the attack, and she can also use Dazing Strikes (recharge 6+) that as the name implies damage and daze for a turn. Rounding out her arsenal is the default Infernal Wrath power tieflings get, which lets her do a bit of automatic fire damage to someone who hits her once per encounter.

  This is a standard mobile combatant package. Eveni works best with plenty of people to set up flanks and other advantageous situations for her.

  Sylish Kreed

  The (wolf)man of the hour is a Level 6 Elite Skirmisher with 144 HP. He has all the werewolf signature traits, starting with Regeneration, which as usual shuts down for a turn if he takes damage from silvered weapons.

  He can also Change Shape to assume human, wolf, or hybrid forms. In human or hybrid form he can use a Greatsword that provides standard basic attacks. In wolf or hybrid form, he can Claw and Bite. The claw does more damage to bloodied targets and lets Kreed shift 4 squares on a hit. The bite knocks targets prone and exposes them to werewolf moon frenzy as described in the Monster Vault. The Bloodmoon Fury ability lets him either attack twice with the sword or make a claw and a bite attack on the same action.

  Final Impressions

  I like the Wolf Runners a lot more than I like the lizardfolk, that’s for sure. I also think it’s interesting that the Wolf Runners have a lot of other factions to worry about even if the PCs never fight them directly.

  If they really operate on the Trade Road, they’re in direct competition with the Raven Roost gang and/or the Blackfang Gnolls, both of which are a lot more murderous than themselves. If we instead move them to King’s Road, they’re going to contend with the Iron Circle in Harkenwold and possibly with the Daggerburg Goblins.

  All of the Wolf Runners presented here are Unaligned, so you can easily play them as rogues with hearts of gold and have them as possible allies against an unjust lord or against some of the other factions, Robin Hood-style.

• Apr 12, 2023

  Let's Read Threats to the Nentir Vale: Witchlight Lizardfolk

  

  This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.

  I’ll get this out of the way first: this entry fully buys into all the tired racist stereotypes for D&D humanoids. Already in its second sentence, it calls them “primitive, tribal, cruel” and cannibalistic. I’m going to strip all of this out and try to present a less bad version.

  The Lore

  There are several lizardfolk tribes living in the Witchlight Fens. A good number of them are under the rule of the dragon Shadowmire, but not all. All of them are territorial and tend to distrust outsiders, as mentioned in the Monster Manual 1 version of their writeups.

  The Witchlight Fens got this name because the local fauna includes several different times of “witchlights”, mundane or magical creatures that are capable of producing spheres of glowing light visible in the distance. One species, known as “fastlights”, usually tries to flee from living creatures, but the lizardfolk of the Fens have learned to trap and tame them.

  The three largest tribes in the area are the Brackmarsh, who enthusiastically swore loyalty to Shadowmire and as a result have been able to conquer much of the northern and western portions of the Fens, driving their rivals out; the Mistkillers who live in the eastern sector and feud with the Daggerburg goblins, only occasionally obeying the dragon; and the Crushwater, who live in the fens’ central region and fiercely resist draconic dominance.

  None of them are likely to receive PCs who don’t belong to the same tribe with open arms, but I think it should at least be possible to negotiate with them. The Brackmarshes or other tribes you add that are more directly controlled by Shadowmire are even less likely to be friendly to people who don’t also serve the dragon, and will probably make a good portion of his ground troops.

  The Numbers

  All of the tribes mentioned here have a mix of all three standard lizardfolk ethnicities, and can contain a mix of the standard stat blocks from the Monster Vault or other sources. We also get a new batch of stats that apply to them specifically and can be used elsewhere.

  As usual, the lizardfolk here have a speed of 6 and Swamp Walk, and have no special senses or resistances.

  Lizardfolk Mire Scout

  A quick but fragile scout with a pet fastlight. It’s a level 3 Minion Skirmisher. It fights in melee with claws that let it shift 2 squares as an effect, but prefers to keep away and harass enemies with Fastlight Shots that do radiant damage.

  Lizardfolk Bog Walker

  A beefier warrior who’s more at home than usual in the water. This is a Level 3 Soldier with 44 HP and a swim speed of 4 in addition to its normal movement described above. The bog walker can make basic claw attacks, but it prefers to grab its does and drown them with Drag Down.

  This can only be done if the bog walker is in water at least 1 square deep, and doesn’t already have a grabbed victim. It’s a melee attack vs. Reflex, and on a hit it damages and grabs the target (escape DC 13). Until the grab ends, the target must make a DC 13 Endurance check at the start of their turns, and take 10 damage if that check fails. Even on a miss with the initial attack, the target is still immobilized for a turn.

  10 damage per turn is a lot for the early Heroic tier. PCs are at a real risk of drowning if they have a run of bad luck on their rolls and don’t get help.

  Lizardfolk Fen Spy

  This Level 4 Lurker is also proficient in the use of fastlights as a weapon. It can use its Witchlight Mists ability to become invisible as an at-will standard action, and from there it can use a ranged Fastlight Strike to deal heavy radiant damage, inflict ongoing 5 radiant damage, and blind (save ends both). If it can’t become invisible again due to PC pressure, it will use basic attacks with its thorn dagger, which deal poison damage and inflict a -2 penalty to AC and Reflex.

  Lizardfolk Shocker

  A spellcaster specializing in lightning magic, it’s Level 5 Artillery with 50 HP. The shocker wields a Greatclub in melee, and slings lightning spells at range. There’s the single-target at will Witch Lightning, and there’s the encounter Ball of Lightning, which is basically a fireball with a different element.

  When someone hits then with a ranged or area attack, they can react with a sudden jolt that deals automatic lightning damage to the attacker, which means you want to close on them fast instead of trading shots from afar.

  Lizardfolk Dreadtail

  A warrior who believes you shouldn’t skip tail day at the gym. Dreadtails are Level 5 Soldiers with 52 HP. They fight with spears that damage and mark for a turn, but they can also use Reach 2 tail slaps that do less damage but target Reflex and knock prone on a hit. Their Slap Down maneuver (recharge 5+) allows them to use both in a single action. If someone marks the dreadtail, its Spirit Interference reaction marks the offender right back.

  Dreadtails want to mark dangerous PCs, and then keep them prone with repeated tail slaps. There’s no special ability to punish a PC who ignores the mark, but it’s hard to fight anyone while prone.

  Lizardfolk Dreadnought

  A chieftain or lieutenant whose Large size ensures it’s a terrifying sight in battle. It’s a Level 7 Elite Brute with 190 HP and the Leader tag. The Dreadnought’s Wrath is a palpable thing that acts as an aura (2) which gives allies inside a +2 bonus to hit and damage.

  Like most brutes, dreadnoughts want to be right in the thick of the melee. Their skills make them excellent at disrupting the enemy front line and opening the way to the squishies at the back. Their basic Greatclub attacks do heavy damage, push the target 2 squares, and let the dreadnought shift 2 squares to chase the enemy. As minor actions, they can distribute Low Blows that target Fortitude, do the same damage, and knock prone.

  Once the way is opened, they can the You Fight Now! minor action to let an ally within 5 squares make a free charge attack. This ally and any others who make it through will then stick close to their boss to enjoy that attack bonus.

  Lizardfolk Chief

  A more sophisticated leader with a simpler stat block, the chief is a Level 7 Soldier with 156 HP. It fights with a Battleaxe whose blows slow for a turn on a hit, and can make Double Attacks with it. If an enemy adjacent to the chief shifts, it can attack them with a Tail Lash that does light physical damage and knocks prone. Once per encounter it can use Fighting Spirit to allow every ally in a close burst 2 to make a free basic attack.

  The chief works well as the core of the enemy front-line, using its slow and trip powers to keep PCs from reaching its squishier buddies.

  Lizardfolk Marsh Mystic

  This is a variant of the Bog Mystic from the Monster Vault, of a lower level and with some abilities replaced by Witchlight-specific traits. It’s a Level 4 Controller (Leader) with 53 HP.

  Its first novel trait is Marsh Mist, a very wide aura (10!) that prevents allies inside from being surprised and gives them a +5 to Perception and Stealth. Its spear can damage and slide targets 2 squares on a hit, and its main ranged attack is a Fastlight Shock that deals lightning and radiant damage, and immobilizes for a turn. If the target was already immobilized, it’s dazed instead. On a miss, it slows for a turn with no damage.

  The mystic can also cast a Bog Cloud, an encounter Area Burst 1 that deals poison damage and dazes (save ends) on a hit. On a miss, it deals half damage and forces targets to grant combat advantage (save ends).

  These are excellent ambush leaders whose presence will all but guarantee the PCs are surprised, and whose riders on their many attacks will keep them locked down for Team Monster’s strikers.

  Final Impression

  There’s good mechanical variety here, but I am very unimpressed with the book’s default portrayal of lizardfolk. This is a big let-down after the Wandering Tower.

• Apr 9, 2023

  Let's Read Threats to the Nentir Vale: Wandering Tower

  This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.

  I’ve been wanting to write this entry ever since I started doing the Let’s Read of the first Monster Manual and Monster Vault, more than four years ago. It’s my favorite entry in the entire book.

  The Lore

  

  At the dawn of Nerath, a number of knights went a-questing for the fabled Sunspire, a tower sacred to Pelor that was said to house a beautiful maiden. The knight who found it would receive the god’s blessings and the maiden’s hand in marriage. One such knight eventually found the tower, and went inside at the maiden’s invitation. He was never seen again.

  When the armies of evil encircled Gardmore Abbey, they managed to get a messenger through the siege, carrying a map to the location of their most precious artifacts to be delivered to the Emperor of Nerath. The messenger ran until a thunderstorm forced him to seek shelter. He found an inn he didn’t remember seeing before, whose rotund proprietor promised he’d find all he desired inside. That night, the messenger laid down on his bed and was never seen again.

  Prince Rande the Lost of Nerath gained his noble title after tracking down and slaying a foul doppelganger. He found it disguised as a lady of noble bearing living in a fancy manor house. He slew the creature and took her manor for himself, moving in with his entire household. Servants and nobles alike began disappearing one by one, giving rise to rumors that the Prince had usurped an innocent woman and her ghost was seeking vengenace. Finally, the Prince himself vanished along with the whole house, leaving an empty plot of land behind and adding “The Lost” to his titles.

  Years after the fall of Nerath a group of dwarven adventures came to the Nentir Vale seeking the Lost Tower of Fastormel. They found the tower, but their initial attempts at gaining entry failed. An old dwarven wizard eventually answered the door, claiming she hadn’t heard the visitors knock. She invited them inside. The party’s rogue sensed something was wrong and tried to convince his friends to stay out, but they didn’t listen to him. The last thing the rogue heard before fleeing were the screams of his companions. When he later returned there with a well-armed rescue party, the tower was nowhere to be found.

  Did you know that mimics never die of old age, and never stop growing?

  The Numbers

  Yes, the Wandering Tower is a centuries-old mimic. It’s helped along by a group of mirror mimics who play host in order to lure potential victims inside. It’s also followed by a swarm of blood ravens who feast on any remains it leaves. These appear in every one of the more detailed vignettes in the book itself.

  Blood Raven Swarm

  This is a Large swarm of Tiny creatures, and a Level 14 Skirmisher with 138 HP. Blood Ravens are Natural Beasts, and their main reason for following the tower is for access to easy meals. Their Swarm Attack aura (1) deals 10 damage to enemies caught inside, and if they start their turn on the space of a bloodied creature they can take move actions as minor actions.

  The swarm’s sole attack is Blood Beaks, which damages the target and weakens it for a turn if it’s bloodied.

  Mirror Mimic

  This is an interesting variant of the Impersonator Mimic from the MM3. It’s weaker and more suitable as a hench-thing for the tower, but it also has different psychic tricks.

  Mirror Mimics are Level 15 Lurkers with 118 HP. They have a ground Speed of 6 and Phasing, meaning they can move through walls. They attack with Slams that do decent damage, and their main mimic power is Body Duplication. This lets them attack the Will of an enemy. On a hit, they take the target’s form and teleport up to 3 squares. They also create 3 duplicates of the target within 3 squares of it. The duplicates can be attacked and have the same defenses as the mimic, but any damage destroys them. Telling them apart from the original mimic requires a DC 35 Insight check. The mimic can make all of them move its speed with a single minor action, and can use Body Transfer as a minor action to discreetly switch places with a duplicate. When it does this, its next attack deals extra damage.

  By a strict reading of the ability, the PCs need no rolls to pinpoint their duplicated friend - they are only required to distinguish between the original mimic and one of its illusory duplicates. That’s not a problem, however, because when a duplicate is destroyed, the duplicated PC takes damage as if the mimic had hit them with an attack!

  Body Duplication recharges when the mimic has no active duplicates, so keeping it active is going to be its main priority. After that, it’s going to constantly switch places with a copy and focus its attacks on the duplicated PC. It’s going to be very annoying to fight unless the PCs can consistently make those Insight rolls. If the party doesn’t have an Insight specialist, this thing is going to punch above its weight.

  Core of the Tower

  The Wandering Tower can replicate any medium-sized building. Once its mimic servants have lured one or more victims inside, the Tower waits until they are at rest with their guard down, and then its core will attack them. That’s the part that actually does the eating and digesting, and houses the being’s vital organs.

  The core is a Huge Aberrant Magical Beast, smaller than the building it’s mimicking (which will be part of the battle map!). The walls and furnishings of the building remain part of the mimic and can also attack the PCs. This is modeled in several different ways in this stat block and the next.

  The Core of the Tower is a Level 18 Solo Controller with 716 HP, a ground speed of 6 with Phasing, Darkvision and Tremorsense 10. It’s immune to domination and has 15 acid resistance. It’s One With the Tower, meaning it can’t move out of the Tower and is immune to any effects that would transport it outside. Rounding out its Solo Survival Kit, we have the Undaunted trait, which downgrades any stuns inflicted on it to dazes.

  The core fights by extending tendrils from itself and manipulating the surrounding terrain, which is also itself. Its basic attacks are Reach 3 and consist of Slams that slide the target 3 squares and Grabs that do almost the same amount of damage and have an escape DC of 23. It can also, as a free action on its turn, target a grabbed PC with the Maw of Doom, sliding it 3 squares to a space adjacent to itself or to a wall and dealing a big chunk of acid damage. This requires an attack roll against Fortitude, but does not end the grab.

  The most combat-relevant minor action the core can make is use its Rippling Architecture to attack every enemy in a Close Burst 5 and knock them prone on a hit. It can also create additional doors on the map, which start out jammed shut (break DC 25), or shapeshift into something suitably large, using the same rules as an object mimic: can’t attack, has 10 resistance to all damage, DC 32 to notice it’s a mimic. It will likely start the fight this way, and the door ability will be used to place any doors the PCs see when they enter.

  Living Wall

  This is a hazard that’s sure to be present on any fight against the Wandering Tower, since it represents its non-core natural weapons. The book recommends choosing 8 contiguous squares of wall on the map and designating them as this hazard. Pseudopods and acidic maws extend from this wall to attack PCs when it activates.

  The Living Wall is a Level 18 Hazard that has slightly lower defenses than the mimic’s core, and 25 HP per square (200 for those 8 recommended squares). It’s very tough, being immune to necrotic, poison, psychic and ongoing damage, as well as to all forced movement and conditions. It has Resist 10 acid.

  Its attack is Reach 3 and though it deals only light physical damage it has cruel riders: hit targets are pulled 1 square, restrained, and take 10 ongoing acid damage (save ends both). It can attack two targets with one action, and each attack can originate from any of the wall’s squares.

  A square that takes 25 damage is destroyed and can no longer serve as the origin point for an attack, though I guess it still blocks perception and movement. If the core is dazed or first bloodied, the wall is disabled for a turn.

  Final Impressions

  I love this! It really stretches the mechanics of the game to give you an encounter against an actual building who wants to kill you. The most likely fight against the Wandering Tower will involve every stat block in this entry: the Core itself on a building interior map with a number of Living Wall squares, a mirror mimic servant, and the Blood Ravens ready to attack anyone who tries to get out. That’s a very chaotic Level 20 Encounter for 5 characters, going into the epic levels if your party is smaller.

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