[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > * Do players ever “roll for initiative” like in other games? If not, > do all actions happen at the same time or can you kill off an enemy before > he gets to attack because your basic speed let you go first? You don't roll for initiative in GURPS, but there is surprise. There is rarely a case when both groups of combatants are surprised. Both can see the other group on an open field. In a forest, one group would probably hear the other group first. In a dungeon crawl, same thing. Rarely, both can be surprised, like if two spies were sneaking around the same building and ran into each other around a corner.
If there's a chance that one group can hear the other one or see them first, it is a contest of skills between Stealth vs. Hearing or Sight or Camouflage vs Sight. Then, if the group that spotted the other group wants to surprise them, they have to try their Stealth or Camouflage skills. Standing still while the other group comes toward them would be a bonus for this of course. If they fail Stealth then both groups know about the other. If one or both groups are Surprised, then they have Mental Stun. There's rules for it in the book. The un-stunned group has a HUGE advantage, in my opinion. This is where Combat Reflexes come in *really* handy. Stealth is really great for monsters. Cats hide in trees or stalk their prey silently. Giant spiders hide on dark ceilings and silently drop on their victims. Wolves can be pretty darn sneaky. Barbarian Orcs, not so much. They're more like the scream and leap and hope the yelling and stench stun their victims. Wait, that goes for Barbarian PCs too. :-) I think that might be some kind of Intimidation skill contest. Having the surprise works like having initiative in D&D. The stunned fighters can't do much until they roll out of their stun, by which time the Ninja Catgirls have knocked them all unconscious and tied them up to drag off to their Evil Overlord's easily escaped prison. _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
