[gurps] GURPS Weapon Skill Levels

[Emily Smirle]

Captain Joy wrote:
> 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.

-- 
Emily Smirle - Gal Dynamo
<smirle4498 at rogers.com>