Don’t stop here – go read Dungeon Fantastic today
If you’re new to GURPS, or are sometimes frustrated or confused or find GURPS melee combat to be slow, +Peter V. Dell’Orto has some good advice for you.
GURPS 101: Avoiding Combat Analysis-Paralysis in GURPS
He nicely covers some options (and non-options) to keep things simple. It’s not even a false economy of simple. I’ve heard that while Chuck Norris, when he was competing, used to practice all sorts of things in the sparring ring – but not much on his trademark roundhouse kick – his kick was a trademark for a reason. In a match, he brought it out.
Every fighter will have things they like to do. It’s called style. It is what can make two identical fighters (stat wise) play very differently, and it’s worth doing. Does your guy like crouching leg shots? Neat. Probably pretty effective too. Go for the neck all the time? Feint to the torso, then go for a disarm? Awesome. Write it down. Use it a lot. Then when your foes start saying “Ah, here comes Vryce Armlopper!” you’ll grin. When they protect their arms, you’ll mutter and find a new tack.*
And by then, you’ll be ready to pick one, since all of the old ones will be ingrained.
*P.S. “Find a new tack.” Tack. Not tact. “Find a new tack” is a sailing term. Pet peeve. Please move on.
That advice was given very tackfully.
. . .
(I'm sorry, I just couldn't help myself.)
Make a pun, go to jail. The Pun Police have been notified.
Well if that's how it is, I'll never "step foot" in your comments section again!
Step foot's one of the ones that sets me off; I swear to god, if someone ever says step foot instead of set foot to my face, I'm going to freak out and strangle them right then and there, and the police will have to shoot me to end my rampage.