From: jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim)
Subject: Re: Best Super system
Reply-To: jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim)
Organization: Columbia University
Distribution: na
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 15:01:17 GMT

doug@abby.chem.ucla.edu writes:
>I think this is one of the biggest misconceptions about GURPS combat that
>there is... that a high defense character can't be hit.  This is purely
>false.  You may have an astounding Dodge, say (in a Supers game), but if
>someone who happens to be more skilled comes up to you and uses the
>most wonderful of combat maneuvers, the FEINT, you can find your dodge
>slipping away as you are faked out horribly....

Reasons why the Feint maneuver does not compensate for high Dodge Supers: 
1) (Obvious) It does not work for ranged attacks. A high-Move Super who 
  uses a ranged attack may never enter into HTH, and he can dodge bullets 
  till the cows come home. 

2) After the Feint maneuver is performed, the target will get an action of 
  his own. If his action ensures that you cannot use a Step-and-Attack 
  maneuver next turn, then the Feint is negated. This can include grappling, 
  moving away, using certain super-powers, etc. 

3) Against equal or closely skilled opponents, Feint and Attack is not 
  generally more effective than Attack and Attack. 
	The following is a chart of the ratio of average damage for 
  Feint and Attack vs. average damage for Attack and Attack, assuming 
  equal skill of attacker and defender. I concentrate on high skills and 
  parries because we are talking about Supers. 

			Defender's Defense:
                  13    14    15    16    17    18
Attackers Skill:
      16         0.83  0.91  0.96  0.95  0.81  0.71
      17         0.84  0.92  0.96  0.96  0.82  0.71
      18         0.84  0.92  0.96  0.96  0.82  0.71

	This next is a chart for when the the attacker's skill is two 
higher than the defender's. (ATTACKER'S SKILL = DEFENDER'S + 2)

          		Defender's Defense:
                  13    14    15    16    17    18
Attackers Skill:
      16         1.03  1.18  1.27  1.28  1.07  0.90
      17         1.05  1.20  1.30  1.32  1.11  0.93
      18         1.05  1.20  1.32  1.33  1.12  0.95

	So we see that unless there is a very high difference in skill, 
there is not much of a difference in effectiveness between a Feint and 
Attack vs. two Attacks. In addition, criticals have other advantages, 
like the critical hit tables. 

	Yes, it is possible to hit people with high Dodges - you can 
have a much higher melee skill and get them to cooperate with a Feint, 
or you can use an Area Effect power. Even simpler, just attack them from 
behind or invisibly - if they don't detect the incoming attack, they get 
no active defense. 
	Still, hitting them is a problem for most Supers. I think that 
fixing the system is a better solution than inventing villians that take 
advantage of the above methods. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Kim                    | "All the world will be your enemy, Prince with
jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu | a thousand enemies. And when they catch you, 
Columbia University         | they will kill you."         - Watership Down