Joys of a Good Vendetta

Alternate Views of Enemies in GURPS

by Daniel Phillips

So, your party is full of people with checkered pasts who are busily leaving a trail of bodies (and enemies) in their wake. You, as GM, are discovering that everyone has an arch-nemesis who wants one of your valiant questers (or your ignoble thieves) dead. What to do?

These incessant battles seem to be detracting from the adventure, leaving little time for a plot, but rewarding the deadly players with 40 extra points for killing their enemy goes against the very core of a good GM's being. Likewise, forbidding your friends from taking an enemy, thus robbing you of a chance to mete out punishment and pain, as any GM should, and cheating yourself of the potential shot in the arm to bolster a lagging campaign, is unnatural.

What is a GM, an agent of chaos, the harbinger of ills to do?

First, you must remember three very important things when designing and playing an enemy:

Avoid the god complex. (or, "Blood makes the grass grow. Kill, kill,kill!") Many GM's think they must crush the insignificant fools who would dare oppose them, and so design an enemy that can dazzle and destroy their foes with ease, on the first encounter. Such enemy carries with them the blessings and aid of the god of their world, and a nigh-unbeatable collection of combat skills. There is no need for this! Everyone knows you can throw enough brute force at the party to crush it utterly. The GM is half-referee, half-storyteller, half-tactician, half-mediator, and 100% god in his world.

Instead of creating the ultimate warrior, make an intelligent, crafty, interesting, and -- yes -- formidable opponent that you can rely on to make your game fascinating for many games to come. This brings us to the second point.

Avoid the Last Battle. (or, "Hello. My Name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.") You may not plan it, but inevitably, there will be a reckoning between foe and player. What will happen? Who will die? The answer is that no one must die. An enemy is as much a true disadvantage as blindness, and to allow even the most resourceful, creative player the opportunity for 10 to 40 free points for one kill is simply unfair. Certainly battle is likely, and death possible, but always there must be the possibility that either party member, or the foe, may escape. If the enemy fails, perhaps he has an ally who will take up his cause, or perhaps he does enough damage to force a physical disadvantage upon his foe. In a high tech world, or a magical campaign, the second option seems to pose a temporary inconvenience at best. It might be better avoided. You may also allow your friends to buy off the disadvantage, but I am yet to find a player who wished to do so.

What is my motivation? (or "There can be only one!") Enemies are people too. Vicious, bloodthirsty, and often ill-tempered; all in all, not that different from the party! They may wish the death of their sworn enemy, or their intent may be to ruin the player's life first. They may harass and interfere with them at all turns, hunting them down. Not every enemy encounter must be an assassination attempt. Perhaps the deadly assassin, not wishing to provoke a fight in which he is outnumbered by the party 7 to 1, simply sits down and has a "friendly" drink with his nemesis in a tavern. He may be content to frighten him for now, knowing he's safe because the authorities would intervene on his behalf should a fight start. Perhaps he poisons his foe's drink, or a flunky does it in the kitchen; perhaps not. There's only one way to know for certain, and to avoid becoming predictable, and that's by throwing it into the realm of chance.

Here are some optional rules to use in order to get the most out of your vendettas. First, as per GURPS Basic rules for enemy appearance frequency, the GM will roll to see whether an enemy will appear during this game session. If so, the GM will roll once more, on the table listed below, to determine the nature of the enemy's appearance.

Die Roll

   

Enemy

   

Appearance Type

   

Incidental Interaction

   

Intentions

   

IQ Roll

    

3

   

Direct

   

Confrontational

   

Collateral Damage

   

Combative

   

Yes

    

4

   

Direct

   

Discreet

   

Collateral Damage

   

Damaging

   

No

    

5

   

Direct

   

Confrontational

   

Immediate Group

   

Combative

   

Yes

    

6

   

Direct

   

Discreet

   

Immediate Group

   

Damaging

   

Yes/No

    

7

   

Direct

   

Confrontational

   

None

   

Deadly

   

No

    

8

   

Direct

   

Discreet

   

None

   

Deadly

   

No

    

9

   

Direct

   

Conversational

   

None

   

Warning

   

Yes

    

10

   

Direct

   

Visual

   

None

   

Ominous

   

No

    

11

   

Indirect

   

Visual

   

None

   

Ominous

   

No

    

12

   

Indirect

   

Conversational

   

None

   

Warning

   

Yes

    

13

   

Indirect

   

Discreet

   

None

   

Deadly

   

No

    

14

   

Indirect

   

Confrontational

   

None

   

Deadly

   

No

    

15

   

Indirect

   

Discreet

   

Immediate Group

   

Damaging

   

Yes/No

    

16

   

Indirect

   

Confrontational

   

Immediate Group

   

Combative

   

Yes

    

17

   

Indirect

   

Discreet

   

Collateral Damage

   

Damaging

   

No

    

18

   

Indirect

   

Confrontational

   

Collateral Damage

   

Combative

   

Yes

    

The Enemy column dictates whether the player's enemy will act personally (direct) or will send some one he has hired or influenced (indirect) to do his dirty work. The Appearance Type column shows the type of appearance the enemy will make. On a confrontational roll, the enemy or his agent will seek a fight, or make a direct assault of some sort upon the character. On a Discreet Roll, it will be an assassination type attack, such as poisoning, a sniper attack, or similar tactics. Conversational appearances simply mean that the situation is not right for any sort of combat, so the enemy merely lets his presence be known by directly speaking to and warning the player that he's there. On a Visual appearance, the player spots the enemy, but is not certain if he himself was seen.

Incidental Interaction is simply how many people are affected by the appearance. Collateral Damage means that anyone and anything in the vicinity is affected by the enemy's attack. Immediate Group means that the entire party, and any others in the general area, are at risk. None means no one is at risk other than the character who is the enemy's target. Only during Visual or Conversational encounters is there no danger. And a Discreet encounter may pose as Conversational or Visual. After all, what better time to poison a person than when you're sitting, drinking with them?

The Intentions column describes the purpose of the encounter. Combative encounters are those in which the player will need to take active measures to stay alive. Damaging encounters are those which, if sense rolls, IQ rolls, or resistance rolls are missed, and the player doesn't guess in what form the inevitable attack will come, the person attacked will be hurt, and possibly killed. Deadly encounters are those in which there will be no interference (back alley duels, kidnappings, etc.) and the confrontation will be only between arch-enemies. Warnings consist of threats and bluffs. No one is injured unless the player initiates it, and circumstances are stacked to discourage conflict, ( Such as, the presence of police officers, soldiers, guards, etc.) Ominous encounters are when the player is made aware of his enemy's presence. He cannot know if this is the extent of the encounter or not for the remainder of the game session, though he will remain on guard.

The IQ Roll is made by anyone injured in the battle, in order to tell who the intended target was. If there is an attack in a tavern, for example, and a 3 is rolled, then after the attack is over, the GM rolls one roll for the average IQ of the NPCs in the tavern. If the IQ roll is made, the player who was the intended target is at minuses to his reaction by any patron equal to how much the IQ roll succeeded by. If any NPCs are in the party, an IQ roll must be made for each of them as well. If the enemy is a secret kept by the player, the other members of the party may roll as well. (If it is not a secret, then no roll is necessary.) This is the case on a roll of 6 or 15...the attack was discreet, but effects the entire party. IQ rolls are only made if the party is unaware of the fact that one of their number has an enemy. Once the enemy's appearance has been determined, the GM must roll against the enemy IQ, to determine if the enemy, or one of his hirelings, spies out their intended victim successfully. On a success, the attack/meeting proceeds normally. On a failure, the enemy has temporarily mistaken someone else for the player, and any Discreet attacks that do not cause collateral damage will automatically miss. Any secondary attacks the GM may initiate, however, will be at the correct target: the enemy has realized his mistake.

After the battle, if the chart indicates an IQ roll is required, the NPCs who have been affected, or have heard the conversation, must make a reaction roll (one roll for the entire mob) and the player is at minuses equal to how much the IQ roll succeeds by. If the IQ roll fails, (one for the entire mob) then no reaction roll is required.

Example

Benny the Blade has an enemy, Sammy the Shiv, who appears on a dice roll of 6-. At the start of game play, the GM rolls a 6, thus insuring that Sammy will appear. The GM then rolls against the enemy encounter chart, rolling a 3. The encounter will be combative, cause a great deal of collateral damage, and require others present to make a die roll vs. IQ to realize that Benny was the intended victim.

The GM allows the game to proceed normally, until Benny the Blade, and the rest of the party, Two Ton Tommy, and Louie the Loser, enter a restaurant on the 30th floor of a skyscraper where they had been sent to fetch a package.

While they are waiting, the GM requires hearing rolls, which all make, and turn towards the plate glass windows in time to see Sammy the Shiv behind the stick of a helicopter, aiming its guns at them.

There is mass bedlam, as they all duck behind tables, as Sammy opens fire, wrecking the place. Sammy failed his IQ roll, so he first takes out a waiter he thought was Benny, before returning his guns on his arch-enemy. Benny dodges most of the bullets, is hit by several, which, luckily for him, hit him in the chest and are absorbed by his bullet-proof vest.

Sammy escapes, as Tommy and Louie pull out their pistols and return fire, at which point the GM rolls against the patrons in the restaurants' IQ, and fails. No one knows why he attacked, or who he was after, another lucky break for Benny! The restaurant patrons are very angry, and would love to get their hands on the intended target of the attack. Nonchalantly, the trio claim their package and beat a hasty retreat, another job completed.




Article publication date: February 6, 2004


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