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tbone wrote: 3. ±X on own
Fri, 2006-11-03 02:30 — Kuroshima (not verified)3. ±X on own TH for ±Y on own defense
The general idea is to create flexible attack and defense options that are more focused than the generic Step and Attack (and Defend), but not quite All-Out. There's nothing wrong with the general goal, and I've toyed with ideas myself.
But this one keeps popping up: "For every -2 on your TH, take +1 on your defense". Looks sensible for a second – and then, wait a second, doesn't this mean that by dropping attack altogether, I get half my skill added to my defense? That blows way past All-Out Defense and its crummy +2. Similarly, a trade-off that sacrifices defense in favor of TH must not offer a +4 (or better!) TH bonus if any defense remains, or it's broken the All-Out Attack.
With AOD and AOA setting the endpoints for no attack and no defense, respectively, there's very little room available for "semi-All-Out" options. Something simple like "Offensive Stance: +2 TH, -4 defense" and "Defensive Stance: -4 TH, +1 defense" are about it. (The former could be formula-ized: +1 TH per -2 defense, up to +3 TH. No room to make a formula from the latter, though.)
Well, GURPS Martial Arts for 4th ed will add options for this (as long as they don't end up edited out, but I doubt it) to make the transition from AoA to normal Attack/Move and Attack to AoD. Stay tuned ;) and check if someone with the appropriate security clearance comes and discloses it ;)