Alt-Onin - HEROIC MASSACRE: GURPS 4e Rules for Cinematic Samurai Slaughter

A staple of samurai fiction, be it cinematic or in ancient chronicles, is the lone samurai hero slaughtering hordes of the onrushing rabble, be they peasants, ashigaru, or yakuza mobs. In such a case, the GURPS rules are far too detailed to game out the ensuing melee in a reasonable amount of time. Instead, the following rules should be used to model such fast and furious action. This should only be used for a few extremely skilled combatants (with the cinematic advantages “Weapon Master”) versus a massed rabble of disposable, faceless Scrubs. If there are too many combatants overall, it might be better to use the standard GURPS Mass Combat Resolution rules. In the case of two “Heroes” squaring off, utilize regular combat to properly display the martial prowess of both fighters, and make a more exciting scene.

Combatants: The first combatant is obviously the “Hero”, one combatant with the Weapon Master advantage, usually with high levels of skill in various maneuvers. The Hero has multiple attacks per turn, and does a great deal of damage on an average hit. The other combatants are the “Scrubs”, which are divided into a group of ten or more fighters for convenience. The exact number is defined by the number of Scrubs intent on attacking a particular Hero, but there is only one group per Hero.

 

Time: Rather than the 1-second “turn” of standard GURPS, the Scrub System uses a 1 minute round, far more abstract than the normal rules. Since a Hero with two attacks a round could (in theory) kill 120 scrubs in a minute, the 1 minute round is a useful abstraction. This will include all the feints, attacks, defenses, movement, and pauses in the fight. All of the finesse of highly skilled fighting is subsumed under two main skill rolls, and a few others to resolve the action.

 

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Step 1 – Attitude of the Hero: Determine the Hero’s attitude for the round, whether cautious, normal, or bloodthirsty.

 

• Cautious – The Hero is fighting conservatively, emphasizing defense over offense. The Hero will kill fewer scrubs per round but is less likely to be wounded by Scrub attackers.
• Standard – The Hero is fighting in a normal way, balancing offense and defense. There are no modifiers to the tables below.
• Bloodthirsty – The Hero throws caution to the wind, emphasizing offense over defense. The Hero will kill more scrubs, but will leave more openings, and will probably leave the fight a bit bloody and battered.

 

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Step 2 – Contest of Skills: Roll a Contest of Skills between the Hero (usually the primary weapon skill) and the average skill level of the Scrub group and determine the margin of success for both Hero and Scrub. 

 

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Step 2 – Determine Scrub Attacks: Determine the number of Scrubs who get a shot at the Hero this round. Compare the Scrub’s Margin of Success to the following chart, based loosely on the standard auto-fire rules. Add +2 to the Scrub’s Margin of Success if the Hero is Bloodthirsty this turn, -2 if Cautious.

 

Results of Margin of Success

 

• Hero Wins by 5+:                The Scrubs failed to land even a single blow!
• Hero Wins by 2-4:               10% of the Scrubs managed to make an attack against the Hero, minimum one Scrub.
• Hero Wins by 1:                  20% of the Scrubs have an opportunity to attack the Hero, minimum one Scrub.
• Hero Loses by 0-1:            30% of the Scrubs managed to make an attack against the Hero, minimum one Scrub.
• Hero Loses by 2-4:            50% of the Scrubs in the group managed to make an attack against the Hero.
• Hero Loses by 5+:             All of the Scrubs attack the Hero successfully, possibly resulting in a glorious death for the Hero.

 

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Step 3 – Determine Slaughter Factor: Determine the Hero’s Slaughter Factor – Multiply the Hero’s margin of success by the number of attacks the Hero can make in a normal 1-second turn, and apply the modifiers listed below. The Hero has incapacitated this many Scrubs this round, either by mortally wounding them, or killing them outright – either way, they are out of the fight. If the Hero lost the contest in Step 1, they accomplished nothing lasting - perhaps inflicting minor wounds, or driving some back a bit.  

 

Modifiers to the Slaughter Factor

 

• +2 if the Hero is Bloodthirsty this turn
• -2 if Hero is Cautious this turn
• +/- 0 if the Scrubs are unarmored beyond normal clothing. This includes rebellious peasants, thugs, and most bandits (who may have odd bits of armor anyway).
• -1 if the Scrubs have light armor (DR2 or less), such as padded or quilted armor, or have medium armor on head and torso. Most ashigaru fall into this group.
• -2 if the Scrubs have medium armor (DR3 to DR5), such as scale mail, chain, or most samurai armor, or have heavy armor on head and torso.
• -3 if the Scrubs are heavily armored (DR6+), which begs the question of why Scrubs are so well equipped…

Step 4 – Hero Defense Rolls: The Hero makes a defense roll, of whatever type is most effective, against each successful Scrub attack from Step 3. Because this is an abstract system, the Hero may make as many parries, dodges, or blocks as there are attacks, but only one per attack. Resolve the Hero’s wounds for the turn. For each attack that made it through the Hero’s defense rolls, the Hero takes a wound. The exact damage taken depends on the weapons carried by the rabble. For each hit, determine a random hit location. Roll damage from the following very generic table, and subtract the DR on the affected location. These assume someone of average skill, average strength, and an average quality weapon.

 

• Sword – 1d cutting damage
• Spear – 1d impaling damage
• Polearm – 1d+2 cutting damage
• Club – 1d crushing damage
• Bow – 1d impaling damage

 

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Step 5 – Casualties: Check for casualties on both sides. The Hero suffers the effects of wounds accrued in Step 4 but should be still fighting since that’s what Heroes do. The Scrubs, on the other hand, should be in sad shape. For each wounded Scrub, roll HT, usually HT-10. Success means the Scrub is unconscious but alive; failure means the Scrub is dead. Either way, the Scrub is out of combat for the duration… the results are merely academic at this point. What is not academic is the effect that a Hero has on Scrub morale. Roll against Scrub Morale, which is usually in the 10-12 range, and then consult the following chart. Subtract -2 from the Scrub’s Margin of Success if the Hero was Bloodthirsty this turn, or add +2 if the Hero was Cautious. If the Hero managed to kill more than 50% of the Scrubs in one turn and appears to be itching for more blood, the Scrubs will automatically fail their Morale roll. Likewise, if the Hero can make a successful Intimidation roll, ½ of the margin of success can be added as a modifier. Other modifiers, such as alcohol consumption, esprit de corps, et cetera may influence morale, but never by more than +/-3.

 

Results of Scrub Morale Check

 

• Failed by 5+:                All of the surviving Scrubs flee in abject terror, or surrender and beg for mercy on the part of the Hero, as appropriate.  
• Failed by 2-4:               50% of the surviving Scrubs run away, probably leaving their wounded on the ground.
• Failed by 1:                  20% of the surviving Scrubs break off the fight, but usually stay close enough to see what happens and run away later.
• Success by 0-1:            10% of the Scrubs of the surviving Scrubs disengage in fear, but the rest stand their ground and fight more hesitantly.
• Success by 2-4:            All of the scrubs hold their ground, and press the attack on the next round with unflagging vigor.  
• Success by 5+:             Emboldened somehow, the surviving Scrubs press the attack, and get a +2 to Morale next turn.