Morale Rules in GURPS

Morale Rules in GURPS

As I’ve been on an AD&D and ACKS binge lately, I noticed some mechanics that rarely are present in the more modern systems. Well, ACKS is modern, but you get my point. One of such mechanics is morale. Not long ago, I wrote a post about Fright Checks where I actually managed to miss something important from DFRPG, and fear is somewhat related to morale. Generally speaking, one of the complaints about combat being too long in any system is that many GMs seem to insist that all fights must be fights to the death, and that NPCs or monsters never flee or surrender. PCs never fleeing also is a thing. Thus, I would like to explore the morale rules in GURPS.

Yes, GURPS actually does have morale rules, but they are very well hidden. The first mention is in the Leadership skill. “On a success, everyone on your side who can hear you has +1 on all combat-related Fright Checks and morale checks…” I won’t blame you if you said “What in tarnation is a morale check?” even if you’ve been playing GUPRS for years.

The rules themselves are on page 561 in the Reaction rolls. They say that when NPCs are losing a fight, the GM can make a combat reaction roll during the fight as a “morale check.”

-          A “Neutral” reaction means the NPCs try to back off.

-          A “Good” reaction means the NPCs flee.

-          A “Very Good” reaction means NPCs flee if they can, or surrender otherwise.

-          An “Excellent” reaction means the NPCs surrender.

The page also lists special modifiers:

+1 to +5 if the PCs seem notably stronger than the NPCs.

-1 to -5 if the PCs seem notably weaker than the NPCs.

-2 if the PCs have no language in common with the NPCs.

-2 if the PCs are intruders on the NPCs’ home turf.

One might say “Why can’t I use Intimidation to scare the enemies away?” And the answer is “you can.” Remember that Intimidation is an Influence skill, and since morale check is a reaction roll, you can make an Influence Roll (p. B359) instead. Thus, you can intimidate enemies, especially if you display strength or bloodthirstiness, but you can also use Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Savoir-Faire, Sex Appeal, or Streetwise. At least I see nothing in the rules that prevent you from doing that; I don’t know how you can use Sex Appeal to force a morale check.

However, it is unclear if this action would require a maneuver. Talking is a free action, isn’t it? However, using Leadership to give orders requires a Concentrate maneuver. The Follow-Through perk lets you try Intimidation as a free action after you down or kill an enemy, implying that it isn’t a free action normally. Otherwise, why would you need the perk? Thus, I believe that such an Influence attempt should require a Concentrate maneuver.

The special modifiers also are a bit vague. And so are the conditions for rolling a morale check (“NPCs are losing a fight”). I wonder if GURPS has a combat-focused supplement that expands these rules… So, let’s open GURPS Social Engineering, because this is definitely the right book. The new rules are on pages 70-71 under Negotiated Surrender. These rules expand morale checks, separating them into two situations – when the PCs offer to let the NPCs retreat, and when the PCs ask to be allowed to surrender. However, the rules still do not say what does “the fight is turning against them” mean in more concrete terms.

For that, let’s check out the AD&D and ACKS rules. AD&D 1e Dungeon Masters Guide has the following:

You should keep in mind that AD&D 1e resolved this with a d100 roll. I also showed you some situational modifiers. The situations are quite streamlined – there are few of them, and the modifiers are also few.

Now, let’s see what AD&D 2e Dungeon Master’s Guide has:

As you can see, the list of situations has been greatly expanded, and so was the list of modifiers. The book cautions the GM that the rules can be abused by the players and that GM discretion should be used to avoid illogical situations. AD&D 2e uses a 2d10 roll to resolve morale.

Finally, let’s see how ACKS II does it:

ACKS II uses 2d6 to resolve morale. You can see that the rules definitely are streamlined. Since most of these situations deal with percentages of combatants lost, they all are compatible with GURPS, and if you’d like to use the listed situational modifiers, it shouldn’t be difficult to adapt.

Personally, I was guilty of making all monsters and NPCs fight to the death in the past, but I moved away from it. In my last game, there were enemies that fled, but not many of them, because many fights were against mindless undead who do fight until they are done for good. However, even when the fights were against intelligent enemies, I used my own judgment to determine whether the enemy flees or not. In the next game, I will try using proper morale checks to see how things change. Should be fun!