Re: (TFT) Re: TFT Digest V3 #635

[Peter von Kleinsmid <pvk@oz.net>]

At 08:34 PM 12/2/04 -0500, Sethkimmel@aol.com wrote:
> ...
> OB TFT: I agree with the contention the advantages of modern missile weapons
> is firepower and ignoring primitive armor more than sheer mass
> destructiveness. I also agree that rifles and shotguns are MUCH more 
> destructive than
> handguns...I guess the best way to quantify  modern weapon damage is to 
> research,
> research and research starting with the FBI statistics (I believe a lot of 
> this
> is on the web after being declassified) and then working down to information
> available through local police departments (which frankly probably won't be
> cooperative), to colleges that have criminal justice and especially forensic
> science programs....

Here in Seattle, the police reportedly have a rule that has them shooting 
suspects with swords within a range of I think 30 feet... seems extremely 
bloodthirsty and cowardly to me, especially if there is only one guy with a 
sword who isn't charging and the officer has a gun out and loaded. Anyway, 
some folks have been shot whom it didn't seem really needed to be for the 
actual risk to officers, who had swords, or who were just driving a car and 
making the police feel unsafe.

More comical was a local police team sent out to control a wild dog in a 
suburban neighborhood. Animal control wasn't on the scene, but a half dozen 
police surrounded the dog... and ended up shooting, and hitting each other, 
while the dog ran away unharmed. Um... training? Rules of engagement? I 
mean, I know I played TFT and GURPS tactical combats for many years, so my 
standards for intelligent and competent tactics are pretty high, but... eegad.


> Here's another question: what about the morale aspects of being shot at in
> Cidri? Will the locals s#$t their pants and run away, or (being fans of 
> Arthur
> C. Clarke...:-) ) , just assume it's another form of weird magic and try to
> figure out ways to nullify it? Hmm; what happens to a minigun crew who has 
> just
> fired at a wizard who has a "return missiles" spell up?

Depends on the local culture and the level of magic and primitive gunpowder 
they are used to. Of course, anyone will be rightly scared of deadly 
weapons that outclass their own. They'll probably adapt fairly quickly, 
though. Also, imported firearms would probably want to be air-tight, as the 
reason for the 1/6 chance of failure on Cidri was mainly due to something 
in the air, IIRC.

My thought about Reverse Missiles was that it would work just fine against 
bullets... meaning that the minigun crew better hope for a weapon jam 
before they shred themselves.

I have occasionally thought it would be interesting to do an adventure with 
reverse migration - a magic-equipped party from Cidri visits Earth. How 
long would modern humans take to figure out how to deal with Reverse 
Missiles, or even someone very clever the Image spell ... my guess is a 
smart wizard given time to lie low and figure out modern society, could do 
very well. Scientific-minded people would have a harder time figuring out 
magic, than magic-minded people would have figuring out technology, I would 
tend to think. After all, the scientific conclusion from someone shooting 
at someone, and getting hit themselves, tends to be that the enemy had 
unseen allies returning fire. I suppose open-minded forensics people might 
conclude there was some sort of technological bullet reflector after 
counting the rounds spent versus holes, and the trajectories.

PvK
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