Re: (TFT) Strength of Stone

[Ed Thorn <prophesor@yahoo.com>]

I wouldn't let the effectiveness of Lightning-based
tunneling set off any alarms, for several reasons:

It's possible the spell was _designed_ for tunneling,
and only became a weapon spell afterward.  (Retcon
campaign world history to justify seeming oddness of
rules.)

It's possible the 'stone' referred to is not granite,
but something softer, or perhaps that the 'stone'
referred to IS granite, and anything softer will
fracture less, actually slowing tunneling via
Lightning.  (Commentary the rules to suit GM)

It can be read that the stone is 'broken, but not
gone', and thus the _real_ cost of tunneling rears
it's head: removing the unwanted material.  (I find
Industrial Disease can often be treated, if not cured,
by judicious application of logistics.)

Open Tunnel is IQ 13, costs only 10 ST, and can be
cast from a book.  It also doesn't make a lot of noise
or produce a shower of rock shards.  (Unlimber the
Canon.)

So I don't let it stress me all that much.  :)

You want to stress, stress about the effectiveness of
the 1-die, 3-hx radius shrapnel of rock splinters
Lightning makes.  Then start paneling your dungeons in
wood.  :)

--- ErolB1@aol.com wrote:

> I've been looking over the rules for breaking things
> with an eye to 
> revamping, revising, and extending them, and I've
> been forced into the conclusion that 
> solid stone is *very* strong. 
> 
> If I give a stone door or wall 4 points of armor, I
> calculate that each 
> square meter has roughly 50 St per 1 cm thickness
> (or 100 St per 1 cm thickness for 
> a 1 m by 2 m door). That's several hundred St for a
> door several cm (or a few 
> inches) thick, or about 10 times the St of wood of
> equal thickness. (Assuming 
> that stone doesn't have natural armor amost doubles
> the calculated St). 
> 
> Calculated St for stone is based on the tunneling
> rules in ITL p 45. 
> 
> Does this seem right to others on the list? What
> values do you use? How would 
> this be adjusted for walls of worked stone or brick
> - with or without mortar? 
> 
> 
> And how does this square with the great
> effectiveness of magic vs stone? One 
> point of Lightning damage blasts away 5 cm of stone,
> according to ITL p45 - 
> but that's 500 St worth of stone by my calculations,
> or a 500x damage multiplier 
> for lightning vs stone. Do others reduce the "book"
> effectiveness of magic 
> for tunneling? Easy magical tunneling would
> "explain" why "dungeons" are so 
> common, but it also gives a whiff of
> industral-disease magic. 
> 
> The list has been kind of slow recently, so - any
> thoughts?
> 
> Erol K. Bayburt
> Evil Genius for a Better Tomorrow
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