RE: (TFT) Killing Joe

[pvk@oz.net]

Aw! Hehe. :-) Sorry, I couldn't resist.

I like the approach, and it's an interesting start, but my feeling is that
the real situation is really complex, and there are many ways to decide to
try to map (and necessarily, abstract) game effects to real values. Having
a basis is at least good for a sanity check, and you've got to start
somewhere. There are just many other factors you could consider, and you
might try on what you make your calculation mean. As in, you might try not
mapping kinetic energy to average damage, but maybe to maximum possible
damage (or even, double or triple max damage).

My perspective is that although it's interesting and important to me to do
this kind of thinking, I don't expect it'll ever be an accurate predictor
except in situations that are very limited, such as the distance something
will fly if launched with a known mass, force, and trajectory. Even then
reality has wind, aerodynamics, potential errors in the mechanism or aim,
etc., which in a brain-powered pen&paper counters&dice game make more
sense to abstract and randomize than to calculate. But by running numbers
on the limits, one can figure out what reasonable abstract dice formulas
might be.

In the kinetic damage case, not only did you not have mass in some of the
examples, but also the surface area of contact, and the solidity of the
objects. Randomness also comes from the specific ways things come into
contact. Really you're interested in the effect on human health (damage
points) compared to the energy of something that hits them, but where and
how they're hit is a huge factor. Most real weapons can kill someone in
one blow, or do only superficial damage, depending on where and how they
hit. (E.g. like the Miyamoto Musashi duel mentioned - it's not that a
bokken does 4d6 and a katana does 2d-2 - it's that the katana hit Mushashi
in the clothing or skin, and the bokken hit his opponent's head in just
the right place, reportedly due to superior skill and/or weapon
maneuverabilty or dodging skill or reflexes, training, body-language
reading, etc.). I.e., the weapon damage in that duel was the least
relevant factor in the specific thing that happened. A katana hit is
usually more lethal than a bokken hit, but a bokken hit can be lethal and
may give an advantage in getting the first hit.

On Sun, August 26, 2007 11:40 am, Jay Carlisle wrote:
> Well if you put it THAT way...
> (hangs head and walks slowly away, tail between my legs and teardrops
> spotting the ground.... SNIFF)
...
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