(TFT) Dexterity

["Jay Carlisle" <selfinflicted_wounds@boardermail.com>]

DEXTERITY

dex.ter'i.ty, n. [L. dexteritas, skillfulness, handiness, from dexter, right, fit, prompt.]
1. ability to use the right hand more readily than the left; right-handedness. [Rare.]
2. suppleness; adroitness; expertness; skill in useing one's hands or body.
   Dexterity of hand, even in common trades, cannot be aquired without much practice and experience. -A. Smith
3. readiness of mind in managing or controlling a scheme of operations; cleverness; mental adroitness.
   By his incomparable dexterity, he raised himself to the first throne of Italy. -Macaulay.
Syn.-art, ability, expertness, aptness, facility, aptitude' adroitness, skill, cleverness.

Melee
Dexterity governs:
(1) how likely a figure is to hit an enemey it attacks.
(2) how easily a figure can disengage from an enemy.
(3) how quickly a figure can strike.

TFT ITL
DEXTERITY (DX) governs:
(1) The order in which figures act each turn after movement.
(2) how likely a figure is to successfully cast a spell, hit an
enemy with a physical attack, etc.
(3) how likely a figure is to avoid falling and similar mishaps.
Certain talents require a minimum DX before they can be
learned - i.e., fencing.



Well these aren't nearly as jumbled as ST.
They arn't quite the same, but the diffrences are mainly wording and order.

It appears that Dx is used in two primary ways in Combat.

The first major use of this statistic is as a measure of reaction time.



General information (mainly from Sports Science, Reaction);



A human blink is given as 0.4 seconds.

Average human reaction time to an auditory stimulas is aprox. 0.2 seconds.
Athleates average 4/5ths to 3/5ths quicker.
(hearing reactions are about 15% faster than sight)

A half second jump at the starting line means almost a yard (1 hex) of seperation.

Average human reaction time to a visual stimulas is aprox. 0.22 seconds.

At about 80 MPH an object covers 25ft (8ish meters, or near 2.5 hexes) in around 0.2 seconds.

A 5oz baseball, @ 95MPH, travels aprox. 55ft (60ft to rubber, but pitchers streach) in 0.395 seconds, with a force of around 2500lbs.
(a batting helmet reduced force by about 30%, or close to 1/3rd.)

In hitting a pitch form aprox. 55ft, the breakdown is as follows;
In the first 0.11 seconds after the pitch, the eye catches and sends the image of the ball to the brain.
The ball has traveled 15ft by the time this task is finished.
In the next 0.11 seconds, the brain processes the information.
The ball has now traveled another 15ft, and is now over half way to the plate.
Now we are at the magic moment.
Over the next 0.065 to 0.07 seconds, the brain directs the body to swing, making adjustments as needed.
The ball travels 10 more feet while this is happening and has now covered 40ft.
Over the last 0.11 seconds the ball covers the last 15ft to the plate.
During this time the body is now in full swing and no adjustments can be made.
As a matter of fact, the mind can not even see the ball over this final distance as it is moving too fast.

Pain signals are caried to the brain at over 265MPH but response signals are caried at about 2MPH.

Some reflex actions can be learned. 
It appears that these are reactions that fall within a range of 0.1 to 0.05 seconds.
The majority of these reflex actions have to do with minor adjustments made at the last "moment" before contact, and this leads us to the second use of DX.

The second use of DX is as a representation of the precesion with which an attack is applied, a.k.a. do I hit?

I'll babble more about THAT in Damage as well.

And of course there is checks and saves, but those are pretty straight forward.


I'm gonna try something in a bit, but I gotta grab 40 winks first.
Big day today.
Bachus rolls this evening!

Jay

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