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Re: (TFT) A Point of Damage

----- Original Message ----- From: "Joey Beutel" 
Subject: Re: (TFT) A Point of Damage



I think this is the true flaw in trying to find a truly consistent
method of converting damage into story telling terms.

Lets think about all the ways a sword can do damage in real life. It
can stab, slash, cleave, etc, with the blade. It can also bash in a
variety of ways. It can do these things at any location of the
opponent's body, having different results. Deepness of wound isn't the
only indicator of damage, either. A small jab into a major artery can
kill  a man, while a long slash won't even stop a trained fighter if
nothing too important gets injured too badly.

So already you have too many ways of doing damage to have any
consistent way of measuring it- like you said, a bash to the skull can
kill a man, but so can a sword through the chest. But both of these
don't necessarily kill someone, they just can--



Alright, we've counted dis-similarities so now...

First off I mention that we are currently talking "hand" weapons.
Hand weapons are items that are "used" by a Figure to extend or amplify their attributes. 
The simplest example is a club.
In the real-world, a Figure looses power in order to increase area, distance, and speed of an attack Action by picking up a club. The club can be modified, carve and balance it and the 'sweet spot' can be extended and shifted further toward the end of the now bat. Make it out of metal and it certianly could be more durable, if the Figure can still use it. Put an edge on it and the force is more focused, put a tip on it and the force is even more focused. 
The more focused the damage is the greater its potential for penatration.


and thats without
taking the opponent's armor and toughness into account.



I, agree.
Armor difuses force and blunts focus.
The way I use the IQ & Talent relation a Figure with Warrior 2 (oops I had them backwards) has to be able to schedule the time each "week" (Job Lists) to maintain said Talent. When he isn't getting trotted around by a player he's spending about 10 hours a week on a training regime. 


Add to this that a human can vary from 8 ST to (excluding ridiculous
outliers) 18 ST, and you realize that there is no way of accomplishing
this.
I draw basic human anatomy ( http://www.bartleby.com/107/ ) against a grid centered on the human navel, drawn on quarter inch graph-paper, with each square being roughly three and one quarter inches per side, or roughly the area of the plam of an average human hand. 
This allows for variance if needed, even for outliers.
Draw the siloute and adjust as you see fit.


They key is to interpret the data as a GM and then make a story
out of it.
Well, yes... but aren't the players just as much a part of that process as the GM? IMO the GM sets up an enviroment, and maybe a situation, then cuts the players loose to see what they do with it. 
The sum total makes a story.
For a GM to write a "story" and then put the players through the motions of following the storyline bothers me a bit. 
Doesn't RPG imply free will?
I think the GM needs to "frame" adventures that don't allow players a full range of Actions so that the point of the thing is clear and players understand the limits from the start of play. 
A very basic frame is Gladiator Combat.
Even there it's a bit squrely but in general Shipbuilder 2 isn't likely to be useful in the "Blood and Sand" vision from Romero et. al. Later, when their flooding the Collusium and valleys outside Rome for "games"... maybe more so? 




8 points of damage on a man with 8 ST is a chop through the
man's body that nearly splits his chest in two. 8 damage on the 18 st
man is a strong strike that knocks him over, but he is still well
within the ability to fight back. In fact, even as a man gets injured,
the way damage works could be said to change- if i start out at ST 12,
3 points of damage hurts but it's not going to stop me, probably a
nice stab or cut but nothing too bad. HOWEVER, if i'm DOWN to 3
points, those same 3 points is a gaping slash through my throat.




So your saying that it's the Figure that varys, not the 1 point of damage.
But you seem to be saying that the Figure becomes less like balistic gel, and more like Jello, the more wounded it is. I think that's true of already wounded tissue, like cavatation left by a bullet (chem ST not Figure ST). 
Fat is easier to focus through than muscel.

Anyway, I guess where we dissagree is on the actual effect of injury.
I think that much of it that's not Fatigue is fixed on the base attributes, not adj att. I'm reading this as saying that a base 12 ST Figure at adj ST 4 is roughly 4 damage points away from being cleaved in two. I guess I'm more of a pacifist and make it alot harder to GIB a Figure than that. 

I gotta post this on the Mythbusters site.
"Does an unconcious Figure blow into smaller pieces than a concious one with an equal charge of TNT?" 
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