specific damage system

[goodhometownboy]

Love it man its great i had been wondering what to about how to make a system like that i just printed yours and now am going to use it in my games

[goodhometownboy]

will do!! your system well be way better then my current one which i just say the shot hit an area with an random roll on my dice

[goodhometownboy]

Can't wait to used unfortantly i won't be gming for about 3 weeks

[SkyeFyre]

I'd probably play it out like so.

Main Body = 50MDC
Arms = 70% of Main body (35MDC)
Legs = 80% of Main body (40MDC)

As the damage exceeds the arm's max, the limb is blown off and lets just say he takes half or a quarter of that damage to main body as a result of shock, physical damage, and just plain hurting.

Or something like that.

[DocS]

1. roll standard strike roll
2. roll percentiles as a accuracy roll
: 01-10= head shot
: 11-30=upper limbs arms being the smaller target
: 31-55=lower limbs legs bigger target
: 56-00=torso biggest target
3. luck roll roll D20
1-10 grazing damage
11-15 debilitating damage
16-18 critical shot( requires imediate medical attention to stop irreparable damage)
19-20 death or irreparable damage if on a limb

It adds additional rolls to an already roll-heavy system

1) strike
2) dodge
3) possible roll with punch/fall/explosion (if missile or punch)
4) location
5) damage
6) luck roll

My biggest cautions with this are that it adds two more rolls of dice (and two tables) to the combat sequence, and in the end that's a lot of dice rolling for each individual attack. More die-rolling means slower combats.

As much as Rift-players hate the bizzarre "hits the main body all the time" rule, it is there for a reason, location tables slow the game down. The games which do tend to have hit location tables also either have weapons with fixed damage (no damage roll needed) or ways to abbreviate the sequence when it's not that important.

[The ineffible GM]

I agree, adding extra rolls and tables to combat makes things bog down...generally the last thing you want to do with any game, and I'd say worse in Palladium as it can move fairly slowly as is.

If you're adding extra tables and rolls, I'd say that you need to be upping the damage of weapons/attacks. Even if it's just "Everything deals double damage". In Palladium things tend to stand up and take beating after beating after beating, and it's a matter of slowly whittling your enemy down. If you're going to make each attack take longer with extra rolls, make it count for more too.

[DocS]

If you're adding extra tables and rolls, I'd say that you need to be upping the damage of weapons/attacks. Even if it's just "Everything deals double damage".

Simple, fast, effective..... I like it!

[DocS]

If you're adding extra tables and rolls, I'd say that you need to be upping the damage of weapons/attacks. Even if it's just "Everything deals double damage".

Simple, fast, effective..... I like it!

except that ignores physics.....

The eternal struggle.... realism vs playability.

[The ineffible GM]

If you're adding extra tables and rolls, I'd say that you need to be upping the damage of weapons/attacks. Even if it's just "Everything deals double damage".

Simple, fast, effective..... I like it!

except that ignores physics.....

The eternal struggle.... realism vs playability.

This system gives you both. Thats the whole idea behind it. And i agree if you have a large play group it may not work for you. However if you have a group of no more than 3-4 it would be fine considering not all of them will be using weapons that produce damage to a small area someone will be using a grenade launcher , mini missiles , flame thrower.....etc. So feel free to take a small snippet of what i say out of context and poke fun DamonS i know your dying to

Bob...I think you're getting a little touchy here, and I'm afraid that you are the one who has been taking things out of context.

My comments (and I believe DamonS's as well, though I could be wrong) are intended as constructive criticism. We are not trying to poke fun, we are not trying to tear apart your suggested rules, we are looking at what you provided and are in part giving our own opinions on them.

Most everything that is posted on these boards is posted for others to see, and for others to give their opinions on. I was simply stating that my opinion was that adding more tables and rules might be improved by doing something else (such as doubling damage) in order to speed up other aspects of combat.

You are obviously of the opinion that your tables provide both playability and realism. That is your opinion and you are very much entitled to it. However, DamonS and myself are also entitled to ours.

My opinion on the subject of realism vs. reality, in regards to your tables and my suggested alteration of doubling damage, is quite simply that the Palladium system as is and it's handling of damage and wounds is quite far removed from realism. Therefore, doubling damage for the sake of playability seems like a strong bonus for the small penalty of perhaps being slightly less realistic than an already unrealistic system. Again, this is my opinion.

I do not feel this would ignore physics, just imagine that every set of weapon stats you saw in a book had printed next to them "x2". It does not ignore physics if it is universally applied, it simply implies that the human body cannot take as much punishment as the Palladium system normally allows for.

The most realistic combat model I've seen is GURPS, which has it's own mess of problems. The fact of the matter is though, making a game that modeled real combat would result in A LOT of player deaths, permanent injuries, and battles that would often seem to be won either by fluke or by overwhelming superior force.

I think that your tables are a welcome addition to the house rules that have been presented on these boards, and deals nicely with certain aspects of Palladium's combat system. They do, however, slow down a game (not as noticeably in a small group of players, as you said). I am all about having a game move smoothly, and preferably quickly. When using your tables, I (personally) would also implement another house rule to keep things moving quickly and smoothly through the use of more tables and rolls.

[Killer Cyborg]

ok folks heres something thats been rattling around in my bean i hate it when you runn into a creature with lets say a flat M.D.C. of 50 and he gets hit for 60 points he's dead right but what if that 60 points is directed at a extremity
are they still dead? i know there are systems for this in one of the cannon sources but i came up with this for charecter and npc's (in humanoid form) taking a un-called shot

1. roll standard strike roll
2. roll percentiles as a accuracy roll
: 01-10= head shot
: 11-30=upper limbs arms being the smaller target
: 31-55=lower limbs legs bigger target
: 56-00=torso biggest target
3. luck roll roll D20
1-10 grazing damage
11-15 debilitating damage
16-18 critical shot( requires imediate medical attention to stop irreparable damage)
19-20 death or irreparable damage if on a limb

well i hope you guys like my system feel free to rip it apart or praise me whatever comes first

\

Alright, here it is.
1. Officially, any non-called shot hits the main body.
2. Officially, the MDC of a creature represents the total for the creature's body, except as otherwise noted. For example, if a creature is just listed as having 100 MDC, then that's the total for the whole body.
If a creature is listed as having 100 MDC to the main body, 50 to the head, etc. then each segment has what is listed.
At least, this seems to be how it works.
3. Your chart seems okay, for a random hit table designed for humanoids. Sure, it would work for certain animals too, but not for most of them, nor for non-humanoid monsters.
To start with, you should squish the "upper limbs" and "lower limbs" into one section:
11-55 Limbs (See appropriate table)

Then make a number of tables that cover the various options for limbs.
Tail(s), tentacles, antennae, horns, wings, pseudopods, etc.

And that's not covering any really unsual options that might come crawling or squidging out of a Rift.
What about a creature whose head comprises 50% (or more) of it's body? Or something that's 90% limbs? Or whatever else you can imagine, and some things you can't....

[Killer Cyborg]

thank you for your wisdom kind sage

Any time.