Tear or Pry Attacks

[Killer Cyborg]

I'm just curious what the real point of doing this attacks is, since they only do have the damage of a normal punch and have no speical rules associated with them. I mean, how would one work wanting to tear off an arm or pry away armor plating? Anyone have any house rules they use for this and would like to share?

I just use it because it's fun.

[Killer Cyborg]

I just use it because it's fun.

True, it is that.

Here's some quick and dirty rules for pulling items off of stuff (mounted weapons, sensors, arms, etc.). Roll to strike as normal, Called Shot, and any appropriate bonuses and penalties.

If the attack hits, roll for damage (ie, punch damage divided by half). Take this result and multiply it by say, 5 or 10, or even your P.S. attribute number. If the final result is greater than the M.D.C. of the location/item being attacked, it is ripped off (consider destroyed). Otherwise, the normal tear damage (before the multiplier) is subtracted from the location attacked.

Not the best, but all I could think of in a hurry. Any comments?

The way I do it is this:
Roll to strike for a grab attack.
If the attack succeeds, then you get to automatically hit with Tear/Pry attacks until you either do enough MDC to destroy the thing or something interrupts you (like the adult dragon who's leg you have hold of waking up...)
The difference is that the thing isn't actually destroyed; you have it intact.
If you were ripping the gun turret off of a large Bot or tank, then it may be possible for an operator with the right tools to reattach it to another vehicle/bot.

You may think it makes sense for the turret/limb/whatever to rip off for less damage than it would take to destroy it, but it doesn't.
When you hack at something with a sword, you are trying to sever it....
The MDC/SDC of an object isn't the amount of damage it takes to reduce it to base molecules, it's the amount of damage it takes to to damage it to the point of uselessness.
Which would count Severing.

[Killer Cyborg]

You may think it makes sense for the turret/limb/whatever to rip off for less damage than it would take to destroy it, but it doesn't.
When you hack at something with a sword, you are trying to sever it....
The MDC/SDC of an object isn't the amount of damage it takes to reduce it to base molecules, it's the amount of damage it takes to to damage it to the point of uselessness.
Which would count Severing.

I would have to disagree. If I was trying to rip the panel off a robot to drop in a grenade or even just to have a point that bypasses the AR, then I wouldn't have to do a lot of SDC/MDC damage and it doesn't make the panel useless.

Also, if I was trying to rip a door off a car, it doesn't mean the door is now worthless. It can be reattached, though you would need new hinges at the very least.

And if you cut a rope or chain or any other binding like that it doesn't mean the whole is useless. You just have two pieces now. So it does make sense that one would have to do less damage to tear off a portion.

And if you cut off somebody's arm with your sword, that doesn't mean that the ahole arm is useless. You just have two pieces now. So it would make sense that one would have to do less damage to cut off a portion.

But that's not how it works.