[OT} Hero system - Killing Attacks was Re: D&D hit points

"Rupert Boleyn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Tue, 2 Dec 2003 23:03:23 -0000, "David Meadows"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> carved upon a tablet of ether:
>
> > But the damage ratio isn't *guaranteed* to be 5:1. There's always an
> > uncertainty, meaning the player has to think about how much risk he's
> > willing to accept when he designs the character. This is no difference,
in
> > principle, to deciding whether to buy 12 rPd and be completely
bullet-proof
> > or gamble on 8 rPD being bullet-proof *enough*. There's always a random
> > factor in incoming damage. I don't see why the random factor inherent in
the
> > stun multiplier is so objectionable to people.
>
> Well, among other issues there's the way killing attacks can do so
> much more Stun than normal attacks, and the way its so much more like
> to happen. For example, a 3D normal attack costs the same as a 1dK
> attack. The former does 0-6 Body and 3-18 Stun, while the latter does
> 1-6 body and 1-30 Stun. there's a 1 in 6 chance that a killing attack
> will do 18+ Stun, vs a 1 in 216 chance of a normal attck doing 18
> Stun. This difference in liklihood of doing lots of Stun gets more
> extreme with bigger attacks, and the extreme results from Killing
> attacks also gets more extreme. A 2d6+1K attack (such as a .30-06
> rifle or a greatsword wielded by a strong man, IIRC) does 3-13 Body
> and 3-65 Stun, with the '65 Stun' result being as common as the '18
> Stun, 6 Body' result is for a 3d normal attack.
>
> The result of this is that there's no real reason to ever use a normal
> attack - a killing attack does as much Stun on average and peaks more
> often and higher. As the peaks are almost certain to stun, if not KO
> almost anything that's not immune to Stun damage this is better than a
> normal attacks more consistent damage.

Wonderful synopsis, Rupert.  I find it a bit silly that the Killing Attacks
are so much better at Stunning and getting KOs than Normal Attacks of the
same point value; they really are The Attack To Take if you want to drop
people.

-- 
^v^v^Malachias Invictus^v^v^

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am the Master of my fate:
I am the Captain of my soul.

from _Invictus_, by William Ernest Henley