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Old 02-14-2018, 06:14 AM   #13
Tomsdad
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Brighton
Default Re: Negative Hit Point effects

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
High HT is really not much of a problem without high HP and, even then, HP is a finite resource. It really does not matter if a character possesses HT 16 and HP 20, other than that they might actually require 120 points of damage to avoid dying (even with HT 16, they will go unconscious in under a minute after they reach -HP).

What really matters is how effective they are in incapacitating their enemy before their enemies. In a TL5+ campaign, skill and speed matter more than HT and HP because a large caliber bullet can deal between an average of 21 (4d pi+) to 63 (6d×2 pi+) points of damage to a target without armor (and you can easily take 3 hits a turn from a gun with an RoF above 3). It is much better to have a dodge of 13 and avoid 83% of attacks than to have HP 20 and just accept five attacks before dying.
I agree with main point that at some TLs* it better not to get hit rather than rely on soaking the damage, but quick question do you not use the overpenetration rules?

However for me high HT is most definitely a huge advantage because it keeps you on your feet. You drop unconscious and potentially you're a coup de grace at your opponent's whim away from dead with not much input into the outcome.

Additionally IME in hand to hand being knocked down is pretty much a fight ender under most circumstances, high HT can prevent that



*of course some TL's provide their own answer in having personal armor that keep up with hand held weapons.

IME setting where you have high damage firearms and no armour are particularly lethal e.g wild west (which is even worse as high skill is in keeping with the genre at times as well) and large chunks of the C20th (7d rifles vs. no body armor worth mentioning = "yikes I'm rolling to stop bleeding at what penalty!"),

Last edited by Tomsdad; 02-14-2018 at 12:05 PM.
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