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Old 09-11-2019, 10:38 AM   #1
Anders
 
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Default Murphy's rules: How to survive a fall and more

This thread is for minor rule bugs with humorous consequences in GURPS. Because no system is completely without them.

You have to wear armor for this to work. Enough armor to soak all falling damage. The problem is that all armor is treated as flexible for the purpose of falling damage. This does 1 point injury per 5 points of damage.

BUT... if you place a large spike where the guy is falling, this converts damage to impaling, and then damage is only 1 point injury per 10 points of damage. A saw-blade (cutting damage) also works.

:o)
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Last edited by Anders; 09-11-2019 at 10:45 AM.
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Old 09-11-2019, 10:55 AM   #2
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Default Re: Murphy's rules: How to survive a fall

Speaking of surviving a fall, if you strike a liquid and make a successful Swimming roll, at a penalty based on your velocity, you avoid all damage. That means that if you have a high enough skill to tank a -10 penalty (maximum possible terminal velocity is described as Move 100), then you can fall from any height and emerge completely unscathed as long as you hit water. This does mean that it's all-or-nothing, though. Fail and you almost certainly will die.
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Old 09-11-2019, 11:08 AM   #3
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Default Re: Murphy's rules: How to survive a fall

I'm not sure that would quite qualify as a Murphy's in that most people would want to play that way. It is how it works in fiction, even "realistic" fiction.
(Now I don't have my books at the moment.. but if there's no requirement for water depth based on velocity, that could qualify.)
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Old 09-11-2019, 11:13 AM   #4
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Default Re: Murphy's rules: How to survive a fall

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Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
I'm not sure that would quite qualify as a Murphy's in that most people would want to play that way. It is how it works in fiction, even "realistic" fiction.
(Now I don't have my books at the moment.. but if there's no requirement for water depth based on velocity, that could qualify.)
It's just a quick sentence, and yes, there is no explicit reference to required depth. It may have been expanded on somewhere besides the Basic Set, but I haven't seen it.
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Old 09-11-2019, 11:32 AM   #5
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Default Re: Murphy's rules: How to survive a fall

I just find the image of a battletrooper falling from orbit and someone crying "we have to save him - bring out the large spike!" hilarious.
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Old 09-11-2019, 12:22 PM   #6
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Default Re: Murphy's rules: How to survive a fall

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Originally Posted by Anders View Post
I just find the image of a battletrooper falling from orbit and someone crying "we have to save him - bring out the large spike!" hilarious.
And don't forget... the more HP you have the more damage you take, even your weight/mass is the same as someone with far, far less HP than you...


(One of the many rules I prefer in DFRPG rules over Basic)
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Old 09-11-2019, 01:50 PM   #7
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Default Re: Murphy's rules: How to survive a fall and more

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anders View Post
This thread is for minor rule bugs with humorous consequences in GURPS. Because no system is completely without them.

You have to wear armor for this to work. Enough armor to soak all falling damage. The problem is that all armor is treated as flexible for the purpose of falling damage. This does 1 point injury per 5 points of damage.

BUT... if you place a large spike where the guy is falling, this converts damage to impaling, and then damage is only 1 point injury per 10 points of damage. A saw-blade (cutting damage) also works.

:o)
Maybe blunt trauma ought to be the same for all types of physical damage and we just halve the damage of non-crushing weapons, give them armor divisor 2 and double their injury?
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Old 09-11-2019, 04:07 PM   #8
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Default Re: Murphy's rules: How to survive a fall

There’s the old chestnut that the distraction penalty for being partially on fire is less than the penalty for total darkness. Set your arm on fire and now you can attack better!
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Old 09-11-2019, 04:24 PM   #9
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Default Re: Murphy's rules: How to survive a fall and more

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anders View Post
This thread is for minor rule bugs with humorous consequences in GURPS. Because no system is completely without them.

You have to wear armor for this to work. Enough armor to soak all falling damage. The problem is that all armor is treated as flexible for the purpose of falling damage. This does 1 point injury per 5 points of damage.

BUT... if you place a large spike where the guy is falling, this converts damage to impaling, and then damage is only 1 point injury per 10 points of damage. A saw-blade (cutting damage) also works.
The rule changing falling damage to cutting, etc. bothers me because you also halve the base damage (which means for your Murphy, the effective blunt trauma damage is 1/4 of that from just hitting a flat object). This means that the cutting or piercing damage will be less than if you'd taken crushing damage, and likewise for impaling damage to limbs. Aside from the potential for dismembered limbs (and decapitation if the neck is hit) you're better off landing on the sawblades than the concrete floor beside them.

Not halving the base damage solves this problem, at least.
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Old 09-11-2019, 04:29 PM   #10
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Default Re: Murphy's rules: How to survive a fall

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Originally Posted by clu2415 View Post
There’s the old chestnut that the distraction penalty for being partially on fire is less than the penalty for total darkness. Set your arm on fire and now you can attack better!
The penalty is -3, and especially as a burning arm probably still gives you lighting penalties, and possibly penalties for smoke in your eyes, so that might well not be true. Oh, and these penalties are on top of any you take for the pain from the burning damage. And if all this does add up to less than -10, well that makes sense - you can actually see the target, after all.
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