GURPS Disasters: Hurricane

[Dalin]

Originally Posted by NineDaysDead

Sorry I wasn't clear, if you have more than 2 levels of night Vision, why are the benefits capped at 2 levels during a hurricane?

My assumption was that this would be due to flying debris and water obscuring things.

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by Dalin

My assumption was that this would be due to flying debris and water obscuring things.

Shouldn't that apply all the time? Not just in the dark? Like a fixed penalty to vision rolls.

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Per minute. And... it may very well be excessive. I haven't checked to see how well a modern structure could handle this.

In terms of how that interacts with DR, there's a massive difference between taking 50 points of damage every 60 turns and say 1 point of Damage every turn; 1 point of DR will stop the latter, and do virtually nothing to the former.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by NineDaysDead

In terms of how that interacts with DR, there's a massive difference between taking 50 points of damage every 60 turns and say 1 point of Damage every turn; 1 point of DR will stop the latter, and do virtually nothing to the former.

Which is an interesting thought when it comes to continuing damage. Too low and you have no effect but as many have seen the stress on a building not built for it can be devastating.
How many HP does a house have anyway? Much less a large building.
Break a few windows and you have rain pouring inside, shingles ripped off roofs pretty easily at less than hurricane level winds, etc.
The end of the preview texts starts to talk about buildings built to standards so when we have the full text maybe that will explain certain things.
I'll know after Christmas.

[namada]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

...your trees don't blow over nearly so often...

Trees don't blow over, except, as frequently happens in tropical situations, the ground gets so saturated with water that every nook & cranny around the root structures are filled to the point where there's a reduction in friction that keeps the tree... well, rooted. Only then does that 75+mph wind or occasional higher gust cause the toppling of trees. Otherwise, they'll break, rather than topple.

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Per minute. And... it may very well be excessive. I haven't checked to see how well a modern structure could handle this.

Ah - thanks for the correction - I was flipping back and forth between this thread & the preview pdf, not sure what happened there. Still, intuitively I feel it's excessive. That level of damage seems like it would have leveled every house built in the 40's, 50's, and 60's, after decades of successive storms, yet my hometown is filled with them. Without the full pdf in hand, I can't check either.

Originally Posted by Refplace

Which is an interesting thought when it comes to continuing damage. Too low and you have no effect but as many have seen the stress on a building not built for it can be devastating.
How many HP does a house have anyway? Much less a large building.
Break a few windows and you have rain pouring inside, shingles ripped off roofs pretty easily at less than hurricane level winds, etc.
The end of the preview texts starts to talk about buildings built to standards so when we have the full text maybe that will explain certain things.
I'll know after Christmas.

Break a few windows on a good, solid structure and you have to start worrying about pressure dynamics, forget about the rain. But yeah, until I have the full text in hand, I know I'm just speculating. For all I know, these effects aren't continuous, and are triggered by some other random rolls - which would actually represent the chaotic nature of hurricanes quite well. Idk, and won't be able to say anything definitive for a while on this one.

[Humabout]

Originally Posted by namada

I'd rather buy the product & suggest changes/fixes than just ignore it altogether. Perhaps consider that instead?

I don't do this because they measure a product's success based on sales, so by purchasing it, I would be suggesting that more products of this quality, nature, or by this author should be made. Also, if I buy a blender, I expect it to work without repairs; what does it say if I expect less of Steve Jackson Games?

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Refplace

The end of the preview texts starts to talk about buildings built to standards so when we have the full text maybe that will explain certain things.

=====SPOILER ALERT======

Highlight here -> It does not. <- for spoiler.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by namada

Ah - thanks for the correction - I was flipping back and forth between this thread & the preview pdf, not sure what happened there. Still, intuitively I feel it's excessive. That level of damage seems like it would have leveled every house built in the 40's, 50's, and 60's, after decades of successive storms, yet my hometown is filled with them. Without the full pdf in hand, I can't check either.

How do decades of successive storms factor in? Non-abandoned buildings damaged by a hurricane would typically see repairs prior to the next hurricane season, wouldn't they?

[Celjabba]

Originally Posted by namada

Trees don't blow over, except, as frequently happens in tropical situations, the ground gets so saturated with water that every nook & cranny around the root structures are filled to the point where there's a reduction in friction that keeps the tree... well, rooted. Only then does that 75+mph wind or occasional higher gust cause the toppling of trees. Otherwise, they'll break, rather than topple.

Depend where you are, I guess. Never been in an hurricane or tropical area, so I cannot say.
But in non-tropical/hurricane area, very strong wind can and will uproot and topple trees without need for saturating the ground with water first.
It usually mean a weak root system, for various reason : sickness or parasite, soil degradation, growth in a previously sheltered place, ...

There are forest worth of those in Western Europe, more so in recent years.
Strongly rooted tree will break before being uprooted, especially if they are old or sick.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

How do decades of successive storms factor in? Non-abandoned buildings damaged by a hurricane would typically see repairs prior to the next hurricane season, wouldn't they?

Decades probably dont factor in.But you can get multiple severe storms in a season and certainly areas may not be fully repaired. New Orleans still has some damaged buildings from Katrina and that was 2005,
I'd say just use normal damage, if repairs weren't made before the new storm hits than its already lower on HP and possibly HT score if structural damage was severe enough.