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Old 10-12-2017, 03:57 AM   #1
gudmo
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Default Pixie Weapon Damage

After searching for quite awhile I haven't been able to find any answers to this strange question I ask myself.

Why does my Pixie do 1d-4 kicking damage but 1d-8 swing damage with her staff?

Something is a bit off there. The staff has the Faery weapn sm-6 modifier and as such gives damage -6.... But since this drops the damage below the basic thr/sw damage it makes no sense to me.

Has this been corrected somewhere or discussed?
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Old 10-12-2017, 09:30 AM   #2
malloyd
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Default Re: Pixie Weapon Damage

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Originally Posted by gudmo View Post
Has this been corrected somewhere or discussed?
The central problem is that Pixies (and a lot of other small creatures) simply aren't assigned STs as low as their scale implies they should be. Most likely whoever scaled the weapon rules did so on some sort of ratio to scaling humans, but if you do that a weapon with a -6 SM, at 1/10th size, will have less than 1/10th (probably 1/31th) normal Min ST. That ought to mean a Pixie with an ST greater than 1 is simply *too strong* to use their full ST with the weapon, exceeding the 3xMin ST damage cap.

That is a "realistic" Pixie weapon, to the extent there would be such a thing, wouldn't look at all like a staff (or anything else familiar to human players). It would instead be something unique to Pixies that if scaled up to human size would be totally impossible for humans to so much as lift, let alone use in combat.

Scaling rules routinely have problems like this, because applying realism tends to mean discovering the stuff you find in stories involving huge or tiny characters is *physically impossible*, and yet playing out those stories is probably exactly the reason you want said scaling rules in the first place.
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Old 10-12-2017, 11:41 AM   #3
Anthony
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
Default Re: Pixie Weapon Damage

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Originally Posted by malloyd View Post
The central problem is that Pixies (and a lot of other small creatures) simply aren't assigned STs as low as their scale implies they should be.
While this is true, it's not related to the problem, which is that manufactured weapons get their damage adjusted by SM, and natural weapons do not.
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Old 10-12-2017, 12:45 PM   #4
Kalzazz
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Default Re: Pixie Weapon Damage

I suggest using LTC 2 scaling for -SM critters
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Old 10-12-2017, 12:57 PM   #5
martinl
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Default Re: Pixie Weapon Damage

If you want wide scale interactions in GURPS, I'd recommend TBone's Gulliver rules.

4e version here:
http://www.gamesdiner.com/sites/game...GURPS_4e_0.pdf
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Old 10-12-2017, 01:23 PM   #6
gudmo
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Default Re: Pixie Weapon Damage

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Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
While this is true, it's not related to the problem, which is that manufactured weapons get their damage adjusted by SM, and natural weapons do not.
That hits it right on the nose.
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Old 10-12-2017, 01:39 PM   #7
gudmo
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Default Re: Pixie Weapon Damage

Would seem to me like GURPS just isn't universal enough for pixies :P
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Old 10-12-2017, 02:36 PM   #8
Colarmel
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Northeast Kansas
Default Re: Pixie Weapon Damage

Pixies are ridiculously strong for their size. Pixie sized weapons just don't supply much leverage. Pixies are strong enough to use over-sized weapons, and dexterous enough to overcome the skill penalties.

That's why if anyone will ever let me play a pixie, he'll be a barbarian with 5 levels of giant weapons and 20 strength and he'll use a full sized orichalcum greataxe. Because try-and-stop-me.
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Old 10-12-2017, 02:47 PM   #9
Colarmel
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Northeast Kansas
Default Re: Pixie Weapon Damage

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
While this is true, it's not related to the problem, which is that manufactured weapons get their damage adjusted by SM, and natural weapons do not.
Natural weapons, by design, aren't limited to the 3x minimum strength rule. If a strength 35 ant-sized man punches you in the shin it's going to hurt. If he hits you with an ant-sized stick, it won't hurt, the stick will break, and you'll be fine.

Probably the first instance doesn't comport with reality, at least not at really tiny sizes, because my ant man can put as many holes in you with his terrifying strength as he wants to without doing significant damage. And there's probably a point where damage type should change from crushing to piercing. But tiny-people doing tiny punching does comport with fiction. And in fiction, when pixies attack with weapons, those weapons are incapable of doing much damage, which is why they rely on poison.
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Old 10-12-2017, 02:52 PM   #10
Anthony
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
Default Re: Pixie Weapon Damage

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Originally Posted by Colarmel View Post
Natural weapons, by design, aren't limited to the 3x minimum strength rule.
A ST 1 creature with SM -5 will still do more damage unarmed than with a weapon.
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