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Old 03-03-2015, 02:20 AM   #1
vicky_molokh
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Default Damage Resistance (Tough Skin) vs. Mosquitoes

Greetings, all!

I'm somewhat stumped as to whether having Tough Skin is of any use when going through regions with nasty mosquitoes. On one hand, Tough Skin says that "Any effect that requires a scratch [ . . . ] affects you [ . . . ] even if it does exactly 0 damage". On the other, it seems like tougher skin should be . . . tougher, and thus not something a mosquito should be able to penetrate like that. So . . . what should happen?

Note: This isn't idle crunching. I'm curious because a mosquito's bite can carry a Blood Agent nasty disease of some sort in many settings, including ours.

Thanks in advance!
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Old 03-03-2015, 02:37 AM   #2
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Default Re: Damage Resistance (Tough Skin) vs. Mosquitoes

Personally I'd say if the attack is Blood Agent it must draw blood to have any effect, so Tough Skin protects from things like Mosquito bites. However if it's a Contact Agent, then Tough Skin provides no special benefits. That's how I'd rule it anyway.
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Old 03-03-2015, 02:41 AM   #3
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Default Re: Damage Resistance (Tough Skin) vs. Mosquitoes

Your answer many lie in the thick skin of the rhinoceros, which helps protect them from harm (because there is more of it), but is still susceptible to insect bites and sunburn (so they wallow in mud). Although the name of the advantage is "tough skin" we all know that advantage names mean little compared to their effects. Skin is a living organ and requires blood. If it were like keratin then it would be standard DR.
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Old 03-03-2015, 03:00 AM   #4
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Default Re: Damage Resistance (Tough Skin) vs. Mosquitoes

The dermis is living. The epidermis is not. Skin can certainly be too think for mosquitoes but it would be quite inflexible.
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Old 03-03-2015, 03:01 AM   #5
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Default Re: Damage Resistance (Tough Skin) vs. Mosquitoes

I agree that Tough Skin DR offers no protection from mosquitoes. Even the thickest jides have blood vessels close to the surface, after all.
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Old 03-03-2015, 03:18 AM   #6
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Default Re: Damage Resistance (Tough Skin) vs. Mosquitoes

That's why Tough skin is -40% and flexible is only -20%.
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Old 03-03-2015, 04:29 AM   #7
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Default Re: Damage Resistance (Tough Skin) vs. Mosquitoes

This does bring up the interesting question - at what point is an opponent big enough that they should be treated as having a bite attack that does real damage that DR will protect against, rather than just being an odd sort of contact agent?

I'd have no problem with Tough Skin helping to protect against the Sharp Teeth of a human-sized vampire, obviously. But what about a vampire bat? (Again, if the issue is disease transmission, Afflictions, etc., not the direct damage done.)
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Old 03-03-2015, 07:03 AM   #8
Nereidalbel
 
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Default Re: Damage Resistance (Tough Skin) vs. Mosquitoes

Quote:
Originally Posted by CoyoteGestalt View Post
This does bring up the interesting question - at what point is an opponent big enough that they should be treated as having a bite attack that does real damage that DR will protect against, rather than just being an odd sort of contact agent?

I'd have no problem with Tough Skin helping to protect against the Sharp Teeth of a human-sized vampire, obviously. But what about a vampire bat? (Again, if the issue is disease transmission, Afflictions, etc., not the direct damage done.)
It's all about the goal of the attack. Mosquitoes just need any blood vessel, while vampire bats need to get a bit deeper into the flesh for decent blood flow.
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Old 03-03-2015, 10:34 AM   #9
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Default Re: Damage Resistance (Tough Skin) vs. Mosquitoes

Quote:
Originally Posted by CoyoteGestalt View Post
I'd have no problem with Tough Skin helping to protect against the Sharp Teeth of a human-sized vampire, obviously. But what about a vampire bat? (Again, if the issue is disease transmission, Afflictions, etc., not the direct damage done.)
Tough skin won't protect against anything but the direct damage of the vampire; it explicitly doesn't help against blood agents. It also won't protect against allergic responses to mosquito bites, if you have giant mosquitoes that stab you for 1p impaling tough skin will reduce the impaling damage. I'm not sure if 'tough skin' actually models anything in the real world at all.
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Old 03-04-2015, 12:52 AM   #10
Flyndaran
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Default Re: Damage Resistance (Tough Skin) vs. Mosquitoes

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Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
Tough skin won't protect against anything but the direct damage of the vampire; it explicitly doesn't help against blood agents. It also won't protect against allergic responses to mosquito bites, if you have giant mosquitoes that stab you for 1p impaling tough skin will reduce the impaling damage. I'm not sure if 'tough skin' actually models anything in the real world at all.
It's a generic toughness, not innate unliving armor.
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