03-03-2015, 02:20 AM | #1 |
GURPS FAQ Keeper
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
|
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! |
03-03-2015, 02:37 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Jul 2013
|
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.
|
03-03-2015, 02:41 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Feb 2014
|
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.
|
03-03-2015, 03:00 AM | #4 |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
|
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.
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
03-03-2015, 03:01 AM | #5 |
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ellicott City, MD
|
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.
|
03-03-2015, 03:18 AM | #6 |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
|
Re: Damage Resistance (Tough Skin) vs. Mosquitoes
That's why Tough skin is -40% and flexible is only -20%.
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
03-03-2015, 04:29 AM | #7 |
Join Date: Jan 2009
|
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.) |
03-03-2015, 07:03 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ellicott City, MD
|
Re: Damage Resistance (Tough Skin) vs. Mosquitoes
Quote:
|
|
03-03-2015, 10:34 AM | #9 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
|
Re: Damage Resistance (Tough Skin) vs. Mosquitoes
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.
|
03-04-2015, 12:52 AM | #10 | |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
|
Re: Damage Resistance (Tough Skin) vs. Mosquitoes
Quote:
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
|
Tags |
blood agent, damage resistance, mosquito, tough skin |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|