Immunity/Resistance to Metabolic Hazards?

[Fred Brackin]

Immunity and Resistance to Metabolic Hazards is seen multiple times in Gurps but its' defintion has never seemed adequate to me. Even online I've only seen where it's been defined by gneral principles rather than than a detailed breakdown. This has bothered me.

For an example of why it was about 15 years after I'd first seen the Trait that it occurred to me to wonder if "Aging" was a "Metabolic Hazard". It would seem to fit the rather loose definition but that would mean that Immunity to Metabolic Hazards would include Unaging as you'd never fail an Aging roll.

You'd think something like that would be mentioned but in the Macjine Meta-Trait which includes this immunity it says that machines are assumed to age at a similar rate to humans and to similar effects though in different ways.

Some of the basics are simple enough. Resistance to Disease seems a relatively straight forward trait as does Resistance to Poison. Then you get Resistance to Sickness which includes all Diseases as well as "environmental syndromes". I usually ake this to mean anything with "Sickness" in its' title such as Altitude, Radiation, Sea and Space Sickness with possible others. Then Metabolic Hazards lumps in Poison to Sickness and includes (probably) many other undefined things.

Does somebody out there have a really good handle on what semi-exactly does Immunity/Resistance to Metabloic Hazards include?

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Immunity and Resistance to Metabolic Hazards is seen multiple times in Gurps but its' defintion has never seemed adequate to me. Even online I've only seen where it's been defined by gneral principles rather than than a detailed breakdown. This has bothered me.

For an example of why it was about 15 years after I'd first seen the Trait that it occurred to me to wonder if "Aging" was a "Metabolic Hazard". It would seem to fit the rather loose definition but that would mean that Immunity to Metabolic Hazards would include Unaging as you'd never fail an Aging roll.

You'd think something like that would be mentioned but in the Macjine Meta-Trait which includes this immunity it says that machines are assumed to age at a similar rate to humans and to similar effects though in different ways.

It seems to me your question was answered right that. Aging is not a metabolic hazard. Things break down over time. Things that have no metabolism at all break down over time. Aging rolls are not a metabolic hazard.

[Refplace]

Think of it as an unlimited bonus to resistance rolls for metabolic attacks.
So poisons, diseases, other minor options where you would make a HT roll to resist a biological based effect.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

It seems to me your question was answered right that. Aging is not a metabolic hazard. Things break down over time. Things that have no metabolism at all break down over time. Aging rolls are not a metabolic hazard.

B263 in the machine meta-trait would be pertinent here:

"Your body does not age. Instead, it wears out, with effects similar to aging."

This is considered 0-point feature but I'm not sure what benefit/drawback that's composed of, how it would work differently compared to non-machines.

Like maybe you'd be immune to some kind of organic aging spell, but vulnerable to some kind of machines aging spell?

Outside specialized intervention it sounds like you make the same HT checks to avoid attribute loss.

Except perhaps with the caveat that you don't "die" when your HT check for IQ reduces your IQ from 1 to 0? Is that worth anything?

[malloyd]

I still think the Hamlet quote that came up when we had this discussion a few years ago is about the best you can hope for "The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to". It has to be a bit vaguely defined because the same trait applies in a couple of related but ultimately fundamentally different situations - one in which you actually are defended from metabolic hazards in some way, and one in which you have no particular special defense, but don't suffer from them because you don't have a metabolism. It's nearly the same benefit, but the fine details are sometimes going to be slightly different.