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Old 08-17-2018, 09:12 AM   #1
zedlopez
 
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Default Simultaneously physically and mentally stunned: penalties stack?

I couldn't find a positive statement on the subject in the rules or any discussion here.

If you had someone who was both physically and mentally stunned, would you have them be at -8 to active defenses?
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Old 08-17-2018, 09:28 AM   #2
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Default Re: Simultaneously physically and mentally stunned: penalties stack?

No, I would say that Stunned is Stunned, they're at -4 but need to recover from both forms before acting. I figure both kinds are actually "mental", just one of them has a physical cause and the other is direct.
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Old 08-17-2018, 02:19 PM   #3
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Default Re: Simultaneously physically and mentally stunned: penalties stack?

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Originally Posted by Dustin View Post
No, I would say that Stunned is Stunned, they're at -4 but need to recover from both forms before acting. I figure both kinds are actually "mental", just one of them has a physical cause and the other is direct.
I don't even make them 'recover from both'. Stunned is stunned despite how many 'stunning' attacks hit them before they started trying to recover.
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Old 08-17-2018, 04:59 PM   #4
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Default Re: Simultaneously physically and mentally stunned: penalties stack?

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Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
I don't even make them 'recover from both'. Stunned is stunned despite how many 'stunning' attacks hit them before they started trying to recover.
How do you handle that the recovery rolls for mental and physical stunning at the same time, then? Roll versus the lower of HT and IQ? (Rolling versus the higher of the two would be obviously problematic, since it would mean that, for a high HT character, becoming physically stunned would make it easier to break out of a preexisting mental stun, and vice versa for a high IQ character- although maybe that's why people in a certain type of fiction are always hitting their companions to break them out of shock.)
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Old 08-17-2018, 08:24 PM   #5
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Default Re: Simultaneously physically and mentally stunned: penalties stack?

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Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
I don't even make them 'recover from both'. Stunned is stunned despite how many 'stunning' attacks hit them before they started trying to recover.
I disagree.

Mental stun represents sensory overload.

Physical stun - at least due to head injury - is going to be neurological and represents a very brief period of reduced consciousness or unconsciousness.

If both apply, Physical Stun would override Mental Stun. (As a sort of crummy analogy, mental stun is like a computer that "hangs" because its CPU is being overloaded. Physical stun would be like a very brief loss of power that causes the computer to briefly turn off and then try to reboot itself when power is restored.)

Multiple Physical Stun attacks should be resolved using the penalty for the most severe attack - or possibly cumulative penalties.
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Old 08-17-2018, 10:16 PM   #6
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Default Re: Simultaneously physically and mentally stunned: penalties stack?

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Originally Posted by ravenfish View Post
How do you handle that the recovery rolls for mental and physical stunning at the same time, then? Roll versus the lower of HT and IQ?
Yup, whichever is worse. It streamlines rolling and speeds up play.
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