Can you Parry a Bear?

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by Hellboy

Not necessarily, if in a low gravity environment.

Force equals mass times acceleration, not weight times acceleration. The bear's mass doesn't change in low gravity, only its weight.

You can pick up a bear in 0.1G that you couldn't pick up in 1.0G, but it takes just as much force to swing that bear in 0.1G as it does to swing the bear in 1.0G.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by robkelk

You can pick up a bear in 0.1G that you couldn't pick up in 1.0G, but it takes just as much force to swing that bear in 0.1G as it does to swing the bear in 1.0G.

Only if you're swinging it at the same speed. In lower gravity, you could swing the bear slower without it hitting the ground, lowering the required centripetal force.

[mr beer]

OK, so now I think low gravity bear duels would be awesome.

[tbone]

Originally Posted by Hellboy

If you swung a bear, assuming that a default hit is with the torso, what kind of technique and penalties would you need to hit with the skull (presumably a damage bonus from its DR) or with the blunt claws at the tips of its limbs, or with the fanged mouth?

Sounds like you're bruin up a strange game – one that's the polar opposite of simulationism (and bearly even GURPS). Just let the players roll vs Comically Huge Non-Weapon, and make up the grizzly details from there.

I mean, we could try to work out fancypants combat stats, but would we really want get up off our ursus for this?

[mr beer]

^^^

wins one internet and one bear

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Snaps

Simple situation:

You are facing a grizzly bear. It takes a swipe at you with its massive claws. If you character is armed with a typical longsword, can he parry this attack?

I will note that The Broken Blade in Pyr 3/87 was written to deal with this question.

[Tomsdad]

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

I will note that The Broken Blade in Pyr 3/87 was written to deal with this question.

And has the "making skill count" allows you trade off penalties to increase your breakage threshold

So a Grizzly Bear with ST19, Blunt claws and Brawling +3

is going to be doing 2d-1 +2 + 2 = 2d+3 (or I guess 3d) on a strike

A long sword is MinST11 for a Defence Breakage Threshold of 11

so yeah it's touch and go when parrying

[dds_ks]

Originally Posted by Snaps

Simple situation:

You are facing a grizzly bear. It takes a swipe at you with its massive claws. If you character is armed with a typical longsword, can he parry this attack?

This is not really an answer to your question, but I once had a mage with a special "anti predator move":

I cast a Flame Jet.
I used "all out-defense (double)".

My first defense was a parry with the flame jet.
Yes, you're right: A jet never allows a parry, it's in the description. But.
The idea was to discourage the predator (in fact, it happened to be a bear):
I never attacked, but I always tried to keep the fire between me and the bear.
So if the bear attacked - and only then -, I made a parry with the flame jet just to decide whether I injure the bear. But whatever the parry was, it of course did not protect me from the bear's attack.

The second defense of course was a dodge, and that decided whether I was hit.


Now back to your question: Some mentioned the rules for breaking weapons. I agree that there are rules for parrying unarmed attacks of very strong enemies. But this is how general rules apply for general situations. However, there is a difference whether the bear strikes at me or charges at me, I'd say.
If a bear charges, I would not really expect to stop him with a sword! Even if I hit him very hard, even if I kill him that way, the corpse of the bear still would have to much momentum to be stopped. So I would expect that in case of a charge I still might take full damage.

[Imion]

So this creates the weird situation where if you do a shield bash it is a 25 pound attack, if you shield rush it is only an 8 pound attack.

With a Shield Bash you only have to accelerate the mass of the shield. With a Shield Rush you have to accelerate the mass of yourself as well as the mass of everything you are carrying. On a surface that has considerable friction. So naturally, the force of impact of the latter is lesser than that of the former.

A 130 pound attack for a ST 8 person throwing their whole weight into a slam/pounce/shield rush seems right.

You are not dropping on your opponent vertically from a considerable height. you are rushing him horizontally while having contact with the ground.


ADDENDUM: One might additionally argue that the area of impact of a Shield Bash is smaller than the area of impact of a Shield Rush, since it might be doubtful that you connect with the whole broad side of the shield when bashing.

[Tomsdad]

Originally Posted by Imion

With a Shield Bash you only have to accelerate the mass of the shield. With a Shield Rush you have to accelerate the mass of yourself as well as the mass of everything you are carrying. On a surface that has considerable friction. So naturally, the force of impact of the latter is lesser than that of the former.

I think that's going to depend on weather or not you can shield bash at a significantly different velocity than you can shield rush at. Not forgetting that the mass of the latter is going to be significantly more than the former

So I guess the question is how fast do you think you can shield bash with a 25lb shield?

Originally Posted by Imion

ADDENDUM: One might additionally argue that the area of impact of a Shield Bash is smaller than the area of impact of a Shield Rush, since it might be doubtful that you connect with the whole broad side of the shield when bashing.

Maybe but i think you might have happen in shield rushes as well.

Either way while that effect would act to concentrate the force on a smaller point of impact I'm not sure that it will matter much for the momentum of the attack and I think it's more that you trying parry against.

And thinking about it if you parrying by redirecting the point of impact, that's easier to do against small concentrated point of impact than a larger more diffuse one