[Basic] Resistant erratum?

[johndallman]

In the description of Resistant on p. 80-81, 'Rare' includes 'Acceleration (blackouts due to extreme G-forces)'

A bit further down, it says 'An ordinary human could believably have any level of resistance to a mundane "Rare" item, such as Seasickness.'

Immunity to blackouts due to extreme G-forces is not plausible. Resistance +3 is fine; resistance +8 is verging on cinematic, but immunity seems impossible. You have only so much heart power and blood pressure.

[RyanW]

I don't think they ever meant that any rare resistance was realistic.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by johndallman

A bit further down, it says 'An ordinary human could believably have any level of resistance to a mundane "Rare" item, such as Seasickness.'

Immunity to blackouts due to extreme G-forces is not plausible. Resistance +3 is fine; resistance +8 is verging on cinematic, but immunity seems impossible. You have only so much heart power and blood pressure.

"Captain Jones never passes out on high-G maneuvers. Isn't he amazing?"
This is probably a disagreement on what counts as "believable". It's not quite the same thing as "has a physical mechanism we can show to be possible" it's more like "doesn't break suspension of disbelief of the story". Does Captain Jones have Immunity to High Gs, or just enough of a bonus to be rolling against HT 20 (and maybe aspected Luck in case he crit fails), and is one of those actually less "believable"?

Note Immunity here doesn't necessarily mean you can endure infinite levels of G forces, it just means you don't need to make the specially called for roll not to pass out. Once the forces get high enough to start inflicting actual *damage* you'll eventually lose enough hit points to be rolling for unconsciousness, and your Resistance won't do anything for that. Theoretically there is some level of being tossed around by rolling waters where the incoming waves will generate so much pressure your chest collapses or the centrifugal forces will rip you apart - your Immunity to Seasickness doesn't cover that either.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by johndallman

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Immunity to blackouts due to extreme G-forces is not plausible. Resistance +3 is fine; resistance +8 is verging on cinematic, but immunity seems impossible. You have only so much heart power and blood pressure.

Resistant to Acceleration +3 is possible for Eugenic mods in Bio-tech but +8 is a Species mod. immunity to Acceleration isn't even discussed. It would probably be included in Immunity to Metabolic Hazards but you can't get that in Bio-tech either. I don't know if it would be included in Immunity to Sickness but again that's not avaialble in Bio-tech.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by johndallman

In the description of Resistant on p. 80-81, 'Rare' includes 'Acceleration (blackouts due to extreme G-forces)'

A bit further down, it says 'An ordinary human could believably have any level of resistance to a mundane "Rare" item, such as Seasickness.'

Immunity to blackouts due to extreme G-forces is not plausible. Resistance +3 is fine; resistance +8 is verging on cinematic, but immunity seems impossible. You have only so much heart power and blood pressure.

Extreme G-forces are not mundane.

[Anthony]

The problem with Resistant (Immune) is that it grants protection against effects that occur even when the HT roll is made. There are plenty of things that have a range of effect in humans and always taking the least of them wouldn't be that weird, but Immune level usually doesn't make sense.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Extreme G-forces are not mundane.

Is there support for that in the RAW? High G-forces don't seem to me to be supernatural or weird scientific or anything of that sort; they're something test pilots, for example, have been coping with for years.

[Celjabba]

Originally Posted by johndallman

In the description of Resistant on p. 80-81, 'Rare' includes 'Acceleration (blackouts due to extreme G-forces)'

A bit further down, it says 'An ordinary human could believably have any level of resistance to a mundane "Rare" item, such as Seasickness.'

Immunity to blackouts due to extreme G-forces is not plausible. Resistance +3 is fine; resistance +8 is verging on cinematic, but immunity seems impossible. You have only so much heart power and blood pressure.

IMHO, "Could" doesn't mean "must in every case".

There are some mundane affliction that a mundane human can be immune to.
G-Force, I wouldn't allow it.
Seasickness, or a specific chemical irritant / drug / intoxicant / poison, why not.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Celjabba

Seasickness, or a specific chemical irritant / drug / intoxicant / poison, why not.

"Why not?" could be because the toxin targets something truly fundamental.

I seem to recall reading long ago about a nerve toxin that targeted acetylcholinesterase and that lack of this would keep your neurons from reloading after they'd fired. There wouldn't be any immunity to that.

There's more wiggle room with at least some diseases. Also from the deep memory is the factoid that a certain small percentage of humans lack even the receptor site that HIV uses for an attachment point. Apparently one of those spots in the body's biological mechnism that a person can get along without.

There almost certainly are diseases that attack vital receptor sites so Immunity to them is not possible.

[mr beer]

IMO 'Resist x at effective HT 18' isn't more fantastical than mundane HT 18, so you can probably just tweak Advantages for realistic campaigns in the same vein as imposing Attribute caps.