10-06-2014, 09:23 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
|
Effects of Body Mass
A new houserule I've been considering is formalizing the "special effects" of a character's body mass (weight) into actual effects, and I'm looking for a listing of relevant factors. This assumes divorcing mass and HP* - someone with higher HP than their mass indicates is someone who is particularly resilient, for example. Here's what I have so far.
Grappling: In Technical Grappling, mass is important for determining grappling encumbrance - light foes are easy to move around, heavy are more difficult. This also applies to more traditional encumbrance when someone needs to carry a character around, haul them up using a rope, and so forth. This seems a net Advantage for being heavier, although this is lessened if using the "base weight = 8xBL" alternate. Knockback: Currently, Knockback is based on HP. It seems more appropriate to base it on mass, and someone in heavy armor is going to be a bit harder to move back as well. Advantage for being heavier. Collisions: As with Knockback, damage from slamming or falling is currently based on HP, but mass makes more sense. This is a close call, but it seems a net Advantage for being heavier. Blowthrough: Someone who is thin and wiry simply isn't going to absorb as much of the energy of a bullet passing through them as some hulking brute. While this makes the latter a more effective meatshield - he can absorb more damage - the fact he takes more damage in the process is problematic. Net Advantage for being lighter. Carrying Capacity: Technical Grappling implies that an appropriate weight for a character is right around 8xBL, with extra at the very least counting against them while using mass-based moves while grappling. It may be appropriate to have this count toward encumbrance, possibly with lighter characters effectively starting with negative encumbrance. Advantage for being lighter. Athletics: In theory, someone who is lighter but just as strong would be able to climb, jump, and so forth more easily, and may be able to run more rapidly. Using the Carrying Capacity notes, it may be appropriate to have a character who's current total weight is markedly less than 8xBL getting a bonus to such skills. The following table might work. Note weight is the character's total weight, including any carried gear, as a multiple of BL. As usual, if between two values, go with the highest. Code:
Weight Mod Move BL 20 (example) 3 +4 x1.8 60 lb 6 +3 x1.6 120 lb 7 +2 x1.4 140 lb 8 +1 x1.2 160 lb 9 0 x1 180 lb 10 -1 x0.8 200 lb 11 -2 x0.6 220 lb 14 -3 x0.4 280 lb 18 -4 x0.2 360 lb Armor: Pyramid #3/52 has an optional rule for scaling armor surface area (and thus weight and cost) with character mass. When using this, a character's mass shouldn't modify armor by more than would be appropriate for a change in SM - that is, an SM 0 character's armor cannot weigh less than 1/2x normal or more than 2x normal, regardless of character mass. To make things more fair - and possibly more realistic - any change in surface area also modifies the maximum thickness (MaxDR) of armor the character can wear. A 50 lb SM 0 character would get away with half the weight per DR, but would also only have half MaxDR - leather armor for such a character wouldn't be able to exceed DR 2, for example. Net Advantage for being lighter. *Optionally, HP probably shouldn't be able to vary too much from mass. A character with mass appropriate for an HP 10 character might only be allowed to have HP between 7 and 13, for example (+30%). Anything I'm missing? Last edited by Varyon; 10-06-2014 at 09:32 AM. |
10-06-2014, 12:10 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
|
Re: Effects of Body Mass
You're trying to dissociate mass-based effects from HP and move them to character weight. Personally, I'd do it the other way around: force HP to match body weight with only a very small margin of choice. You can play a person who's 5 feet tall and weighs 90 points, or you can play a person with 15 ST and 18 HP, but they can't be the same person; it's just not how people are put together.
I don't know exactly how to determine weight for a human based on HP, but I think I'd use Skinny and Fat as disads that characters are forced to take if their HP is too low or high for their ST, instead of the +/-30% rule. This doesn't help you at all... so, trying to help, I think the best thing to do might be to invent "negative encumbrance" as an advantage representing the fact that your ST is much higher than your mass suggests, have that as a separate advantage that super-light things can buy (I'm thinking about ultra-tech superlight robots as much as skinny people), and let the rest of the effects equal out to net 0. |
10-06-2014, 12:32 PM | #3 | ||
Join Date: Jun 2013
|
Re: Effects of Body Mass
Quote:
Quote:
Last edited by Varyon; 10-06-2014 at 12:35 PM. |
||
10-06-2014, 12:58 PM | #4 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
|
Re: Effects of Body Mass
Quote:
|
|
10-06-2014, 01:20 PM | #5 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
|
Re: Effects of Body Mass
Quote:
Skinny and Fat certainly should still get some mention, although I'd be more inclined to just do those as things like Distinctive Feature (easier to pick out in a crowd) and possibly situational skill bonuses (like being Fat making you more buoyant). I'd go with your suggestion - HP being too much lower than it should be means the character becomes Fat (to some degree), too much higher means the character becomes Skinny (to some degree). I'll have to decide on actual breakpoints, although +20% then every 10% isn't bad. |
|
10-06-2014, 01:25 PM | #6 |
"Gimme 18 minutes . . ."
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Albuquerque, NM
|
Re: Effects of Body Mass
In my games you can just purchase HP with the massless +0% modifier. Only your regular HP counts towards calculating mass-based effects which is a hindrance about as often as it is a help. Think I stole that from Bruno.
|
10-06-2014, 01:36 PM | #7 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
|
Re: Effects of Body Mass
Can you purchase HP-less mass? HP with a special -100% modifier that only counts towards calculating mass-based effects?
|
10-06-2014, 02:08 PM | #8 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
|
Re: Effects of Body Mass
Quote:
As it stands, being heavier than your HP indicate makes you a bit better at mass-based grappling maneuvers, makes you harder to shove around, allows you to cause more damage when you slam into foes (or are slammed into by them), makes you more effective cover from explosions and bullets, and allows you to wear thicker armor. Unfortunately, it also means you take more damage when you fall, take more damage when shot at by weapons capable of overpenetrating lesser men, can't carry as much around without getting slowed down, and have to wear heavier armor to get the same DR as lesser men. On the flip side, being lighter makes you not as good in a grapple, easier to toss around, etc, but effectively gives you IT:DR against high-damage bullets, get a bonus to certain tasks when completely unencumbered (and can carry more around when at least partially encumbered), and while you can't wear as thick of armor, your armor is far lighter. Egads! |
|
10-06-2014, 04:40 PM | #9 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Platform Zero, Sydney, Australia
|
Re: Effects of Body Mass
|
10-06-2014, 07:08 PM | #10 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
|
Re: Effects of Body Mass
Quote:
Bill Stoddard |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|