GURPS Disasters: Hurricane

[Anthony]

Based on the effects listed on wikipedia, I would delete effects for 4-5, give -1 DX at 6-7 (small craft advisory), effects at 8+ are fine other than the problem that damage to buildings should really depend on construction, buildings don't take much damage until the wind speed exceeds a critical value at which point they start falling apart really fast.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Based on the effects listed on wikipedia, I would delete effects for 4-5, give -1 DX at 6-7 (small craft advisory), effects at 8+ are fine other than the problem that damage to buildings should really depend on construction, buildings don't take much damage until the wind speed exceeds a critical value at which point they start falling apart really fast.

The building part is the hard one IMO. The low level 2 HP/minute is basically shingles or really flimsy stuff.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by SolemnGolem

GURPS Magic, for example, has several wind spells, but most of them explain the consequences for land-walking creatures.

GURPS Magic is a terrible place to get rules which can be applied elsewhere. Some spell effects are inconsistent with otherwise standard RAW Hazards.

Off the top of my head, I'd say double penalties for wind effects on airborne creatures, since they don't have ground friction to keep them in place and buffeting winds mess with winged flight.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Þorkell

How much storm is a very bad storm? Does the book only cover storms that get the label "hurricane"?

Wind is wind. Rain is rain. Floods are floods. Bad storms bring all three.

I'd imagine that much of the info in GURPS Hurricanes is good for severe storms in any part of the world. Just ignore the bits that specifically apply to cyclonic storm systems.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

Off the top of my head, I'd say double penalties for wind effects on airborne creatures, since they don't have ground friction to keep them in place and buffeting winds mess with winged flight.

The effect of constant wind on flying creatures is very simple: add the wind velocity to the flight velocity (note: vector addition). This is problematic if wind speed exceeds flight speed, as it means you will move downwind no matter what direction you attempt to fly in.

The effect of gusty wind on flying creatures is a greatly increased risk of crashing at low altitude, plus the constant effects.

[swampthing]

Originally Posted by Celjabba

Depend where you are, I guess. Never been in an hurricane or tropical area, so I cannot say.
But in non-tropical/hurricane area, very strong wind can and will uproot and topple trees without need for saturating the ground with water first.
It usually mean a weak root system, for various reason : sickness or parasite, soil degradation, growth in a previously sheltered place, ...

Trees of every sort obviously do fall down, as a stroll through pretty much any forest will tell you. It seems an extraordinary claim that high winds don't affect when trees choose to do this. I have personally seen many a fallen tree after a storm that wasn't there before, compared to the changes I'm accustomed to seeing in a forest on an ordinary day.

[namada]

Originally Posted by Refplace

The building part is the hard one IMO. The low level 2 HP/minute is basically shingles or really flimsy stuff.

Buildings don't heal though, until repaired. That's the biggest issue with the building effects - I didn't bother downloading the preview again, but one level is like 50 HP/minute, there would be nothing left standing at that rate of damage.

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by namada

Buildings don't heal though, until repaired. That's the biggest issue with the building effects - I didn't bother downloading the preview again, but one level is like 50 HP/minute, there would be nothing left standing at that rate of damage.

From basic page 558: Brick Wall (9” thick) DR 24, 77 HP

At 50 points per minute, DR 24 gives damage 26 per minute

77 X 11 = 847

847/26 = 32.5769

in 33 minutes a 9 inch think wall will be reduced to -10XHP, that is, totally annihilated.

An 18 inch think brick wall will be reduced to -10XHP in 8 hours 54.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by namada

Buildings don't heal though, until repaired. That's the biggest issue with the building effects - I didn't bother downloading the preview again, but one level is like 50 HP/minute, there would be nothing left standing at that rate of damage.

Unless DR functions differently, yeah. It's a bit of a problem because realistically it's a threshold effect -- below a particular speed irrelevant, once you get past that speed it can pretty rapidly transform into the object just ceasing to exist.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Unless DR functions differently, yeah. It's a bit of a problem because realistically it's a threshold effect -- below a particular speed irrelevant, once you get past that speed it can pretty rapidly transform into the object just ceasing to exist.

Which is sometimes a problem for a lot of things, such as the classic muskets vs. sailing ships. But in this case I think less so, as mentioned by an earlier poster once you break through damage tends to escalate quickly.
Rip shingles off or break windows, or push a tree through a wall and water can get inside to affect materials not designed to handle that.