05-26-2016, 11:34 PM | #1 |
Join Date: May 2016
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Unbreakable Shield, Breakable Wielder
If a character is in the possession of an "Unbreakable" shield (let's say DR appropriate to stop a giant with a maul), can a huge impact still damage the arm/torso of the wielder? I would say so, but how much force would that take?
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05-26-2016, 11:48 PM | #2 |
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Colorado
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Re: Unbreakable Shield, Breakable Wielder
Realistically, even if the shield has the DR to stop the attack with no effect, the wielder would at the very least still be subject to knockback.
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05-27-2016, 12:43 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Phoenix, Arizona, USA, Earth, Sol, Milky Way, Infinity.
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Re: Unbreakable Shield, Breakable Wielder
There's a character in my Dungeon Fantasy game that has an unbreakable shield. When he takes a square hit (not deflected), I subject him to the knock back of the damage even though his shield will be unharmed.
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05-27-2016, 01:30 AM | #4 |
Join Date: Apr 2013
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Re: Unbreakable Shield, Breakable Wielder
Blunt Trauma injury to the arm would be reasonable.
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05-27-2016, 01:42 AM | #5 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: Unbreakable Shield, Breakable Wielder
Make sure that you aren't making the character with the unbreakable shield worse off than the character with a normal one.
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05-27-2016, 03:13 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Brighton
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Re: Unbreakable Shield, Breakable Wielder
That's how I'd do it, but I'd make it less* severe then normal, otherwise even human level combatant's will be doing damage through shields
maybe, double (or even triple) the thresholds for CR & Cut damage and ignore Pi & Imp? But I think knock back is also the way to go here *shields are rigid and often padded after all, even if they are strapped to the arm |
05-27-2016, 07:38 AM | #7 | |
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Vermont
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Re: Unbreakable Shield, Breakable Wielder
I agree, blunt trauma and knockback are the right mechanics to deal with this, and both of those rules should be applied to all shields, including those with finite and reasonable DR and Hit Points.
Quote:
Either way, if you would have succeed your block without the shield DB, then you deflected the blow rather than taking the force straight on--in those cases you shouldn't take any damage regardless of how strong your shield is.
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My ongoing thread of GURPS versions of DC Comics characters. |
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05-29-2016, 01:49 AM | #8 |
Join Date: May 2016
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Re: Unbreakable Shield, Breakable Wielder
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05-29-2016, 02:59 AM | #9 |
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ellicott City, MD
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Re: Unbreakable Shield, Breakable Wielder
Apply knockback/knockdown, depending on the angle of the swing. While that first hit may not cause Injury through the shield, well, a prone target is not going to block very well.
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05-29-2016, 06:56 AM | #10 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: Unbreakable Shield, Breakable Wielder
In a heroic game, I'd much rather have heroes flying off and taking damage from hitting walls or the floor, sometimes both. Effects are more interesting than HP.
If I want something more realistic, for both blocks and parries there is a point where you get hit in the face with your own shield or weapon - it's just too fast and heavy to glance off. If I needed to run this on the fly, I might say halve damage, subtract Lifting ST, and take the rest. This means no effect up to 2xST, which seems like a good "we don't usually have to worry about this" threshold - an opponent probably needs ST 40+ to even start threatening this. |
Tags |
breakable wielder, shield, unbreakable |
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