Is Cheese Equal to Steel?

[AlexanderHowl]

I was wondering if it made sense that 1 metric ton of cheese possesses the same HP as 1 metric ton of steel in GURPS?

[Ottriman]

I definitely agree that this is a very problematic aspect of GURPS, I myself decoupled hp from mass.

I use separate mass points to calculate collisions and then use hp for structural tolerances.

That way cheese will have less hp than steel as it should.

Note that even if you don't feel like overhauling hp and mass, the steel will have much much higher DR, which does help make it more durable than cheese against most attacks.

[Maz]

I don't know if it makes sense.
But, you have to remember that one metric ton of cheese is significantly larger than one ton of steel. And HP is also a measure of volume = large things have more HP.

Example of one pound mozarella cheese: https://happymoneysaver.com/wp-conte...6-17.15.42.jpg
Example of one pount steel weight: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/7f/34/b5/7...nd-weights.jpg

In the above case, the cheese has about 80 times more volume (very rough guestimate).

[Ulzgoroth]

Yeah, not sure it's a real problem - though the division of HP and DR is troubling for homogeneous blocks of tough material. A metric ton of steel is both much less volume of material to disrupt and still much more damage resistant.

[tbone]

However funny GURPS may be here, it'll feel a little less funny if you keep in mind that the ton of cheese is much bigger than the ton of steel.

I think that 1-ton cube of steel is going to be about 50cm tall, while a 1-ton cube of whole-milk mozzarella will loom over it at about 125cm in height. So you don't want to go too light on the cheese's HP, because it is a fairly decent-sized block, maybe even a threat to delvers, as the Dungeon Fantasy answer to That Other Game's famed Gelatinous Cube, in which case...

What? Why do people keep giving us gamers weird looks??

(Note: Looks like Maz just beat me to the size comparison. But anyway, I say we let the other game have its dungeon-clearing cube. Let's go with a giant wheel of parmesan instead, just rolling down the corridors, crushing all in its way. Beat that, D&D!)

[mlangsdorf]

I get mozzarella at about 30 lbs per cubic foot - about half the density of water, while steel is about 500 lbs per cubic foot. Cheese should have 16-17 times the volume of steel, not 80.

A 1ft cube of steel has DR 400 and HP 60, while a cube of cheese 2.5 ft on each side with the same weight has DR 1 (maybe) and HP 60. Destroying the huge block of cheese is the work of a couple of seconds with an ax or submachine gun, while destroying the cube of steel requires specialized equipment.

I don't like the numbers on the scaling rules, because I think really large things need more HP then they get in GURPS, but scaling HP with mass produces sensible results if you account for DR.

[David Johansen]

nah, the cheese bought down it's hit points to buy a better reputation than steel. Steel also sunk points into DR where cheese put its points into flavour and calories.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

IA 1ft cube of steel has DR 400 and HP 60, while a cube of cheese 2.5 ft on each side with the same weight has DR 1 (maybe) and HP 60.

It depends on whether it's a hard cheese or a soft cheese. A solid block of parmesan could have DR 1 (cutting it with a knife takes some effort!); a block of fresh mozzarella certainly has no DR.

[Say, it isn't that bad!]

Given the difference in DR, I don't see a problem here.

Take a large block of cheese, and just try cutting it into tiny pieces. You'll be at it for hours! :D :p

[Humabout]

Personally, I like Luke Campbell's relative SM-based wounding modifier for addressing differences in size independently of mass. Its worth checking out here:

http://panoptesv.com/RPGs/HouseRules/ImpPierce.html