Vermin stacking

hcobb · 09-26-2019, 11:23 AM

Limiting to two rats per hex would mean that Toughness I gives 75% protection against rats and two points of armor and or Toughness will offer complete protection.

Example: Unarmed Halfling in leather slaughters a thousand rats while singing "Picking up the field mice and bopping them on the head."

Currently I favor a vermin stacking limit of no less than six. (This has the charm of treating hexes as megahexes for vermin scale, with the victim in the center of the mini-megahex.)

Slimes should stack two to the hex at most though.

Skarg · 09-26-2019, 03:54 PM

I tend to think of the 2 rats stacking limit "errata" a bit like the "you can never fall into a pit by forced retreat" rules as needless ill-considered attempts to reduce unhappy neophyte deaths, in ways that in my practical experience actually do not need such rule changes, and make those situations rather less interesting. (And silly/wrong in the case of "Mr. Rat Immune" with Toughness 2.)

Also, appealing to basic logic, there is no stated HTH stacking limit for full-sized figures (probably there should be something), and clearly a minimum of at least three humans per hex are anticipated by the multiple HTH rules. Not to mention how many rats can actually swarm on a person or in a hex-sized area.

Of course, there is a weirdness to the stacking rat bite damage, too. But TWO rats?

hcobb · 09-26-2019, 05:17 PM

A rat per square foot isn't crowded and there's over a dozen square feet per hex, while an adult human is going to have about two dozen square feet of skin.

Skarg · 09-27-2019, 02:27 PM

Yes, 12 plus up to 24 rats on a person sounds more like a real limit.

I might require a DX roll for a rat to manage to get onto a person, though.

The cumulative damage is the main thing that needs work, though. Really it ought to be more about rats working their way to something they can bite through, more than biting through armor, especially metal armor.

09-26-2019, 11:23 AM	#1
hcobb Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Pacheco, California	Vermin stacking Limiting to two rats per hex would mean that Toughness I gives 75% protection against rats and two points of armor and or Toughness will offer complete protection. Example: Unarmed Halfling in leather slaughters a thousand rats while singing "Picking up the field mice and bopping them on the head." Currently I favor a vermin stacking limit of no less than six. (This has the charm of treating hexes as megahexes for vermin scale, with the victim in the center of the mini-megahex.) Slimes should stack two to the hex at most though. __________________ -HJC

09-26-2019, 03:54 PM	#2
Skarg Join Date: May 2015	Re: Vermin stacking I tend to think of the 2 rats stacking limit "errata" a bit like the "you can never fall into a pit by forced retreat" rules as needless ill-considered attempts to reduce unhappy neophyte deaths, in ways that in my practical experience actually do not need such rule changes, and make those situations rather less interesting. (And silly/wrong in the case of "Mr. Rat Immune" with Toughness 2.) Also, appealing to basic logic, there is no stated HTH stacking limit for full-sized figures (probably there should be something), and clearly a minimum of at least three humans per hex are anticipated by the multiple HTH rules. Not to mention how many rats can actually swarm on a person or in a hex-sized area. Of course, there is a weirdness to the stacking rat bite damage, too. But TWO rats?

09-26-2019, 05:17 PM	#3
hcobb Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Pacheco, California	Re: Vermin stacking A rat per square foot isn't crowded and there's over a dozen square feet per hex, while an adult human is going to have about two dozen square feet of skin. __________________ -HJC

09-27-2019, 02:27 PM	#4
Skarg Join Date: May 2015	Re: Vermin stacking Yes, 12 plus up to 24 rats on a person sounds more like a real limit. I might require a DX roll for a rat to manage to get onto a person, though. The cumulative damage is the main thing that needs work, though. Really it ought to be more about rats working their way to something they can bite through, more than biting through armor, especially metal armor.