Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Damage to Force (in Newtons or any other unit)

Anaraxes · 09-22-2021, 07:56 PM

If the goal is to figure out whether or not you can move something by hitting it with an attack, then for muscle-powered attacks we've already got rules for shoving and throwing things (B353). Use the character's ST value. The damage multipliers on a weapon will either be irrelevant or actually disadvantageous. (If you're merely trying to move something, you don't want to poke into it; that's wasted energy for this purpose.) For non-muscle-powered attacks, you could try taking the damage dice and look it up on the ST-powered damage table in reverse to get an effective ST value. You probably want to limit the effect to explosions, impact damage, etc, since fire or laser beams aren't good at moving things they affect. (Still a pretty horrible oversimplification, but it's easy to do.) If the goal is to figure out whether or not you can damage an object, then there are rules for attacking objects.

What other uses do you foresee for applying a force in a game situation?

If you need Newtons as a unit, then you can use the lifting rules to get a force value for a given ST. (If you can just barely lift a given mass, then you're just capable of exerting the same force as does gravity.) One lbf (pound (force)) is 4.45 N, so just multiply by the lift values.

09-22-2021, 07:56 PM	#4
Anaraxes Join Date: Sep 2007	Re: Damage to Force (in Newtons or any other unit) If the goal is to figure out whether or not you can move something by hitting it with an attack, then for muscle-powered attacks we've already got rules for shoving and throwing things (B353). Use the character's ST value. The damage multipliers on a weapon will either be irrelevant or actually disadvantageous. (If you're merely trying to move something, you don't want to poke into it; that's wasted energy for this purpose.) For non-muscle-powered attacks, you could try taking the damage dice and look it up on the ST-powered damage table in reverse to get an effective ST value. You probably want to limit the effect to explosions, impact damage, etc, since fire or laser beams aren't good at moving things they affect. (Still a pretty horrible oversimplification, but it's easy to do.) If the goal is to figure out whether or not you can damage an object, then there are rules for attacking objects. What other uses do you foresee for applying a force in a game situation? If you need Newtons as a unit, then you can use the lifting rules to get a force value for a given ST. (If you can just barely lift a given mass, then you're just capable of exerting the same force as does gravity.) One lbf (pound (force)) is 4.45 N, so just multiply by the lift values.