TFT: The Weight of Weapons (in kilograms)

[Jim Kane]

This morning I recalled a statement in either Man-to-Man, GURPS 1st ed., or a TSG Designer Notes article, that SJ felt the weight of the TFT weapons were estimated and stated as: "too high"; and therefore in designing for what would become GURPS they would actually weigh real weapons (or their rough equivalent) on a scale, in order to get the weight of the weapons more accurate in relation to the real-world.

QUESTIONS:

• Should SJ bother to bring those more accurate GURPS weapon weights into TFT, and supplant the originally listed TFT values in ITL and AM for the re-edit?
• Should the employed Unit-of-Mass be changed from Kilograms to Pounds?
• Does this matter to anyone enough to warrant changing?

Thoughts?

JK

[Rick_Smith]

I'm all for having the masses of weapons made more accurate.

Warm regards, Rick.

[JLV]

We already had the "pounds versus kilograms" debate a few months back.

The upshot was; a couple of folks felt strongly one way or the other, most of us inclined slightly one way or the other, and in the end, nobody really cared since it came out in the wash, and you could use whichever system of weights and measures you wanted in your game...

[Jim Kane]

Originally Posted by JLV

We already had the "pounds versus kilograms" debate a few months back.

Are you sure JLV? I thought we only covered Kilometers vs Miles; no?

JK

[Anthony]

Armor and weapon weight being completely ridiculous is a standard feature of RPGs. No-one seems to care.

[ak_aramis]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Armor and weapon weight being completely ridiculous is a standard feature of RPGs.

Relatively true. Some do make reasonable numbers.

Originally Posted by Anthony

No-one seems to care.

Not true. Some of us would rather they were accurate. If there is to be an update, that's one element that should be updated.

[JLV]

Originally Posted by Jim Kane

Are you sure JLV? I thought we only covered Kilometers vs Miles; no?

JK

Call it "metric" versus "English" if you prefer; either way, the debate was done. The upshot is the same. At the end of the day, no one thinks it really matters in terms of the rules, and if it's important enough to you personally to worry about, then just change the terms to suit. Really, it's close enough given the game mechanics as currently written. It only really becomes important when you are considering things like encumbrances and what-not, and even then, if you just think of a Kilogram as being roughly 2 pounds and a smidge, you'll be close enough in the game. Does it really matter whether it's "2 pounds or so" or "2.204 pounds?"

[Jim Kane]

Originally Posted by JLV

Call it "metric" versus "English" if you prefer; either way, the debate was done. The upshot is the same. At the end of the day, no one thinks it really matters in terms of the rules, and if it's important enough to you personally to worry about, then just change the terms to suit. Really, it's close enough given the game mechanics as currently written. It only really becomes important when you are considering things like encumbrances and what-not, and even then, if you just think of a Kilogram as being roughly 2 pounds and a smidge, you'll be close enough in the game. Does it really matter whether it's "2 pounds or so" or "2.204 pounds?"

Actually it doesn't personally matter one iota to me JLV, which is why I asked in my final question: "Does this matter to anyone enough to warrant changing?"

As far as I am concerned, the Unit-of-Mass for TFT could be stated in GP's, Pounds, Kilos, Dirty Socks, whatever; because by my way of thinking, when one totals items up to check against the encumbrance values, it is the comparative numerical values which are important, not the Unit-of-Mass they are stated in.

But it is important to me to learn what others think and feel, for others opinions and thoughts on TFT help me to understand my own, and/or offer me the opportunity to re-examine my own ideas about TFT; and that is why I ask for opinions on matters where I have not offered my own.

So, even though I personally don't care which Unit-of-Mass or the ultra-accuracy of weapon-weights, that doesn't mean everyone else does; and I was interested to learn how others felt; this is why I asked to learn other's feelings on the matters, regarding the importance and relevance of GURPS-level accurate weapon-weights AND Unit-of-Mass.

Anyway, thanks for letting me know we already covered the topic at an earlier date. Apparently, I have forgotten, and only recall taking about Unit-of-Distance (Km vs Mi)

JLV, did SJ indicate what he intends to do on these two topics pf weapon-weight and Ki vs Lbs. for the re-write?

JK

[David Bofinger]

Carrying a sword generally implies you're carrying some associated equipment. A scabbard, a whetstone, a rag you use to clean off blood, etc. I don't want the nuisance of keeping track of these things so it makes sense that their weight is folded into the weight of the weapon for encumbrance purposes. Scabbards at least can weigh a significant fraction of the weight of the swords they protect. On this basis TFT weights start to look more reasonable.

[JLV]

Which is a pretty good point, after all. Fact of the matter is, I see that some games nowadays treat encumbrance more like a computer game with "slots" that can accept gear which are themselves limited by various factors.

Frankly, even something that simplistic would work just fine for me -- and it blocks those players (and we've all known them) who want to list every last lucky rabbit's foot and bent half-farthing they are carrying on an equipment list as big as your typical backyard swimming pool...