Glass Bottle vs. 9 mm Parabellum

[Gurps Fan]

Anyone knows that any commercial 9mm handgun round can easily destroy any of glassware in your house in one shot. But does this happen in GURPS?

A small (1/4 cup = 2 fluid ounces) glass bottle has DR 1 and HP 3 (Low-Tech, p. 34). It's a piece of glass with no moving parts, so it's obviously Homogenous. The bottle is going to match against an iconic 9mm handgun, Beretta 92F (High-Tech, p. 100), which does 2d+2 pi or 9 points (on average). On hit, the glass bottle above takes an injury of (9 - DR 1) * 1/5 (for Homogenous) = 1 point, rounded down.

Yes, only one point per round --you need to shoot the bottle three times with 9mm handgun to force it to roll a unconsciousness check (partial destruction), and six times to force it to roll a death check (total destruction)! This is clearly a murphy. How can you destroy glassware with a handgun in one shot in GURPS, just like in the real life?

[Danukian]

Originally Posted by Gurps Fan

Anyone knows that any commercial 9mm handgun round can easily destroy any of glassware in your house in one shot. But does this happen in GURPS?

A small (1/4 cup = 2 fluid ounces) glass bottle has DR 1 and HP 3 (Low-Tech, p. 34). It's a piece of glass with no moving parts, so it's obviously Homogenous. The bottle is going to match against an iconic 9mm handgun, Beretta 92F (High-Tech, p. 100), which does 2d+2 pi or 9 points (on average). On hit, the glass bottle above takes an injury of (9 - DR 1) * 1/5 (for Homogenous) = 1 point, rounded down.

Yes, only one point per round --you need to shoot the bottle three times with 9mm handgun to force it to roll a unconsciousness check (partial destruction), and six times to force it to roll a death check (total destruction)! This is clearly a murphy. How can you destroy glassware with a handgun in one shot in GURPS, just like in the real life?

As noted on Low Tech p34, Glass bottles aren't Homogenous (which is meant for solid objects), they are Brittle - see Bpg 136. - so 9 points of damage - 1DR will shatter the glassware just fine.

[Gurps Fan]

Originally Posted by Danukian

As noted on Low Tech p34, Glass bottles aren't Homogenous (which is meant for solid objects), they are Brittle - see Bpg 136. - so 9 points of damage - 1DR will shatter the glassware just fine.

Yes, glass bottles are Brittle, as pointed out on p. 34 of Low-Tech, and I didn't say otherwise. However, Brittle and Homogenous are not mutually exclusive (examples include Body of Stone meta-trait, p. B262). And a glass bottle is a solid object; in fact, Homogenous is particularly meant for beings whose "body has no vulnerable internal organs, bones, muscles, or other mechanisms" (p. B60). Glass bottles, which lack "internal organs, bones, muscles, or other mechanisms", are obviously Homogenous -- just as wooden furniture is.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Gurps Fan

And a glass bottle is a solid object;

No: it is hollow, which is the opposite of solid.

[Gurps Fan]

Originally Posted by Brett

No: it is hollow, which is the opposite of solid.

OK, it might be interesting to discuss what the English word "solid" acutually means, let's leave this question aside for the moment. The question here is whether glass bottles are Homogenous in GURPS terms.

What I want to say is simple: Homogenous means "Your body has no vulnerable internal organs, bones, muscles, or other mechanisms" (p. B60), and grass bottles has no vulnerable internal organs, bones, muscles, or other mechanisms. Therefore, grass bottles are Homogenous. Q.E.D.

If glass bottles were not Homogenous, they would suddenly suffer all the troubles specifically intended for meat-and-blood people, such as *4 injuries for brain hits, *2 for impaling attacks (*3 if on vitals), etc. That's unlikely.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Brett

No: it is hollow, which is the opposite of solid.

Many unpowered vehicles are also hollow, but they do count as Homogeneous.

I'm inclined to not give glass the benefits of homogeneous because of its basic fragility, but it does lack the features that normally result in either living or unliving injury vulnerability.

[Gurps Fan]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

I'm inclined to not give glass the benefits of homogeneous because of its basic fragility, but it does lack the features that normally result in either living or unliving injury vulnerability.

If "glass is too fragile to be Homogeneous in GURPS terms", then there arises a new problem: Where's the borderline between "Doesn't deserve Homogeneous because of its basic fragility" and "Not fragile enough to be deprived of Homogenous"? Are 2-gallon glass bottles Homogenous or not? How about 58-cubic-inch wodden boxes? (Both on p. 34 of Low-Tech.)

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

Many unpowered vehicles are also hollow, but they do count as Homogeneous.

I said "opposite of solid", not "opposite of Homogeneous".

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Brett

No: it is hollow, which is the opposite of solid.

Ah, the fun with languages. I mean, if it's liquid or gaseous as opposed to solid, it should be Diffuse. :)

[Enoch]

The rules Basic specifically give hollow objects as an example of Homogeneous.