Gravity, ST, and Terrans on Mars

[isf]

How does a character's strength change if they are on a world with higher or lower gravity?

Since Mars has a gravity of .38, Earth would have a gravity about 2.5 that of Mars. If I have the ST scale normed for Mars, would I just give Terrans a new ST that has a BL of 2.5 times their BL on Earth? I assume that HP should not change since it is mass based, but shouldn't Terrans be tougher than a Martian of the same mass? If so, how could you model this effect?

[lexington]

Originally Posted by isf

How does a character's strength change if they are on a world with higher or lower gravity?

See the "Different Gravity" rules on page 350 of Basic Set. One thing they don't mention that might be important is MinST for weapons, which should probably scale the same way.

Originally Posted by isf

I assume that HP should not change since it is mass based, but shouldn't Terrans be tougher than a Martian of the same mass? If so, how could you model this effect?

If you want to reflect something like Martians being tall and spindly because of the low gravity give them Vulnerability (Crushing, x2) [-30].

[vitruvian]

Originally Posted by isf

How does a character's strength change if they are on a world with higher or lower gravity?

Since Mars has a gravity of .38, Earth would have a gravity about 2.5 that of Mars. If I have the ST scale normed for Mars, would I just give Terrans a new ST that has a BL of 2.5 times their BL on Earth? I assume that HP should not change since it is mass based, but shouldn't Terrans be tougher than a Martian of the same mass? If so, how could you model this effect?

I'd just let HP vary with the ST, on the basis that it's not just mass, but how tough and resilient your muscle, bone, and other tissues are as well that determines HP. After all, a ST 20 human doesn't need to weigh in at 1000 lbs; the mass -> HP formula is just a guideline.

If you don't want their Slams and such to work like they weigh a lot more than they do, you can declare any portion of their additional HP you like 'massless', as in not affecting collisions; this would also make falls in Martian gravity less serious for them.

So, if norming ST 10 to be what lets a typical Martian humanoid have a BL of 20 in Martian gravity, that results in a Terran visitor template that looks something like:

ST +6 [60]
Basic Speed +2 [40] (On the basis that Terrans are able to move faster and are used to reacting to things falling much faster)
Super Jump 1 [10] (Together with Basic Speed boost, results in leaps around 3x normal distance)

[Dammann]

It is a good question, because on one hand, a martian shouldn't be able to lift as much weight, but should maybe have the same capacity for absorbing damage.

Also, although the strength required to lift a weapon of a certain mass is altered, the strength required to move it around and absorb or alter its inertia would be the same. I am thinking of when I wanted to train with the monk spade, back in kung fu school, many years ago. The test for determining whether a student was eligible for training involved holding the monk spade level with the ground for an interval, which is a fair test of wrist strength. You need to have that for using a weapon that has a 30-40 pound metal weight on the end. I failed to test successfully to begin monk spade training. But I might have actually passed that test on Mars! Then I end up having difficulty keeping control of the weapon during training.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by lexington

See the "Different Gravity" rules on page 350 of Basic Set.

Seriously. There are already rules for this, there's no need to reinvent the wheel. If you have a specific issue with the RAW, then I can see a reason to address it, but I'm at a loss as to why we need to play "What if I had written the Basic Set".

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by isf

How does a character's strength change if they are on a world with higher or lower gravity?

Since Mars has a gravity of .38, Earth would have a gravity about 2.5 that of Mars. If I have the ST scale normed for Mars, would I just give Terrans a new ST that has a BL of 2.5 times their BL on Earth? I assume that HP should not change since it is mass based, but shouldn't Terrans be tougher than a Martian of the same mass?

Honestly? No. The effect of lower gravity would make it possible for Martians to have less mass for a given height or even allow them to be large land invertebrates. But it would not necessarily reduce lifting ability for a given mass.

[Stripe]

After reading p. B350, I think you'll agree that Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter was a highly-cinematic character.

You may wish to give a Carter-like Superman a little extra ST, but more importantly Striking ST (p. B88). You may wish to give him Tough Skin (p. B47) as well. I've only read the first Barsoom novella, and that was long time ago, but if I remember correctly, Carter could split a Green Martian's skull with a punch pretty easily. IIRC, he killed more than one with his bare hands.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by isf

How does a character's strength change if they are on a world with higher or lower gravity?

It doesn't. The weight of things changes on a higher or lower gravity world instead. Your BL stays exactly the same, but the same objects weigh less on Mars, so you don't need as high a BL to lift them. I can't see any reason you would want to go the other way.

but shouldn't Terrans be tougher than a Martian of the same mass? If so, how could you model this effect?

Not for any obvious reason. But if you want them to, just give Martians a -4 racial ST, which allows them to lift about the same objects on Mars humans could lift on Earth, without changing their mass from human normal. Problem solved.

I really think you are trying to scale the wrong thing if you are trying to keep Martians at ST 10.

[Grey_Fox]

Originally Posted by malloyd

Not for any obvious reason. But if you want them to, just give Martians a -4 racial ST, which allows them to lift about the same objects on Mars humans could lift on Earth, without changing their mass from human normal. Problem solved.

I really think you are trying to scale the wrong thing if you are trying to keep Martians at ST 10.

I second this, it would seem that in an environment with a lower gravity then earth the native inhabitants would require less ST in general and hence have lower hit points. So a typical Terran will seem much stronger and tougher than a typical Martian, also on Mars a Terran will seem a lot stronger than he normally is on Earth and on Earth a Martian will seem a lot weaker than he is on Mars.

This works whether you are talking about native (alien) Martians that have evolved on Mars or whether you mean human settlers on Mars, for evolution is just a case of being adjusted to the environment and for humans it’s a case of Wolff’s Law and similar principles that apply to muscle.

[Dammann]

OTOH, changing an object's momentum is reliant on the mass of the object, regardless of local gravity. So if martians are too weak, they would also have difficulty (for example) reversing a sword they swing around.

Maybe that makes sense, though. They might use thinner beams in construction after all, since the load is less, so maybe their swords are also more slender, and their maces (which don't need to be as heavy due to martians having fewer HP to begin with).

edit:
I do agree that it is better to alter martian strength rather than changing other parameters to fit a martian w/ ST 10.