Falling from the 10th floor is not as bad as seems...

[trooper6]

I love playing things out. So, I'm going to make some rolls.

Mike Spade, Private Detective, is on the top of a 10 story roof. He is fighting with Victor the Scar. Due to some a Shove attack from Victor, Mike goes plunging off the side of the building...oh no!

Now Mike, knows Judo, like any good pulp hero...let's say he knows it at 14. So he attempts a Breakfall to lesson the fall a bit. He rolls an 8, a success. So the fall is 28 yards rather than 33.

28yds is 25 velocity. 25*10*2/100=5. So that's 5 dice of damage.

I roll randomly for location: 14...Left Leg.

So how much damage? I roll my 5d and get == 18 damage.
That is enough to cripple the leg...so now I roll 1d and come up with a four...so it only cripples one leg not both.

So. Mike's Left Leg is automatically completely destroyed.
He is now at -8HP, and suffers a major wound.

Mike's HT roll to avoid knockdown and Stunning: 10. That's a success.
Mike's HT roll to avoid knockout: 8. Also success.

So Mike is on the ground with a destroyed limb, and severe bleeding. Note, I'll also be using the Severe Bleeding rules from MA138.

Turn 1: Mike calls out for help. Doing this prompts a HT check to stay conscious, he rolls a 13, and fails. He's out.

29 seconds later. Mike must make a severe bleeding roll. -3 for the HP lost, -3 because he suffered from a destroyed leg. So that's HT-6. He rolls a 10 and fails. Now he's at -9HP.

30 seconds later. He rolls again. 11. Now he's at -10HP. And has to roll a death check. 16. He's dead.

So...falling off the building did kill him.

[Ragitsu]

Well, it's definitely more heroic than dying from a bulging can of chili.

[thulben]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

I sincerely hope that is not the case. GURPS is consistently noted for it's realism in the pencil and paper roleplaying game community.

There's being realistic and there's being realistic. If you want a game that's really realistic, play GURPS: Accountants (or IT worker or...). The truth is that games are fun because they're not realistic. Games allow you to be the 250 lb Rambo shooting up the room with a hip shot machine gun. Real life doesn't.

[Ragitsu]

Originally Posted by thulben

There's being realistic and there's being realistic. If you want a game that's really realistic, play GURPS: Accountants (or IT worker or...). The truth is that games are fun because they're not realistic. Games allow you to be the 250 lb Rambo shooting up the room with a hip shot machine gun. Real life doesn't.

Default GURPS is not. You add on to make it larger than life, not subtract to make it realistic.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

I sincerely hope that is not the case. GURPS is consistently noted for it's realism in the pencil and paper roleplaying game community.

Not exactly setting the bar high, dere.

But if you pile on the "realism" optional rules, while I don't think you'd quite get to the lethality of a real 10 story fall, you'd get much closer than what most games have to offer.

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

Default GURPS is not. You add on to make it larger than life, not subtract to make it realistic.

I don't think that is true.

Default is somewhere in between cinematic or realistic.
If you want more realistic you add on some realistic rules like Bleeding, and subtract some other rules like Extra Effort in Combat.
If you want more cinematic you add on some cinematic rules.

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

Default GURPS is not. You add on to make it larger than life, not subtract to make it realistic.

Default GURPS is heroic roleplaying, you subtract to get boring.

[Kelly Pedersen]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

Default GURPS is not. You add on to make it larger than life, not subtract to make it realistic.

This is not the case. Kromm has repeatedly stated that GURPS 4e, at least, has been designed with heroic adventuring in mind. For example, this post. Or the many times attributes of 10 have been confirmed to be "average healthy 18-25-year-old male in good condition", not "statistical mean of the human population". Or how Combat Reflexes are essentially discounted so that characters are more likely to survive in combat. Or the way unarmed combat skill get a damage bonus for high skill that weapons just don't. Or the fact that several rule books have now had "Harsh Realism" sections - if you need a section on "Harsh Realism", your default rules are not realistic.

[Captain Joy]

Originally Posted by trooper6

So...falling off the building did kill him.

And in about 60 seconds. So, gilbertocarlos, is that realistic enough for you now? As I said, I'd be curious to see you stat out the different probabilities after adding in the bleeding the rules. My guess is death from internal bleeding in most of the time.

[Luke Bunyip]

Originally Posted by Captain Joy

And in about 60 seconds. So, gilbertocarlos, is that realistic enough for you now? As I said, I'd be curious to see you stat out the different probabilities after adding in the bleeding the rules. My guess is death from internal bleeding in most of the time.

IIRC from my last 1st Aid training session, having a pair of fractured femurs will result in death from internal bleeding. And this is disregarding any damage to the feet and pelvis.

Oh, to be called Jamie or Adam, and to have access to some ballistics gel and a fake skeleton or three....