Can you combine Roll With Blow to reduce damage taken when slamming?

[Christopher R. Rice]

Exactly what the title says. Can you use Roll With Blow to reduce the damage you take after you slam a target?

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Exactly what the title says. Can you use Roll With Blow to reduce the damage you take after you slam a target?

Before we answer that, a more interesting prep Q might be how the knockback from crushing damage inflicted (B371) works. If you have move 5, run 3 yards and slam, take 5 damage and get knocked back 1 yard, does your remaining 2 move carry you 2 yards past, or merely 1 since you have to make up for the loss?

[Ternas]

Originally Posted by Plane

Before we answer that, a more interesting prep Q might be how the knockback from crushing damage inflicted (B371) works. If you have move 5, run 3 yards and slam, take 5 damage and get knocked back 1 yard, does your remaining 2 move carry you 2 yards past, or merely 1 since you have to make up for the loss?

Considering that the original question is implying that the slam was made successfully and the opponent failed to dodge, there is no reason for the slammer to move 2 yards past the slammee as that only occurs when missing or it is dodged per RAW on B371



For the original question, as Slams are considered to be dealing crushing damage to each person per B371 and Knockback is only available to cutting and crushing attacks per B378, I do not see any reason why a slam would not cause knockback unless not enough damage was dealt to cross the ST-2 threshold for minimum knockback which would be normal with most



That being said, Roll with Blow from MA87 does say whenever you're hit by a crushing attack you may roll it. The major question there is now if the rebound damage the slammer takes from his own slam counts as a being hit by a crushing attack which I personally believe does count.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Plane

Before we answer that, a more interesting prep Q might be how the knockback from crushing damage inflicted (B371) works. If you have move 5, run 3 yards and slam, take 5 damage and get knocked back 1 yard, does your remaining 2 move carry you 2 yards past, or merely 1 since you have to make up for the loss?

Yeah, that's not really germane to this. I'm looking at what happens after a successful slam, not before. Thanks

[Gold & Appel Inc]

As the point of making a Slam is to transfer your own kinetic energy to the target, and the point of Roll With Blow is to absorb the kinetic energy transferred to you, my assumption has always been that either the Slam itself or the Roll away from it wouldn't work and that it would be a really pointless thing to do, albeit theoretically possible. Maybe if a really, really experienced Pro Wrestler was trying to do a Slam with Sumo or Brawling Art on a target who lacks the experience to "sell" the move any other way and is committed enough to the performance to take (and give) some light bruising...

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Ternas

Considering that the original question is implying that the slam was made successfully and the opponent failed to dodge, there is no reason for the slammer to move 2 yards past the slammee as that only occurs when missing or it is dodged per RAW on B371

If the slammer had leftover MP they might opt to evade past the foe after slamming them.

Originally Posted by Ternas

Roll with Blow from MA87 does say whenever you're hit by a crushing attack you may roll it. The major question there is now if the rebound damage the slammer takes from his own slam counts as a being hit by a crushing attack which I personally believe does count.

I guess another situation is if a ST 10 guy punches someone with Reflexive DR 8 for 8 damage, reflecting 8 damage back at him, if that would knock him back as if it were a distinct attack.

"Hurting Yourself" on B379 also, you take crushing damage, so knowing if you could roll with THAT is also good.

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Yeah, that's not really germane to this. I'm looking at what happens after a successful slam, not before. Thanks

Was talking about that: understanding knockback is germaine to RWB since doubling it is how it justifies the damage-halving.

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

As the point of making a Slam is to transfer your own kinetic energy to the target, and the point of Roll With Blow is to absorb the kinetic energy transferred to you, my assumption has always been that either the Slam itself or the Roll away from it wouldn't work

If we assumed that the attacker couldn't do it without lowering his damage, but we still allowed the defender to do it, should that mean it's not just the defender who takes half damage but also the attacker?

[Kromm]

It feels wrong to me.

The entire idea behind Roll with Blow is that you let the incoming attack shove your whole body away rather than cause trauma to a small part of it (in effect by moving it without the rest of your body coming along). In narrative terms, you're "lightening" your body to avoid harm. Curiously, "body lightening" is how similar concepts found in some martial arts translate.

The entire idea behind a slam is that you're trying to develop as much momentum as possible in order to push through a target and knock them down and/or away. There are really only two ways to do this: be heavy or move fast. The game even supports this by making slam damage a function of Move and a stand-in for mass: HP.

So if you lighten your body, you ought to be less effective in a slam. In effect you become less dangerous to your target and easier to knock down.

If you were asking me writer-to-developer, I'd simply say, "No way."

If you were asking me as a player at my gaming table, I'd say the same thing.

If you were the GM and I were the player, and you allowed it, I'd just shrug, but it would cause me serious difficulty suspending disbelief.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Exactly what the title says. Can you use Roll With Blow to reduce the damage you take after you slam a target?

Given the basic point of rolling with the blow is that you are deliberately letting yourself be knocked back, I would implement it as reducing the damage you take, but also reducing the damage you do, and the reduction to the damage you do would be resolved before figuring out who won the slam...

[zoncxs]

Originally Posted by Kromm

....

This is what I was thinking as well.

Roll with blow and a slam means reduced damage for you and the target. Think of it like WWE wrestling match, you are pulling the hit to not cause a lot of harm, but it still "looks" devastating.

[GodBeastX]

Is there a way to lessen slam damage in other ways? Such as "Bracing" in some form or impacting with locations on your body better suited for taking an impact? (Shoulders are popular?)