Claw-claw-bite and armor

[Anders]

Low-Tech tells us that horn and bone have a (0.5) armor divisor when doing impaling damage. Should animal attacks be modified accordingly? Should the relevant advantages be bought with this limitation to be realistic? Will Bruno's minotaur weep when she discovers she can no longer impale three characters with one goring charge?

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

Low-Tech tells us that horn and bone have a (0.5) armor divisor when doing impaling damage. Should animal attacks be modified accordingly? Should the relevant advantages be bought with this limitation to be realistic? Will Bruno's minotaur weep when she discovers she can no longer impale three characters with one goring charge?

That would be a rather silly rule. Imagine an X-joule impact with a punch, and an X-joule impact with a punch by a hand with a spike growing out of one's knuckle. Do you seriously believe the former will do more damage than the latter, e.g. while punching a guy in a leather vest of some sort?

Now, some bone weapons might break on a hit, but that's a whole nother issue.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

Low-Tech tells us that horn and bone have a (0.5) armor divisor when doing impaling damage. Should animal attacks be modified accordingly? Should the relevant advantages be bought with this limitation to be realistic? Will Bruno's minotaur weep when she discovers she can no longer impale three characters with one goring charge?

It doesn't answer the question, but I'd note that the bone in Low Tech is specifically dead bone. That's rather different from living bone.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

Low-Tech tells us that horn and bone have a (0.5) armor divisor when doing impaling damage. Should animal attacks be modified accordingly?

Bone and horn, removed from the animal it was growing on, reshaped, and attached to some kind of tool is not necessarily the same as bone and horn appendages attached to the animal growing it in a fairly optimal way. This is not to say that an argument couldn't be made that bone/horn/claws should get an armor divisor, but arguing from bone/horn weapons isn't that argument.

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

That would be a rather silly rule. Imagine an X-joule impact with a punch, and an X-joule impact with a punch by a hand with a spike growing out of one's knuckle. Do you seriously believe the former will do more damage than the latter, e.g. while punching a guy in a leather vest of some sort?

It's been suggested that fists should also have a (0.5) armor divisor. If you adopt that, you might justify that claws and teeth get the same (to make metal weapons special).

[Agramer]

Maybe this post by Dan Howard is relevant here.

[Anders]

Not really, because LT stated impaling damage and DH is talking about cutting damage.

[Agramer]

Y,youre right.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

Low-Tech tells us that horn and bone have a (0.5) armor divisor when doing impaling damage. Should animal attacks be modified accordingly? Should the relevant advantages be bought with this limitation to be realistic? Will Bruno's minotaur weep when she discovers she can no longer impale three characters with one goring charge?

Well, ivory (teeth) isn't the same as bone, but it's probably reasonable to double edge protection vs teeth. As for characters, meh.

[PK]

What Ulz and TBC said -- there's a huge difference between living horn growing out of an animal's body, and that same horn, long-dead and cured. The latter has a (0.5) divisor, the former does not.