GURPS Action 5: Dictionary of Danger - Page 9

Kromm · 01-24-2019, 03:25 PM

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Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

I'm guessing the part where you continue taking FP loss after you pass out, which converts to HP loss and eventually kills you is probably not working as intended, though?

Once you pass out, you're not in agony any more: "You are conscious but in such terrible pain . . .".

Rupert · 01-24-2019, 04:02 PM

So far I think the worst pain I've suffered was from flash-burning my face at fourteen. Second degree burns across most of it, and getting two weeks off school while it healed up to a certain minimal level was not worth it.

The next worst would be the days growing up when my eyes had a severe hayfever reaction. Nothing except whatever pollen was causing it clearing away would stop or relieve the pain, and it was bad enough I'd end up wanting to rip my eyes out.

Compared to that the pain I've been experiencing post bypass op has been fairly minor, though annoying. I found that 1-10 scale completely useless, and ended up discussing the pain levels with my nurses in terms of "Does the pain when you breath prevent you from breathing freely?" and things like that, which was a lot more useful and easier to assess.

And GURPS is, in default form, very generous in how freely you can act when recovering from serious injury, major operations, etc., but I'm sure we all already know this. I'm fine with this as the default - making characters sit round doing nothing for months after any bone damage isn't going to improve most games I play/run.

apoc527 · 01-24-2019, 05:31 PM

Wow, either all of you are just unlucky, or I have some variation of Luck...possibly even Serendipity. It's not like I live in a bubble, but I think the worst thing I've done is stick my foolish face over a beaker of hydrochloric acid and forgot to not breathe. That hurt. So I guess I've got C is for Chemicals covered.

Christopher R. Rice · 01-24-2019, 06:48 PM

Having read said book I must say it's pretty darn useful. I need to internalize it a bit, but it was worth the money I paid for it. Thank you, Sean.

Playing along with everyone else, I've seen . . .

C is for Chemical, because sometimes when you're not thinking you mix ammonia and bleach and then you fall unconscious. Because reasons I guess

E is for Electricity, because as a child my grandfather (and this is an actual quote from my mother who was there) said "Let him do it, he won't do it again" while I was trying to shove car keys in an electrical outlet. I did it twice to make sure I didn't like it.

(My grandfather's approach to just about anything mildly dangerous was to let pain teach a lesson.)

G is for Generic, because when I was 4 I grabbed a curling iron in one hand and didn't let it go because I couldn't tell how hot it was (I have very mild CIP which isn't as useful as you'd think.) I got second degree burns on my left hand because of it.

H is for Heat, because when I was 5 my neighbor's house exploded due to a faulty gas leak. The gas had spread out and when it finally lit it cause numerous (smaller) explosions. I have 3rd degree burn scars on my shoulders and upper back because my mother tried to rush us out of the house and she carried me on her shoulders. She lucked out with a few burns. I didn't. I also burnt my right hand on a kerosene heater when Ii was 6 because my cousin and I were taking turns seeing who could hold their hand on the top the longest. I guess I "won."

L is for Lacerations, I have a lot of these. I've been stabbed half a dozen times, but the worst was 16 when my left shin was more or less filleted by a guy using a machete who had a bone to pick. 102 stitches and I had to stay off my feet for almost a month. Luckily, my cousin (who is a nurse) was there when it happened and managed to get me into the ER in less than 30 minutes and operated on in another 30 or my left leg would look really weird.

O is for Ordnance, because in junior high I literally built a (working) pipe bomb for a school science project. Though I never told them, I made two and tested it in the woods - blew a tree apart and put a bit of shrapnel in my right hand because I wasn't behind enough cover.

S is for Sports, because I upset a guy in high school by telling him I wasn't scared of him. He responded by trying to beat me to death with a baseball bat. A concussion and a lost molar later and he was the one unconscious. I just had a joyful happy filled high school experience. T_T

T is for Tools, because I got a roofing nail stuck in my right foot through my sandel when I was 7. I walked home from my friends where it happened and waited for my mom to come inside. She freaked out at the bloody shoe prints and I ended up in the ER getting it removed.

V is for Vehicles, because I've managed to slam car doors on both my thumbs and have the door lock so it had to be pried open. I didn't break either thumb (a simple dislocation), but they have a permanently crooked look. I've been in a dozen accidents in my life, but thankfully was wearing a seatbelt. I've also been dragged behind a pickup with a chain around my neck for about half a mile down US-58, but I didn't see a road rash entry.

Y is for Yuck, because I grew up in a place where drain ditches basically became retaining ponds and I was forever fishing for them - or catching turtles which I could sell for $30 for a big one.

Z is for Zoo, because when I was 11 and at my uncles farm in Georgia I got kicked in the gut by an angry horse.

I've been shot a couple times too, but that's not in the book. XD

Again, Sean, I love this. I hope to see more at some point.

Dalillama · 01-24-2019, 08:11 PM

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Originally Posted by evileeyore

It wasn't for me (it wasn't a van, but a cadillac... so gas mileage my vary).

Oh yeah, a Caddy is gonna be worse. The van had a flat front, spread the impact around. Also threw me 20 feet and I landed on my head. Was concussed despite having a bike helmet on (at least for the first impact, it broke in two at some point in the proceedings) and had a broken foot, fractured ankle (on the other side) and quite possibly some cracked ribs but those were never xrayed so I dunno. That was also a case where the pain was kinda delayed, I actually got up, picked up the remains of my bike, walked to the side of the road, laid my bag against a tree, laid my head on the bag, and kinda lost track of things til some paramedics were asking what hospital I should be taken to.

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The burn was painful for a moment (like an all consuming flash for the briefest of moments - not even enough for me to be startled) and then nothing but a dull ache from the area (so I didn't realize how bad it was for almost an hour). After that, while it was healing, it only hurt whenever I got too close to something hot (it hurt like the dickens).

For me it was instant searing pain, then I shoved my hand in a pitcher of ice water and held it there til I got to the ER, and the pain came right back the moment I pulled it out. That's also when I learned that I'm allergic to some common painkillers, and most of the rest don't work on me. I tell you what, massage therapy courses were a laugh for the next month or so.

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I was stupidly nigh indestructible† when I was young. Though... I did go home early as my normally inflexible and terrible boss actually seemed to feel sorry for me (and it was a slow day - which yes, he emphasized).

† Kids, youths, young peoples, if you're reading this, don't ~~get hit by cars~~ injure yourself badly. It might not hurt too much when you're young... but when you survive long enough to become an old person, all that pain returns with interest.

Oh my yes. I've actually lost track of the number of times I've been hit by various cars, fortunately mostly at fairly low speeds, as evidenced by my still being alive and ambulatory.

safisher · 01-24-2019, 09:29 PM

This is a riff on the dirty tech sections of High-Tech. Every part of this is great, but Bloody Fields is my favorite. If you have this book and Zombies you've got all you need for some great zombie killing campaigns.

Rupert · 01-24-2019, 11:31 PM

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Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

O is for Ordnance, because in junior high I literally built a (working) pipe bomb for a school science project. Though I never told them, I made two and tested it in the woods - blew a tree apart and put a bit of shrapnel in my right hand because I wasn't behind enough cover.

That Fried face I mentioned I got? That was a premature ignition of the napalm projector I was working on. It turns out that when you have a fuse running down into the black powder charge that's to project the napalm, the flame from the fuse will light the fumes from the napalm.

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T is for Tools, because I got a roofing nail stuck in my right foot through my sandel when I was 7. I walked home from my friends where it happened and waited for my mom to come inside. She freaked out at the bloody shoe prints and I ended up in the ER getting it removed.

My Mum put a garden fork through her foot (and rubber boot) when gardening when we were kids. She pulled it out, wrapped her foot with a bandage, put it back in the boot and continued doing the gardening. Didn't go to A&E, because it didn't get infected.

These days my parents spend a fair bit of time in A&E, because they still have their little farm, and at their age their skin gets torn up really easily.

I've knifed my hands a couple of times, once badly enough to go to hospital to get it cleaned and stitched, but that kind of injury is common enough it's hardly worth mentioning.

The guys I know who do smithing have hands that are heavily calloused, burned, cut, gouged, and generally beaten up from constant minor accidents. Oh, how about dropping a red-hot knife blank down one's gumboot? Or filling your boots with boiling water? These are good reasons to have one's trousers on the outside of your boots.

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Y is for Yuck, because I grew up in a place where drain ditches basically became retaining ponds and I was forever fishing for them - or catching turtles which I could sell for $30 for a big one.

We used to play in the wallows our pigs made for themselves.

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Z is for Zoo, because when I was 11 and at my uncles farm in Georgia I got kicked in the gut by an angry horse.

Kicked by, bitten by, stamped on by, sat on by, rolled on by...

Also, bitten by dogs and head butted by sheep and goats (not in the knee, fortunately - one of my Mum's knees is always giving her trouble after she has head-butted in it by a ram).

Hit by a car when riding a bicycle a couple of times, but that's in the main rules.

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Originally Posted by Dalillama

For me it was instant searing pain, then I shoved my hand in a pitcher of ice water and held it there til I got to the ER, and the pain came right back the moment I pulled it out. That's also when I learned that I'm allergic to some common painkillers, and most of the rest don't work on me. I tell you what, massage therapy courses were a laugh for the next month or so.

It was after one of the car meets bicycle incidents that I learned that I've inherited my Mum's tolerance to common local anaesthetics. They work, but require larger than normal doses and they wear off faster than normal. That's fun halfway through having a lacerated knee stitched up or a tooth carved up and removed.

Dalillama · 01-25-2019, 01:04 AM

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