Must be missing it, pi?

[CyrusLAres]

I'm brand new to GURPS but have been playing rpgs for years now.

One thing I cannot seem to understand is what pi does? Pistols and rifles and other firearms almost always have pi after it. I understand pi+ and pi++ increase damage by 50-100% after DR. Also most of those attacks that have pi don't have an armor divisor after them (3d(2)) so they do not reduce the total DR by anything?

Ran a search nothing came up so hopefully this hasnt been asked a million times before.

[Crakkerjakk]

pi is an abbreviation for piercing.

pi- is small piercing, pi is piercing, pi+ is large piercing, and pi++ is....huge piercing, I think?

Piercing attacks can do special things compared to crushing (which also doesn't have a damage multiplier) like targeting vitals, the eyes, or chinks in armor.

[Shrale]

It's errata, should be Magnum pi :)

>

[Hannes665]

Well damage with Pi gives you extra damage when for example you hit Vitals. You get x3 damage after DR if you hit vitals with pi or imp, cr and cut do not get that modifiers.

Piercing is for any damage that is made by a small projectile moving fast, mostly bullets, while arrows and crossbow bolts are impailing (imp) as they are large missiles that penetrate. Also any pointing melee weapons doing thrust attacks, like knife thrusts and sword thrusts.

Regarding the armor penetration, there are bullets that give you DR/2 but by doing so they lower there Pi, so a 9x19 AP round would go from Pi to Pi-.

[vicky_molokh]

Also, while Pi (and even pi-) is one of the best damage types for a high-skilled shooter (targeting Vitals, or Brain for that matter), it is generally the worst damage type against non-animals (primarily machines, rocks and other Homogenous stuff, the undead/Unliving etc.).

[Buzzardo]

Originally Posted by Shrale

It's errata, should be Magnum pi :)

>

And here I thought it was peach pi....

[Verjigorm]

Originally Posted by Molokh

Also, while Pi (and even pi-) is one of the best damage types for a high-skilled shooter (targeting Vitals, or Brain for that matter), it is generally the worst damage type against non-animals (primarily machines, rocks and other Homogenous stuff, the undead/Unliving etc.).

It's usefulness declines when armor is around. The heaviest army values are typically the skull and torso(which covers vitals).

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Verjigorm

It's usefulness declines when armor is around. The heaviest army values are typically the skull and torso(which covers vitals).

Pi- (and Pi, to a lesser extent) is still the damage type to go for if one wants to get lots of damage dice for little cost (and thus easier armor penetration, including Armor Divisors).

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Molokh

Also, while Pi (and even pi-) is one of the best damage types for a high-skilled shooter (targeting Vitals, or Brain for that matter), it is generally the worst damage type against non-animals (primarily machines, rocks and other Homogenous stuff, the undead/Unliving etc.).

Many machines still have vitals, which are just as good targets as the fleshy kind.

[Hai-Etlik]

Normal Piercing is just a damage type. Like Crushing, it has a multiplier of 1 in most cases but both are still meaningful and have effects.