Hit to the Face and Knockdown

Pimpão · 02-17-2021, 09:12 AM

Hey all! I got a doubt about knockdown rolls on hits to the face. On the Basic Set we have two mentions about it:

On B420: "Whenever you suffer a major wound, and whenever you are struck in the head (skull, face, or eye) or vitals for enough injury to cause a shock penalty (see Shock, p. 419), you must make an immediate HT roll to avoid knockdown and stunning. Modifiers: -5 for a major wound to the face or vitals (or to the groin, on a humanoid male); -10 for a major wound to the skull or eye; +3 for High Pain Threshold, or -4 for Low Pain Threshold."

On B399: "Face (-5): The jaw, cheeks, nose, and ears. Many helmets have an open face, allowing this attack to ignore armor DR! Knockdown rolls are at -5, and critical hits use the Critical Head Blow Table. Corrosion damage (only) gets a x1.5 wounding modifier . . . and if it inflicts a major wound, it also blinds one eye (both eyes on damage greater than full HP)."

So that means that a regular hit to the face triggers an HT-5 roll and a major wound would be at HT-10?

mlangsdorf · 02-17-2021, 09:19 AM

No, p. 420 is clear: a wound to the face that causes shock requires an unpenalized HT roll to avoid knockdown and stunning. The roll is at -5 if the wound is a major wound.

p 399 is only a simplified summary and is overridden by the expanded rules on page 420.

Pimpão · 02-17-2021, 11:36 AM

Yeah, makes sense, otherwise a major wound to the skull would be at HT-20 to resist knockdown...
I was thinking the other way around: p420 was the general rule and p399 was adding specifics to it, thus the cumulative -5. Thanks!

02-17-2021, 09:12 AM	#1
Pimpão Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Vancouver, Canada	Hit to the Face and Knockdown Hey all! I got a doubt about knockdown rolls on hits to the face. On the Basic Set we have two mentions about it: On B420: "Whenever you suffer a major wound, and whenever you are struck in the head (skull, face, or eye) or vitals for enough injury to cause a shock penalty (see Shock, p. 419), you must make an immediate HT roll to avoid knockdown and stunning. Modifiers: -5 for a major wound to the face or vitals (or to the groin, on a humanoid male); -10 for a major wound to the skull or eye; +3 for High Pain Threshold, or -4 for Low Pain Threshold." On B399: "Face (-5): The jaw, cheeks, nose, and ears. Many helmets have an open face, allowing this attack to ignore armor DR! Knockdown rolls are at -5, and critical hits use the Critical Head Blow Table. Corrosion damage (only) gets a x1.5 wounding modifier . . . and if it inflicts a major wound, it also blinds one eye (both eyes on damage greater than full HP)." So that means that a regular hit to the face triggers an HT-5 roll and a major wound would be at HT-10?

02-17-2021, 09:19 AM	#2
mlangsdorf Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Austin, TX	Re: Hit to the Face and Knockdown No, p. 420 is clear: a wound to the face that causes shock requires an unpenalized HT roll to avoid knockdown and stunning. The roll is at -5 if the wound is a major wound. p 399 is only a simplified summary and is overridden by the expanded rules on page 420. __________________ Read my GURPS blog: http://noschoolgrognard.blogspot.com

02-17-2021, 11:36 AM	#3
Pimpão Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Vancouver, Canada	Re: Hit to the Face and Knockdown Yeah, makes sense, otherwise a major wound to the skull would be at HT-20 to resist knockdown... I was thinking the other way around: p420 was the general rule and p399 was adding specifics to it, thus the cumulative -5. Thanks!