Fore-head blading and injury analysis

[Donny Brook]

I don't think it's very fruitful to try to stat plot armor.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Plane

That seems pretty odd, as how convincing you are at creating a fake wound on your body and how convincing you are at lying still could be entirely different skillsets.



Do you think overconfidence could come into play?

I could see someone like Deathstroke being a lot more keen to check stuff like that since he's probably played possum in some situations in the past himself, whereas an arrogant Kryptonian who thinks "I can 1-hit KO any human" would just assume he succeeded.

Half damage would probably be inadequate to survive a Kryptonian punch so Nightwing prob rolled a crit success on RWB where it reduces to 1 dmg even if you got hit by a planet.

Meh. Overconfidence is overconfidence. It's neither an idiot ball nor a genius card. In most instances, overconfidence amounts to taking appearances at their face value. It's not a question of whether Deathstroke plays possum himself. It's a question of whether he thinks Batman is bright enough to try it, and skilled enough to have a chance to pull it off.

As long as Batman hasn't gotten up quickly in Deathstroke's presence, he probably assumes that he can knock Batman out just as cold as Commissioner Gordon or Lt. Bollock. If Batman has a bad habit of getting up and continuing the fight within a few seconds of being decked, that's different.

It also may not matter to Deathstroke whether Batman even is playing possum. If all Deathstroke wants is to open the safety deposit box without interference from Batman, it doesn't matter whether Batman isn't preventing Deathstroke from opening it because he's out cold or because he's playing possum. Either way, Deathstroke gets to open the safety deposit box without Batman interfering.

If Deathstroke needs Batman to be out cold for longer, he might check, or he might whisper, while checking on Batman, "If I don't have to break your skull like an eggshell, I won't. If you keep still for another two and half minutes, I won't have to." He might even whisper that whether he thinks Batman is out cold or not.

TLDR; depends on how Overconfidence gets role-played for the particular character.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

As long as Batman hasn't gotten up quickly in Deathstroke's presence, he probably assumes that he can knock Batman out just as cold as Commissioner Gordon or Lt. Bollock.

I dunno, Batman has a pretty impressive physique, I think you'd naturally assume he has more HP+HT than either of those two donut dudes.

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

If Batman has a bad habit of getting up and continuing the fight within a few seconds of being decked, that's different.

Deathstroke's ear on the street prob has lots of stories of this happening making their way through the grapevine.

It might not be as much of a go-to move for him as it is w/ the Young Justice crew but he used it a couple times in the 89 film...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS8na3Lhu7o&t=3m25 at start when one guy shot him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc5HaeVXmXk&t=44 when two of joker's goon shoot him in the belly when he's lying supine

In both cases it's POSSIBLY smart because if you didn't play possum and kept resisting, they'd prob keep firing their guns at you and maybe hit an exposed area like the mouth...

Also sort of a gamble on the idea they'll want to conserve their ammo (or diminish noise that alerts police) and not do a mouth-tap for good measure though.

It's convenient for Keaton's Bruce that in both cases you have the shooter walk away or get curious and try to unmask you, rather than verify the bullet did something by firing in the jaw and seeing blood.

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

It also may not matter to Deathstroke whether Batman even is playing possum. If all Deathstroke wants is to open the safety deposit box without interference from Batman, it doesn't matter whether Batman isn't preventing Deathstroke from opening it because he's out cold or because he's playing possum. Either way, Deathstroke gets to open the safety deposit box without Batman interfering.

Except as soon as you focus on cracking the safe, Batman might start getting up, so you need to divide your attention between cracking the safe and monitoring his body.

Another problem is it gives Batman a breather to recover his stamina, if you had him on the ropes. In "Last Gasp" terms, those are Do Nothing maneuvers to get his Action Points back up to full so he can launch a new assault on you.

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

If Deathstroke needs Batman to be out cold for longer, he might check, or he might whisper, while checking on Batman, "If I don't have to break your skull like an eggshell, I won't. If you keep still for another two and half minutes, I won't have to." He might even whisper that whether he thinks Batman is out cold or not.

Dunno how much of a diff it would make, Bruce prob doesn't trust criminals to keep their promises.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

I don't think it's very fruitful to try to stat plot armor.

Isn't that what Serendipity and Luck are (not all that they are, but certainly one of the things)?