Knockback - why ST not HP?

[Gollum]

Originally Posted by Bicorn

I wouldn't say that suggests they have more mass than a regular person of same size. It's really more that comics generally just don't care about physics.

Yes. But ditto for supernaturally strong creatures mentioned by Mr Beer. They are above (beyond?) rules of physics. It is just magic!

[mr beer]

Originally Posted by GodBeastX

Keep in mind mass doesn't equal size. A lot of supers in comics with super strength are shown as having lots of mass. I mean they slam into object and decimate them, get impacted by tanks without budging an inch and more. That also suggests that ST should be used for knockback so super strength individuals don't get pummeled and go flying as you suggest.

Yes, it depends on the super depiction. So you can have a massive human-size super brick and also a human-mass human size super brick.

It might work best as a system setting thing. Some people like the train-crumpling-on-superman's-chest aesthetic and some like the knock-zod-through-a-building aesthetic.

I like the knock-back aesthetic, it feels more realistic to me, although of course that's also a somewhat silly statement when we're dealing with human-scale creatures that have high-end super ST/HP/DR/IT.

[Tomsdad]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

That's because we're dealing artifacts held-over from 3e ("ST = Mass") and 'new' rules in 4e ("HP = Mass").

Aha I don't know much 3e!

cheers

TD

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Tomsdad

Aha I don't know much 3e!

While it isn't always true... if a rule seems inconsistent from one usage to another, it's probably because it's changed from 3e to 4e.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by mr beer

I can see the argument but I think it breaks down pretty fast when you look at supernaturally strong creatures. I think human mass super-strong bricks should be knocking each other back a long way when their punches can break tanks..

But are they? In the comics when you have characters whose ST vastly outstrip their mass so we see that kind of "realistic" knockback where one punch would take them out of the field of engagement?