I know this is probably an old discussion, but I just got around to
reading my accumulated TML mail...
RE: Subject: (2259) Alot of TidBYTES...
>That when we found out that SMGs,Shotguns and Advance Combat Rifles CANNOT
>penetrate even "lowly" Cloth armor. I was stunned. Topping that feat is the
>TL14 Vacc suit which will stop anything short of a Gauss Rilfe, ARL or LAG AP
>rounds... Even when you hit with these, most damage will be disapated... I
>can see the headlines now... MAN IN VACC SUIT TAKES ROCKET TO THE CHEST AND
>LAUGHS.
Hmmm. Looking at the MT combat rules, (which are much changed from the
old Traveller rules), I note that a ARL using HEAP has a Pen=10, damage=4,
Autofire targets=2, Danger Space=1.5, difficulty as Rifle, and counts as
Gyro-stabilized. I note that some guy in a TL 14 vacc suit has an Armor
Value=7, and I assume this target type person is an average Joe, with
physical stats of 777, giving a hits value of 3/5. Good so far?
We will assume that Average Joe in the Vacc suit is shot, for no good
reason, by X the Unknown, who is armed with the afore-mentioned ARL. We
assume that X has a typical skill of 2 (and an average dex = 7) with his
weapon of choice. We further assume that X shot Average at medium range,
which seems to be typical firefight range, and I don't feel like fooling
with attenuation right now.
Okay, first we find out that the task for X blowing away Average is
Routine, Weapon, Dex, Move DM, 1 rd (Gryo-stabilized Rifle)
which means X needs to roll a 4 or better on 2D to hit. On the average,
X will roll a 7, which gives him 3 better than what he needed to hit.
HEAP against the Vacc Suit is a low penetration hit, halving damage to 2,
but X rolled over 2+ what he needs to hit, so it's doubled, back to 4.
But wait! X, being a smart, if nasty, kinda guy, goes for pinpoint hits,
(pinpoint hit requires rolling 2+ than he needs to hit, but with even
minimal skill, it's likely to work, unless the dice are feeling nasty.)
targetting those weak points (like the faceplate). Good ol' Average's
Vacc Suit only counts as an Armor Value of 3.5 (4)...which moves the
HEAP shot to a HIGH penetration hit, which does 4 points....still doubled,
now to 8 points, because X still rolled 2 or more than what he needed to
hit. And, since the ARL is an autofire type weapon, if X is feeling really
nasty, he can follow the first shot up with a 2nd one, of similar damage,
in the same round.
So what happened to Average? Well, the 8 points were applied against
his hits of 3/5 (total 8). If Average is an unimportant NPC, X just blew
him away...if Average is a PC or important NPC, we flip over to the next
chapter, "Assessing Damage". We find that each damage point from combat
translates to 1d6 applied to the first 3 stats...just like in old Traveller.
So, our Average Joe just took 8d6 damage...he might live through it...
except that X, if he's feeling nasty, followed up with a second 8d6 hit.
This is if X just performs at an average level. Maybe X is lucky today.
If X rolls a 12, he gets 8 above what he needs to hit... and does 8 * 4,
or 32 points --> 32d6 to Average Joe. They use a vacuum hose to pump
the remains out of his vacc suit. And then there's the 2nd shot...
Please note that Armor vs. Penetration determines whether it is
a high, low or zero penetration hit...that is the sole effect of armor. It
does NOT absorb damage on top of that.
Amused parties may want to run through similar examples with say, cloth
armor vs projectile weapon of choice to reassure themselves that, yes,
firefights are dangerous. Note that cloth armor was DESIGNED to protect
its wearers from similar tech-level weapons. Also note that even a
zero-penetration, 1 pt hit can do up to 8 point (=8d6) if the shooter is
skilled and lucky. And 8d6 can kill an average character if the dice roll
right. I hope this discussion clears up any confusion out
there on relative lethality of combat, and/or how combat works. The damage
points vs hits system is there to provide quick adjudication of hit
results; players can find out how damaged they and the NPCs really are after
the shooting stops (ie, translate hits to D6 of damage against stats).
> A submachine gun only firing 1,3 or 30 rounds in a combat round...
> I don't understand.
...Single-shot, burst, and full-auto settings, respectively. Fully
automatic weapons actually have a rate-of-fire selection switch. (I wonder
what they call the high setting on a VRF gauss gun...Puree?)
If you want to empty your pistol at a high-rate of fire, there is an
option called rapid-fire that allows you to do that, and spray the landscape
with lead, besides.
-- Cynthia "Circe" Higginbotham