There is something to be said for the argument
which Frank put forwards (via Loren) about most wounds
being minor if treated. One of my real-world (hobbies?)
is defensive shooting, and I pay lots of attention to what actually
happens out in the real world. The incidents which were
described, with 90% survival rate from wounds, are about
par for the course, though perhaps a little low. Nationwide
the highest fatality rate from shootings is rifle/shotgun
shootings with about 35% fatality, then pistols way behind
at 20% to 11% depending on what year it was.
That having been said, I still think there are some
holes in the T2k2 damage system, and here's what I don't
like about it...
Situation: .357 magnum fired at bodyguard wearing
good (III-A) body armour, solid chest hit
Game: dam 2 pen 1 (close range) 9mm mag revolver,
STR+CON abt = 16, so 48 hits in chest capacity. Shot does
maximum damage for 6 points (1die penetrates) and one more
point of blunt trauma, total 7. Agility is 7 or 8 for
the individual, so no knockdown, character laughs it off and
returns fire after mandatory lost action due to scratch
wound.
Reality: Round didn't come close to penetrating vest,
but bodyguard was incapacitated by the blunt trauma for several
minutes, much longer than the shootout lasted, which ended when the
other bodyguard emptied a MP5K into the attacker, hitting 14
times.
Situation: highway patrol officer stops suspicious car,
3 hostiles exit car and open fire as they run down embankment away.
Officer returns fire, is hit, continues to return fire.
Game: he gets a 9mm auto pistol wound to his arm,
which should do nothing but _take his next action away_
Reality: he didn't even notice, keeps firing and
hits 2 hostiles after he's himself wounded.
In general, what I don't like about the T2k2 system
is that it doesn't differentiate between wounding and stopping
power very well. In reality, about a third of the people shot
once with a pistol fall down and stop moving, though they're
only slightly wounded. That doesn't happen with T2k2 combat.
On the other hand, what it does try to do about stopping power
(the mandatory lost action) quite often doesn't happen when
well-trained or highly-amped individuals are shot: as even
Frank's examples indicate, many people will keep on going
no matter what, and won't be incapacitated for any length
of time.
I handle this with some house rules. My house stopping
power rule is that there's no lost action due to wounding, but that
any shot (anything) has a chance to stop the victim (incapacitate
regardless of wound damage) based on rolling 1D6: if the roll
is less than or equal to the raw damage value of the weapon
plus one, minimum one (i.e. .22's still have a chance 8-) and maximum
five (not even .50 cal MG hits _always_ incapacitate...), then
the wounded character is incapable of any action for 1D6 rounds.
However, every time a character _isn't_ stopped, he gets a
"adrenaline point"... next time he's hit, he can use adrenaline
points to change the die roll on a one for one basis to keep
from being incapacitated. Note that he does indeed get another
adrenaline point for the roll he has to pay to stay active after.
This takes into account the statistical 3-5% of shooting victims
who are still responding after six or more hits...
That way, most pistols have a 33% chance to "stop" based
on one shot, magnums have a 50% chance, and .22s have a 15% chance
(which is a little low, but reasonably close). Most rifles have
a pretty high chance (4 or less for 5mm assault rifle, 5 or less
for a 7mm assault rifle) of incapacitating, which is borne out
by combat wound statistics (most people fall over and are incapacitated
for a moderate while). The only thing it doesn't work well with
is rigid armour, which I've tended to rule simply stops and
disperses the trauma well enough to nullify the stopping power rule.
- -george william herbert