Falls

[rgrove0172]

Anybody have any rules for falling in 2300. Im working up my own but finding the damage rules difficult to interpret in this case. Falls are typically incapacitating, not deadly, even from considerable hieght. Without killing the falling character, you are reduced to awarding a shock or light wound, which doesnt really hinder them as much as a broken leg should, you know?

Thoughts?

 

[McPerth]

Anybody have any rules for falling in 2300. Im working up my own but finding the damage rules difficult to interpret in this case. Falls are typically incapacitating, not deadly, even from considerable hieght. Without killing the falling character, you are reduced to awarding a shock or light wound, which doesnt really hinder them as much as a broken leg should, you know?

Thoughts?

In fact, such incapacitation without killing you refer may occur in any damage source, and is seldom featured in most games. A minor would may include a broken toe, so difficulting movement, while being minor damage nevertheless.

Of course, the referee must rule it out or use some kind of criticals table to represent it. If the hit is in the leg but only attains minor damage, the referee may rule it will walk lame for a while. If in the arm, impose augmented difficulty for some tasks for a while, etc...

NOTE: numbers taken out of my hat, and, of course, open to discussion

As for falls, I'd use them as some hits (let's say 1d6 hits) with DP depending on the height (let's say 0.1 per 3 metters of falling) in a random body área, weighted to affect more the extremities (e.g. rolling 2d10 per hit and taking the higher one, so that a vital área hit is less likely). The incapaciting damage produced would be to the referee to weight.

 

[McPerth]

As for falls, I'd use them as some hits (let's say 1d6 hits) with DP depending on the height (let's say 0.1 per 3 metters of falling) in a random body área, weighted to affect more the extremities (e.g. rolling 2d10 per hit and taking the higher one, so that a vital área hit is less likely). The incapaciting damage produced would be to the referee to weight.

Addenda (sorry, forgot to clarify in my earlier post):

All those numbers for that proposal of rule asume 1G gravity and conscieus person falling. If gravity is not 1G, the 3 meter should be divided by gravity in Gs, and if the person is not conscieus, de roll for área damaged is as usual in combat.

 

[rgrove0172]

1d6 separate hits? Wouldnt the bulk of the fall be centered on one impact point? Granted there could be secondary injuries but 6 different hits seems kind of extreme.. dont you think?

 

[rgrove0172]

How about;

Figures take a hit at DVP .1 / 3 meters fallen. (Modified for nature of the surface fallen upon) Modify this amount by the gravity present (doubling the DVP for 2G etc.) A successful RT:Acrobatic task roll will reduce the distance fallen by a number of meters equal to the skill level. For every 10 meters fallen, resolves an additional hit.

 

[shaunhilburn]

How about;
Modify this amount by the gravity present (doubling the DVP for 2G etc.)

Doubling G doesn't double the impact velocity of a fall. Multiply DP by the square root of G.

 

[McPerth]

Doubling G doesn't double the impact velocity of a fall. Multiply DP by the square root of G.

For realism, you're right, but I guess we want to keep it simple.

 

[McPerth]

1d6 separate hits? Wouldnt the bulk of the fall be centered on one impact point? Granted there could be secondary injuries but 6 different hits seems kind of extreme.. dont you think?

Many times falls are centered in one impact point, but with heavy repercussion to other parts (have the neck broken form a fall on your feet is not a rare occurence, if knees are too rigid). In any case, as always, numbers are subjective and can be discussed (or just apply what you think right).

How about;

Figures take a hit at DVP .1 / 3 meters fallen. (Modified for nature of the surface fallen upon) Modify this amount by the gravity present (doubling the DVP for 2G etc.) A successful RT:Acrobatic task roll will reduce the distance fallen by a number of meters equal to the skill level. For every 10 meters fallen, resolves an additional hit.

I like the idea about avoiding some damage with an acrobatic task, but just reduce it a meter per level seems too useless for me, as I've rarely seen a character with skill higher than 2-3 in 2300. Also it makes level 0 useless.

If you use multiple hits (either 1d6, 1d6/2), how about avoiding one hit if successful (and, if you want to play more the skills, an additional hit avoided per 2 over the number needed that he rolled).

BTW: see that all falling damage rules may also be applied to crashes, just making some equivalence form falling to speed.

 

[shaunhilburn]

For realism, you're right, but I guess we want to keep it simple.

Well, the height of a fall *is* directly proportional to G, e.g. a one-meter fall on Earth is equivalent to a six meter fall on the moon.

So, instead of adjusting damage, adjust height. Say a 1 meter, 1G fall = 0.4 blunt trauma, and add 0.1 for every additional 1 meter.
If the character takes a 10-meter fall on Mars, take 10 x 0.38 = 3.8 meter fall, works out to about 0.7 blunt. It simpler *and* preserves realism.

***WARNING --- COMPLICATING NITPICKS ***
Falls from great heights will have whole-body blunt trauma effect, so start adding stun or shock points after some height threshold.

Also, surface hardness should be accounted for. Falling onto a bed of feathers or into deep water isn't the same as falling onto concrete.

Also (I know this is getting complicated), terminal velocity is reached after falling a few seconds in an atmosphere. A spread-eagle human reaches about 185 mph after 3 or 4 seconds, and ~220 mph feet first. This will almost always be fatal unless one lands on some sort of cushion or yielding surface, or "feet first" into a dozen or so meters of water, in these cases some damage cap is applicable.

Also (Getting real complicated), the characters mass has an effect. Doubling a falling characters' body mass doubles his kinetic energy at impact. And DPV is proportional to the square root of KE.

 

[McPerth]

Well, the height of a fall *is* directly proportional to G, e.g. a one-meter fall on Earth is equivalent to a six meter fall on the moon.

So, instead of adjusting damage, adjust height. Say a 1 meter, 1G fall = 0.4 blunt trauma, and add 0.1 for every additional 1 meter.
If the character takes a 10-meter fall on Mars, take 10 x 0.38 = 3.8 meter fall, works out to about 0.7 blunt. It simpler *and* preserves realism.

A fall form 1 metter wil not probably result in serious damage, but you're right I've probably been too low in 0.1/3m. What about 0.1/m?

 

[rgrove0172]

Wouldnt .1/meter more or less guarantee an injury at 10 meters or 30 feet? Im a medic and Ive witnessed plenty of people who got up sore but relatively unharmed from a fall 3 or 4 stories up.

 

[rgrove0172]

Falls from great heights will have whole-body blunt trauma effect, so start adding stun or shock points after some height threshold.

Well the potential wound mechanics will present shock, or were you thinking there should be additional stuns/shocks thrown in?

 

[shaunhilburn]

Well the potential wound mechanics will present shock, or were you thinking there should be additional stuns/shocks thrown in?

A lot of people jump from the deck of the Golden Gate bridge. At mean high water, the clearance is 76m at the centerpoint of the bridge. Very few of the jumpers survive, I think the fatality rate is something like 90%. Nearly all of them are killed by the impact. Some survive the fall (unconscious) and drown, or succumb to cold water and currents.

I found this year-old news item about a surviving jumper:
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...s-Jump-From-Golden-Gate-Bridge-117769468.html
According to the article, he had a bruised tail bone and torn lung (the decelerating force of water is tremendous).

Whatever mechanics you use should give PCs slightly better odds than a Golden Gate jumper

 

[rgrove0172]

Part of the problem is 2300s handling of wounds. An injury to the arm is considered "light" because of its relative lack of lethality. The GM is left to interpret the limitations of such a wound in the game, determine if its a scrape, a sprain, a break or whatever and levy limitations, adjust healing etc.

Its hard to work out how something like a fall fits in. It can be done of course, it just takes some thought and no doubt some play testing. Similar with the thread on environmental damage.

 

[McPerth]

Here's my house rule suggestion for falls and crashes:

Falls:

Falls may damage a character with blunt damage rolls with a DP of 0.1 per each 3 meters. The distance fallen is multiplied by the gravity (in Gs). Armor does not help against falls.

The number of rolls applied for damage is determined by 1d6/2 (rounded down) + 1 per 5 meters fallen, again the distance is multiplied by gravity. A conscious character may make a SM:acrobatic or RT:dexterity roll to avoid damage. Difficulty is raised by 1 category per 5 meters fallen over 5. If successful, he/she avoids 1 damage roll plus another one per 2 points rolled higher than needed. The number of rolls may be modified by the harness of the surface against the character is falling.

For conscious characters, the area damaged is rolled with 2d10, taking the higher one for the area affected, and applying it as usual damage combat.
Special case: parachutes: any character using a parachute must roll as above to avoid any damage. If the roll is failed, it is treated as if fallen from 10 meters.

Example: a character falls from a fifth floor (about 15 meters), He’s on Earth (1 G gravity), and ground below is not especially hard nor soft. The roll for damage rolls is 3, so he suffers 3 rolls with a DP of 0.5. He rolls to avoid damage a DF:acrobatics, failing the roll. For areas, he rolls 9/9, 2/4 and 4/5, so he suffers the damage in areas 9 (right arm), 4 (abdomen) and 5 (right leg). Rolling for damage he rolls 2, 7 and 6. He then suffers a light wound in his right arm, another light wound in his abdomen and is knocked down, and he does not suffer damage (just some bruises) in his right leg. The referee rules that he has broken his right arm, raising difficulties 1 category for any task that needs it for 3 weeks.

Crashes:

Crashes may damage a character as falls, treating speed/3 as the distance fallen. If inside a vehicle that is not fully destroyed with the crash, and security belts are fastened, this is forfeited and only 1 blunt damage hit to area 3 with a DP equal to speed/10.

Acrobatics (or dexterity) rolls may be allowed (as per falls) if the character may dodge the crash (referee rule).

Example: a character is rammed by a car at 60 kph. It is treated as a fall from 20 metres. For the number of hits, the referee rolls a 4, so he would receive 5 rolls. The referee rules that acrobatic roll is in order, and he succeeds in avoiding 1 damage roll. For areas, he rolls 5/9, 3/8, 2/4 and 1/2, so he receives one 0.6 DP hit each at areas 9 (right arm), 8 (left leg), 4 (abdomen), and 2 (upper torso). Rolls for damage are 5, 9, 1 and 8. He receives a light wound in his right arm, some bruises in his left leg, a shock point (converted to stun, as it’s blunt damage) in his abdomen and a shock point in his upper torso, and he’s knocked down. The referee rules that he has a broken ankle, so incapaciting the character for a week and halving his movement for 2 weeks more.

Toughts and oppinions?

 

[rgrove0172]

I like it. I bumped the base hieght factor up to 6, but otherwise its runs along with my rules pretty well.