From:	Tim Kerby <drekhead@***.NET>
Subject:	Re: Expanded Knockdown rules revisited
Date:	Mon, 11 May 1998 10:25:10 -0500

On 11 May 98 at 12:03, Danyel N Woods wrote:

> The only thing is, (struggling for realism AND simplicity), unless
> you roll a double six AND have a deadly wound, it's impossible to
> suffer a major internal bleed. From what little armchair expertise
> I have about combat, ANY time you get shot you run the risk of shock
> and major internal bleeding.

True. Further research on my part indicates that as well.

> How about a sub-table? If the roll plus the wound modifier is in
> the 13-16 range, roll 1d6 on a sub-table (*twice for a Deadly
> wound*): 1-2 gives 'breathing difficulty', 3-4 gives 'broken bone',
> and 5-6 gives 'haemorrhage' (*ignore duplicates for Deadly*). This
> consumes little extra time, and (especially for deadly wounds) gives
> truly deadly and realistic results, which is good for RP: broken
> bone + breathing difficulty = a lung punctured by a rib, breathing
> difficulty + haemorrhage means a sucking chest-wound, et cetera.

I like it, especially the combination results.

> As to shock, a Body test *using natural body only* against (6+(wound
> modifier)) is needed; failure indicates the victim goes into shock.
> You could modify this roll by *half* the level of any installed
> Damage Compensators, but no other mods I can think of at the moment.

I didn't include a resistance roll to keep things simple, but it does
make since. Maybe what I will do is add a resistance roll, using
natural body as you suggest below, but also make the effects of shock
more detrimental (like, last longer). How about that?

> Why *natural* body? One, it helps scare the cybermonsters <EGMG>.
> Two, it emphasises the fact that if you get hurt, you *GET HURT* (to
> quote the immortal Blackjack). Three, you've already used the body
> modifiers from dermal armour/whatever for the damage-resistance
> test; you shouldn't get the same bonus twice. More in-character,
> shock is a function of your body's ability to cope with the damage,
> not how thick is the dermal whatever that you bought.

All good points. I agree that natural body should be used.

> Of course, this comes from a man who's still trying to work out the
> right cinema/lethality balance in his campaign, so...well, YMMV.

As a like minded individual, I appreciate your help.
Thanks.

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