[UA] Insta-kills

[Rayburn, Russell E.]

The firearms damage / to-hit rolls have irked me for a bit, but I understand
they are the way they are to speed play.

On first glance, it's a little irritating to see that if your character has
"bust a cap in his ass" at 20%, then barring a crit the maximum damage he
could do with a 12 gauge is 20 points.  I mean, if you hit him with THAT,
it's gotta HURT, no?

Then a friend reminded me of bygone days playing Top Secret.  Not Top Secret
SI, the original Top Secret.  With ALL the optional rules.

[GM]: Ok, roll to hit.
[Agent]: 56. Got him!
[GM]: Ok, lets check the hit location chart.
[Agent]: Lets see... damn. Left Arm.
[GM]: Yeah, this guy has a endomorphic body type so the damage will be way
down there.  Wait, what caliber are you using?
[Agent]: (grinning) .45 ACP
[GM]: Nice, the hardballs have a 90% stopping power ratio... then again
that's for chest shots... (flips pages)
[Agent]: But I'm using hollow points!
[GM]: Really?  Hmmm.. those increase damage but reduce stopping power...
(flips pages)
[REST OF PLAYERS]: ZZZZZZZZ

Compared to UA:

[GM]: Ok, make a major check against your skill "point shooting".
[Avatar]: 38... schweet
[GM]: Yeah, lucky you.  Make a violence check and a self check, since you're
intentionally hurting someone else and this is the first gunfight you've
been in.
[Avatar]: Ummm... when do I get to become a sociopath?
[GM]: You're getting there.

You can see how UA is much faster... ;)

-Rus
Who has his tongue firmly in cheek.


-----Original Message-----
From: Rev Kev [mailto:kelmore at rocketmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2004 3:14 PM
To: The Unknown Armies RPG Mailing List
Subject: RE: [UA] Insta-kills


--- "Hammons, Jade" <jade.hammons at attws.com> wrote:
> 	Ouch, I'm pretty sure I dislike this. I can be a 98 lb
> weakling
> with a 20 body and a steak knife but if I get that
> jugular shot, you're
> dead. This is why I agree with the 1% insta-kill.

For that reason, I'd rather "promote" gun crits rather than
"demote" hand-to-hand crits.  An 01 on guns is an
insta-kill too.  But then, I tend to do things like ignore
maximum damage for guns anyway.

If you think 1% is too probable for an insta-kill, you
could (to steal d20 terminology), confirm the crit.

You roll a 01.  Roll again.  If you roll under your skill,
it's insta-kill.  If you roll over your skill, your damage
is equal to your skill (so Mr 98-lb weakling with 20%
Struggle has a fighting chance of killing the bad guy but
may end up only doing 20 wounds).  

It lessens the lethality a little bit, but it can still be
nasty.  

Kevin
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