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Author Topic: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs  (Read 16732 times)

PsyXypher

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #90 on: October 24, 2021, 02:11:25 AM »

Don't quote me on this cuz I could be remembering wrong, but there's one edition, I think, that does take bleeding into account. Now, I might be missremembering and confusing a clone with D&D.


I wanna say it's the Unearthed Arcana for 3.5...lemme check. http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/vitalityAndWoundPoints.htm Here we go.
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Kyle Aaron

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #91 on: October 24, 2021, 03:32:42 AM »
It's notable that the people who you'd think care - police and military - simply don't pay attention to calibres in statistics of death and wounding among their people.

From the FBI collation of officers feloniously killed:

2010-19         
Type of weapon, Incidents,   WIA,   KIA
Firearms - 22,088 - 2,032 - 471
Knife   - 10,008 - 1,201 - 3
Personal (fists etc) - 436,630 - 127,059 - 5
There were also 32 homicides with a vehicle, but they don't record how many assaults. For injuries they don't record firearm type at all, but for homicides they break it down into handgun, rifle or shotgun.

In the military stats mentioned by the pseudonymous Charles Franklin, calibre is likewise not considered at all, all that matters is whether the body armour stops it. In his proposed alteration of GURPS rules, he has just a few modifiers to wound severity, and a lot more to armour penetration.
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Chris24601

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #92 on: October 24, 2021, 08:58:21 AM »
The BS with bullets, knives, swords or anything that causes BLEEDING in real-life is it doesn't translate well to TTRPGs. I suppose the key is keeping the PCs upright ... BUT ... I have to suspend my disbelief when a PC/NPC gets hit with an axe and takes X HP loss AND NO MORE LOSS FOR THE CONTINUED BLOOD LOSS because they continued to fight rather than bandage the wound.

D&D has always been, from the beginning, an arcade game. GURPS and Hero System addressed bleeding. Made it something to deal with. But, man --- to hear players whine about it. Most players just want to be comic book superheroes stomping through an adventure. This whole culture of gaming --- I mean it is what it is.

Let me run you through Phoenix Command or a gritty game of GURPS where, YEAH, your PC can bleed out and die from an injury. It forces a player to prioritize what's important. Attack? Okay but you lose another X HP. Stop and handle the wound? You're out of combat a round or two.

Bleeding wounds change the game. But, so many players look at that as "adversarial". Heaven forbid the game has a certain level of verisimilitude.

I get D&D damage is abstract. It's nonsense damage. Okay. No wounds, no bleeding. This is why D&D is a "Gateway Game" to more sophisticated systems like GURPS & HERO. D&D is playing with your Invisible Barbie.

Enjoy.
This only applies though if hit points are entirely meat. You envision the axe hit as landing dead center and penetrating into flesh. I envision the axe hitting armor and glancing off, leaving maybe a bruise to the flesh underneath, or where the target blew a bunch of their stamina reserves on a desperate evasion… both of which diminish your durability, but not in a wat that means you’re bleeding out from an axe in the middle of the skull.

If anything, the idea that PCs are running around with dozens of arrow, sword and axe holes in their flesh because every hit must look like a direct penetrating blow is what is video-gamey. Instead of always going “the axe cleaves into his gut for X damage” try “the axe connects but glances off as the target maneuvers so his armor deflects most of the blow; its clearly winded him though… he won’t be able to keep it up for long.”

deadDMwalking

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #93 on: October 24, 2021, 09:55:44 PM »
I'm putting together an old west game, and my players don't really want to have to learn about different calibers and especially not about different clambering.

As a result we'll distinguish between small pistols (.22), medium pistols (.38), and large pistols (.44).  We'll have buffalo rifles (.50) but probably won't specify the size.  Some rifles (like a Winchester) will use the same ammo as pistols.

In fantasy we give crossbows a STR bonus to damage.  I'm still going to finalize the damage of each type, but am leaning toward 1d6+4 for a Derringer with Armor Penetration 0 and scaling up, possibly 2d6+6, 2d8+8 and maybe 4d6+12. 

We're not tracking individual shots in most cases.  If a player didn't reload a revolver they'll roll a d6 before they can attack the following round.  A 1 will indicate that they either spent all of their ammunition in the preceding round or suffered a misfire.  Players will have an incentive to reload every round to avoid potentially having their pistol fail at a critical moment.  A box of ammunition will represent a certain number of 'reloads' rather than a specific cartridge count.
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Ghostmaker

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #94 on: October 25, 2021, 07:59:55 AM »
It's notable that the people who you'd think care - police and military - simply don't pay attention to calibres in statistics of death and wounding among their people.

From the FBI collation of officers feloniously killed:

2010-19         
Type of weapon, Incidents,   WIA,   KIA
Firearms - 22,088 - 2,032 - 471
Knife   - 10,008 - 1,201 - 3
Personal (fists etc) - 436,630 - 127,059 - 5
There were also 32 homicides with a vehicle, but they don't record how many assaults. For injuries they don't record firearm type at all, but for homicides they break it down into handgun, rifle or shotgun.

In the military stats mentioned by the pseudonymous Charles Franklin, calibre is likewise not considered at all, all that matters is whether the body armour stops it. In his proposed alteration of GURPS rules, he has just a few modifiers to wound severity, and a lot more to armour penetration.
Possibly because caliber isn't as much of a issue as muzzle velocity/force, except at the far ends of of the curve? Just speculating here.

jhkim

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #95 on: October 25, 2021, 02:01:29 PM »
D&D has always been, from the beginning, an arcade game. GURPS and Hero System addressed bleeding. Made it something to deal with. But, man --- to hear players whine about it. Most players just want to be comic book superheroes stomping through an adventure. This whole culture of gaming --- I mean it is what it is.

Let me run you through Phoenix Command or a gritty game of GURPS where, YEAH, your PC can bleed out and die from an injury. It forces a player to prioritize what's important.
This only applies though if hit points are entirely meat. You envision the axe hit as landing dead center and penetrating into flesh. I envision the axe hitting armor and glancing off, leaving maybe a bruise to the flesh underneath, or where the target blew a bunch of their stamina reserves on a desperate evasion… both of which diminish your durability, but not in a wat that means you’re bleeding out from an axe in the middle of the skull.

I feel both of these are missing some things.

(1) Not dying from bleeding isn't just a video game trope - it's also true of a lot of the fiction. It's not just superheroes - loads of fantasy and genre films have characters taking wounds and continuing with just a grimace or similar. Even movies based on real life often have unrealistic handling of guns, wounds, and similar. (I think of Black Hawk Down, for example.)

(2) Conversely, bleeding rules do make a concrete difference in the game that is different than D&D hit points. With D&D hit points, it's impossible that you be up and fighting now, but then collapse later without more damage being done to you.

Theory of Games

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #96 on: October 25, 2021, 07:49:59 PM »
The BS with bullets, knives, swords or anything that causes BLEEDING in real-life is it doesn't translate well to TTRPGs. I suppose the key is keeping the PCs upright ... BUT ... I have to suspend my disbelief when a PC/NPC gets hit with an axe and takes X HP loss AND NO MORE LOSS FOR THE CONTINUED BLOOD LOSS because they continued to fight rather than bandage the wound.


D&D has always been, from the beginning, an arcade game. GURPS and Hero System addressed bleeding. Made it something to deal with. But, man --- to hear players whine about it. Most players just want to be comic book superheroes stomping through an adventure. This whole culture of gaming --- I mean it is what it is.

Let me run you through Phoenix Command or a gritty game of GURPS where, YEAH, your PC can bleed out and die from an injury. It forces a player to prioritize what's important. Attack? Okay but you lose another X HP. Stop and handle the wound? You're out of combat a round or two.

Bleeding wounds change the game. But, so many players look at that as "adversarial". Heaven forbid the game has a certain level of verisimilitude.

I get D&D damage is abstract. It's nonsense damage. Okay. No wounds, no bleeding. This is why D&D is a "Gateway Game" to more sophisticated systems like GURPS & HERO. D&D is playing with your Invisible Barbie.

Enjoy.

I mean, if you're going with a hyper-realistic sort of game, then yes, D&D doesn't do that. But if you want a game that runs off rule of cool, D&D's Hit Points do that pretty well. Not everyone wants a game like Cyberpunk 2020 where the only thing between you and death is rolling lower on your initiative than your opponent. I personally like a good slugfest between characters.

I very much disagree that this breaks verisimilitude. Those wounds should have a chance to get infected too, but that's not really fun, is it? Not for most people. There's nothing wrong with wanting a sort of comic book superhero physics to the world. That's why some games have more realistic wounding systems than others.
Exactly. Certain systems brings varying degrees of verisimilitude. My point was using "Guns" for anything D&D wasn't akin to reality since D&D HP loss has nothing to do with actual ballistic injury. As Tim Kask has repeatedly stated, D&D HP loss is an "abstract" --- an "ouchy" rather than bleeding wounds that result in long-term damage and scarring.

And yeah, that arcade-style damage does break verisimilitude with some players looking for something more "real". Thus, I suggested GURPS or Phoenix Command or any other system that accommodates those kinds of groups. "FUN" is up to each and every group, not one non-existent overriding body of Twitterati trying to tell the rest of us we're playing games wrong.

I'm sure you agree no one outside your group can tell you how to run or play your games/stories.
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Kyle Aaron

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #97 on: October 25, 2021, 10:01:29 PM »
Possibly because caliber isn't as much of a issue as muzzle velocity/force, except at the far ends of of the curve? Just speculating here.
The main difference is between handguns and rifles. Past 1,200fps you get a lot, lot more damage.

That, and shot placement - which is essentially just chance on the two-way firing range. And that's why in police-suspect shootouts, from around the world as I said,
Quote
In one big study of police-suspect shootings, the cops fired something like 5-6 rounds if the suspect was unarmed, and 10-14 rounds if he was armed. About 1 in 3 rounds hit when the guy was unarmed, and about 1 in 6 when he was armed. Either way it's 1-3 hits and he goes down.
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Kyle Aaron

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #98 on: October 30, 2021, 01:09:05 AM »
This reminds me of some game designers, and some gamers.

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GeekyBugle

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #99 on: October 31, 2021, 02:34:55 AM »
I'm putting together an old west game, and my players don't really want to have to learn about different calibers and especially not about different clambering.

As a result we'll distinguish between small pistols (.22), medium pistols (.38), and large pistols (.44).  We'll have buffalo rifles (.50) but probably won't specify the size.  Some rifles (like a Winchester) will use the same ammo as pistols.

In fantasy we give crossbows a STR bonus to damage.  I'm still going to finalize the damage of each type, but am leaning toward 1d6+4 for a Derringer with Armor Penetration 0 and scaling up, possibly 2d6+6, 2d8+8 and maybe 4d6+12. 

We're not tracking individual shots in most cases.  If a player didn't reload a revolver they'll roll a d6 before they can attack the following round.  A 1 will indicate that they either spent all of their ammunition in the preceding round or suffered a misfire.  Players will have an incentive to reload every round to avoid potentially having their pistol fail at a critical moment.  A box of ammunition will represent a certain number of 'reloads' rather than a specific cartridge count.

Just saw this, I've got a nice set of old west equipment tables if you want them. Not to brag but more complete than any I have seen anywhere, while leaving the gunporn out.

3 sizes of guns, 3 of rifles, 2 different loads for shotguns, smooth bore guns and muskets included too. And a lot of other equipment you might need. Send me a DM if you want the pdf.

For a taste:

« Last Edit: October 31, 2021, 02:38:05 AM by GeekyBugle »
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HappyDaze

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #100 on: October 31, 2021, 06:16:50 PM »
Recently picked up the new Stargate SG-1 RPG. I'm not a fan of their very abstracted weapons. You have "sidearm" as a weapon entry, along with "longarm" and "shotgun." Sure, there are a few traits to customize certain weapons (and a couple of examples, like the P90), but it's seriously underwhelming.

PsyXypher

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #101 on: October 31, 2021, 06:40:59 PM »
One thing I've never seen done too well with guns is gun modification. Scopes, stocks, underbarrel grenade launchers. I think it's because there's only so many different effects of weapon mods.

Also really hate that "Smartgun" crap that cyberpunk games tend to have. It strains my suspension of disbelief that the technology would become popular in a world overrun with criminals. There's a reason there's no significant push for smartguns from any gun owner.
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HappyDaze

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #102 on: October 31, 2021, 07:49:59 PM »
One thing I've never seen done too well with guns is gun modification. Scopes, stocks, underbarrel grenade launchers. I think it's because there's only so many different effects of weapon mods.

Also really hate that "Smartgun" crap that cyberpunk games tend to have. It strains my suspension of disbelief that the technology would become popular in a world overrun with criminals. There's a reason there's no significant push for smartguns from any gun owner.
The FFG Star Wars games had a lot of fun customization options. you had attachments and modificatioms. Some were well done, others less so. Overall, the customization rules were pretty good. There were also rules for scratch building guns (and other gear), but they were crap.

Kyle Aaron

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #103 on: October 31, 2021, 07:54:26 PM »
Bleeding I consider a bit of a non-issue. Yes, bleeding out is the leading cause of death both in modern combats and accidents. But it's not like the guy is toodling around happily while blood's gushing out of him and then suddenly falls over dead. If the injury is serious enough that he might bleed out - he falls over and is no longer taking part in proceedings.

And so, hit points or wound levels are a good enough abstraction here, all you do is put in some rule about the wound getting worse, with it being less likely with more and better treatment. But either way, the vast majority of the time - if it was serious enough that it might kill them, they're out of this current combat at the very least. And that's what players really care about.

But if you go that way, then you start thinking about rehab. Hank the fighter lies in bed at the inn for six months screaming at his wife, "They're not rocks, Marie, they're minerals!" and that's not that much fun, so we tell his player to play his henchman, instead.

One thing I've never seen done too well with guns is gun modification.
It's not done that well in reality, either. As part of my Conflict research I found a US study of their firearms stoppages in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some things which surprised me:
  • Only 60% or so of soldiers were issued with cleaning kits at all
  • Soldiers who cleaned their firearms more often had more stoppages - though causality, they suggested, might lie the other way, with soldiers who kept getting stoppages cleaning it more often to try to make it work properly
  • Firearms with modifications and add-ons had more stoppages
  • and many, many more stoppages if the add-ons had been put there by the soldier themselves
Now, this is all based on real data. And so if you as GM told the player that their rifle would jam up more often if they put on a scope or a grenade-launcher, you'd be completely accurate - but you'd really piss off the player.

But bleeding... calibres... look, if you want to talk about what's really missing from RPGs - it's noncombatants as possible victims. Look at this breach scene, and tell me if you've ever had your characters assault somewhere and have to try to avoid harming noncombatants.

« Last Edit: October 31, 2021, 11:42:19 PM by Kyle Aaron »
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PsyXypher

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Re: Lets talk guns and granularity in RPGs
« Reply #104 on: October 31, 2021, 11:43:41 PM »

One thing I've never seen done too well with guns is gun modification.
It's not done that well in reality, either. As part of my Conflict research I found a US study of their firearms stoppages in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some things which surprised me:
  • Only 60% or so of soldiers were issued with cleaning kits at all
  • Soldiers who cleaned their firearms more often had more stoppages - though causality, they suggested, might lie the other way, with soldiers who kept getting stoppages cleaning it more often to try to make it work properly
  • Firearms with modifications and add-ons had more stoppages
  • and many, many more stoppages if the add-ons had been put there by the soldier themselves
Now, this is all based on real data. And so if you as GM told the player that their rifle would jam up more often if they put on a scope or a grenade-launcher, you'd be completely accurate - but you'd really piss off the player.

I don't think that last part is accurate (since I don't know how scopes would cause jamming) but I'll take your word for all the info you gave me. That's kinda sad. Some of those gun modifications are cool. And I love rule of cool. Luckily TTRPGs aren't reality and rule of cool can be applied.

The biggest problem I found with writing a system of gun mods is that 1, there's no good reason to NOT use mods, 2, how many mods can fit into one gun and how to determine that.

There's also questions that have to be answered about other weapons, mainly lasers. For example, if you can mod your laser weapon to be more efficient energy wise, why weren't these cutting edge weapons not using that system in the first place?

Many questions. Making your own system in my experience is great practice for staring down an eldritch horror. Can't go insane if you're already there!
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