Silver Vulnerability?

[bigdamnhero]

I could've sworn that in the MHI books, there were a number of monsters that were vulnerable to silver, specifically the undead and I thought demons? But of the monsters listed in the MHIRPG book, the only ones that have silver mentioned on their character sheets (either as a Vulnerability or as a Limitation on their defenses) are werewolves, and by inference other Lycanthopes. Is that an oversight, or am I missing something? Seems like the books make a much bigger deal out of silver than just "use in case of werewolf."

[Beast]

Silver in the books had more effect than just normal ammo

All MHI weapons are in only 3 calibers 7.65nato ,.45cal and 12 ga due to budget to have silver ammo

MCB also uses silver ammo but has the budget for any ammo type

 

IIRC everybody has life force energy and all the monsters have a lot that that feed their regeneration

IMO this translates into lots of body and regen for most monsters

[bigdamnhero]

Silver in the books had more effect than just normal ammo

Right. MHIRPG confirms in a few spots that silver works best against "many" monsters. My question is what monsters does silver work against? According to the monster write-ups, just werewolves. So either there's an inconsistency in the monster write-ups? (Not trying to beat anyone up; just clarifying.) Or else MHI and MCB are mistaken and silver isn't actually any more effective than lead against non-lycanthropes, they just think it is?

[Hyper-Man]

I'll have to read a few of the novels before I can give an informed answer on that one. It does seem odd though.

[Beast]

Silver in the books had more effect than just normal ammo

Right. MHIRPG confirms in a few spots that silver works best against "many" monsters. My question is what monsters does silver work against? According to the monster write-ups, just werewolves. So either there's an inconsistency in the monster write-ups? (Not trying to beat anyone up; just clarifying.) Or else MHI and MCB are mistaken and silver isn't actually any more effective than lead against non-lycanthropes, they just think it is?

all undead except zombies(any bullet to the brain will work)

Lycanthropes in general

Nothing said about Orcs,Elves,Gnomes

IIRC

[Beast]

I'll have to read a few of the novels before I can give an informed answer on that one. It does seem odd though.

You should they are fun in how everything gets it's own take by the author

[Steve Long]

I wouldn't ordinarily chime in on a thread like this, but I was specifically asked to, so here I am. The question I was sent was:

 

It seems like the only monsters as-written that are affected by silver are werewolves. I could've sworn in the books silver also affected the undead, demons, and maybe the fey? So I'm wondering if I missed something or if that's just an "oopsie" in the book. (It happens.)

 

As far as I am aware, the only monsters in the setting to whom silver is so inimical that they have a Vulnerability to it are lycanthropes (such as werewolves) and baba yagas (who don't appear in the MHI RPG itself for space reasons but are in one of the accompanying PDFs). Many monsters may not particularly like silver, but that's not the same thing as giving them a Vulnerability to it, or Limiting their defensive powers so as not to apply to it. Not every in-setting bit of flavor rises to the level of having a concrete game effect.

 

If you can point to specific textual, canonical information that shows I'm definitely wrong, I'll certainly reconsider. But for now, based on Larry Correia's review and approval of the text, I'm sticking with what I've written.

 

 

[bigdamnhero]

OK, thanks for letting us know!

[PaycheckHero]

It would be difficult to suspend disbelief if MHI went to the expense of silver ammo and it only affected werewolves to a degree that would show up in game terms--the number of such projectiles expended in the books would add up to a staggeringly expensive mountain of silver. That said, I don't remember getting the impression that Vulnerability would be the right effect to model silver projectiles in the book. With the caveat that I've only read the first MHI book and that only once (I bought it recently just because MHI was on the way), and I don't have MHI:RPG (yet), my impression from the books was not that many monsters have a specific Vulnerability to silver, but rather that quite a few are hard to hurt with normal weapons. Unless a re-read or subsequent books changed my mind, I'd model that by giving such monsters extra limited defenses; maybe 25% resistant physical DR with a "not against silver" limitation unless there was a special reason to give more or none at all to a specific monster. I might even just make it a campaign rule worth no points on the monster character sheet for bookkeeping convenience and only note exceptions, depending on just how extensive the list of monsters affected ended up. I'd have to read the rest of the books to see if the books offer much help in making the list.

[PaycheckHero]

Now that I actually have MHI, I would modify the above slightly.  The book doesn't have DR and uses DN heavily, so a better idea than 25% DR would be something like a campaign-wide default (which can be lifted for as many monsters as the GM likes, the books only said "many" not "most" or "all") of one DC of damage negation with the limitation "not against silver," with whatever exceptions the GM likes (not everything needs it, just "many" as stated in the books).  It's also faster to use at the table (having a dozen NPCs taking 25% off damage would suck when the action gets heavy).  That avoids making normal ammo useless, but still gives an edge to silver and a reason for MHI to use silver all the time.  I still suspect that the PUFF amounts listed might not be enough to pay for that much silver ammo, but it's easier to suspend disbelief on that small economic matter than to believe in the fundamental premise of Urban Fantasy in the first place (that such secrets can be covered up by any amount of government intervention and subconscious wishes by the population not to know, when the evidence is that enormous numbers of people are determined to believe wacky things in the absence of any evidence whatsoever).  The only reason to fix it at all is the explicit statement in the book, and perhaps the basic fictional rule that you shouldn't waste your readers' willingness to suspend disbelief on stuff that can easily be "fixed" (i.e. made more believable) but rather save it for the unbelievable stuff that is mandatory for your story.

 

Anyway, that's my houserule proposal to give teeth to the "many things are better shot with silver" statement in the books with minimal impact to the MHI rules as written.

[bigdamnhero]

...to believe in the fundamental premise of Urban Fantasy in the first place (that such secrets can be covered up by any amount of government intervention and subconscious wishes by the population not to know, when the evidence is that enormous numbers of people are determined to believe wacky things in the absence of any evidence whatsoever).

Thank you! I love Urban Fantasy as a genre, and the whole "people ignore whatever they can't explain" is so at odds with observed human nature IRL, that (at least for me) it requires more suspension of disbelief than the actual existence of magic & monsters. But the genre doesn't really work without it.

 

Oh, I also agree on your take for using Damage Negation, Not Vs Silver. I might go more than 1 DC, at least for some monsters, but depends on teh game you want to run.