Question: Compound NND

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

Hmm. Gas masks often cover the eyes as well' date=' but for that you'd have to hold your breath, squeeze your eyes shut, and hope you have another Targetting Sense, Combat Sense, or some kind of defense you can throw up to wait it out.... [/quote']

 

See, this is where we get into the "making the defense less common" game. Does the gas do damage because it's inhaled? If so, not inhaling it shouold mean no damage. If not, then how does LS: Need Not Breathe protect the target? It should be LS: need not breathe AND protective airtight eyegear, shouldn't it? Now we have to ask whether that combination is sufficiently common.

 

[This leads me back to the older LS, which had "Need not breathe" followed by "immune to skin-absorbed gasses". How many NND gas attacks do you think were inhaled, as opposed to skin-absorbed?]

[prestidigitator]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

See, this is where we get into the "making the defense less common" game. Does the gas do damage because it's inhaled? If so, not inhaling it shouold mean no damage. If not, then how does LS: Need Not Breathe protect the target? It should be LS: need not breathe AND protective airtight eyegear, shouldn't it? Now we have to ask whether that combination is sufficiently common.

 

[This leads me back to the older LS, which had "Need not breathe" followed by "immune to skin-absorbed gasses". How many NND gas attacks do you think were inhaled, as opposed to skin-absorbed?]

LOL. Beats the heck out of me, but I was being a bit silly in any case and I'm not sure you should have taken me seriously. Things for GMs to ponder as they come up. In how much detail have you defined your Special Effects? Maybe they should be fleshed out a little more. Wakka, wakka, and all that.

[zornwil]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

The only problem I have with that is that you garden variety reasonable smart human is just a bystandard in most games. Even when you're playing in a Heroic Level game, the PC and their enemies are better than normals (even if not reasonably smart). How many reasonably smart humans with access to a Office or Home Depot can find a gas mask there? I'd say next to none. Yet a gas NND attack is one of the most common forms NND attack. Same thing with a rubber suit versus an electrical NND.

 

What the commonality for this referrs to is the campaign and characters, rather than the world at large. The world at large is just a setting. The people there are background. It's the people who actually have a speaking line in the "script" of the story who need to worry about a defense being reasonably common.

I think you could get a breathing apparatus of some kind put together. I don't see it as that high a bar (we're talking a heroic sort of normal, though, granted).

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

I think you could get a breathing apparatus of some kind put together. I don't see it as that high a bar (we're talking a heroic sort of normal' date=' though, granted).[/quote']

 

Hmmm...Home Depot. A blunger (remove handle)

 

A garden hose (push through hole in plunger left when handle removed)

 

Duct tape (seal it up)

 

Elastics (affix plunger over nose and mouth)

 

You now breathe through the plunger, so your air comes from several hexes away.

 

Looks stupid, but it should work.

[zornwil]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

Hmmm...Home Depot. A blunger (remove handle)

 

A garden hose (push through hole in plunger left when handle removed)

 

Duct tape (seal it up)

 

Elastics (affix plunger over nose and mouth)

 

You now breathe through the plunger, so your air comes from several hexes away.

 

Looks stupid, but it should work.

Yup, that's the kind of thing I'm talking about.

 

NND force field? Just get a crapload of car batteries, if you need to be mobile, put them on little red wagons, surround yourself with them, hook them together, put chicken wire around the wagons and around yourself, hook the chicken wire to the batteries, and voila, a personal force field! (uh, don't try this at home, kids!)

 

My point, though, is that the so-called "NND vs force field" I abhor as such, but so long as the player accepts that somebody's construction such as above or similar would work, then we, in my mind, now have a reasonable NND attack.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

Yup, that's the kind of thing I'm talking about.

 

NND force field? Just get a crapload of car batteries, if you need to be mobile, put them on little red wagons, surround yourself with them, hook them together, put chicken wire around the wagons and around yourself, hook the chicken wire to the batteries, and voila, a personal force field! (uh, don't try this at home, kids!)

 

My point, though, is that the so-called "NND vs force field" I abhor as such, but so long as the player accepts that somebody's construction such as above or similar would work, then we, in my mind, now have a reasonable NND attack.

Myself I would have probably called that lash-up an EB (electricity) Damage Shield, not a force field, but YMMV.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

Myself I would have probably called that lash-up an EB (electricity) Damage Shield' date=' not a force field, but YMMV. [/quote']

 

Why can't it be both? You are surrounded with energy, which seems to be the effect that prevents the NND from inflicting damage.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

Well' date=' I certainly wouldn't alow "No stats above Normal Characteristic Maxima" as a defense, but most of the populace has it. However, I do agree it makes sense to look for common-sense means of blocking NND's, rather than saying "Only someone who has a Force Field can resist this attack. If you didn't buy one, to bad." I do agree with increasing the focus on effect, rather than a focus on game mechanics.[/quote']

 

Well, it's more of a "you don't have access to one at this time, to bad". If the FF you bought isn't up wen you are hit, you take damage. If your buddy with the FF Protects Carried Items comes over and picks your FFless charact up, you don't take damage.

 

Of course, I don't like defining a Power or other mechanic as the defense. I stick with SFX and leave it at that. I will typically put FF down occasionally, but that's just shorthand for having something that completely or partially surrounds the character and prevents an impact/attack from actually comming in direct contact with the character. Having almost full coverage behind a wall, holding up a large shield, or, naturally, putting up a traditional FF Power would all work.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

Yup, that's the kind of thing I'm talking about.

 

NND force field? Just get a crapload of car batteries, if you need to be mobile, put them on little red wagons, surround yourself with them, hook them together, put chicken wire around the wagons and around yourself, hook the chicken wire to the batteries, and voila, a personal force field! (uh, don't try this at home, kids!)

 

My point, though, is that the so-called "NND vs force field" I abhor as such, but so long as the player accepts that somebody's construction such as above or similar would work, then we, in my mind, now have a reasonable NND attack.

All I have to say is: Home Depot! Ha!

 

Anyway, I actually find NNDs quite a bit easier to cope with in a fantasy setting, where anyone could conceivably obtain some kind of magical item or have a spell cast on them.... It may not be easy to do, but it is very possible, for just about any kind of NND condition.

[zornwil]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

I should point out a friend of mine who has the same rule of thumb came up with the "Home Depot" reference. I used to say Wal-mart or such, but Home and Office Depot probably give a better range of products to pop into a person's head.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

I should point out a friend of mine who has the same rule of thumb came up with the "Home Depot" reference. I used to say Wal-mart or such' date=' but Home and Office Depot probably give a better range of products to pop into a person's head.[/quote']

 

And a larger selection of products of those available I'll bet!

[zornwil]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

Hmmm, there's a vaguely interesting idea...all heroes built on regular stores, though pushed to the fantastic limits!

[Dust Raven]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

Hmmm' date=' there's a vaguely interesting idea...all heroes built on regular stores, though pushed to the fantastic limits![/quote']

 

Ooh! I wanna be Toys "r" Us-Man!!!

 

:D:D

[prestidigitator]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

I should point out a friend of mine who has the same rule of thumb came up with the "Home Depot" reference. I used to say Wal-mart or such' date=' but Home and Office Depot probably give a better range of products to pop into a person's head.[/quote']

Well, and there's the fact that Wal-Mart is just Evil. So I'll settle for Home/Office Depot. Fine.

[zornwil]

Re: Question: Compound NND

 

Ooh! I wanna be Toys "r" Us-Man!!!

 

:D:D

Heh, now that is a good choice!