Mathew Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 I'm just converting a character from fiction, and wanted to figure out how much defense he has. He is depicted surviving an electric chair execution without seemingly taking any damage (I'd addume not even much stun, since he doesn't seem phased a bit), so the question is how much damage does an electric chair execution do? I'd addume at a minimum at least enough to do double a normal human's BODY on average in a single attack right? So a minimum of 6D6 RKA, no range, no KO? More maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodstone Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? Death by electric chair is not an instant process. It can take a while.... or several tries... So, perhaps a smaller number of dice but Constant would be best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Folded Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? Out of curiosity, what character? If he has an affinity for lightning, his defenses might be higher against the chair than they are otherwise. Could even be a Desolid vs. Electricity kind of deal (no damage at all). I'm not turning up much specifically, but the period over which the charges are delivered appear to be in the thirty second range. Call it three turns. Remember that it's designed to kill by electrical disruption of bodily processes, not by damage as gamers usually think of it. Electricity has always been one of the hardest kinds of damages to model in any system, because it does so many different things to the human body. There's heat, nervous system disruption, cellular destruction, muscle spasms, sensory interference, consciousness effects and probably more. It is one of the most unpredictable forces when it interacts with the human body possible. Some people struck by lightning are dead instantly, but most survive with varying degrees of injury. Just trying to get a taser right can be a nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escafarc Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? Horace Pinker? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrosshairCollie Posted September 10, 2011 Report Share Posted September 10, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? Death by electric chair is not an instant process. It can take a while.... or several tries... So, perhaps a smaller number of dice but Constant would be best. Agreed. Assuming SPD 2 for the chair's mechanism, I might go with 1.5 to 2d6 of killing attack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywind Posted September 10, 2011 Report Share Posted September 10, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? Sounds like Marv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha Posted September 10, 2011 Report Share Posted September 10, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? Look at 6e2 pg145 for environmental Electricity. They use Heavy Industrial Current, and the guy in the chair is Well Grounded. So it does 4d6 killing attack. Enough to fry someone fairly quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burrito Boy Posted September 10, 2011 Report Share Posted September 10, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? I don't have any suggestions, I just want to add my guess as to which character: Remo Williams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywind Posted September 10, 2011 Report Share Posted September 10, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper-Man Posted September 10, 2011 Report Share Posted September 10, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? What are the differences between the electric chair and a TASER? Is it just more current or a difference between A/C or D/C? If it's just more of the 'same' then some of the ideas from these old TASER threads might be useful as a starting point: TASER Rounds TASER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha Posted September 10, 2011 Report Share Posted September 10, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? What are the differences between the electric chair and a TASER? Is it just more current or a difference between A/C or D/C? If it's just more of the 'same' then some of the ideas from these old TASER threads might be useful as a starting point: TASER Rounds TASER First you have to understand about electricity. To oversimplify, Voltage helps penetration (ie very high voltages can arc across the air). Amperage is the force that damages you. Conventional wisdom is that you need 1Amp of power tracing across your heart (ie from arm to arm) to stop your heart (that's what kills). Now if you are very unlucky as little as .25Amp can kill you, but it's usually unlikely that it will happen with so little energy. Which is why the electric chair has electrodes on both arms. It frys your brain somewhat through the cap that usually has a wet spunge under it for increased conductivity. So a TASER is both AC for the shaking of the quickly reversing current. It's a High voltage, low amerage shock. It's actually engineered to start with a big shock that tapers off and goes through the cycle again. (Mythbusters did a great piece on TASERs when they investigated arcing electricity across a stream of water). For most people it's a painful, but fairly harmless way to get knocked unconscious. Remember that bit on low amperage charges still being able to stop someones heart and kill them? well that's the reason that sometimes a person gets Tased and they die due to heart stoppage. Again it's pretty rare, but it does happen. So a Taser is usually a Stun Only attack (it should take the "real electricity" -1/4 from 6e2 pg 150 to simulate someone who is well grounded getting a Normal attack(with body) or KA by accident). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywind Posted September 10, 2011 Report Share Posted September 10, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? ...and if you get the wrong kind of sponge your head catches on fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathew Posted September 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? It was an episode of Superman from the 50s actually. I was just wanting to find things he had proven immune to. He took the electricity from an electric chair in one episode, and a lightning bolt in another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravor Posted September 11, 2011 Report Share Posted September 11, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? Well to be fair, isn't Supes immune to pretty much everything except Magic and Red Radition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted September 11, 2011 Report Share Posted September 11, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? Well to be fair' date=' isn't Supes immune to pretty much everything except Magic and Red Radition?[/quote'] True, but that's not particularly useful when you are trying to model a character in the HERO system. If I'm guessing correctly, Mathew is trying to get a feel for the minimum capabilities a character would need to be able to match the feats shown in the show. A character who can do "what Superman can do" is as powerful as Superman, for all intents and purposes, regardless of all the fluff and hyperbole about Supes' theoretical capabilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper-Man Posted September 11, 2011 Report Share Posted September 11, 2011 Re: How much damage done "the chair" do? The optional Electricity Table from 6e2, page 149 shows the highest damage coming from a Lightning Bolt depending on insulation/grounding of the target: Power Type/Insulated Poorly/Grounded/Well Grounded Lightning Bolt/20d6/30d6/20d6 K+ This 400 point 6e version of Superman could survive just about anything on the table except for a 'Well Grounded Lightning Bolt' (20d6 K+). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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