HERO System Stress Test: Homo Sapien versus Felis Catus.

[Ragitsu]

Oh, I pay attention, but I am also human/imperfect and, thus, I miss things.  What I did not miss was the changing of parameters by the OP.

 

The only thing that "changed" in my initial post was clarifying that no improvised weapons are allowed (which should be a no brainer since I stated, up front, that all the human gets is their clothing) and that Presence Attacks are not a viable option (given that this is a fight to the death with both beings going at it in melee).

[Hugh Neilson]

So we are really back to the cat being built incorrectly at that point. The HKA should have been built with Damage Over Time, Extra Time and other limitations to reflect it's effectiveness.

Why not just slap "Real Weapon- -1/4" on the claws. That's how we prevent a sword slashing through an armored car, so maybe it also prevents an angry cat taking out a family of humans.

[Ragitsu]

The system needs more tweaking before i'd feel comfortable running a HERO Animorphs campaign.

[Nolgroth]

How about we rebuild the Cat, Domestic entry then?

 

Claws/Bite

Just make it a +1d6 HA. It can't really do Body damage to a human unless it hits a vulnerable spot like the head (and has to roll full damage for that to even happen). It will not cause Impairing/Disabling wounds against Joe Normal (but other standard characters like Children may not be so lucky), even with a max roll to a vulnerable location. It can cause Stun damage and, if subjected to multiple attacks, that can accumulate. There is still a bit of a stretch with that, as technically it can knock out a human after five shots if it rolls max damage for each and the human does not Recover between them. On the average though, it will only be doing about 1-2 Stun after defenses. Since it does not do much Body, Bleeding rules will probably not be a consideration and the human is likely to stop bleeding on his own accord.  For small mammals and birds, render their Body low and give them no PD to speak of.

 

DCV

DCV is insane. I would drop it to 5-6. That is still roughly twice what the Joe Average human OCV is, meaning that the human is going to have to roll 8/9- to hit the cat. That is roughly the same competency as Joe Average having primarily Everyman skills to work with.

 

PD/ED

Drop to 1 each.

 

Body/Stun

Given Joe Average's Strength of 8, by the letter of the rules he does 1 1/2d6 Normal Damage. Given a max roll, that is 3 Body and an average of 2. I don't think Joe Average is going to kill a cat with a single punch (though it is possible) so leaving the Body at 5 is just fine. Stun is also about right so I wouldn't touch that.

 

Everything else but the silly Complication look okay. Of interesting note, the Cat, Domestic has 70 points worth of Complications but is only credited with 50. I think it is because the last one is intended as a joke.

[Marcus Impudite]

The fight to the death part would be overkill; not only would a person have to be pitifully weak (and possibly stupid) to get killed by a common house cat, but most humans would have options for subduing the creature without the need to use lethal force. Example:

 

Human picks up an empty laundry basket (we'll assume roughly 1 DEF, 1 BODY maybe 2 DEF for the sturdier baskets). Human waits for cat to close into range and traps the little miscreant under the laundry basket, weighing the improvised cage down with some heavy books for good measure. Human then goes to the kitchen for a sandwich and a beer, comes back after the cat has worn itself out in an impotent attempt to escape the laundry basket. Contest over, human wins.

[Mister E]

Humans are superior.

 

Cats, inferior.

[Ragitsu]

The fight to the death part would be overkill; not only would a person have to be pitifully weak (and possibly stupid) to get killed by a common house cat,

 

Not by the RAW. A typical human loses most of the time.

[Ragitsu]

Humans are superior.

 

Cats, inferior.

 

One question: who is taking care of who ?

[kukuli]

Assuming that you have a reason to determine the damage of small animals, and I understand that most won't ever need to, what about these specs?

 

Tiny: 1 Damage Class, standard effect, normal damage.

 

Very Small: 1 Damage Class, normal or killing dependent on animal type (a teacup Chihuahua would be normal, a rattlesnake would be killing).

 

Small: 2 Dcs standard effect, normal or killing dependent on animal type (house cats would be normal, microraptors would be killing).

 

Medium: 2 Dcs, normal or killing dependent on animal type. (Foxy Dude, the mighty Shiba Inu, would be normal damage, a compsognathus would be killing)

 

Large, etc.: Strength damage + any special attributes, normal or killing dependent on animal type.

 

 

Tiny and very small animals would not be able to do body to  most humans, but would be able to damage some low defense items. Small animals, like house cats, would get a little more stun than the Chihuahua, but would still no body damage. My dog could do a stray point or two, not that I'd worry. His favorite prey is the light of a lazer pointer.