Re: [DL] Massive Damage ... [Goff]

["John Goff" <JohnGoff@deadlands.com>]

> Not quite a double post here, but darn close!
>
> As there are just as many new rules in HOE that apply to both HOE and DL
as
> there are just HOE rules, I thought I'd ask about the new Massive Damage
> rules in Iron Oasis.  Are these intended to cover DL as well?

They're in the Agency sourcebook as "optional." The rules, as written, are
_very_ cinematic. Perhaps a bit too much for many folks, so these are a less
survivable set.

If you're happy with the cinematic survivability of explosions as written,
that's great--stick with it.

> I realize
> that the marshall can basically do what ever he/she wants, but I was just
> wondering what your [PEG] intentions were?

Seriously? To make a dynamite explosion a deadly event. :-)

Joking aside, I had a mad scientist (as a player myself) wearing a
bulletproof vest detonate a stick of dynamite on his chest. We played it out
by the rules, and he walked away from it virtually unscathed. It cost him 5
chips (and the vest soaked two wounds), but that's a little unrealistic IMO.

One of our playtest groups actually had a player who would deliberately drop
grenades at his feet in a crowd of "mooks" because he'd realized the damage
would most likely drop them, but leave him relatively unscathed.

Use of dynamite and grenades in this fashion (in our opinion) should not be
rewardsd. :-)

We use the rules in my game here, and when someone lights a stick of
dynamite, eveyone ducks. OTOH, there's also a capricious element involved as
well. A mad scientist in the group recently got a catastrophic failure with
his flamethrower inside a crowded saloon. In addition to the 12 or so bad
guys in there, one PC was caught in the blast. He got lucky, caught a blast
pocket and walked out unscathed.

However, all that said, if you like the old DL rules better, keep using
them.

John