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<blockquote data-quote="genshou" data-source="post: 1165903" data-attributes="member: 13164"><p>So what you are saying is that the katana loses hardness when it hits stuff? I can see the game mechanic idea being to weaken the blade, but you're doing it wrong...</p><p></p><p>HP measures the structural integrity of an object. Hardness represents the molecular density and composition. According to your stats, the katana starts with hardness 7... which is somewhere between wood and masonry (iron is 10, and isn't that what type of metal katanas are made of?). After 4 hits, the blade now has the equivalent to the molecular density and composition of wood. So the blade is suddenly made of wood? Doesn't make sense; it should still have a higher hardness after whacking plate mail 4 times. No good...</p><p></p><p>And after that, it gets even worse. 4 more hits, and it's got the same hardness as bone. 8 whacks against plate mail make an iron blade the same as bone? I don't think so... it would lower HP, not hardness.</p><p></p><p>When it whacks two more times, it becomes as tough as packed dirt. So after 10 hits, I can now grab it with my hands and mold it?!</p><p></p><p>Here's an alternate solution, based on stuff I developed for a d6 System Starcraft RPG:</p><p></p><p>When a katana strikes as Arkhandus described (hitting the armor instead of the person), it takes 1 pt. of a special form of damage per natural, nonmagical AC bonus of opponent's armor beyond +4. When this damage equals or exceeds the katana's hardness, it takes 1 pt. of hit point damage. A katana receives a -2 circumstance penalty to attack and damage rolls for each HP lost IN THIS MANNER. Any special damage left over stays to prepare for the next HP loss... so going with the katana hardness of 7:</p><p></p><p>The katana nails a breastplate instead of missing entirely or striking the wearer herself. The armor bonus is +5, so the katana takes 1 pt. of special damage. It doesn't show too much wear yet, but there are some cracks and chips in the blade. Next, it strikes +2 full plate. The magic doesn't matter, so the katana takes 4 pts. of special damage, putting it at 5 pts. so far. Now the cracks and chips are pretty obvious. Next, it gets dealt 5 more pts. by dendritic crystal armor (FRCS). The blade has now taken 10 pts. of damage, so it loses one hit point and has 3 pts. carried over toward its next hit point reduction. The samurai now notices that his katana is beginning to show serious signs of breakage.</p><p></p><p>All in all, this works a lot better than reducing the weapon's hardness, and if you call the special damage anything BUT special damage, it sounds cool, too. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /> This could also easily be adapted to work with all weapons and the parrying rules presented in the <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=57656" target="_blank">AC per level</a> thread, pages 3/4.</p><p></p><p>As a side-note, I have no idea what to do about natural armor. Surely a dragon's scales would damage the blade, but I'm not sure how to rule that one...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="genshou, post: 1165903, member: 13164"] So what you are saying is that the katana loses hardness when it hits stuff? I can see the game mechanic idea being to weaken the blade, but you're doing it wrong... HP measures the structural integrity of an object. Hardness represents the molecular density and composition. According to your stats, the katana starts with hardness 7... which is somewhere between wood and masonry (iron is 10, and isn't that what type of metal katanas are made of?). After 4 hits, the blade now has the equivalent to the molecular density and composition of wood. So the blade is suddenly made of wood? Doesn't make sense; it should still have a higher hardness after whacking plate mail 4 times. No good... And after that, it gets even worse. 4 more hits, and it's got the same hardness as bone. 8 whacks against plate mail make an iron blade the same as bone? I don't think so... it would lower HP, not hardness. When it whacks two more times, it becomes as tough as packed dirt. So after 10 hits, I can now grab it with my hands and mold it?! Here's an alternate solution, based on stuff I developed for a d6 System Starcraft RPG: When a katana strikes as Arkhandus described (hitting the armor instead of the person), it takes 1 pt. of a special form of damage per natural, nonmagical AC bonus of opponent's armor beyond +4. When this damage equals or exceeds the katana's hardness, it takes 1 pt. of hit point damage. A katana receives a -2 circumstance penalty to attack and damage rolls for each HP lost IN THIS MANNER. Any special damage left over stays to prepare for the next HP loss... so going with the katana hardness of 7: The katana nails a breastplate instead of missing entirely or striking the wearer herself. The armor bonus is +5, so the katana takes 1 pt. of special damage. It doesn't show too much wear yet, but there are some cracks and chips in the blade. Next, it strikes +2 full plate. The magic doesn't matter, so the katana takes 4 pts. of special damage, putting it at 5 pts. so far. Now the cracks and chips are pretty obvious. Next, it gets dealt 5 more pts. by dendritic crystal armor (FRCS). The blade has now taken 10 pts. of damage, so it loses one hit point and has 3 pts. carried over toward its next hit point reduction. The samurai now notices that his katana is beginning to show serious signs of breakage. All in all, this works a lot better than reducing the weapon's hardness, and if you call the special damage anything BUT special damage, it sounds cool, too. :p This could also easily be adapted to work with all weapons and the parrying rules presented in the [URL=http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=57656]AC per level[/URL] thread, pages 3/4. As a side-note, I have no idea what to do about natural armor. Surely a dragon's scales would damage the blade, but I'm not sure how to rule that one... [/QUOTE]
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