Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Why do guns do so much damage?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Laurefindel" data-source="post: 8518112" data-attributes="member: 67296"><p>Since this thread seems to have revived...</p><p></p><p>A gun doing more damage than a melee weapon has more to do with the way we perceive hit points than damage proper. Part of the modern definition of hp is one's ability to turn a series of serious blows into lesser ones. The more hp you have, the longer you can last in battle. The more damage you deal, the shorter your opponent will remain in the fight.</p><p></p><p>We live in a society that is more aware of the lethality of guns than that of sword wounds, and are accustomed to medicinal science that can heal lacerations anmd superficial wounds that would have been lethal not so long ago.</p><p></p><p>It is thus understandable that we perceive guns as a weapon that is harder to turn a serious blow in a lesser one than, say, a sword. We can easily imagine how a sword can be parried, an arrow deflected with one shield, an armor taking the blunt of a hammer hit. Bullets are too fast to dodge and have too much penetrating power to be deflected by a shield or armor. People don't give a crap about realism in RPG, but many do insist on things being "relatable". Since it's easier to relate to a sword being parried than a bullet to be dodged, bullets do more damage than sword.</p><p></p><p>Does it have to be that way? Probably not, but "damage" is the main metric of a weapon's deadliness in D&D . Superior weapons deal more damage, and we know from history that guns made most other weapons obsolete for a variety of factors, but since D&D maily gives us one, the conclusion that gun = more damage is a natural one.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Laurefindel, post: 8518112, member: 67296"] Since this thread seems to have revived... A gun doing more damage than a melee weapon has more to do with the way we perceive hit points than damage proper. Part of the modern definition of hp is one's ability to turn a series of serious blows into lesser ones. The more hp you have, the longer you can last in battle. The more damage you deal, the shorter your opponent will remain in the fight. We live in a society that is more aware of the lethality of guns than that of sword wounds, and are accustomed to medicinal science that can heal lacerations anmd superficial wounds that would have been lethal not so long ago. It is thus understandable that we perceive guns as a weapon that is harder to turn a serious blow in a lesser one than, say, a sword. We can easily imagine how a sword can be parried, an arrow deflected with one shield, an armor taking the blunt of a hammer hit. Bullets are too fast to dodge and have too much penetrating power to be deflected by a shield or armor. People don't give a crap about realism in RPG, but many do insist on things being "relatable". Since it's easier to relate to a sword being parried than a bullet to be dodged, bullets do more damage than sword. Does it have to be that way? Probably not, but "damage" is the main metric of a weapon's deadliness in D&D . Superior weapons deal more damage, and we know from history that guns made most other weapons obsolete for a variety of factors, but since D&D maily gives us one, the conclusion that gun = more damage is a natural one. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Why do guns do so much damage?
Top