[Rq-rules] Re: Knockback and falling damage.

[Tom Cantine]

I worked out the following table of damage scales for impact at various 
speeds, although I suppose I should expand it to take into account the 
enormous amounts of knockback a giant can deliver.

	Damage	Equivalent speed	Typical situation	
	1D3		1-2 m/SR		Walking into wall; tripping over cat
	1D4		3-4 m/SR		Running into wall; falling from 1 m
	1D6		5-6 m/SR		Sprinting into wall; falling from 2-3 m.
	2D6		7-8 m/SR		Trotting horse.
	3D6		9-10 m/SR	Charging horse

I based these values loosely on the falling damage rule, noting that 
every 3 m of height adds a d6 of damage, and so I inferred that damage 
is linear with kinetic energy. Actually, that seems pretty reasonable, 
all other things being equal.

However, it seems to me that knockback distance is a linear function of 
velocity, not of kinetic energy (which is proportional to the square of 
velocity). To fling someone 60m would require a minimum velocity of 
about 45 m/s, which is about the speed one would attain after falling 
about 100 m. So damage on landing should be about 33d6.

I don't think that damage should max out at 12d6, because the entire 
body is hitting a solid surface, and while 12d6 is every bit as lethal 
as 33d6, the degree of overkill is a useful indication of how 
recognizable the residue will be. 
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