[Rq-rules] Re: RQ-Rules Digest, Vol 14, Issue 12

[Paul Cardwell]

But all that is a theoretical accelleration in a
vacuum, and doesn't really apply to the real world.

Remember how the long jump records got clobbered in
the thin air of the Mexico City Olympics?  Altitude
(and air density) is a factor.

The important thing is the sudden stop at the bottom. 
Air resistance affects terminal velocity. 
Accelleration does not go on forever, no matter what
the falling distance is.

In a drop from 500 feet, for instance, a mouse will
scurry right off; a cat will be shaken a bit, but
unharmed (but injured if the drop is below 30 feet
because they don't have time to flatten into their own
parachute); a dog will be injured; a human will be
killed; and a horse will splatter.  The distance and
air density is the same, but the weight to air
resistance is radically different because of the
square-cube law.

It can be approximated arithemetically, but an
accurate formula will require more than simple algebra
to take in all the factors.

Paul Cardwell



--- Julian Lord <julian.lord at gmail.com> wrote:

> Brad :
> 
>  I just stumbled onto this below in my archives. The
> velocity/momentum/
> > kinetic energy topic resurfaces routinely, doesn't
> it? The thing to
> > remember about that square component is that it
> refers to measuring a
> > fall proportional to the length of _time_ of
> falling. Since we
> > parameterize falls proportional to _distance_,
> then _linear_ is the
> > better choice.
> >
> >
> > On Jul 25, 2006, at 10:49 PM, Tom Cantine wrote:
> >
> > > 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.
> >
> >
> > Brad Furst
> > If you've seen one non-sequitur, then all the tea
> in china.
> 
> 
> Brad, it's long been worked out that all RQ stats
> are actually logarithmic
> in nature, and that simple algebra is sufficient to
> compare the various
> forces against each other --- ie distance
> fallen/velocity has a similar
> structure as SIZ+CON/Hit Points
> 
> The rules have been designed (or re-designed
> depending on your POV) to use
> the same logarithmic scale for all relevant forces,
> so that simple algebra
> can handle all scaling issues... :-)
> 
> Julian Lord
> > _______________________________________________
> RQ-Rules mailing list
> RQ-Rules at crashbox.com
> http://crashbox.com/mailman/listinfo/rq-rules
> 



 
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