Damage?

Garnfellow

Cosmic Mongoose
Probably a stupid question, but here goes:
Traveller SRD said:
Damage is applied initially to the target’s Endurance. If a target is reduced to Endurance 0, then further damage is subtracted from the target’s Strength or Dexterity. If either Strength or Dexterity is reduced to 0, the character is unconscious and any further damage is subtracted from the remaining physical characteristic. If all three physical characteristics are reduced to 0, the character is killed.
Say a character has End 7, Str 7, Dex 7. A single attack on this unlucky fellow does 21 points of damage. The character's End is reduced to 0.

Does the "overflow" 14 points of damage damage then get applied to his other stats, killing him in one blow? Or is the overflow damage lost?

Weirdly, this has never come up in a game yet.
 
Garnfellow said:
Probably a stupid question, but here goes:
Damage is applied initially to the target’s Endurance. If a target is reduced to Endurance 0, then further damage is subtracted from the target’s Strength or Dexterity. If either Strength or Dexterity is reduced to 0, the character is unconscious and any further damage is subtracted from the remaining physical characteristic. If all three physical characteristics are reduced to 0, the character is killed.
Say a character has End 7, Str 7, Dex 7. A single attack on this unlucky fellow does 21 points of damage. The character's End is reduced to 0.

Does the "overflow" 14 points of damage damage then get applied to his other stats, killing him in one blow? Or is the overflow damage lost?

Weirdly, this has never come up in a game yet.

A straight reading of what you quoted suggests that yes, if you're applying 21 points of damage to someone with Physical UCP 777, he's dead, Jim.
 
As FreeTrav has said.

Also, should the total damage be less than 21, my interpretation of the rules is that once End goes to 0, the 'overflow' damage is distributed as the player wants between the two remaining characteristics. It's not the case that the next characteristic goes to 0 and then the 'overflow' goes to the remaining characteristic.

e.g., Characteristics 777. Damage 19.

i) End goes to 0 with 12 remaining damage points to be allocated.
ii) Player decides to take 6 from Str and Dex, leaving him with 110 as opposed to 7 from Str and 5 from Dex (or the other way around).
 
If a target is reduced to Endurance 0, then further damage is subtracted from the target’s Strength or Dexterity.
To Garnfellow, I can understand how you would feel this way especially if you use the entire quote from below which suggests a single attack only effects a single statistic. Something makes me want to agree with the others though. For example, lets say your character takes 6 points of damage from an attack in the first round and their endurance is now down to 1. If the character takes 12 damage in the second round or in a second attack in the first round, to me, it is odd that the character would take just one point of damage to endurance and the rest of the damage is ignored.
Stainless said:
my interpretation of the rules is that once End goes to 0, the 'overflow' damage is distributed as the player wants between the two remaining characteristics.
Stainless, the original quote is incomplete, if I give the quote from page 65 you will probably change your mind.
page 65 said:
If a target is reduced to Endurance 0, then further damage is subtracted from the target's Strength or Dexterity (targets choice, but all the damage from a single attack must be subtracted from a single statistic)
It would have been nice if they used 'damage from further attacks' or 'further unallocated damage from an attack' instead of 'further damage'.

Are there any 'official' combat examples anywhere? Perhaps Mongoose could chime in and clarify this?
 
Stainless said:
As FreeTrav has said.

Also, should the total damage be less than 21, my interpretation of the rules is that once End goes to 0, the 'overflow' damage is distributed as the player wants between the two remaining characteristics. It's not the case that the next characteristic goes to 0 and then the 'overflow' goes to the remaining characteristic.

e.g., Characteristics 777. Damage 19.

i) End goes to 0 with 12 remaining damage points to be allocated.
ii) Player decides to take 6 from Str and Dex, leaving him with 110 as opposed to 7 from Str and 5 from Dex (or the other way around).

I would not read the rules that way; my reading would be that you could choose which, but that you must zero it out before going on to the third.

Using your example, you avoid unconsciousness - but quite honestly, I can't see that that kind of walloping WOULDN'T leave the character unconscious/in a coma.
 
CosmicGamer said:
Stainless, the original quote is incomplete, if I give the quote from page 65 you will probably change your mind.
page 65 said:
If a target is reduced to Endurance 0, then further damage is subtracted from the target's Strength or Dexterity (targets choice, but all the damage from a single attack must be subtracted from a single statistic)
Thanks, Cosmic: it was the book text that really made me question my interpretation. Specifically that line "all the damage from a single attack must be subtracted from a single statistic."

I was surprised to see that line was not included in the SRD (which is where I pulled the text for my quote).
 
i think so that players cant "cheat death" by subtracting damage over a couple or all three characteristics. the way i read it, and i've tested it as well is this.

Stats 777
Damage 21

7 points off of endurance, then player allocated the damage to either his stregth or dex, reduces them down by 7 then the remaining stat gets reduced.

anyway you look at it, this character is gone... and thats how it should be, combat should be absolutely lethal.
 
I've always assumed that as a character takes damage and his stats drop so does his bonus for the stat, so that if the character has a 10 Str and takes damage dropping it to 7 its bonus goes from +1 to 0, but while rereading the rules I can't see it explicitly mentioned and now wonder if I've been doing it right? How do you guys handle it?
 
I play it that the stat bonus drops representing the fact that your battered, bruised and otherwise mangled so that your physical capabilities have decreased.
 
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