From: maxxon@swob.nullnet.fi (Mikko Kurki-Suonio)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Palladium RPG comments
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 19:02:46 EEZ
Distribution: world
Organization: Sweet Oblivion

hnguyen%peruvian.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Hung Nguyen) writes:

> Thats not true, a 21 is a master, in the skill area, and a 25 is like a grand
> master.  But it doesn't matter, the unrealistic part is you can judge where t
> bullet will actually hit at that range.  When the military and other company
> test out rifle accuracy they use a static brick wall so all shots are consist
> so the only variable is the rifle itself.  At 1000 yard the diameter of a M21
> sniper rifle is much more than the size of the eye.  


Normal human (DX10 IQ10) requires a skill level of DX+11 to get 21. This
costs 64 points, or 12800 hours, or assuming 10 hours of practice per
day, three and a half years of constant training! And you need to find a
teacher that good or things just slow down even more. Maybe not
superhuman, but pretty high nonetheless.

> So even if you could aim
> directly at the eye, it can hit anywhere in the range.  I think that diameter
> is about 3 to 5 inches.  How that for a stationary target.  

The GM can easily prohibit aiming at targets you don't see - like an eye
at 1000 yards without a VERY good scope.

I agree that GURPS does not really take into account ballistic accuracy
(except with 1/2 damage limit - which far better than most systems ever
go) - but neither does any other system apart from Phoenix Command that I
know of.

It is NOT an excuse if having that high a skill is practically
impossible in a given game - it's just not true! Skilled shooters can
easily outshoot inaccurate guns.

What about laser guns that shoot straight? Adding ballistic accuracy
considerations as strict rules just makes the game more cumbersome, IMHO.

> With a moving target
> it much much more random.  

Since irregular target movement has nothing to do with shooter skill, I
guess that's one of the things dodge represents.

Example: Let's say that in the time the bullet flies to the target, the
target can move to the hex beside him. Let's say the target has an equal
probability of being in either hex when the bullet gets there. No matter
how good the shooter is, he'll miss 50% of time when he would have hit a
stationary target. This has nothing to do with shooter skill. 

> Plus player a 120 point character is not suppose to
> be superhuman.  And if your playing Special Ops your playing with 200 to 300 
> point character.  To me that is unrealistic.

Well, special ops characters are far less powerful than "free" 200-300
pointers. They have several limitations (min HT 13, max attributes 100
points) and several required skills at high levels. To me, their high
point value just represents the constant training they receive. They
basically just normals trained to hyperlevels. That's why their skills
go go down so fast after they quit training.



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