Re: [HOE] [HoE] Landslide Question

[Matt and Teresa Steflik <grifflik@stny.rr.com>]

- Theo McGuckin wrote:

> The rockslide starts with a certain size. If it starts as loosening of
> dirt then it starts at size 1 and grows by one size every round. If it
> starts with boulder breaking free then figure out the size of the
> landslide from the average boulder and grows. There should also be a
> maximum slide size based on the biggest rocks available.
>
Agreed.  That makes sense.

> Every round the char. must make a nimbleness check with TN equal to 5 +
> the size of the rockslide as his first action. If he fails he takes 1d6+3
> (falling damage?) per size of the rock slide. This damage is applied to
> the legs for rockslides of size 2-4, and is massive damage for
> larger rockslides. If he succeeds he takes half that damage. Rockslides of
> size 1 cause wind damage as do most snow avalanches.
>
Rather quick and dirty, but it seems to make sense.  Unfortunately, this
doesn't take the speed of the slide into account.  As your snip from the
newsgroup implies, the slide increases in momentum as it increase in
size, so how fast are we talking (recorded at up to 100 mph acording to
the post - sheesh!)?  The damage would seem to neccessarily increase
with size and speed of the slide.

> Escaping is simply a matter of getting out of the way. The PC takes damage
> every round (+ wind, + stun check) until he can move out of the slide or
> into cover.
>
Yes, but again we need to determine the speed of the slide in addition
to its size in order to determine whether or not the characters can get
out of the way in time (and, if so, then how difficult the roll is).
Still, thanks for the input (and the great newsgroup post) - it's a
start.


- Tenebros wrote:

> Well, most avalanches, from what I know are pretty
> fast. Some, like the ash and boulder fall from a
> volcano can reach speeds in excess of 100 mph. SO the
> pace and acceleration I would say are much higher than
> someone on foot. I wouldn't worry too much about
> specifics. If they have a horse or some sort of
> vehicle I would give them some pretty tough rolls to
> try and stay ahead of it with, in this situation
> failures being as bad as busting and busting being
> worse than that.
>
Welcome to the list!  I agree on the speed and your notion on rolls in
trying to stay ahead of it...however, my quandry rests with them not out
running it...

> I would not get into heavy mathmatics but would
> instead try and keep with the feel of the game. Deal
> every posse member who gets caught in the avalanche a
> seven card, stud poker hand.
>
<snip mechanic description>
Oh, I definitely want to avoid lengthy equations if at all possible - I
like simple.  The low poker hand mechanic with betting chips (very
creative way to weed chips out of players - I especially liked that,
BTW) is cute, but it has a few problems.  First off is posse size.  This
might work well with small posses, but I've got eight, sometimes nine
players.  I'd have to shuffle two decks together to pull it off, which
isn't practical.  Even if I reduced it to a five card hand to keep it to
one deck the probability of one of  them drawing the black joker is
quite high - don't know if I like that.  The second is it's assuming
that all avalanches/landslides/what have you are the same size. This
mechanic seems to imply a pretty big one, and might work well in such a
situation, but sadly this isn't a case where "one size fits all" works.
Third, it still doesn't deal with the speed of a slide - only with the
assumption that the slide already caught the posse.   I need something
to help me simulate the actual speed of the slide as well, for
"outrunning" purposes if nothing else.  Still, all that aside, I like
the concept of it overall.  Very neat idea, and I thank you for the
input!


- Steve wrote:

> you could assign the slide an acceleration and then use vehicle movement
> rules to track its progress. (ie it moves on aces,queens,nines ect)
>

Hmm.  Now this I hadn't thought of - sort of a "landslide as a big
shambling vehicle" thing.  I like it!  Depending upon the terrain,
length of slope, etc, it could increase in size upon each of its actions
(up to a predetermined maximum size).  Rate of acceleration would
likewise be determined/limited by the angle of the slope...yes...this
has possibilities.  Thank you!  Heck with a bit of tweaking, Tenebros'
poker mechanic could be thrown in here as well for some giggles, perhaps
starting with a smaller hand size and then adding cards depending upon
what size/speed the slide was when it caught the posse.  Hmm.  I'll need
to do some number crunching and stuff with it, but this is defintely a
good start all around.  Thanks again for the responses Theo, Tenebros
and Steve - very helpful!  I'd be happy to take any more thoughts anyone
else would care to fire my way!

Matt Steflik
Gimme Shelter - http://www.geocities.com/grifflik