Recent comments

No worry; I never equate clarifications and added info as nit-picking. All facts are good –

I get what you're saying about three "dimensions" to a dice pool; thanks for the input. What I'm wondering, if you or anyone can chip in, is this: How would all three dimensions be used in an example of play?

Say a PC is attempting a diffcult task. Her skills or other abilities aiding the attempt would typically, as I understand it, add to 1) number of dice rolled. The difficulty of the task would modify 2) the Target Number needed for each die to become a "hit". What, then, would determine 3) the number of "hits" required for success? Or, perhaps, would you typically not determine 3) in advance, but rather use number of "hits" afterward to determine degree of success (as in, 1 "hit" a weak success, 3 "hits" a strong success, etc.)? 

Is that the rules assume you are trying to hit a target.  There should be an extra bonus of some sort when you are just going for distance.

(Whoops; sorry about the multiple posts there-- I didn't think they were going through!

Most rags-to-riches characters sink their starting points into Driver and Gunner (and in later editions ... Handgunner.) Remember that you'd technically have to pay someone a lot of money to do all this work. Even if you were a mechanic yourself, you're probably having to use someone else's repair bay at $50 an hour.

We play that Amateur Night stars get free mechanic work... and if they are right on the edge, they use the pitiful money they get from "cashing in their hulks" to fix up the best car they've got. This results in dudes running in packs of Stingers with custom armor targeting computers... or maybe Joseph Specials with all machine-guns for weapons.

I think Twilight 2000 had really elaborate rules for wear, tear, and jury-rigging. CAR WARS vehicles have such short life expectancies, though...!

I've never played 5th edition. I've read that it doesn't even allow for designing vehicles, which (if true) is certainly a surprise!

You are correct, there is an active discussion going on.

Good games never die! At least not in the awesome age of the Internet.

I still play! :)

Keep in mind, though, that any power plant damage has a 2-in-6 chance of setting your car on fire. This results in a lot of cars going up in smoke in the amateur night duels where the cars don't have fire extinguishers.

Also... the cost to install all that new equipment will cost more than buying a brand new car, so there is a limit there that gets worse depending on how you interpret the retrofitting rules.

Also also... if people are playing for salvage, the really try to go for a clean kill. So the sillyness you point out doesn't come up as much as you'd think.

Also also also... if people are playing new designs every time (for a corporate style campaign) you won't want to reuse old designs as much or you ruin the guessing game.

But yeah... it is a weird rule... but the design and repair systems in CAR WARS get used a lot more than their counterparts in other rpg's.

I still play! :)  

Keep in mind that any vehicle that takes power plant damage has a two-in-six chance of catching fire. This results in a *lot* of burned up vehicles in those amateur night cars that don't have fire extinguishers. (The original game was tuned to model television style vehicular action, of course.)

In our campaign, we calculate the cost it would take to repair or replace all the vehicle's components. There is a cut-off point were a "shell" is no longer worth the trouble. Money and vehicles are so hard to come by in a straight rags-to-riches game, you really try to go for a clean kill on the driver with a side shot so that you can at least strip the weapons off later....

The big boxed set may have lots of vehicles and components to offer, but pared down to just cars and basic choices of weapons and parts, I think Car Wars is a simple game – quick to learn and to play. (After all, it doesn't even have rules for damaging the actual cars! : ) But, yes, that still may leave it more complex than a "gateway" board game like Carcassonne. (FYI, I didn't know that game and had to look it up. Sounds fun!)

BTW, I took a look at your blog. Lots of reviews and info there on games I don't know; still lots I need to learn. Good work!

In my own slowly-merging homebrew system, impact and related topics are precisely what I'm fussing over at present. I'd be happy to hear details of what you've done and share ideas.

It's a fine question. The answer, for the purpose of these rules, is pretty simple: I'm only working with the assumption that basic hits do measure impact, for knives or fists or maces or any hand weapon. If there's a problem with knives delivering too much sheer impact in the game, then that's a problem not for EP rules alone, but for any GURPS rules dealing with that impact (effects of knives vs DR, knockback from knife attacks, effects of knife attacks on other weapons, etc.).

I don't know that knives actually do deliver far too much impact in the game. After all, a fist can deliver tremendous (even deadly) impact; should a large knife really deliver much less impact? It is a hard metal object, and to some degree, the mass and power of the fist/arm also add to its impact.

If, however, you feel that impact should be lower, then I would rework the rules to reflect that (whether or not EP rules are being used – and, as you suggest, whether we're even talking about GURPS or about your own system). In particular, I think impact from a thrust knife should be on par with a punch (even able to pierce armor), so impact shouldn't be too low. But I also think that swing impact would rely more on a weapon's own mass, with less added effect from the fist/arm. Especially for a small knife, impact should perhaps be quite low (as you suggest), giving a razor or other small knife little ability to bludgeon through armor, and low damage against flesh if simply used to "hack" like an axe or other large weapon. In place of high impact, I think such a weapon should have a good ability to "slash" – that is, draw along the target for an attack that delivers low basic hits, but a higher damage multiplier vs flesh than normal cutting.

GURPS doesn't make that distinction; maybe you're planning to do so in your own system?

I never thought I would find such an everyday topic so enthrlialng!

I agree, boxers train extensively in dodging those head blows, and that should be reflected in the skill. And it was... until 4e. The special Dodge bonus that Boxing used to confer vs punches and other thrusts in 3e is now the same improved Retreat bonus against any attack that Karate, Judo, and fencing skills all enjoy. 

So that arguably makes your suggested Technique, in whatever form works best, a necessity if boxers are to have a special bobbing and ducking ability!