Houseruled Headshots, A Desert Eagle Should Do You Options

[Fix-it]

He musta had SOME disability after that.

[Shanshu Freeman]

[Hasaku]

<anal>
Funny, I was under the impression that, by canon, there ARE no called shots to the head. You declare a called shot against Mr. Goon (looking for any opening or vulnerable target), and the GM flavors up the results based on how effective you were. Every so often another thread will pop up about head shots, forgetting that SR is a very abstract system...whatever. Have fun.

As for that old myth about not using all of your brain... I direct you thusly.
</anal>

[Kagetenshi]

Hasaku's got a point.
As for the myth, I assert that it is false, but in the other direction: I see a great many people in daily life who quite clearly do not use ANY of their brain matter, let alone 10% of the stuff.

~J

[Zazen]

The phenomenon wherein a person with missing brain tissue regains normal function is called Functional Plasticity. Other parts of the brain can indeed reconfigure themselves, within limits, to perform the functions of the missing portion.

Then again, the same professor who told me this also insisted that we do have large amounts of inert brain tissue, contrary to all that I have read. Take it for what you will.

[Kagetenshi]

Oh, we do. I believe it was white matter; sits around, doesn't do much. [edit] the key is that it isn't like it has the ability to do stuff and we just don't use it. It's stuff what is not useable.
Note that this is remembered from bio so many years ago, but I'm pretty sure that was it.

~J

[El_Machinae]

Actually, the brain does seem to be rather plastic - more plastic than we realised. As well, it seem to have regenerative powers, but not good ones (there seems to be a kink in the process).

A couple months ago, there was a Scientific American called "Better Brains" that was specifically about the brain. A really good read, I'd recommend people pick it up (just to advance you knowledge - and to support brain research).

back to the 'shooting self in head, suicide topic'. I once read about this senator, who was trying to kill himself. But, he had a really hard time of it. First, he tenderised himself by smashing his body into various furniture. Then, he shot himself in the back of the head. He clearly survived, because he shot himself again in the back of the head, and then once in the belly to make sure.

WOW, people are tough. :D

PS: I'm quite willing to let this topic drift onto human brain theory and facts!

[Bob the Ninja]

I've seen a troll take a burst-fire to the head with EX-Explosive slugs from a Franchi-Spas in our game. Lucky (the troll's name) didn't even take a light wound.

He wouldn't be able to kill himself with a tac nuke to the head!

[Austere Emancipa...]

Regular shotgun BF (that is, not 10 gauge or 12 gauge Winchester/Olin magnum) with explosive rounds to the head would do 12D+2 + successes in my games. The heaviest helmet anyone has yet had has 7 points of ballistic armor. That's 5D+2, I'm sure a Troll could walk away from that. Getting that down to Light would require 10 successes on the DR test, and thus, on average, 30 dice.

With a saner helmet (the Ball 7 is mounted on top of a heavy mil-spec plated armor suit, which a troll just ain't gonna get), like your basic spectra + ceramic mask (Ball 4), the troll would be facing 8D+2, which would require, on average, 72 dice to reduce to a Light wound.

With AP tungsten sabot slugs, Lucky would've been facing 8D+1 even with the heavy milspec plated helmet (58 dice to Light), 11D+1 with just about any other helmet (144 dice to Light). Heck, even a single sporting rifle/MMG/battle rifle/sniper rifle (7.62x51mm) APDS round would do 7D + successes on a headshot, with either of the helmets mentioned above.

Lucky wouldn't be as lucky if he ever wandered into a game I was running. It just isn't easy being a stupid tank when I'm the GM...

[Edit]BTW, a tac nuke (e.g. 100kt) would do 1265D or 1265D+158 with the optional explosive rules. 10kt (I doubt there are many nukes smaller than that) would only do 400D(+50) though, which I guess would still be survivable in some games...[/Edit]

This post has been edited by Austere Emancipator: Nov 17 2003, 05:22 PM

[Kagetenshi]

For people surviving massive trauma, I bring forth Rasputin as Example A.

~J

[Siege]

[Kagetenshi]

My girlfriend does that when she sighs.

~J

[Siege]