what is the difference between damage and soak?

when figuring out how much damage the enemies deal do you add the strength and the damage (the one in brackets)

Thanks

I've read that folks do it either way.

Soak stops damage.

The total damage is calculated as follows: Strenght or Agility (depends if you use a melee attack or a ranged attack) + the Damage Rating of the weapon used + any additional effects on cards - the target's Toughness - the target's Soak value - any additional effects on cards.

So if a PC with Strength 3 and wielding a hand weapon, rolls 3 successes on a basic Melee Strike, and hits an Ungor with a Toughness of 4 and a Soak of 1, his damage would be 3 (Str) + 5 (DR) + 2 (card) - 4 (T) - 1 (S) = 5.

Hope this clears it up.

To answer OP actual question, yes you add the number in the bracket to determine total damage potential. Per page 46 of ToA, the number after Strength is the Damage Rating, which serves the same function as it does for weapons as described in the main rulebook. Furthermore, this is the default value, but the GM is free to provide specific equipment in which case the number in parentheses would be replaced with the DR of the actual weapon.

I wish there was a handy reference sheet with all these formulas on it.

okay that helps. but what about the defence and soak rating of a piece of armour or the defence and soak of a enenmy

conanb said:

me to

facepalm said:

Again, page 46 of ToA tells you that for NPCs or monsters, the number in parenthesis after Toughness is Soak and the number after Agility is Defense. Again, these are default values and can be replaced by the specific values of any armor you choose. Per rules outlined for combat, Defense adds Misfortune dice to an incoming attack roll and Soak reduces damage. Sudden real has provided an example already. What are you still unclear about?

mac40k said:

that helped. i must have missed anyone else saying that. the defence adds misfortune, that was what i did know i thought it was the same as soak so i was wondering what the piont was.

Thanks for all the posts. =)