So I got a question, I’ve always thought that pierce works with both normal and stun damage (stun setting not the stun quality) as nothing in the weapon qualities say that stun damage doesn’t work with pierce but recently a player I’ve met has insisted that stun damage, because it doesn’t wound, doesn’t benefit from pierce, same as how you can’t crit with stun damage. Does anyone have an official source from either the books or the faqs about this issue?
Any help would be appreciated.
I don't remember ever seeing anything about Pierce not applying to stun damage. In fact, there are weapons (such as the CryoBan rifle from Disciples of Harmony) that has the Pierce quality and specifically only does stun damage. So I'd say Pierce applies to stun damage as well - although that's just my personal opinion.
I also allow pierce with stun weapons. But I am fairly strange, because I houseruled that stun can do crits as well. A "stun crit" is functionally identical to a regular crit (including increasing future crit rolls), but it will wear off after a few minutes. I like the idea of a stunner that puts your arm to sleep, or causes you to see stars because you got hit in the head. Alter any permanent result to be temporary (losing limbs becomes arm non-functional, death becomes unconciousness, etc). If a weapon does not list a crit value and does stun damage, I add Crit Rating of 5.
I would say that Pierce can be used with Stun, as Stun doesn't necessarily have to defeat armor to work. What about a good ol' flashbang?
And Edgookin, rather than a stun crit putting someones arm or leg to sleep, why not give them a rip-roaring cramp? Ever try to run (or do anything) when your calf muscle cramps and locks up?
On 6/23/2018 at 10:32 PM, Vozzici said:So I got a question, I’ve always thought that pierce works with both normal and stun damage (stun setting not the stun quality) as nothing in the weapon qualities say that stun damage doesn’t work with pierce but recently a player I’ve met has insisted that stun damage, because it doesn’t wound, doesn’t benefit from pierce, same as how you can’t crit with stun damage. Does anyone have an official source from either the books or the faqs about this issue?
Any help would be appreciated.
Each rank of Pierce ignores one point of soak. Stun Damage does damage, and thus soak normally applies. If your weapon does Stun Damage and has Pierce, Pierce ignores a bit of soak before damage is applied to the target's strain threshold.
1 hour ago, Edgookin said:I also allow pierce with stun weapons. But I am fairly strange, because I houseruled that stun can do crits as well. A "stun crit" is functionally identical to a regular crit (including increasing future crit rolls), but it will wear off after a few minutes. I like the idea of a stunner that puts your arm to sleep, or causes you to see stars because you got hit in the head. Alter any permanent result to be temporary (losing limbs becomes arm non-functional, death becomes unconciousness, etc). If a weapon does not list a crit value and does stun damage, I add Crit Rating of 5.
Page 158 says, " A Critical Injury can only be triggered on a successful hit that deals damage that exceeds the target’s soak value. " Stun damage does damage and thus can cause a Critical Injury. Heck, page 218 has a sidebar that talks about how strain damage can trigger Critical Injuries.
So, yeah, stun damage can trigger Critical Injuries.
Ninja’d by c_beck, exactly what I came here to say. Assuming narrative sense, stun can cause normal crits, period.
On 6/23/2018 at 7:32 PM, Vozzici said:So I got a question, I’ve always thought that pierce works with both normal and stun damage (stun setting not the stun quality) as nothing in the weapon qualities say that stun damage doesn’t work with pierce but recently a player I’ve met has insisted that stun damage, because it doesn’t wound, doesn’t benefit from pierce, same as how you can’t crit with stun damage. Does anyone have an official source from either the books or the faqs about this issue?
Any help would be appreciated.
Pierce says nothing about Wounds, it lowers Soak. Your player is incorrect.
With blasters, I don't see an issue with applying Pierce when using the stun setting. I'd say that a vibroweapon used to deal strain damage with the Stunning Blow talent shouldn't be able to bypass any soak via Pierce, though, as you're literally NOT sticking 'em with the pointy end.
Perhaps your player is thinking of the rules for force pikes, which specifically state that they lose the Pierce quality when used to inflict stun damage.