I was going over this idea with a few of my players.......Shouldn't shotguns and explosive weapons have a knock back effect?

Factoring in something like damage taken vs a toughness test? or depending on how much damage....a set difficulty vs toughness?

If there is already a house rule discussing this then link please....thanks much

Should shotguns and explosives have knock back? That entierly depends on what you're going for. If it's realism, then no, they shouldn't. Guns can't throw anybody anywhere and if an explosive generates enough force to toss folks about for several meters, then all it'll end up tossing around is itty-bitty little pieces of what they used to be.

If it's Rule of Cool, then ya, I recon they should -especialy if theirs a lot of plate-glass windows around. In this instance, I'd say that they get tossed 1m per pt of criticle damage inflicted from the shot/blast. Keep it simple and fun else it won't be all that cool any more ;-)

thanks my players are on the fence of if they want it to be a more real feel or a cool effect....i myself am leaning towards cool effect....and oh yes you better believe there is lots of glass involved.

As far as I know IRL some more powerful shotguns can put people on their a$$ from taking a shot....provided they live of course

IH p 147 - Hyper-Density Penetrators

Bodies flying back from small arms fire is a Hollywood myth. The mas of a projectile just can't move a body. People will drop straight down from shock or death.

RedSkull said:

It might push them over, especially if they have a vest that disperses the energy so the shot doesn't just disperse it's energy by tearing flesh, but they can't actually pick someone up otherwise they'd blow the shooter right over as well. They have a big kick, but not that big.

Boring reality aside, and as an amendment to my above post, when it comes to getting cinematic, you probably shouldn't have hard and fast rules and numbers governing it. After all, cinematic is cool. Rules and numbers are not cool. Therefor cinematic =/= rules and numbers ;-) Just go with your gut and what's cool for what ever is happening and you'll do fine.

I usually reserve the OTT cinematic effects for crazy amounts of damage, improbable damage, and off the chart criticles (like those things aren't packed with OTT cinema already ;-) ). Once, the groups resident gunslinging scum hit a cultist with a single shot from an handcannon for 52 points of damage after TB and all -a cultist who had 10 wounds. Needless to say, that got real cinematic. I described the cultist flaying back through a massive plate glass window (because that is a MUST for such situations) that just happened to be behind him (I had never explicitly stated that there wasn't a plate glass window behind him after all) sail through the air in a large arch before crashing 20m down through a massive arched stained glass window of the facing building which startled as several flocks of doves and cherubs who had been roosting their sending them scattering through the air in a rush of wings and feathers filling the nighted sky as they raced away from the scene of death, a single white feather falling into the rapidly exanding crimson pool of blood, it's pure white fibers stained permanently red. It was quite OTT, terribly cheesy, but the best damned death any no named mook who only had all of a minuet of screen time ever had ;-) The players kept wondering if he was someone of importance ever since then... XD

The point there is I didn't have any real guideline for that and probably shouldn't. When the dice do something in game that just makes you go, "whoa" then you should probably make it cinematic. If you're constrained by numbers or tables, the chances of the "whoa" moment being a good cinematic experience decreases as it becomes a bit formulaic, restrained, and no longer a crowning moment of awesome. Such things should always be awesome else why go cinematic?

I think it's the anaphylactical shock that makes your muscles spasm that "put people on their a$$" but it is not the kinetic force

but... realism... definitely no knockback

coolness factor as per hollywood movies... definitely knockback

Sirion said:

I don't think you mean anaphalactic shock - anaphalactic shock would only be suffered if you happened to be allergic to bullets.

Most people are, but not in that way...

I don't know... I've seen three folks have a rather sever reaction to bullets resulting in, what appeared to be some nasty soars and bloody discharge. So sever was their reaction that two had to be taken away by an ambulance and one actually died from it.

Every one knows that guns don't really kill people.....bullets do guns just happen to fire them at high velocity

And yes i think i am going to go with the cool hollywood effect of knock back......just for that extra feeling of awesomeness

N0-1_H3r3 said:

my bad... hydrostatic shock should be correct (should be as in I'm still not a 100% sure about it)

The coolness factor for throwing people back from the force of the blast is mostly used in the Critical Effects table, where people are blown about from severe damage. I think that is also the Hollywood cool effect because usually in the movies bad guys getting shot and thrown around are dead.

For normal shots (i.e., still have Wounds left) and such before Critical effects then I would say no due to excess paperwork as well as causing players to have to worry about standing and prone rules. Plus shooting prone enemies is hard so I would let them keep standing and taking it until its time for the Critical Effects to take them out.