Calculating Throwing Rock damage

[AslanCross]

How does one go about this? I was just looking at giants and the Hulking Hurler PrC, and realized that one of the HH's tricks was throwing an object of up to its medium load. What's the formula for calculating damage based on the mass of the projectile?

[Jasdoif]

Hulking Hurler is the one in Complete Warrior, isn't it? If I recall, there's a table right near the end of the book that lists damage for improvised weapons by weight. Either the class description or one of the feats says to use that table.

[RandomLunatic]

Table 4-7 towards the back of CWar.

Edit: Hey! Ninjas are in CAdv!

[AslanCross]

Ah, thanks a lot. I thought it had something to do with calculations involving catgirl genocide.

[elliott20]

well, at a certain point it pretty much does...

[VerdugoExplode]

Especially when you consider it's based off of weight, and not the inherent lethality of the object in question. Meaning that a 20 pound hunk of rusty, jagged, tetanus filled, piece of metal will do the same damage as a 20 pound pillow or a 20 pound hunk of Styrofoam.

[The Glyphstone]

Well, that 20 pound pillow is going to be a lot BIGGER/larger mass than the 20 pound piece of rusty metal...

[Mastikator]

Um, a 20 pound pillows has the exact same mass as a 20 pound metal piece. I think you mean size. A pillow is also soft.

[Muad'dib]

Um, a 20 pound pillows has the exact same mass as a 20 pound metal piece. I think you mean size. A pillow is also soft.

Oh [Expletive]! Think of the Catgirls man! The Catgirls! Yes your objection to his misuse of terms is justified, but it will still kill those poor Catgirls.

[AslanCross]

Especially when you consider it's based off of weight, and not the inherent lethality of the object in question. Meaning that a 20 pound hunk of rusty, jagged, tetanus filled, piece of metal will do the same damage as a 20 pound pillow or a 20 pound hunk of Styrofoam.

Actually, right beside the table it says that a sharp, jagged object will deal damage as an object double its weight, while a soft or malleable object deals as if it were half its weight and is nonlethal. (In fact, I think the nonlethality is less realistic past a certain point. Half a ton of feathers probably won't kill you with impact force, but then you start making drown checks.)

[Fan]

Now you have discovered my evil plan!
I'm going to kill the world with cloned feathers! >=3

[bosssmiley]

The throwing rock damage rules in CWar are wholly b0rked. Any fule kno that velocity has substantially more effect on damage inflicted than does mass.

(even the catgirls agree with me on this...)

[Curmudgeon]

The throwing rock damage rules in CWar are wholly b0rked. Any fule kno that velocity has substantially more effect on damage inflicted than does mass.

(even the catgirls agree with me on this...) Yes, but many modern shootists disagree with you and the catgirls, which is why old-fashioned .45 caliber pistols (big, slow slug) are favored over more modern designs (9mm and .40 caliber) with lighter but faster bullets. The theory is that it's the momentum transfer (Mv) that hurts, not just pure energy (.5Mv^2).

[Thiel]

Thing is, that's only an issue when the projectile penetrates the target. A thirty pound rock wont do that.

[Heliomance]

Um, a 20 pound pillows has the exact same mass as a 20 pound metal piece. I think you mean size. A pillow is also soft.

Not necessarily. If that 20 pound piece of metal was weighed on the moon, it would be heavier than a pillow that was established as 20 pounds on the earth.

In before "but mass is constant!"
Yes, I know it is. But pounds are a measure of weight - force - not mass. Hence the old (well, old for us in developed countries, dunno what the Americans use) measurement of pressure was pounds per square inch, whereas nowadays we use Newtons per square metre. Not kilograms per square metre.


The throwing rock damage rules in CWar are wholly b0rked. Any fule kno that velocity has substantially more effect on damage inflicted than does mass.

(even the catgirls agree with me on this...)

This is true. However, while getting stronger means you are able to lift, and hence throw, more, it doesn't necessarily mean you can throw it faster. A shotput thrown at you by an Olympic shot putter will probably hurt less than the strongest man in the world heaving his maximum load at you, despite the fact the shot put will be travelling significantly faster.

[hamishspence]

newtons is force, but kilos is mass. 10 kilo pillow will "weigh" as much on moon as 10 kilo rock- no atmosphere to make a difference. That is, if the scales are designed well, so they do in fact measure weight correctly- enclosed box, resting on the measuring point, so that there is no bias from weight being spread out inside the box.

[Curmudgeon]

Thing is, that's only an issue when the projectile penetrates the target. A thirty pound rock wont do that. How does penetration matter here? Whether you're considering conservation of energy or conservation of momentum, it's all transferred from the projectile to the target. People still get injured or killed in bulletproof vests even though the bullet doesn't penetrate. The transferred momentum can crack a rib, or, if it's right over the heart, cause death. The rock can do the same.

[elliott20]

Now you have discovered my evil plan!
I'm going to kill the world with cloned feathers! >=3

you knave! first you cause the extinction of soft feather birds everywhere and now this?!? does your fiendish-ness know no end?!

[Jasdoif]

you knave! first you cause the extinction of soft feather birds everywhere and now this?!? does your fiendish-ness know no end?!...so that's why one of the sample epic spells is for creating an achaierai, all the "real" ones were killed for their feathers!

[Heliomance]

newtons is force, but kilos is mass. 10 kilo pillow will "weigh" as much on moon as 10 kilo rock- no atmosphere to make a difference. That is, if the scales are designed well, so they do in fact measure weight correctly- enclosed box, resting on the measuring point, so that there is no bias from weight being spread out inside the box.

That's exactly what I said. Kilos are mass, Newtons are force. Pounds are also force.