Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[Isamu NEET-a]

I look at the fire rules and all I see are rules for fires getting worse. But what if the burning object, character, or creature jumps into water or is hit with the spray from a fire extinguisher? And how would the stop, drop, and roll procedure affect a character on fire in game terms? It seems like it would be a good rule to have if fire is used often in attacks.

Also, what are some good guidelines on how long a fire should last before it uses all its fuel and burns out? Just general rough guidelines. I tried to find some formula to base guidelines off of, but I can't figure out how to pare down the scientific information to, "If this sort of thing is burning, it'll burn up and burn out in xdx hours."

Finally, I'm wondering all of these things because I'm designing and redesigning trappings for Savage Megami Tensei. In the Shin Megami Tensei series, it's essential to be mindful of opponents' elemental strengths and weaknesses. One damage type in some games is Nuclear. Also, nuclear strikes have figured into the plot of several installments. I like the Savage Worlds DX rules for radiation, but would like a better idea of what is high radiation and what is low radiation.

Most of these are questions about existing rules of expanding on existing rules. I'm sorry if I chose the wrong forum, and if that's the case, feel free to move the thread.

[ValhallaGH]

Re: Fire.
Extinguishing fire is one of those "situation dependent" rules. There are a lot of ways to handle it.
Further, vulnerability to fire has three different dials to deal with - Ignition, Resistance, and Duration. Likelihood of ignition can range from Barely Flammable (house rule: require maximum on a larger die) to Extremely Volatile (house rule, inspired by SPC: ignite on anything but a 1 on a larger die). Resistance to fire is easily handled by either dividing fire damage before determining wounds or by making the creature naturally armored versus fire trappings (like normal armor, but only for fire damage). Duration of burning is a thing, but how it will be in game mechanics relies upon how you determine when a fire has burned up.

Examples:
1. Campfire accident lights a man on fire. He could jump into a nearby stream an extinguish it completely, he could try to smother it by "stop-drop-roll" or a blanket or both (I'd probably handle this as an inversion of the ignition rules - roll d6, on a 5 or less he goes out; change the number for his flammability), or he could wait for it to "burn out" (my houserule: every 3 rounds the fire doesn't get worse, it decreases one type).
2. White phosphorous (WP) is launched onto a position and a man is ignited. He's screwed, as the WP is going to keep burning until all of the phosphorous has been oxidized - his only hope is to cut the WP out of his skin. Immersion in sand or earth will pause the burning, but exposure to oxygen (atmosphere, water, etc.) will start the fire back just as intense.
3. A fire-proof brick is covered in gasoline and ignited. The gasoline will burn off fairly quickly (one round, maybe two) and the brick will be unaffected.
4. Office fire ignites a worker and one of his coworkers swiftly pulls out an extinguisher. This can be handled by narration, a simple trait roll (Smarts, Agility, or Shooting - success "kills" the fire), by rolling a d6 (if the fire doesn't "ignite" then it goes out), or by some combination or additional methods. Some GMs may decide to take fire-fighting very literally, giving the fire a toughness and the extinguisher damage - and if that's fun then it was good.


Re: Radiation.
Note that the Deluxe rules make radiation sickness less deadly than leprosy - given Acute Radiation Sickness, that's almost certainly less than 6 Grays (Gy).


I hope some of that helped.
_________________
"Got a problem? I've got the solution: Rocket Launcher."
"Not against a Servitor."
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[Isamu NEET-a]

It did help. Thanks. Part of me is thinking of writing up some harsher radiation rules, but I'm not sure if I really want to use them, because it could really kill the fun factor.

[Clint]

This might help as well...

http://www.peginc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=245703#245703
_________________
Clint Black
Savage Worlds Core Rules Brand Manager

www.peginc.com

[Isamu NEET-a]

Fantastic, Clint! Thanks!
On another note, I had a lot of fun during the playtest you ran at Dragon*Con.

[ValhallaGH]