Taking Damage for Vehicles

[Colette]

Okay, so this is just a n00b question, but it’s something that’s been confusing me for a long time now.

In the rulebook there’s a table in the Taking Damage section for vehicles, but it only goes up to 5d10. Does this mean that a vehicle is limited to 5 hit points? How would I stat, for example, a size 10 creation? My current understanding is it is limited to 5 hitpoints going 5d10, 4d10, 3d10, 2d10, 1d10, destroyed, but is this correct?

[RunsWithLegos]

For me, armor is not decreased unless big enough chunks are blown off.

also, go ahead and give it as many hit points as needed and as are fair.

[mgb519]

I was under the impression that armor wasn't about size, per say, but about how hard it was to damage the creation. Like, a blimp would have 1d10 or something, while a small tank could conversely have 4d10.

[stubby]

In the rulebook there’s a table in the Taking Damage section for vehicles, but it only goes up to 5d10. Does this mean that a vehicle is limited to 5 hit points? How would I stat, for example, a size 10 creation? My current understanding is it is limited to 5 hitpoints going 5d10, 4d10, 3d10, 2d10, 1d10, destroyed, but is this correct?

The closest thing to "hit points" is Size damage - if you have a size 10 creation, it'll take ten points of Size damage.

Armor is limited by remaining effective Size, so if (for example) you give your size 10 creation 3d10 Armor, then it will have the 3d10 Armor until you manage to reduce it to below 3" effective size:

(actual size 10) 3d10
(1 size damage, eff. size 9) 3d10
(2 size damage, eff. size 3d10
(...)
(7 size damage, eff. size 3) 3d10
(8 size damage, eff. size 2) 2d10
(9 size damage, eff. size 1) 1d10
(10 size damage, eff. size 0) destroyed

What's more fun is then when you use component damage to target specific bricks in the middle of a size 10 creation to break it in half:

(actual size 10) 3d10
(1 size damage, eff. size 9) 3d10
(2 size damage, eff. size 3d10
(Component damage breaks creation in half: two chunks of actual size 5, each inheriting the two size damage already present)
(2 size damage on size 5 chunk, eff. size 3) 3d10
(3 size damage on size 5 chunk, eff. size 2) 2d10
etc.

[IVhorseman]

I'd also like to point out that when in doubt of how heavy something's armor should be, opt for the lower armor rating. 4d10 and 5d10 rating take some serious teamwork to destroy the structure, and let's be honest: battles go better when vehicles actually go boom.

[Java]

I personally think armor limited by size is kind of dumb. What if you have a really small robot that happens to be made out of vibratium and force shields?

[Keldoclock]

or use the energy shield rules.

Also, shouldn't your signature be:

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion,
It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed.
The hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

[IVhorseman]

Then, by brikwars logik, it would need to be large enough to provide enough power to have that much armor.

The reason that armor level is capped by size, is because technically minifigs are size 1 creations. If someone wanted to be incredibly anoraky, they'd be able to have a minifig "creation" with 4d10 armor, which would cost exactly as much as 2 regular minifigs, at an armor of 4. It also makes the rules for losing armor level as you lose size level on a creation work out reeeal smooth-like.

Personally, I'm on your side and agree that small things are often incredibly tough as well (diamonds, for example), and if someone tried to field such 4d10 minifigs into battle that they should just be dealt with by the Hammer of Discipline. However, the loss of armor level with size level would stop making sense as a rule, and it also encourages players to not use 5d10 as an armor level for anything since it's stupid anyways. Remember that the goal of the game is to have everything die as violently as possible, which stupidly high armor levels prevent.

As a work around, i'd include something like that robot only if it were some kind of special game-objective that's under attack by all parties involved, or by allowing players to FIELD things with as high of armor as they demand, but as soon as even a point of structure damage is received, the creation must take the armor associated with it's new effective size.