DP (was Elves and Souls)

["Rick Myers" <leviathan_60@hotmail.com>]

Actually Steve, I think you just answered your own question.  Dp is a 
measurement. More specifically a measurement of how far something is 
away from being changed into something new, with "new" being defined as 
more or less broken.  Using some of your examples:

DP is a measurement of the distance between being...

a man and a corpse

a door and a pile of toothpicks

a ship and a shipwreck

an undead and a pile of rotting flesh.

As such, it is a macro encompassing a lot of little measurements to make 
things simpler to deal with in the game.  DP for a door is not exactly 
the same as DP for a man, because it's measuring a different state of 
being.  

After seeing structural points used in other systems, I still prefer the 
simplicity of using DP universally, because it eliminates the need to 
define new sets of tables for structural damage.  To me, DP is basically 
a way of converting damage points, structural points, and several other 
types of "points" into the same base units.  The advantage of this is it 
removes the need to do unit conversions on the damage of my broadsword 
when I switch from attacking a creature to a person or door.   
 

>> Uh, no.  You going turbo ginsu on a rock wall would result in some
>> seriously broken bones (since the rock would do more damage to
>> you than you would be doing to it) or several broken swords (same
>> reason).  Remember Newton's Third Law here, eh?
>
>"ginsu" implied not using his hands. It doesn't shred because walls
>use real defense values and not AQ adventurer DVs. Lets assume a
>stone wall. You beat it to death with your sword. Eventually and
>using up enough swords you'll do some manner of damage to it. Take
>a hammer and it'll damage it more quickly. A stick of dynamite (6d6
>damage) and it'll damage even easier.
>
>Same applies to that rock golem. Yet you'll go in with a sword do
>4 attacks in one round and kill it. Eh hem... not.
>
>Already "creatures" DP is handled differently than non-creatures. I
>think we need to seperate them forever and stop using DP when referring
>to ships as its just confusing. I propose leaving DP for creatures
>(still leaving the question of explaining exactly what it is other than
>a cute mechanism) and creating structural points (SP) for 
non-creatures.
>DP is a measurement of how much "damage" a creature can take before
>becoming a non-creature :) SP is a measurement of how much "damage" an
>object can take before being broken. And of course each of these 
"pieces"
>now has SP (probably the same SP if we go strictly by material).
>
>If we add an SP columnt to the materials list we can see if a fireball
>destroyes something (right now if it fails its check it breaks, 
otherwise
>it makes it). SP are also differnt than DP in that a _SINGLE_ attack
>has to breach the mark in order to get an actual break... though 
weakening
>may lower the SP value.
>
>Yummy. That doeth sound complex :)
>
>DP cannot apply to non-creatures is what I'm trying to say *grin*
>That said I still cannot say what DP is or exactly how it affects
>creatures (given that there are so many kinds of creatures). 
>I know when you run out of DP you are no longer a creature.
>You are:
>
>dead	-	if you possessed lifeforce
>inanimate -	if you didn't
>
>discorporated -	if you didn't possess body
>a corpse - 	if you did
>
>So creatures can have lifeforce (or not) and have bodies (or not) and
>have souls (or not) and minds (or not) and spirits (or not). Therefore
>DP cannot actually be linked to any of these things. Wow... gotta love
>that... so (the diatribe continues) DP aren't a thing. DP are a 
>measurement. A Measurement of what? It can't be of any of the above
>attributes (mind, soul, spirit, lifeforce, body) as creatures exist
>with DP and without any one of these attributes.
>
>*sigh* DP meaning tired/traumatized doesn't hold up as an animated 
golem
>doesn't feel these things... he just keeps going until he is no longer
>animate.
>
>So we've got a list full of a lot of really clever people and truly
>wizardly rules torquers... _WHAT IS DP_???
>
>							-Steve
>


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