Brute Force damage system

The how and why of "oh that's BS I totally killed you".

In my previous posts about Brute Force, I've been lacking in explanations of how the game actually works. So here, I'll explain how damage works.

Brute Force's damage system is based on a multi-part damage model for characters, and four types of hit.
The damage model is fairly simple: left leg, right leg, left arm, right arm, torso, head. Each part, once disabled by enough Critical hits, removes some functionality. For example, disabling the left arm of a Golem leaves them holding their weapon one-handed, and reduces their melee capability, but their mobility is unaffected. Disabling a leg would reduce mobility and melee capability, but wouldn't affect their weapons.

The hit types are a little more complex.

Deflection hits do no damage (the armour deflected the shot, or it just went through without hitting anything). They're rare for most Fraction weapons, unless they're using Shredder ammo, or the target is using the Deflection Plating or UA/ES upgrades. Body parts can take an unlimited number of Deflections.

Minor hits are the most common hit type. They're common for most weapons, especially those using AP ammo, but don't affect functionality. Body parts can take a limited number of Minor hits.

Major hits impair functionality, but cannot disable a body part. They're common for heavy weapons and explosives. Body parts can't take many Major hits.

Critical hits are the only hit type that can completely disable a body part. They're only common for super-heavy weapons like APWs and TVK/AM artillery, though the heavier a weapon, the higher the chance of scoring one. Body parts can only take one or two Critical hits.

Taking hits of one type increases the chance of taking hits of all the other types, except Deflections, until you run out of them...let me give an example.

Let's say you have Minor, Major, and Critical hits available. You're hit with a generic weapon with no chance modifiers, using Standard ammo. You take a Minor hit. This makes it more likely that you will be hit for a Major or Critical hit, rather than a Minor hit, next time something hits you, but the chance of a Deflection remains the same.

Here's the list (yay lists) of shot types and how they interact with the system.

Projectiles Standard: Chances are based solely on how large the projectile is, with a basic effectiveness increase curve.

Projectiles AP: Cannot Deflect, but more likely to only score a Minor hit (if Minor hits are unavailable, more likely to score a Major hit than a Critical). Reduced effectiveness against unarmoured organic targets.

Projectiles Shredder: High chance of Deflection against armoured targets, but guaranteed Major or Critical hit if penetration does occur. Very effective against unarmoured organic targets.

Projectiles Explosive (indirect hit): Similar effect to Shredder ammo. Also pushes targets around.

Projectiles Explosive (direct hit): Low Deflection chance, high Critical chance. Also pushes targets around.

Projectiles Rail: Low Deflection chance, scores two hits at a time (if a Deflection occurs, both are Deflected. However, if penetration occurs, each hit is calculated separately). 100% kill rate and three-body penetration against unarmoured organics. Also pushes targets around.

Projectiles TVK/AM: Guaranteed Critical hit. Also pushes targets around.

Lasers Pulse: Cannot Deflect. Works through hit types in sequence: depletes Minors, then Majors, then Criticals.

Lasers Beam: Hit every 1.5 seconds. Cannot Deflect. Works through hit types in sequence: depletes Minors, then Majors, then Criticals.

Blasters Gas-Pulse: Medium Deflection chance. Scores one Minor and one Major hit per successful hit. (Unless one is depleted, of course; if Minors are depleted, two Majors are scored; if Majors are depleted, one Minor and one Critical are scored.)

Blasters Cyclotron: Medium Deflection chance. Scores three Minor hits per successful hit. If Minors are depleted, scores two Major hits.

Melee: Cannot Deflect. Guaranteed Critical hit.

Nearby Antimatter Explosion: Guaranteed kill.
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And here's the list of body parts and how they're affected by hits:

Left Arm: Major hits reduce aim mobility for rifles, single handguns, and the left half of dual handguns. Disabling it resets aim mobility, but increases climb and spread for rifles and single handguns, and prevents using the left half of dual handguns. If the player model is set to left-handed, this causes a hand switch for single handguns and rifles.

Right Arm: Major hits reduce aim mobility for rifles, single handguns, and the right half of dual handguns. Disabling it resets aim mobility, but increases climb and spread for rifles and single handguns, and prevents using the right half of dual handguns. If the player model is set to right-handed, this causes a hand switch for single handguns and rifles.

If both arms are disabled, weapons cannot be used, and climbing is much slower. Melee is replaced with a body slam, headbutt, or kick. Airstrikes can still be used as they use the helmet's target painter.

Left Leg: Major hits reduce speed and cause jolts when walking. Disabling reduces speed and turning ability severely, and causes a severe limp (the Golem is forced to use the locked-down leg as a sort of crutch). Disabling also causes a tilt to the left when using the Aerial Maneuvering Pack or using your built-in leg boosters (the "boost on next step" control in the control list), and reduces jump height.

Right Leg: same as for Left Leg.

If both legs are disabled, the Golem is forced to crawl, and cannot fire while moving. The capability of the AMP is reduced severely, the Golem cannot jump, and leg boosters are disabled.

If legs and arms are all disabled, the Golem is immobilized unless the AMP is equipped, which can be used to fly (badly). If the last hit was to a leg, the Golem is knocked over. Emergency thrusters ensure the Golem lands on their back. They can still look around in a limited fashion and use airstrikes.

Head: Major hits cause damage to the visor and HUD. Disabling it changes the camera to a low-quality backup sensor in the chest, with a limited HUD. The backup sensor has a limited vertical movement range, and is partially obstructed by the bottom of the head when prone or crawling.

If head, legs, and arms are all disabled, the Golem automatically shuts down unless the AMP is equipped. If the AMP is equipped, the legs can be used as a low-damage melee weapon while flying, or the Golem can fly itself to a set point and detonate its local FAMEs and power supply. However, airstrikes are unavailable.

If only the legs or only the arms are disabled, disabling the head simply stacks with those effects.

Torso: Major hits cause jolts when moving, and the Golem staggers occasionally. The first (non-upgrade) Critical slows the Golem and causes obstructive hazard warnings. Disabling the torso shuts down the Golem.

When any set (legs, arms, head) or combination of sets is disabled, the Golem can choose to self-detonate or shut down, and be redeployed with a new body.

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Armour upgrades can add additional Minor, Major, or even Critical hits to body parts, at the cost of being able to use the slot for new functionality.

Jetstone soldiers are immobilized by any Critical hit, while Xenopterae have increased durability compared to Golem.


That's all for now - I'll try to get another Story Overview done soon, and of course, I'll get my BB39 post up on the weekend.