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Drone and vehicle damaging differences

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Leevizer

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« on: <03-16-15/0634:01> »
The rulebook says on page 199, and I have a few questions about this

Quote
As most vehicles are a bit less squishy than metahumans, they have a Condition Monitor equal to 12 plus half their Body (rounded up), they ignore Stun damage (though electricity-based attacks are considered Physical Damage to vehicles), and any attack where the modified DV does not exceed the Armor of the vehicle does nothing. Drones are a different story and have a Condition Monitor equal to 6 plus half their Body.

1) Do drones take Stun damage?
2) Do drones take no damage if the DV doesn't exceed the armor?

These two questions I would personally think work out like they do with other vehicles, but the way the rule is presented is a bit confusing. There is no mention of drones acting like vehicles in that sense. And for my last question...

3) Does this mean that tasers are actually pretty effective at damaging cars?

SichoPhiend

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« Reply #1 on: <03-16-15/0648:42> »
1) no
2) correct
3) Amazingly so
A wise man once said that with increased intelligence comes the increased capacity to feel pain.
Therefore, if ignorance is bliss, enlightenment must be pure hell.

Herr Brackhaus

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« Reply #2 on: <03-16-15/0718:01> »
1) Do drones take Stun damage?
Only if it's electrical, in which case it's treated as Physical. So no.
Quote from: SR5 p171
Electronic equipment and drones can also be affected by Electricity damage. They never suffer Stun damage so Electricity damage is Physical when used against electronics and drones. They resist damage as usual and suffer a secondary effect if they take even a single box of damage.
The secondary effect for electronics and drones damaged by Electricity damage is shorting out or overloading. In game terms this is reflcted as secondary Matrix damage equal to half the Physical damage rounded down.

2) Do drones take no damage if the DV doesn't exceed the armor?
I hadn't noticed that the paragraph for drones doesn't specify that they follow the same rule as for vehicles.

As I see it, there are two ways of reading those paragraphs.

1. Inclusive; the rules for vehicles in the first paragraph also apply to drones, except where condition monitor is concerned (6+(Body/2) instead of 12+(Body/2)).
2. Exclusive; the rules for vehicles in the first paragraph do not apply to drones, so they take the full DV of an attack even if it doesn't exceed armor.

Personally, I believe the former is correct, but I've got no book proof for this.

3) Does this mean that tasers are actually pretty effective at damaging cars?
Did you mean "effective at damaging drones"? If yes, then yes, tasers work well on drones if they are in range. If you mean to say cars, then no, I wouldn't say the are "pretty effective" at that, because cars still only take the base damage + net hits. Tasers are going to be more effective in terms of DV than light and heavy pistols, as well as light automatics, but the range on a taser is incredibly short comparatively. So it becomes a value call if they are more effective depending on what you compare them to.

Squirrel

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« Reply #3 on: <03-16-15/0809:57> »
Damaging a car with a taser is pretty easy RAW.
Which is weird considering how cars are build to withstand direct hits by lightning.
Please excuse my English as it is not my first language. Misunderstandings are inevitable and smell peachy enough to be forgiven. Thank you :)

Herr Brackhaus

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« Reply #4 on: <03-16-15/0832:37> »
Damaging a car with a taser is pretty easy RAW.
Which is weird considering how cars are build to withstand direct hits by lightning.
In terms of pure DV and AP, yes. As long as you are in range, which is an important caveat.

In terms of electricity damage, cars don't take secondary effects from it. This is one of the few cases where the rules for drones and vehicles are not aligned.
Quote from: SR5 p171
Vehicles can be damaged by Electricity attacks but do not suffer any secondary effects.