Author Topic: Crush Vs Impact Criticals  (Read 995 times)

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Offline Exluso

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Crush Vs Impact Criticals
« on: October 31, 2020, 08:17:54 AM »
Hi all,

this may look a trivial question but I am not a native speaker and I keep having doubts about the differences between Crush and Impact Criticals.
I thought that Crush is for when something hits you (e.g. a mace) and Impact is for when you hit something (running into something or falling).
But then HARP (pag 83) says that falling damage is Crush.
Also a War Hammer is Crush.

The web does not help (I can only find differences in the speed of the crushing/impacting blow).

Can anyone provide an example where Impact critical should be used?

Thanks a lot!

Offline PiXeL01

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Re: Crush Vs Impact Criticals
« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2020, 08:31:16 AM »
I was about to suggest the Krush might be small objects and Impact large but that wouldn’t make sense. Impact velocity perhaps?
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Offline Spectre771

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Re: Crush Vs Impact Criticals
« Reply #2 on: October 31, 2020, 11:59:36 AM »
The impact crits are more for non-solid/malleable force as opposed to a solid object colliding with a solid object.  Hitting the ground from a fall:  If the ground is solid, then definitely a Krush crit.  If the ground is soft, like a bog/swamp/peat moss, then Impact would be more likely as having all the wind knocked out of you from the sudden/immediate stop, not so much from smashing into a large boulder.


Wave of water, wall of air, Gravity ball (Elemental Companion), Fire ball attack, Force Ball attack (Force Mage).  A force that can pass around and/over the target (or the target can pass through the force), wave of air from an explosion would be example of impact.  Having the wind knocked out of you very suddenly.  The force could still break bones the way a Krush crit does if it is severe enough.

Mace crushing a skull, body falling onto a rock from a high height, sword striking chain mail armour would produce a Krush crit rather than a Slashing crit.  All the force is focused along a fine edge to break a bone, but not necessarily to slice the arm off.  An unyielding object such as a weapon or a rock is more likely to result in a Krush crit rather than an impact crit.
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Offline Cory Magel

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Re: Crush Vs Impact Criticals
« Reply #3 on: October 31, 2020, 12:35:38 PM »
I often designate it as a secondary critical too.  Like getting hit with a lance from a charging enemy.  Lance does Piercing as primary and Impact as secondary.  Same deal with Bolts, Balls, etc.  It would probably be appropriate for falling out of a ships crows-nest into the water and situations like that (kinda mentioned earlier).
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Offline Hurin

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Re: Crush Vs Impact Criticals
« Reply #4 on: October 31, 2020, 02:08:45 PM »
Yes, and in addition to what everyone else said, Exluso, to be clear: in English, Crush is when something hits you, but impact can also be when something (e.g. the force of an explosion) hits you. Impact is more commonly used as a noun rather than a verb: e.g. 'The impact of the blow crushed his skull.' Rolemaster just tends to use 'Crush' for criticals from mundane weapons (e.g. maces) and 'Impact' for criticals from things like spell effects and explosions.
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Offline Exluso

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Re: Crush Vs Impact Criticals
« Reply #5 on: November 01, 2020, 06:18:35 AM »
The impact crits are more for non-solid/malleable force as opposed to a solid object colliding with a solid object.  Hitting the ground from a fall:  If the ground is solid, then definitely a Krush crit.  If the ground is soft, like a bog/swamp/peat moss, then Impact would be more likely as having all the wind knocked out of you from the sudden/immediate stop, not so much from smashing into a large boulder.
[...]

That's what I was missing!
Thanks for giving peace to my mind, this is the kind of question that gets stuck in my brain even if it's not really preventing me to play or have fun.

Thank you all for the answers and suggestions (not using secondary crits at the moment, the group is still too new to Harp but...*grins)