[Torg] Wu Han's Poison Pin

[Kansas Jim]

Cedric writes:

[Dalhyp asks about Wu Han's poisoned pin in The Destiny Map]

> The pin inflicts an automatic Mortal Wound if it touches a target.

Wow, what an arbitrary game mechanic. You just know the PCs are
going to hold onto it until they encounter a borr aka or something
else they can't even scratch and then *plink*, they touch it and it
dies!

> Possibilities can be used to lessen the effect.

Actually the module says they _cannot_ be used to lessen the effect!
Now the pin could be used to put even a High Lord on death's door!

Poisons are a game mechanic Torg has never handled consistently.  From
Wu's pin here to straight DVs to having characters make Toughness checks
against the poison's DN to resist it and one or two I'm probably
forgetting, I expect almost every possible approach has shown up in the
game material. For Wu's pin I'd suggest a DV to represent the poison's
effect. Going with the idea that the DV is enough to inflict a mortal
wound on the average person that'd put the DV up around 21. If you want
it to be able to inflict a mortal wound on any 'normal' human, like a
tough Nile hero with TOU 14, then something up around DV 27 would
suffice. I'd go with the lower value myself, it's actually more pulpish
for the heroes to be sickened and weakened by "enough poison to kill a 
man twice over!" rather than killed by it.

-- 
Kansas Jim, Torg guru (ksjim (at) sdc (dot) org)
Torg website: http://www.sdc.org/~ksjim/index.html