Author Topic: Bursting through doors (again?)  (Read 1503 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Doridian

  • Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 161
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Bursting through doors (again?)
« on: July 24, 2017, 12:09:57 PM »
I've written (again?) because I somehow remember having seen a similar title in the past, but I'm not able to find it out. Maybe some old topics have been archived?

Anyway, the question is quite simple. How do you rule bursting through doors? I mean: in nearly all of the cop movies you see some bigger (than average) cop rushing against an apartment main door, hitting it hard with the shoulder and slamming it open inside. Good old D&D (1st edition, the red booklet) had a rule about it: to force open a (not stuck) door, you roll a d6, add the strength bonus (-3/+3) and if you roll a 5 or 6, the door opens (for sure it was not torn apart, maybe it was still on its hinges; it was open indeed).

You could use this same rule of thumb, using a +/-1 for, say, every +/-3 points of strength bonus (RMSS/RMFRP). But in RM there are all of the rules for material integrity and structural hits, etc... So my question is: if my character tries to hit a door with his/her own mass, which kind of attack table would use? And which bonus would be accrued? I suppose that the Ram/Bash table would perfectly fit. But what about the bonus? Anything related to the bare weight of the character? And/or any bonus based on strength and, maybe, constitution? And/or any damage accrued by the character him/herself?

The closest rules I can remember are the Thrown Weight Bonus rules in the RMCI. But they provide a bonus to melee for characters that are above average (of size/mass) and nothing for characters that are below.
Am I overlooking anything? How do you handle this kind of issue?

Offline Voriig Kye

  • Wise Elder
  • ***
  • Posts: 817
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: Bursting through doors (again?)
« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2017, 06:08:26 PM »
RMC Creatures and Treasures states:
"Any creature that can move at running or faster pace can execute a charging ram (Ram, Butt, Bash, Knockdown, Slug) attack of a severity equal to its size."
This is considered a melee attack, so apply Prof bonus, Ag/St/St, and ranks (you could give the character X ranks based on the most similar combat skill developed).
As regards the hits required in the Ram table to open the door, you could compute the number of hits on the weakest component (the hinges?). I checked some books but couldn't find a reliable formula, nor an example for small metal items.

OTOH, RMU has a section on "feats of strength" where a maneuver is rolled, with a difficulty depending on the relative difference between the weight/strength of the item and that of the character. You can add your "Weight Training" skill to the maneuver.

Offline jdale

  • RMU Dev Team
  • ****
  • Posts: 7,101
  • OIC Points +25/-25
Re: Bursting through doors (again?)
« Reply #2 on: July 24, 2017, 09:38:47 PM »
There are rules for breaking doors in RMU Treasure Law. See pages 128-129.
System and Line Editor for Rolemaster

Offline Doridian

  • Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 161
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: Bursting through doors (again?)
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2017, 03:37:41 AM »
RMC Creatures and Treasures states:
"Any creature that can move at running or faster pace can execute a charging ram (Ram, Butt, Bash, Knockdown, Slug) attack of a severity equal to its size."
This is considered a melee attack, so apply Prof bonus, Ag/St/St, and ranks (you could give the character X ranks based on the most similar combat skill developed).

Ah, thank you. I've got first edition of C&T and C&TII but I could not find these suggestions. It seems it's just what I was looking for.

As regards the hits required in the Ram table to open the door, you could compute the number of hits on the weakest component (the hinges?). I checked some books but couldn't find a reliable formula, nor an example for small metal items.

I'm quite sure there's an example about a lock. I'll look for it and I'll put here a reference.

OTOH, RMU has a section on "feats of strength" where a maneuver is rolled, with a difficulty depending on the relative difference between the weight/strength of the item and that of the character. You can add your "Weight Training" skill to the maneuver.
There are rules for breaking doors in RMU Treasure Law. See pages 128-129.

I'll check the RMU then.
Thank you again!