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In the power it says you absorb the entire kinetic attack and do not get knocked back. However then they have the Attacker roll damage. I think you should absorb the entire Normal Damage that the attack would have done. If it is 6d6, you would absorb 36 points.

Why?

Because you are also absorbing the kinetic energy that would have knocked you back or down. You are absorbing ALL the energy not just the part that would have damaged you.

Adventus wrote:In the power it says you absorb the entire kinetic attack and do not get knocked back. However then they have the Attacker roll damage. I think you should absorb the entire Normal Damage that the attack would have done. If it is 6d6, you would absorb 36 points.

Why?

Because you are also absorbing the kinetic energy that would have knocked you back or down. You are absorbing ALL the energy not just the part that would have damaged you.

While I understand your reasoning, it is not in line with the Palladium attack and damage system, which uses the randomness of both of the attack roll to indicate how well you hit the target and the damage roll to determine how squarely the blow was received- a high strike roll combined with a low damage roll might indicate that while your attack was flawlessly accomplished, the target may have flinched at the last moment, sensed the blow somehow and moved slightly, etc.

If a damage roll does not indicate maximum damage, it is because the target was not hit squarely enough to do that much harm and therefore they would not be able to absorb and re-channel more kinetic force than they were struck with.

Would the attack be strictly kinetic energy? I think not. The kinetic energy is the force of the strike, but you would still take damage from what you were hit by. At most you would only absorb half the damage, I would think.

I would also say that damage is more than just the force you get hit with. It is where that force hits you.
If you have ever stubbed your toe you can testify that some parts of the body are weaker than others. A punch that lands on a vulnerable location may do more damage with the same amount of force than a punch that hits a less vulnerable one.

Rechannel Kinetic Energy covers all (basically, sort of) blunt force, as in not stuff that cuts and impales (sounds dumb to me, but I didn't write it). Specifically:
"The character with this power can absorb any type of physical/kinetic energy attack, including bullets, arrows, rail gun rounds, missiles, explosives, car crashes/impact, falls from great heights, force bolts, punches, kicks, and any type of impact from clubs and other blunt weapons (swords and other weapons that cut or stab do full damage) and takes no damage from such attacks.
Impervious to all kinetic energy and physical attacks, including attacks via Telekinesis and magic spells that deliver a punch-like impact. Is not knocked back or off his feet from an impact or explosion"

Therefore where he gets hit, and with what, are largely immaterial so long as it follws this general formula.
Actually, that raises a good question. Would said character be immune to nerve manipulation? Chi techniques I wouls say not (life energy based), but nerve strikes? I am leaning towards "probably".

wyrmraker wrote:Rechannel Kinetic Energy covers all (basically, sort of) blunt force, as in not stuff that cuts and impales (sounds dumb to me, but I didn't write it). Specifically:
"The character with this power can absorb any type of physical/kinetic energy attack, including bullets, arrows, rail gun rounds, missiles, explosives, car crashes/impact, falls from great heights, force bolts, punches, kicks, and any type of impact from clubs and other blunt weapons (swords and other weapons that cut or stab do full damage) and takes no damage from such attacks.
Impervious to all kinetic energy and physical attacks, including attacks via Telekinesis and magic spells that deliver a punch-like impact. Is not knocked back or off his feet from an impact or explosion"

Therefore where he gets hit, and with what, are largely immaterial so long as it follws this general formula.
Actually, that raises a good question. Would said character be immune to nerve manipulation? Chi techniques I wouls say not (life energy based), but nerve strikes? I am leaning towards "probably".

That's the point though. Every attack does not automatically deliver kinetic energy equal to that needed to inflict its maximum damage. If they did, then they would all always inflict that amount of damage. There is a random element. That element of randomness reflects a number of things that would determine how much damage that attack would do baring some sort of defense. What exactly that randomness is reflecting is not fully spelled out, which is why I had to extrapolate based on the combat examples that we have (the SDC/HP one) where it talks about 'flesh wounds' and 'real wounds'. Both did the same number of damage points, but they did it differently and to different locations. The first might be six points of damage that just scuffs your shoulder. The latter might be six points that pierces the shoulder and causes serious bleeding. Both did 'six points to the shoulder' but they hit differently.

I would personally say that it would depend on how the nerve attack was applied. If your doing something with holds or otherwise 'fiddling around' with the body, I would say that isn't 'kinetic' any more than a knife is. Neither is something like a finger snap. But a punch to a pressure point? Yah totally ineffective.