More Than One Question About One-Shotting

[ZoroNotZolo]

So, I was in a thread and it raised a few questions about one-shotting. Hopefully you guys can bear with me on these.

Why Is The One-Shot Gap 7.5x?
Before I made the thread, I decided that I would check the VSBW page on one-shotting to see if it was already answered there. And it was. Kind of. The page says the following:

"The gap of 7.5x is based on the difference between a street level character and a human level character, with the former being commonly accepted as capable of one-shotting the latter"

So to add more detail and context of why I asked a question that was essentially already answered, I'll rephrase it: why do we use the power difference between a street level and human character to determine the one-shot gap?

Why Isn't The One-Shot Gap 1.5x?
This kind of piggy-backs off the first question. I wondered why the one-shot differences weren't the same (1.5x, since 7.5x would inflate ratings), since I thought that would be somewhat consistent. It's kind of odd to consider that a character only needs to be 1.5x stronger than an opponent in their own verse to one-shot, yet has to be 7.5x stronger than an opponent to one-shot in a Versus Thread. I mean, I know that there are already rules that don't necessarily apply to each combatant's universe, but from the outside looking in, it seems weird that the bar would be pushed back a bit for two characters fighting.

I'm looking forward to reading replies that come, which can hopefully help me understand why the standards are the way they are.

 

[Thelastmlg]

1. Because we assume that's enough to knock out (or kill with a precise strike) since street level characters tend to one shot other humans.

2. Because fiction doesn't have a set one shot gap, some verses allow you to fight and tank attacks multiple times stronger than you, like getting a super attack reflected back or something.

Also even 1.5 would inflate stuff, ANY gap would, because it would be exponential.

 

[DarkDragonMedeus]

The 7.5 AP difference is more so just a RL equivalent of how a oneshot would be. AP gap between a 10-B and a 9-C. But fiction tends to be super inconsistent which is why we avoid assuming all stomp fights are 7.5 multipliers by default. While at the same time, some characters have at least chip damaged characters who are more than 100x stronger as well as survived a hit from though got knocked out.

The 7.5 gap is just what was decided for Vs threads as saying things like "Even 2x makes it a oneshot" has been prone to making too many threads considered a stomp thread.

 

[ZoroNotZolo]

Well that got cleared up fairly quickly lol

I guess that makes sense.

 

[Blahblah9755]

Additionally, 7.5x gap is when it’s considered a guaranteed one-shot, so any blow to the general area of a vital organ could one shot. In actual combat settings, there’s a lot of luck and skill based factors that can let you one shot much more easily (whiplash, falling, pressure points, vestibular shock, internal injury, underlying condition, etc.) and within the fiction it’s often difficult to tell which of those if any are coming into play.

 

[ZoroNotZolo]

Additionally, 7.5x gap is when it’s considered a guaranteed one-shot, so any blow to the general area of a vital organ could one shot. In actual combat settings, there’s a lot of luck and skill based factors that can let you one shot much more easily (whiplash, falling, pressure points, vestibular shock, internal injury, underlying condition, etc.) and within the fiction it’s often difficult to tell which of those if any are coming into play.

Yeah, I thought the "blow to the torso" thing was kind of weird on the page.