GURPS Bricks, Comparative Damage

 The ability to withstand damage is a staple of the classic brick class and, specially online I hear a lot of people saying its impossible to build an effective brick because its too hard to have good defenses.

Most of the time people are primarily looking at DR and what I consider one of the most effective defenses (other than avoid being hit) gets ignore or dismissed.  So here are some charts breakind down damage taken based on the defense chosen.

Here are some breakdowns of damage taken per hit for various weapons on an average damage roll.

Weapon	[50] IT:DR/2 DR 10	[75] IT:DR/3 DR 15	[100] IT:DR/4 DR 20	[125] IT:DR/5 DR 25	[150] IT:DR/10 DR 30	[175] IT:DR/15 DR 35	[200] IT:DR/20 DR 40	[225] IT:DR/30 DR 45	[250] IT:DR/50 DR 50
Auto Pistol, .44M (3d p++) 10.5	6 0.5	3.5 0	2.5 0	2 0	1 0	1 0	1 0	1 0	1 0
Auto Pistol, 9mm (2d+pi) 7	4 0	3 0	2 0	2 0	1 0	1 0	1 0	1 0	1 0
PDW, 4.6mm (4d(3) pi-) 14	7 11	5 9	4 7	3 5	2 4	1 2	1 1	1 0	1 0
Assault Carbine, 5.56mm (4d+2 pi) 16	8 6	6 1	4 0	4 0	2 0	1 0	1 0	1 0	1 0
Sniper Rifle, .338 (9d+1 pi) 32.5	17 22	11 17	8 12	7 7	4 2	3 0	2 0	1 0	1 0
10d 35	18 25	12 20	9 15	7 10	4 5	3 0	2 0	2 0	1 0
15d 52.5	26 42	18 37	13 32	11 27	6 22	4 17	3 12	2 7	1 2

One thing not to overlook is straight DR is more swingy, the numbers above are based on average damage, A low roll is less likely to penetrate DR and a roll just a little above average can go from no damage to very serious damage in several cases.

 Matching Offense vs. Defense (Innate Attack of same points as defense).

Attack	[50] IT:DR/2 DR 10	[75] IT:DR/3 DR 15	[100] IT:DR/4 DR 20	[125] IT:DR/5 DR 25	[150] IT:DR/10 DR 30	[175] IT:DR/15 DR 35	[200] IT:DR/20 DR 40	[225] IT:DR/30 DR 45	[250] IT:DR/50 DR 50
10d  35	18 25	12 20	9 15	7 10	4 5	3 0	2 0	2 0	1 0
15d 52.5	26 42	18 37	13 32	11 27	6 22	4 17	3 12	2 7	1 2
20d 70	35 60	24 55	18 50	14 45	7 40	5 35	4 30	3 25	2 20
25d 87	43 77	29 72	22 67	18 62	9 57	6 52	5 47	3 42	2 37
30d 105	52 95	35 90	27 85	21 80	11 75	7 70	6 65	4 60	3 55
35d 122	61 112	41 107	31 102	25 97	13 92	9 87	7 82	4 77	3 72
40d 140	70 130	47 125	35 120	28 115	14 110	10 105	7 100	5 95	3 90

Attack	[50] IT:DR/2 DR 10	[75] IT:DR/3 DR 15	[100] IT:DR/4 DR 20	[125] IT:DR/5 DR 25	[150] IT:DR/10 DR 30	[175] IT:DR/15 DR 35	[200] IT:DR/20 DR 40	[225] IT:DR/30 DR 45	[250] IT:DR/50 DR 50
45d 157	79 147	53 142	40 137	32 132	16 127	11 122	8 117	6 112	4 107
50d 175	88 165	59 160	44 155	35 150	18 145	12 140	9 135	6 130	4 125

The above chart compares damage taken with a standard innate attack based on the same points. The green text indicates exact matches. Armor Piercing will lower the DR so be less effective overall but more effective vs. armor piercing attacks than DR that is not hardened. Once you can purchase IT:DR it is more effective against the same level of attack than DR, though DR may be more effective against weaker attacks. This is especially true as normal IT:DR rounds up and always has a minimum of 1 damage getting through unless its enhanced. Obviously no damage is better than 1 damage so with weaker attacks DR is generally preferable, however if your goal is to be impressive on defense IT:DR is more effective against higher damage.
Also, it looks more heroic when you fight through wounds than if you just casually ignore whats thrown at you!

Another comparison would be DR vs. IT:DR with the Cosmic no minimum damage enhancement. But that shall be another post!