The Iron Element
The iron element represents the decay of that which was once shiny and beautiful. This setting element is predominant in the Vanaq Ir region, a graveyard of pre-Nevercast technology. The monolith representing this element is the Iron City, a labyrinthine complex of research facilities, both above and below ground, which hides the most advanced technologies ever conceived. Its inhabitants are extremely competitive in their endeavor to obtain these relics, and many have banded together to control portions of the city.
(The Iron City will be the perfect setting for players seeking adventure, exotic items and artifacts, post-modern dungeon crawling, or a kick-the-door-down style of gaming.)

The Earth Element
This is not a future where modern conveniences have made men soft and weak of will. The underlying theme is a return to nature, where the collapse of the previous social structures has allowed the opportunity for a more holistic and integrated approach to human progress, which gives rise to the Water Element.

The Water Element
From the failure caused by the rigidity of pre-Nevercast socio-political structures, the structures of post-Nevercast that will thrive will be fluid and decentralized. In order to get a feel for territory unknown to me, I've been looking up the philosophy of open-source government, government in general (because I'm personally apolitical and find government boring except for when I'm destroying and urinating on it in my fantasy world), the apparent need to do away with conventional military methods, and reading "The Economist" for clues to where things may be in the future.

The Heaven Element
Any good story essentially boils down to the human experience. And, after all, I wouldn't want to alienate the storytellers and character actors - the definition of role-player - from the game. It is in my opinion that the lethality and lack of "epicness" apparent in a simulationist system will cultivate a more interactive environment - an environment void of power-gamer and munchkin meta-elements - where every action has realistic and potentially deep consequences. Thus, it will be that much sweeter should your character actually reach magnitudes of epic proportion.
Getting down to the more tangible subjects, who you are and where you are from will have a large impact upon how NPCs perceive and interact with you. Playing in any of the Des Xiac nations, for example, will subject the players to extreme racial tension.
Eastern philosophies have great influence over the construction of the setting, as I'm quite fond of Ch'an Buddhism and Taoism, and also because their agnostic natures complement science so well. I've written in the far-future setting blog that the Masters had attained the ability to control nanomachines through practice and meditation - it's an example of the marriage between the two subjects I am referring to.

Discovery and Mystique
My favorite RPGs have one thing in common: secrets. I love discovering secrets, and I'm assuming a lot of other people do too. So I have the Nevercast, an event that makes secrets.
Pre-Nevercast technology is highly desirable, so why isn't it a normal part of the current world? Because the Nevercast cut off the money supply, and many innovative ideas still in the experimental stages were abandoned. Facilities shut down. These facilities hold many secrets, but they're out of reach because powerful groups have their hands in the cookie jar. There are, however, places they don't know about.
Generally, player character professions involve the procurement of technology, providing muscle to those who wish to procure technology, or providing other avenues of procurement to those parties. Therefore, there will be available many different methods to achieve your goals, based on many different PC skillsets:
1. Stealing or hunting information about new sources, either through hacking or tracking down references in old facility databases or scientific periodicals.
2. Diplomacy
3. Breaking and entering
4. Hijacking
5. Intimidation
6. Destroying the competition, such as through general slaughter or exposing illegal activities.
((Most of these methods aren't the most altruistic, but there will be other professions to choose from that aren't so morally ambiguous, such as the poor bastards from Urs Prime who are charged to stabilize those hot spot areas of activity.))

What is Des Xi?
Des Xi is a group of 3 regions that are now individual nations. These nation/regions are Vanaq Ir, Ectanoc, and Dezonoc.

A Brief History of Des Xi
The original kingdom of Des Xi was taken over by the Outworlder tribes long ago. This occupation spread out over lifetimes, but much anti-Outworlder sentiment lingered.
Capitalizing on these tensions, The Urs Prime Empire offered its assistance in driving the Outworlders out. In exchange, Des Xi would be assimilated into the Empire, although its national individuality would be maintained with the installation of a native king; it would be a vassal state. As a result, Outworlder rule was removed, but many Outworlders had built their lives in Des Xi, so many stayed.
The Des Xiacs enjoyed their religious and cultural freedom under Urs Prime, whose rule continues to this day.

Modern-Day Des Xi
Xiam (King) Mefir had twin sons, Archaeon and Raqred. Before he named his successor, Xiam Mefir died of a stroke. At first, the two had agreed to a diarchy: Archaeon would manage Dezonoc, Raqred would manage Ectanoc, and Vanaq Ir would be split down the middle. However, their ideological differences on how to rule the state as a whole, especially in regards to the massive oil exportation in Ectanoc and Outworlder/Cult relations in Vanaq Ir, would tear their relationship apart. Civil war erupted.
The fighting was intense, but neither side showed signs of defeat. Amidst the conflict, Outworlder guerrillas and technology cults, who were once on fair terms with Xiam Archaeon, exploited both sides' inability to maintain order in Vanaq Ir, and the region was quickly taken.
The fighting ended in a stalemate, and Des Xi was effectively split into 3 parts. The nations were crippled and the brothers were left to pick up the pieces. Contractors and businessmen from Urs Prime, however, grew fat off the war, as weapons were traded for oil, which had dropped down dramatically in price in order for Xiam Raqred to meet their demands and arm his military. Dezonoc, on the other hand, with less money and resources, survived using the advantage of terrain and the strategic expertise of Xiam Archaeon's chief advisor and Old Master, Meh Kada. Overall, the war had lasted 4 years, with neither side benefiting from the ordeal.

What is the "Veil"?
The Veil was Meh Kada's secret operations unit that acted beyond the knowledge of Xiam Archaeon. It was led by Meh Kada's protege and emissary, Indra, an expert of stealth and the martial arts. This unit was formed after the war against Archaeon's brother, in response to the deteriorating political and socioeconomic strength in Dezonoc.
Although Meh Kada acted in the interests of Xiam Archaeon and the state, he utilized illegal methods in order to expedite those interests and break the stalemate between the brothers. Meh Kada's plan was to economically outmaneuver Xiam Raqred by dominating the means of energy production: coercing or persuading the energy giants into abandoning oil, which is the primary resource amongst the Des Xiac nations, and adopting the emerging fusion technology (cheap to produce, but the production will undoubtedly be fixed in order to inflate the prices).
Meh Kada estimated his plan to be fully realized in 7 years, roughly the same amount of time it would take to fight a war, but more sound because it would leave Archaeon in the position to release Urs Prime's choke hold on the nations. From there, Meh Kada convinced Archaeon that the Cult of the Star's fusion technology would be obtained through diplomacy. When diplomacy failed, however, he resorted to subterfuge, assassinated leading cult members, and stole many of their arcane schemata.

Who are the Outworlders?
The Outworlders are from the eastern continent, characterized by their bluish skin tones*.  They love to fight - enjoying the greatest success in military history - and their perceptions of the world are viewed as bizarre.

The Outworlder Religion
Shior Ah and the Ancestors of Nature
The Outworlders do not worship their God, Shior Ah, but demonstrate their piety through practicing his virtues. Shior Ah himself is said to have made the world, but remains an observer.
The celestial and terrestrial spirits of nature (Ancestors of Nature) are revered, however, and are said to be very wrathful if conservation is not respected. Thus, the Outworlders have traditionally looked down upon gross technological progression and urban development.
Through the use of psychoactive plants combined with meditation, great warriors, tribal leaders, and shamans enter the realm of the Ancestors of Nature and commune with them. If the Ancestor believes that a mortal is not yet worthy to accept its wisdom and power, it will command them to go on their medicine walk: a long, arduous, and sometimes dangerous journey of self-awareness.

Forerunners of the Tribes
Paragons of Shior Ah's wisdom are said to have wielded the "Sword of Beauty" (a metaphor, but often misinterpreted as an actual weapon and symbol of legitimacy), and have been given the status of Guardian (saints). These guardians are believed to have been given divine appointment to protect the balance of forces and to promote strength and the conservation of nature.

Te Kayon Din
As opposed to their western counterparts, the Outworlders believe that Heaven is a state of perfect mental and physical attainment rather than a paradise or spiritual realm; immortality achieved through endeavor. Meditation is referred to as “Walking through the Jaded Threshold (The Gates of Heaven)”. These practices, referred to as Te Kayon Din, are defined as "The process of attaining truth through mastery".

Divinity of the Tribes
Each legitimate tribe - one that can directly trace itself back to its founding Guardian patriarch or matriarch, or any existing tribe that has preceded the Guardians - has a divine right to sovereignty, and any entity that violates this divine right, whether another tribe or foreign power, is the enemy of all tribes (thus, the cooperation of many tribes commanded fear-inspiring magnitudes of military might). Squabbles between tribes, however, are denied the right to warfare, and must be settled either through mediation or duel (subterfuge was often utilized instead).
Foreign powers are recognized as sovereign so long as they don't invoke the wrath of the Ancestors of Nature or promote outright imperialism. (The Outworlder tribes made many enemies as a result. Ironically, the Outworlders assimilated their defeated enemies.)

The Old Masters
Outworlder organization and religious practices gave birth to highly institutionalized, effective, and advanced systems of martial arts. Powerful and sagacious exponents of these martial arts were called "Old Masters" and are said to be the exalted beneficiaries of the Ancestors of Nature because of their invulnerability in combat.
The Old Masters guarded their secrets with utmost ferocity, and typically dueled amongst themselves in order to obtain the others' knowledge. Over time, some of this knowledge managed to leak out into Outworlder-influenced cultures and spread from there. In post-modern times, Masters (albeit rare), may come from anywhere.

*The Outworlders are blue as in the way Asians are perceived as yellow, or as Native Americans are perceived as red.  My best attempt to explain this would be a reflection of their culture.  In India, a child was born with multiple arms and the people perceived her as a beautiful, divine creature.  They also have gods who are blue.  To make an analogy, Pio Mon, an Outworlder Ancestor of Nature, is depicted as having blue skin and is one of the most venerated deities.  I could imagine that in this futuristic world with the available technologies, many Outworlders would have biologically altered themselves and their children via gene-altering retroviruses to resemble their gods.

Note: as of right now, I have not come up with an official ethnic name for the Outworlders; they are only referred to as Outworlder colloquially.

Artificial Intelligence.
The first A.I. systems were built by constructing a simulation of the brain composed of virtual neurons and the like. There are likely to be only a scant few systems to be built in this manner, and likely these few to be the only A.I. to exist at all for decades on because 1) the unpredictability of a human-based intelligence architecture is potentially dangerous 2) promoting such a construct as a commodity would raise vociferous ethical concerns (therefore, because of 1 and 2, this construct is commercially unmarketable) and 3) constructing a purely rational A.I. from the ground up would present a challenge of near-insurmountable difficulty in comparison. Also, because it will be very difficult to improve upon the construct's intelligence outside of natural learning (e.g. installing programs), it will be very unremarkable when intellectually juxtaposed to any other human, and probably won't be very effective at optimizing its quantum computing power for skills like breaking complex codes or doing calculation-heavy mathematics.
Furthermore, an article I've read of constructing artificial intelligence in this "brute-force" manner made a poignant insight: the system would have the same desires as everyone else does. Sex comes to mind, and the author points out that not addressing this desire appropriately would be downright cruel, as the construct would have no way of acting out those impulses. Nice! So, here we have the potential for some sexually repressed and very pissed off computers.

Swords
I feel that adding swords to a post-modern setting potentially undermines the level of seriousness and realism I'm trying to imbue upon it. There is an extremely delicate balance here. I know that, in the real world, actual swords that are used to slay people with are used in the context of terrorism, and they're utilized quite effectively in scaring the living shit out of people. With this insight in mind, I hope to be able to emulate that kind of energy and add heavily subjective value upon these weapons. These values will undoubtedly have traditional or religious significance.
Clearly, what I don't want is to make people associate this setting with that of popular movies or video games, as I will have succeeded in creating a barrier of disbelief between the player and the game world. In many of these sci-fi stories, you find heroes using swords because geeks think they're cool, and the heroes are immune to bullets so why bother with gunfights? So, right now, my mind is split whether to have swords be a deadly tool of the Old Master's arsenal, or to do away with them and strip the Masters down to the bare bones martial arts.))

How have you chosen the proper names within the gameworld?  They don't remind me of any particular culture(s).

Is "discover unknown tech" the basic motivator of play?  You mention doing this for pay, but it can be unsatisfying to make a discovery only to part with the fruits of it.  If I got ahold of some unknown tech, I'd want to tease out its secrets, and in the process derive some personal benefit.

Is "overcome obstacles to get to the unknown tech" the basic activity of play?  Or "figure out how to use the tech you've previously found"?  Both?  Neither?

As for Swords, I like your arguments against them, and dislike your arguments for them.

I like the concrete bits of setting you've outlined ("there is a labyrinthine complex of research facilities which hides the most advanced technologies").  More of these!  The bits on philosophy and influences just make me ask, "Okay, how will that show up in play?"

RK,
  Two things:
1) Shior Ah reminds me too much of Sharia (Law for Muslims)
2) I dunno if your sword thing is on target. There are some geek cultures around swords (Katanas for instance). But there are several martial cultures that use swords in modern times (Chinese martial arts for instance). Also, several military units have a sword as part of their uniform. For instance, when I think of swords, I think of modern marine dress uniform, not Terrorists or Samurai.
  The one thing to factor in with a post-modern setting is, a sword might be the highest tech weapon that a combatant has access to...

  Seriously though. As much as it might push your setting into D&D/Mad Max territory, you should stat out archaic weapons for people who only have access to just that, right?

  Anyways, good luck with your game man...

Shior Ah reminds me too much of Sharia (Law for Muslims)

I dunno if your sword thing is on target. There are some geek cultures around swords (Katanas for instance). But there are several martial cultures that use swords in modern times (Chinese martial arts for instance). Also, several military units have a sword as part of their uniform. For instance, when I think of swords, I think of modern marine dress uniform, not Terrorists or Samurai.

The one thing to factor in with a post-modern setting is, a sword might be the highest tech weapon that a combatant has access to.

How have you chosen the proper names within the gameworld? They don't remind me of any particular culture(s).

Is "discover unknown tech" the basic motivator of play? You mention doing this for pay, but it can be unsatisfying to make a discovery only to part with the fruits of it. If I got ahold of some unknown tech, I'd want to tease out its secrets, and in the process derive some personal benefit.

Is "overcome obstacles to get to the unknown tech" the basic activity of play? Or "figure out how to use the tech you've previously found"? Both? Neither?

As for Swords, I like your arguments against them, and dislike your arguments for them.

The bits on philosophy and influences just make me ask, "Okay, how will that show up in play?"

Nevercast
A deep economic depression that crippled nearly every developed nation in the world, and completely shattered up-and-coming nations with weaker infrastructures.  Businesses died out in countless waves, currency collapsed rendering commerce to barter systems, and riots guaranteed that communities would not bounce back. 
Consumerism died.  Innovation died.  Hope died.
The post-Nevercast era presents the players a very dark world with a glint of light at the end of the tunnel.  On the outside, there’s nothing but struggle and despair, but beneath that layer is the foundational theme: a return to nature.  The entities that thrived during the Nevercast share two things in common: fluidity and de-centralization; they were organizations and communities that weren’t ruled by a faceless machine.

Urs Prime Republic
In the face of danger, institutions that weren’t directly related to infrastructure were ruthlessly hacked away and importation was heavily cut off; trade agreements were abruptly severed and the Republic focused on domestic production.  Their most outrageous move, however, was when they forced the commonwealth of Des Xi to cease all exportation of oil to other nations (the regions of Vanaq Ir and Ectanoc being the largest reserves in the world) and sell only to Urs Prime itself and its assimilated territories at a fixed price.  Although the king of Des Xi was infuriated, there was nothing he could do as the privately owned oil giants were peculiarly docile with the arrangement. 
In the end, Urs Prime was spared, and everybody knows only a president without any moral qualms or ethical scruples could have cut through all that red tape and pulled off such a feat.  They weren’t complaining.

Interesting.  How did the Outworlders come about?  Are they just humans who developed (naturally or otherwise) a different skin tone or are they somehow connected to another world?

The Outworlders are humans.  Their name is just a colloquialism; they've always been around, but haven't always had that skin tone.  It takes a very isolated and internally-conditioned society to change on a wholesale level, independently of an interconnected world.  In the beginning, it was just paint used during war and ceremony to garner favor from Pio Mon.

As I'm no biologist and don't know any, I have no clue if the retrovirus idea could at all be feasible.  I was thinking the genetic source come from a tropical animal or something...hahaha!  So, I may make some alterations; maybe they were always that way and Pio Mon was envisioned as a reflection of their society.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/27338236/

Genetic alteration of skin pigments is a reality in the present day.  You might change their name to Outlanders though, to remove the perception that they're aliens.

That's quite interesting.  I should really start looking up more stuff on cutting edge biology and the sort (genetic modification as well as medically-related), as the technology in this world still progresses at a steady, albeit slower pace.

I have a question brought about by reading your posts, this one and the ones about combat, and simulationist gaming.

If I were to be a player in this game (on a side not it sounds like great fun to play) considering the deadly nature of combat, my first inclination would be to develop a network of others to do my dirty work for me.

(for example: I played a game under another system -Mayfair’s Dc Heroes- where the direction of the GM was to make 1 main character and 3 enforcer types to send off for the dirty work. That game is obviously not as deadly as the one I have seen described here.)

Does the setting support such activities? Are there ways to garner support built into the system, Guilds, organizations besides broad cultural ones?
Would my Traditionalist Master Monk be able to call upon others to aide him or her?
At some point in play would a player’s role be to send others out looking for lost tech while manipulating the merchants and tech dealers behind the scenes?

When you start talking about "magnetic rail guns" and "bullet hoses" I start thinking about ways to keep my character out of direct harm, being the spider in the web, as it were.

I guess where I am rambling to boils down to; I am not sure where a player’s role falls within this rich but apparently deadly world.

-Mark.

On Lethality
- Despite the fact that I’ve worked so hard to make the combat system graphic and elaborate, I fully expect players to avoid violent confrontation.  After all, most people wouldn’t jump into the thick of a heavy firefight in real life.  I strive to create the illusion that the world of Nevercast is an actual place with real people and real consequences.
However, there are some instances, especially for combat specialists, where mortal combat cannot be avoided as a result of lifestyle.  A technology hunter would rather risk going to Vanaq Ir so he can hit pay dirt, party and fuck than live off rice as a mechanic or factory worker in an economically crippled world.
As far as contracting others to do your dirty work, I don’t intend to design any meta-game rules to prevent this.  If you have the money and contacts,  go for it.  Also, each profession will have its own set of external resources, like contacts, to help them on their way.  Because the world is so harsh, you begin play as an experienced expert (naturally, average character age should fall somewhere in the early thirties).

On Player Roles
- Although I do not want to restrict player development and style, I found it necessary to introduce player professions into the system in order to give the GM and the players some sort of direction towards meaningful game experiences.  I didn’t want the game to result in campaigns full of aimless generalists unable to gain momentum.  Thus, I started work on developing very well-defined specialists but made no arbitrary restrictions on how the player may develop going forward. 
So, let’s say you began play as a mercenary who, over the course of 3 firefights, lost half his team, got shot in the leg and twice in the chest, shattering your outdated armor, and took some shrapnel to the face.  You might start spending experience hours sharpening your social skills - skills unrelated to the mercenary profession - so you can haggle for better armor or con some other merc into accepting payment only when the job is done, and then kill him afterwards.

On Survivability
- If you take a look at the history of warfare, you'll notice that at certain periods in the arms race, defensive technology surpasses offensive technology.  To name a few, there was the Roman phalanx with their enormous walls of shields, and then in the late medieval period there was plate armor. 
Take a look at modern warfare.  Two decades ago, armor consisted of a helmet and a flak jacket.  Assault rifles made swiss cheese out of them.  Then, there was a quarter inch thick steel plate that took a single round then broke.  Today, soldiers have vests where you can stick plates into pockets in order to get the level of protection they desire.  They can eat a few rounds in their torso and continue fighting like nothing happened.  And then there's that Dragon Skin armor that can supposedly absorb a grenade blast.
From this information, I extrapolated that not too far in the future, defensive technology will once again allow high gradients of survivability against small-arms fire to those supported by it.  So in Nevercast, yes there are bullet hoses and magnetic accelerator rifles, but there are also high-grade ceramic full-coverage plates with synthetic polymer/carbon nanotube weave underlays.  Even 50 caliber rounds can be stopped by quality post-modern armor.

You need swords just because some a-hole will want to fight with one. Also, though tech is common place, I'm sure there are some pockets of cultures (3rd world countries, street gangs, mercs that are a little 'off') that would use some sword of similar melee weapon. Better to have it all figured out and not use it then try and come up with something on the fly when GMing
How soon till we see a break down of all the core rules? I think you got a real winner of a system brewing.

I've decided that traditionalist masters will have swords, but that these weapons are specially commissioned by religious orders for them; doubtful you'll be able to randomly find them out in the world.  Even African tribesmen have AK-47s. 

As far as a timeline for a beta is concerned, I can't make a judgment with any measure of accuracy.  I am prone to hacking away countless hours of work if I believe I can do it better. 

The never ending pursuit of perfection. Good luck!

I'm a bit confused about your point on swords. Are you saying the only people what would have swords are those that train extensively in the Martial Arts? Any other combatant will just use a fire arm of some sort because they are so common? I can understand your reservation about having the feel of the world you are building 'cheapened' by trying to have some one bring a sword to a gun fight and think that it's a good idea, but sometimes you just got to jump a guy with your machete and hope for the best.

I don't really regard machetes in the same respect as swords, but I understand the point you're trying to make.  Naturally, non-martial hand-held weapons would be ubiquitous as well, including machetes, but not swords designed specifically for martial use. 

So how would the sword differ mechanically speaking?

Very high penetrating power for thrusts in order to bypass armor (rigid outer layer; extremely keen tip; tapered edge).  Thus, a traditionalist master expects to fight high-powered opponents in close-quarters combat.  Against strong armors, a two-handed thrust may be utilized by gripping the blade.  The length may also be used as a "feeler" for avoiding the aim of a firearm in a melee and potentially slicing fingers and wrists. 

I've been having basic physics discussions with a friend of mine who is educated about physics and guns and body armors and stuff, so I'm *fairly* certain a sword with the right specifications could penetrate rigid armor with a strong thrust by an exponent who can use their body to generate a lot of force, but I'm not sure.  If I'm incorrect, then a master may just opt for a knife precisely aimed at exposed underlay and use the sword for lightly-armored opponents. 

I'm also hoping I can realistically design the sword to attract the energy of electric weapons and store it into a battery located inside the grip.

Having a sword penetrate fancy body armour meant to stop 50 cal machine gun rounds might be a stretch. Guess it comes to how superhuman are traditional masters are and what kind of technocheese you are willing to put in your system.
I see a future sword being more like an old school Rapier where the goal was penetrating the weaker armour around joints.
Maybe a long thin titanium alloy body with a depleted uranium tip honed to needle point fineness, with a ribbon of some other material along the titanium frame to act as a cutting edge. The tip could easily have small holes to allow the passage of compressed air if you wanted a WASP type weapon (http://www.waspknife.com/) or have some other metal that carries electricity well (how well does urainium carry a charge?) to act like a stun baton.
That could actually be a very effective tool against super armour soldiers, and would require no more technology than what we've had for for the past 50 years. Pin point a weak spot int he armour and disable the soldier inside.
Same could be done with a knife of course. I would imagine a nanofiber weave would act much the same as kevilar in that at acts more like a Net rather than a shield and very sharp things that don't deform their shape can penetrating them with less energy than squishy blunt things like bullets.

More thoughts on super armour melee.
Short baton covered in serrations that allow a user to snag and control enemies and their weapons. The pommel is super dense hard spike has described above. The Idea being that you can use the baton to close distance from the Medium to Cramped range, grapple to uncover a weakspot, than strike with the pommel like a fist load which shouldn't incur minuses in such close quarters.

One idea was to give masters an internal arts technique that allows them to use concentration to make a "chi" strike.  Old school tai chi striking techniques were designed to actually transfer force through armor, but now that there's high-quality soft armor available, I doubt I can sell that either.

So far, it seems like the most sensible course of action is to encourage bladed strikes through the weave areas of the armor, especially the armpits where you can puncture a lung.  Since masters typically have high-level grappling techniques, it shouldn't be too hard for them to neutralize a firearm while they attempt to strike a weak point.

Idea for traditionalist master's equipment: knife, sword of beauty, sidearm + 2 clips (helps to close distance if necessary), torso body armor (weave+plating).  A grandmaster of a technology cult may have entire ornate suit of armor.

You could still push the Chi Strike angle. Chi is one of those things that is tantamount to magic on whether it exists or not. No one would really have grounds to say what it can or can't do, but it may be easier to suspend belief when someone tries to use it rather than going with the nitty gritty approach of grappling and striking at armpits.
I think it really is all about you wanting the feel of it in your game or not. And i would encourage you to write the rules on how to implement it anyways just so someone that wanted to use your system but have their own setting could have it at hand.

The rules for applying internal force are simple: 1 concentration = +1 base effect.

On a side note, I was thinking that for every point of effect, the PSI of force-based damage will increase by 100.  This may help me to determine how many points of effect resistance armor should really have and how many points of strength a weapon's attack should really have.  My physics buddy was telling me to convert it to newtons for some reason - especially in consideration to travelling bullets - but I'm not sure why yet.

I know that a boxer's punch typically ranges from 800-1000 PSI and kicks and knees from well-trained martial artists can reach up to 1500, so my attribute system (human attributes from 1-10) is already well-suited for the conversion, especially if you consider spinning back kicks and knee strikes as power attacks.

I wonder if I can find PSI measurements for shaolin monks...or Bruce Lee.

I can kinda understand Newtons since it goes into straight force rather than relative pressure. The PSI of a punch would greatly increase if it was say a spear hand, thought the force would remain exactly the same. I prefer thinking in Kinetic energy and Momentum since these fit in nicely with projectile collisions, but these values become hard to logic though with complex motions like punching.
My physics is rusty, but 1000 PSI for a punch would equal about 4448 N/sqinch or 6896000 N/m^2

this might be of use to you http://www.3news.co.nz/TVShows/Nightline/Kiwi-stuntman-the-most-dangerous-man-on-the-planet/tabid/728/articleID/107251/cat/17/Default.aspx

I think that must be a mistake, but who am I to judge? Here is where the value of Force would prove a better comparison since the force between his punches and mike tyson or bruce lee may be very small, but if he has tiny lady hands his PSI would be significantly greater.

I don't know if my math is crap, but it appears as if a hard punch exerts more force than an actual bullet.  I wish I had a vest handy so I could punch someone in it...for the sake of science of course.  Anyway, if this is true, perhaps a master who can generate very high levels of force can inflict concussive damage upon a well-armored target if he follows through.  And if he's using his bodyweight to enhance a sword thrust, then that too may penetrate whereas a high-caliber bullet may not.

I'm going to keep researching, but I appreciate the feedback.  I see where this is going, though, so maybe newtons does make more sense than psi.

Ar wrote:
I don't know if my math is crap, but it appears as if a hard punch exerts more force than an actual bullet.  I wish I had a vest handy so I could punch someone in it...for the sake of science of course.  Anyway, if this is true, perhaps a master who can generate very high levels of force can inflict concussive damage upon a well-armored target if he follows through.  And if he's using his bodyweight to enhance a sword thrust, then that too may penetrate whereas a high-caliber bullet may not.

I'm going to keep researching, but I appreciate the feedback.  I see where this is going, though, so maybe newtons does make more sense than psi.

It's all confusing. If you punch someone you are exerting more Force than if you shot them with a gun since Force = Mass x Acceleration. A bullet is constantly decelerating and has much less mass than a fist (let alone the whole body weight). However the Kinetic energy of a bullet(KE= 1/2 Mass x Velocity ^2) is order of magnitudes larger than a punch, but has much less momentum, assuming the punch is thrown with the entire weight of the body (Momentum = Mass x Velocity).
A target struck by an object with high Kinetic energy will be damaged differently than one struck with a high momentum. The short of it being body armour is great at stopping high energy attacks, which characterized by high penetration  and not so great at stopping high momentum attacks. You will go from dieing horribly to just hurting if shot in the chest by rifle when wearing a bullet proof vest. That same  vest will do little to dampen the trauma inflected by a baseball bat, though the bat is less dangerous to begin with.
My physics isn't as strong as it use to be, but I believe this is due to the Impulse of Force which is defined as Imp= F delta(t) = Mass delta(velocity)
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/impulse.html#c2
The strike from a heavy momentum object creates a shockwave, which in turn travels though dense armour (like trauma plates) well and passes with less dampening into soft squishy bits.  Large volumes of soft armour, like Styrofoam, are used since the padding effect serves only to increase the time it takes for the concrete to meet your head, robbing it of Force. How Pressure comes into play is beyond me, as well as the effects of Elastic and Inelastic collisions, though i recall hearing once that a strong punch was equal parts thrust and snapping the fist back after impact. The theory being the less time the fist and target where in connection the greater the Impulse of force as well as a better transfer of Kinetic energy.

For your game, just say most armour built for modern combat has a really high defense for Penetrating and crappy defense for Bludgeoning. If a Martial arts master targets a weak spot with his weapon then the armour wouldn't come into play and the technicals can be cleanly skirted. If a MAM struck a strong portion of the armour with his special sword, the penetrating effect would be negated by the plate spreading the force over a large area, but the shock wave produced would be the same as if the MAM had punched him, making it a bludgeoning attack.