I was confused by this rule at first also. The floating-point
explanations didn't help. :-) So I asked Carl to describe the smasher
change in terms of the existing rules, and this is what he provided:
3. The chance that the attacker will score any hit against the target is:
A = attacker's attack rating
B = target's defense rating
A / (A + B)
The chance that the attacker will score a critical hit against the target is:
A / (A + 10 * B)
For example:
A (attack=90) vs. B (defense=45) A has a 2/3 chance of hitting B
at all and a 1/6 chance of
critically hitting B
A (attack=90) vs. B (defense=90) A has a 1/2 chance of hitting B
at all and a 1/11 chance of
critically hitting B
Also append to rule 4:
"A critical hit has the same effect on the defender as any other hit, but it
allows the attacker to attack again immediately."
-- Rich Skrenta <skrenta@pbm.com>