I'd like to state, from non-combat experience, that a broken fingerbone can indeed cause you to pass out or go into shock
At the same time people have broken bones and have not noticed as well (though this commonly happens with the foot)
As well we are talking about some battle hardened characters.
I'd like to state, from non-combat experience, that a broken fingerbone can indeed cause you to pass out or go into shock, but in combat, with adrenaline flowing, I'm guessing that it'd be somewhat different. Also of note, I was young, and it was my first broken bone. I also didn't feel faint until I realized it was broken, roughly 30 minutes afterwards. Lotta factors go into that kind of thing, Toady's doing a great job with the tools he has.
As far as I can tell, realizing your bone is broken is a big factor in the whole passing out thing, so watching a guy with a hammer smash your hand apart would probably be a bit different than punching something and not realizing what happened until a half hour later. Also, adrenaline is one helluva drug, but it doesn't make you impervious to pain. I picture chipped bones as literally that, the arrow (or whatever) hits the bone,
gouges out a chunk of it, exposing NERVES and then lodges the chip inside your flesh, which wouldn't be very pleasant.
Furthermore, I wasn't saying that my personal example was the be all, end all. I was merely trying to point out that it happens, perhaps not as frequently and commonly as in the
game, but it does happen.
Anyway, good point with the ferrets and large animals, I did not know that, but it makes a certain amount of sense that animals wouldn't want to show weakness, and that the speed at which information travels through your nerves isn't instaneous.