Bullet will not ricochet from your brand new ABS. It will penetrate the body, and a matter of luck is if it will, or will not destroy anything important.
Funny thing - that's actually the case. More tissue = less penetration and less damage. This is why I use a .303 to reliably kill even deer, vs a .22 to remove a raccoon. It's also why police forces have moved to the 10mm and .40 calibre, because 9mm and .38 weren't reliable one-shot stoppers.
That's not to say shot placement isn't important. If Arnie takes a head hit in Cyberpunk 2020 or takes 8 damage to the limb, he will have to make a Death Save or die, whereas the 5 yr old could took a torso hit or light graze to the head or limb and be in pain and/or stunned, but no death save.
But if both the 5 child and Arnie are shot or punched for the same damage in the same location, then yes, it will take more raw tissue damage to stop Arnie. Same as shooting a moose vs a raccoon. Cyberpunk 2020 simulates that pretty well.
You refer often to realism in CP2020, and I'm walking in dark here, cause I don't really know the stats aspect of the game. Can you explain to me how it really works in character creation? Cause if it is connected like (not augmented!) BOD 10 limits your END and DEX, I'm totally fine with that.
Of course, my apologies. I shouldn't have assumed. Cyberpunk 2020 has 9 stats - Intelligence, Reflexes, Tech, Cool, Atttractiveness, Luck, Body, Empathy and Movement Allowance. These range from 2 to 10, typically. Although having a high INT doesn't mean a low ATTR, or a high BOD doesn't mean a low REF, you build your character on a point basis, spread across these stats. So, in fact, although my characters have always had a high INT and REF and COOL - I've never had a 10 BOD or LUCK or MA - there just aren't enough points to go around.
And few more words about ambiguity in strength. You say Bruce was strong for a small guy. But i bet, that he can kick and punch harder than lets say Andy Bolton, so in this sense his even stronger than Andy. The type of passive strength you refering to is highly impractical on field. Thats why there is no Arnold, Andy or Pudzianowski body type dudes is military, merc or police. In other words, I don't buy it.
Cyberpunk 2020 handles this by having your Martial Arts technique add to your damage, so Bruce Lee would have indeed kicked and punched harder than Andy Bolton. Keep in mind, though, the adage that a good big guy will beat a good little guy. In other words, given equal skill and stamina, the stronger fighter will win.
This is why you do not see Georges St Pierre, as superb as he is, trying out Cain Velasquez . St. Pierre is the better fighter, apparently, but the size and strength difference is too much.
For another example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6arf1LA4fY&feature=youtu.be&t=2m50s It's just kind of comedic. The little guy can't really get the bigger guy, even in a sport with joint locks and holds.
Of course, it's a tradeoff. Andy Bolton put a lot of his skill points into Power Lifting - up to 10, in fact, which is a major skill investment in Cyberpunk. He doesn't care about his Reflexes much either, or his Awareness/Notice. He can afford to have a Body of 10 or even 12.
Whereas Cain Velasquez or Fedor left their BODY at 8 or 9, but had to have Reflexes 8-10, put points into Awareness/Notice, multiple Martial Arts skills, etc.
And again, there are exceptions. Royce Gracie is one of my favourites for beating bigger guys who are also skilled - but he is almost 180 pounds and 6 feet tall, not some Bruce Lee scale 150 pounder. And he fought years ago, before MMA had absorbed it's many, many tricks that now makes the bigger guys learn grappling and holds.
So, to reiterate - Andy Bolton is much, much stronger than anyone listed as a fighter above, but that's his thing. Anyone above would stomp him in a fight because that's their thing. But everyone above, all the really strong guys, fighters or not, are also big guys. Because muscle takes mass and technique can only do so much when you get to the really strong, ( BOD 9+) category.