Basic Rules, revised

Expanding on the previous thoughts, here’s a simple basic mechanic: tests.

When you want to see if something succeeded, you have Simple tests (roll 1d6) and Complex tests (roll 2d6 and add). They have more to do with statistics rather than their complexity, to be honest, but until we get better names they’ll have to do.

Tests are also defined by another factor- whether they are Set or Opposed. In the first kind, you simply roll 1d6 or 2d6, add or subtract a few specified modifiers, and you check to see if you passed or not. The difference between the Target Number (duh, I know, not very original, but handy) and your roll is the degree of Success (or failure). Sometimes it matters, usually it doesn’t.

Opposed tests are different- each participant rolls 1d6 or 2d6 and adds/subtracts modifiers, and all you have to do is get a higher than your opponent. In the case of a tie, the test will explain what happens (e.g. in the case of attack vs defend, the defender wins). Degrees of success rarely matter here, but to find them just subtract lowest from highest.

Now, I’m not sure where simple or complex tests will be used outside the basics of combat- but I know what to do with those basics.

Hitting a target with a melee attack is an Opposed Complex check. The attacker and defender both roll 2d6. The attacker adds his Combat stat, the Accuracy of the weapon he is using, and any additional modifiers. The Defender adds his Combat stat and the Defense of the weapon he is using, and any additional modifiers (a very important one I want to remember is that if it’s the second attack by the same opponent, he gains -1, and if he is atacked by a different opponent, -3; I’ll elaborate on this later). If the Attacker’s score is higher, he hits. If it’s equal or less, he misses. Make a note of the sixes rolled by each. If the attacker rolls one and the defender none, or if the attacker rolls two and the defender one, if the attack hits, we have a Critical Hit. If the attacker rolls two sixes and the defender none, we have a Deadly Hit, if it hits (usually it will). More on that later.

Shooting is a Complex Set check. Each weapon has three ranges, Short, Medium and Long, and a difficulty associated with each one. Assuming that you can see your target and your weapon can reach him, you determine which range he is in and you find the Target Number. Roll 2d6 and add your Marksmanship (there is no accuracy stat- there doesn’t need to since it’s factored in the initial difficulty), and any relevant modifiers- if you roll equal to the TN or higher, you hit. If any of the dice come up as a six, and you are within medium range or less, then you score a Critical Hit. If you get double sixes and the opponent is within short range, you score a Deadly Hit.

Now, if you do get to hit, wounding your opponent is a Simple Opposed check. The attacker rolls 1d6, adds his Strength (if a melee or thrown weapon), the weapon’s Damage, and any modifiers, while the Defender rolls 1d6 and adds his Resilience, and any Armor he is wearing modified by the weapon’s Penetration (to a minimum of 0, armor cannot give you negative). Also, if the attacker scored a Critical Hit, you may roll 2d6 and keep the highest; if you scored a Deadly Hit, you may roll 2d6 and add them. Names are there for a reason. Now, after determining the scores, we have the following results: If the attacker has a lower score, nothing happens. If the attacker has an equal score, the opponent is Lightly Wounded. If the attacker has a higher score, the opponent is Heavily Wounded. If the attacker has a score double or more, the opponent is killed outright.

As we said before, Lightly Wounded gives -1 to all stats (-2 to AP) and Heavily Wounded gives -3 to all stats (-5 to AP). This time, this includes Res too.

If you are Lightly Wounded and get another Light Wound, then you are now Seriously Wounded. If you get a Serious Wound, you are dead.

If you are Seriously Wounded and get any kind of wound, you die.

Thoughts: I’m thinking of making the Wounding check a Simple Set check, and add 4 to the difficulty by the modifiers, but I like the case of rolling a 6 (or a Deadly Hit!) against 1. Playtesting will show if it’s viable or cumbersome.

Also, the wound system looks a little too simplistic, but again, only playtesting will show. As we said, Less is More. I don’t want to add another layer of wounds, simply because we need to calculate more in the wounding check.

Profiles, revised

As always, when I come at an old piece I wrote with a new perspective, a very specific feeling makes its appearance:

Horror.

Coupled with several “WTF WAS I THINKING” sentences in various iterations.

In any case, here’s a much simple profile:

• Action Points(AP): Roughly describes how many actions per turn a model can take. Each different action costs an amount of AP.
• Combat(C): The close combat ability of the model.
• Marksmanship(M): The model’s shooting ability.
• Strength(S): The model’s sheer brawn.
• Resilience(R): The model’s capability to shrug off wounds.
• Wit(W): The models senses and quick-thinking.
• Agility (A): The model’s reaction speed and acrobatic ability
• Discipline(D): The model’s self-discipline and morale.

There. Much simpler, no mathematic formulas, and has all the necessary stats for combat and some non-combat stuff.

A few important things to add: We’ll be using both 2d6 and 1d6 for various tests, and to introduce the terminology,

• For a simple test you roll 1d6.
• For a complex test you roll 2d6.

Example simple test: Wounding someone. Example complext test: Hitting him in the first place.

Also, there is no Wounds profile. There will be four states: uninjured, Lightly Wounded, Heavily Wounded, and Dead. Simple, no?

Lightly Wounded folk have a -2 to their AP and a -1 to all stats except R, and Heavily Wounded ones have -5 to their AP and -3 to all stats except R. All of the above have min 0. If for any reason R drops to 0, the model dies.

And a typical human infantryman profile:

AP 8/C 4/M 4/S 4/R 4/W 4/A 4/D 7

Revision

Ok, maybe the hiatus was longer than expected.

But as of late I’ve been thinking of resurrecting this project. I didn’t necessarily start thinking about this exact game, of course, but I did come back to it after all. Playing WH40k and reading on Necromunda, Mordheim and Confrontation (3rd), among others, has given me new perspective.

I did realize a very important fact: Less is More. Enough with tons upon tons of stuff to deal with. Let’s get rid of anything that is not really necessary. Why have 15 different characteristics when you need one third of that?

With that in mind, I’ll proceed with a new series of posts that will hopefully solidify the basic rules well enough to start playtesting.

 

P.S. Oh, and squares and inches will now be interchangeable. TAKE THAT.

Long time no see!

Indeed, indeed.

No worries! I was on a slight hiatus but I’ll be back quite soon!

Squads…

Long time no see! Well, rest assured I’ve been working on the fluff. Kinda. Well, not. But here I am again!

Here’s one quick tidbit, and then we move on to a few squad rules.

Aiming: As an action, a model/hero/what-have-you may choose to aim a specific target. If that target is still within range, then the attacker receives a +2 bonus. That’s it. While aiming, you may NOT move. If you’re attacked in close combat while aiming, you may not roll (add only your Defense rating).

SQUADS

Well, as I said, goons are not very effective alone. They are easily pinned, they do not operate very well, etc etc. Here’s how a squad works:

A squad has formation. The normal formation requires everybody to be within 2″ of another guy in the same squad. Simple. Later on we might explore different formations. It doesn’t matter if you move, you can move as you like, BUT you must end up within 2″ of another guy in your squad.

A squad has a leader. It doesn’t have to be better in any way (though it helps if he is). But he must be discernible from the rest. It’s the leader who gives orders. Remember that. A squad uses his leader’s initiative and discipline.

Now, when rolling initiative. This might sound complex, but it’s not really. When rolling initiative, take as many dice as the squad members plus one for the leader (so, 3 members and one leader, 4 dice). Make sure the leader’s has a different color/shape/something that marks it as different. Roll them all. Now, if the leader rolls 1, the whole squad is screwed, and they miss a turn. If it’s not a one, then pick the lowest (it can be 1, as long as . This is the “die roll”. To that, add the goons’ initiative. The leader has his own initiative, his die roll plus his initiative. If lower, the whole squad acts at HIS initiative, else he may just act faster if he wants to. Now, not that difficult, right?

If a squad is a target, use the LEADER as a center/focus for range, distance, etc etc. As for hits, allocate them as you see fit. It’s only the leader that’s special, so after all, why waste him when another might just put himself up front? Same goes for when the squad shoots, measure from the leader. This makes mass combat easier.

What happens to melee combat?… That’s for the next instalment, folks. Have fun!

A few new rules…

Well, here’s a few new rules, shamelessly plucked from Necromunda:

1)Getting pinned. If you get hit, whether injured or not, you are considered pinned (put a counter or something). If you’re pinned, you lose your next action as you hit the dirt for cover etc etc. You can defend, but not do anything else. At your next turn, you roll Discipline vs a difficulty of 12. If you pass, you resume playing. If not, you’re still there. However, every other friendly model within 2″, may roll his own Discipline vs 15 to motivate you to get your ass moving, without losing an action or anything. That’s what teammates are for. Also, a pinned model behind cover will instantly go into hiding. However, if a pinned model is attacked in hand to hand, he may fight back normally, but his opponent gets a +2 bonus.

2)Cover. Very important. I’ll use the Necromundan rule here: Partial cover is if you can see at least half the body of the model, cover is if you can see only a portion of it. Of course, if you see just a tip or something, it doesn’t count. So, partial cover gives a -2 penalty to the shooter, and cover gives a -6… ASSUMING WE’RE TALKING HARD COVER. That means walls, sandbags, thick metal etc. Soft cover such as bushes, hedges, etc afford HALF that penalty, since bullets can actually pass through; it’s more of a matter where you can’t see the opponent very well rather than the cover stopping the bullet outright. Nice, no?

3)Hiding. A model behind at least partial cover of any kind may attempt to hide. Instead of giving a target, he lays low and cannot (normally) be seen by any other models. He loses his hiding status if he pops up to attack. However, Any model may spot another model if hiding if it’s within a number of inches equal to the finder’s Perception. Simple, no? You may walk 2″ and hide, but can’t do anything else.

Change of heart…

WHAT WAS I ON?? I mean… what was I thinking?
Squares? SQUARES? I might as well have PENTAGONS. Crap. No no no. Big no. Fail. It’s normal inches, not anymore. Or should it not be inches? The usual, average height of a miniature is 28-30mm.  Let’s say 3 cm to keep it simple. Now, compared to a human’s average height of 170-180 cm, the APPROXIMATE scale is 1 to 60. That means one inch is 2,5 times that, which makes 150 cm- or five feet. Which, in the end, is a nice approximate in a sense, because if we used centimetres, it would require 1,33 cm for a meter… annoying.

Also, the SML ranges for weapons- goodbye ranges, hello range increment. Much simpler in the end- a starting difficult, and a range increment that adds +1 to that. So simple. If people can’t even do a division, they might as well NOT play this game. DUH.

That means our Autogun has a starting difficulty of 9, and a range increment of, let’s say, 30 feet in the real world? That would mean that the most difficult shot for the average goon (12 from the dice plus 5 from the score, 17) would come after eight increments, which is 240 feet or 80 meters, or in the game… an increment of 6″, for a total effective range of 48″. Sounds just fine, since we’re talking about a hip shot, not an aimed one. Of course, a true marksman can hit much longer targets, up to the 300m (or 900 feet… or 180 inches) of the maximum range, but that would require A LOT. So that boils down to a 6″ range increment. Sounds just fine, that’s how actual weapons are after all. I never liked the ranges of Warhammer, they were too short anyway. I know it makes for quick games, but we are shooting for something decent here, aren’t we?

Ah, forgot, we also have to change the moves…

Let’s make them:

JUST AS THEY WERE, but replace inches with squares. Too bored to repost.

Necromunda!

I got my hands on some sizzlin’ necromunda rules…

Expect a lot of cannibalization…

Except, of course, that I’ll make it better

Checkin’…

Ok, I’m too tired to post something new at the moment. So instead, I’ll do the cop out- err, recap, I mean.

We’ve got our basic goon’s profile, along with a basic weapon and a basic armour.

We’ve got rules for initiative, movement (sort of, can’t be that hard), shooting, hitting, defending, getting hurt… That’s it. Enough to playtest.
A few things not added yet:

1)Movement. Let’s say, in 1 turn, you can:

• Walk up to 2 squares and do nothing else.
• Walk up to 2 squares and shoot, -1 penalty per square moved.
• Walk up to 1 square and attack in melee.
• Run up to 5 squares and do nothing else.
• Run up to 5 squares and shoot, -2 penalty per square moved.
• Run up to 5 squares and attack. That’s a charge. You get a +1 to attack and -2 to defense.

That sounds alright enough, for humans. Other races might have different speeds, but the basics are walk, walk/2 (for melee), and run.

2)The basic autorifle. As we discussed, it has a Power of 2-that’s mighty fine, considering that an unarmored goon is usually incapacitated with a roll of 8, and injured with at least a 3. A real autorifle has various ranges, but we’ll assume an effective range of 150m and a max range of 350m. In squares, however, I suggest this: a short range of 50 squares, medium range of 120 squares, and max range of 300 squares. At short range, it’s relatively easy to hit  target, requiring an 11 (don’t forget that the usual marksmanship is 5, so you need to roll 6 on 2d6 to hit). At medium range, it’ll be a difficulty of 15 (you need a 10 on 2d6 to hit). And on long range, it’ll be a difficult of 18 (you need a 13 on 2d6… oops, that can’t be done. This means that you won’t usually hit in long range, for most goons, which makes sense).  These numbers are totally off the top of my head, I’m using my intuition here. They’ll probably be tweaked anyway.

OUCH!

Ok, we’ve seen how you hit somebody with a gun and a pointy stick.
Now, what happens afterwards?

First of all, we’ll need something simple, especially for goons. Heroes’ rules can be a bit more elaborate, with injuries and what not… but for goons, I’ll just have an injured state, an incapacitated state, and a dead state. For heroes, I might consider light injury, medium injury, heavy injury, for various parts of the body, and then incapacitated, and finally dead. *sniff*.

The factors that we need to consider are: the weapon’s power(in which the wielder’s strength may or may not be of importance) and penetration (armor-piercing) for the attacker, and the armor’s resilience and the defender’s own toughness (which will not play a very important role mostly, at least with most weapons).

Ok…

So let’s start with goons who are simpler.

The damage roll will be a 2d6. We’ll assume that there’s a target number, which is the armor’s Protection, minus the weapon’s Penetration, plus the defender’s Constitution. Assuming an average CON of 5, an unarmored person is unharmed only on rolls of 2,3 and 4… which makes absolute sense, if you ask me. Weapons ARE deadly, after all. Armor is, and will be, very, very important. Alright.

Let’s take an average slug thrower. We’ll ignore the autofire capabilities it might have (which are highly irrelevant, after all, nobody just sprays and prays). We’ll give it a power of 2, and a penetration of 0 (we’re assuming modern armors here, so that’s the baseline. We’ll delve to different kinds of armor and whatnot later on). So that means, every time it hits, the player rolls 2d6+2, for a min of 4, a max of 14, and an average of 9. Also, we’ll assume the defender has the average CON of 5, and a kevlar vest that gives an armor of 2, in the torso area only, of course. So, assuming the torso is hit, there’s a TN (Target Number) of 7. Alright.

No, no. Scratch that. I mean it.

Instead, let’s make it simpler. Ignore penetration- that’ll be a special rule, if at all, no need for an entire characteristic. Power will be all we need. The player simply rolls 2d6, adds power, then subtracts armor. In our case, that means the 2 values cancel out. Baseline stuff. Now, here’s where CON really comes into play. If the total is less than CON, then the target is not harmed. If the total is equal to CON but less than 2xCON, then he is injured. If its 2xCON but less than 3xCON, he is incapacitated. And if it is above 3xCON, then he is dead. In our case, if less than 5, no harm done. 5-9, the most likely, injured. 10-14, Incapacitated, and 15+ dead. Now, 15 up with just 2d6 is NOT possible… BUT. If hit in the head, a goon’s constitution is counted as halved, rounded up. This means, in our case, less than 3 (Only 2!) is no harm done, 3-5 injured, 6-8 incapacitated, and 9+ killed. Headshots, mate, headshots…

Forgot to mention, the 2d6+Power-Armor is the DAMAGE roll. Simple, no?

But what happens when you’re injured? How’s a -3 penalty to all rolls? That sounds nice. Also, if you get another injury, you’re incapacitated. But if you’re outright incapacitated, you don’t move to dead. You just stay incapacitated. Dead’s still dead, though. Simple? You can use a simple token next to injured goons. Also, it doesn’t matter where the second injury hits, regardless if it’s two in the head, or two in the torso, or one and one. Simple, no bookkeeping.

Now, onwards to heroes.

First of all, heroes have different body parts. So we’ll need to get more in detail. We’ll start with the basics, and also we’ll be using a different formula each time. Since heroes are rare, they’re worth the extra effort, no?

• Head: The most vulnerable target by far. Which means squishy squishy. To find out what injury you got, we’ll first need to determine target numbers, and they don’t need to be high (‘cuz I got high… listening to that right now). We’ll make some arbitrary numbers, using CON value. Be sure to write them down at your character sheet to have them ready.
  • Damage < CON -3. No harm done.
  • CON -3 <= Damage < CON. Light Injury. Whatever you do at -2.
  • CON <=Damage < CON +3. Medium Injury. Whatever you do at -4.
  • CON+3 <= Damage < CON +5. Heavy Injury. Whatever you do at -6.
  • CON+5 <= Damage < CON +7. Incapacitated.
  • CON+7 <= Damage. Dead. Kaput. Finito. Sorry. Make a new character.
• Torso: The torso is much more resilient than the head. This means smaller penalties and higher TNs. Also, very difficult to kill outright with a torso wound. There’s the heart, true… but still.
  • Damage < CON -1. No harm done.
  • CON -1 <= Damage < CON +2. Light  Injury. Whatever you do at -1.
  • CON+2 <= Damage < CON +5. Medium Injury. Whatever you do at -3.
  • CON+5 <= Damage < CON +8. Heavy Injury. Whatever you do at -5.
  • CON+8 <= Damage < CON +10. Incapacitated.
  • CON+10 <= Damage. Dead.
• Right Arm/Left Arm: You can’t die from losing a limb… well, you can, but that’s an extreme case of dismemberment (which also makes for a fun rule for slashing weapons!). I’ll add such rules later
  • Damage < CON -2: No harm done.
  • CON -2 <= Damage < CON+1: Light Injury. -2 when using that arm.
  • CON +1 <= Damage < CON +4: Medium Injury. -4 when using that arm.
  • CON +4 <= Damage < CON +6: Heavy Injury. -6 when using that arm.
  • CON +6 <= Damage < CON +8: Disabled. The arm cannot be used at all.
  • CON +8 <= Damage: Dismembered, and incapacitated due to shock.
• Right Leg/ Left Leg: Similar to the arm.
  • Damage < CON -2: No harm done.
  • CON -2 <= Damage < CON+1: Light Injury. -1 Attack/Defense/Speed
  • CON +1 <= Damage < CON +4: Medium Injury. -3 Attack/Defense/Speed, cannot run.
  • CON +4 <= Damage < CON +6: Heavy Injury. -5 Attack/Defense, takes 2 turns to walk, cannot run. If both legs are heavily injured, you must be prone, and it takes 8 turns to drag one square.
  • CON +6 <= Damage < CON +8: Disabled. The leg cannot be used, it takes 4 turns to hobble to the other square. If both legs are off, it takes 8 turns to drag oneself.
  • CON +8 <= Damage: Dismembered, and incapacitated due to shock.

As you can see, they’re not as linear as the goon’s x2/x3 stuff. That’s because at 5xT, which is the norm, there’s a whole lot of difference between CON 5 and CON 6. Also, injuries are cumulative in the same place. After the initial injury, any light injury moves it one step forward (light ->medium, medium-> heavy, heavy ->incapacitated), medium injury moves it two steps forward (light -> heavy, medium -> incapacitated), and a heavy injury moves it three steps forward (light -> incapacitated). As you can see, it’s not easy to end up dead unles outright so. This is not only quite realistic (usually you don’t die outright from many small wounds but from one good one), but also keeps most heroes alive too. Also, you can see that even though characters are not very tougher than goons, they’re more difficult to kill outright. That’s more of a game issue
So these are the ouchie ouchie rules. I think we’re ready to playtest! Results soon enough