General
Combat
I use the version 2.0 rules modified to use D20's as described in the Referee Screen (sometimes known as version 2.1). Character sheets may be generated by any of the rule versions, but will be converted to v2.1.
The Referee will roll all dice. All though there are ways for the players to roll "dice" themselves and send the results, it is so much faster for Referee to do it. The Referee should make every effort to keep the rolls fair and, in the case of a dispute, may nominate a neutral player to generate a "re-roll" using whatever method is appropriate.
Routine in-game upkeep, such as foraging, vehicle maintenance, etc. will be handled in the background. Players may be allowed to specify a daily routine for the characters. At the end of each game-day, which will last an unspecified amount of real time, an activity log will be generated that will give the results of all background activities. The log will be posted where all players will have access to it.
Characters will be awarded experience points for successfully using skills during the adventure. Points will be awarded on a per-skill basis and once the character has accumulated enough experience points for a skill, the level will be raise automatically (This will be reported in the activity log).
Automatic fire also get a bonus for spending a round aiming the weapon. Aiming makes the difficulty one level less difficulty (maximum of Easy) for the first shot or burst fired. No action can be taken between aiming and firing, doing so means that the bonus is lost.
Damage from unarmed melee combat is handled differently than in the rules. Borrowing an idea from the Fuzion rules, an unarmed melee attack does stun damage instead of normal damage. The effects of stun damage are similar to normal damage except they only last until the end of the combat "match," at which point they are converted to normal damage (see below). Also characters don't normally die from stun damage.
For the purpose of accumulating stun damage, the periods of melee combat should be grouped into separate "matches." Roughly, a match starts when two or more combatants begin throwing punches at each other and ends when the victor walks away.
Hit locations are not as important for stun damage, except for two modifiers. The hit-location should be rolled for normally. If the head was hit, the damage will be doubled, if the arms were hit, damage is halved, otherwise the damage is normal.
Stun damage is compared directly to constitution. If the total damage is less than the constitution, then the character is Slightly Stunned, and suffers a -1 to all rolls. If the total damage is greater than the constitution but less than twice the constitution the character is Seriously Stunned and must make a constitution roll to stay conscious. Also the character will have a -2 penalty to all rolls and the character must roll again each time they take additional damage to continue to stay conscious. Once the stun damage is greater than twice the character's constitution the character is automatically knocked unconscious.
Once the match is over, the stun damage should be converted to normal damage and applied to the character. To find the normal damage value, divide the total stun damage taken during the combat by 6. Then take that value and apply it equally to each location on the Punch Hit-Location Chart (head, chest, abdomen, left and right arms). The quickest way to apply the damage is to divide it by 5 (rounding down) to get the amount of damage for each location.
In an effort to make the damage done by weapons a little more realistic, I'm scaling down the hit capacity. See the following chart:
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Head = CON * 2/3 |
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Arm = CON |
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Chest = CON * 2 |
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Arm = CON |
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Abdomen = CON |
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Leg = CON |
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Leg = CON |
The Optional Hit chart by Loonz, will be used in place of the regular hit chart.
A new range band has been added: Point Blank. This range is 1/3 of close range (the given range for a weapon). All shots within the Point Blank range are Easy.
This is calculated a little differently than in the rules. Recoil is calculated separately for each shot but the number of shots fired has a cumulative effect on each shot after the first. For example, a character fires three shots with a .357 Magnum pistol that has a recoil rating of 3. For the first shot the total recoil is the total number of shots fired so far (only 1) times the recoil rating, giving 3. For second shot we will multiply the recoil rating by 2 (for a total recoil of 6). The third shot, of course, will have a total recoil of, 3 * 3 = 9.
Recoil is compared to Strength as per the rules.
Players should be aware that in the games I referee I do not normally allow player directed story lines. I do not run free-form games and only a person with GM status (usually me) may create the story. Players who do introduce a new story line will be asked once to stop and if they continue, they will be banned from the game. This does not mean, though, that the players cannot have input into the story, but they should send any ideas or suggestions to the GM privately instead of posting them to the message list.
