Scratch:Vehicles

Vehicles are similar to characters, but they cannot be healed by healing ability, and they do not automatically recover hit points between battles. Vehicles cannot do a basic attack, delay action or throw object, but they can ram, which causes 5 damage. If the target of the ram attack has at least 10 but no more than 19 toughness, the attacking vehicle takes 1 damage. If the target has at least 20 toughness, the attacking vehicle takes 2 damage.

Combat involving vehicles takes place on a larger scale. Characters and vehicles can be separated into different groups that are too far apart for normal long range attacks like shooting and blasting. Vehicles can easily move between groups, but characters can only move between groups by riding vehicles or escaping.

Vehicle Abilities

Toughness reflects a vehicle's size and armor. Tougher vehicles are usually heavier.

Stalking reflects a vehicle's stealth and observation features, including camouflage, radar and other sensors.

Swimming allows a vehicle to move on the water.

Sailing allows a vehicle to move on the water without using fuel unless the difficulty of sailing the route is greater than the vehicle's sailing ability.

Diving allows a vehicle to move underwater.

Quickness allows a vehicle to move on the ground.

Land sailing allows a vehicle to travel some ground routes without using fuel.

Flying allows a vehicle to move in the air.

Soaring allows a vehicle to travel some air routes without using fuel.

Spaceflight allows a vehicle to move in outer space.

Solar sailing allows a vehicle to travel some space routes without using fuel.

Range determines how much a vehicle can move before exhausting it's fuel. A vehicle has 1 point of fuel for each level of range ability. Outside of combat, parties of characters take turns traveling on routes that consume 1 point of fuel. These routes might be roads on a map or spaces on a grid. Range can be important if the routes lead to places where fuel is scarce. Vehicles without range cannot travel long distances but can still move like other vehicles during combat.

Repair allows vehicle to fix itself outside of combat. Vehicles usually have a chance to repair themselves between battles, typically at the beginning of each travel turn. A successful repair roll (difficulty 10) increases an injured vehicle's hit points to half of it's toughness (rounded down) plus 1. A successful repair roll restores a healthy vehicle to maximum hit points (toughness.)

Grapple allows a vehicle to do a shoving or boarding attack. Grapple can only be used to attack vehicles in the same group. A boarding attack allows any of the characters riding the attacking vehicle to board the target vehicle. A shoving attack makes a target skip it's next turn. Also, when a vehicle is shoved, roll a twenty-sided die for each character aboard the vehicle. If the roll is equal to or greater than the character's defense, the character takes 1 damage. A vehicle that has to skip it's next turn because of being shoved cannot be boarded. An injured vehicle must skip it's next turn after grappling.

Guns allows a vehicle to attack one vehicle or character in the same group, causing 5 damage if it is successful. An injured vehicle must skip it's next turn after using guns.

Missiles allows a vehicle to attack one vehicle in the same group or another group, causing 5 damage if it is successful. An injured vehicle must skip it's next turn after using missiles.

Bombs allows a vehicle to attack all of the vehicles in any group, causing 5 damage to each vehicle successfully attacked. A healthy vehicle must skip it's next turn after using bombs. An injured vehicle cannot use bombs.

Countermeasures allows a vehicle to attack all of the enemy vehicles in the same group, forcing each enemy successfully attacked to skip a turn. An injured vehicle must skip it's next turn after using countermeasures.

Autopilot allows a vehicle to maneuver without a pilot.

Targeting allows a vehicle to aim and fire it's weapons without a pilot.

Vehicle Crews

Characters with craftsmanship ability can attempt to repair one vehicle at the beginning of each travel turn (difficulty 10.) Successfully repairing an incapacitated vehicle restores it to 1 hit point. Successfully repairing an injured vehicle restores it's hit points to half of the vehicle's toughness (rounded down) plus 1, making that vehicle healthy. Successfully repairing a healthy vehicle restores it to maximum hit points.

Every vehicle needs either targeting ability or a gunner in order to use guns, missiles, bombs or countermeasures. A gunner is a character with shooting or blasting ability. The best of these two abilities is added to the vehicle's guns, missiles, bombs and countermeasures ability levels. When a vehicle uses it's guns, missiles, bombs or countermeasures the gunner must skip his next turn. Other attacks and actions that force the gunner to skip his next turn also prevent the gunner from operating the vehicle's weapons on the vehicle's next turn.

Every vehicle needs either a pilot or autopilot ability in order to move, grapple or do a ram attack. Driving ability allows a character to pilot a ground vehicle. Navigation ability allows a character to pilot a water vehicle. Piloting ability allows a character to pilot an air or space vehicle. The pilot's ability level is added to the vehicle's grapple ability, the vehicle's stalking ability and the vehicle's movement ability. A pilot with shooting or blasting ability can also be a gunner.

A vehicle's defense is either 10 plus the movement ability it is currently using or 10 plus the best ability level from the following list: stalking, autopilot, targeting and countermeasures. When a vehicle moves, evades or does a close range attack (grapple or ram attack) the pilot of the vehicle must skip his next turn. Other attacks and actions that force the pilot to skip his next turn also prevent the pilot from operating the vehicle on the vehicle's next turn. (Tgh/2 is not used for vehicle defense.)

Vehicle Combat

Characters and vehicles can be detected or undetected. At the beginning of a battle, all of the vehicles and characters are undetected. The vehicles are organized into groups: one for each team.

At the beginning of a vehicle's turn, roll a die for each undetected enemy vehicle and undetected enemy character who is not in a vehicle. Add the vehicle's stalking ability to its roll. If the total is equal to or greater than 10 plus the enemy's stalking ability the enemy character or vehicle is detected. Detecting a vehicle reveals its approximate shape, size and location.

Now the vehicle can stay in it's current group, move to another group which has at least one ally or detected enemy, or move out into a new group by itself. When a vehicle moves to another group, it detects all enemy vehicles in that group and it is detected if there are any enemies in that group. After moving or staying in the current group, the vehicle can attack or catch a detected enemy, evade or escape.

A detected character or vehicle that successfully escapes during vehicle combat does not leave the battle. Instead it moves to a different group. A character or vehicle that evades in a group that does not contain any enemy vehicles becomes undetected. An undetected character or vehicle that successfully escapes can leave the battle or move to a different group.

Characters can ride inside or outside vehicles. Characters cannot attack a vehicle with close range attacks like a basic attack, fighting, or knockout unless they are riding inside or outside of that vehicle. Wrestling and the delay action do not affect vehicles. Vehicles and characters outside of vehicles cannot directly attack characters riding inside vehicles. Characters cannot escape while they are riding inside or outside a vehicle.

Using firearms and explosives aboard a vehicle is dangerous. When a shooting attack misses aboard a vehicle, the vehicle takes 1 damage. A blasting attack aboard a vehicle causes 1 damage for each character targeted by the attack. A blasting attack aboard a vehicle that specifically targets the vehicle instead of characters causes 5 damage.

Vehicle Combat Example

The bounty hunters Chokestar (2 piloting, 3 wrestling, 3 stalking, 2 toughness, 1 tgh/2, 13 defense) and Flipfire (2 shooting, 2 healing, 2 fighting, 2 acrobatics, 2 toughness, 1 tgh/2, 12 defense) pursue outlaws with the Sadisto (3 stalking, 3 grapple, 5 spaceflight, 5 guns, 4 missiles, 2 range, 16 toughness, 8 tgh/2, 15 defense) - a War Bird 1000 which bears the scars of bounties its crew has collected over the years.

A War Bird 1000 (1 stalking, 1 grapple, 3 spaceflight, 3 guns, 2 missiles, 2 range, 16 toughness, 8 tgh/2, 13 defense) is civilian-class security-shuttle armed with gatling guns, light homing torpedoes, and a tow cable. It is has high speed thrusters and great maneuverability, and has life support capable of sustaining three crew members for two months. It also has security sensors that detect unexpected activity.

The Sadisto is a standard War Bird 1000, but it has higher ability levels because Chokestar pilots the vehicle, adding his piloting ability to the Sadisto's grapple, stalking and spaceflight abilities, and Flipfire is the vehicle's gunner, adding her shooting ability to the Sadisto's guns and missiles abilities.

The notorious mutant-cyborg outlaw Breakhelm X-19 (1 piloting, 4 shooting, 4 fighting, 6 toughness, 3 tgh/2, 13 defense) pilots and operates the weapons of the Final Horizon (5 guns, 2 spaceflight, 4 range, 30 toughness, 15 tgh/2, 12 defense) a K90 Light Freighter he captured thirteen months ago. The Final Horizon is now used for piracy and smuggling.

A K90 Light Freighter (1 guns, 1 spaceflight, 4 range, 30 toughness, 15 tgh/2, 11 defense) is an industrial-class cargo ship, meant for transporting medium sized loads or large numbers for personnel for long-range trips, and has artificial centrifugal-force gravity throughout most of the inhabitable portions of the ship. It has small defensive lasers meant for deflecting debris, but which can also be used for self-defense.

Aside from new secret rooms and compartments added for smuggling purposes, the Final Horizon is a standard K90 Light Freighter. It has higher ability levels because Breakhelm X-19 adds his piloting ability to the vehicle's spaceflight ability and his shooting ability to the vehicle's guns ability.

Combat begins as Chokestar and Flipfire catch up with outlaw Breakhelm X-19. Both the Sadisto and the Final Horizon are undetected, and each vehicle is in it's own separate group.

Since the Sadisto has more stalking ability than the Final Horizon, the Sadisto goes first. The Sadisto must detect the Final Horizon before it can attack or move to the Final Horizon's group. This requires a stalking roll equal to or greater than 10, because the Final Horizon has no stalking ability. A twenty-sided die roll plus the Sadisto's stalking ability comes to a total of 15, high enough to detect the Final Horizon. Instead of closing with the Final Horizon, Chokestar and Flipfire unleash a volley of torpedoes using the Sadisto's missiles ability. A die roll plus the Sadisto's missiles ability totals 12, high enough to get reach the Final Horizon's defense (which is 12, the Final Horizon's spaceflight ability plus 10.) This successful attack lowers the Final Horizon's hit points to 25.

On the Final Horizon's turn Breakhelm X-19 can try to detect the Sadisto without stalking ability. A plain die roll without adding an ability level must be greater than 13 (the Sadisto's stalking ability plus 10.) The roll is 9, which is not high enough. The Final Horizon tries to escape by evading. This adds the Final Horizon's spaceflight ability to its defense until the next round. The Final Horizon's total defense is now 14. Its defense is normally 12 (10 plus spaceflight ability) but we add spaceflight again when the Final Horizon is evading.

On the Sadisto's turn it moves to the Final Horizon's group, opening fire with gatling guns. A die roll added to to the Sadisto's guns ability comes to 16, lowering the Final Horizon's hit points to 20. The successful attack keeps the Final Horizon from escaping on it's next turn.

The Final Horizon automatically detects the Sadisto because they are now in the same group. The Final Horizon blasts away with its lasers. A die roll plus the Sadisto's guns comes to 19, high enough to reach and surpass the Sadisto's 15 defense, reducing the Sadisto's hit points to 12.

The Sadisto fires its grappling hook in an attempt to board the Final Horizon. The Sadisto adds a die roll to its grapple ability for a total of 9, which is less than the Final Horizon's defense, so the Sadisto fails this boarding attempt.

The Final Horizon attempts to continue pounding the Sadisto with laser fire. A die roll plus the Final Horizon's guns ability totals 14, barely failing to reach the Sadisto's defense of 15.

The Sadisto makes another pass with its grappling hook, again attempting to board the Final Horizon. A die roll plus the Sadisto's grappling comes to 14, so the Sadisto's crew storms onto the Final Horizon attempting to capture its pilot. The battle continues as described in the Combat Example in the Basic Rules section above.