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A 3d System conversion for
SLA Industries v3.3.The 3d system is copyright 1999-2001 by dnotice.de. Version 3.5
written by Eldritch |
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Skill
Resolution
The Skill Resolution is simple. Just roll 3d6 and add the skill's
value. If the result is higher or equal to 13 the character
successfully employed the skill. If your dice roll total exceeds
18, the character achieves a critical success and all points scored
in excess points of 18 are added to the Success Die.
The GM
might wish to modify the difficulty of the task by assigning difficulty
modifiers. These mods can be subtracted from the dice roll total
or the difficulty number; although seemingly the same, the outcome
can be different:
- If
a modifier is subtracted (or added in case of a bonus) from (to)
the target number, the chance for a critical success remains the
same, because the total result of the roll is not modified.
- If
the modifier is subtracted from/added to the dice roll total instead,
the chance of achieving a critical success is altered, because
it becomes harder/easier to achieve a result of 18+.
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Example:
The GM assigned a -3 modifier to the task, and the character who
attempts this task has a value of 4 in the relevant skill. His player
rolled a 3, 4 and another 3 on his dice. Standard target number is
13, and the total of dice plus skill value is 14. This is higher that
13, so the task would succeed. But we have not included the difficulty
modifier yet, that must be added to target number. So the target number
gets increased to 16 and the task fails. If the character had a skill
of 7 and the player rolled 5, 6 and 2 the task would be a success.
7+5+6+2=20 (which is higher than the required target number of 16).
As this is higher than 20, the success die of the task is increased
by the difference (in this case by 2 for a total of 4). Now if the
GM had not added the target number to the difficulty number but subtracted
it from the roll, the required target number would remain at 13, but
the net total of the roll would be 17. As this is lower than 18 the
character achieves no critical success and the value of the success
die remains at 2. |
Stat
tests work along the same rules as Skill-tests do, however, in order
to successfully employ a Stat, you must beat a target number of
16. Similar to skill rolls, all points in excess of 21 are added
to the Success Die of a stat roll.
Combat Skill Resolution
Skill resolution in combat is similar to the Standard Skill
Resolution, but in this case the other dice besides the Success
(or Aiming) Die come into play. To score a hit with a weapon (or
with bare fists) a character must roll his appropriate skill over
or equal to 13 (just like in Standard Skill Resolution). An
attack does as many damage as it's Damage Die indicates (this value
is later modified by the weapon's damage modification, so consider
this value the base damage that an attack causes. If the target
is protected by some kind of armor, the Penetration Die gives the
attack's Penetration Value, that is used in order to decide if the
attack penetrates armor or not. The Aiming Die lets the player offset
recoil penalties and move aiming point back into the direction of
the targeted point should the weapon deviate.
Structure
of Combat
A combat round is divided into three phases during which
the characters can act, depending on how many Actions they have
available. The number of actions that a character has is equal to
(DIA+PHYS+COOL)/10. Certain Advantages, like e.g. Ambidextrous enable
the character to take additional Actions.
To structure combat, a character's Actions
are divided up into the three combat phases. A character can only
act in a combat phase if he has an action available in this phase.
If the character has additional Actions - like through the above
already mentioned Advantage Ambidextrous - he can perform the additional
Actions almost any time he wants. These additional Actions, however,
do not count towards establishing in what phase a character
can perform his Actions. Mark your Actions Total on the Action Space
provided on the Combat Sheet.
During a phase all combatants take their
Actions in order of their highest Initiative Total (3d6+INI). INI
is equal to (DIA+COOL+ PHYS+DEX)/2.
Opportunity Action is possible;
in doing so, a character forfeits his right to act at his Initiative
Total, but gains the right to act any time later in the same phase.
Unused Opportunity Actions do not carry over into the next phase.
A character can opt to split his Action,
executing two Actions within the span of a single one. In doing
so he must declare his primary Action. The skill rank of his primary
Action now acts as a kind of skill rank pool to distribute on the
primary and secondary Action. However in distributing the ranks
for primary and secondary Action, the character cannot assign more
points to the secondary Action than his rating with this Action
is.
Splitting Actions in advance is possible,
enabling a character to take an split Action now (with reduced skill-rank)
and declare the secondary Action as an opportunity Action, taking
it later in the phase.
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Example: Fix attacks with
his gun (rank 6), but he wants to be able to dodge late in the round
and thus he splits his attack into an attack and a dodge, assigning
4 ranks to attack and two to Dodge. If Fix's Dodge rating was rank
one, however, he could only assign one point to this skill. |
Projectile
Combat
Firearm Combat works slightly different from Melee Combat because
different factors are involved. One of the different factors is
Range. Each firearm has a RNG value. This states the weapon's optimum
range. Weapons can be fired beyond this range, but with negative
modifiers. Maximum MEDium range is optimum x2, max. LoNG range is
optimum x4 and max. EXTreme range is optimum x8.
To determine
if an attack is successful, the player must roll 3d6, add the appropriate
weapon skill and add or subtract any bonuses: 13 or higher is
a hit.
Body Locations
The DNotice system has seven general body locations that can be
hit: Head, Torso, Abdomen, Left Arm, Right Arm, Left Leg and Right
Leg. They are used to record how many damage a target has suffered
in each respective damage location. This Combat System further breaks
down these seven general body locations into several sub-locations.
They are shown as hexes on the Combat Sheet.
Hit Deviation
Before the player rolls to Hit he specifies the hex on the BHD he
wants his character to hit. If he succeeds with this to-Hit roll
the shot deviates from this hex into a random direction.
Under ideal conditions, the distance the
shot deviates from the targeted hex is equal to the recoil (RCL)
of the weapon. This RCL-based weapon deviation is called the Hit
Spread. The player can use the points scored on the aiming die
to cancel parts of this recoil; each point scored on the Aiming
Die cancels one point of the RCL-generated Hit Spread. Thus
the chances of hitting the targeted hex are higher with low-recoil
weapons than with weapons firing powerful cartridges.
The above stated rules assume that the
character spends at least one Action to aim, steading the weapon
thereby and bracing for the recoil. A character automatically assumes
a firing stance when aiming his weapon, unless he is shooting with
two weapons simultaneously. Being in a firing stance reduces the
RCL of a weapon by 1; having an additional rest for the weapon reduces
RCL by another point for a total of 2.
Range
Aiming at longer ranges than Optimum increases the chance not to
hit the targeted hex. Each range band beyond Optimum increases the
Hit Spread; eg. an attack at XTReme range is at +9 Hit Spread.
Aiming
A character may take time aiming to make sure the shot reaches its
target. This takes one Action per aim. A shot fired with no aims
is counted as being Wild and thus suffers a -3 To-Hit modifier and
an additional +3 Hit Spread for Optimum Range (thus the weapon deviates
RCL+3 hexes from the targeted hex upon scoring a hit). The Advantage
Rapid Fire completely cancels the to-Hit mod and lowers the Hit
Spread to +2.
For Wild/Snap Shots beyond Optimum Range
multiply the Hit Spread Modifiers (+3/+6/+9 for Medium/Long/Extreme
Range) by the Shot Type Modifier (x2.5 for Wild Shots and x2 for
Snap Shots). Thus a Wild Shot at Extreme Range has a Hit Spread
Modifier of +22 ( +9 x 2.5=22.5=22).
If the character intends to aim for more
than four actions, he must be in a firing stance. If the character
wishes to aim for six actions, then he must be in a firing stance
and have a rest for the weapon. However, a character cannot achieve
a higher Aiming Bonus than the rank of his Marksman skill. A
character can only aim if he is not being shot at, and is not in
a stressful condition (see optional rule Under
Fire). Each aim beyond the first (this is "used" to cancel the
Wild Shot malus) gives the firing character a +1 modifier to his
Aiming Die. Add (if a bonus) or subtract (if a penalty) the Weapon
Accuracy Factor from the Hit Spread.
Penetration
Penetration is determined by caliber and type of ammunition;
thus it is equal to the amount scored on the Penetration Die plus
the projectile's Penetration Value (PEN). Using a silencer decreases
PEN by 1. Penetration describes the ability of the projectile
to penetrate armor. In order to do so, the PEN of the projectile
must be at least equal to the Protection Value (PV) of the armor.
If the
PEN is equal to or greater than the PV, the projectile penetrates
the armor and inflicts damage to the target. If the PEN is lesser
than the PV, then the projectile does not penetrate, but damages
the armor.
In both
cases subtract the projectile's AD from the armor's Impact Damage
(ID) value. This value governs how much damage an armor can take
before it is rendered useless.
Xeno Skin Armour
The skin of the 711 Xeno Stormer acts as it's armour. It has a natural
PV of 7 with ID equal to trice the hits in the relevant body location.
Thus a Xeno with 10 Hits in the Abdomen has PV 7 and ID 30 in the
Abdomen region. If he is hit and the PEN is lower than the PV, subtract
all DAM from the ID; if the PEN is higher than the PV subtract the
damage from the hits in the body locations directly.
Vevaphon Armour
Vevaphons can harden their body cells so that they act as living
armour similar to the Xeno's skin armour. A Vev can shift points
from PHYS to PV as per the rules in Karma, p. 125. The actual IDs
in the location depend upon the PV the Vev has created and are equal
to (PV/2) x Hits. Thus A Vev that shifts to PV 9 and has 10 Hits
has ID 50 in that location. A Vev that shifts to PV 4 with 8 Hits
has 16 ID in that location.
Each time a Vevaphon is hit he must make
a CONC roll minus the DAM taken to keep his skin armoured. If he
fails this roll subtract (7 - Success Die) from the current PV (ID
is changed to the new PV state or remains at the current state,
whichever is lower).
If a Vev in natural state (no PV) is hit
by forces relying on kinetic energy, all DAM is halved.
Damage
The damage taken by the target is equal to the amount rolled
on the Damage Die plus the projectile's bullet damage (DAM). If
the projectile has to pass through armour (thus a location with
ID remaining and a PV lower than the projectile's PEN), subtract
½ of the PV from DAM before applying damage. Armor Piercing (AP)
Bullets suffer no such penalty; if they penetrate they hit with
the full DAM.
Damage
is subtracted both from the target's Incapacitation Total (Incap)
as well as from the hits in the body location that was targeted.
If the target's Incap is reduced to 0, the target falls unconscious
and is out for the combat unless it is treated with paramedical
aid.
If
the Hits in a body location are reduced to 0, this location is rendered
useless. If the Head or Torso location is reduced to 0 Hits, the
target dies.
If
a character is hit in the Torso body location and the PEN of a shot
is lower than the character's PHYS (as with most HP or HESH projectiles)
the bullet won't exit the body on the other side, but remains stuck
in the victim. Such a bullet must first get removed before further
healing is possible (see First Aid).
Impact
Damge
If a hex is hit and the shot doesn't penetrate, the armor in the
body location the hex belongs to suffers all the punishment. Subtract
the shot's DAM from the ID of the body location; if the ID is reduced
to 0 through a shot the next hit in the same body location automatically
penetrates the armor and causes damage.
Missed
Shots
If you fail to score 13+ on your To-Hit roll, the shot
misses. To determine the direction that the shot deviates in, roll
a d6 again and consult the Hit Deviation Diagram (HDD). Thus if
you rolled a 4, the shot would deviate into the direction of the
lower left hexes.
Add the
number by which the target number was missed by to the recoil of
the weapon; this value is the actual Hit Spread for the shot ; if
the shot was a Wild Shot, increase this number by another 3 points
(2 for Snap Shots). Thus if you use a weapon with an RCL of 5 and
rolled 11 on a Wild Shot, your Hit Spread would be 10.
Option: Instead
of calculating this increase Hit Spread, the GM can rule that the
shot was a clean miss.
Rate
Of Fire
All firearms have their Rate Of Fire listed in the Firearms Chart
as a Code, that determines in which firing modes the weapons can
be used. The codes in the chart translate to the following:
Single
Action
Single
Action guns must manually be cocked; they use up one Action to fire
and another Action to recock and possibly reload the weapon.
Double
Action
Double Action guns are similar to Single Action guns, but the gun
cocks the hammer, so that a Double Action weapon can be fired once
per Action.
Semi
Auto
Semi Auto weapons are similar to Double Action weapons, but they
use a part of their recoil for the operation of the hammer and reload
automatically, giving them higher firing speeds than Double Action
weapons. A character using a Semi Action weapon can shoot a number
of bullets equal to STR minus the weapon's recoil (this number can
never be lower than 1). The first shot is handled as in "normal"
fire and the second and perahps subsequent shots deviate from the
aiming hex of the previuos shot. These must be rolled individually
and they cannot be aimed; instead use the Deviation Diagram to determine
where the shot hits, counting from the hex hit in with the previous
shot. The distance deviated is equal to the Hit Spread for a standard
single shot.
The player
can use points from the Aiming Die for each shot to reduce (or even
completely cancel) the Hit Spread.
However
no matter how strong a character is, he can never shoot more than
DEX/2 (round down) shots per round.
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Example: Max.Rock uses a MAL Anvil with RCL
5. His STR is 8 and his DEX is 6 and he opts for Semi Automatic fire
in one Action. Thus the maximum number of shots he can shoot per action
with his gun is 8 - 5 = 3 . If he had used a Nemesis he could shoot
7 rounds per Action as this gun only has an RCL of 1, but since his
DEX is only 6, he is limited to 3 shots per round. |
Full-Auto
Only a weapon capable of automatic fire can be used in full auto
mode. To do so, the player first specifies the length of the burst;
this, however, is a semi-random process: the player states how many
d6 he wants to roll; the total number is the number of bullets in
the roll. The player can modify the actual number of bullets by
adding or subtracting up to ½ his Auto/Support skill.
To determine if (and where) the bullets hit make a standard attack
roll and determine the hex hit as per the standard rolls (hit spread
equals RCL; wild shots increase hit spread by thee, etc.) If this
roll succeeds, you hit the targeted hex, otherwise calculate the
actual aiming point as per the Missed Shot rules.
For each shot above the first, roll for deviation and deviate the
number of hexes specified by the weapon's FA deviation from the
previous aiming point. This way it is actually possible to walk
the fire over several body locations.
Depending on his Auto/Support rank, the player has a number of
deviation influence chances. The total number of shot deviations
the player is eligible to influence is equal to ½ his Auto/Support
skill, starting after the initial shot. A player can influence a
deviation by either adding or subtracting 1 to/from the deviation
roll.
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Example: A character with Auto/Support 5 wants to shoot
his FEN Gunhead in full auto. He opts to roll 3d6 for the length
of the burst and gets a result of 8. As this is a rather short burst
and the player fears that he needs more shots, he opts to increase
the number of shots in the burst. The maximum increase he can give
his burst is ½ his Auto/Support skill (2.5 = 2). So the total number
of shots in the burst is 8+2=10.
For the initial shot the player rolls a standard attack and deviates
the standard Hit Spread (3 for a Gunhead). After determining which
hex he hits, he calculates the deviation direction by rolling 1d6.
The result is a 4, for a deviation to the lower left. But as the
character's Auto/Support skill is 5 the player can influence the
first 2 deviations in the burst. He elects to modify this one and
lowers the deviation die result to a 3 for a deviation directly
downwards. The deviation distance is 1 hex and the character hits
the hex directly underneath the initial aiming hex. For the next
deviation he rolls a lucky 6 and deviates directly to the hex above
(the initial aiming hex). For the third deviation he rolls a 4,
but this time he can no longer influence the deviation distance,
as he can only influence the first two deviations in a burst (and
this is the third round in the burst).
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Burst Fire
Burst Fire is a variation of full-auto fire. A burst is a special
feature of Full-Automatic Fire; with one press of the trigger the
gun shoots a number of bullets (depending on model with may vary,
but the most common burst is the three-round burst). Burst Fire
works like Full-Auto with the only difference that the player rolls
no dice to determine the length of the burst; it is always equal
to the burst length built into the weapon (usually 3).
Walking
the Fire
In full-auto it is possible to walk the fire over several
individual targets within one Action. However, to switch from one
target to the other you must either spend a deviation influence
chance or you must spend one stray bullet, that is one bullet hits
the empty space between the targets and thus counts as a missed
shot.
To
determine where a character hits a subsequent target in a full-auto
burst after he walked the fire over from a previous target, simply
start with a random Aiming Point and deviate from there.
Rotary Guns
Hits with rotary guns are worked out like regular hits, but instead
of a single hex, all adjacent hexes (for a total of 7 hexes) are
hit. Each hit with a rotary gun represents a hit with all barrels,
so if a hit with a 5 barreled rotary gun is achieved, 5 bullets
hit the target. Consequently, DAM is multiplied by the number of
barrels, while the PEN stays at the original value.
If a hit with a rotary gun hits
two body locations, the damage for each location is halved and applied
independently.
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Example: Torn shoots with
a six-barreled WarMonger and he achieves a hit (actually this is the
first hit in a Full-Auto burst, but we will skip the subsequent hits
as they are worked out like regular Full Auto apart from the damage
multiplication). He hits one of the upper Abdomen hexes, but the rotary
has a two hex hit template, so all adjecent hexes are hit, too. This
means that one of the lower Chest hexes gets hit. Usually the DAM
scored by the hit would be multiplied by 6 for the six barrels of
the WarMonger, but as two locations are hit, the DAM is multiplied
by 3 and it is applied to both locations. |
Shotguns
Shotguns can either shoot slugs or shot rounds (the ratings given
in the Weapon Database are for shot rounds at Optimum range). If
a shot round is fired beyond Optimum range, halve DAM and PEN for
each range increment beyond Optimum (divide by two for Medium, by
four for Long and by eight for Extreme).
For Slug rounds double the initail PEN; both
PEN and DAM stay the same regardless of range.
For each range band beyond Optimum a Shotgun
increases the Hit Template. At Medium Range a Shotgun has a Hit
Template of 2 hexes, meaning that the targeted hex and all adjecent
hexes are hit (just like rotary guns). At Long Range the Hit Template
is three hexes. Now all the hexes belonging to Hit Template 2 and
all their adjecent hexes are hit. For Extreme range this is furthe
increased by another ring of hexes; at this range all Hit Template
3 hexes plus their adjoining hexes are hit.
Suppressive
Fire
Suppressive Fire is spraying an area with bullets. The intention
of Suppressive Fire is not primarily to hit, but to force the enemy
to keep their heads down.
In order
to employ suppressive fire, roll Auto/Support. Should a character
move through the area under suppressive fire, he must use Dodge
or Acrobatics to get through unharmed. In order to do so, he must
successfully roll either Dodge or Acrobatics minus by the attacking
weapon's FA stat with a Success Die Value that is greater than the
Aiming Die Value of your Auto/Support roll. Should he succeed on
his roll, but fail with his Success Die, he is hit by one bullet
(consider this a Wild Shot to the Standard Aiming Point). If he
fails with his roll (by rolling under 13), he gets hit by two bullets
(consider this a Wild semi-auto hit).
Recoil
Each weapon has a recoil value (listed as RCL in the weapon
description) that symbolizes the kick-back a firearm gives when
fired. If the RCL of a weapon is lower or equal to ½ the character's
STR, then he can use the weapon single-handedly. If the RCL is higher
than ½ the character's STR, but still not higher than the character's
STR, then he must use both hands to fire the weapon.
If the
recoil is even higher than his STR, he will suffer a -1 To-Hit modifier
per point over his STR. If the RCL of the weapon is four or more
points over the character's STR, he will additionally suffer one
point DAM to his weapon arm per point of RCL above STR+3 for each
shot fired with this weapon. This damage is bruising damage, and
causes no wounds but could incapacitate or kill the user and requires
a PHYS roll to stay conscious.
A character
can try to singlehandedly shoot a weapon that he must use with two
hands. In this case, each point of RCL over ½ his STR imposes a
-1 To-Hit modifier and for each point above ½ STR + 3 he suffers
an additional point of DAM to the arm he fires the weapon with.
Recoil
Baffling
A gun's recoil can be reduced by means of springs, gas blowback
systems and other means. The kind of recoil baffling you buy determines
how many points recoil are negated. Furthermore being in an appropriate
firing stance (one action to acquire) also decreases the RCL value
of your weapon. Standard recoil baffling systems offer the following
modifications. (Table omitted, but you can find it in the zipped
version).
Scopes
Scopes come usually preselected for use at a specific range; thus
the MAL CombatSniper scope comes focussed for Long Range (because
at this range the scope has the highest Aiming Bonus). This is simultaneously
the optimum range for this scope; the range at which it works best
and was designed for.
Working with scopes at lower ranges than the range they
were designed for is possible, but usually they give not the full
bonus they would give if they were used for shooting at their optimum
range unless their maginification factor is lowered. Usually all
scopes have variable magification, so that they can also be used
at ranges below their optimum range and still give sastifying results.
Lowering maginifcation takes up one Action per Range
Band shifted; in the next available Action the scope is focussed
on the new range. The boni for Scopes used at their optimum (and
maginifcation-changed range) can be found in the printable version
of this combat system.
Under
fire (Optional Rule)
Being shot at means serious nervous stress (not to mention physical
...) and only the most hardened and hard-as-nails operatives will
remain completely calm when under enemy fire.
This is reflected in a -5 modifier while
under enemy fire. With this rule, however, it is possible to overcome
the -5 Under Fire Modifier. Simply pass a COOL test; each point
in excess of 16 reduces the modifier by 1.
With this optional rule, it is also possible
for the operatives to overcome similar stressful situations. Under
the general rules it is not possible to aim while being shot at.
Using this optional rule, it is possible to aim - although it may
not be wise to do so - while being shot at.
In order to do so, the player must pass
a COOL test. For each enemy that shoots at the character subtract
-5 from the test. If the player fails the test, his character simply
stays in cover or drops to the ground - whatever is more appropriate.
There may be other examples how to use
this optional rule, how to implement them, however, is the Game
Master's decision.
Jamming
Factor (Optional Rule)
A gun jams if all dice show a '1' on an attack roll. The character
needs a successful roll of Weapons Maintenance to unjam the weapon.
This takes up one Action per attempt.
If a character shoots his gun in excess
of the maximum number of bullets it can shoot per round, subtract
the excess points from the JF stat and add 4. This is the number
the player must roll on his attack roll to avoid a weapon jam.
Quick
Draw
Drawing a weapon costs one Action, provided it is stored in an easily
accessible holster (shoulder, hip, back). Drawing a weapon from
a concealed holster (ankle) or from a pocket or something similar
costs at least two Actions.
Quick
Draw is possible and unless the character possesses the Quick Draw
Advantage he has to pass a DEX test in order to finish the move
within this Action. Furthermore, it costs him 3 points of his Initiative
Total and also increases the difficulty of his shot by -3. Remember,
that if this character fires in the same Action, his shot will be
a Wild Shot and thus he will have to beat an impressive -6 To-Hit
Modification.
Drawing
hand-to-hand weapons also takes one Action if they are stored at
an easily accessible location and two (or more) Actions if they
are stored e.g. in a backpack.
"Drawing"
concealed (but ready) weapons like e.g. a Shaktar Switchblade costs
no Action, all that is needed is a simple push of the button and
the blade springs into action ...
Two-Handed
Combat
A character can opt to attack with two weapons simultaneously.
In case of fireamres the added recoil values of the weapons must
not be higher than the character's STR (or he will suffer the above
mentioned To-Hit modifier and/or bruising damage in the arm with
the weapon that has an RCL value higher than ½ his STR). For close
combat weapons the added DAM factors of the weapons must not be
higher than the character's strength.
If a
character opts to fight with two weapons, he fights with a -3 penalty
to all combat rolls made with the weapon in his off-hand.
If the
character posses the Advantage Ambidextrous, this penalty is cancelled.
In order to attack with two weapons simulaneously the character
can only use half of his combat skill for the attacks.
Special
Ammo
There are several types of ammo in SLA Industries besides
standard: AP, HP, HEAP and HESH all belong to an exquisite collection
of special ammo with different capabilities. All those ammo types
modify the weapon's PEN as well as DAM stat, either by adding to
it, doubling or halving it. When calculating the damage a special
ammo projectile does, always add die-related DAM and PEN
Die values to the projectile's DAM and PEN values after modifying
the projectile's values due to special ammo effects.
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Example: a 12.7mm standard Rifle round has a
PEN of 6 and a DAM of 10. If this was a HEAP round, it's PEN would
be 8 and it‘s DAM 12. A 12.7mm HESH would have the following
stats: PEN 3, DAM 20. Remember though that these values are further
increased by Damage and Penetration Dice Values.
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Knockback
Knockback is the effect when a target that gets hit by an attack,
staggers some steps backwards or even goes down because of the sheer
force of the impact.
Knockback
is connected to the attack's stopping power; the higher the stopping
power is the more probable a knockback.
In
SLA, whenever the DAM of the attack is higher than the victim's
PHYS, it suffers knockback. In order to remain standing after such
a hit, subtract PHYS from the DAM of the attack an make a PHYS roll
minus the difference.
If
the victim fails the roll, it is knocked down (and thus is in a
down (+3 To-Hit) position), gets its Initiative Total reduced
to 0 (and thus acts last in this and all subsequent phases in this
round) and furthermore looses his next Action trying to overcome
the force of the hit. If the roll is successful, the victim's Initiative
Total is reduced to 0 for this phase (and thus it acts last this
phase).
If
the DAM is higher than the victim's doubled PHYS, the victim will
be knocked down and must pass a PHYS roll to remain conscious. If
he makes this roll, he is in a down (+3 To-Hit) position
and loses one full round (= 3 phases) of Action.
Position
Projectile Attacks cannot be dodged - the only available choice
is to dive for cover as quickly as possible when under enemy fire.
If there
is cover a character can hide behind and if the player states that
his character is diving for cover, the attacker gets a -4 modifier
to his attack roll.
A character
who has dropped to the floor is then considered to be in a prone
position and is thus at -3 to-Hit. This also asumes that the target
is rolling over the ground as a defensive action.
Kneeling
characters are also more difficult to hit; when attacked, their
attacker recieves -1 To-Hit modifier.
However,
a character can only try to dive for cover when the attacker has
a lower Initiative Total than the character. All attacks
that are executed on a higher Initiative Total than the character's
are simply to fast for the character to react to them.
Dance of Death
Usually ranged attacks cannot be dodged, but if the character
possesses the Dance/Ballet Of Death Advantage he can actually dodge
bullets.
On a successful Dodge roll, the Success
Die Value of the Dodge attempt is subtracted from all ranged attacks
made upon the character in this phase.
The drawback, however, is that the character's
next Action (whether in this or the next available phase) is executed
with a -(7-Success Die Value) situational penalty. Characters who
possess the Advantage Ballet Of Death suffer no such penalty.
Note: Executing a dodge with Dance/Ballet
Of Death costs no Action.
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Example: Shrike possesses Ballet Of Death.
He is attacked by a Johanna wielding a DN Pistol. On the Dodge roll,
Shrike's player rolls 5, 6 and 4. Together with Shrike's Dodge rank
of 8 this is 23. The Success Die is a 5 for an enhanced Success Die
Value of 10 (5 points in excess of 18). All attacks made on Shrike
during that phase are at -10 while Shrike has to execute his next
Action with a -2 (7-5). |
Grenades
When it comes to mass-destruction and all-out fear factor, nothing
is as effective as a grenade. Standard Grenades come in four varieties:
Blast/Concussion, Fragmentation, Smoke Grenades and Flash/Bang Grenades.
Although different all Grenades share similar concepts.
All Grenades have a Blast Zone;
this is the radius in Hexes that is affected from the Impact Point
of the Grenade. The Impact Point is the place where the grenade
detonates; in system terms it is the hex that simulates the placement
of the grenade relative to the character.
Each grenade has a Blast Radius;
this simulates the lessening of grenade effects with increased range
from the Impact Point. The Blast Radius is a range increment; per
Blast Radius-Increment the Blast Zone of the grenade is decreased
by 1 hex. Thus if a grenade has a blast radius of 0.5 and the character
is 10 meters away from the Impact Point, the Blast Zone for this
character is decreased by 20 hexes.
Most grenades also have a Damage rating;
this gives the number of hit points lost or bruising taken per location
within the Blast Zone. Thus if the Blast Zone of a Blast grenade
(bruising damage) covers a characters both Legs, Abdomen and left
Arm, the Bruising damage is multiplied by four. If the grenade were
a Frag grenade, the character would take the grenades Damage to
all locations within the Blast Zone and he would suffer the grenade's
Damage multiplied by four as Incap damage (see Applying Damage
later).
If the characters run into a grenade that
is already lying on the floor, the GM assigns the Impact Point in
the lower third of the Hex Grid for each character individually
(he could eg. simply choose a point and randomly deviate it by d6
hexes for each character).
If a character throws a grenade he rolls
his Throwing skill with all appropriate modifiers (range, visibility,
etc.). If he succeeds he chooses a Impact Point (in the lower third
of the Hex Grid) for his targets on the Hex Grid. Then he deviates
6 hexes randomly from there. He can use the points scored on the
Aiming Die to deviate back to the original Impact Point if he wishes.
Per range band beyond Optimum the grenade automatically deviates
3 hexes straight downwards. If several targets are within the Blast
Zone of the grenade the GM should increase/decrease their individual
Blast Zones depending on their distance to the Impact Point.
If a character wants to jump a grenade
to shield his companions from the blast, he takes the grenade's
Damage multiplied by 5 to his Chest and Abdomen locations. Subtract
the hits in both locations from the grenade's Damage x 5 and divide
the result by 5 again. This is the Damage that is left over after
shredding his body to pieces.
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Example: The valiant but stupid Frother Wickham
jumps onto a DA 90 frag grenade in a suicide attempt to rescue his
friends. The grenade has Damage Rating of 10, so he takes 50 points
damage to both his Chest and Abdomen. Wickham is a powerful Frother
and he has 13 Hit Points in his Abdomen and 15 points in his Chest.
Thus he stops 28 from the 50 points. The leftover 32 points are divided
by 5 and the damage of the grenade is cut back to 6 points of damage
(32/5=6.4=6) through Wickham's (his only remains are his arms, legs
and his head - his body has vanished in a blody pulp .) valiant suicide.
If the squad's Stormer Stoo had jumped on the grenade (Chest 21, Abdomen
19) he would have stopped 30 points of damage, and thus cut the remaining
damage back to 4. If the characters had placed a helmet over the grenade,
the helmet should at least have an ID of 50 to completely stop the
blast . |
If a character in armour jumps onto a grenade, subtract
both hits as well as all ID in the Chest and Abdomen location from
the grenade damage.
Hand-to-Hand
Hand-to-Hand Combat (Melee) works similar to Projectile
Combat, however, there are differences with regards to body locations
and establishing where an attack has hit. Aiming attacks, Penetration,
Damage and Armor Damage are all resolved equal to Projectile Combat.
The real differences, however, arise in working out attacks, parries
and dodges.
Attacks
When a character enters hand-to-hand combat, they may have
one attack in each action. To determine if the attack is successful,
roll 3d6 and add your weapon skill (and any other bonuses and penalties):
13 or higher is a hit. Like in projectile combat, all points scored
in excess of 18 are added to the attack's Aim.
The player
may opt for a more difficult attack (i.e. he chooses to attack with
a e.g. -3 modifier), thereby raising the target number for his opponent's
parry/dodge as well.
As ranged
attacks, melee attacks are aimed at a specific target hex. If the
attack is successful they randomly deviate a number of hexes from
this intended target hex. The player can use points scored on the
Aiming Die of his Attack roll to reduce this deviation.
The number
of hexes the attack deviates is equal to the Handling Factor of
the weapon. This factor is different for each weapon and can be
found in the weapon's description.
To determine
the damage, look up the damage caused by the weapon and add your
strength bonus (STR divided by 3, round down) as well as all points
scored on the Damage Die.
If the
PEN of a hand-to-hand attack against an armored target is not greater
than ½ the armor's PV, neither the victim, nor the armor takes any
damage.
If the
PEN of a hand-to-hand attack is equal to or below zero, the damage
it causes is bruising damage and it will cause no wounds/bleeding.
Aim
A character can opt not to attack, instead spending
the Action to Aim; doing so gives him a +1 bonus to his Aiming Die
value should he finally attack. This bonus can only be used to cancel
the hit deviation caused through the weapon's handling factor or
similar circumstances. A character who is attacked while aiming
cannot parry and can only use a "half-dodge" (this costs no Action,
but is executed at half the character's Dodge skill value and represents
a quick side- or back-step to evade the attack).
Defensive
Actions
A character has a number of free parries per combat round; this
is equal to the number of his Actions divided by 2. The character
can take these free parries any time during the Combat Round, even
in phases he usually cannot act in. Furthermore, the character can
spend regular Actions for Parries, forfeiting the chance to attack
during the phase. He can do this, however, only in phases he can
already act in, and he cannot spend more "regular" Actions for defense
than he has normally available during this phase.
Instead
of a parry a character can also attempt to dodge a melee attack,
but he needs the skill Dodge and must use an Action in order to
do so.
Parries
If you chose to parry an attack, roll your combat skill
(this should be the same skill that you are getting attacked with,
or the GM might impose some modifiers to your parry, like, e.g.
for defending with Blade, 1h against Polearm).
Now add
your Success Die to the DAM of the weapon you are parrying with
(inclusive your STR bonus); each point decreases the Damage Value
of the attack by one point. Again remember that if your Parry total
is in excess of 18, all excess points are added to the Success Die
of your parry.
Furthermore a character can modify the
the aiming point where he is hit with a successful parry (provided
that the parry doesn't completely cancel the DAM done through the
attack): Each point scored on the Success Die of a Parry increases
the Handling Factor of the Attack by 1. Additionally the parrying
character can modify the deviation direction by 1 step (eg. from
original Deviation Direction 4 to Direction 3 or 5).
Parrying
a weapon with bare (=unarmored) hands or arms is a very bad idea,
probably you'll only get yourself hurt. Halve your total Parry score
when parrying bare-handed against normal weapons. Parrying a vibro-weapon
with your bare hands is not possible: you will bleed.
Parrying
with flexible weapons (whips) is equally difficult: the difficulty
of your parry is increased by the weapon's To-Hit modifier, but
if you make your parry, you hit the attacker on his weapon arm,
cause normal damage and stop as many points of damage from the attack
as the DAM value (plus Success Die) of your whip is. .
Dodge
As stated above, instead of parrying you might also opt
for a dodge if you want to defend against an attack. To dodge, however,
you must possess the skill Dodge and spend 1 Action to execute
the skill; you cannot spend a free parry Action for a Dodge.
When
a character dodges he can choose if he executes a regular Dodge
or a Quick Dodge. If a character excutes a regular Dodge, subtract
the Success Die Value of the character's Dodge roll (if successful)
from all attacks made on him during that combat round (all three
phases). However, during that round that character suffers a -(7-Success
Die Value) situational penalty to all his Actions.
If the
character executes a Quick Dodge his Success Die Value is subtracted
from all attacks made on him during that phase. His next Action
suffers a -(7-Success Die Value) situational penalty.
Like
all rolls the result rolled in excess of 18 on a Dodge roll is added
to the Success Die for an increased Success Die Value.
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Example: Isis with Dodge: 7 is attacked by Scum,
a DN Infiltrator, with Blade 1h: 5. Isis executes a quick dodge
and rolls her Dodge, a 3, 1 and 3, adding her Dodge Rank of 7, for
a result of 14, indicating a successful Dodge with a Success Die
Value of 3. Scum (and all other attackers this phase) now suffer
a -3 penalty to their attacks on Isis, while Isis suffers a -4 (7-3)
situational penalty to her next Action.
|
Certain
armors have a Dodge Modifier due to their bulkiness. This modifier
is listed as DM in the armor's description and it is subtracted
from a character's Dodge roll.
Martial
Arts
Skill in Martial Arts allows for a higher Strength Bonus. Divide
your Rank in Martial Arts by three (round up) and add it to your
usual Strength Bonus to get your adjusted Strength Bonus. However
in order to strike with this increased Strength Bonus, you must
attack using your Martial Arts skill, not Unarmed Combat.
Characters
skilled in Martial Arts attack faster than "normal" character. This
is reflected in their rank in Martial Arts getting added to their
Initiative Total in order to determine who acts first in a given
phase.
Layering
Armour (Optional Rule)
The GM may allow the characters to layer some kinds of
protection over anther (such as wearing a Synthskin under a RainMan
Duster), thus offering increased protection.
A character
wearing layered armour has a PV equal to the PV of the highest
armour layer plus 1 per each layer additionally worn, but each
layer worn increases the Dodge penalty by 1. If the shot penetrates,
apply the AD to all layers and subtract the appropriate reduced
DAM (DAM - improved PV, see above) from location hits and Incap.
If the shot doesn't penetrate, apply the AD to the ID's of all layers.
Applying Damage
Each point of damage scored in an attack markes off one square
from the Incap/Bruising point counter. When all the squared in this
counter are marked off the character falls unconscious (see Bruising
Damage). If the character sustains 10 points damage in excess of
his maximum Incap, the injury is fatal.
Additionally the damage is also marked
off from the hit point counter of the location hit by the attack.
If all squares are marked off in an location it is considered to
be moderately wounded. If this location takes more damage it is
counted as a negative damage overflow (the same holds true if damage
exceeds the points left in a location; the excess is counted as
a negative damage overflow).
If the damage overflow reaches ½ the original
value of hit points consider the location severely damaged. If it
reaches the original value the location is destroyed.
Unarmed attacks only do bruising damage
and only use the Bruising/Incap track. If one of the combatants
is reduced to 0 Incap or beyond he falls uncoscious.
Martial Arts on the other hand uses both
the body location track as well as the Incap/Bruising Track, even
when the Martial Artist uses bruising damage. Combatants suffer
the effects of 0 or negative body location tracks as if the damage
was lethal. Thus, by concentrating damage to one location, it is
easier to KO an opponent using Martial Arts than with usual Unarmed
Combat.
Bruising Damage
A character suffers Standard Damage when he is hit by bullets or
swords, but he takes Bruising Damge instead, when he is hit by fists
or blunt weapons that are designed to stun and not kill the character.
Note: Although
usual unarmed attacks cause Bruising Damage, Martial Arts can either
cause Standard or Bruising Damge, depending upon the choice of the
character's player.
Bruising Damage is kept track indipendently
from Standard Damge. If at any point the amount of Bruising Damage
a character has accumulated is higher than the remaining Incap Hits
of the character, the character falls unconscious.
To easily keep track of Standard and Bruising
Damage, mark off Standard Damage from right to left in the Incap/Bruising
Track. Bruising Damage, on the other hand, is marked off left to
right. Whenever all squares in the Incap/Bruising Track are marked
off, the character falls unconscious.
Bruising Damage is regained at a rate of
1 per hour. Ebon Healing Abilities double their effectiveness when
healing bruising damage. Thus Healing 4 heals 4 Bruising/Flux.
Wounds
Every time a character is hit they probably take a wound.
If the DAM of the attack is higher than the character's WT (Wound
Threshold) they take a wound. The WT is equal to ½ the character's
PHYS.
If
they receive a wound they lose a hit point every five rounds
after they were wounded from the Hits in the location they were
wounded in but also from their Total Hits. If the Hits in the wounded
location are thus reduced to zero, the character begins to lose
Hits from his Torso body location instead.
Bleeding
occurs in the third phase of a round, after all Actions are taken.
Subsequent
wounds shorten the time between loss by 1 round, and more than 5
wounds causes 1 Hit point per round for each wound over 4.
Each
wound confers a cumulative -1 wounded penalty upon the character
that is subtracted from all dice rolls (whether they are stat or
skill rolls).
First
Aid
First Aid is given by using the skill Medic, Paramedic.
First Aid can be used to close wounds but the skill will not restore
any Hit Points.
To close
a wound make a successful Paramedic/Surgery roll with a Success
Die equal to or higher than then total of wounds that the wounded
character has sustained. If the roll is successful, one wound is
closed and the medic can continue to work on the other wounds in
his next Action.
Should
he fail his roll, he causes one point of damage and fails to close
the wound.
The skill
Paramedic can also be used to extract bullets that are stuck
in the target - this is a messy operation and requires a successful
Paramedic roll. This operation will always cause damage, but the
higher the Success Die on this roll, the less damage it causes.
Standard DAM for this operation is 6 points, but each point scored
on the Success Die lowers this value by one point.
Recovery
of Hits
Healing by an Ebon is the most popular choice of recovery as it
takes only two phases to complete. Drugs take effect three phases
after they were administered. Proper medical attention, as in a
character administering paramedical aid will only stop wounds but
not restore Hit Points without drugs or time.
Most
wounds, if left to normal hospitalization, will heal within two
weeks, whereas severed or broken limbs take six or more weeks.
Regeneration
Due to the extremely high metabolism of the Stormers, which was
written into their DNA during their growth, the ability to heal
occurs at an extremely accelerated rate. Stormers are able to regenerate
both Hit Points and Wounds during combat, naturally. Every fourth
round, in the third phase, after all Actions have been taken, a
Stormer may renerate one Wound until they have none left. They can
then regenerate one Hit Point in the third phase of every fourth
round until they are restored to normal Hits.
Situational Modifiers
The downloadable version of this combat system contains an extensive
chart that lists a number of possible situational modifiers during
combat.
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In order to view the .pdf files from the Files Section you need the Acrobat Reader 4.0 or higher.
Get if for free from Adobe.com
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SLA Industries and all characters, settings, images and other intellectual properties pertaining thereto are (c) 1993-2000 Nightfall Games Limited, and are used without permission. No challenge to those copy-rights is intended or implied. |
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