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Rules Clarifications.

Posted by FateFor group 0
Fate
GM, 2 posts
Roll for dodge!
Mon 18 May 2015
at 09:29
  • msg #1

Rules Clarifications

This game will be using GURPs 4e and Traveller: Interstellar Wars (T-IW) rules. Unless otherwise stated, I will be using these rules to the best of my understanding. This thread is to clarify many of these rules, with some house rules where I feel it is appropriate. This only happens in the very few instances that GURPs rules seem unclear or lacking, and that is not very often!

TECH LEVELS

Default TL:  TL9
Super science exists for antigrav , reactionless drives and Jump drives
Computers:   TL10*
Biotech:     TL9 (TL7 for Imperial)
Cybernetics: TL9* (There are no Self-Aware AIs, prosthetics are generally to replace limbs, rarely significant improvement.
Robotics:    TL10* (No nanites), (TL6+1 for imperial)

*Imperial Computers and robotics are specifically built for a single purpose, and are not reprogrammable. Technology is similar in function, but hard wired, and hence s slightly different Technology.

PSIONICS

This section is taken straight from Traveller: Interstellar Wars, P135

Most Imperial citizens know nothing about psionics, and would react with fear and suspicion if anyone demonstrated psionic talent in their presence. A few dissident subcultures, especially those with a mystical or religious basis, may cultivate mental disciplines that are conducive to psionic development. No one in the Imperium has ever made a serious scientific study of psionic phenomena.

Terran society is also unfamiliar with psionics. The prevailing opinion in the scientific community is that psionic abilities aren’t real; no serious scientist would risk his reputation by trying to study them. Only a few explorers, encountering strange phenomena out among the Imperial worlds, are beginning to suspect that psionic powers might exist. Psionic characters should be very rare in the Interstellar Wars setting, and should only be designed with the GM’s explicit permission. Being a latent psi (having Talent, but no abilities) has an Unusual Background cost of 10 points. Being a fully capable psi (having functional powers), has an Unusual Background cost of 25 points. Most of these powers have the Modifier: Psi Power, -10% or something equivalent.

The following psionic powers and Talents are available in the Interstellar Wars setting:

Awareness: This is the psi talent of mind-over-body. Awareness Talent costs 5 points/level and the Awareness power can provide the following abilities: Additional ST (Costs Fatigue -5%), Additional HT (Costs Fatigue, -5%), Metabolism Control (p. B68), and Regeneration (p. B80, Costs Fatigue -5%). Awareness abilities apply a -10% psionic power
modifier.

ESP (p. B255): The following abilities are available: Clairsentience, Danger Sense, Detect (for psis and psionic activity), Para-Radar, and Penetrating Vision.

Psychokinesis (p. B256): Only the Telekinesis ability is available.

Telepathy (p. B257): The following abilities are available: Animal Empathy, Empathy, Mind Probe, Mind Reading, Mind Shield, Mindlink, Telesend, and “Mental Assault” (Affliction 1, Will; Based on Will, +20%; Malediction 2, +150%; Secondary Unconsciousness +40%; Telepathic
-10%; 30 points).

Teleportation (p. B257): Only the Warp ability is available, and it must have the Modifier: Range Limit (300 miles on a planet’s surface, 400 yards up or down, -25%) due to issues of conservation of momentum and potential energy. Total cost, 65 points.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:00, Sat 09 Mar 2019.
Fate
GM, 3 posts
Roll for dodge!
Mon 18 May 2015
at 09:34
  • msg #2

Equipment Modifiers

The following quality modifiers are found in several locations, and repeated here for clarity.

Ordinary Items

Cheap: Made of old or inferior quality parts, x1.5 times weight, half cost. Minus one to any applicable skill modifier. Weapons and armour are handled differently.
  Armour: -1 DR, 0.6 CF
  Weapons: -1 skill/Acc,

Cutting-Edge/Expensive: Made of the latest materials. Multiply weight by 2/3. Any item except weapons and armour/clothing: +1 CF.

Disguised
: The item resembles something else of similar shape; e.g., handcuffs that look like a chunky bracelet. Discovering the hidden function requires a Search roll. Any item: +4 CF.

Fine-Quality*: Gives +2 to operation skill, or adds +2 to existing modifier. If quality affects weight, x20 weight. Any item but clothing/armour, sights/scopes, labs or tool kits (their bonus depends on size): +19 CF.
  Armour: Masterful Tailoring weight X 0.7, +29 CF
  Ranged Weapons: +2 Acc, +4 CF
  Melee weapons: +1 cut/imp damage, -1 break +3 CF

Good-Quality*: Gives +1 to operation skill, or adds +1 to existing modifier. If quality affects weight, x5 weight. Any item but clothing/armour, sights/scopes, labs or tool kits: +4 CF.
  Armour, Custom fitted Weight x0.85, +5 CF
  Ranged Weapons: +1 Acc, +1 CF
  All TL6 Melee weapons are Fine Quality as standard. TL7+ weapons are listed as fine quality.

Rugged: Shockproof and waterproof, giving +2 to rolls to avoid breakage, water damage, etc. Multiply weight by 1.2. Any item except clothing/armour and weapons (but including accessories): +1 CF.

Styled: Hand-tooled, gold-plated, etc. Gives a reaction or Influence roll bonus if the item is the focus of the action. Any item: +1 bonus for +1 CF, +2 for +4 CF, and +3 for +9 CF.

* Good- and fine-quality are mutually exclusive.

Clothing and Armour

Camouflage*: Helps the wearer hide in one specific setting (desert, urban night, etc.), giving a Camouflage bonus but also -1 to reactions in most nonmilitary settings. Armor or clothing: +1 for +0 CF, +2 for +1 CF, +3 for +2 CF.

Disguised: Armor that wouldn’t normally resemble ordinary clothing can be tailored so that it does. Discovering the truth requires a Search roll. Armor: +4 CF.

Cut*: The most common clothing enhancement! Gives a reaction or Influence roll bonus whenever the GM feels that being well-dressed would count. Clothing: +1 bonus for +1 CF, +2 for +4 CF, and +3 for +9 CF.

Undercover: Helps the wearer conceal weapons, giving a Holdout bonus. Armor or clothing: +1 bonus for +4 CF, +2 for +19 CF.

Style: See table below for effects:
Style           DR     Cost   Weight
Heavy           x1.5   x1.5    x1.5
Normal          -     -      -
Light           x0.67 x0.67  x0.67
Diaphanous      x0.5  x0.5   x0.5



* Camouflage and styled are mutually exclusive.

Vehicles

Attractive: Custom paint job, velvet-glove interior, etc., gives a reaction or Influence roll bonus in scenes where the vehicle is the center of attention: +1 for +1 CF, +2 for +2 CF, and +3 for +3 CF.

Rugged Design: Gives a HT bonus: +1 for +1 CF, +2 for +4 CF.

Superior Handling: Gives a Handling bonus: +1 for +1 CF or +2 for +4 CF.

Second-hand vehicles are cheap but often defective. Buy a vehicle from the Vehicle Table and apply the desired options. Then for every 10% knocked off final price (max. 60% off),
roll 2d on this table in front of the GM:

2-3 –  Bad Engine: Engine dies (effectively disabled) for 3d seconds on any failed control roll. Reroll for unpowered vehicles or repeated results.
4 –    Unresponsive: -1 to Handling.*
5-6 –  Mistreated: -1 to HT.*
7 –    No problem!
8-9 –  Short “Legs” (Inefficient motor): -10% Range.*
10 –   Wobbly: -1 to SR.*
11 –   Slow: -10% Top Speed.*
12 –   Unsafe: No note or “c” (Combustible) on HT becomes “f” (Flammable), “f” becomes “x” (Explosive). Reroll after this reaches “x” (“f,” if unpowered).*

* Multiple occurrences are cumulative!
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:42, Tue 22 Mar 2022.
Fate
GM, 4 posts
Roll for dodge!
Mon 18 May 2015
at 09:39
  • msg #3

Weapon Attack Modifiers - Personal Combat

Most of these rules are straight out of Basics: Campaigns, and repeated here only as a matter of convenience. There are, however, 2 house rules. One concerns darkness penalties, and handling light sources, and the other introduces a new hit location, the entire head, not in normal hit tables.


Humanoid Hit Location Table


If you target just a creature, rather than a specific part of a creature, roll on the first column of following table to determine where you actually hit. If you are targeting a specific location, apply the penalty to your 'to hit' target. Attacks on the Eye, Skull, Face, Neck or vitals that miss by 1 hit the torso instead. Any wound multiplier other than x1 is given in damage column.

Random    Penalty   Location  Disable   Damage
None          -9          Eye          HP/10     imp, pi, beam only
3-4            -7          Skull         N/A        all injury x4, DR2, Knockdown -10
5                -5          Face         N/A        HP damage blinds, Imp/pi++ x2, cut/pi+/Cor x1.5, pi-x0.5
6-7             -2         Right Leg  HP/2      cut x1.5, pi-x0.5
8                -2         Right Arm   HP/2      cut x1.5, pi-x0.5
9-10            0         Torso                   Imp/pi++ x2, cut/pi+ x1.5, pi-x0.5
11               -3         Groin       N/A       double shock from cr, males only Imp/pi++ x2, cut/pi+ x1.5, pi-x0.5
12               -2         Left Arm HP/2      cut x1.5, pi-x0.5
13-14         -2         Left Leg   HP/2      cut x1.5, pi-x0.5
15               -4        Hand       HP/3       cut x1.5, pi-x0.5
16               -4        Foot        HP/3       cut x1.5, pi-x0.5
17-18         -5        Neck         N/A        Imp/pi++/cut x2, pi+/cor/cr x1.5, pi-x0.5
None          -3         Vitals       N/A        Imp/pi++/pi+/pi/pi- x3, tight-beam burning x2 others cannot target

HOUSE RULE

A player can target the whole head for a -4 penalty. This will hit the skull if from behind, or possibly the face if if attacked from the front. Roll a single D6, on a roll of 1-4, the attack hits the face instead.

This is to offset the seemingly great difficult players have if they want to target the head as a whole, instead of just the skull or the face. The penalty seems in line with hitting a hand or a foot, given the heads' greater chance of deflection offsets the decreased ability to dodge when compared to these other limbs, and there is only one head.

Critical Hit Table

For critical hits, roll 3d6 on the following table

Roll          Head critical                          Normal Critical
3              Ignores DR, Max Dam.         x3 Dam.
4              Halve DR, Major wound*       Halve DR
5              Halve DR, Major wound*       x2 Dam.
6              Eye, or treat as 4                  Max. Dam.
7              Eye, or treat as 4                  Major wound*
8              Knocked off Balance              x2 Shock*, Temporary cripple of limb 16-HT seconds
9-11         Normal                                  Normal
12            Scarring* or Deafened* (Cr) Drops items held
13            Scarring* or Deafened* (Cr) Major wound*
14            Drops item held                     Major wound*
15            Normal                                  Normal
16            x2 Dam.                                 x2 Dam.
17            Halve DR                               Halve DR
18            x3 Dam.                                 x3 Dam.

A roll of 3/4 is always a critical hit
A roll of 5 is a critical if effective skill is 15+
A roll of 6 is a critical if effective skill is 16+

A roll of 18 is always a critical Failure
A roll of 17 is a critical failure if effective skill is 15 or less
Any roll greater that 10 more than your effective skill is a critical failure. Ie fail by 10 or more...

RAPID FIRE BONII
Number of shots   Bonus to Hit
1-4                        +0
5-8                        +1
9-12                      +2
13-16                    +3
17-24                    +4
25-49                    +5
50-99                    +6
Each doubling        Additional +1

Note, for shotguns, multiply the number of rounds fired by the weapons multiplier. Note that DR applies to each shot that hits...

EXPLOSIVES

Listed Explosion (Concussive) damage applied only to a direct hit, and is reduced by range.
Damage = listed damage/ (3 x range, yards), rounded down, maximum range = 2 x damage dice yards.
Considered Torso damage, hence use torso armour. Armour divisor only applies to a direct hit.

Active defences applicable: Dive for cover (Drop and Dodge) which leaves you prone.

Fragmentation damage, where applicable, is indicated by [n d] after damage. Fragmentation range is 5 x n yards. Fragmentation attack at skill 15 - range modifier, -size modifier -posture modifier (usually -2 for sitting or kneeling, -3 for prone or crawling)

Fragmentation Damage is cutting.

For explosives, 6d x n takes (n x n) / (4 x REF) lbs of Explosive. REF = Relative Explosive Force (to TNT). Damage will be crushing. Ie, to estimate explosive force needed, n = (DR + HP) / 21.

Example. Thieves want to blast a hole in a safe wall, made from 1" Iron (DR 50, HP 58, B558), n = (50+58) / 21 = 5.14. As n must be a whole number, they round up to 6. Hence, they need 6 x 6 /4 = 9 lbs of TNT. But TNT is a controlled substance...it is much easier to buy diesel and fertilizer. They have a little knowledge, so they plan on making a Diesel Fuel/Nitrate explosive. If they get this right, this will have a REF of 0.5, so they will need 9/0.5 = 18 lbs of Diesel Fuel/Nitrate. But Diesel is a liquid, with a density of 6.943 lb/US gal, so that means they need about 18/6.943 = 2.6 gal of Diesel Fuel. They decide to get 3.5 gal of Diesel in a 4 gallon drum, just to be safe. However, they will want to stand 6 x n x 2 or 72 yards away...or behind a very solid object!

Note, internal explosions (ie inside a person) have a x3 Damage multiplier and are not effected by DR.

Range Table, using Gun-Fu ranges for simplicity up to 1.5 miles.

Close* (0-5')           0
Short (6'-20')          -3
Medium(21'-100')        -7
Long (101'-500')        -11
Extreme (501'-1 mile)   -15
1.5 miles               -19
2 miles                 -20
3.5 miles               -21
5 miles                 -22
7.5iles                 -23
10 miles                -24
15 miles                -25
25 miles                -26
35 miles                -27
50 miles                -28
75 miles                -29
100 miles               -30

*Bulk penalties apply in Close range

Bracing                +1
All-Out Attack(Ranged) +1
Maximum benefit from spending extra time aiming is +2, without special skills.

Penalty for move and attack: -2 or weapon bulk, whichever is greater.

LIGHT PENALTIES

I have found the rules on Torch/lantern ranges are unclear and/or unrealistic, (Those who know GURPS better are welcome to direct me to anything I have missed), so I am using a house rule with regards to light sources. I am therefore adopting the following:

The darkness penalty for a light source increases by 1 for every 2 yards away from the light source. Hence, a torch reduces the darkness penalty from -10 (maximum, complete darkness) to -3. The darkness penalty as you move away from the torch can be found in the following table:

Range     Darkness penalty
< 2 yard    -3
2-4 yards  -4
4-6 yards  -5
6-8 yards  -6
8-10 yards  -7
10-12 yards  -8
12-14 yards  -9
>14 yards, complete darkness

Hence, the torch light range is 14 yards, though beyond 12' the darkness penalty is -9!

Light sources can therefore be described by their range or amount of darkness penalty they negate. Most are described by the range. So a candle, with a range of 10 yards, reduces the darkness penalty to -5 at the candle.

Note that Night vision (from whatever source) increases the effective range before the Darkness penalty reaches -10.

Also note that these ranges are multiply by 10 when determining when a light can be seen.

Some light sources (many taken from p51-52 of high Tech)

Candle/Lighter darkness penalty -5
Kerosene Lantern darkness penalty -3
Bulls-Eye Lanterns darkness penalty -2 beam
Mini-flash light/Head light darkness penalty -3 at full power, 10 hrs*.
Micro-light/Key chain light darkness penalty -5, 20 hrs*

IN USE:
For example, with a head light has a darkness penalty of -3 at the source. Now suppose someone with low light vision of 5 uses it. For them, they add 5 to the darkness penalties, though they cannot receive a bonus! So ranges would look like

Range  Darkness penalty
0-2'     -3+5 = 2, so use 0 (cannot be >0)
2'-6'    -4 or -5 +5 = 0 (max)
6'-8'    -6+5 = -1
8'-10'   -7+5 = -2
10'-12'   -3
12'-14'   -4
14'-16'   -5
16'-18'   -6
18'-20'   -7
20'-22'   -8
22'-24'   -9
>24'      cannot see, complete darkness.

So effectively, each level of dark vision adds 2' to the range of any light source used. It should be noted that these ranges are greater than those given in the various books, but it is much more realistic to have light reducing slowly with range rather than simply going from a light source giving a -5 penalty to a light source not reaching just one yard further on. You will also note that though the maximum range is greater, the useful range is not necessarily, unless you have Night Vision!

I know light intensity in reality is a squared relationship with the distance from the light source, but that is too complex for basic calculations like this. This way, we simply look at the strength of the light source(s) and reduce them by the range to the target divided by 2.

*GURPS High tech numbers, guide only. Note that GURPS High tech does not seem to have realistic operating times for LED lights, probably because it was written in 2007. Because this is a contemporary setting, if you actually find a specific item advertised, I am willing to accept that instead for that specific item, as I have applied for the rugged head lights, based on the dolphin waterproof ones.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:28, Sat 03 Sept 2022.
Fate
GM, 5 posts
Roll for dodge!
Mon 18 May 2015
at 10:11
  • msg #4

Character Developement

At various stages throughout the game, you will be awarded extra Character points. These may be spent whenever you rest and have the chance to reflect on what you have learnt in the following ways:

-Learn a new skill. You can put just one point into any skill you have used since you last rested. You do not have to have succeeded on the skill roll, but you do need to have tried.

-Improve an existing skill by one. This will require more than 1 cp for skills into which you have already invested more than 1 cp.

-Remove a mental disadvantage. You must back this up with a logical explanation. "After seeing how nasty creatures are here, Freddy can no longer justify to himself his pacifism" is a logical explanation. "Freddy got over his paranoia" is not! You can downgrade disadvantages by replacing them with ones with ones that give fewer cp, too. For example, replacing Pacifism(Self defense only) with Pacifism(Cannot harm innocents) would cost 5 cp, with an appropriate in character reason. Increasing their will power roll can also reduce the cp given by a disadvantage, and can be done if the cp difference is paid if there is a reason this disadvantage is becoming less of an issue for the player.

-Take on additional advantages or even disadvantages (limited by the original limitation of 50% of current points of disadvantages and quirks. Yes, you do get the points to spend elsewhere, but you will have a new disadvantage to play)

Some plausible disadvantages.

Post combat shakes [-5]
Light Sleeper [-5] You can be worried about what is out there
Insomniac [-10] Due to nightmares...
Sense of Duty (Party) [-5] if you feel a bond is forming (it does not have to be mutual)
Chummy [-5] You don't like to be alone...

Or advantages

Fearless +1 [2] This scary shit is wearing thin...
Night Vision 1 [1] Eyes adjusting....better than you thought!
Fit [5]  You are getting a LOT of exercise!
Combat Reflexes [15] You are getting better at this fighting thing...

Other changes, at any time, are always possible, but I will look for a logical reason for the change, and the timing.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 10:12, Mon 18 May 2015.
Fate
GM, 42 posts
Roll for dodge!
Fri 12 Jun 2015
at 23:07
  • msg #5

Space Combat

Missile Statistics

Tech Level: 10.
Hull: Cylinder Streamlined hull, dDR 4 armor, Stealth.
Statistics: EMass 0.15 tons, LMass 0.15 tons, Cost $30,000, SM +0,
ASig -6, Hull dHP 2, sAccel 8.0 G, Top Air Speed 740 mph
A missile blows itself up after three turns.

Using Guns

Targeting = Skill + 2 (Sensors) + Beam Acc - range modifier +SM(Target) - target shape orientation factor.
Precision Targeting = Skill + 2 (Sensors) + Beam Acc - range modifier.
  DR is halved, only 1 shot per round per weapon, regardless of how good the targeting roll is.
Point Defence = Targeting -2 (Cylinder/wedge end on) (Missile SM =0)

All guns must choose between point defence, or targeting an enemy ship. They cannot do both on the same round. G:ISW is not clear about this, but GURPS: Space is specific, so I will go with that.

Turns

Each turn is 20 Minutes. Hence, beam weapons, for the purposes of space combat, are considered to have ROF 20 and rcl of 2: ie you hit one extra time per 2 points you get under your targeting roll.

Range

All ranges are in multiples of 10,000 miles or part thereof. Hence, 12,000 miles is range 1. A vessel/missile may move forward up to their G rating of range units. Hence, a missile with 8G can move up to 80,000 miles / turn. Because space ranges are larger than normal GURPs, sAcc = Acc -30. Only use normal GURPs Acc if using normal GURPs ranges. Damage is in dDam, or 10 x Dam, and DR and HP are handled similarly.

Note that for weapons firing through atmosphere, divide range by 500. Normal Atmospheres are 250 to 500 miles thick. Dense atmospheres are 500 to 1000 miles thick, and thin atmospheres can be considered 250 miles thick. So a typical weapon ranges can be found as follows:

Beam Weapons (Beams/Pulse) Range 59/139 miles
Plasma Cannon Range 19/59 miles

Clearly this will not penetrate most atmospheres.

Range Modifier Table

Applicable for space combat and Sensors

Point Defense


+5      10-15 miles
+4      15-25 miles
+3      25-35 miles
+2      35-50 miles
+1      50-75 miles
0       75-100 miles
-2      101-249 miles
-4      250-499 miles
-6      500-1000 miles (1 k mile)
-8      1-4 k miles
-10     5-9 k miles
-12     10-19 k miles
-14     20-29 k miles maximum laser range for full damage
-15     30-39 k miles
-16     40-59 k miles
-17     60-89 k miles  69 k miles-maximum laser range.
-18     90-119 k miles
-19     120-179 k miles
-20     180-289 k miles
-21     290-399 k miles
-22     400-569 k miles
-23     570-859 k miles
-24     860-1099 k miles
-25     1.1-1.7 M.miles
-26     1.8-2.8 M.miles
-27     2.9-3.9 M.miles
-28     4.0-5.6 M.miles
-29     5.7-8.5 M.miles
-30     8.6-11 M.miles
-31     11-17 M.miles
-32     18-28 M.miles
-33     29-39 M.miles
-34     40-56 M.miles
-35     57-85 M.miles
-36     86-109 M.miles
-37     110-170 M.miles
-38     180-280 M.miles
-39     290-390 M.miles
-40     400-560 M.miles

Major Damage Table

Precise Targeting can target any of these systems, with armour being half as effective, but gunner looses size modifier bonus, and must have 10 dDam penetrate to have the effect below.

3-4: One bridge or cockpit is knocked out. If all bridge or cockpit systems are disabled, the ship can
     still be controlled, but all skill rolls are at -4.
5-6: Communications disabled. Missile control lost.
7: Sensors damaged. Scan rating is reduced by four.
8: 25% of Cargo or freight capacity is destroyed.
9: Power plant damaged. Ship loses jump capacity and half of its original sAccel. Turrets fire just once
     (or twice for Pulse Lasers or Beams set to pulse laser power) per round.
10: One fixed mount, turret, bay, or spinal mount disabled.
11: Half of original fuel tank capacity is lost.
12: Maneuver drive damaged. Ship loses half of its current sAccel. Two such drives exist.
13: Jump drive disabled. Ship cannot jump.
14: One vehicle bay, hangar bay, or launch tube is disabled.
15-16: 20% of the ship’s original life support capacity is lost.
17-18: Fuel processors (if any).

Weapon Statistics

Note that Plasma weapons have been doubled in damage from GURPS: Interstellar Wars as the original statistics for the weapons made them inferior to Beam weapons in pretty much every circumstance.

Beam Laser            7d(5) dDam, sAcc: 2, Range 29,999/69,999 miles
Pulse Laser           4d(5) dDam, sAcc: 2, Range 29,999/69,999 miles
Plasma Gun            12dx2(3) dDam, sAcc: -1, Range 9,999/29,999 miles
Bay Plasma Gun        6dx8(3) dDam, sAcc: 0, Range 19,999/39,999 miles
Light Particle Cannon 6d(10) dDam, sAcc: 3, Range 39,000/99,000 miles
Heavy Particle Cannon 8d(10) dDam, sAcc: 3, Range 39,000/99,000 miles
Missile               12d(10) dDam, sAcc: -Range/30,000 miles
Light Spinal Particle 12d(10) dDam, sAcc: 4, Range 49000/129,000 miles
Heavy Spinal Particle 16d(10) dDam, sAcc: 4, Range 49000/129,000 miles

Range is half Damage and Maximum range.

A Sandcaster adds dDR 40 against all laser fire originating from the targeted vessel. Additional sandcasters add an additional 5 dDR per additional sandcaster that hit the targeted vessel...for that round. They need to be fired every round at a moving vessel.

Note, Sandcasters and Missile racks both usually contain 12 rounds each. According to GURPs Traveller: Interstellar Wars, reloading either is usually done between battles. As such, I will employ a house rule that it takes 5 minutes (15 rounds) for 2 persons to load a single turret of either sandcasters or Missiles during combat, and no weapon in the turret can be used during this time. Note that armour divisors apply to the dDr provided by Sandcasters as well, reducing their effective dDR to 8.

Large Number of Rolls

Where there are large numbers of identical or similar rolls (at least 10), such as point defense rolls for fleets, the rolls can be reckoned to average at 12. If this results in an undesirable result, such as a hit from point defense rolls, all should be rolled separately or by turret.

REPAIRS (GURPS: Interstellar Wars, P225)

Minor Repairs: Hit points lost due to missed maintenance, battle damage, or any other cause can be repaired by crewmen with the appropriate skills. All repair rolls during combat are at -7. This penalty is a combination of rushing the repair roll by 40% in order to make it in 20 minutes (see Time Spent, p. B346) and of working on a very expensive item (p. B484). Outside combat, engineers can take as much time as they need, although the -3 penalty for repairing an object costing over $1,000,000 still applies. Each successful skill roll restores one normal-scale HP times the margin of success, and take 30 minutes.

Every 10 normal-scale HP restored will repair one dHP. Alternatively, a team of 10 (or a recovery Ball) can roll to repair dHP instead of HP. Repair time is 30 minutes, or 1 hour for a +1 bonus. Using the large numbers of rolls above, the recovery Balls will repair 1 dHP per hour.

Major Repairs: Each Major Damage result, or point of lost HT due to missed maintenance, must be considered a Major Repair. If a Major Damage result is being repaired, use the cost of the individual ship’s system in order to determine the cost of spare parts. If a point of lost HT is being repaired, the cost of the spare parts is equal to 1d% of the ship’s base price.

Tactics
This is taken straight from GURPs: Martial arts, and is eually applicable for ship commanders as for squad combat.
If not using a map, roll a Quick Contest of Tactics between the leaders of the two sides before the battle. The winner receives “rerolls” equal to his margin of victory. If his side has 10+ fighters*, multiply this by 10% of the size of his force and round down; e.g., for 15 warriors, victory by four gives six rerolls.

In battle, a leader may grant his rerolls to any ally who has just attempted a combat-related die roll. The recipient rolls twice more and selects the best result. The leader’s player must describe how such tactical factors as cover and formation  altered the outcome. If the GM disagrees, the reroll is wasted. Unused rerolls disappear at the end of the fight.

*In space combat, either the number of dice rolled or the number of turrets or larger weapons 'count' as one warrior, whichever is less. Hence, rolling for each individual weapon in a light turret will not increase this!

Edit Note: Plasma Weapon Damage updated. Gun usage updated, Large Number of Rolls updated. Repair details updated.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:57, Sat 05 Dec 2020.
Fate
GM, 441 posts
Roll for dodge!
Sat 19 Dec 2015
at 06:08
  • msg #6

Exploration

Charting a system

This is done prior to arrival in a new system and generally takes 4 days to avoid rolls, if skill levels >11.

Electronic Operations(Sensors)* roll, detecting large objects, 1 day per attempt.
Electronic Operations(Sensors)* roll, detecting advanced civilizations, 1 day per attempt.
Range modifiers for both: +1 at 1 Parsec, -1 at 2 parsecs, -2 at 3 parsecs, -3 at 4 or 5 parsecs or -4 at maximum range of 6 parsecs.

Astronomy* roll to produce a rough system map, suitable for immediate jumps only at -2 to navigation (Hyperspace).
+4 if more than 1 planet found.

System Mapping
This more detailed map is done from within the system.

Navigation (Space)* roll, determine exact location of bessel in a system.
 +2 If rough Astronomical map exists.

Electrical Operations (Sensors)* roll, locate all planets, 10 days per attempt (may be reduced with more operations, up to 4 per sensor module).
 +2 if rough Astronomical map exists.
Effected by Navigation roll.

Astronomy* roll, working system map for return jumps.

Electronic Operations(Sensors)* roll to detect middle ages civilizations.

Planatary Survey

Electronics Operations(Sensors)* roll, 1 hour to gather basic planetary data.

Geography(physical) roll, to interpret that data.

Full Planetary Survey and Mapping

Each mapping takes (Planet Diameter/1000)^2 hours, smallest features 100 ft across.

Piloting roll, for accurate multiple orbits.

Electronic Operations (Sensors) roll per sensors suite to map features. Survey modules may have up to 4 operators.

Cartography roll to put it all together.

Exploration Operations

Geographical Survey is used for detailed maps and gaining information about ore deposits. They use Piloting and Electronic Operations (Sensors), but need not roll except under unusual circumstances. About 5,000 square miles/day.

Biological Surveys are used to analyse biology of a region, and takes up to a week per region. Requires Biology rolls, and Photography will be useful.

Ecological surveys take years to complete, and yield full details about how a planets ecosystem fit together. This usually requires a full scientific colony on the planet.

Intelligent Life Contact Proceedures

Step 1: Linguistic Assessment. Learn languages, preferably without being detected.

Based on Basic, it takes 400 hours of self-learning to learn a completely new language without a tutor. Halve this if actively working with someone once you have 'broken' the code of the new language. This requires a minimum of 200 hours of recordings.

Step 2: Sociological Assessment. Learn Technologies, populations numbers, political structures and key political institutions.

Step 3: Covert contact. Make secret contact with chosen political structures or individuals.

Step 4: Overt Contact. Establish official diplomatic relations.

* Requires a Survey Module
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:16, Sat 28 Nov 2020.
Fate
GM, 456 posts
Roll for dodge!
Sun 3 Jan 2016
at 09:32
  • msg #7

Wealth Increments

Since players have an income, but the Basics handbook says that wealth can only be increased by spending character points, I wanted to propose the following for those that do not spend their cash, but rather save it.

Wealth level can be increased by one point at a time, proportionally increasing the players maximum wealth.

For example,

Average Wealth (TL10): $50 k, [0]
10 points to increase to Comfortable, increasing wealth by $5 k per point
Comfortable wealth (TL10): $100 k, [10]
10 points to increase to Wealthy, increasing wealth by $15 k per point
Wealthy (TL10): $250 k [20]
10 points to increase to Very Wealthy, increasing wealth by $75 k per point
Very Wealthy (TL10): $1000 k ($1 M) [30]
20 points to increase to Filthy Rich, increasing wealth by $200 k per point
Filthy Rich (TL10): $5 M [50]
25 points to increase to Multimillionaire, increasing wealth by $1.8 M per point
Multimillionaire (TL10): $50 M [75]

Please note, this does NOT increase your characters cash...it just increases how much he can own. You still have to earn it in character, but increasing it this way increases how much he gets to keep of what he earns, be it in cash or in the value of items.
Fate
GM, 1120 posts
Roll for dodge!
Sat 24 Sep 2016
at 11:24
  • msg #8

Underwater Combat

Combat underwater is complicated matter. Here is a summary:

Melee
   -4 per yard of maximum reach to hit (Zero for C range weapons).
   Thrusting weapons -1 per yard of reach (Again zero for C range weapons)
   Swung weapons -1 per dice of damage per yard of reach (Again zero for C range weapons)

Thrown/Muscle powered Ranged weapons
   -4 to hit if passing through air/water boundary
   Divide ranges by 10.
   Divide damage by 2.
   Bows/Crossbows need specially designed materials for underwater operation.

Conventional Firearm (Cased Ammunition):
   Divide range by 1000, rounding up. (Applied to 1/2 D and maximum ranges). -4 hit penalty.
   Reduce Malf. numbers by 2 for automatic and semi-automatic weapons, and by 1 for other weapons.
Conventional Firearms (Caseless Ammunition):
   As above, and also add 1 to Malf for every second immersed.

Hollow-point rounds will expand in barrel, jamming the gun.

Gyrocs
   Range < 10', Half Acc.
   Range >10' divide ranges by 100.

Missiles
   Divide both range and speed by 25.

Explosions
   Divide damage by range. (In air, divide damage by range x3)
   Fragmentation damage just 1 yard.

Lasers other than Blue-Green lasers
   Range 1 yard, half damage

Lasers, Blue-Green, when compared to Infrared
    Double range, halve ROF, double power consumed per shot
    Maximum range, Crystal clear water 150', Normal Water 60', Murky water 15'

Particle Beams or Plasmas
    Half Acc
    Divide range by 1000, rounding up. (Applied to 1/2 D and maximum ranges). -4 hit penalty.
    Calculate maximum possible Damage. Damage is absorbed by water and become Cr damage.
    Half Damage is spread evenly through each yard to 1/2 D/1000. This is applied directly to weapon without the benefit of armour on the turret, if applicable.
    Half Damage is spread evenly through each yard from 1/2 D/1000 to Maximum range/1000.
    Damage done to target reduced proportionally by what is taken by the water.

None of these consider special ammunition or weapons designed for underwater use, such as mini-torpedoes for Gyrocs, or Torpedoes, or guns designed to fire underwater darts. Special rules apply to these:

-Special guns firing stabilized Darts divide range by 25 in water and air (for those ammunition).

-Missiles can be purchased as underwater missiles (Torpedoes) for similar costs, divide speed by 10.

-Micro-torpedo launchers can be bought, with the same statistics as the various sizes of gyroc: They have a speed of 50 and a base damage of 1d-4, but can still usefully carry non-kinetic warheads (typically HE or shaped charge).

-At TL10, actively stabilized supercavitating bullets for conventional, electromagnetic, grav, and gyroc weapons cost double shot, and divide ranges in water by 20 and in air by two.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:37, Sat 24 Sept 2016.
Fate
GM, 1648 posts
Roll for dodge!
Sun 18 Feb 2018
at 08:51
  • msg #9

Mass Combat Strategies

These are taken from GURPs Mass Combat only for the purposes of this game. The strategies are chosen in secret by opposing Commanders prior to rolling their strategy rolls.


All-Out Attack: Charge! A commander who chooses this option adds a +2 battle strategy modifier. If he wins the round, his forces also inflict +5% casualties on the enemy. But there’s a cost: Unless he wins by sufficient margin to take 0% losses, any casualties his force takes are doubled.

Attack: This is an order to advance – or, if the forces are already in contact, to press hard against the enemy. The commander is assumed to be using all appropriate battlefield tactics for the period and troops involved. There are no special modifiers, making this a safe “default” option for any commander.

Deliberate Attack: This is a slow but carefully planned attack, aimed at reducing any advantage the defender has. It’s an option only in a pitched battle or a siege, and never available to a side that starts the battle confused. Any benefits that the defender would receive from Defense Bonus (but not Position Bonus) are halved, rounding up. This makes a Deliberate Attack extremely useful against well-prepared defenders. The attacker also receives a +1 battle strategy modifier – and if he has Artillery Superiority, he gets an extra +1. However, a Deliberate Attack is slow to develop, and thus allows the other side to change its strategy.

Indirect Attack: This represents the commander detaching part of his force on a wide outflanking maneuver, faking a retreat, or performing some other risky-but-cunning move. He gets a -3 battle strategy modifier (only -2 if he enjoys Command and communication Superiority). If he wins, double his margin of victory; e.g., if the attacker succeeds by 5 and the defender succeeds by 1, the margin of victory is 4, which would then be doubled to 8. This allows a good or lucky general to achieve a truly spectacular result! Repeated Indirect Attacks offer diminishing returns, however, as the foe will be wary of further tricks. On the second and subsequent Indirect Attacks, multiply the margin of victory by only 1.5 (round up); in addition, a force suffers an extra -2 battle strategy modifier if it follows one Indirect Attack with another on the very next round.

Raid: Hit the enemy hard, aiming to inflict losses or dislodge the foe rather than to seize new ground. Add an extra +1 battle strategy modifier for each of Air Superiority, Cavalry Superiority, Naval Superiority, and Recon Superiority. A winning Raid can reduce enemy Position Bonus but not gain Position Bonus for the raiding force. In addition, if the winner inflicts any casualties, he may opt to apply these to the enemy’s logistic force instead of to the opposing fighting force.

Skirmish: Exchange harassing fire at long range, falling back if attacked. The commander receives a +2 battle strategy modifier – and if he has Air Superiority, Artillery Superiority, and/or Fire Superiority, he gets another +1 (not +1 each!). Winning with a Skirmish strategy doesn’t gain Position Bonus, and the margin of victory is halved (round down). Win or lose, however, the skirmishing side takes 5% fewer casualties; e.g., if the outcome would normally be 15% casualties, they’d suffer only 10%.

All-Out Defense: Don’t retreat an inch! A commander who chooses this option receives a +2 battle strategy modifier, and also reduces his Position Bonus loss by one should he lose the round. He cannot gain Position Bonus if he wins, however – and unless he wins by sufficient margin to take 0% losses, any casualties his side takes are doubled.

Defense: This is the basic defense option. A defending force gets a +1 battle strategy modifier but cannot gain Position Bonus if victorious. They may take advantage of any Defense Bonus for terrain that they began with, though.

Deliberate Defense: This is a well-prepared defense. It’s never an option in an encounter battle or for a side that starts the battle confused. In a pitched battle, it’s allowed only on the first round – and only to a force that has a Defense Bonus. Either side may use it freely during a siege. It gives the user a +1 battle strategy modifier – or +2 if he has Fire Superiority – plus any Defense Bonus from favorable terrain. If the defender wins or ties, his defense inflicts +5% casualties on the attacker. However, he cannot gain Position Bonus if victorious. In addition, choosing a Deliberate Defense surrenders the initiative.

Mobile Defense: A “defense in depth” that trades space for lives. This choice gives the commander a +1 battle strategy modifier if his force has Cavalry Superiority and/or Naval Superiority. Regardless, if he loses or ties the round, the enemy gains an extra +1 Position Bonus (even if defending!) while the commander’s force suffers 5% fewer casualties (minimum 0%). Like other defenses, victory doesn’t allow the defender to gain Position Bonus.

Parley: This is an attempt to negotiate a pause in the battle to talk – often to give or demand surrender terms. The enemy decides whether to accept after the battle strategies are announced. If the other side refuses the offer, the fight continues and the side that selected Parley is assumed to have chosen Defense instead – but with an extra -1 battle strategy modifier, since the commander wasn’t as focused on winning this round. If the enemy agrees to parley, the battle pauses temporarily as each side warily regards the other (and gathers any wounded). Negotiations can proceed via emissaries, radio, or other indirect channels, or face to face, and might lead to events such as a challenge to single combat.

Rally: This strategy is used only when a force is confused – for whatever reason, but typically because it was caught by surprise – and the commander doesn’t wish to order a Full Retreat. A force in this situation has either lost or never achieved proper combat formation, but the commander is trying to remedy that. He suffers a -2 battle strategy modifier, but if his force survives the round, he may attempt a Leadership roll at -2 at the end of the round. Success indicates that his force rallied and is no longer confused.

Fighting Retreat: This is an attempt to fall back while launching spoiling attacks to keep the enemy at bay. It gives the commander a +3 battle strategy modifier. If he wins or ties the round, his force escapes. Otherwise, it’s still fighting, the enemy gains an extra +1 Position Bonus, and any casualties the retreating force sustains this round also apply to its logistic force! Win or lose, any casualties the enemy suffers are halved (round down).

Full Retreat: This is an attempt to withdraw as quickly as possible without the retreat degenerating into a rout. It gives the commander a +8 battle strategy modifier and his force takes 10% fewer casualties than usual, but any casualties sustained apply to both his fighting force and his logistic force. Regardless of who “wins” the round, the retreating force loses the battle, any survivors escape, and it inflicts no casualties at all on the enemy! The retreating force commander takes an extra -2 battle strategy modifier when performing a Full Retreat as a result of confusion. In any situation where retreat would be difficult – e.g., a land force must retreat over a narrow bridge – the GM may apply an additional -2 or worse.

Troop Quality effect on TS:
Elite           +100% (Eq Veteran SAS, Seals, Shigniid Dia Ugkin, etc)
Good            +50%  (Eg Shigniid Dia Ugkin, New SAS, Seals etc, Veteran Soldiers)
Average         +0%   (Eg Average Terrain/Vilani Soldier)
Poor            -50%

Other factors effecting Roll:
Relative troop strength:
TS Ratio           Benefit
 Under 1.5:1       0
 1.5:1 or more     +2
 2:1 or more       +4
 3:1 or more       +6
 5:1 or more       +8
 7:1 or more       +10
 10:1 or more      +12
 15:1 or more      +14
 20:1 or more      +16
 30:1 or more      +18
 50:1 or more      +20

Type Superiority, in the following types: Air Armour, Artillery, C3I, Fast forces, Firepower
Note that none of these are usually applicable on a starship.
Odds Factor     Benefit
2:1 or more     +1
3:1 or more     +2
5:1 or more     +3

Defence Bonii, Position bonus

General Terrain           +1
Hilly Terrain, own ship   +2
Mountains/built up areas  +3
Own Ship, prepared        +4

Casualties
-1 per 5% of casualties

Mass Combat Results Table
           Loser’s    Winner’s    Winner’s
Margin   Casualties Casualties    PB Shift*
0 (tie)     -10%†      -10%†         0
1-3         -15%       -10%          +1
4-6         -20%       -10%          +2
7-9         -25%        -5%          +2
10-14       -30%        -5%          +3
15-19       -35%         0%          +3
20+         -40%         0%          +4


Risk Factor
1. Each force commander and any individual PC involved in a battle must choose a Risk Modifier between -3 and +3. The lower the modifier, the fewer risks that person is taking relative to his position in the battle. His choice will also affect his Misfortunes of War roll.

At the end of every round, the GM makes a Misfortunes of War roll for each force commander and PC involved in the battle, to see if they were injured.

Casualties   Roll
5%           5
10-15%       6
20-25%       7
30-35%       8
40%+         9


Modifiers: The character’s Risk Modifier; +1 if his side used a Desperate strategy; +1 if he’s with an element that has the Fanatic or Impetuous feature; -1 if more than one element is involved in the fighting and he’s with a support element or if he’s with the logistic force.

Desperate Strategy
Desperate times make for desperate decisions! A commander whose force has suffered at least 25% more casualties than the enemy may choose the Desperate option in conjunction with any strategy but Deliberate Attack, Deliberate Defense, or Skirmish.

For instance, he could try Desperate All-Out Attack or Desperate Full Retreat. This typically involves part of the force performing sacrificial operations to save the rest. The commander gets an additional +4 battle strategy modifier but his side suffers an extra 10% casualties automatically, regardless of the outcome. Moreover, Misfortunes of War rolls on his side are at +1 (increasing the odds of disaster) that round.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:58, Sat 15 Feb 2020.
Fate
GM, 2069 posts
Roll for dodge!
Sun 17 Feb 2019
at 23:11
  • msg #10

Basic Trade in Interstellar Wars

There are two types of Trade in Interstellar wars: Fixed and Speculative

Fixed trade is where you are paid an agreed sum to transport goods or people. Fixed, low profit, basic stuff.

Going rates:

Freight prices are per Parsec traveled.

$700 per dTon on major routes
$800 per dTon on minor routes
$900 per dTon on no routes, or as negotiated.

Passengers prices are per Jump, not per parsec

$400 for a Low Berth
$500 for a bunk bed (Economy Ticket)
$2,500 for a standard Ticket
$3,500 for a first class Ticket
$6,000 for a luxury Ticket

The goods or passengers expect to be delivered in a timely fashion, and transport is paid for up front.

Speculative trade is where the starship purchases the goods for a negotiated price, and then sells them elsewhere for a negotiated price, hopefully making a profit.

First, both buyer and seller roll Merchant skill, adding 10% to base price if Seller wins, and subtracting if Buyer wins. Next roll on the actual price table below, subtracting 2 if the world is poor and adding 4 if the world is rich. Sale price modifiers are then applied (as per G:ISW, P180) to arrive at the final price from the table below.

Roll             Actual price (% of base price)
3 or less        30%
4                40%
5                50%
6                60%
7                70%
8                80%
9                90%
10               100%
11               100%
12               110%
13               120%
14               130%
15               140%
16               150%
17               160%
18               170% +10% for every point over 18, due to modifiers.

Note: Selling an illegal item uses Streetwise instead of Merchant, and while it is an opposed skill, if you exceed your Streetwise skill minus the control rating of the planet you get caught! However, this also adds the control rating to the price roll for general goods. Note that price modifiers apply to both purchasing and selling goods.

Edit note, the map at https://travellermap.com/?opti...109375&milieu=IW  uses Law Levels 1 to A. This Corresponds as Follows:

Law Level       CR
0               0
1,2             1
3,4             2
5,6             3
7               4
8,9             5
A               6

This message was last edited by the GM at 07:51, Thu 21 Jan 2021.
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