Tuesday 20 December 2011

Rogue Space - Ammo, jams, armour and overhauls

I'm working up ideas for possible new material for Rogue Space, focused on adapting the Empyre setting, new technology and population centres, but in a roundabout way.

Given Rogue Space is rules light, I'm keeping the new material simple and fast, ideally not overloading the in-game action with extra rolls, but integrating it within the existing.

So here goes, a series of relatively modular optional rules for Fenway5's consideration.

Ammo and charge: As an alternative to recording individual rounds and units of charge for weapons that require them, any attack roll which produces a double 6 indicates that the weapon has only enough ammo or charge for one more attack after the current attack is resolved. In the case of weapons using large, expensive or rare rounds or units of charge, a double 5 or double 6 has this effect. The GM may increase or decrease the probabilities at his or her discretion to better represent a given weapon or situation.

Jams and failures: To represent complexity in weapons with moving parts, any roll to attack which produces a double 1 indicates that the weapon has jammed or otherwise failed, and may not be used until the problem is resolved. An attempt at resolving the problem is a Repairing action of average difficulty; if a double 1 is rolled for the action, the weapon may not be used again until overhauled. The GM may increase or decrease the probabilities at his or her discretion, to better represent age, quality and treatment.

Campaigning: For each full adventure which a character survives, the probabilities of a given attack causing a shortage of ammo / charge and a jam / failure increase by one degree, e.g. from a double 5 or 6 to a double 4, 5 or 6. At the discretion of the GM, the increase for the jam / failure may be avoided through maintenance, represented by a successful Repairing action of average difficulty per item taken between adventures.

Armour degradation: If the number of Hit Points of damage caused to an individual by a single attack is 5 points or more higher than the Protection offered by the armour the individual wears, one piece of armour has its Protection reduced by 1 point, down to 0.

Overhauling equipment: If a workshop is available or can be found, each weapon or piece of armour may be overhauled once per adventure survived. The cost of overhauling a given item is 1D6x10 creds multiplied by its Rating value (S=1, M=2, V=3 and X=4). An overhaul allows a weapon to be used again or reduces the probability of a attack rolls causing a jam / failure by one degree; it restores 1 point of Protection to armour.

Finding specialists: A given location, service or specialist may be found in a population centre by means of a successful Aquiring test. The type sought must be specified in advance of the roll and the target number is based on the nature of both type and centre. The GM may wish to base the difficulty level on the type and the modifier on the centre.

Support networks and supply lines: Militias and military forces operating directly from a precinct or base, or otherwise sufficiently well-supported or supplied, may ignore the Campaigning rule and are assumed to have their weapons and equipment overhauled between adventures. Any other forces or parties in this position gain the same benefits.

All thoughts are welcome. The basic rules and supplements are free to download here.

Update: This has been reorganised, revised and expanded for Rogue Transmission #1.

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4 comments:

Needles said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Porky said...

I got to read that through the email notification, and assuming there is time and space, something along those lines from your mind would be absolutely astounding.

Fenway5 said...

Those are some great add on rules that let people add some crunch without bogging down the game play! Kudos sir!

Porky said...

Thanks very much. I have some ideas for vehicle building that just need some polishing, and an armoured transport vehicle to go with them.