Hi, the following might apply to CT, MT or possibly even TNE?
This is probably a subject that went out with the ark (well with the start of
TNE anyway) but I wondered if anyway had ever simplified the MT combat system.
All the multipliers seemed to create either little or an excess of damage,
while being too complex for my bunch of (Wookie-IQ) players to handle.
So I came up with the following system (just in case anyone's interested):
1) Roll to hit as per the rules.
2) Damage is P + D - A + X where:
P = Weapon penetration value
D = 1 dice of damage per 'damage point' given in the MT Player's book
A = 2 x Armour value
X = 1 extra dice of damage per category by which the To Hit roll exceeded the
value required.
e.g. Bonzo's pistol at medium range happens to be rated as pen 2, dmg 3 and he
needs a 7 (Routine) to hit his target who is wearing a flak jacket (armour 4).
He rolls 10 which, including his skill of 2, gives 12 - a hit, and a high
enough roll to enter the next hit category ( Difficult: 11), hence getting
a bonus die on his damage to reflect a well-aimed shot.
He rolls 4d6 (3 dmg + 1 for the good dice roll) -> 14. Add penetration -> 16.
The armour effectively absorbs 8 points of this damage, so his target takes
8 points of damage.
3) Applying damage to stats
My characters use a Hit Point system (Yuck! That's for D&D players isn't it?).
The hit points are divided into two parts: the number of points of damage that
can be taken before causing unconsciousness, and the number beyond that to cause
death. The first value is the sum of the 2 highest attributes out of STR, DEX
and END. The second value is the remaining 3rd attribute.
e.g. Bonzo's target was Bilbo. Bilbo has S5 D7 E6, giving him hitpoints of 13/5
(i.e. once he's taken 13 points he's KO'ed, if he ever takes more than 18 total
damage then it's tomb time).
Bilbo can happily take Bonzo's pistol shot without dying or even being KO'ed
(assuming he had not been previously damaged).
However, there is an additional rule which deals with the shock effects of
being hit... any character taking _more_ damage in a round than his highest
atttribute value, is stunned for a round due to hydrostatic shock, etc.
So, Bilbo's highest is 7 (Dex) and he took 8 damage. Interpreting this for the
players, I tell Bonzo that he took aim and squeezed off what he thought must
be a pretty good shot - it hit the target and knocked it over backwards. I then
tell Bilbo that he was hit and although the armour took half the damage, the
bullet penetrated and is wedged in his upper arm (area chosen at random), the
shock of the impact having caused him to fall over backwards. He will have to
lie there for one round, probably groaning and twitching a bit before his
head clears! If he'd taken only 1-3 points of damage I'd probably have said
that the bullet didn't penetrate but he took bruising damage.
The stats are usually written down as boxes or circles for each hit point, with
the points after unconsciousness being in a different size:
Bilbo: Hits: OOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo (Shock 8+)
Just cross 'em off as you take damage...
The system seems to work well with the players (I give them their doubled
armour values at the start to speed things up).
If you've any thoughts, please don't hesitate to call...
=================GENERAL CALL==================
PRIORITY: ALPHA ONE
TO: ANYONE AT ALL CONNECTED WITH *** G D W ***
MESSAGE AS FOLLOWS:
Is there anyone out there? Last time I spoke with
Loren (4+ weeks ago) there'd been trouble getting
e-mail to me. I'm still waiting on a reply re
the manuscript I sent you (for Susan Schug). I don't
know if it has even reached you and I'd like a
response, even if it's just a "Yes, we got it, it's under
consideration".
The [email removed] address doesn't seem to be valid
any longer but my message to [email removed]
doesn't seem to have got a reply either. I'd give you a phone
call direct if I knew your phone number...
REQUEST STATUS: Can anyone out there hear me
Apparently,
"In space, no one can hear you e-mail..." :)
=================MESSAGE ENDS====================
Andy Lilly
Commander, PITS Team (Political Intelligence Team, Scout)
"We are never out-gunned..."
Nothing I say or do here in anyway reflects the views of my very kind,
understanding and generally wonderful employers