Quote: from Gatac on 12:07 pm on Mar. 23, 2004
Er, since I've received no comment to the contrary, may I assume that the "DEA/Interpol Agent" cover is approved?
Gatac
Uh...sure. I've actually been preoccupied by the prospect of being laid-off at my job.
I already said my piece to Gatac on this little topic. Basically, I think the best system would be the Unknown Armies system (minus the madness BS). It's fast, flexible, and doesn't have the 20 pages of bullshit that d20 does. Combat's done with initiative rolls, and then from then out it's just one percentage dice roll for both chance to hit and damage. Modifiers are applied on the fly, skills are totally open-ended, guns are a lot more dangerous than hand-to-hand (roll a 24, HtH: 6 damage, firearms: 24), and the rules are endlessly adaptable. Also, none of this feat BS. You want to do a sleeper hold? Get a hold first, and then roll against your hand-to-hand skill at -20%. You make the roll, you get your hold. Skill rolls? No stress situation, if you're above 15%, you make it, mid-stress, roll, and if you don't roll over your related stat, you make it, high-stress, don't go over your skill. The only real bad mark about is that the base rules make combat really dangerous and hard for low-level characters, but that's nothing that a little stat point boosting can't fix. Just an all around better system. If experiance hasn't told me that I suck at GMing, I would run one.
While this thread is being dusted off, I should mention that Spycraft -will- be going on temporary hiatus as soon as the big battle is over.
This is due to a variety of reasons, some of which being that I'm getting married at the end of May and the fact that I've been running the game non-stop since last September(!).
I also figure that everyone else will be taking the ubiquitous summer vacations at some point between May-July.
We'll pick up from wherever/whatever the hell we left off come the end of August or so.
Quote: from Dieter on 11:34 am on Mar. 26, 2004
This is due to a variety of reasons, some of which being that I'm getting married at the end of May and the fact that I've been running the game non-stop since last September(!).
Congratulations on the upcoming wedding, Dieter! I look forward to hearing all about it - and seeing pictures!
Speaking of May, my wife and I will be having our 5th Anniversary that month.
Gordon
BTW, speaking of game systems, I tend to think of d20 as the anti-Christ of gaming systems. I figure you're better off using pretty much anything else.
(Edited by fanchergw at 12:23 pm on Mar. 26, 2004)
The standard unit of measurement in car chases is the length, defined as the length of your average car. Depending on the circumstances, you could be 1 length or 8 lengths away from the other car(s) at the start of the chase. At the start of every round, the driver rolls. It's a significant check, meaning you have to at least beat your stat, but not necessarily your skill. Beat your Speed stat but not your Drive skill, you don't gain or lose a length. Fail the roll against your Speed, you lose a length. Make the roll under your Drive skill, you gain a length. Matched successes (22, 44) and critical successes (01) mean you move forward two or more lengths, matched failures mean you drop two lengths, and critical failures means that you drop back two lengths and something bad probably happens to you. For a car chase to end, you have to get 10 lengths away from whoever's chasing you or whoever you're chasing.
There might be additional rolls to get around hazards, like a street sign, a slow driving car, fruit carts, parades, staircases, fountains, and anything else you might encounter on (or off) the road. Make the roll, you stay where you are, bomb it, and you drop back a length. You might just have to beat the stat, or you might have to come under your skill, depending on the hazard.
If you want to catch up faster, you can take risks, like running a red light, driving on the sidewalk, knocking other cars out of your way, and other things like that. You have to first make the initial Drive check and pass any hazard checks. Then come up with a good original risk (don't just say "She runs a red light" five times in a row) and roll against your Drive skill. You come under, you advance an extra length. You miss, you drop back a length. Matches double the results.
If you really need to catch up, try an insane risk. This is the territory of driving the wrong way up the street or freeway, sliding that motorcycle or car underneath the semi-truck, or taking a flying leap off of some construction equipment to land right behind them. Make all your earlier rolls, then roll against half your Drive skill, rounded down. Make that bad boy, you advance five lengths. Fuck it up, though, and you crash.
You want to take the other car out, first close to zero lengths. Then the other driver makes a roll against their Drive skill. They make it, nothing happens. They fail it against their skill, they drop back two lengths. They fail against their stat, they crash and are out of the chase.
Firing a gun at a car or passengers in a car is easy. Zero lengths, roll as normal. Anything other than that, -10% for shooting at the passengers only. If you shoot at the car, if you get a critical hit, you hit the driver and they take firearms damage for that roll (which means full possible damage for the firearm!), matches mean you deal that damage to one of the passengers, a success of 20 or lower is cosmetic damage only, and a success of 21 or higher forces the driver to make a Drive check for a hazard. Called shots are still possible, tires are at a -15%. Jumping between cars is a roll to whatever atheletics skill you have at -20%, unless you have a Stuntman skill or something, which eliminates the penalty.
Since ADS asked, here's how grappling normally works:
A) Move into the target's square. (Yep, when grappling, more than one person can and must occupy a square.)
Make a melee touch attack. Each category of size difference between you and the target gives you either a +4 or -4 (if you're smaller than your target). If you attempt to grapple somebody who's already in a grapple, you automatically succeed.
C) Make another grapple check, opposed by the target. Failure means he slips, success initiates the grapple and deals your normal unarmed damage.
When successfully grappling, you can take the following actions:
1) Damage. Opposed grapple check, success inflicts your normal unarmed damage.
2) Pin. Holds somebody immobile for one round, giving anyone else a +4 to hit him.
3) Break Pin. Escape Artist opposed by Grapple. Can also be used to free an ally from a pin.
4) Escape. Either your own grapple check or Escape Artist versus the Grapple check of the guy holding you. If successful against all opponents holding you, you break free and may make a standard move.
5) Light weapon. You can make a standard attack with a light weapon against a target you're grappling.
While grappling, all participants lose their Dex and dodge bonuses to defense.
The thing that irks me here is that there's no rules for choking somebody - none that I've seen, anyway.
It could be said that choking would do the normal unarmed damage. The garotte, if I remember correctly, gives a bonus to unarmed damage during a grapple.
Yeah, but how long can you choke somebody before they loose consciousness? If it were choking, it should probably go directly to Wounds, but I don't see any option for scoring a critical hit with it.
I mean, I can see it working for a garotte, where Vitality damage basically means "You're holding that wire away from your neck - for now", but how do you do that with an unarmed choke?
When grappling, you may as a half action make a contested strength check against the person you're grappling. If you succeed, the target is assumed to have failed a drowning check. (First dropping him to 0 Vitality, then to 0 Wounds.) A character reduced to 0 wounds is unconscious and may be attacked with a Coup De Grace action as normal.
So, if you ever need to build Mr. Spock, here's your feat.
Append: This effect lasts for the duration of the combat or 30 minutes, whichever is longer. After that, the target regains all Wound points lost in this manner. Additionally, vitality damage suffered from this attack is then restored at a rate of 5 points per minute.
I'm also wondering whether there should be a penalty to skill checks and attack rolls for the victim, due to the punding headaches, but I believe vitality damage gets the point across - you're too tired to look good fighting.
Still, it's very powerful indeed. It's something that both scares and fascinates me, like the notion from Faceman/Snoop that you can summon a Cruise Missile Tactical Nuclear Strike (20 kilotons of asskicking) with 35 GP.
Still, it's very powerful indeed. It's something that both scares and fascinates me, like the notion from Faceman/Snoop that you can summon a Cruise Missile Tactical Nuclear Strike (20 kilotons of asskicking) with 35 GP.
Gatac
I think (as a GM) that the Tac-Nuke is still subject to availability and discretion of the GameMaster. If the situation warrants such a strike, you'd have to have a variety of variables all in the right place.
i.e.
-A missle cruiser/submarine/bomber equipped with such ordinance available for the mission.
-The target must be within range of the aforementioned delivery vehicle.
-Permission from the respective government for use of nuclear weapons.
-Ready to be accountable for the use of nuclear weapons.
-Not be anywhere near it when it goes off. (Unless you plan on running a Fallout game right after).
Yeah, still, but once you quantify something, the players will find a way to get it. 35 GP is big, but doable, and easily so for a high-level group on a high-profile mission.
Dieter
punkey
fanchergw
Gatac
Make a melee touch attack. Each category of size difference between you and the target gives you either a +4 or -4 (if you're smaller than your target). If you attempt to grapple somebody who's already in a grapple, you automatically succeed.