Sci Fi Action Theater

[Jeph]

(This is, as usual for me, cross posted with RPG.Net's tAoGD forum. An attempt to create a rules-light scifi game emulating various TV serials, mostly Sim-oriented with a few quirks.)

I've been watching too many space opera TV shows. The logical continuation of this statement is "I shall now write a brief game about them and post it on internet message boards asking for feedback." So here goes:

SCIENCE FICTION ACTION THEATER

Basic Resolution

Roll 1d20. If you have an applicable Skill, add +1D. If you also have a Specialty, add +1D again. If any roll comes up equal to or under your relevant Attribute, you succeed. Your Degree of Success is equal to highest number rolled that does not exceed your Attribute.

Modifiers: For particularly hard tasks, some number may be subtracted from your Attribute for the purposes of the roll. A very hard task has a modifier of -5, and a practically impossible task one of -10.

Opposition: In opposed situations, the acting character suffers a modifier equal to (their enemy's relevant attribute minus 10). If the enemy has the relevant Skill, you roll -1D. If they have the relevant Specialty, you roll -1D again. If you would roll 0D, instead roll two dice and take the worse result. If you would roll -1D, instead roll three dice and take the worst result.

Stats

Characters have five main statistics: Willpower, Ingenuity, Awareness, Brawn, and Coordination. These Attributes define the basics of any character, and are rated (for humans) on a scale of 1 through 20, with 10 being average. You will rarely see a score below 5 or above 15.

Skills and Specialties

Skills and Specialties determine what your character is good at. A list of Skills appears below, with suggested Specialties in parentheses.

Piloting (types of ships)
Repair (types of devices)
Science (specific fields)
Computers and Devices (types of actions)
Leadership (specific groups)
Socialize (specific situations)
Connections (specific fields)
Close Combat (types of weapons)
Aim (types of weapons)
Athletics (Specific actions)
Stealth (specific situations)
Alertness (specific senses)
[Wild Card] (specific whatever)

Creating Characters

To create your character, pick an Archetype, and then customize them with 10 points. You may buy Attribute increases, Drama Points, and Specialties for 1 point each. Skills cost 2 points each. Archetypes appear below. You may not add more than +3 to any single Attribute or 3 extra Drama Points.

The Officer: Willpower 13, Ingenuity 12, Awareness 11, Brawn 10, Coordination 10. Piloting (their own ship), Leadership (their own crew), Socialize, Connections (other officers), Science. Drama Points: 4. An Officer gains an additional +4 bonus when they spend a Drama Point to act loyally to their crew.

The Warrior: Willpower 11, Ingenuity 10, Awareness 11, Brawn 12, Coordination 12. Close Combat (any one), Aim (any one), Athletics, Alertness. Drama Points: 6. A Warrior may spend a Drama Point to gain an extra, unpenalized  action in a round of combat.

The Tech Guy: Willpower 10, Ingenuity 13, Awareness 10, Brawn 10, Coordination 11. Repair (any one), Science (any one), Computers (any one). Drama Points: 8. A Tech Guy may spend a Drama Point to halve the time that doing something technical takes. They may do this cumulatively, eg., spend 2 points to quarter the time or 3 points to eighth it.

The Speed Demon: Willpower 11, Ingenuity 10, Awareness 12, Brawn 10, Coordination 13. Piloting, Repair, Computers, Aim, Alertness. Drama Points: 6. A Speed Demon may spend a Drama Point to act as if they had a Piloting Specialty in any vehicle for one scene.

The Mystic: Willpower 13, Ingenuity 10, Awareness 13, Brawn 10, Coordination 10. Socialize, Alertness (sixth sense). Drama Points: 8. A Mystic may spend a Drama Point to just somehow "know" something--other's thoughts, the future (although unreliably), the past, etc.

The Innocent: Willpower 12, Ingenuity 12, Awareness 11, Brawn 8, Coordination 11. Socialize, Alertness. Drama Points: 10. An Innocent may spend a Drama Point to make a single target unwilling to harm them for a scene.

The Scoundrel: Willpower 10, Ingenuity 10, Awareness 12, Brawn 10, Coordination 12. Connections, Close Combat, Athletics, Stealth, Alertness. Drama Points: 6. A Scoundrel gains an additional +2 bonus when they spend a Drama Point to take the easy way out.

The Jack: Willpower 11, Ingenuity 11, Awareness 11, Brawn 11, Coordination 11. Drama Points: 8. A Jack may spend a Drama Point to gain any Skill for a scene.

Drama Points

Each character has a pool of Drama Points, determined by their Archetype and bonus point expenditure, that refreshes each game session. In addition to using the ability provided by their Archetype, a character may spend a Drama Point to redo any roll that has been just made and directly effects them. A point may also be spent to introduce some minor plot element, such as "The commander of the other ship was my friend at the Academy" or "They didn't expect to encounter resistance." A plot element that is obviously untrue (for instance, saying that a gun is broken after it's just been used successfully) can not be introduced.

Personal Combat

During man to man combat, time is divided into rounds, which represent a few seconds of realtime. In each Round, every character may take one Action and jog a few yards. If a player wishes, their character may take multiple Actions. However, each roll they make will suffer a -2 penalty for every Action taken past the first. Actions are declared in the order of lowest Coordination to highest Coordination and resolved at the same time.

Attacking: When one character attacks another, it is an opposed roll. In close combat, the attacker rolls Close Combat against Brawn or Coordination, resisted by the defender's Close Combat or Athletics and Coordination. In ranged combat, the attacker rolls Aim against Coordination, resisted by the defender's Athletics and Awareness. (Thrown and other slow-moving projectile weapons can also be resisted by the defender's Coordination, but energy weapons and combustion weapons cannot.)

Injury: When an attack hits, the defender takes Injury Points equal to the attacker's Degree of Success, plus any modifier for the attacker's weapon, minus any modifier for their armor. Small weapons deal +2 IP, large +4 IP, and high powered energy weapons +6 IP. When a character has taken more IP than their Brawn, they are at -2 to all physical actions. When they have taken more IP than Brawn + 1/2 Willpower, they are disabled. A character may spend a Drama Point to act without penalty from wounds for one round. Characters recover 3 IP per day of rest, or 6 per day with the assistance of modern medicinal technology.

"Set to Stun!": When an attack with a stunning weapon hits, the target must check their Brawn or fall unconscious. Powerful stunning weapons may force a check at a 2 or 4 point penalty. Stunning fades after a few minutes or hours have passed.

Ship To Ship Combat

I'm stumped. I've never really found a method that works well for this. Suggestions?

That's All, Folks!

So, what do you think? Any suggestions for improvement? Are the Archetypes fitting, well constructed, numerous enough or too numerous? How about the Skills? Ideas for S2S combat?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
--Jeff

[MachMoth]

Overall, I would say your off to a solid start, but I'm a sucker for single die integration.  The drama dice seem to do what they're supposed to do, and combat is simple enough to not need molding when new situations arise.  The possibility of characters getting blown away in a single phasor shot is there.  So long as your willing to say "captain bob is dead" and roll with it, that is a plus.  If your not, that's a problem.  Keep in mind that single die integrations react double to bonuses and penalties.  A plus one to hit, also increases max damage by one.  It may not seem like much, but it adds up quickly.

As for S2S, I assume you want to incorporate starfighter dogfighting, as well as capital starships.  A simple Enterprise vs. Imperial Star Destroyer match is usually pretty easy to play out.  However, those damndable fighters always make things complicated.  The S2S debate has plagued mankind for all eternity.  Looking at what you've got so far, my best advise is 1) keep it simple, and 2) try and recycle as many of the mechanics from your overall system into the S2S sequences.  There's nothing more frustrating than having a fast paced session screech to a grinding halt, when the big toys come out (*cough* MechWarrior).  

Here's a tip I give to people working on dramatic ship systems.  (This may sound corny) Run any potential system through the attack on the Death Star.  I'm serious.  For starters, its well known.  Second, it covers most of the things you'll want to cover.  You have your dogfighting in space, dogfighting over terrain, ship vs. stationary targets/artillary, a linear style chase scene w/ variable obsticles, and (if you so choose) a use of karma/drama to perform a difficult action.

Anyways, best of luck.

[Jeph]

The possibility of characters getting blown away in a single phasor shot is there.

You know, I just noticed that it actually isn't, at least not without a good deal of luck against an at least equally skilled opponent with large weapon. Basically: Joe Average collapses at 16 IP (over their 10 Brawn + 1/2x10 Willpower). Joe Average deals at most 10 damage with a punch. With Really Powerful Energy Weapons, that's at most 16 damage. If Joe's enemy is Jim Slightly Below Average with a Coordination of 9, Joe can only take 15 IP in a hit, and thus automatically survives the first shot.

Now, this is all fine and dandy when it comes to beating up on the PCs, as bam-you're-dead (okay, disabled) situations should be pretty rare. However, it should not take at least two shots to take out each and every Dark Trooper, which makes me think that some mook rules are in order. Hmmm...

Mooks

Mooks are assumed to have an Attribute of 12 in areas where they would be particularly able, an 8 in their weak areas, and a 10 everywhere else. They are assumed to possess every Skill that they should logically have, but no Specialties. A mook can absorb half their Brawn in IP without penalty, and will collapse if they take any more severe wounds.

That should do it. :^)

As for S2S, I assume you want to incorporate starfighter dogfighting, as well as capital starships.  A simple Enterprise vs. Imperial Star Destroyer match is usually pretty easy to play out.  However, those damndable fighters always make things complicated.  The S2S debate has plagued mankind for all eternity.  Looking at what you've got so far, my best advise is 1) keep it simple, and 2) try and recycle as many of the mechanics from your overall system into the S2S sequences.  There's nothing more frustrating than having a fast paced session screech to a grinding halt, when the big toys come out (*cough* MechWarrior).  

Here's a tip I give to people working on dramatic ship systems.  (This may sound corny) Run any potential system through the attack on the Death Star.  I'm serious.  For starters, its well known.  Second, it covers most of the things you'll want to cover.  You have your dogfighting in space, dogfighting over terrain, ship vs. stationary targets/artillary, a linear style chase scene w/ variable obsticles, and (if you so choose) a use of karma/drama to perform a difficult action.

You know, I'm not so sure I actually want dogfights. I'm trying to build a sense of "We're the crew, we do things together;" a theme that as of the moment could use some strengthening. Star Trek carries it out quite nicely, and never really comes close to a dogfight--some parts of WOLF259 and a few shuttlecraft ploys are all, really. That's the kind of S2S I want to emulate (although I'm looking to other shows [*cough*firefly*cough*] for other areas).

I think I'll handle it a lot like H2H fights, but with rounds being substantially longer (a few minutes as opposed to seconds) and different skills being involved. Something like...

Ship to Ship Combat

As with head to head combats, vehicle combats have time divided into rounds. However, rounds instead represent a few minutes, rather than just seconds. During a round, every crew member on a ship may take one action. Some actions may require multiple rounds to complete, and many crew members to work on them. Actions are declared in the order of the lowest Ingenuity of a ship's captain to highest, and resolved at the same time.

Movement: There are five distances that ships may be from one another and still be considered in contact: Collision, Point Blank, Weapons, Torpedo, and Sensors. It takes one crew member one action to change a ship's course, in order to either Close, Retreat, or perform Evasive Maneuvers. When a ship Closes, they move one range category closer to an enemy ship. When they Retreat, they move one range category away. When they Evasive Maneuver, attacking the ship is opposed by the pilot's Coordination/Pilot until their next turn. Most ships may only take one Move per turn, but lighter ships may perform Evasive Maneuvers while Closing or Retreating.

Beam Weapons: Normally, attacking another ship is an unnoposed Coordination/Aim test, modified for the target's size (usually no more than +/-4). If the target is taking Evasive Maneuvers, it is opposed by the defender's Coordination/Pilot. When attacking from Collision or Torpedo range, suffer a -2 penalty on the attack. When attacking from Point Blank range, gain a +2 bonus. Weapons range is the standard attacking range, and you cannot attack at Sensor range. Attacking with one weapon takes one character on action.

Missile Weapons: There are two steps to firing a missile weapon: getting a lock, and checking for a hit. Getting a lock is always an unnopposed Ingenuity/Computers test with the same modifier for the target's size as with beam weapons. Attempting to get a lock is impossible at Collision and Sensor range, but otherwise is always unpenalized. After you have a lock, you can fire. Unless the target is taking Evasive Maneuvers attacks with torpedos always hit. If they are Maneuvering, the target's pilot may make a Coordination/Pilot roll to avoid the torpedo, modified up to +/-4 for their ship's speed. Getting a lock and firing a torpedo each take one character one action, and may be performed in the same round as each other.

Ship Damage: Each ship has two defensive ratings: Shields, which are ablative, and Armor, which is not. When an attack against a ship hits, the ship loses Shields points equal to the attacker's Degree of Success, +2 for heavy beam weapons, +4 for superheavy beam weapons or light torpedos, or +6 for heavy torpedos. After the shields are down, attacks must be made against specific subsystems--weapons, propulsion, the hull, life support, etc. When an attack hits, add the weapon's damage bonus to the Degree of Success and subtract the ship's Armor. The target system takes that many Damage Points. Rolls using a hurt system take a penalty equal to that system's DP. A system with 11 or more DP is unusable. A system with 21 or more DP is damaged beyond repair. Repairing 1 DP takes a number of Man-Rounds of work equal to the system's current DP.

***

Hmm....that looks servicable. Any other suggestions?

Thanks for the interest,
--Jeff

[MachMoth]

Seems like a solid base.  One thing you may want to check into, can your crew members (especially inactive/passive ones) contribute is some way.  Could the engineers "tweak" the engines for some extra output.  Can the scientist find a nearby nebula to hide in.  Resource Management (even in an abstract sense) is always a major part of Big Ship fights.  And, Player/Main Characters are always a major, dynamic resource, and are usually what gives the good guys the edge.