Shooting missiles down?

[garhkal]

I've actually found its rare a DM who actually uses that rule for missiles..
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[Methedor]

[shootingwomprats]

R&E, p.127 "Their difficulty numbers are modified by how fast the target is moving."
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Don Diestler
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[shootingwomprats]

I personally think that missile weapons need to be revamped.
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Don Diestler
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[atgxtg]

I don't have a problem with the increased difficulties for moving targets.

Scaling modifiers usually offset the increased difficulty for hitting a moving capital ship, and ion guns, combat damage and maneuvering tend to slow down the starfighters. In our campaigns we've seen quite a few fighters that are dead in space eat a pair of missiles.

I'm not sure if the modifier should apply to "dogfight" missiles though.

[Naaman]

Seems like a house rule for missile lock is in order.

[Naaman]

So how about this: an attacker may attempt to establish misile lock by making a scanners roll. He may add the weapon system's fire control dice to the roll. The defender opposes with a piloting roll (I'm thinking this will be an additional action, not a reaction). If the attacker wins, missile lock is established.

Once fired, a missile with a good lock will continue to pursue its target for x number of rounds. Missiles have a maneuverability of (y) dice and may add their fire control to their roll. A missile travels at a speed of 16 space units.

Let x = some number depending on the weapon.
Let y = some other number depending on the weapon and GMs preferences.

Discuss!

[shootingwomprats]

One thing I will point out about the weapon lock, for a person to shake it I think would require a full dodge, not a reactive dodge. Sensor Ops + Fire Control resisted by Range or Full Dodge. Target lock requires two successful lock rolls over the course of two turns. At the end of the second turn the missile launches.

At this time it becomes a separate piece on the board. That is, if its a line of sight or homing missile. If it is a remote targeting missile then the operators skill is used.

Since the missile only needs to chase the target and get close enough I suggest using ramming rules.

Treat the missile as moving at a set speed so that Terrain factors can easily be calculated. Give it a speed, Maneuverability die code, and a piloting dice code. I would set its initiative at a static amount, say 20.

Now you must decide does it ram and blow up or does it explode by proximity. I have not figured all of this out as of yet, but I am leaning towards using a modified version of the ramming rules and grenade rules.

These mechanics can be used quite easily to model missiles.
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Don Diestler
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The D6 Podcast
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@swd6podcast, Twitter

[Naaman]

Very nice! Requiring full dodge, though, would mean you'd have to "know" when your opponent was going to shoot. Maybe, if its going to be two rounds to establish lock, only require the second one to be full dodge.

[shootingwomprats]

In the movies when you see a plane being locked on to, they do nothing but attempt to break the lock. To me this is definitely more a full dodge then reactive.
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Don Diestler
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The D6 Podcast
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[entropy]

I don't think I've seen it used, but Pirates and Privateers p47 has stats for "smart" and "savant" missiles which use a droid brain to continue tracking a target on a miss (or presumably when firing at something beyond long range).

There's a little more detail in the second edition of the Imperial Sourcebook on p122 for the PLX-2 portable missile launcher. This is character scale, but it wouldn't be much of a stretch to use these rules on starships. Either way, though, at 4D tracking, the missile is going to need to be very lucky or aiming for something that can't dodge effectively.

There was some discussion earlier about shooting down missiles. I'm pretty sure RAW doesn't allow for that unless:
a. the first attack roll missed, and the missile can re-acquire a target
b. the missile is being fired at a longer range than its speed per round
Most missiles aren't capable of these options, though.

For house rules, my 2 credits:
Acquiring missile lock before firing is a separate action. Firing must be done by the same entity (Han can't get the lock and have Chewie fire, even if they both can control the same weapon). If the target takes an action after missile lock is acquired, but before the missile is fired, he may declare a full action (not a reaction) to avoid missile lock with whatever skill he uses to dodge.
If no missile lock is achieved, but the initial attack roll misses by 10 or less, a smart missile gets a lock.
Missiles can continue to track their target for a set number of rounds (I'm thinking 10) by rolling their fire control as a normal attack. If this misses by more than 10, the target is lost. Make this roll every round, even if not in range, to find out if the missile loses it's target.

As far as shooting down an incoming missile:
Missiles cannot be shot down the round they're fired unless:
a. the missile is slow enough that it won't hit the target in 1 round, or
b. the target declared an action (not a reaction) to fire on the missile before the missile was launched. He could have guessed at the tactic, or sensors could have detected missile lock.

Additionally, the missile must be within the target's firing arc at some point in the round. I would probably set a to-hit difficulty based on the size and speed of the missile, maybe in the 25-35 range. A dodge roll for the missile doesn't make sense, but it's not going to be an easy shot.

[garhkal]

[Naaman]

[Esoomian]

In the novels I have read the dogfighting and the like acted as a dodge when attempting to get a missile lock. Just because it isn't your shot they're dodging doesn't mean they're moving any less erratically or more predictably. That said I remember one novel where the target was being chased and could choose to either keep dodging to prevent missile lock or fly nice and steady in order to make the jump to light speed so I think their definitely should be some sort of cost to shaking missile lock but I think any dodge being made (for whatever reason) should still make it harder for someone to get a lock on them.
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[atgxtg]

I don't think the defender should hHAVE to do a full dodge. I think the reason why the characters do so is becuase a missle hit on a starfighter is pretty much an autokill and a full dodgeit is far more likely to succeed than a reaction dodge.