View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
CRMcNeill Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 16320 Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 6:11 pm Post subject: Special Rules for Specific Stats |
|
|
Something I have come across on occasion is the tendency for WEG to say that a ship does something, yet not have that ability reflected in the ship's actual stats. For me, the most glaring example is the Strike Cruiser, which is described as such: Quote: | While the benefits of its design are obvious, the strike cruiser has some glaring weaknesses. The modular design means that entire systems or weapons batteries can be knocked out by a single, well-placed hit. |
Based on that, one would think that a Strike Cruiser would have a low Hull rating, indicating its relative fragility. However, when you check the stats, the Strike Cruiser only gives away 1D+1 in damage potential to the much larger ISD I (and actually beats out the VSD by 1D+1 as well). That doesn't sound like it's particularly weak to me.
I've alleviated the situation to my own satisfaction (somewhat) by moving everything Victory-sized and larger up to a newer, tougher scale category. However, in the interests of making the stats match the fluff, I also added the following:Special Rule: On a Damage roll that results in a confirmed Wild Dice result, any damage inflicted to the Strike Cruiser moves up one step. For example, if a Strike Cruiser took a Lightly Damaged result and suffered the "-1D to Maneuverability", but either the shooter or the cruiser received a confirmed Wild Die result, the damage would be moved up to Heavily Damaged and "-2D to Maneuverability".
That's just one example. I know the TIE Bomber supposedly is able to carry a variety of ordnance, even though its stats say it can only carry concussion missiles. I'm sure there are others. What are your thoughts? What are some disparities that you've noticed between official ship descriptions and their stats, and how would you change them up? _________________ "No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Last edited by CRMcNeill on Tue Mar 25, 2014 4:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 16320 Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 8:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Here's another one. The Lancer-Class Frigate's description says the following: Quote: | In addition, each gun is mounted on its own tower to provide an increased fire arc. |
And yet the Lancer's guns are all restricted to the same normal fire arcs as all other ships. Here is my proposed special rule: Quote: | Special Rule: All of the Lancer's quad-laser may also fire into adjoining fire arcs at +5 difficulty To Hit. For example, if a Lancer is firing on a starfighter in its left fire arc, the guns on the left arc may engage the target normally, but in addition, the guns in the front and rear fire arcs may also engage the target at +5 difficulty |
There is this quote about the Lancer, too...
Quote: | In addition, the modified targeting systems still need work, resulting in less than half of each Lancer's weapons operating perfectly on any given day. |
...but I'm not quite sure how to work that one into a game rule. _________________ "No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
Whill Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Posts: 10439 Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
garhkal Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 14215 Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
|
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 1:25 am Post subject: Re: Special Rules for Specific Stats |
|
|
crmcneill wrote: | Something I have come across on occasion is the tendency for WEG to say that a ship does something, yet not have that ability reflected in the ship's actual stats. For me, the most glaring example is the Strike Cruiser, which is described as such: Quote: | While the benefits of its design are obvious, the strike cruiser has some glaring weaknesses. The modular design means that entire systems or weapons batteries can be knocked out by a single, well-placed hit. |
Based on that, one would think that a Strike Cruiser would have a low Hull rating, indicating its relative fragility. However, when you check the stats, the Strike Cruiser only gives away 1D+1 in damage potential to the much larger ISD I (and actually beats out the VSD by 1D+1 as well). That doesn't sound like its particularly weak to me.
I've alleviated the situation to my own satisfaction (somewhat) by moving everything Victory-sized and larger up to a newer, tougher scale category. However, in the interests of making the stats match the fluff, I also added the following:Special Rule: On a Damage roll that results in a confirmed Wild Dice result, any damage inflicted to the Strike Cruiser moves up one step. For example, if a Strike Cruiser took a Lightly Damaged result and suffered the "-1D to Maneuverability", but either the shooter or the cruiser received a confirmed Wild Die result, the damage would be moved up to Heavily Damaged and "-2D to Maneuverability".
|
I like that HR you added in.. For me i usually went with 'targeting a specific weak spot' adds 15 to the diff to hit, but if it hits, adds 4d to damage.
On the 'lancer having issues with its guns;.. i went with a roll of 1d. Odds, all guns are working that day. Even's there is a glitch giving only half the gun batteries power. _________________ Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk! |
|
Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 16320 Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:55 am Post subject: |
|
|
Whill wrote: | I love this. This issue is exactly why no stats, not even "official WEG" stats are canon for me. It is very common for the stats to not represent the fluff text very well, so that's why I stat things out myself so much.
Keep 'em comin! |
Those were the main two I could think of. I put this out in the open so that people could add to it, so if you can think of any others that I'm forgetting right now, feel free to post them. _________________ "No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 16320 Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:05 am Post subject: Re: Special Rules for Specific Stats |
|
|
garhkal wrote: | On the 'lancer having issues with its guns;.. i went with a roll of 1d. Odds, all guns are working that day. Even's there is a glitch giving only half the gun batteries power. |
The quote said less than half the guns would work perfectly on any given day because of the modified targeting systems. Maybe the odds/evens roll would decide whether or not to penalize fire control, instead? _________________ "No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
garhkal Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 14215 Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
|
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 12:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
It might be more realistic, but i went with a flat "those gun turrets are out of action for now approach. _________________ Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk! |
|
Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 16320 Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 1:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
garhkal wrote: | It might be more realistic, but i went with a flat "those gun turrets are out of action for now approach. |
I would rather go with it affecting Fire Control, like...Special Rule: At the beginning of an engagement, roll a 1D for each fire arc. On an even result, the weapons functions normally. On an odd result, all the weapons in that Fire Arc suffer a -2D penalty to Fire Control _________________ "No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
DougRed4 Rear Admiral
Joined: 18 Jan 2013 Posts: 2286 Location: Seattle, WA
|
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 4:17 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Regarding the "this ship is vulnerable to that" issue, they did something similar to some Heavy Assault ships listed in the book Instant Adventures. My take on things like this is to use the rule from Pirates and Privateers, where anyone can target a specific system (or sub-system), if they know about and want to take advantage of this weakness. _________________ Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green |
|
Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 16320 Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 5:17 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Details? _________________ "No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
DougRed4 Rear Admiral
Joined: 18 Jan 2013 Posts: 2286 Location: Seattle, WA
|
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:06 pm Post subject: |
|
|
In that game (Villains & Vigilantes) there are a number of combat specific "superpowers" (and some could be rolled up on a chart only for Skills, so a person without actual superpowers could in theory get these, reflecting things like martial arts). There are actually a few more (like Weakness Detection, that gives one a bonus to hit when the enemy is studied or Heightened Defense, which gives a minus to be hit), but these are the main ones that relate to this subject:
Heightened Attack: Gives a bonus to all damage done based on the Level of the attacker.
Heightened Expertise: gives a bonus to hit the opponent (+4 on a d20).
Natural Weaponry: This one is closest to what we're talking about. it can be used as just plain old 'martial arts' or as a power like Wolverine's claws (and might depend on what chart it was rolled on). This ability gives either a +1/+2 (+1 to hit and +2 to damage), or a +2/+4 or a +3/+6.
Then they later added rules for Weapons and Parrying, and things like claws (or if you're a martial artist, the ability to use open-handed parrying techniques) give you a minus to your chance to be hit.
So in V&V, you'd model claws (as in the OP) the same way you would give somebody a bonus from martial arts. _________________ Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green |
|
Back to top |
|
|
garhkal Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 14215 Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
|
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 12:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
crmcneill wrote: | garhkal wrote: | It might be more realistic, but i went with a flat "those gun turrets are out of action for now approach. |
I would rather go with it affecting Fire Control, like...Special Rule: At the beginning of an engagement, roll a 1D for each fire arc. On an even result, the weapons functions normally. On an odd result, all the weapons in that Fire Arc suffer a -2D penalty to Fire Control |
That could work.. If/when i next play a module where Lancers show up i will give that a whirl. _________________ Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk! |
|
Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 16320 Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 1:07 am Post subject: |
|
|
Or for simpler way of putting it...Special Rule: At the beginning of an engagement, roll a 1D for each fire arc, then compare the result to the following table:1-3 = -2D to Fire Control for that Arc
4-6 = Weapons function normally in that Arc Or for a little more variety:1-2 = -2D to Fire Control for that Arc
3-4 = -1D to Fire Control for that Arc
5-6 = Weapons function normally in that Arc _________________ "No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
DougRed4 Rear Admiral
Joined: 18 Jan 2013 Posts: 2286 Location: Seattle, WA
|
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 11:32 am Post subject: |
|
|
crmcneill wrote: | Details? |
Sorry, I misread something and thought you were asking for details to something on another thread (the "my claw to your face" one).
Were you asking for details on the Heavy Assault ships? Or the 'target a specific area' rule from Privates & Privateers? _________________ Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green |
|
Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 16320 Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 4:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Details on the Heavy Assault ship and the special rule you'd like to make for them... _________________ "No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|