Low-light fights

[Mojomoe]

Heya-

So, I have some ideas for an adventure I want to run, that basically involve sneaking around a derilect ship in the dark, while hunting/being hunted by some very nasty characters - consider this a scene inspired heavily by the Aliens franchise, but with a Star Wars creature twist.

However, in my 15 years of GMing, I've never done low-light/limited perception or fear-based adventures... So I'm not sure what rules to use. Basically, I want the characters jumping at shadows, nervous, and ideally shooting each other in the fracas. Any suggestions? Good rules for combat in very low/zero visibility environments?

[shootingwomprats]

Here is what I would do. Again, you can come up with much more complicated and realistic rules, but Star Wars is supposed to be quick and fun. So I would suggest trying this out.

Fright Checks can be resisted using either:
R&E p.47 "Willpower: is a character's strength of will and determination." Which defaults to Knowledge. You could replace that with Presence if you like.

Treat a failed Fright Check as being stunned, but it is not cumulative. It does last the rest of the turn and the next turn as normal.

I personally would not make physical Stun additive to this, but I would keep track of total physical stun for the purposes of knocking a character out.

If you want, you could add a difficulty modifier based on the environment, say a -1D (+3) or -2D (+7) to any Fright Check.

This environmental modifier could be used to simulate heightened tension and mental stress. If you go this route, I would make the modifier apply to all skill uses as well, but not damage or damage resistance rolls.

R&E p.93 "... these modifiers may also be added to Search and Perception difficulties to spot a hidden character. Add the cover modifier ... to the difficulty number to hit the target."

Poor Light ................. +1D (+3)
Moonlit night ............. +2D (+7)
Complete Darkness ... +4D (+14)
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[garhkal]

Yup. Low light conditions mess up search checks and ranged combat real well. Also i like the idea of occasionally calling for a willpower roll to see if they are spooked by things not there.
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[Random_Axe]

I would consider darkening the actual room where you are playing, to get into the mood....

As far as in-game goes, if the bad guys (or even a hapless good guy) happens to set off any kind of grenade in the darkness, then the resulting flash will effectively blind anyone in the zone of effect (say for 2d6 rounds, long enough for someone nearby shielded from the blast, to sneak up and do some unseen shenanigans).

Hopefully you have friendly NPCs to use in the hunt, that can be used as fodder for the bad guys, or as a source of unexpected scares. "What the h*** are YOU doing there?!?"

[garhkal]

[Random_Axe]