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[HOE] Was Explosions. IS now((LONG)) post with rule stuff! Run!



Hmm. Okay. Here we go! Woo!
    I have to say I didn't like the new rules much either.  No biggie but after honestly working and working I did see the reasons for the changes, like the problems with armor and vehicles mainly, but I am not going to go into all that stuff.
    Anyway. I still wanted to try something easier.  Easier once done rather. :)  I went through and rebuilt the damages listed for explosions. Not just double them and keep the old system, as I believe someone had mentioned (which would probably work fine-D'oh!)

    Without getting too detailed I made explosions do two type of damage. Concussion and Fragmentation. Bear with me.. :)  These are all that I really think needed to be modeled. The effects of heat really aren't that big a deal unless your talking about Molotov cocktails and such and there are rules fer stuff like that. :)

    Concussion is rolled and resembles old style damage although a little lower. 3D20 and such. Total the damage. Half it (rounded UP!) as it crosses each Burst radius.  Yes this does significantly lower blast radius's. Not an effect I really wanted but a casualty to a faster system.  When the damage drops below five it's ignored. IE 23 = 23 - 12 - 6 - 3 - Nil
    Damage caused by the concussion is applied to the guts, then leg (either) then arms (either) then head.  Hit for three wounds? 1 to the guts, and one to each leg.  Roll wind equal as usual.

This ensures a healthy *Holy S*&%" effect when something blows up.  Please continue reading. The concussion damages and ranges are significantly smaller than you may think so the gut-buster effect isn't as bad as it could be.

    As for armor.... well it doesn't help. Unless fully sealed. As in fitted helmet and sealed body suit. This isn't entirely realistic but.. well whoopy. :)  Most times (and that's good enough for me) it's close.
Concussion honestly dissipates quickly and this is simple. And cinematic. Can be close but will just get winded or knocked around.

    Fragmentation is a number of D6's determined by the device type or conditions. Frag grenades have 3 for example while incidental stuff laying about (stick, stones and other bone breaking lore) have 1.
    Roll the D6's indicated and total them. These are NOT open ended. They were once. (Shudder - that's was UGLY) The number of Frag dice drop by 1 for every 10 yards. Minus -4 from the total. This is the number of Frags hitting a character.
    IE 3d6 rolls 10 -4 = 6 Fragment hits.
    Now. the fragments don't do a number of dice. They do 1 Wound. Period.
    But wait!! There's more!
    They are considered to be tumbling, hot irritated little hunks of metal. And so aren't all that good at penetration.  AV:1+ allows you ignore a frag hit. Poof, that tickled. AV-2 and -4 you roll as normal. Roll under your armor value and your think it tickled too. :)
    I know! What about those big' uns and beasts that aren't size 6!?.  This is easy. Really.
    For every point of size over 6 the person, beasty or whatever adds a -1 to their Armor. If they have none now they do! Wow Frag hits grant you armor! Woo hoo! And any beastie over size 12 is immune to the frags. I know that's a bummer. But concussion will still do it.
    And Yes Cows in the Real World would indeed be chewed up if a frag went off near them.  But unless you luckily hit a vital point or eye, they are unlikely to die. And yes this system does not allow that possibility. Again I have to say... Oh well. :)
    (No cows were harmed in the design of this system)

    So a Size 7 Person would have AV-1 against Frag hits. If they rolled a 1 on a D6 from the hit they laugh it off. This bonus is cumulative with normal Armor.  Size 7 with Av-2 means a total of Av-3.
 

Weee. As an example. (I love examples)
Dy-no-mite!!  Concussion:1D20 BR 5. (Dynamite is  actually pretty weak in standard mining stick form - Ed)

Bob tosses a stick o' Dynamite at Dave.  Dave ends up 4 yards from said explosive truncheon. (???)
BOOM!
Concussion
Bob rolls 1D20, he gets an 12.
Dave is hit for 2 Wounds
He takes the first in his Guts and second in his leg. (Either or whichever is closer)
Fragmentation
Only loose rock and debris are around so 1D6-4 Frags is rolled. He rolls a 5 and after the -4 hits with one frag.
(It is very easy to not hit with only a single die.)
Dave has no armor and is size 6. Location is rolled. Ouch Guts. The frag finds a new home in Dave's guts adding another wound there.
 

And Finally!!
Vehicles.
Vehicles never get hit by explosives. There. Just kidding.
Some explosives are built as Anti-Vehicle, such as Anti-Tank rockets or AV Mines. These do full vehicle damage when they hit.
A vehicle inside the first blast radius takes the rolled Concussion damage as Light Weapons.  IE the damage is divided by 5.  Outside the first blast radius the damage is divided by 10 as usual. Yes this make vehicle very tough. But they are to concussion.
    A stick of Dynamite detonated on a sedans back seat will blow all the windows and trash most of the interior but the car will remain drivable 9 of 10 times. Unless funneled into the gas take the blast will simply spread out and away.  And no.. I am not really that worried about realism. It just takes three sticks to do the job of one old one is all. And by my own rules a good roll will still certainly pound a car. :)

 
Clear as mud I know.
I have a list of explosives and such but if you want to try it, I only reduced Dynamite because of the overpower I saw in it. Bad for an example I guess.   Standard powers like Nuke and ICBM would still get their full dice of damage as Concussion. Ouch.  A Nuke would be 3d20 BR 10 and Frag dice dependent on terrain.  A frag grenade is 1d6 Conc BR 3 Frag 3. A low Conc but they don't blow up houses!  :)  Almost anything in the game can simply use the stated Damage as concussion and the marshall can add frag as they see fit. The range is 1 (loose rock debris) to 5 (cluster bombs, beehive rounds)
    I have a small document that has all my explosives listed and the Fragmentation levels. I will put it up on Waste of Space soon maybe if any are interested.

PRO'S
Fast. Relatively.  :)
Adjustable Fragmentation via the Marshall.
Fragmentation reaches out for a considerable (Although always similar distance)
Dice never change or reduce. Roll once. Done.  Roll conc: half half half.... roll frags... hit location...

CONS
Larger beastiesSize 12+  only take concussion. Wah! :)
Frag damage is more deadly in the 7-11 range than rolling would create.
Lowers Blast radius and Nuke comes back as kill em all.
            (Although watch those frags fly when you Nuke the bad guys car!)
An additional type of damage. Fragmentation. (This can be ignored is wished.) 

--
David Heth
"Should you all really be standing that close together?"