From: djwj <djwj@e...>
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 16:13:38 -0700
Subject: FMA Enhancement to Dirtside II
Hi everybody, I'm new to this list, just subscribed after a friend of mine
passed on a Dice conventions for Dirtside II impacts. I tool a look at it and
grabbed my books to see if it needed fixing, and repair any possible damage,
So here is my dice conventions for Dirtside II. Most of this is for impact
values of weapons. Be advised this is kind of long, and at the end is a final
notes section where I explain anything that I didn't already justify in the
main text.
QUALITY DICE AND FIRING for DIRTSIDE
The following Dice-For-Impact system rarely brings up a damaged result,
as the odds of exactly making the targets armor number is reduced dramaticly.
If the players agree to use quality dice a "Minor hit" will result in a
damaged result if the attacker beats the defender, supression (or tanks ignore
it) on a tie or less. On a major hit normal impact rules apply, destroied if
damage exceeds armor, damaged if damage ties armor.
Infantry fire and quality dice: Infantry fire dosen't have the firecon roll,
Just the normal reaction test, already a form of quality die check.
WEAPONS FOR DICE IMPACTS
Impact dice values:** HEL: D6 (Red chits make up 50% of the pot) D4 vs
abalative (Green and yellow make up 25% each) HVC: Close range D8, Medium
range D6, Long range D4 MDC: Close range D10, Medium range D8, Long range D6
HKP: Close range D10, Medium range D8, Long range D6 DFFG: close 2 x D10,
medium 1D10, short 1D6 GMS, and SLAM: D8, D6 vs reactive
GMS Values : GMS/P(Portable): 1, GMS/L: 3, GMS/H: 5
Final damage is figured by number rolled X weapon size.
** Any other damage dice may be extrapolated by: Yellow or Green only
(25%)
= D4, Red only (50%) = D6, Red and Yellow or Red and Green(75%) = D8, All
(100%) = D10
This means that D12s are not used for damage resolution. If all players
agree special ammo may be added to a weapon that gives it a +1die type
shift for a cost of (15%? of the weapon's cost) to represent Armor Piercing
Depleted Uranium or similar Enhanced munitions. An example weapon
designation: E-DFFG/5
Values Vs infantry HEL: 2 x D4
RFAC/HVC 2 x D4
MDC 2 x D4
DFFG 3 x D6
SLAM weapon class X D4
GMS/P rules for Dirtside II: there are no GMS/P systems in Dirtside II
and
Stargrunt II uses vastly compressed ranges. so a GMS/P has a range of
24" if vehicle mounted requires 1 space, and costs: 10 for basic, 15 for
enhanced, 20 for superior
(all GMS/P numbers are extrapolated from subtracting the diffrence
between
/H and /L from GMS/L)
Infantry have no firecon so the IAVR dosen't register hits as normal. just
roll class 2 damage with D8, D6 vs reactive, D4 vs APFC
AACK! So an IAVR does more damage than a GMS/P !?! Well not quite. In
Dirtside II all infantry members are assumed to be carrying IAVR and a stand
of infantry will consist of four troopers* so each IAVR may be only doing
1/2 missile damage but the cumulative effect is (4 x 1/2) a class 2
weapon. (another reason for not rolling to hit is the saturation effect of
these four missiles at a relatively point blank range of 4" maximum.) But this
is playable, an infantry team may carrry short range and heavy damage
weapon(s) or a long range and light damage weapon (besides which any infantry
team must be rather cagy to approach an armored vehicle under the 12" APSW
umbrella)
* Dirtside to Stargrunt vehicle conversion: if (1 base = 4 spaces and 1 space
= 1 troop) then 4 spaces = 4 troops, 1 base = 4 troops
Critical Hits and Critical Failures: On a natural roll of 1 for damage the
weapon experiences a critical failure. a D10 must be rolled for the element
that failed. on a 1 or 2 any
non-Infantry element suffers from a Systems down failure.
On a natural Maximum roll for impact (4 for D4, 6 for D6, ect.) roll a D10 on
a 4 or under the tank suffers from normal effects, on a 5 or higher the tank
takes a critical hit plus the damage of (Dice roll x weapon
class -1) the -1 is the chit that came up a critical instead of damage.
The
down side is that a shot against infantry that criticals suffers the -1
to weapon class when resolving damage, and WILL NOT get ANY critical hits, as
the chit is normally ignored as if it were a 0 chit. Critical Hit Table:
5-7 Mobility
8-9 Target Systems Down
10 Boom
This system dosen't exactly represent the chances of the chit drawing, but it
should have preportionate effects. Okay so everyone may have noticed that a
laser has a better chance of scoring a critical than almost any other weapon,
but lasers are so accurate over long ranges that vehicle crews may end up
targeting specific systems with them anyways. RFACs and HVCs now have a use
over MDCs, as the chemically propelled slug weapons have a better chance of
scoring a critical, before this they were rather unnecessary for their cost
(this may require P.S.B.S. to explain it as appropriate.) As well, the DFFGs
effect is so much like a flame thrower that hitting any specific system at a
weak point with enough concentrated impact is lessened, relatively. (DFFGs
typically don't leave anything left to have critical hit penalties.)
ARMOR FOR DICE
With the use of a D10 for the "All chits valid impact", a D10 should be the
standard use for the armor ("all levels valid") on infantry as well as
vehicles. Infantry use standard levels for hit resolution But with the use of
dice to represent armor we get to design with new armor types! New armor types
require new costs Advanced armor (D12) costs 24% of VSP per level
(Experimental or highly advanced composites) Standard armor (D10) costs 20% of
VSP per level (typical for the world backgound, 20th and 21st century ceramic
alloy) Cheap armor (D8) costs 16% of VSP per level (outdated alloys or modern
armor with incomplete coverage) Civilian armor (D6) costs 12% of VSP per level
(sheet metal and reinforced fibergalss) Primitive armor (D4) costs 8% of VSP
per level (thick wood, layered boiled leather or other primitive type armor)
(For supressing E.T. natives!) None (D2, or high or low roll) This is NOT
"Softskinned" A sheet
metal cover or Anti-Ballistic cloth ranks at least D6 The None armor may
be used to represent a single infantryman (an evacuated pilot worthy of
concern or lone operating P.C.) or more than one level may represent
Ballistic-Abalative armor. It costs 4% of VSP on any vehicle it may be
used on, otherwise it is a default armor value. Any vehicle that dosen't pay
for
at least this much is classified as Jury-Rigged and is assumed to be
held together by it's critical components, example: a seat on an engine
directly bolted to its wheels and a gun. Simply hitting such a vehicle is
enough to slag it regardeless of size.
All Reactive and Abalative armors cost the same additional 10% of VSP per
level because their effect is on the oposing weapon rather than on the
defending armor.
Infantry Armor Types Advanced (D12) costs: 18 for militia, 24 for line, 48 for
powered (Full body hardsuits, may be considered sealed and have no effect from
biochemical attacks)
Standard (D10) costs normal (Standard equipment/ partial light
armor, standard power armor) Cheap (D8) costs 12 for militia, 16 for line, 32
for powered (basic battledress, low grade power armor) Civilian (D6) costs 9
for militia, 12 for line, 24 for powered (Second Chance Standard or similar
personal bulletproof vest, and a motorcycle helmet, powered armor an enclosed
powered exoskeleton with semi jury rigged weapons)
Primitive/None (D4) costs 6 for militia, 8 for line, 16 for
powered (Civilian non balistic clothes, open frame powered exoskeleton,
weapons duct taped to loading arms with twine from the triggers) Infantry
armor never goes below a D4. that accounts for survival instinct directing the
person to at least dive under whatever cover may exist. Infantry armor die
types do not corespond to the values in Stargrunt II due to the abstractions
used for infantry casualties in Dirtside II
For those that haven't noticed yet, for vehicles this equates to Dtype x
2% so you could potentially have Oh-My-PersonalDeityOfChoice level armor
(D20) for 40% of VSP per level cost, but other players better agree to it, and
one mobile element per side only (Command centers are an obvious choice as are
bunkers and emplacements).
The Infantry costs are modified by 1/5 of the cost of the infantry
per dtype shift off of standard. Specalist system costs are not affected by
the change in infantry costs, and calvary costs are off the new basic costs.
Infantry should never have anything over D12, unless a scenario cals for it,
and point costs shold be determined by the players involved.
These modified levels of vehicle armor may be applied to Stargrunt II, just
convert standard armor levels to D10 and use the close range impact levels
above (A recomendation is to halve the range of DFFGs, and count all HEL
targets in the first range band in Stargrunt II anyways, so that a trade off
between range and damage ensures not all Heavy Vehicular weapons are DFFG's)
Softskinned is still considered D6.
I have tried to stay consistant with the DSII probabilities, and keep existing
vehicle designs from drasticly changing effectiveness. Armor might be more
effective than before but that helps compensate for the fact that while weapon
damages have always had a degree of error, armor has always been constant. for
a constant armor factor, it might work to multiply the armor levels by 5 and
compare damage off the mofdified constant. It's pretty close to the preportion
of armor to damage.
Final Notes: On the modifications from the original: DFFGs and 2x D10 vs D12
impact the DFFG is the single most expensive direct fire weapon with the
single crappiest range and damage falloff, so it had better follow the
original guidelines for damage of "All valid chits x 2" rather than "Well a
D12 is the largest die we use." However I am fairly sure that a D20 could also
be used as the damage probability is linear for both but the 2x D10 just jumps
from 2 to 20 in increments of 2 rather than smoothly from 1 to 20.
Materials for armor: The original appeal for myself of Dirtside II was its non
specifity about world background(, and the fact that it actually handled
nukes). I could hold massive battles for role playing or when a Battletech
(Trademark, FASA corp.) game got seriously out of hand. I felt that I needed
to refrain from using periods of time within the span of 100 years, and
although I do make refrence to a 200 year span but I also note "Typical for
the world background".
The Numbers: All the numbers here I have extrapolated from the existing data.
Basic damage dice: I had noticed four distinct damage probabilities (25%, 50%,
75%, 100%) and had five dice types to work with (D4, D6, D8, D10, D12) I
decided to keep the four probabilities at the low end of the scale so that the
DFFG could have the D12 as it's close range die, then noticed that the DFFG
using the D12 only provided 60% of the firepower of the original
Chit-Draw DFFG, as I mentioned earlier the DFFG is a very expensive
weapon with limited range, It couldn't afford to loose any firepower or be
consigned to the useless weapon system pile.
Rolling one die times (weapon class) or rolling (weapon class) dice Rolling
one die makes the damage conform to a linear probability, you have as much
chance of rolling a one as a three, rolling multiple dice makes the damage fit
a bell curve, 2D6 comes up with 7 more often than 2 and 12 put together. It
dosen't really matter which method the players choose, both have their
advantages and disadventages, but both players need to roll damage the same
way, for armor and weapons, or risk upsetting play balance.
Guided Missile Classes For guided missile damages I used the standard weapon
classes for damage
GMS/L is a class 3 weapon for determineing damage, and a GMS/H is a
class 5 weapon for determining damage. To change these values would have
signifigantly altered the firepower of these systems by nearly as much as 50%
Basic Armor Dice: With the D10 representing the "all chits valid" impact the
D10 had to represent the standard armor factor as armor is always "All Levels
Valid"
On the New additions:
the GMS/P:
Yes the GMS/P as outlined above does outperform many light direct fire
weapons for a comperable cost. The thing to remember is that any GMS system
has up to three barriers to its sucessfull impact: ADS, PDS, and ECM, where
direct fire weapons have only Signature and maybe terrain.
Besides the GMS/P is extrapolated from the GMS/L and GMS /H as explained
above.
Enhanced cannons Why an added 15% cost? The D12 will add 20% or at best one
class level
to a weapon's damage, but without the enhanced range of a +1 class
weapon.
Critical Hits and Critical Failures Part of the entire Dirtside II experience
is the special hits. Who hasn't watched in frustration as their plans go up in
smoke when a main battle tank is stuck on the other side of the table from the
main battle with a systems down chit laying next ot it, and there is a certain
satisfaction in watching an entire armored colum grind to a halt as you place
a "mobility hit" next to the heavy tank that is crossing the only intact
bridge to your side of the field. The system I came up with may have had the
added effect of giving new life to a much maligned weapon system: the HVC.
Infantry: I use lots, go figure.
Points costs: It may not be perfect but It does allow all players to
prearrange their armies before they show up and not get any major arguments
about it once they arrive. All of the point costs outlined above are
consistant with the Dirtside II rules
Final Note on the length of this rules addition: So you want to know why I
have to justify all my numbers? I have an army already costed for multiple
levels of conflicts (usually in 1000 point increments) They are designed to
operate with certain elements performing certain tasks. If a weapon comes up
short of firepower, or
armor universally increases, I have to go back and not only re-organize
ALL my armies, but re-design ALL my vehicles as well. I do not want to
have to do this, and I suspect you (all, any, or some) don't want to either,
so these rules need to conform as closely to the original probabilities as
possible.