FMA Suggestion: Free Fall

I've played a few FMA scenarios, and I've found it to be a very entertaining
game. However, recently I've been trying to adapt it to a
free-fall situation (indoors for now, but I'm also working on draft
vacuum rules). Note that while I've done SOME playtesting of these rules, they
have not been as extensively playtested as I would like
(which is why I'm posting them- maybe some other people who have more
time will tell me where I screwed up).

Legal note: I wrote this. I hereby grant to Ground Zero Games the right to do
anything they want with it. I ask only that if part of these rules make it
into published material, that my name be mentioned somewhere, if
convenient. Anyone else who wants to modify it- go ahead, but send
suggested modifications to the list. Please don't put it up on a web page
without the permission of Ground Zero Games. Ok, that's done with.

FMA Free Fall Rules:

1) Introduction

While combat in the GZG universe (and thus FMA) will normally be taking place
on a planet, there are situations where forces will confront each other in
free fall. Some such situations include boarding actions, attempts to capture
space stations, and attempts to capture asteroids or planetoids on which the
enemy has established a presence. While artificial gravity has been hinted at,
there's no reason why it couldn't fail, or be turned off by the defenders.

2) Notes on scenarios

These rules are designed to simulate free fall indoors (the corridors
of a spacecraft, space station, etc.). I have found that double-sided
tape and scenery made of cardboard work well for scenarios, but I'm also
considering gluing small magnets to the bases of the figures, and using metal
sheet for corridors. Generally, I just stick the activation marker
(and other relevant markers) onto the figures/bases.
Generally, I lay out the corridor section with walls and floor in the proper
orientation, and the ceiling either alongside, or above, or wherever
convenient. It is useful to try to preserve the orientation of the ceiling
relative to the corridor if possible.

3) Basic Definitions

Status: A character in free fall is in one of three basic situations
                -Grappled: Whether using a spacesuit with mag boots or
just holding onto the wall, the character is at a fixed point, and not moving.
                -Controlled Flight: The character has pushed off a wall
intentionally, is using suit jets, or has a PA suit with jets.
                -Uncontrolled Flight: The character let go of his
handhold, hit the wrong jets, or was toppled by the impact of a weapon.
Control Roll: A character may at some time have to make a control role. Any
character who fails a control roll is now in uncontrolled flight. This is the
only way a character will enter uncontrolled flight. A control roll is a skill
role, pitting the character's Free Fall skill against a difficulty roll.

4) New Actions

Walk: A character with mag boots may try to walk without becoming detached.
Any character trying to walk in free fall is considered to be Heavily
Encumbered (4").

Run: A character may try to go farther, but at the expense of safety. Running
requires a control roll. Running 6" is an easy task, running 8" is an average
task, and so forth.

Jump: A character may try to move from any spot to any other spot
provided there is a clear (obstacle-free) line of sight between them and
their destination. A jump is handled by a series of range bands (much like
throwing a grenade), with the player rolling the character's Free Fall skill
die against a target number of the number of range bands the character is
attempting to jump. Failure means that the character scatters (as a grenade,
parallel to the surface at the destination) AND the character must make a
control roll. The jump range bands are as follows: Space suited, no jets: 2"
No suit or jets: 4" Space suit with jets: 6" Powered Armor with jets: 8"

Grapple: A character may attempt to grab hold of a nearby handhold (or attach
magnetic boots if the character is equipped with them). Any character who
takes a move or fire action MUST spend their other action grappling or make a
control roll (Difficult task). If a character is not near a wall (ie if
characters in uncontrolled flight are moving randomly), that character may not
attempt to grapple.

Regain Control: A character in a suit or PA with jetpacks may attempt to
regain control if in uncontrolled flight. To regain control, the character
makes a control roll versus an Easy difficulty.

Close Combat: If a character is touching another character, the character may
initiate close combat. Close combat functions as in the standard FMA rules,
except that the winner must make a control roll (Average task) after combat.
The loser is automatically in uncontrolled flight.

Other actions remain the same, with the exception of "Move" which is
eliminated, and "Close Combat" which is modified as above.

5) New and modified rules

Characters in uncontrolled flight: Decide ahead of time what to do about a
character in uncontrolled flight. Here are some possibilities:
        -The character stays where they were when they lost control.
        -The character drifts 1" per turn, in a random direction (D12,
where
1-6 is perpendicular to the nearest surface VERTICALLY, and 7-12 is
perpendicular to the nearest surface HORIZONTALLY (picture a clock cut in
half, and joined to form a cross).

Suppression: Whenever a character is suppressed, that character must
make a control roll (this simulates the effect of surprise/impact in a
free fall situation). The control roll is as follows: Character with mag boots
AND jets: Easy Character with jets: Average Character with mag boots:
Difficult (the character tries to hit the dirt, thus losing the contact
between his boots and the hull) Character with neither mag boots or jets: Very
Difficult (it's easy to let go of a handgrip when someone's shooting at you).

        Two-part move: If a character is trying to make a move which
would take up too many range bands, the character may take 2 actions on the
move, and double the size of every range band (note that the character is
therefore NOT grappled and MUST grapple before attempting another move or fire
action).

Failing to Grapple: If a character makes a move action, and has not yet
grappled by the END of his/her NEXT activation, the character must make
a control roll (Difficult) to avoid going into uncontrolled flight.

New Equipment:

Space Suit: Counts as D10 armor, comes with mag boots. May come with a jet
pack PA: May come with mag boots or a jet pack

        Point Costs (note: these are VERY arbitrary- playtest should
firm this up)

Space suit: Same cost as D10 armor +10 for mag boots.
Mag Boots: 10 pts (can be added to a PA, comes with a space suit) Jet Pack: 15
pts (can be added to a PA or space suit)

As far as I can see, that's all my notes. If anyone has any comments or
questions, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks for paying attention,