Thursday 4 June 2015

Vehicle rules for Somnium Void

Image: Mbow on DeviantArt

Somnium Void, the space opera ruleset for USR, is all coming together, so I wanted to share with you vehicle rules straight from the book.

Vehicles play a vital role in galactic life, enabling people to get from A to B, whether on land, sea or space. Ships are the most expensive vehicles and it’s likely that the group will be unable to afford one until they have a few adventures and creds under their collective belts. However, the GM may want to rule that the group begins with a low-class ship to give them more freedom to go where they want in the cosmos.

How to use vehicles

There are specific rules on how to use vehicles in your game. They each have their own stats which will allow for fantastic vehicle combat and thrilling chase scenes to be incorporated into your game.

Type: (Light, Medium or Heavy). The vehicle type determines the kinds of modifications that can be made to it.
Maneuver: This stat shows the number you have to roll on or above if you want to undergo a tricky maneuver. This could mean flying a zoom bike down a narrow alley, doing a loop-de-loop in an attack ship or gaining on an enemy skimmer. See vehicle stunts.
Hits: Just like characters, vehicles have hits. When their hits reach 0, the vehicle is destroyed, leading to all kinds of complications.
Armour: Like characters, attacks against a vehicle can be reduced by their armour score.
Weapons: Many vehicles have integrated weapons which are used in combat.
Cr: The credit cost for that vehicle.

Vehicle Combat

Whether on land or in space, players are likely to get into a fight while piloting a vehicle. The process is similar to regular combat. Vehicles may take two actions: move and attack.

1. Determine which vehicle goes first. Everybody in combat rolls their action die plus any relevant specialism such as pilot. The highest result goes first. Re-roll in the case of a tie.
The winner of the initiative can move and attack.
2. To attack, roll your action die and add any bonuses from vehicle weapons (choose only one weapon to attack with per combat round unless otherwise stated) and relevant specialisms such as pilot. The defending vehicle rolls their action die. If the attack total is greater than the defence total, the difference is deducted from the defender’s hits. Remember that armour can help reduce hits done to a vehicle.
3. Play passes to the person with the second highest initiative.
4. When a vehicle reaches 0 hits, the vehicle is destroyed and the player is killed.

Vehicle Stunts

There are times when you aren’t in combat but you might have to dodge quickly out of the way of a piece of space shrapnel, or deftly fly a zoom bike through a crowded market. These stressful situations are called stunts and call for the player to make a maneuver roll. Whenever the GM decides that an action is a stunt, the player rolls their action die plus any relevant specialism, such as stunts. If the result is equal to or higher than the vehicle’s maneuver number, the player has successfully done the stunt. If the player fails, the GM will decide what the negative consequence is. This is likely going to be harm done to the player in some way.

Example Vehicles

Skimmer

The skimmer is the most popular terrestrial vehicle in the galaxy, being relatively cheap and easy to manufacture. This transport can hold up to four people (one pilot and three passengers) along with room for a equipment in the rear hatch, which can hold up to 200lbs worth of items. As its name suggests, the skimmer hovers just above the surface of the planet, meaning they can reach high speeds, but can also be tough to handle. Skimmers do not come with weapons as standard, but can easily be rigged with two blasters.

Type: Light
Maneuver: 4
Hits: 20
Armour: 2
Weapons: None

500cr

Attack Ship

The lightest fighter ship model - the attack ship is a single-pilot vehicle used by navies across the galaxy, often in high numbers. Attack ships are nimble and quick, designed for shock and awe missions and aerial dogfights. Racial varieties include: Shriekers (Sketh), Ravagers (Wulfen), Mambas (Drakken), Squids (Cthoni), Phantoms (Shade) and Wasps (Human).

Type: Light
Maneuver: 5
Hits: 25
Armour: 1
Weapons: Linked blasters +2
5,000 cr

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