From: Greg Benage [gbenage@ix.netcom.com] Sent: Saturday, 25 April, 1998 15:01 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Game questions -----Original Message----- From: Planewalker To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Date: Saturday, April 25, 1998 12:01 PM Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Game questions >I'm usually a lurker on this list, but some recent playing has prompted a >couple questions: > >1. Maybe it's me, but the combat system confuses me. Could someone please >explain the damage system to me? grade 2 knives and level 4 damage are >really working havok on my GMing. Sorry you're having trouble--things should run pretty smoothly once you become familiar with it. In the meantime, I'll try to give you a basic summary of the system. Weapon grade represents a weapon's armor penetration capability, while damage level represents the amount of, er, damage inflicted by an attack. If the target of an attack is wearing armor, resolving damage involves a two-step process: 1. The weapon's grade must match or exceed the grade of the armor to penetrate it (Armor, BP 316). For example, a diamond knife (grade 2) is able to penetrate light body armor (grade 1 against cutting damage), but not heavy body armor (grade 3). If the weapon's grade is less than the grade of the armor, the attack does not penetrate and no damage is inflicted. This of course assumes that the target was hit in a location that is protected by armor. 2. Damage level is determined by the damage roll. The target gets to subtract any Constitution bonus and protection value for armor from this roll. For example, if you roll a 63 for a single shot with an assault rifle against an unarmored target with average CON, you inflict level 5 damage. If the target had light body armor (protection value 8), the damage roll would be 55 and it would "only" be damage level 4. (The round penetrated the armor, but lost a bit of its energy doing so). Again, this assumes the armor was protecting the location that was hit by the round. The damage level is cross-referenced with the hit location on the damage effects tables to get the gory details of the injury. That's about it. Just remember, "armor grade - weapon grade" tells you whether or not the attack even penetrates the armor; damage level tells you how bad the injury is if the attack does penetrate. >2. While the tech and stuff is really cool, I'd like to know who makes >all those cool gizmos. The reason I ask is because my current player >(just one) is a merc, and he wants more guns than just the standard >"Assault Rifle" mentioned in the book. I started to make up a few, but >does anyone know who makes them? Smaller companies? Incorporate states? Yes. ;-) Several Incorporate states--especially the likes of MacLeod Enforcement, Hanover, and the NIS--are involved in arms manufacturing, as are a number of independent corporations. On Poseidon, the most common weapons will be Incorporate, simply because few independents have the resources for interstellar exports. OTOH, a merc may well have such a weapon that he/she picked up back in the Solar System. Fluid Mechanics, the technology sourcebook, will have "brand-name" weapons to supplement the universal templates, but you are certainly encouraged to design your own. If you really want to get your player involved, let him design and write-up his weapons--just make sure he doesn't stray too far from the guidlelines provided. In general, he'll have to make trade-offs between damage, range, weight, grade, cost, magazine capacity, etc., but the variations on the included templates are effectively unlimited. Hope that helps, Greg Benage Biohazard Games www.biohazardgames.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Planewalker [fleschneab13@uwwvax.uww.edu] Sent: Saturday, 25 April, 1998 12:57 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Game questions I'm usually a lurker on this list, but some recent playing has prompted a couple questions: 1. Maybe it's me, but the combat system confuses me. Could someone please explain the damage system to me? grade 2 knives and level 4 damage are really working havok on my GMing. 2. While the tech and stuff is really cool, I'd like to know who makes all those cool gizmos. The reason I ask is because my current player (just one) is a merc, and he wants more guns than just the standard "Assault Rifle" mentioned in the book. I started to make up a few, but does anyone know who makes them? Smaller companies? Incorporate states? Planewalker The quickest way to a man's heart is to strike between the shoulder blades. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Planewalker [fleschneab13@uwwvax.uww.edu] Sent: Saturday, 25 April, 1998 14:31 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Game questions >2. Damage level is determined by the damage roll. The target gets to >subtract any Constitution bonus and protection value for armor from this >roll. For example, if you roll a 63 for a single shot with an assault rifle >against an unarmored target with average CON, you inflict level 5 damage. If >the target had light body armor (protection value 8), the damage roll would >be 55 and it would "only" be damage level 4. Well, that's great, but what does damage level 4 mean? I saw the little chart in back with the 1-5 stuff, but some of the weapons go up to 9. Am I missing something? Planewalker The quickest way to a man's heart is to strike between the shoulder blades. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Auberon [fskln1@aurora.alaska.edu] Sent: Saturday, 25 April, 1998 15:47 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Game questions Planewalker wrote: > > >2. Damage level is determined by the damage roll. The target gets to > >subtract any Constitution bonus and protection value for armor from this > >roll. For example, if you roll a 63 for a single shot with an assault rifle > >against an unarmored target with average CON, you inflict level 5 damage. If > >the target had light body armor (protection value 8), the damage roll would > >be 55 and it would "only" be damage level 4. > > Well, that's great, but what does damage level 4 mean? I saw the little > chart in back with the 1-5 stuff, but some of the weapons go up to 9. Am > I missing something? For what damage level means, well, roll a hit location on the approprie table, and look it up on the damage tables. That tells you what it means. In general terms, level 5 damage is lethal or disabling, so level 4 is Hurt Really Bad. As for why the rifles go up that high, there are a number of reasons: Armor subtracts from the number you roll for damage With the spread higher, there's a better chance you'll do lethal damage to your target Some things (Orcas, vehicles) have Damage Scale 2 or higher example: You shoot an Orca with the above rifle. You roll such that you do Damage Level 6. No armor to worry about. 6 would normally be lethal, but since the Orca is Damage Scale 2, you divide -- 6/2=3, so the Orca only takes Damage Level three. Roll location, but he's probably still in the fight. -- (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*) May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places where you must walk. Auberon *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.