Appendix C: Optional Rules

Chronological Rolls

In the standard rules, when a character makes a combo attack or a large number of NPCs fire a volley, all attacks are rolled and dealt with simultaneously. While this is quick and efficient, it lacks slightly in realism. With this optional rule, whenever multiple dice need to be rolled at the same time but the order in which they take place matters, there are two immediate solutions. The first is to roll them in order. However, this can take a long time at high levels or with a lot of combatants. With this optional rule, roll the dice the same as normally. When determining which one happens first, then look at where the dice landed. The one furthest on the player‚s left happens first, then the one slightly closer to the right, then the right of that, etc. until you‚re at the rightmost dice, which is the last blow (or whatever) to land.

Defence DCs

If the current combat system is too slow for your group, here‚s an easy way to speed it up. Instead of having the defender roll a defence die against each attack that beats the defender‚s target score, use this system: the defence roll becomes a flat DC equal to 4 + the player‚s skill modifier. So, with a +2 Reflex bonus, the attacker would need to roll a 6 or higher to hit.

Tougher Characters

Are your characters dropping like flies in combat? This is especially a problem in settings where armour is uncommon or unavailable, such as in modern campaigns. The trick here is not to simply boost the base toughness, which is the most obvious solution „ this can result in weird situations where a weapon that should be dangerous (such as a knife) can‚t beat the characters‚ minimum toughness. Instead, boost the toughness (+2 is a good increase) but do not increase the minimum toughness. That way, the same weapons are still a threat (i.e., they can wound the character) but it takes heavier firepower or more wounds to risk an instant-kill.

Overkill

The Dragoon brings its 25mm autocannon to bear, and rolls a hit against the party‚s unarmed and loveable thief. Everyone is silent and tense while the thief rolls his dodge roll. There is a rattle as the blue die tumbles down the table ⓦ and comes up with a 1. The players stare in horror at the die result while the GM rolls for damage. The oversized cannon deals 25 damage, compared to the toughness 10/4 of the thief. That‚s so far beyond the thief‚s toughness that it might seem obvious that the thief should be beyond salvation, but under the default rules, he is in the same situation as if he‚d only taken 10 damage. This is for a reason „ if a character is killed outright without the chance to be saved, and there isn‚t resurrection magic available then the player is forced to give up on his much-loved character in favour of a replacement simply due to bad luck. However, for a grittier play style, consider this optional rule: if a character takes damage 6 points higher than his toughness from a single source, he does not start "dying," but instead dies instantly.

More Detailed Armour

In the real world, armour types tend to be effective against certain kinds of attacks, while remain ineffective against others. In most campaigns, this detail can be glossed over without too much worry. For example, chain or scale armour allow the blunt force of bludgeoning weapons to pass through fairly easily, even though they render the wearer virtually immune weapons that rely on a cutting edge, and Kevlar can stop bullets, but be cut through fairly easily. However, for a more realistic experience, consider the following optional rules. Use these armour chart instead of the ones presented in Chapter 6: Equipment. The Special column refers to the total defence bonus to toughness against the specified damage types, not a modifier to the original value. These optional rules should be used in conjunction with the Layering Armour optional rule (below).

For vehicles, welded on armour counts as plate armour, and only grants a +3 bonus vs. bludgeoning attacks (such as a collision). However, the vehicle‚s structure does not count as plate armour, and gives its full bonus against any kind of attack. So, take two vehicles, for example. One is a wooden vehicle (Durability +1), whereas the other is a steel vehicle (Durability +7). Both have steel heavy armour plating (+8 defence, +3 vs. bludgeoning). For most attacks they have the same toughness, but when hit with a bludgeoning attack, the wooden vehicle has only a +3 defence bonus (from the reduced steel armour) while the steel one has +8 (from the steel structure‚s Durability).

Layering Armour

With these optional rules, characters can layer their armour for added protection. Generally, simply use the higher of the two bonuses, but combine the weight. If the character has two bonuses of the same value, treat them as one bonus that is +1 point higher than the original values. So, for example, a character is wearing a breastplate over full mail. Attacks on the limbs use the mail‚s bonus (+4), while hits to the torso use the breastplate‚s (+5). If the character were wearing two chain shirts instead (each at +4), then the wearer would have a +5 defence bonus (+1 higher than +4).

It is strongly recommended that these rules are used when the More Detailed Armour optional rule (above) iis being played with, because then a character can (for example) wear mail over leather armour to reduce mail‚s ineffectiveness against bludgeoning weapons.

This rule is optional because it can lead to some complicated situations. For example: A character is wearing leather armour under his field plate (commonly done in real life). Against bludgeoning attacks, both grant a +3 bonus, so the combined defence bonus is +4.

Faster or Slower Level Gain

Did it seem like you‚ve been level three for ages, and are just dying to learn a new Absurdly Overpowered Explosion spell?  Well, if the rest of your group thinks this is the problem, too, there‚s an easy solution. Instead of levelling up at 1,000 XP; work out a different value. 800 XP is good for quick levelling, and 1,500 or even 2,000 XP are good numbers for a slower advancement, or in high-powered campaigns where XP is earned rapidly.

Simpler Weapons

Although armour-piercing weapons can be extremely useful, they make the math a little more complicated. If you find this slows down combat or is an unnecessary complication, simply ignore the AP value after a weapon‚s damage. This might result in special material weapons, such as diamond-edged blades, being more powerful, but otherwise things should function normally.

Panic-Fire

This optional rule is ideal for a survivalist modern, horror, or post-apocalyptic campaign. In real life, soldiers in stressful or frightening situations are often tempted to set their weapon to the highest rate of fire and hold down the trigger. While fearsome, this is not typically an effective tactic. It takes a disciplined hand to use the appropriate level of force and remain calm in danger. Any character who has recently taken a morale penalty from a fear effect must make a Will check (1d6 + Will) against DC 12 whenever he uses a firearm. On a failure, the character must use the weapon‚s most powerful setting available (generally, its highest rate of fire). If the weapon‚s highest rate of fire is semi, he fires 1d4 bullets for every attack. Weapons with a maximum setting of single are unaffected.

Friendly Fire

In combat, accidentally injuring a comrade is a very real danger. In battle, when a character is caught by surprise by an ally (sees him under unexpected circumstances, for example), the character makes an Initiative check against his own Will. If his Initiative check beats his Will, he accidentally identifies the ally as an enemy for one round and treats him as such. If both sides in this battle have distinctive uniforms (such as one side is wearing bright red and the other blue, most modern uniforms are a similar tan or green and do not count) or other identifying features, the character‚s initiative check is at a -3 penalty. If there is no reasonable way the ally could be identified as an enemy (for example, you‚re fighting giant aliens and all humans are on your side) then this rule can be ignored.

Severed Limbs

With this optional rule, when a target receives Overkill damage (see the Overkill optional rule, above) from a slashing weapon on a called shot, the limb is severed completely.