Newbish n00b questions, MkII

[AnnoyedZebra]

Well everything is so chaotic and warlike?

[Maraxous]

I don't know if I have over looked it or what, but my question is can I use SN dice to add knock back? Like could you add 1d6 knock back to your ball bat, or throw guys around like Sauron in LOTR?

[Maraxous]

I don't know if I have over looked it or what, but my question is can I use SN dice to add knock back? Like could you add 1d6 knock back to your ball bat, or throw guys around like Sauron in LOTR?

Yup, you just apply Movement aspect: Thrust inches

Thrust: apply (Die) inches of Thrust to object​

So (if I'm calculating this right - someone who has more experience with SN dice can correct me), a Baseball Bat of Mighty Slugging with a d6 bought in to represent its Supernatural cliche could add, as you said, 1d6" of Thrust to a struck target (making them take additional collision damage if they fly ≥4"), but keep in mind, the UR on said Baseball Bat would be +1 (for a total of 4, assuming you started with Heavy Weapon stats), effectively the same as the -1 penalty to Skill rolls per SN dice used.

That is ossum

[Maraxous]

Is there an option for melee fighters similar to marksman? Or can you get a specialist in "sword swinging." I liked close combat master in the old rules, is there anything like it now?

[Darkstorm]

Is there an option for melee fighters similar to marksman? Or can you get a specialist in "sword swinging." I liked close combat master in the old rules, is there anything like it now?

idk, fudge it- as in, use it anyway.

[stubby]

Is there an option for melee fighters similar to marksman? Or can you get a specialist in "sword swinging." I liked close combat master in the old rules, is there anything like it now?

Most of the advantages that used to come from CC Master now just come from having a bigger Skill Die. So it doesn't really offer a whole lot that's unique anymore.

I've been thinking about adding a new Swashbuckling specialty that allows special attacks to disarm foes, force foes to move in a specific direction, engage multiple enemies at once, attack mid-acrobatics, etc. But I haven't made much progress on the idea yet. Most of that stuff seems like things you should already be able to do anyway with a skill penalty.

[StarshipH]

So, for my newest army, I’ve been trying to go for a hyper technological, combined arms type of vibe. Specialized infantry squads backed up by support drones and fast, heavily armed transports. I was thinking about the Tau from Warhammer 40k and how to represent some of their coolest units. One thing that stuck out to me was their usage of stealth and spotting mechanics. That led me to design the Mk 7 Tactical Support Drone. Can a unit like this work?

Mk 7 Tactical Support Drone
-------------------------
CP: 10
Size: 1
Structure Level: 1/2
Skill: 1d8 (2x Half Mind: Submissive)
Move: 5” (Cannot swim, jump, or fly)
Armor: 6 (4 + 2 from Body Armor)

Specialties:
Tracking Specialty (+1CP): automatically Detects Stealth; allows Marking of targets for visibility and +1 Attack Bonus

Equipment:
Body Armor (1cp): +2 armor, can’t swim, jump, or fly

Smoke Dispenser (3cp):
Size 1 Gun: High Powered/Sawed Off
Use: 5, Range: 6”
Alternative Damage Dice: 2d6>1d10
Alternative Effect: 4” of Smoke

Key Questions: How does smoke interact with the Tracking Specialty? Can I have a unit such as my Tactical Support Drone? With two minds, the first action marks a target, then the second lays a smoke screen so my anti-armor squad can fire without fear of retribution. This seems like quite the force multiplier when combined with decent use of the terrain. Also, can variable damage dice be traded again for alternate effects? Is this Smoke Dispenser rules legal?

Also, how do weapon customizations work with alternate damage dice? Can I use High Powered to create a size one "bolt pistol" that deals 1d10 explosive damage?

[stubby]

Can a unit like this work?

All of this looks legal to me. Marking the target would make it still considered visible even inside the smoke cloud, and all the dice shenanigans look legit.

[StarshipH]

6: Can Weapon Modifications work with Rockets?

7: If so, how does Safety interact with said rockets? Do they need to spend a turn arming? If so, do I have to declare a target like acquiring a target lock, or is it target unspecific, like arming a warhead?

8: Say I have a Size 2" AntiAir Missile Defense Turret armed with 4x Anti Dropship Missiles:
2" Rockets (Long Range+High Powered/2x Safety). How does the process of firing one of these rockets go? Does readying a weapon with Safety require an action? Does it cost power?

9: Said Anti-Dropship Missiles are designed to royally shred the occupants of a loaded dropship or other transport vehicle by introducing them to a spray of explosive warheads. The damage dice for said missile is 1d6 AP + 1d8 Blast + 1d10 Explosive. If I am correct, the order of operations for resolving this missile hit against a lightly armored transport helicopter would be as follows.

Spoiler: show

6: The 1d6 AP hits the wall of the transport and deals 1d6 damage to the helicopter.
7: The remaining 1d8 and 1d10 pass through to the tender inside of the transport compartment. From the point of impact on the bay wall, a single firing arc is measured resolving explosion attacks one after the other against every target in the arc until there are no longer targets in range (measured from the firing structure, not the target point).

8: The Blast deals 1d8 damage minus one damage per inch to each target in the firing arc, up to 8" away (This range can be increased by overskill or usage of a Benny. Also, the range might be adjusted based on the answer to question 12). The damage from other dice is lost at this point as well. Each Target also receives one inch of Knock Back from the impact point.

9: Each target hit by the blast is hit by an Explosion that deals 1d10 damage to everything within 2” and produces 1” of Knock Back from their previous position (the center of the explosion).

Against a crowded cargo hold of six lightly armored paratroopers, the resulting mess after all six explosions can only be described as “disturbingly slimy”.

10: Am I misreading the alternative damage rules or have I solved the “problem” of facing lots of enemies in an enclosed space? The answer seems to be, as with all things Brikwars, is to and apply more carnage.

11: How does Divert All Power apply to an oversized weapon that has a readying time because of Safety?

12: When resolving damage from a blast, such as those produced by a d8, is the damage die rolled once and applied to each target or separately? If separately, how do you know when the "damage from the d8s is reduced to zero"? (Chapter 8: Alternative Damage Effects)

[stubby]

6: Can Weapon Modifications work with Rockets?

Sure.

7: If so, how does Safety interact with said rockets? Do they need to spend a turn arming? If so, do I have to declare a target like acquiring a target lock, or is it target unspecific, like arming a warhead?

Acquiring target lock would be handled through a Tracking specialty copied over from the Scout. Safety, in itself, is target non-specific - the weapon is just arming or spinning up.

8: Say I have a Size 2" AntiAir Missile Defense Turret armed with 4x Anti Dropship Missiles:
2" Rockets (Long Range+High Powered/2x Safety). How does the process of firing one of these rockets go? Does readying a weapon with Safety require an action? Does it cost power?

This is a current flaw with the Safety mod that I need to get back in and correct. It doesn't require an Action, but it should require Power, otherwise it opens up some exploits that make everything all wonky. So every turn it's powering up, it spends 2" of Power, and then on the third turn you can fire it normally (requiring an Action and 2" of Power). It's good if you can put some kind of switch or indicator elements on it to show how many turns it's been powering up.

9: Said Anti-Dropship Missiles are designed to royally shred the occupants of a loaded dropship or other transport vehicle by introducing them to a spray of explosive warheads.

Sounds fine. It'll depend on hitting a target with the right amount of Armor that the shell penetrates the outside without going off, but doesn't penetrate all the way through (which might still happen on Bonus Dice from the 1d6, depending on what it hits inside the target).

I'm still not sure about the best way to combine Blast and Explosive effects; I keep going back and forth on it. But right now I'm thinking I need to come up with a simpler answer that's closer to the way combining Blast and Blast effects or combining Explosive and Explosive effects works (i.e., a second die of Blast damage doesn't cause a whole new Blast on every target the first Blast die hits, and a second die of Explosion damage doesn't cause a new Explosion on every target the first Explosion die hits; they just make the original Blasts and Explosions one size bigger).

9: Each target hit by the blast is hit by an Explosion that deals 1d10 damage to everything within 2” and produces 1” of Knock Back from their previous position (the center of the explosion).

Against a crowded cargo hold of six lightly armored paratroopers, the resulting mess after all six explosions can only be described as “disturbingly slimy”.

Just keep in mind that none of the affected targets will take more than 1d10 damage, even there are a large number of them and the area effects overlap. This isn't going to be six separate 1d10 explosions all overlapping and magically creating a 6d10 explosion out of a single die.

11: How does Divert All Power apply to an oversized weapon that has a readying time because of Safety?

You would use Divert All Power if you didn't have enough Power to power up the weapon on a given turn.

12: When resolving damage from a blast, such as those produced by a d8, is the damage die rolled once and applied to each target or separately? If separately, how do you know when the "damage from the d8s is reduced to zero"? (Chapter 8: Alternative Damage Effects)

Whichever way you prefer. You don't really know when the damage is reduced to zero, but at a certain point it ends up being a waste of time to keep rolling for guys on the other end of the map. It's generally best to stop at the weapon's assed Range, because after that you get Out of Range penalties that start cutting down the Damage so fast that it doesn't matter any more.

[StarshipH]

6. Do weapons with an arming time due to Safety have to spend their turns consecutively? Once I've spent a turn arming a missile, can I hold the charge and wait to fire the missile on a later turn?

[SynchingShip]

Acquiring target lock would be handled through a Tracking specialty copied over from the Scout.

How would that work? Does every individual missile need a mind (which would get expensive unless they're respawning cannon rounds), or just a guidance relay on w/e is launching them?

I'm still not sure about the best way to combine Blast and Explosive effects; I keep going back and forth on it. But right now I'm thinking I need to come up with a simpler answer that's closer to the way combining Blast and Blast effects or combining Explosive and Explosive effects works (i.e., a second die of Blast damage doesn't cause a whole new Blast on every target the first Blast die hits, and a second die of Explosion damage doesn't cause a new Explosion on every target the first Explosion die hits; they just make the original Blasts and Explosions one size bigger).

Why not simply say the explosion originates at the centerpoint of where the blast arc runs out?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[stubby]

6. Do weapons with an arming time due to Safety have to spend their turns consecutively? Once I've spent a turn arming a missile, can I hold the charge and wait to fire the missile on a later turn?

I think you can hold a charge as much as you want - once an arming "stage" is armed, it stays armed, even if you have to skip a couple turns afterward. But for balance purposes you can't start a battle with Safety weapons already armed.

Acquiring target lock would be handled through a Tracking specialty copied over from the Scout.

How would that work? Does every individual missile need a mind (which would get expensive unless they're respawning cannon rounds), or just a guidance relay on w/e is launching them?

Tracking would be a specialty built into the assault helicopter or whatever, and the missiles would benefit accordingly. Even without guidance relays, they would receive the benefit at the initial aiming, as if the target were perfectly visible.

Why not simply say the explosion originates at the centerpoint of where the blast arc runs out?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Because depending on how many dice we're talking about, the blast arc tends to be much wider than the explosion, so it doesn't feel satisfying. You want some kind of alignment between what's happening in the fiction (a spread of missiles hitting things) and the game effect (a spread of mini-explosions wherever missiles hit) in order to satisfy.

[dilanski]

Oh yeah, on the piercing effect, say I have a minfig on the opposite side of a tank, does the weapon only need to penetrate the tank once, or multiple times for each 'wall' of the tank? Basically, can armour be layered with 'air gaps' to require multiple penetrations?

[SynchingShip]

Basically, can armour be layered with 'air gaps' to require multiple penetrations?

giggety  

I don't see why not. If your vehicles aren't dwarving galaxies, you clearly haven't got enough armor layered on them yet.