Chapter Two: The Mighty Minifig
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| “People sleep peaceably
in their beds at night only because rough men
stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” |
| - George Orwell |
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| Minifigs are available
from a number of manufacturers, and in nearly-limitless
variety. |
| Minifigs shown:
Best-Lock, LEGO, Mega Bloks |
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A minifig is a cute and friendly-looking little fellow, but
don't let his appearance fool you. Beneath his lovable exterior, a
minifig is a vicious and sadistic killer. He’d hack your heart
right out of your chest if he thought he could get away with it -
his minifig village could live for months off the meat of a good-sized
Human heart. Instead, he’s happy to go on massive fratricidal
rampages in hopes of gaining favor with his godlike Human overlords.
Despite its horrifying misanthropy, a minifig is a simple creature,
defined by four statistics: Skill, Move, Armor,
and Cost. (More advanced minifigs in later sections will also
have unique Specialties that give them extra abilities.)
A minifig's attributes are described on a Minifig Stat Card
like the one at right. If you're fielding a large number of different
kinds of minifigs, you'll want to photocopy and cut out their cards
and keep them on the table for easy reference during battle. In the
Core Rules, however, most minifigs are exactly the same, apart from
the weapons with which they're equipped.
Skill: 1d6
- see 4.2: Action
A minifig’s Skill statistic reflects its ability to accomplish
goals. It's a composite measurement of natural aptitude, intelligence,
training, and luck.
The Skill statistic is always listed as a die roll rather than a number,
and a unit rolls that many dice whenever he attempts to use his Skill.
This minifig's Skill of 1d6 means he rolls one six-sided die
each time he makes a Skill Roll (see
1.4: Rolling Dice).
A minifig's Skill rating is used to determine success or failure whenever
it attempts a difficult action, most usually to use an object or weapon
to whack another minifig across the skull. These actions are given
Use ratings according to difficulty, usually a number between
one and six, and the minifig must roll that number or higher on his
Skill Roll to succeed.
 Move:
5" - see 4.1:
Movement
The Move statistic describes how far a minifig can move in
a single turn – in this case, five inches.
 Armor:
4 - see 3: Minifig Weapons
A minifig’s Armor statistic tells how much Damage
he can withstand from a single attack – in this case, four points.
If he’s hit by an attack doing four points of Damage or less,
the blow glances harmlessly away and the minifig can continue fighting.
If the attack does five points of Damage or more, he’s killed
instantly. Knock the minifig over and, if appropriate, sever a couple
of body parts.
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Minifigs don't have
"hit points" like some players might have come to
expect from other games - in BrikWars, an attack either kills
a minifig or it doesn't. In battles
that might involve dozens or even hundreds of minifigs at once,
a system of hit points is much too burdensome for players to
keep track of from turn to turn.
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 Cost:
4CP - see 1.1:
Overview of Play
The Cost statistic describes a unit’s value in Construction
Points (CP), which players can
use to ‘buy’ soldiers, weapons, vehicles, and fortifications.
Players may decide to set CP budgets in order to ensure that all armies
are of equal value, although it's much faster and easier to ignore
Construction Points entirely. A minifig unit costs 4CP,
not counting weapons and equipment.
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The Minifig card, shown above, is an example of a single-sided
stat card. Single-sided cards are used for units who,
like the Minifig, are simple enough not to need an extra
panel for explanatory text. These cards can be printed
and cut out individually, but it's also common for players
to print or photocopy all of their single-sided cards
onto a single sheet of paper for quick reference.
In later chapters, we'll introduce a variety of advanced
units with Specialties that grant them extra abilities.
These types of units are given a two-sided stat card,
so that the descriptions of their Specialties can be printed
on the card's backside. While a two-sided cards can be
printed out flat in the same way as the single-sided card,
its real purpose is to be cut out, folded in half, and
glued or taped together.
If you'd like to make the highest-quality stat card, start
by color printing the graphic onto photo quality paper.
Before you fold it, cut the card out, well outside the
lines - you'll be trimming it down later. If the paper
is very stiff, you should lightly score the paper along
the fold line on the printed side, using a sharp craft
knife and straightedge; this will help prevent tearing
along the fold later. In a well-ventilated area, spray
the back of the printout with spray-mount adhesive, being
careful to follow the instructions printed on the can.
Depending on the stiffness of your paper, you may choose
to fold the card over as soon as the glue is ready (usually
one minute after spraying), or you may need to beef it
up by lining up a 3x5 index card or some thin cardboard
along the fold line against the back of the printout,
and folding the paper around it. Once the glue has set,
you can use your craft knife or a sharp pair of scissors
to trim the card down to its edges. Finally, you should
remember to have bandages handy, because making BrikWars
cards is very exciting and you may forget to be careful
about playing with sharp knives.
Print-resolution graphics of all of BrikWars' stat cards,
including blank cards, alternate versions, and graphics
templates for making your own custom cards, are all freely
available for download on the Supplements page of the
BrikWars website, at http://www.brikwars.com/supplements. |
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