Newbish n00b questions, MkII

[stubby]

There are a couple of standard reasons you might roll Skill for field hazards or mechanisms. There's a Skill Roll for running through any type of Concealed Hazard, or for Parrying or Bailing from a triggered trap. And there's ad hoc stuff, like rolling to see who acts first in a Response Action - if a Scout is trying to dive through a triggered door before it slams shut, for instance, he rolls his Skill of d8 against the mechanism's standard Skill of d4.

A Scout can automatically power down or hack an automatic turret or energy shield projectors he has physical access to, as a full-round action. It doesn't require a Skill roll.

[stubby]

As long as units with Valiant stats are only going up against other units with Valiant stats, I don't see any reason to complain. There'd be no way to balance these units against regular brikwars units, but it doesn't seem like the kind of thing that was likely to come up. I imagine anybody playing in a game with these knows what they're getting into, and designs their own units accordingly.

Adding on to what Stubby said: When you see my armoury post (Saturday probably) you'll see that my military is actually quite small. To make up for this, I've put most of my time and effort into creating a formidable armoured corps. That's why you don't usually see aircraft or other ground forces in my armoury posts.

Going back to this earlier conversation for a second, I think it might be really interesting to make a Valiant Stats supplement for a more realistic BrikWars style, kind of like the relation of d20 Modern to standard d20.

I'd start by removing Range limitations on any modern-or-newer weapon. Replace them with a simple "if you can see it, you can shoot it" rule.

[Valiant]

So, does that mean I should start up a new thread in Bonus Material over the next few days?

[stubby]

Because imagine the heaviest thing you can carry in your hand, and then imagine the heaviest thing you can carry strapped to your back.

I mean, that's the physical explanation. Hands are built for fine manipulation, not brute strength. The game design explanation is that hands are a lot more versatile than hard points. You get weapons that are half the size, but you can mix and match and swap between any number of them in the course of a battle, and on top of that you also get to do all the stuff that hands are good for, like making coffee.

[Gungnir]

Minifig hands don't have a size limit while carrying groceries though, as long as they're men.

[*CRAZYHORSE*]

Must... make.... one... trip.

[Gungnir]

Couple questions about Scouts...

6. Scouts can attack from Stealth, right? All backstabby ninja-style? Obviously, rules for "if they get spotted on the way over to the target" apply.

7. A Scout can remain stationary while stealthed to receive their Aim bonus, right? This is kinda important for snipers.

6. They can, but they have to exit stealth. They use up their action to stay hidden.

7. Sure.

[stubby]

6. There aren't specific backstab rules or bonuses (yet). I may be giving a Stealth CC attack to the Assassin, similar to what the Sniper's getting, but since he has to get up close for CC it's a little trickier to make it work with the Detection rolls in a way that seems fun.

The answer isn't specifically yes or no though. A Scout uses his Action to stay Hidden at the beginning of each turn, so unless he has an extra Action (from Multitasking or a SN Mind die, for instance) then he doesn't have an Action to make an attack with on any turn that he decides to stay Hidden.

He can decide to break Stealth at the beginning of the turn (or, if he has the extra Action, in the middle of a turn or as a Response Action) and declare that he was hiding next to a guy to immediately attack him. But the guy gets a Detection roll first, rolled when the Scout breaks Stealth, so that puts the Scout farther away in most cases.


7. Remaining stationary while stealthed doesn't really apply. To get the Aiming bonus, you need to be stationary for the full turn that you're making the attack; when you make an attack, you break Stealth. So you can't be stealthy and taking an aiming bonus at the same time.

Snipers, in particular, aren't going to have to worry about Aiming bonuses. They'll be getting a Sniping specialty that lets them fire from Stealth (despite the Action cost) and get Automatic Hits when they do. Firing the weapon still breaks Stealth though, and if the Detection roll moves them to a position without cover, they don't get to take the shot. So they need to keep their distance!


There is a kind of fail state with Stealth units that I haven't figured out how to address yet. If I Stealth a guy and you don't have any Scouts to detect him with, I can just leave him Stealthed forever and there's nothing you can do to bring the battle to a close. There are kludgey solutions like "if the only units remaining on one side are Hidden, they immediately become un-Hidden" or even "they have one turn to make an attack, declare that they escaped, or surrender" or something, but nothing that feels satisfying yet.

[Vason]

I was slightly confused about the mechanics of talismans. Are they required for any unit that uses Supernatural dice? Or are they just a way to give non-super units a die or two? If it's the latter, I can't see a reason to use them if they cost the same as just statting a unit with some dice.

[stubby]

They're required for any unit, although elements of the unit itself might be picked to be a Talisman. Basically it's just a rule that any supernatural die has to be "located" somewhere physically, so that enemies can target them for theft or destruction.

[stubby]

So... technically, my fartomancer can have their SN lodged firmly in their butt? And then the enemy can steal or destroy said butt?

Technically, that would be the most appropriate place for it.

[Kommander Ken]

"Hold onto your butts"

[Valiant]

30-50"?

[stubby]

How many inches is the commonly accepted surface-to-orbit distance in Brikwars for purposes of spaceship battles?

I can't say this has ever come up before. For traveling between surface and orbit, it's generally one turn. For firing between surface and orbit, it's handled by house-ruled weapons designed for that purpose, rather than assigned any specific range.

But, if your orbit is on top of the table and your surface is on the floor, then the distance to orbit is the distance from the top of the table to the floor.

6. Does the distance a unit falls effect falling damage?

Yes. It both affects and effects damage. But falling damage is just a standard Collision, so once your colliding objects have gone far enough to hit their maximum Momentum or Physical Opposition then any extra distance has no further effect.

7. Does activating Flying or Thrust movement right before impact negate any amount of falling damage? (i.e. Retrorocket landing)

Sure. If you're not picky, then it negates all falling damage, just like cartoon characters diving into a glass of water from 1000 feet.

If you are picky, then flying negates everything, while thrust negates that many inches of falling distance.

6. The maximum damage that a hard floor can do is 3d10 and the maximum that the soft floor is 1d10

Hey! What are you doing outside of the Weeaboos forum!

7.Each d10 is added for every five inches you fall straight in a row

It's a collision, so it's one MOM die for each four inches, up to the Structure Level of whatever you're crashing into. Each MOM is worth a d6 of Damage in a Collision.

[RedRover]

I think you could fudge that if you desired that effect. If you didn't want that affect, I think you could just say, "move 8in then stop" as 1 fluid action so you don't get the drift next turn if you don't want it.