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Rules Modifications
Initiative: Initiative is rolled every round. Characters go in order from highest to lowest. Multiple actions take place on each successive segment from the first. Defenses can happen at any time regardless of the initiative order.
Multiple Actions: Everyone gets one action and one defense in a combat turn. You may also try to take more actions than this if you really want; you subtract -2 from every action after the first. These penalties are added up and applied to every roll after the first one, so if you wanted to take 3 actions, the second and third actions are at -4. You can't take more actions than your Dexterity score. If you fail any roll for these actions, including the first one, and that's where you stop for the round. You can still use your free defense after this, but otherwise you're busy trying to pick yourself up after your flurry of activity went badly.
If you have high Dexterity, you may have bonus actions in a Turn. A Dexterity of 5-6 gives +1 action, 7-8 gives +2 actions, 9-10 gives +3 actions, and so on. These actions do not impose penalties, and additional actions can still be taken beyond free actions with the penalties as above. However, a failure with any action, including these free action, cancels any further actions in the round.
Acceleration damage: Humans take 2 x (gravities) Bashing-type damage when they exceed 4 gees of acceleration for more than a combat Turn. They also must roll Constitution (doubled), at a penalty of -1 per gee of acceleration beyond 4 gees to avoid passing out. There are many kinds of acceleration couches, high-gee suits, counter-acceleration fields and internal enhancements which can reduce this damage and effect. Most Adamist vessels protect passengers in acceleration couches up to 9 gees, and voidhawks can protect their passengers up to 14 gees. Every +1 bonus from Resistance to acceleration increases the maximum g-force before damage is taken and Constitution must be rolled.
Energy-type damage: Takes longer to heal from, just like Fire damage. Energy-type attacks usually ignore Natural Toughness, and Armor that is not specifically designed for Energy is half-effective (round down) against these attacks. Against organic targets, Energy-type damage is doubled after all modifiers are applied.
Weapons
Gauss guns: A gauss gun fires bundles of metal slivers at several times the speed of sound. The firepower of such a gun is truly impressive, but it's a large and unwieldy weapon. Anyone with less than Strength of 5 will be at -2 to fire it properly. The gauss gun can fire thousands of slivers every few seconds, and so care should be taken not to empty a clip too quickly. Gauss guns hold 3,000 rounds and are usually set to fire bundles of 50 rounds per pull of the trigger. Continuous fire will quadruple damage while covering a large area, but will empty a clip in two Turns. This uses the Dexterity + Guns roll, and causes 26 damage (Bullet type). Gauss guns use double rifle ranges.
Flamers: About the size of a submachinegun, although some can be as small as a pistol. Flamers fire a high-intensity plasma flame to a distance of about 40 meters. These flames can be fired in single bursts or as a stream which can be swept across an area. Normal flamers hold enough fuel for 20 bursts or 5 turns of stream, while smaller ones hold 12 bursts or 3 turns of stream. Flamers use Dexterity + Guns to attack, and cause 12 damage (Energy type). Smaller flamers cause 8 damage (Energy type).
Lasers: Handheld lasers are usually only used against large targets. They are the size of a rifle and can use a lot of energy. Moving targets can avoid being hurt badly before the laser can cut through a single point -- anyone able to score a 9 or better on a dodge action against the laser receives half damage, even if they are hit. Lasers use Dexterity + Guns, and cause 17 damage (Energy type). Lasers use double rifle ranges.
Painsticks: A truncheon that delivers small bursts of electricity which cause nerves to fire wildly. A painstick is used like a normal club, requiring a Dexterity + Melee roll, and causes damage of 3 x (Strength -1). Any successful attack against unarmored skin requires a Constitution (doubled) roll, at -5 plus the Success Levels of the attack. to all physical actions for the next several minutes. A failure means the target is knocked out, but even with a success imposes a -2 penalty to all actions for the next four Turns. This penalty is cumulative.
Pistols: The technology behind basic weapons has not changed much, although most modern guns forgo gunpowder in favor of a fireproof electrically-triggered gel that increases the velocity of the composite bullets. They use pistol ranges. Pistols carry 30 rounds. These use Dex + Guns to use, and cause 14 base damage. Big Pistols usually have 20 rounds and cause 18 damage. Huge pistols have the same number of rounds and cause 22 damage. All damages are Bullet type.
Normal gunpowder-using pistols are more common in the colonies, and cause 12, 15 and 18 damage, respectively.
Rifles: These weapons use rifle ranges, and like pistols, the modern versions employ electrically-triggered gel instead of gunpowder. Hunting rifles are semiautomatic, hold 12 rounds and cause 24 damage. Assault weapons are capable of automatic or burst fire, carry 50 rounds, and cause 20 damage. Both weapons cause Bullet type damage.
As with pistols, gunpowder-using rifles are often found in the colonies and cause 20 or 16 damage.
Shotguns: Used primarily for urban combat or hunting, shotguns have not become quite as advanced as pistols or rifles. They hold 12 shots, are usually semiautomatic, and cause 22 damage (Bullet type). Some organizations use automatic shotguns, which hold 24 shots, are capable of burst or autofire, and cause 18 damage (Bullet type). Shotguns use pistol ranges.
Slapstuns: These work along the same principles as painsticks, but are considered stealth weapons. A Dexterity + Martial Arts roll is required to hit with the slapstun, and must contact flesh or light cloth (attacks against armored opponents should suffer penalties of -2 or -4, depending on the amount of armor), which causes no damage. Any successful attack against requires a Constitution (doubled) roll, at -5 plus the Success Levels of the attack. to all physical actions for the next several minutes. A failure means the target is knocked out, but even with a success imposes a -2 penalty to all actions for the next four Turns. This penalty is cumulative.
Thermal induction pistols: Often employed by police and military forces due to the high degree of control a wielder can have. A TIP converts electricity within the electron matrix into extreme heat. The wielder can program in the exact amount of heat per shot, how long the heat-beam lasts, and the exact range the heat will reach. TIPs add +2 to all attacks to hit, and can only be dodged by those who can see infrared light. A TIP's basic use is to cause pain on the surface of skin without inflicting serious damage, and so cause up to 12 (Bashing type) damage. They can be fired 400 times at this level. A TIP's damage can be increased to Energy type, which uses 2 charges per attack. The damage can be increased by +1 per extra charge used in an attack, up to 28 (Energy type) damage. The heat beam cannot be burst-fired but can be made into an energy stream at a cost of +2 charges per turn, which functions just like automatic fire. TIPs use pistol ranges.
Armor: Armor is typically half-effective against Energy attacks. Energy-reactive coating can remove this penalty, but makes the armor at least 150% more expensive.
Light Armor: A suit of armorgel sandwiched between two layers of ballistic cloth. This is about as bulky as a sweater and lined jeans, and is popular with police and other security forces. It has an armor value of 12 (Bashing and Bullet-type), 6 (Slash/stab and Energy).
Combat: Thick crystalline-carbon-fiber plates with armorgel linings, layers of ballistic and composite mesh and heat- and light-dissipating coatings. Typically only seen on military forces, and very expensive (and often illegal) to own privately. This has an armor value of 22 (Bashing, Bullet and Slash/Stab) and 16 (Energy).
Energy: Designed primarily for firefighting as well as work in space, where radiation can be quite a hazard. This is actually rather thin but the composite mesh can extend millions of heat-dump filaments on the dark side of the armor, as well as conducting most forms of light and radiation into electron-matrix storage units, with excess being converted to heat and dumped. These armors have been used in ground combat at times, but are too easily damaged by other kinds of weaponry. This has an armor value of 30 (Energy type) but 6 (Bullet and Slash/stab types), and no armor against Bashing-type damage.
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The Night's Dawn Trilogy (The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist, and The Naked God) are all Copyright Peter F. Hamilton. Game concepts herein are based on the Buffy: The Vampire Slayer Roleplaying Game and Angel: The Roleplaying Game, Copyright Eden Studios. No use of terms from the Night's Dawn Trilogy or from any Eden Studios game is a claim of ownership over these properties. Please don't sue me. |