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Faster combat system

by Gurth

INTRODUCTION

DMZ sucks. You know it and I know it. It’s meant to be a fast-paced, quick-moving game of small-scale combat, but it bogs down in its complicated mechanics, probably a result of FASA’s trying to adapt the BattleTroops system to Shadowrun.

This game tries to achieve the same goals DMZ was written for: a combat game for Shadowrun, though simpler and faster to run than either DMZ or the Shadowrun combat system. That’s about all there is to say about it, really.

REQUIRED MATERIALS

A few items are needed to play this game:

25mm model figures, each representing a single combattant
a filled-out character record sheet for each figure
a model terrain suitable for 25mm figures
a deck of normal playing cards
a ruler, marked in centimeters
two or more players
a pencil and eraser for each player

As a play aid, you can construct rulers for weapon ranges by using a wooden dowel and measuring out the weapon ranges listed in the Ranged Combat section on it. By laying the ruler from the attacker to the target, you can instantly read off the range to the target.

CARDS

This game is played with cards instead of dice. Each player is dealt a number of cards before the game starts, and he can play these in order to try and hit a target, defend against an attack, and so on. The cards have the values listed below. Note that an ace is worth 12, not 11 points.

CARD VALUES

Jack 1
Queen 2
King 3
Ace 12
Joker special
Others face value

At the beginning of the game, each player receives 5 cards, plus 3 cards per figure he controls. These cards are kept secret from the other players. For most games, one deck of cards should be enough, but if there are many figures and/or players in the game, you might have to use multiple decks. In any case, if more than three-quarters of the cards in a deck are dealt to the players at the start of the game, another deck should be used. A normal deck has 52 cards, so three quarters is 39.

When a card is played, it is discarded; that is, it is put onto a “Discarded” pile and is not available anymore. At the end of the turn, a player receives 3 cards per figure he controls at that time.

THE JOKER

This card does not have a value of its own; instead, if you play a Joker together with another card, you may play a third card. The values of the first and third cards are added together.

Example: A player has a Joker in his stack of cards. If he plays a King, the Joker, and an 8, he gets a total of 11.

If you have to play a card face down and you want to use a Joker, play the Joker face down and leave the other cards in your hand. Once the card is turned over, play the remaining cards.

Additionally, you can trade in a Joker for a card drawn from the deck, if you want to.

TOTAL

The sum of all cards played, plus any relevant skill this is added to, is called the TOTAL.

Example: If Mark fires a weapon, he must play a card and add its value to his Firearms skill. Let’s say his skill is 4, and he plays a 9, a Joker, and a 6. His total is 4 + 9 + 6 = 19.

RUNNING OUT OF CARDS

If, at any point during the game, a player runs out of cards, he is dealt two new cards.

COMBATTANTS

Each participant in the combat is represented by a 25mm model figure, and has his or her relevant data filled out on the Character Record Sheet. This contains the following information:

ACTIONS: how many actions the figure may perform per turn (see below). This is equal to the character’s Reaction Attribute plus 3 times the number of initiative dice he has, divided by 4, rounding down (though never less than 1).

SPEED: the number of centimeters the figure may move per turn. This is equal to the character’s Quickness times his Movement Multiplier. Add 1 to the Movement Multiplier for every extra initiative die the character has.

KNOCK-OUT VALUE: this determines how easy it is to knock out the figure. It is equal to twice the character’s Body Attribute Rating, plus the average (round up) of his Ballistic and Impact armor ratings.

MAGIC RESISTANCE VALUE: this value indicates how hard it is to affect the figure with magical attacks. It is equal to the character’s natural Body plus his natural Willpower. If the character is capable of casting spells, annd his Sorcery skill to his Magic Resistance Value.

MELEE COMBAT DAMAGE: how much damage the figure does in melee combat. This is equal to the character’s Strength+3.

RACE: the figure’s race (dwarf, elf, human, ork, troll, etc.)

FIREARMS SKILL: how well the figure can shoot ranged weapons. This is equal to the character’s Firearms skill rating.

MELEE COMBAT SKILL: the figure’s ability in hand-to-hand combat. It is the total of the character’s Armed and Unarmed Combat skill ratings. If the figure is a critter, its Reaction is its Melee Combat Skill.

THROWING SKILL: the figure’s ability at throwing objects like grenades. It is equal to the character’s Throwing skill.

MELEE WEAPONS: the melee weapons the figure carries, and the damage they do if used successfully.

FIREARMS: The ranged weapons carried by the figure, with the following stats:

TYPE: the type of weapon, determining its range DAMAGE: the damage the weapon does if it hits READY AMMO: how many shots the weapon can fire before it has to reload RELOADS: how many times the figure can reload the weapon

SPELLS: the spell the figure knows, with the following stats:

MAX FORCE: the maximum Force at which the spell can be cast TARGET NUMBER: the spell’s Target Number when cast. MR stands for “Magic Resistance,” and if an (R) follows the Target Number, the spell can be Resisted by its target DRAIN CODE: used to see if the magician falls unconcious after casting the spell or not AREA: the area of effect of the spell. S = Single figure, AE = Area- Effect spell.

Example: Steve, an elf and regular Shadowrun character, is converted to this game as explained above. His Reaction is 6(8) and 1D6 initiative, which gives him (8 + (3 x 1)) / 4 = 2.75 actions, rounding to 2 actions per turn. Steve has a Quickness of 7, and a movement multiplier of x3. Because he has only 1D6 initiative dice, his speed is 7 x3 = 21. His Body of 5(6) and his armor jacket of 5/3 armor give Steve a Knock-Out Value of 2x 6 + (5 + 3)/2 = 12 + 4 = 16. Steve’s Magic Resistance Value is equal to his natural Body of 5, plus his Willpower of 6, for a total of 11. With his Strength of 5, Steve has a Melee Combat Damage of 9. Steve’s Firearms skill is 5, and his Melee Combat Skill is equal to his Armed Combat skill of 0 plus his Unarmed Combat skill of 5, making it a total of 5 as well. Steve has no Throwing skill in SRII, so here his Throwing skill is also 0.

INITIATIVE

At the start of the first turn, all players draw a card from the deck. The player with the highest card wins initiative, and is designated player A, the player with the next-highest card being player B, and so on. If two or more players draw cards of equal value, all of them draw a new card. The game now begins, following the sequence outlined below:

SEQUENCE OF PLAY

STEP 1

Player A moves one of his figures, up to a maximum distance allowed by the figure’s Speed. Other figures may attack the moving figure, if they are within range and have at least one action remaining this turn. The moving figure may also perform any attacks as long as he has enough actions remaining to do so. Moving does not cost actions.

STEP 2

Player A moves another figure, exactly the same as Step 1. Figures may not be moved twice in the same turn, but they may perform attacks or other actions before or after they have moved. Steps 1 and 2 are repeated by player 1 for all figures he wants to move.

STEP 3

The other players repeat steps 1 and 2 for their own figures, in order of initiative.

Repeat these steps until only one player has any figures left, or until a predetermined goal has been reached.

ACTIONS

Just about anything a figure does cost him or her an action. Some examples of actions are:

fire a weapon
reload a weapon
cast a spell
change from one weapon to the next
pick up an item
drop an item
lie down on the ground
stand up

A figure may perform as many actions in a turn as he or she has actions (didn’t expect that, did you?). The figure may perform an action at any_time the player wants to. If two or more players declare that they will do something at the same time, all play a card face down. The cards are turned over when everybody has played on, and then simply the highest card goes first.

At the start of every turn, each figure’s number of actions are restored to full, and no, actions left over from a previous turn do not carry over to the current one.

MOVEMENT

Movement does_not cost any actions. A figure may move a number of centimeters up to his Speed stat in one turn. He may stop as often as he likes to spend actions to do other things, and need not move his full distance.

Figures moving across difficult terrain (rubble, marshes, through water, up or down stairs or ladders, etc.) have their Speed halved, rounding down. Crawling figures also have their speed halved, cumulative with crawling through difficult terrain (so someone crawling through rubble effectively is at one-quarter of his normal speed).

RANGED COMBAT

This costs one Action per attack made, but there is no limit other than the number of actions the figure has available in a turn. A figure may make an attack while he is moving, or before or after his own movement. Figures may also make attacks while another player’s figures are moving.

READY WEAPONS

A figure can only make an attack with a weapon he has readied. This costs an action. A character can only ready one weapon at a time, except for one-handed weapons. All melee weapons, grenades, and pistols are considered one-handed, all other weapons are two-handed unless otherwise noted.

THE ATTACK

Attacking is done by first calculating the Target Number to hit the target figure, which is based on the range between the attacker and the target. Very simply, measure the range between the attacking figure and the target figure, and find it in the following table, which lists the ranges in centimeters:

FIREARMS          SHORT    MEDIUM     LONG     EXTREME
Hold-Out          0-10     11-25      26-45    46-75
Light Pistol      0-10     11-25      26-45    46-75
Heavy Pistol      0-10     11-30      31-60    61-90
SMG               0-15     16-60      61-120   121-225
Taser             0-10     11-15      16-20    21-25
Shotgun           0-15     16-30      31-75    76-150
Sporting Rifle    0-45     46-90      91-225   226-450
Sniper Rifle      0-60     61-120     121-300  301-600
Assault Rifle     0-25     26-60      61-150   151-375
LMG               0-30     31-60      61-120   121-225
MMG               0-60     61-225     226-450  451-750
HMG               0-60     61-225     226-600  601-1200
Assault Cannon    0-75     76-225     226-675  676-1950
Grenade Launcher  10-75    76-150     151-225  226-450
Missile Launcher  30-105   106-225    226-675  676-2250

The base Target Numbers and any applicable modifiers are taken from the following table:

SITUATION          TN
Range
Short             6
Medium            7
Long              8
Extreme          11
Laser sight       -1
Smartgun
With smartlink   -2
With goggles     -1
Target has cover  +4
Target Invisible  +8
Attacker moving   +4
Target moving     +2

Once this has been calculated, the attacker plays a card, face-down on the table so the defender can’t see it yet. The defender now plays a card, face up, after which the attacker turns over his card. If the defender’s card is higher than the attacker’s, the attack automatically misses. If the attacker’s card is higher than, or equal to, the defender’s card, the next step is to add the attacker’s Firearms skill level to the value of the card. If this total is greater than the Target Number, the shot hits.

Example: Melissa is shooting an UltraPower pistol at a dwarf at Medium range. This gives her player a Target Number of 9. Melissa has Firearms skill 6, so her player throws a 5 onto the table, face down. The dwarf’s player now plays a 10 (face up), and Melissa’s card is turned up too. Since the 5 is lower than the 10, the attack will miss. Had the dwarf played, for example, a King, Melissa would have hit, because her skill of 6, plus 5 from the card is a total of 11, higher than the 9 needed to hit.

It makes little sense to play cards if the attacker isn’t able to reach the Target Number, for instance if he has a Firearms skill of 3 and only a jack while facing a Target Number of 5. For this reason, if the defender’s card is of equal value to the attacker’s card, the attack proceeds as outlined above, but the defender’s card is added to the attacker’s total… Or, of course, it is possible to shoot at someone without even a chance of hitting, just to try and make the other play a valuable card.

Example: Melissa shoots at the dwarf again, this time against a Target Number of 10. Melissa plays a Queen, again face down; this is not enough to hit the dwarf, but Melissa plays it anyway to try and rid the dwarf of a good card. The dwarf’s player also plays a Queen, so when Melissa’s card is turned face up, it turns out both have the same card. The dwarf’s card is added to Melissa’s giving her a total of 6 (her Firearms skill) +2 (her Queen) +2 (the dwarf’s Queen) = 10, precisely enough to hit with a shot that normally would have missed.

For every attack made, cross off one round of ammunition for the figure’s weapon. If a weapon is out of ammo, it may not be fired until it has been reloaded.

RELOADING

This takes one action, and removes one of the figure’s Reloads for his weapon. Even if a weapon is only partially empty, reloading it requires a full reload (unless you want to do detailed bookkeeping).

MELEE COMBAT

This requires that the attacker is within 3 centimeters from the target, and to spend an action. The attack is made in the following way: the attacker and defender both play a card face down, and turn them over once both cards are on the table. For both figures, add the value of the card played to the figure’s Melee Combat skill; the figure with the highest total hits the other one. In case of a tie, nobody hits, and both miss.

Example: An angry troll swings her fists at Steve. Her Melee Combat skill is 4, and Steve’s is 5. The troll plays a 7, while Steve decides to go for it and play an Ace. The troll has a total of 11, while Steve has 17, so Steve hits the troll. He’d better hit hard enough…

If using a melee weapon whose damage is a modifier (such as +2 or -1), add the weapon’s Damage to the character’s Melee Combat Damage, otherwise use the base damage of the weapon.

RESOLVING DAMAGE

This is done simply by playing a card, and then drawing a card from the deck. If the drawn card’s value is greater than that of the one played, the figure takes no damage. If the played card’s value is the greatest of the two, add the card’s value to the weapon’s Damage stat, and compare it to the character’s Knock-Out Value; if this card-plus-Damage stat is greater than, or equal to, the Knock-Out Value of the target figure, that target is unconcious, dead, or otherwise out of the fight. No other damage conditions exist: a figure is either fine or disabled.

If the two cards have the same value, add them together and add their sum to the weapon’s Damage stat, and then compare it to the Knock-Out Value as above.

Example: Melissa’s escapades with the dwarf continue with her hitting the dwarf with her UltraPower, which has a Damage stat of 12. She plays a 6, and draws a 3 from the deck. Her 6 is greater than the 3, so she now compares her 12 (the Damage) +6 (her card) = 18 to the dwarf’s Knock-Out Value of 11. Her total is greater than the dwarf’s Knock-Out Value, so his lights go out…

GRENADES

Grenades are either fired from a grenade launcher or hand-thrown; both cost one action to throw or shoot, but they must be prepared first, costing an action. Grenades are one-handed weapons, so a character may have a grenade prepared in addition to a pistol or melee weapon. Under-barrel grenade launchers are prepared automatically with the weapon they are attached to.

In any case, the procedure to attack is the same, but note that grenade are not fired at people but at a spot on the table. First of all, the Target Number is determined as when using firearms (see above). Then a card is played, and its value added to the character’s Throwing skill (if throwing a grenade by hand) or his Firearms skill (if using a grenade launcher). Then, a card is drawn from the deck and its value is substracted from the total; it is permissable for the total to go below 0 because of this.

If this total value exceeds the Target Number, the grenade lands on-target. If it is below the Target Number, the grenade scatters, as explained below.

SCATTER

For every point the attacker’s total is below the Target Number, the grenade misses by 3 centimeters. The direction of scatter is determined by spinning a pencil.

DAMAGE

Grenade damage decreases the further you get from the blast point. Grenades have a Reduction stat, which indicates how many centimeters it takes before the Damage is reduced by 1.

Example: an Offensive grenade has a Damage of 16 and a Reduction of 1.5. Every 1.5 centimeters the blast travels, the damage is reduced by 1, so between 1.5 and 3 cm from the blast point, the damage is 15; from 3 to 4.5 cm it is 14; at 9 to 10.5 cm the damage becomes only 10; beyond 24 cm no damage is done at all.

For every figure that is in the blast radius of the grenade, two cards are drawn from the deck. If the second card’s value is greater than the first’s, the figure takes no damage. If the first card’s value is the greatest of the two, add the card’s value to the grenade’s Damage stat at that range, and compare it to the character’s Knock-Out Value as for any other damage. If the two cards are of equal value add both together and to the Damage stat at the current range from the blast point, and then apply the damage to the figure.

Example: Wally is in the blast radius of the aforementioned Offensive grenade, at a distance of 7 cm from the blast point. At this range, the Damage stat is 12, and two cards are drawn: a 7 and a Jack. Since the 7 is higher than the Jack, Wally is affected by the blast… Being a tough troll, Wally’s Knock-Out Value is 22, while the grenade’s damage total is 12 + 7 = 19, which is not enough to disable Wally.

MAGIC

Casting any spell costs one action, but spells need not be prepared nor do weapons have to be unprepared for a character to cast a spell.

Using any spell requires the player to check its range: this can be either Line Of Sight (LOS), a set number of centimeters, or Touch. If LOS, any figure visible to the magician can be affected. If a set number of centimeters, any figure in this range and within LOS can be affected. If Touch, the magician must be withing 3 centimeters of the target, and if the target is unwilling to be hit, the magician must make a successful Melee Attack.

Once the range has been determined, check the Target Number. This is either a set number, or the target’s Magic Resistance. When this has been set, the player decides on the Force of the spell, which can be between 1 and the Maximum Force of the spell. Two things are now possible: the spell is resisted, or it is unresisted. If the spell is resisted, this is noted with an (R) behind the Target Number.

UNRESISTED SPELLS

The magician plays a card, and then draws the top card from the deck. If the new card is higher than the card he played, the spell fails. If it is less than the card played, the spell works. If both cards are of the same value, add them together.

RESISTED SPELLS

The magician plays a card face down. The target then also plays a card, and if the target’s card is higher than the magician’s card, the spell fails. If it is less than the card played by the magician, the spell works. If both cards are of the same value, add them together.

IF THE SPELL WORKS…

add the card’s value to the spell’s chosen Force. If this total is higher than, or equal to, the spell’s Target Number, the target is affected by the spell. All effects described in the spell’s description take place. If the spell does damage, resolve it as described under Resolving Damage, above.

DRAIN

Whether a spell goes off or not, affects its target or not, the magician must now check for Drain. First, the magician plays a card, face up. Then the top card is drawn from the deck. If this card is greater than the magician’s card, he is affected by Drain: add the last card and the spell’s Drain Code together. If the total of this is greater than the magician’s Magic Resistance, he falls unconcious.

AREA-EFFECT MAGIC

Spells are rated for their area of effect: S for Single target, AE for Area-Effect. A single-target spell is resolved exactly as described above, and can only affect a single target at a time.

Area-effect spells can hit multiple targets at once, namely all targets in the area of effect who can be seen by the magician (unless otherwise noted). The magician only plays a single card, and if the spell is resisted, each of the targets draws its own card to see if it resists the spell. All cards are played face down, and only when all cards have been played are they turned over. If the spell is unresisted, the magician also plays a single card, and a card is drawn from the deck for each figure in the area of effect to see if the spell affects him or her.

The area in which an area-effect spell works is based on the Magic Attribute of the caster in the SRII rules.

WEAPONS

Here are all weapons from the SRII rules, converted to this game.

WEAPON                 TYPE             AMMO      DAMAGE
Streetline Special     Hold-Out          6          5
Walther Palm Pistol    Hold-Out          2          5
Beretta 101T           Light             12         7
Colt America L36       Light             11         7
Fichetti Security 500  Light             12         7
Fichetti Security 500a Light             25         7
Ares Predator          Heavy             15         12
Ares Viper             Heavy             10         22
Browning MaxPower      Heavy             10         12
Remington Roomsweeper  Heavy             8          19
Ruger Super Warhawk    Heavy             6          13
Defiance SuperShock    Taser             4          22
AK-97 SMG              SMG               6          14
H&K HK227              SMG               6          15
HK227S                 SMG               9          13
Uzi III                SMG               8          12
Remington 750          Sporting          5          13
Remington 950          Sporting          5          15
Ranger Arms SM-3       Sniper            6          20
Defiance T-250         Shotgun           5          16
Enfield AS-7           Shotgun           3          17
AK-97                  Assault           8          16
AK-98                  Assault           8          16
FN HAR                 Assault           7          16
Grenade Launcher       Grenade Launcher  6        grenade
Ingram Valiant         LMG               10         18
Assault Cannon         Assault Cannon    20         28
Generic MMG            MMG               8          20
Generic HMG            HMG               8          21
Throwing Knife         Throwing Knife    -         -2
Shuriken               Shuriken          -         -2
Bow                    Bow               1         +2
Light Crossbow         Light Crossbow    1          7
Medium Crossbow        Medium Crossbow   1          9
Heavy Crossbow         Heavy Crossbow    1          14

MELEE WEAPONS          DAMAGE
Club                     +1
Katana                   +3
Knife                    -2
Monowhip                 16
Pole Arm                 +3
Sap                      +2
Staff                    +2
Stun Baton               12
Sword                    +2

GRENADES               DAMAGE     REDUCTION
Concussion               15         1.5cm
Defensive                16         .75cm
Offensive                16         1.5cm

WEAPON CONVERSIONS

To convert weapons from Shadowrun Second Edition stats to this game, use the following rules: only three stats are needed: Type, Ammo and Damage; the others are discarded.

TYPE: simply SRII’s type stat.

AMMO: the number of rounds the weapon can hold in its magazine. The magazine type (clip, cylinder, etc.) doesn’t matter. For weapons capable of burst fire (BF mode), divide this by 3 and round to the nearest whole number. For autofire (FA) capable weapons, divided by 5 and round to the nearest whole number.

DAMAGE: take the Power Level, and add a modifier to it depending on the weapon’s Damage Level: Light = +1, Moderate = +3, Serious = +6, and Deadly = +10. Then add +3 if the weapon is BF-capable, and +5 if the weapon is FA-capable. For Strength-based weapons, calculate the damage according to the Melee Weapons Conversions, directly following.

MELEE WEAPONS CONVERSIONS

The only thing that matters here is the damage of the weapon. This is found in the same way as for ranged weapons (above), but if the damage is Strength-dependant, use only the modifiers, and then substract 3 from the calculated damage.

For instance, a sap does (str+2)M damage. This converts to a damage of +2 (the modifier) +3 (the Moderate damage level) -3 (automatic) = +2. A monowhip does 10S damage in all cases, so this would be a damage of 16.

SPELLS

A selection of SRII spells, converted to this game:

DETECT ENEMIES

Range: Limited

Target Number: 8

Drain Code: Force+4

Effects: All enemy figures within range are detected, even if the caster cannot see them.

Area: AE

HEAL

Range: Touch

Target Number: Magic Resistance

Drain Code: F+10

Effects: A disabled target is be brought back into the game if the spell succeeds.

Area: S

Converting a spell is done easily enough by finding its base Target Number and its Drain Code.

DAMAGE: equal to the spell’s Force, +1 if the spell does Light damage, +3 for Moderate, +6 for Serious, and +10 for Deadly damage.

RANGE: LOS for Line-Of-Sight spells, Touch for Touch spells, and Force x character’s Magic Attribute in centimeters fro Limited Range spells.

TARGET NUMBER: this is equal to the target’s Magic Resistance if the spell targets an Attribute or the Object Resistance Table; if the Target Number in SRII is a fixed number, double it to find the Target Number for this game.

DRAIN CODE: this is based on the spell’s Force, adding any modifiers applied to the SRII Drain Code, and then add +1 for Light drain, +3 for Moderate, +6 for Serious, and +10 for Deadly.

AREA: S for spells that affect a single target, AE for area-effect spells. For AE spells, the area has a radius in centimeters equal to 1.5 times the caster’s Magic Attribute, rounding down.

As an example, a single-target spell (in SRII) has a Damage Level of M, Limited Range, a Target Number of 4 and a Drain of [(F/2)+2]M. It is cast by a magician with a Magic Attribute of 5 who knows it at Force 7. Its stats in this game are Damage Force+3; Range 7 x 5 = 35cm; Target Number is 2x 4 = 8; Drain Code is Force +2 +3 = Force+5; Area S.

CHARACTER SHEET

NAME: _______________________   RACE: ________________
ACTIONS:                _____   MELEE WEAPONS   DAMAGE
SPEED:                  _____    _____________  ______
KNOCK-OUT VALUE:        _____    _____________  ______
MAGIC RESISTANCE VALUE: _____    _____________  ______
MELEE COMBAT DAMAGE:    _____    _____________  ______

FIREARMS SKILL    MELEE COMBAT SKILL    THROWING SKILL
_______             ________            ________

FIREARMS      TYPE             DAMAGE   READY AMMO   RELOADS
___________  _______________  ______   __________   _______
___________  _______________  ______   __________   _______
___________  _______________  ______   __________   _______
___________  _______________  ______   __________   _______
___________  _______________  ______   __________   _______

SPELLS        MAX FORCE   DAMAGE  RANGE   TARGET NUMBER   DRAIN CODE   AREA
___________  _________   ______  _____   _____________   __________   ____
___________  _________   ______  _____   _____________   __________   ____
___________  _________   ______  _____   _____________   __________   ____
___________  _________   ______  _____   _____________   __________   ____
___________  _________   ______  _____   _____________   __________   ____
___________  _________   ______  _____   _____________   __________   ____