III –RULE BASICS
From SSDC, Inc.
SKILLS: (P.16-17 & 85-101 BLM)
There are two types of Skill Checks; Non-combat and Combat.
Non-Combat Type Skill Checks:
Base chance of 50% plus an additional 10% per skill Level, plus or minus any additional modifiers the BM chooses to impose.
| Example- Jessica is trying to pick a lock. Her base chance is 50% + her skill of 3 (3x10=30%) in the Defeat Security skill. That’s a total of an 80% chance to succeed, before any additional modifiers (like a BM imposed difficulty of -25%). |
Combat Type Skill Checks:
Base percentage is determined by the current Range Bracket the weapon is being fired at, plus 4% per skill level, plus or minus any additional modifiers the BM chooses to impose.
| Example- Mr. Bob is trying to shoot someone with his PC-3. The target is at Range Bracket two, which gives Mr. Bob a base of 15% (yes, the PC-3 is highly inaccurate past the 1st range bracket). Couple that with Mr. Bob’s Pulse Weapon Skill of 3 (3x4=12%) that’s a total 27% (15+12) chance to hit. Needless to say, that is before any BM imposed modifiers, which means Mr. Bob better be real hot with dice, or he won’t hit anything other than thin air… |
Note: Melee and Unarmed Combat:
Same as Ranged Combat but the base chance to hit with Unarmed Combat is 50% (as opposed to zero).
More on Melee and Unarmed Combat can be found in the Combat Section.
COMBAT (P.189-201 BLM)
Normally the section on using matrices would come before the Combat section, but as Matrix use is heavily reliant on the Combat turn system, it would be better to start with the Combat Section first.
COMBAT ROUNDS:
Combat rounds in Battlelords are three seconds long, each second is called one “Segment”, resulting in three segments per round During each round, a player can choose between two courses of action: two half actions during the first two segments or one full action that completes on the third segment.
Don’t argue with the BM about the fact that half actions leave a segment unused. While most temporal designations are made in seconds within the game, it would be too messy to try to translate two ‘one and a half second’ segments for half actions, while still leaving the potential to use all three segments. So, leave the third ‘segment/second’ in the combat round alone, or you’ll find the BM putting Sux2BU’s in your game faster than you can say ‘oh sh**!’
COMBAT PHASES:
- Initiative Phase – Roll a d10 and add any Initiative modifiers. Lowest Initiative will always act first. Note: Initiative doesn’t just mean that you are ‘faster’ than anyone else, and that is why you get to go first! It also takes into consideration the fact that a low-initiative character has a better overall grip on the battlefield, and uses the tactical information provided to their advantage better than those with higher initiatives.
- Declaration Phase – Each character announces their intentions for the round starting in order from highest to lowest initiative. The advantage is being able to see what your opponents do first and react accordingly.
- Action Phase – Once the Action Phase begins, declared actions cannot be changed, though you can elect not to perform a declared action (especially if the person is vaporized before you get to execute your action). Actions can be either Full or Half-Actions (p. 190 Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century) for a list of action types.
Important Actions:
- Aiming – If a character does not take the time to Aim before firing a ranged weapon then that shot is considered to be a Snap Shot.
- Snap Shot - All Snap Shots incur a -40 penalty to the Attack Roll.
- Called Shots - Called Shots are those that target a specific bodily location (as opposed to a general area type). This incurs a penalty of -15 to -90 (See Combat Modifiers Chart - p. 190 Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century).
RANGED COMBAT (AKA: Weapons Discharge):
There are three types of Weapons Discharge; Semi-Auto, Burst-Fire and Full-Auto.
Semi-Auto fire is one round per segment while Burst and Full-Auto fire multiple rounds per segment.
Determining a Hit:
See Combat Skill Check above.
Changing Targets: Characters may change targets during the same round, but automatically incur the -40 snap shot penalty.
Burst Fire: Weapon discharges its ROF (measured per second) on each of segments one and two. This incurs a penalty of _ the automatic fire penalty for a given weapon type.
Automatic Fire: Weapon discharges a total of three times its ROF, once per segment. Once on segment one, another on two, and again on three. Auto-fire incurs additional penalties based on their type (P.191 BLM).
How many Shots Hit: For burst and full-auto fire, once a hit has been determined you must roll a die equal to the ROF of the weapon to determine how many rounds actually strike the target. I.E.- if the ROF is 3 roll a d3, 4 roll a d4 etc.
Hit Location: For each round that connects with the target, you must roll for what body location is hit and consult the Hit Location chart (P.193 BLM).
Critical Hits "Crits": Any time a character suffers more than 25% of their Current Body Points (it can change during combat) in damage, it is assumed to have suffered a Critical Hit. If a critical hit is suffered by a character, then that character must make an immediate System Shock roll to remain conscious. Consult the Critical Hit chart (P.192 BLM) for the appropriate hit location and apply the effects. If a location that has suffered a critical hit during that combat round, suffers an additional hit (critical or not) it is considered a critical hit, and treated accordingly.
Combat Movement: There are two modes of Movement in Combat:
- Short Move (Half Action), Character moves their Sprint number in Meters. But can only move in Segments 1 and 2.
- Full Move (Full Action), Character moves at 3x Sprint Number over the course of all three Segments. Example: Segment 1 = Sprint x1, Segment 2 = Sprint x2, Segment 3 = Sprint x1.
MELEE/UNARMED COMBAT (AKA: Archaic Hand Weapons/Hand-to-Hand):
The major difference between Ranged and Melee/Unarmed Combat is how the Segments are utilized. While Ranged Combat typically only uses the 1st and 2nd Segments, Melee/Unarmed Combat uses all three, depending on the speed and experience of the character. See the Hand Attack Matrix (p. 196 Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century) for the segments that Hand Attack combats take place in.
Determining a Hit: (Hand Attack Bonus) + (Weapon Attack Number) = Base Chance to Hit.
Parrying: A parry is an attempt to block an attack with weapon or hands. Parrying effectively reduces the opponents chance to hit you.
(Opponents Hand Attack Bonus) + (Weapon Attack Number) – (Parrying Bonus) – (Defenders Weapon Parry Bonus) = Attackers Adjusted Chance to Hit.
Temporary Damage (Hand-to-Hand Combat): All damage in HtH combat is considered Temporary Damage. Only 1/10 of Damage inflicted is real. When Temporary Damage reduces a character’s Body Points they are knocked unconscious.
MATRIX COMBAT:
Matrix Generation SMR’s: When a Matrix User is generating the energy for a Matrix he must stand still and focus. If an attack strikes the MC then there is a chance that the Matrix is voided and the energy put into it is lost. Most Matrices have an SMR to allow target to resist Attack.
Generation Time (GT): Combat Matrix generation is always the slowest form of combat, taking a minimum of two half actions to use (i.e. one to generate, one to release for a Matrix for a GT of one second). Basically add one half-action/segment to the GT to determine the timing for using a Matrix. (p. 199 Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century for GT and Actions Chart).
Matrix vs. Matrix Combat: Initiative is determined by the GT of the Matrices being used. In the case of same-speed GT Matrices, then Initiative must be determined.
Matrix vs. Hand Attack: Determine Initiative as normal then compare the Hand Attack Chart to the GT and Actions chart to determine who gets to go first. If the HtH attackers go first and connects, then the MC’s Matrix and Energy are voided.
Matrix vs. Discharge Combat: You ever see the first Indiana Jones™? The bit with the swordsman showing off and Indy blows him away? Replace swordsman with a character generating and you get the picture. Guns go first, always.
HEALING:
For purposes of this Primer we’re only going to deal with BRI’s and MBRI’s. For more info on Healing and Wound Recovery (p. 200 Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century).
BRI (Body Rehabilitation Injector)- Heals 1-8 Body Points per use. Multiple Injections in a 30-hour Period can lead to Addiction. Cannot heal Critical Wound effects (and can often make things worse if attempting to do so).
MBRI (Massive BRI)- Heals 3-18 Body Points per use. Also has a 5% chance per MBRI used of reviving a dead character (Plus 2% per level of Paramedic Skill.). There are other side effects to using MBRI’s including, 10% per MBRI of the character establishing BRI/MBRI addiction, and permanent 10% loss of Constitution (when used to revive a character).
WEAPONS (P.117-135 BLM)
'Sample Weapon Charts
Range Brackets
| Type | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | MN | SS | ROF | Q | Dam | Enc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savage-B | 75 | 73 | 70 | 60 | 55 | 25 | -20 | - | 99 | 90 | 3 | 15 | 2d4 | 4 |
| Type | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | P | SS | ROF | Q | IR | Dam | Enc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sword | 65 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 45 | 85 | 1/3 | - | 3 | 2d4 | 6 |
Like Armor, weapons have several aspects:
Range Bracket Chart (In Meters):
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00-05m | 06-15m | 16-25m | 26-50m | 51-150m | 151-300m | 301-750m | 751-2000m |
Range Bracket (1-8) - The Range Brackets determine the base chance to hit with that weapon. The Base Target Number for the Range Bracket is added to the Bonus provided by the Skill being used as well as any Attribute Bonus and any modifiers applied by the BM.
Malfunction Number (MN) - If the die result on an attack roll is equal to or greater than this number then the weapon has malfunctioned (P.231 for Specific Weapons Malfunctions Results) System Shock (SS) - Base Percentage chance for a weapon to survive if it is dropped, jarred etc.
Rate of Fire (ROF) - Maximum number of rounds that can be fired per second.
Quantity (Q) - Number of rounds or charges a weapon can hold.
Damage (DAM) - How much damage the weapon does.
Cost - (What?!? You have to ask?).
Encumbrance (ENC) - How much a weapon adds to the total encumbrance of the character.
(P) Parry (Archaic Hand Weapons only) - Percentage Chance to successfully Parry an attack.
(IR) Integrity Reduction (Archaic Hand Weapons only) - Amount of Integrity Reduction the weapon causes.
ARMOR: (P.103-115 BLM)
| Integrity | Absorption | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | THR | CHEST | ABD. | ARMS (ea.) | LEGS (ea.) | CHEST | ABD. | ARMS (ea.) | LEGS (ea.) | ENC | ELE | EMP | FIR | CLD |
| AKM | 3 | 18 | 18 | 9 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 22 | 20 | 30 | 60 | 60 |
| AKMH* | 7 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 35 | 50 | 55 | ||||||
- helmet
As you can see, there are several aspects to armor:
Threshold (THR) – How tough the armor is to penetrate. Every time armor is hit the Threshold is subtracted from the damage dealt before passing onto absorption and/or possible other aspects. Any damage that does less than or equal to the Threshold is deflected.
Integrity - (All locations) The amount of physical damage a suit of armor can take before it is rendered useless. Each time the armor is hit it loses integrity based on the weapon type striking it (See page 105 BLM for the Integrity Reduction Chart). Note: Damage that is completely deflected does no damage to Armor Integrity.
Absorption - (All locations) This is the last line of defense a PC has before they take damage. It is essentially a layer of Shock Absorbing Polymers that cushion incoming blows, reducing the damage. When the absorption layer is struck it is reduced by an amount equal to the damage done to it. When Absorption is reduced to zero the additional damage is translated to the wearer’s body (see Body Points).
Encumbrance (ENC) - Sure, it’s the future but armor is still damn heavy! Armor’s encumbrance is added to overall encumbrance.
SMR - Suits of armor are occasionally vulnerable to certain attack forms. The SMR’s for each suit is listed on the armor chart.
SMR’s: Survival matrix Rolls (p. 17 and p. 200 Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century)
Survival matrix rolls are tests against certain susceptibility aspects not covered by other means. Generally, these are referred in a ‘vs.’ style format – like Armor vs. Electricity. If a character ‘makes’ their SMR, then the effects are negated or ignored, if they ‘fail’, then the effects are applied. For example, a character is hit by lightning – This would require an SMR against their Armor’s Electricity SMR value. SMR’s can be modified by external means, or by specific statistics, depending on the context (i.e. Mental SMR’s stack if the character is wearing a helmet with Mental SMR capability).
SMR Check: Roll percentage dice, if result is Equal to or Less than the Modified SMR value then the roll is successful (attack is ignored), if higher (attack succeeded) then the character will suffer the negative effects.
Occasionally a PC will come under “Attack” from a non-standard method, ie- Chemicals, Radiation, Sonics or even Mental Attacks. The SMR is your body’s base chance to resist these attacks. As always this percentage can be modified a great deal of ways including implants or at the BM’s discretion.
MATRIX USE: (p. 157 Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century)
Matrix Controllers (MC) and the mighty energies they control can be one of the most interesting and entertaining aspects of the game.
There are several key elements that an MC player must be aware of.
Energy Brackets: There are 9 brackets divided into three groups of 3. As a character gains in experience their MC level will go up, according them more power and control as well as the ability to generate more powerful matrices. Initially an MC can normally only generate powers of the 1st energy bracket. An MC can however opt to generate a power from an energy bracket one level higher than his own, but at double the Power Point cost.
Power Points (PP): Power Points are a way to measure the amount of ability a character can utilize per Galactic Standard Day for matrix purposes. This starts at 1 PP + Modifiers for IQ, but each time an MC gains a new bracket they gain more PPs.
Sample Matrix: “Electrical Discharge”
Generation Time: 2 sec.
Range: 50m
Boost: 2 dam/pt.
Duration: Instantaneous
SMR: Electrical
Area of Effect: Target
Effect: Target takes d4 points of damage + 2 per additional Power Point spent.
Matrix Attributes:
Generation Time: Amount of time MC must concentrate to generate Matrix.
Range: Range at which the Matrix can affect a target. Any matrix with a range of touch can also target the user.
Boosting: Many of the Matrices can boosted by the expenditure of further Power Points. This can extend the duration or increase the effect.
Duration: How long the Matrix will last.
SMR: Allows target a chance to resist power if they make a roll versus the appropriate SMR. If successful they resist, otherwise they take the full effect of the matrix.
Area of Effect: Physical area that is affected by the target,
Using Matrices: There is no skill roll involved in casting a matrix, other than character or race idiosyncrasies. As long as the attempt is uninterrupted then the matrix is generated. It will only fail in the event the target makes a successful SMR check.
