WW2 Supers d6: Rules Mechanics

[max_vale]

Hey there peoples; here's a thread for the rules (and house rules) I'll be using for this game. For those that have never played a D6 game (several versions, but the basics are always the same); the most important thing to remember is that all Stats, Attributes, etc. are listed in terms of a number of 6 sided dice to roll. In other words: STRENGTH: 3D; means 3 six sided dice to roll (and add up); and these rolls are then compared to a Difficulty number…which if tied or beaten; the roll is successful. If the roll is twice or three times higher than the Difficulty then this can mean REALLY successful.

For character creation; there are 6 attributes: DEX (Dexterity), KNO (Knowledge), MECH (Mechanical Aptitude), PER (Perception), STR (Strength), and TECH (Technical Aptitude). Please note that MECHANICAL tends to cover Piloting/Driving/etc. skills as well as control of things like mounted weapons (cannons, bombs, etc.) and usage of Radios, Radars and the like. TECHNICAL covers most repair skills; STRENGTH is both how physically strong you (i.e. DEX is how you hit people in hand-to-hand and melee combat but STR determines damage dealt) are AND how much damage/exertion you can take and PERCEPTION also covers Charisma skills.

Skills all fall under one attribute (list to follow) and every character can attempt ANY skill. You have a certain number of Dice (18) to split among the 6 attributes as well as more Dice (7) to split among different skills. All skills default to your Related attribute if you don't put any dice in them; i.e. Guns falls under DEX; so if you have 3D+2 in DEX and put no dice in Guns; your character would roll 3D+2 when using the Guns skill.

All attributes must fall in the 2D to 4D range and please keep the following in mind: In the d6 system, each dice can be broken down into 3 'pips'; so that when advancing attributes or skills; the system includes 2 'pips' between whole dice; i.e. the following choices are available for starting attributes:

2D
2D+1
2D+2
3D
3D+1
3D+2
4D

This means when you roll 2D+2 for example; you roll 2 dice; add them up and then add 2 more; so that a roll of 2 and 5 totals 7, plus 2 more equals 9.

When adding these up to equal the starting 18D to split up; remember that 3 pips equals 1 Dice; so 2D+1 and 3D+2 would add up to 6D total.

When dividing the 7D up for skills; these can be broken down into 'pips' if desired (21 total pips) or can be kept in whole dice for simplicity. No more than 2D (6 pips) can be added to any one skill.


ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS:

DEX: Guns; Brawling Parry; Dodge; Missile Weapons (Bows, Slings, Crossbows); Melee Weapons; Melee Parry; Thrown Weapons

KNO: Bureaucracy; Cultures; Languages; Medicine; Academics; Streetwise; Survival; Tactics; Technology

MECH: Animal Handling/Riding; Navigation; Driving; Piloting; Radios; Radar; Heavy Weapons (Machine Guns, Rocket Launches, AT Rifles, Mortars, Flamethrowers), Gunnery (Cannons, plane mounted MGs, Artillery, etc.); Ordinance (Bombs, Rockets); Sonar

PER: Alertness; Bargain; Con; Gambling; Hide/Sneak; Leadership; Persuasion; Search

STR: Brawling; Climbing/Jumping; Lifting; Stamina; Swimming; Running

TECH: Demolition; Equipment Repair; Car Repair; Security; Airplane Repair; Ship Repair; Armored Vehicle Repair, Radar Repair, Sonar Repair, Radio Repair

In addition, players (and Special NPCs) will have LUCK Points. These are spent before a roll and add +3D to all Attributes and Skills for 1 Round. They allow for special "hero moments".

[max_vale]

Talent Powers Rules....

The First Part I've pretty much already laid out, but to reiterate; all Talents (a.k.a. 'Supers') have 1-3 Powers at differing Power levels; either 3 Minor Powers, 1 Moderate and 1 Minor Power or 1 Major Power. Minor powers are the easiest to be able to activate at Will for a Talent and can last the longest before 'Strain and Drain' starts taking effect (more on this below); Moderate powers are a bit harder to activate and last a shorter period of time before Strain and Drain takes effect but the Powers have larger/more intense/more powerful effects and Major powers are the most powerful but also the most difficult to activate and shortest in duration before Strain and Drain start to take effect.

In general:

-Minor Powers can directly impact 1 individual or a roughly 10 ft x 10 ft x 10 foot cubic area; or have a 50 yard range or so or move at up to 50 mph or hit with the force of a heavy pistol/light rifle round (5D damage Personal scale/1D damage Vehicle scale) or increase an attribute to slightly higher than the human maximum (5D Attribute rating)

-Moderate Powers can directly impact 1 or 2 individuals or a roughly 20 x 20 x 20 foot cubic area, or have a 100 yard range or so or move at up to 150 mph or hit with the force of a heavy machine gun burst (7D damage Personal scale/2D damage Vehicle scale) or increase an attribute significantly higher than the human maximum (7D Attribute rating). Moderate Powers always have a distinctive 'minor quirk'; the Talent glows when the Power is active or perhaps they make a distinctive sound or they leave a trail of light or something of that nature. The quirk is NOT something that can be stopped a la the manner of 'major quirks' as listed below.

-Major Powers can directly impact 1-3 individuals or a roughly 30 x 30 x 30 foot cubic area, or have a 200 yard range or so or move at up to 3000 mph or hit with the force of a Tank's Main Gun (9D damage Personal scale/5D damage Vehicle scale) or increase an attribute substantially higher than the human maximum (9D Attribute rating). Major Powers always have an associated 'major quirk'; something that the Talent MUST do while utilizing the Power. Examples include holding one's arms out in front of them like Superman when using the FLIGHT power; or perhaps yelling "BANG!" when using their BLAST power or something of that nature. If the Talent is unable to do this (He's tied up or gagged for the above examples), then the Power cannot be activated.

Note, if any Power is successfully activated, then any other Power of equal or lesser power can freely be activated; i.e. if Talent Joe Schmo has a Moderate Power of HYPER Strength and a Minor Power of TELEPORTATION, if Joe successfully activates HYPER Strength, he can automatically utilize TELEPORTATION while his Power is active. He CANNOT do the reverse however as his TELEPORT is a Minor Level Power and his HYPER Strength is a Moderate Power.

There are any number of distinctive Powers, some of which are 'HYPER' attributes, i.e. HYPER Strength or HYPER Knowledge; FLIGHT, BLAST, WEATHER CONTROL, TELEPORTATION, SHAPE-CHANGE, ARMOR, SHIELD, SELF-HEALING, HEALING, MENTAL PROJECTION, WEATHER CONTROL, etc., etc.

Note that ALL Talents can 'sense' when another Talent is nearby if that Talent has an Active Power in use; at a range of about 200 yards. Each Talent 'senses' the other Talent's power usage in a unique way....some might "hear' a specific sound or 'smell' a distinctive sound, etc. They CANNOT tell someone is a Talent if that person does not have an Active Power.

-Willpower, Activation, Contests of will and Pool of Will Points (WPs):

Talent Characters all have a special skill called 'Willpower' and a Pool of 'Will Points'. These are used in Activating Powers, maintaining powers and in Contests of Will between themselves and other Talents.

Willpower is a special skill (NOT attached to any Attribute unlike all other skills) that is gained when the Talent first manifests their Power(s). This fist manifestation does NOT require any Activation rolls, but all future uses of the Power(s) will. The Skill is initially rated at 1D. Minor Powers require a Willpower roll to beat a Difficulty of 5. Moderate Powers require a Willpower roll to beat a Difficulty number of 7 and Major Powers require a Willpower roll to beat a Difficulty number of 10. The Willpower skill can be improved like any other skills with the expenditure of Skill Points (i.e. to improve Willpower from 1D to 1D+2 would cost 2 Skill Points....to increase a Willpower of 3D to 3D+2 would cost 6 Skill Points; and like all other skills, it can only be increased a maximum of 1D at one time).

Will Points are a pool of points that come into existence at the same time the Willpower skill and Powers manifest. The pool has a maximum number equal to the highest roll possible by the Willpower skill. In other words, when the Talent first manifests a power(s), the pool of Will points is 6 as this is the highest possible result of a Willpower skill roll of 1D. It is important to keep track of the Max Will Points and the Current Will Points total. A Talent can never have a higher amount of Will Points in his pool than his Max Will Points total, but he can and will have a constantly changing lower number, to include 0 WPs. (I.e. Talent Joe Schmo has a Willpower skill rating of 2D+2, his Max Will Points total is 14...in the course of a Mission his Pool will drop and rise depending on certain actions and so at different points in the mission it might be at 3 WPs or 11 Wps, etc.)

WPs are spent on 3 things; Activating a Power; Maintaining a Power or in a Contest of Wills.

-When Activating a Power, a character can choose to spend a certain number of WPs to help the Willpower skill roll to try and make sure the Power is activated; but this MUST be done before the roll. Each WP spent gives a +1 to the Skill roll. Exampe: Joe Schmo wants to use his Moderate HYPER Strength roll and he has a Willpower skill rating of 1D+2. He's not confident that will give him the 7 he needs to Activate the Power; so he decides to spend 3 of his WPs (out of a possible maximum pool of 8 points) and so when he makes his roll, it will be at 1D+5....1D+2 for the skill, +3 from the WPs. As long as he doesn't roll a 1, he's good. If a Power Activation roll is failed, a number of WPs are lost depending on the level of the Power; 3 for a Minor Power, 5 for a Moderate Power, 7 for a Major Power...to a minimum of 0 (The pool DOES replenish....more on this in a bit) AND the character has a -1D to all actions taken that round/in the following round due to feely deeply disappointed that they were unable to be "SUPER" when trying too.

-Maintaining a Power: In non stressful environments, a Minor Power can be maintained for about half an hour before any 'Strain and Drain' starts to occur. A Moderate power can be maintained for about an hour and a Major power for up to 2 hours. In combat or other high stress situations; this time drops dramatically.....in game terms, a Minor Power can be maintained for 7 combat rounds, a Moderate Power for 5 combat rounds and a Major Power for 3 combat rounds. At the end of each time, a Willpower roll is made if the Talent wants to keep the power(s) active. The Difficulty number starts at 5 for a Minor Power in the first round; 10 for a Moderate power in the first round and 15 for a Major Power in the first round. WPs can be spent to increase the chances of success in the same manner as Activation rolls (i.e. +1 to the roll result per WP spent). If the roll is successful, the Power is maintained and 1 WP is temporarily lost (the 'Drain' part). If the Talent wants to try again the following round to keep the Power active, the same process repeats except now the Difficulty number goes up by 2 and the WP cost at the end goes up by 1 as well. (i.e. to maintain a Moderate Power for a 7th consecutive combat round, the Difficulty number for the WP roll is now 12 and if successful, the WP cost is 2; etc.) If the roll is failed, the Power(s) immediately cut out and the Talent looks 1 more WP and is at -1D for all actions taken in that round due to the mental stress and exhaustion.

-Contests of Will: In certain situations where Talents who know each other as Talents lock eyes at a range of 50 yards or less, they can engage in a psychic 'contest of will' in which to the outside world it just looks like 2 people in a staring contest for 1 round (no other actions possible by the two in the Contest); but to the 'combatants', a crazy fight is taking place in an unseen plane of existence. In game terms, a Willpower roll is made by both contestants and a 'blind bid' of WPs is added before the roll is made. The winner (Ties go to the PC) immediately feels a rush of victory and elation (+1D6 WPs back into the pool, up to the Max WP number and +1D for all actions taken in that victory round) while the loser feels defeated, deeply depressed and in profound shame/pain/grief. In game terms, they IMMEDIATELY lose 1d6 WPs and fall limply to the ground, unable to take any action the round after the contest and are at -1D for the next 2d6 rounds as they try to come out of the deep funk they have fallen into.

Note: Contests of Will USUALLY only happen when both participants MEAN to do so; but it CAN happen if one of the participants isn't trying too (though the other one has to be trying to do so).....basically, if inside 50 yards to a known Talent and one is trying to engage in such a contest with another a PER roll is made by the person trying to initiate it with a Difficulty number determined by the GM.

[max_vale]

More Rules Clarifications and Combat Options


Okay, here's a quick(ish) summary of how the d6 system (and more specifically, the way I run it ) works in a mechanics sense and since most of the mechanics options/issues relate to combat (like they do in many RPGs); here's a few combat options as well.

As already mentioned; the Skill (or failing that, the Attribute) dice are rolled and added together to see if they defeat the Difficulty number....i.e. 3D+2 are rolled, added together and if they defeat a Difficulty number of 10; the skill roll indicates success. If the roll is twice or three times higher, the roll succeeds in a more spectacular way. As a general rule, here's what some of the Difficulty numbers are and what they reprensent.

5: VERY EASY: Tasks at this level would be something like shooting somebody at Point Blank range (within 2 yards or so) with a pistol or shotgun or other weapon that's not so long that being in-close could be a problem; or putting your shoulder into and pushing to open a slightly stuck door; or figuring out that somebody yelling "NEIN! NEIN!" in German, when you don't speak German, means "NO!"

10: EASY: Some tasks at this Difficulty would be shooting somebody who's unaware or either not moving or not moving at anything more than a leisurely walk at Short Range; fixing something basic like a flat tire; being able to sling your hurt buddy over your shoulder (unless that buddy was over 300 lbs or something); or figuring out that moving white dots on a Radar Screen indicate contacts....even if you've NEVER seen a Radar Screen before.

15: MODERATE: Examples of tasks at this Difficulty Level include hitting a target at Medium Range; fixing a lightly damaged vehicle; carrying your wounded buddy over your shoulder for a mile; or figuring out how to calculate the angles needed for mortar fire with its sight when you've never fired a mortar before.

20: DIFFICULT: Tasks at this Difficulty level would include hitting a target at Long Range; fixing a heavily damaged vehicle; carrying your wounded buddy over your shoulder for several miles or being able to understand the Filipino guerrilla speaking Tagalog is saying: 'The Japanese platoon is setting up an ambush with a couple of heavy machineguns on each flank and a mortar 50 yards behind the central position in that next clearing" when you don't speak a word of Tagalog and he's not scratching pictures in the dirt or anything.

30: VERY DIFFICULT: Tasks at this Heroic level of Difficulty include things like hitting someone at Extreme Range (beyond the Long Range listed for your weapon); turning a flaming pile of junk that USED to be a truck into a usable vehicle of some kind; carrying your wounded buddy over your shoulder for 3 days over the mountains to get to an Allied base for help; understanding a technical manual with no pictures written in a language you can't read; etc.


When your character is hit in combat, there are two types of Damage; Lethal and Stun. Lethal is the result of most melee weapons, guns, cannons, explosives, etc. Stun is the result of hand-to-hand combat, certain poisons/medicines/tranquilizers, etc.

LETHAL DAMAGE LEVELS: are (from lightest damage to worst damage): Graze, Wound, Serious Wound, Mortal Wound.

GRAZE: This means your skin was grazed with a light cut that leaves no lasting damage (though, perhaps if untreated and in unpleasant environments COULD lead to infection eventually). In game terms, the Character's next round's actions have a -2 penalty to the final rolls, but then the effect goes away.

WOUNDED: The character has suffered a light wound and all actions taken after the wound occurs will be at -1D until treated. If untreated, there's a chance the injury will heal (especially if in a relatively clean environment)....starting at 24 hours after the wound occurs a STR roll against a Difficulty number of 10 is made; if a success, the wound begins to heal and the following day the character will suffer no more penalties (2 days after initial injury)...however if the roll is failed, the Wound gets worse and without immediate treatment (within 1d6 hours) the Wound will become a SERIOUS WOUND. After successful treatment, Wounds will result in scars; though most will fade in time.

SERIOUSLY WOUNDED: This means the character has suffered a very serious injury along the lines of a broken bone or collapsed lung or badly bleeding puncture wound, etc. The character is at -2D for all actions taken while in this state and cannot move very quickly and may have problems focusing on trying to do very complicated tasks, etc. per GM decision. If not treated within 1d6 hours, the Seriously Wounded character must make a STR roll against a Difficulty number of 15 to remain in the Seriously Wounded condition. If the character makes it thru 24 hours without failing any of the STR roll; they become Wounded, though they may suffer from a permanent penalty along the lines of someone who never had a broken arm fixed....they can use the arm after the body 'adjusts', but NEVER the same way they could before. If successfully treated, the character is likely to always have a scar from this injury. If treated within 1d6 hours of the wound, the character will improve to a Wounded state (i.e. -1D for all actions) for a 1d6 days before making a full recovery.

MORTALLY WOUNDED: This means the character has suffered a catastrophic injury which result in the character's demise in 2d6 rounds if not treated. The character may do NOTHING other than perhaps choke out a few words or perhaps point a finger or something of that nature (if the GM agrees) while in this state. For each round the character is Mortally Wounded, 2d6 is rolled and added together and if the result is equal too or less than the number of rounds the character has been Mortally Wounded, they become KIA. I.e. in the first round it is impossible to roll a 1 on 2d6, in the second round only a result of '2' (rolling Snake-Eyes) will result in the character's demise; in round 3, a roll of 2 or 3 will do it, etc. If successfully treated in this time, the character improves to a Seriously Wounded state (i.e. -2D for all actions; can't move very fast, etc.) for 1d6 weeks before making a full recovery. A character CANNOT naturally heal from a Mortal Wound.

Note: For Corpsman or Medic (or any other character attempting to take their place) treating wounds; a KNOWLEDGE/Medicine skill roll is used and medical supplies are required. A GRAZED result needs no roll; a WOUNDED result required a Difficulty 10 roll; a SERIOUSLY WOUNDED result requires a Difficulty 20 roll and a MORTALLY WOUNDED result requires a Difficulty 30 roll. If these rolls are failed; the Wounds may get worst. The same Corpsman/Medic cannot make a new roll for at least 1d6 hours.


STUN DAMAGE LEVELS: from lowest to worst are: GRAZED, BRUISED, DAZED, KNOCKED OUT

GRAZED: The character has been hit with a glancing blow that does little save throw the character off for a brief moment (i.e. -2 penalty to all actions in the next round, then no more ill effects). A light bruise is typically the only indicator of a GRAZED result.

BRUISED: The character has been hit hard enough to cause distracting pain for awhile (-1D to all skills for 1d6 rounds) with a some soreness, swelling or bruising at the hit spot which might last for a day or two.

DAZED: The character is hit hard enough to cause them to reel or stagger or double over in pain, unable to do much more than feebly move or attempt to cover up until the pain fades. (-2D to all skill for half-an-hour) The character will have a black eye or perhaps lose a tooth, have a cracked rib, cough up some blood, etc. After the 'ringing' in the ears or 'double-over' pain in the stomach/groin etc. fades (i.e. after half-an-hour); the character will still be gimpy and in pain for the rest of the day (-1D for all actions); though the next day they will start to feel much better.

KNOCKED OUT: The character is knocked unconscious for an hour (unless revived by smelling salts or the like; then they'll be able to do little more than slowly move or choke out words in a barely coherent fashion) and when they awaken, they will be in pain with a throbbing headache and perhaps a broken jaw or massive pain in the side, etc. The character will be at -2D for all actions for the rest of the day; then -1D for all actions the following day; then they can make a STR roll against a Difficulty of 10 to shake off the effects starting on Day 3. They will automatically shake off the effects starting on Day 5 after being knocked out.

Note: With a use of a Medicine roll above, the effects listed above can be downgraded 1 category every 3 hours; though only 1 attempt can be made. A failure doesn't make things worse, but no more attempts from anyone can be made until 3 hours have passed. The Difficulty is 5 for a Bruised result; a 10 for a Dazed result and a 15 for a Knocked Out result. Conditions can only be downgraded 1 level per day.


DEFENSIVE REACTION SKILLS: Dodge, Brawling Parry, Melee Parry and Driving/Piloting skills

In combat you can decide to have your character employ one or more of the Defensive skills mentioned above in a 'reaction' sense to attacks or when you believe your character is about to be attacked.

The skill: DODGE is used for ducking, juking, weaving, diving, rolling, etc. to avoid being hit (by anything...i.e. this skill can be used when shot at, when swung at with fists or weapons, etc.).

The various PARRY skills are for blocking attacks; either with arms, legs etc. vs. hand-to-hand attacks (Brawling Parry) or with a hand-held weapon or shield (Melee Parry) vs. hand-held/thrown weapons.

The DRIVING (or PILOTING/SAILING/etc) skills are likewise used to Dodge attacks when in a moving vehicle.

Why have both Dodge and Parry? Dodge will either avoid an attack or not....Parry can Block an attack and if the roll is high enough (5 or more higher than the attack roll it parried); it can give the person who made the Parry a bonus to hit the attacker he parried in the next round; and if it's REALLY high enough (10 or more over the attack roll it parried); it will disarm the weapon from the attacker (in Melee combat...in Brawling Combat it means you pushed the opponent down/back far enough that they can't make any attacks the following round).

Two choices of Dodge/Parry/Evasion (Evasion is using the Driving/Piloting skill to avoid enemy fire while driving/flying a vehicle): When a character opts to use one of the Defensive skills; they have 2 choices....either a 'Quick' Dodge/Parry/Evade or a 'Full' Dodge/Parry/Evade. If using a 'Full' Dodge/Parry/Evade; the character rolls the skill dice and adds the total result to the Difficulty number needed to hit him by an NPCs attacking him. (I.e. Player Z knows he's going to be shot at by 3 Japanese soldiers so he decides to use a Full Dodge. The soldiers are at short range, which is normally a difficulty number of 10 needed to hit Player Z. The player decides to full dodge though; so he rolls his Dodge dice and gets a result of 11. This is added to the Difficulty number, so now the Japanese troops need a 21 to hit him.

If using a Full Dodge/Parry/Evasion, the player choosing this option can take NO other actions that round.

If using a Quick Dodge/Parry/Evasion; the character may take other actions as desired (i.e. the Player chooses to shoot once and Quick Dodge any return fire once....this lowers both actions' skill dice by 1D per standard rules); and the Dodge/Parry/Evasion dice roll result is used as the new Difficulty number to hit.....even if it's worse than the default Difficulty number to hit. (The character ducked/dodged the wrong way, etc.) Example: Player V decides to have her character Quick Dodge once and shoot once as she knows she's going to be shot at by a Nazi Officer at Medium range. She rolls her skill dice (reduced by -1D due to taking two actions this round) and her Dodge roll comes up a 12....this is worse than the default Medium range Difficulty of 15 but it is now the number to beat by the German Officer....but the choice DID allow her to get a shot off as well.

More to Come....

[max_vale]

Combat Options:

SUPPRESSING FIRE:

Suppressing Fire is an option for fully automatic weapons that have at least two bursts worth of ammo in their clip/drum/belt; and when utilized a 10-15 foot area is sprayed with fire with the intention to cause anyone in the area to 'duck for cover' (i.e. be suppressed). In game terms it works like this:

If a player chooses to utilize Suppressing Fire, it is the ONLY thing that character can do that round and two bursts of ammo is used up in the attack. All those in the area have to make a Perception roll at Difficulty 15. If they fail, all they can do is dive/duck/take cover. If they pass, they may take actions as normal. The number of people affected is 3-5 depending on the weapon used (and if the targets are close together enough)....3 for an Automatic Rifle or SMG like the BAR and Thompson; 4 for LMGs like the Johnson or 5 for MMGs/HMGs like .30 cals and .50 cals.

In addition to the suppressing effects, an attack roll is made, but at -2D from the Guns (or Heavy Weapons) skill......if the roll STILL hits, damage is normal as per a Burst from that weapon.