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2010-09-01 09:59:09

Correction to my previous post about GURPS Gun Fu: they are called Techniques, not Maneuvers.

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2010-09-01 09:57:28

I may have said this before, but I like the core mechanic of Violence: The Roleplaying Game. Characters have skill values to do something. Rather than letting circumstance modify the skill number or the target number, Violence modifies the die rolled. So the base roll might be d8 and a one-step penalty makes it a d10. The player rolls one die and immediately knows if they succeed. Of course, this keeps the GM from fudging die rolls, but that can create a strong social covenant between the GM and players. Today, Savage Worlds and the Cortex system use a variety of die sizes in their core mechanic, but they vary at character creation rather than by situation. But I like the elegance of a single roll that immediately relates success or failure without arithmetic.

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2010-08-31 00:35:01

PHONE: Just finished a multiplayer game of Civilization Revolution with the SO. Life is good.

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2010-08-28 18:46:59

Finished my to-do list today, trying out my new copy of Beatles Rock Band. For everyone toiling in an obscure medium, remember that Rock Band is a rhythm game, once the most scorned category of video games.

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2010-08-28 17:09:44

My idea for a new game isn't going to work. Need to put it aside and come up with something else.

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2010-08-28 13:30:15

In GURPS (Steve Jackson Games), characters can learn “maneuvers”. A maneuver is something that can be done with a particular skill, usually at a penalty. By spending character points, one can reduce that penalty until it is altogether eliminated. So if anyone can fire a pistol with their non-dominant hand for -4, they can buy a maneuver to reduce that penalty to -3, -2, -1, or zero.

Note that most maneuvers can be tried by any character at that penalty, even if they have spent no character points towards it. Introducing a new maneuver can slow down the game by giving the player another choice to make on their turn.

Phoenix Command has the equivalent concept of Qualified Skills for, in particular, firing a pistol with the wrong hand. Any character can fire a pistol off-hand, but they incur a penalty to both their Accuracy Level Modifier (ALM) and their aim time Action Counts (AC). But if they have the Qualified Skill at level 5 (Advanced Rules), the penalties are entirely eliminated. ALM is comparable to penalties in GURPS; both systems use three six-sided dice for non-combat actions.

Both of these systems presume that someone is carefully checking every characters state (posture, cover, and so on) to apply every penalty fairly. This checking contributes to the slowness of non-computerized wargames. When players take maneuvers for their characters, they tend to take some of this burden from the referee. Avoiding the penalty becomes their spotlight time and they want to make the most of it. If such benefits were built into a computer game, players might not notice and appreciate it as much because the computer tracks all situational modifiers fairly, quickly and invisibly.

This is a variant of Phoenix Command, emphasizing the situational modifiers that players have control over by turning them into “moves” that characters have to learn. This limits player choices to a manageable number (growing as their character gains experience), takes a small part of the calculation burden off the referee, increases immersion by removing a layer of abstraction, and gives players a sense that their characters are special without creating outlandish moves or adding to the tactical options already available in Phoenix Command.

The first variant rule is that there is no Gun Combat Skill Level. All characters have an SAL of 10. Instead, novice gunfighters lack certain tactical options and must learn them.

In combat, untrained characters cannot:

fire a pistol two-handed.

assume a firing stance. They must use Hip Firing.

kneel or go prone. In terms of the fiction, the characters do not know the benefits of these stances. They will only follow an order to change posture if another character successfully gives them an order, which takes many ACs (see Initiative) and perhaps a Leadership test.

brace for firing

use a Sling

aim a weapon for more than one AC. They must use Snap Shot, giving the lowest ALM for their weapon.

use weapon sights

take cover

move and aim/shoot with the same Combat Action (this is not available in the basic game but can be found in some of the movie-based role-playing games).

Characters can pick up these moves in the course of play. If they are trained or if they see a move during combat, they can attempt a Learning Chance (LC, Advanced Rules) to pick up the particular maneuver.

For aiming, each successful LC increases the number of ACs they can use by 1. Only the first time (for 2 AC) can be learned in combat; the rest must be learned through practice or instruction. Note that weapons have different limits on Aim Time ACs.

Characters may move and Duck reflexively without learning a maneuver.

A character’s Intelligence Skill Factor (ISF) starts out equal to the Intelligence Characteristic. Note that ISF determines Combat Actions. For each maneuver they learn, their ISF increases by 1. Do not recalculate ISF until the end of a session. The maximum ISF in this manner is INT+10. For higher ISF, see below.

Kneeling and Prone counts as two separate maneuvers. Each increase in Aim Time counts as a separate maneuver.

Qualified Skills

Players and the Referee may want to stop here, using only the rules above. Below is a further extension of the game, applying the principles of GURPS Gun Fu.

Characters may purchase Qualified Skill Levels (QSLs) to remove the penalties from each of the conditions noted above. Phoenix Command already has a QSL for Off-Hand fire, as noted above. Here are some additional QSLs along with their maximum levels:

Posture(6)
One-Handed Pistol (4)
One-Handed Rifle (7)
Hip Firing(6)
No Sights(4)
No Folding Stock(4)

QSLs are purchased as given in the Advanced Rules. Each QSL allows the player to ignore 1 point of ALM penalty. The referee may allow additional QSLs for hit location, visibility, or target movement.

For the posture QSL, a Standing character already has an ALM modifier of zero. The QSL allows them to add to their bonus until it reaches the +6 for being prone or +7 for prone and braced.

To calculate ISF beyond INT+10, take all Learning Points in the QSLs and add 1 point for each maneuver learned. Look them up on the Learning Point table in section 8.1 to find an effective Combat Skill Level. Then calculate the ALM from that level and use it to determine ISF.

Like the Maneuvers from GURPS Gun Fu, QSLs may be implausible. Rather than training to avoid penalties for doing certain things, it may be that you train not to do those things in the first place. On the other hand having Maneuvers and QSLs at their highest levels, for no penalty, can actually simplify game play. If there is no penalty for a particular condition, then the players and GM don’t have to remember that condition. On the other hand, a player who bought a maneuver for their character will want everyone else to take that penalty. As always, comments are welcome.

Phoenix Command is copyrighted by Leading Edge Games. GURPS is copyrighted by Steve Jackson Games.

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