D10

Created Thursday 10 August 2023

Figures on a field, but often with bands of fuzz around them. Layers of defense. Such as that how things are in the story-line means that that character has a situation advantage. Lie, a Decider in their ship would have a base 4 OP added to that scenario with mods for how well that Decider (or their ship if it's a space battle/scenario. e.g,. the Joy in it's element would get the max, +5)

Anyway, I'm trying to keep the mechanics Traveller simple. I'm thinkiing 3 Hp for most things, but varying levels and types off "armor" that all revolve around OPs. OPs can be used eitehr for attack or defense, although some are "bound" to either (or usable only in certain situations, like cna only used used for defense or only come into play under certain circumstances.) Maaaybe add in a Wesnoth "terrain/situation" multiplier, but I do want to avoid the creep that's already settling in to complicate things. Maybe jsut relegate terrain/situation modifiers for the advanced game : )

Action Points

• They're used during tactical play, including battles.
• I'm thinking 2 APs per turn are automatically generated for every unit
  • 1 AP can be used to move one hex to either side
  • 2 APs can be used to move towards or away from a presumed position of tne closest enemy or target
• Attacks take 1 AP
• Remaining APs can be used to modify attack rolls (positive APs from the attacker, negative APs from the defender)
  • So, could attack twice in a round (two attack rolls), but expect megative mods from the defender on them
• APs are expended in a turn one "batch" at a time, with each character using one batch and then waiting for all others to use their batch, etc.
  • The first person to "move" in a turn is the Initiator. This is the player who made the first attack in that scenario. The Initiator spends th first "batch" of APs every round. Sequence is then: the character the Iniator first attacked (the Responder), a character (from either side) chosen by the Iniator, a character chosen the Responder, a character chosen by the Player the Iniator chooses to go next, a character chosen by a Player chosen by the Resonder, an other Player chosen by the Iniator, etc. Sure, this will usually be just each side choosing to go next, but it could lead to some interesting tweaks of rushes or exhausting powerful units before they're best positioned.
• So, if a character "moves" first and choose to attack at no AP mod, the charcter they attack could either choose to use 1 or 2 APs in defense or maybe wait to see the outcome of that attack. Based on that, they could choose to counterattack or plan to use their last AP for a likely second attack.

Movement

I've got to work this out more. Right now, I'm thinking that it's a hexogonal map.

• It takes 2 MP to move to any adjancet hex unless it's onto the same hex as an enegy unit, in which it's 1 MP? Maybe I need to retool Flashbacks to be less affected by distance?

Combat

General Rules

• Attacks and damage are both part of the same roll.
• The base level of success for an attack is determined by the type/degree of weapon, e.g., a γ-gun is a 5° weapon, so it's base level is 5
• Base levels are modified by various OPs to determine the final attack level.
  • All OP mods are applied before the roll is made
• After all OP mods are made, the defender decides which of their defensive OPs & HPs are assigned to the front and which to the rear. Up to 10 OPs / HPs can be applied to the front line; all of the rest are applied to the back line / rear guard.
• Rolling at or below the final attack level results in a successful attack. Rolling above the base level results in an unsuccessful attack. There are no OP or other losses applied to a missed defender
• The absolute value of the die roll determines the damage of a successful attack. E.g., rolling a 5 does 5 points of damage
• Damage is first done to front-line points, which front-line OPs/HPs are removed is determined randomly.
• Any remaining damage is then applied to back-line points. How back-;ine points are removed is determined in World rules. Options include:
  • Fully Random. Which back-line points are removed is selected randomly, with equal weight given to OP & HPs
  • Random + Skill. Which points are "attacked" is determined randomly. Whenever an HP is attacked, the defender can make a defense roll.
    • If the roll is a success, then a randomly-chosen OP is removed instead, not that HP. If there are no remaining OPs, then the damage is still done to that HP
    • If the roll fails, that HP is still attacked
    • Alternatively, one defense skill roll is made. If successful, then HPs are initially excluded from back-line point losses (until all OPs are exhausted). If unsuccessful, then HPs are included in those that can be rancomly removed.
  • Ordered. OPs & HPs are ordered before the roll by the defensive player. OPs & HPs are removed in that order

Defense

• Any character knowingly defending during combat gains 1 vanilla OP per attack against them. (Defenders who are attacked without their knowledge, e.g., in a surprise attack) do not gain this additional OP

Surrender

• Any unit may offer surrender at any time
• Offering surrend debits 1 AP of any flavor.
  • Responding to a surrend offer costs no APs
• The side to whom it was offered may reject it at no cost
• If surrent is accepted:
  • The loosing side looses 10 OP
  • The winning side gain 5 OP?
  • The loosing side becomes a prisoner of the winning side, whatever that means in the game
    • That does not mean that the winner can then use those units in battle. Not without a fight at least, and long-term ramifications to any futuyre battles or prisoner swaps.
      • That fight made by a prisoner unit not to fight is this:
        • The loosing unit makes a vanilla recon roll, any winning roll detects the betrayal. With detection:
          1. Sides revert to the sequence of play established for that battle (i.e., return to the regularly-advnacing battle)
          2. The magnitude of the successful detection is the number of hexes away the loosing unit is from the winner, regardless of the initial distance at which the looser was when they made the offer (so, yeah, I guess player could use this as a way of trying to jump next to an other unit---or draw them in, of course)
          3. The loosing side regains 1D of the OPs they lost.
        • If the recon roll is lost:
          • The loosing unit is forced into battle. It may refuse (i.e., that unit's player may refuse)---World rules can have a unit have to make a moral roll (i.e., made at the degree of the loosing unit's best weapon) to refuse---but are be automatically killed as the winning player's discretion.
          • Once being used by the winning side, the loosing unit will make a vanilla recon roll every time it is suppressed (i.e., at the initiation of a suppression). Success lets that loosing unit "detect" that it can successfully revolt, and rules for that follow those for normal detection, above. (Loosing that roll gives the winning player the opportunity to automatuically kill that unit, too.)

Disposition Revelation

• Unless previously identified, all units start combat "concealed," gaining 1 AP for defense per turn (for planetary combat) or 2 defense APs (for space combat)
  • Alternate World rule: Every turn a unit has a chance to be concealed, they can make a defense roll. The magnitude of successful rolls determine the number of defense APs gained from being concealed (Mag - 1 fr planetary combat)
• Units can be revealed
  • Units that are successfully hit (but not suppressed) must make a defense skill roll
    • Succeeding the roll keeps their disposition hidden, continuing to gain concealed OPs
    • Failing reveals their position; no additional AP gains
  • In planetary combat
    • Units are usually revealed as soon as they attack
    • Units can be detected with a successful recon skill roll. Roll is +2 if concealed unit moves
  • In space combat
    • Units are usually automatically revealed X turns after attacking due to incoming, ambient information
      • X is the magnitude of the distance between the attacking & detecting unit
• Revealed units can be "lost"
  • In planetary combat
    • After 2 turns of neither attacking nor being hit/suppressed, a unit can make a defense roll. Successful roll "conceals" the unit
  • In space combat
    • Any turn in which a unit neither attacks nor is hit, a unit may make a defense roll. Successful roll: Unit becomes concealed
• Units can transmit the disposition of units they reveal to allies. However, transmitted information degrades at the rate of 1 OP per distance magnitude

• After remaining concealed for 3 turns, an concealed unit goes dark on turn 4. A question mark is inserted in place of its token, and any movement of that token is invisible to other units it was concealed to (And yes, this could mean that a unit is still "seen" but concealed to a unit that just lost sight a turn ago but now invisible to an other unit that it was unrevelaed to three turns ago)

Fogs & Cloaks

• Units may be cloaked. Cloaked units cannot be detected by other units affected by various conditions.
• Cloaked units gain 2 APs for defense that accumulate per turn.
  • The units can also not be tracked on the map. They are invisible, at best marked with a chit at their last known location
• Some units can cloak with a successful defense roll, but most cloaking is natural:
  • Environmental: mountains, actual fog, ambient radiation & solar flares, etc.
  • Tactical: Each map has an ambient information range, which can vary greatly: Advanced tech can cut through many barriers to see as far as light can travel, but hostile environments can swamp or disabgle these. Not getting a very good view on a Venus.
  • All hexes beyond ambient info are shrowded in a fog of war. Many obstacles have a wide shadow cone of war fog only until those hexes are revealed, after which thos abostacles no longer obscure (it's easy to camouflage in unknown ground).
    • Hexes are revealed when a unit moves into ray view of it and is within ambient info range

Suppression

• If an attacker makes a raw die roll that would have resulted in a successful attack, but this attack instead resulted in a miss through AP/OP mods, etc. then the defender is suppressed (demoralized, dazed, pinned down, forced to reposition, etc.)
• Suppressed units make a defense roll against AP losses for any attacks launched for the rest of this round:
  • 1: No negative mods
  • Sucessful defense roll: 1 AP for attacks is lost
  • Unsuccessful defense roll: 2 APs for attacks are lost
• Regardless of defense roll, for the rest of the round:
  • Movement by suppressed units are at +1 points (i.e., sideways movement costs 2 APs; towards/away from nearest enemy 3 APs; movement out of melee costs 4 APs)
  • Recon skills are made at -1
• Additional, sequential suppressions cause no additional mods, etc. The unit just stays in the same suppressed position that much longer.
• In general, then, suppression forces units into a defensive posture at their current location; those with initiative tend to benefit a bit more from suppression

Melee

• Melee combat ocurs when two (or more) opposing units occupy the same hex.
• In melee combat, all sides gain 1 attack-flavored AP
• Suppressing an opponent makes them loose 2 attack APs next turn.
• Units are always revealed
• All attacks are +3°
• Movement
  • Moving into a hex occupied by an opposing unit costs 2 AP
  • Moving out of the hex (while an opponent is still there) in any direction costs 3 points (± any mods)

Distance

Intra-offing and Distance Modifiers

• The offing represents the edge of ambient information. On planet's, it's also nearly the edge of range for direct-fire weapons (like all ray guns)
• Units are always revealed? More easily revealed?
  • Maybe it's also what defines hex size? Or maybe that doesn't allow of a granular-enough level of detail (like to show differences in terrain).
  • Anyway, I'm thinking all attacks made to the same hex are at +3°; those form the adjacent at +2°; from one away at +1° (whence the +3 in melee)

Wounds

Wounded (character reduced to 2 HP)

• Loose 1 AP from every turn of combat
• Defensive rolls against suppression are made at -1 OP
• Tertiary skill rolls are made at -1 OP

Critically Wounded (character reduced to 1 HP)

• Still loose 1 APs from every turn of combat
• Attacks cost 2 APs (given that it now costs more to attack than the normal amounts of APs a unit gets each turn, that unit must use OPs to attack)
• Melee attacks are made at -1
• Defensive rolls against suppression are made a -2 OP
• Secondary skill rolls are made at -1 OP
• Tertiary skill rolls are made at -2 OP