------------- BRIKWARS 2001 ------------- Copyright (c)1995-2002 Mike Rayhawk -------------------------------------------------------- Note: Due to the limitations of this format, the text version of the BrikWars Manual is necessarily less complete than versions in more advanced formats. Specifically, hyperlinks, illustrations, sidebar commentaries, and some clarifying and explanatory comments have been omitted. For proper formatting, you must view this document in a monotype font such as Courier. -------------------------------------------------------- BOOK ONE: SKIRMISH Chapter One: The Basic Guide -------------------------------- 1.1 The Grand Overview Pre-Game Setup 1.2 Game Cycle Optional Rules: Phases, Simultaneous Action, Dual Action, Initiative 1.3 The Trooper Optional Rules: HitPoints, Dual-System HitPoints, Monster HitPoints Optional Rules: Point Budgeting, Limited Point Budgeting 1.4 Basic Combat Optional Rule: Variable Damage Optional Rule: Dimmy Kombat Optional Rules: Critical Rolls, Better Critical Rolls Chapter Two: The Trooper's Arsenal -------------------------------- 2.1 Weapons and Equipment Optional Rule: Quick and Dirty Armament 2.1.1 Breaking Stuff 2.2 Ranged Weapons 2.2.1 Pistols 2.2.2 Rifles 2.2.3 Death Guns 2.2.4 Explosives 2.2.5 Archery 2.2.6 Thrown Weapons 2.3 Close Combat Weapons 2.3.1 Bludgeons 2.3.2 Blades 2.3.3 Spears Optional Rule: Getting Stuck 2.3.4 Axes 2.3.5 Flails 2.3.6 Incendiaries 2.4 Special-Purpose Items 2.4.1 Armor Optional Rule: Painted Armor 2.4.2 Equipment 2.4.3 Communications Systems 2.4.4 Magikal Potions 2.5 Creating New Weapons and Equipment ----- BOOK ONE: SKIRMISH ----- -------------------------------- CHAPTER ONE: The Basic Guide -------------------------------- "Thus, a prince should have no other object, nor any other thought, nor take anything else as his art but that of war and its orders and discipline; for that is the only art which is of concern to one who commands." - Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince" 1.1 The Grand Overview -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Regardless of the size and scope of the battle you're staging, every BrikWars game follows the same basic steps. -- PRE-GAME SETUP ---- STEP ONE. You and your opponent need to clear off a table or suitable flat surface on which to play the game. Hardwood floors are good for larger battles. Particularly huge battles may range over several pieces of furniture and into adjacent rooms. STEP TWO. Next you have to set up some sort of terrain for the game to be played on and in. This will determine much of the spirit of your battle. Flat, featureless plains are killing fields for infantry, offering them no cover from snipers and war machines. Dense jungles and urban ruins are impassible to most ground vehicles, and excellent staging grounds for ambushes and close combat. Unless you have some preference, a mixture of several terrain types is usually the most satisfying solution. You might use the fancy modeled terrain you can buy at your local gaming store (if you don't mind looking like a complete idiot for spending way too much money on flimsy pieces of crap), or you can set up piles of books and furniture as obstacles (this is quick and effective but detracts from the ambiance somewhat). The best solution, of course, is to build terrain out of plastic bricks - the more, the better. No normal person will ever think you're cool because of the wargames you play, but if you can show them pictures of the really cool landscape that you built out of plastic bricks, you have a fighting shot at impressing people. STEP THREE. Now it's time to amass armies. Each team assembles as many soldiers, weapons, vehicles, and emplacements as are appropriate to the battle. Army size may be determined by Construction Point limits, by the size of the battlefield, by scenario constraints, or by ego. If your army size is limited by the size of your plastic brick collection, it means you need to go out and buy more plastic bricks. Armies do not necessarily have to be of equal or even remotely similar strength, especially if there are a large number of players. (In fact, when the armies are so disproportionate that it is clear from the beginning who the eventual victor will be, the players on the losing team often have more fun; apparently they are less prone to competitive pettiness and more open to the simple joys of ultraviolence and mayhem.) STEP FOUR. Finally, you have to place your troops and equipment. You can do this in any way that seems reasonable, as long as each side's initial placement is out of it's enemies' weapon ranges. Once all the players are satisfied with each other's setups, the battle can begin. Sometimes the battle you're staging will require you to do these things a little differently. For instance, if one player has a base and the other player is assaulting it, the first player will place his troops in and around the base, while the other player will put his troops in the surrounding countryside. If there is some kind of ambush situation, troops might start out within each other's weapon ranges. If one side has the advantage of surprise, they will get the first turn. If one side has superior advance intelligence, the other side has to set up its troops first. Most of the time these changes will be pretty obvious; just go with your instincts. 1.2 Game Cycle -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." - Plato Players alternate taking turns for the duration of the game (as you would expect). Victory is generally achieved when all enemy armies have conceded or been destroyed, although other victory conditions are possible, such as assassinating all enemy leaders, capturing all enemy flags, or escaping with the pirate booty. Probably around half of all BrikWars games end with one side declaring victory, but oftentimes the groups playing BrikWars are more interested in socialization and the appreciation of one another's construction skill, and less interested in spending the extra hours required to determine an eventual victor. Again, these players often seem to enjoy themselves more than those who emphasize the competitive aspect of the game; they will finish four or five rounds and call it a night. During a player's turn, he chooses a unit, moves it wherever he likes (within the limits of the unit's Movement rating), and makes whatever attacks he wishes (most units can only make one attack per turn). A player repeats this process for every unit he controls, and then his turn is over. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Optional Rule: Phases :P | | --------------------------------------- | | "Thus, the victorious army first realizes the conditions for | | victory, and then seeks to engage in battle. The vanquished | | army fights first, and then seeks victory." | | - Sun-Tzu, "The Art of War" | | | | Wargaming purists may choose to divide turns into strict Movement | | phases and Combat phases. This isn't really recommended, since it | | can get to be kind of a pain. | | | | MOVEMENT. The player whose turn it is moves all his troops | | and vehicles their allotted distances. Non-combat actions, | | such as operating computers, eating pizzas, and mailing | | letters are also handled during the Movement Phase. Bomb | | drops by Flyers and Collisions (including charging attacks | | with lances or spears) may be made at no penalty during | | this phase; any other attack made during this phase is taken | | as an Opportunity Attack, with whatever penalties apply | | (usually -2 to the Attack Roll). | | | | COMBAT. When all movement is complete, all the troops and | | vehicles that wish to make attacks may do so. | | | | | | Optional Rule: Simultaneous Action :( | | --------------------------------------- | | Other wargaming purists may choose to have everyone take their | | turn at the same time. Each player handles the movement and | | attacks for one unit (or squad, if moving individual units takes | | too long) under his control, and then the next player handles the | | movement and attacks for one unit (or squad) under his control, | | and so on, until all players have moved all the units they wish to | | move (no unit may move more than once in a given round). This can | | become confusing in large battles, as players forget which units | | have moved and which have not - you may have to put a white Pip | | next to each unit as you move it to indicate that it has used its | | movement for the round. | | | | If players are real grognards, they can choose to play with both | | Phases and Simultaneous Action, each taking turns moving one unit | | at a time, and then each taking turns handling the attacks for one | | unit at a time. This can become incredibly tedious in large | | battles, and is not really recommended. | | | | | | Optional Rule: Dual Action :P | | --------------------------------------- | | Normally, in a given turn, every unit can move once and attack | | once. If you wish, you may also decide that a unit has the option | | to spend its turn moving twice and not attacking, or attacking | | twice and not moving. A unit that moves or attacks twice in one | | turn may not make Close Combat counterattacks or take Opportunity | | Actions that round. Only 'self-directed' units (usually minifigs | | or wild animals) can take advantage of Dual Action; machines and | | animal steeds cannot. | | | | Do not try to use Dual Action and Phases in the same game; you | | will only experience frustration. | | | | | | Optional Rule: Initiative :P | | --------------------------------------- | | At the beginning of each round, the players may roll dice to | | decide the order in which they will take their turns that round. | | The player with the highest roll goes first, followed by the | | player with the next-highest roll, and so on. If you decide to | | use this method, it is best to use a different color of dice for | | initiative rolls than for other game rolls. Each player sets his | | initiative die in front of himself with the number of his roll | | facing upward, and leaves it there for the duration of the round. | | In this manner, no one forgets the order of initiative or becomes | | confused about when the round is going to end. | | | | An interesting variation on Initiative is Hidden Initiative, in | | which a number of folded slips of paper equal to the number of | | players are put into a hat, labeled 'First,' 'Second,' 'Third,' | | and so forth. The order of turns is determined at the beginning | | of each round, by letting all players draw a slip of paper from | | the hat. Each player then keeps his number hidden until his turn | | actually begins. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ 1.3 The Trooper -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What luck for the rulers that men do not think." - Adolf Hitler The Trooper is your most basic BrikWars unit. He will unquestioningly obey your every command and will carry out even the most suicidal orders to the best of his ability. Thanks to the regrettable quality of minifig public education, fear and self-preservation mean nothing to him. Depending on the setting, your Troopers might be islanders with spears, sailors with cutlasses, medieval swordsmen, gun-slinging cowboys, spacemen with laser rifles, Indian braves, members of the local S.W.A.T. Team, elven archers, army riflemen, etc. - the list is endless. The Trooper has been fully combat-trained, and is proficient in the use of all weapons appropriate to his culture (e.g., a medieval knight would have no problem using a halberd, but would be hard pressed to use a semiautomatic rifle for much except as an unwieldy bludgeon). +---------------------------------------+ | Classification: Trooper | | (general purpose disposable infantry) | |---------------------------------------| | Move: 5" | | Armor: TL + 1 AV (min 2) | | Skill: 1d6 | | Cost: TL + 1 CP (min 2) | +---------------------------------------+ BrikWars' system of unit classification is almost simple enough for a Dimmy to understand. CLASSIFICATION. Units are introduced by their designation and a brief description of their battlefield function. MOVE. This statistic describes how far a unit can move during a single round. In this case, the Trooper can move five inches. (If you don't have a ruler handy, an inch is a little over three dots. Five inches is almost precisely sixteen dots.) A unit's Move rating may be modified by various types of Movement Bonuses and Penalties, which are covered in later chapters. Movement Penalties expressed in inches are subtracted directly from the unit's Move rating. Bonuses and Penalties expressed as percentages affect how far one inch of Move will take the unit. With a +100% MB, it only costs 1" of Move to walk two real inches, while with a -50% MP the unit will only go a half inch for every 1" of Move. If a unit suffers from enough Penalties to take the cumulative total to -100% or lower, it can't move at all! ARMOR. The Armor statistic (or 'AV' for Armor Value) tells how much damage a unit can take from a single attack without ceasing to function. For minifig units such as Troopers, Armor's effectiveness increases with the unit's TekLevel (see 0.3.2: Game Terms.) Up through the Tribal Age (TL1), Troopers have an AV of 2. MedievalTroopers have an AV of 3. SpaceTroopers have an AV of 6. Some units in later chapters have a variable AV (like 2d6+2), which is rolled every time the unit takes damage. Rolls made using a variable AV are called Armor Rolls. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Optional Rule: HitPoints :P | | --------------------------------------- | | Some players feel that the Armor system is oversimplified and | | unrealistic, and want to use a system of HitPoints instead. A | | moment of reflection on this problem immediately reveals that this | | is a dumb idea. Trying to keep track of the HitPoints of dozens | | of different minifigs and vehicles (not to mention buildings, | | trees, wildlife, rocks, etc.) would try the patience of a Buddha. | | If realism is this important to you, simulated combat using tiny | | plastic men is not the way to go. Go outside and spend a couple | | of hours beating each other up for real until you've either gotten | | these bizarre ideas out of your head or you realize that actual | | combat was the way to go all along. | | | | If you have one or two Character units to whom you are especially | | attached, losing them in BrikWars' instant-death system may seem | | unnecessarily arbitrary and traumatic. In this case, you may use | | a HitPoints system for these units only. In this way, you can | | avoid the suddenness of a crisp, clean death and instead enjoy | | watching your prize units suffer, weaken, wither, and die over a | | more extended period of time. | | | | Every Character for whom you will be keeping track of HitPoints | | should be placed on a stand. Behind the Character, on the stand, | | build a stack of red Pips equal to three times the number of | | points in the Character's Armor rating. If there are dice in the | | Character's AV, you will need to convert them to points first | | (0.3.3: Some Notes About Points and Pips). If the Character is | | struck by an attack, remove one red Pip for every point of Damage | | it takes, and scatter the Pips around the Character as if they | | were blood. Under this system, a Character using HitPoints is | | more likely to survive a single large attack than under the Armor | | system; however, he can now be brought down by a series of small | | attacks, where under the Armor system he would be unharmed. | | | | For a Character using HitPoints, there is no difference between | | normal Damage and Stun Damage (3.3.6: Getting Stunned). When a | | Character's HitPoints have been reduced to half their original | | number or less, it is Stunned. If its HitPoints have been reduced | | to precisely one, it is Unconscious. If all its HitPoints have | | been removed, it is Extremely Unfortunate (some people call this | | condition "Dead"). If a Medik spends an entire turn treating a | | wounded Character, he can heal 1d10+TL HitPoints per turn | | (7.2.7: Medix). | | | | If a player feels that one of the units belonging to another | | player is too heavily armored to kill in a single turn, he may | | demand that that unit be made a Character and its AV converted to | | HitPoints. He may make this demand even in the middle of a | | battle. | | | | | | Optional Rule: Dual-System HitPoints :( | | --------------------------------------- | | A slightly more complicated solution is to convert only some of a | | unit's AV into HitPoints, leaving the rest as regular Armor. The | | most appropriate use of this would be to change a unit's 'natural' | | AV to HitPoints, while leaving all his AV bonuses from equipment | | as regular AV. In this case, when the unit was attacked, only the | | Damage that exceeded the regular AV would be applied to the | | Character's HitPoints. | | | | For instance, a unit with 1d6+4 AV could be converted to a | | Character with 1d6 AV and 12 HitPoints. If that Character took 8 | | points of Damage, he would first make his 1d6 Armor Roll, | | subtracting that from the 8 points of Damage. Whatever was left | | over would be removed from his HitPoints. If he rolled a 6 on | | his Armor Roll, then his roll was a Critical Success and he has | | avoided damage altogether. | | | | | | Optional Rule: Monster HitPoints :) | | --------------------------------------- | | Even if you are playing a game with no Characters, you may decide | | to use HitPoints if a single unit (usually some kind of monster) | | has such a high Armor Value that it would be impossible for a | | player to do enough damage in a single turn to destroy it. In | | this case you are obliged to use Monster HitPoints. For Monster | | HitPoints, each pip counts as a number of regular HitPoints. What | | number you choose depends on how tough the Monster's armor is and | | how powerful the attackers are. (5, 10, TL, or 1d6 work well | | because they are easy to remember.) Attackers must do at least | | this much damage to remove each Pip; anything less bounces | | harmlessly off the Monster's armor. If, even under these rules, | | an attacker could not possibly do enough damage to hurt the | | Monster, a Critical Success on his Damage Roll will allow him to | | remove one Monster HitPoint. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ SKILL. The Skill rating is a combination of dexterity, strength, training, reflexes, wits, and dumb luck. It determines a unit's ability to successfully make attacks or perform other actions. A unit's Skill rating must always contain at least one die; so for instance, a unit would have a rating of 1d6-2 rather than 2. A Trooper's Skill rating is 1d6. COST. This final rating refers to the Construction Point cost to purchase the unit. Like Armor, the CP Cost of minifig units increases with each TekLevel. This is not because more advanced societies place more value in the life of a single minifig, because frankly, they don't. The increased cost is due to the additional training that is required to handle weapons and equipment of greater and greater Teknologikal sophistication. If you are not keeping track of TekLevels, you can choose any number to serve as your Troopers' Armor and CP Cost statistics. 5 is the traditional value, but you may increase or decrease this depending on the speed at which you want the casualties to mount. The cost of one Trooper does not include the cost of his weapons and equipment, which are covered in Chapter Two: The Trooper's Arsenal. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Optional Rule: Point Budgeting | | --------------------------------------- | | "Dollars and guns are no substitute for brains and willpower." | | - Dwight D. Eisenhower | | | | CP costs have been included for every type of troop, vehicle, | | weapon, and building, depending on the item's general usefulness | | in battle. You are in no way obligated to pay any attention to | | any of these point costs. There are three ways to deal with CPs: | | | | 1. Ignore CPs Completely (highly recommended) :) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Ignoring CPs will save you an inordinate amount of time and | | trouble, especially as your battles get larger. If you can | | possibly avoid having to tally points, do it. Your priority | | should be building a military force with personality and unique | | charm. If you spend too much time trying to squeeze the most | | value out of every CP, you will end up with an army that is boring | | and generic, and you will have significantly handicapped your | | ability to enjoy the battle that follows. | | | | To make this work, every player puts together as big an army as he | | wants to field, limited only by how much effort he wants to put | | into constructing buildings and vehicles. If there only two sides | | in the battle, then you're usually going to want the armies to be | | of roughly equal strength. Your best guess is probably good | | enough when you try to even them out - no need to whip out the | | calculators. If there are more than two sides, it is much less | | important that the armies be of equal or even vaguely similar | | strength, as long as no one army or alliance obviously has more | | power than all others combined. | | | | 2. CPs as an Afterthought (second best) :P | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | If you are determined to field perfectly matched armies, have | | every side assemble however many forces they want, until | | everybody's got about the same amount of military strength (by | | your best guess). Wait until this point before you let anybody | | even think about CP costs. We mean it - if somebody starts | | talking about their budget before they're done building, it's time | | for the Hammer of Discipline to make an appearance. If you don't | | have a Hammer of Discipline, you can build one out of plastic | | bricks. | | | | Once everyone is finished building, have them each add up the | | total cost of their army. Whichever total is highest becomes the | | new point limit, and the players whose totals are below that limit | | may, if they choose, add units and equipment to their armies until | | they reach the point total. | | | | 3. Specific Pre-Set CP Limits (avoid if possible) :( | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | In some situations, such as tournaments or BrikWars parties, | | players may be asked to assemble their armies at home and then | | transport them to wherever the battle is being held. In | | situations like this, the only way to assure evenly matched armies | | is to set a specific CP limit beforehand. | | | | | | Optional Rule: Limited Point Budgeting :P | | --------------------------------------- | | Another way to avoid wasting time on point budgeting is as | | follows: put all your minifigs, animals, weapons, and equipment in | | a big pile. Players then take turns picking one item at a time | | from the pile (roll dice to see who goes first). When everyone | | agrees that they have as many items as they want, toss the | | remainder of the piles back into the containers. Players then | | start building armies out of the items they have chosen. If you | | put a weapon in a minifig's hand, he becomes a Trooper. A tool | | makes him a Mechanik, a suitcase makes him a Medik, and so forth. | | In this way, you've built almost your entire army without spending | | a single point. Players should try to pick minifigs of their | | team's color if possible; if they can't, they should place them on | | stands of their team's color. | | | | Once you're done putting your main force together, you can start | | paying attention to CP costs again in order to buy buildings, | | vehicles, robots, and supernatural units. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ 1.4 Basic Combat -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving." - Ulysses S. Grant There are two basic types of combat in BrikWars: ranged combat and close combat. Ranged combat takes place over long distances, using guns, missiles, rocks, decapitated heads, or whatever else comes immediately to hand. Close combat is when things get personal, and troopers take it upon themselves to engage each other one-on-one with hand weapons, fists, teeth, head-butting, elbowing, kneeing, kicking, tickling, and sitting on the enemy for extended periods of time. The attacker chooses the weapon he wants to use and the target he wants to attack. An attacker may attack with one ranged weapon, with two hand weapons, or with any number of vehicle weapons, but each attacker can only focus on one target in any given turn. For each weapon the attacker is using, he makes sure the target is within range of the weapon (in the case of Close Combat weapons, the attacker has to be able to touch the target with the weapon) and make an Attack Roll. He does this by making a Skill Roll (a Trooper would roll 1d6), plus or minus any Skill Modifiers that apply (you won't have to worry about these until you get into Chapter Three: Advanced Combat). If his modified Skill Roll is equal to or greater than the Usage Rating (UR) of the weapon, he hits his target; otherwise, he misses. (In trivial cases, such as a Trooper breaking a glass window with a BaseballBat, the Rule of Fudge dictates that you skip the Skill and Damage Rolls and just smash the window.) When an attacker successfully hits his target, the attacking player rolls the Damage Roll of the weapon being used, and the defending player rolls the Armor Roll of the target. If the Armor Roll is equal to or higher than the Damage Roll, then the target survives unharmed; otherwise, it is destroyed (or damaged, in the case of vehicles and buildings). +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Optional Rule: Variable Damage :) | | --------------------------------------- | | If you want to make taking damage a little more exciting, you can | | change what happens to a living or android target when the Damage | | and Armor Rolls are precisely equal. | | | | If you are using Stun rules (3.3.6: Getting Stunned), then the | | target survives the attack but is Stunned. | | | | If you are willing to get a little more complex, then if attacker | | is using a bladed weapon or a sufficiently large-caliber gun, the | | minifig target survives the attack but loses a hand, arm, or leg | | (defender's choice). The limb is separated from the minifig and | | placed on the ground nearby. Place two red Pips on or near the | | minifig to show that it is wounded and bleeding. The minifig | | takes 1d6 Stun damage from blood loss at the beginning of every | | turn thereafter, until he or another friendly minifig spends a | | full turn bandaging the wound. (If the damage was done by an | | energy-based attack, then the wound is instantly bandaged by the | | cauterizing effects of the energy weapon). Once the wound has | | been bandaged, the minifig must not exert itself (no running, | | jumping, climbing, or engaging in Close Combat of any kind) or the | | wound will reopen and must be re-bandaged. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Optional Rule: Dimmy Kombat :P | | --------------------------------------- | | "In case of doubt, attack." | | - George S. Patton | | | | If minifig combat is taking up precious gaming time that you'd | | prefer to devote to other tasks (vehicle combat, troop movements, | | scarfing down pizza and beer, etc.), or if you aren't prepared to | | deal with all the details and minutiae of even the Basic Combat | | rules (this is your first game, you have attention deficit | | disorder, you are hung over, etc.), then the Dimmy Kombat rules | | are the way to go. | | | | In Dimmy Kombat, all troops fight with equal talent, and weapons | | are differentiated only by range. Regular hand weapons (knives, | | swords, hatchets) cost 1 CP. Polearms (spears, battleaxes, | | lances) cost 2 CP. Short-range weapons (pistols, bows) cost 3 CP | | and have a range of 6"; long-range weapons (rifles) cost 4 CP and | | have a range of 12". | | | | A Dimmy Kombatant gets one attack per turn, even if he has two | | weapons. When making attacks in Dimmy Kombat, you can forget all | | that crap about Skill, Damage, and Armor. As long as your minifig | | has a target within the range of his weapon, just roll 1d6 to make | | the attack. On a 6, the target dies. 5 or lower, the attack | | fails. | | | | Dimmy Kombatants cannot make attacks with their bare hands; they | | must pick up some kind of weapon (almost anything will do, but | | objects larger than a Brik are too heavy to swing around for this | | purpose). Dimmy Kombatants cannot damage vehicles or buildings. | | | | Additionally, you may decide to allow Dimmy Kombatants to use | | Dimmy Armor. Any removable armor item (helmets, shields, plate | | armor) can be bought for 2 CP and declared Dimmy Armor. If a unit | | wearing Dimmy Armor is struck by an attack in Dimmy Kombat, he | | survives, but one piece of Dimmy Armor is removed and dropped on | | the battlefield next to the unit. That piece of armor is 'ruined' | | and cannot be picked up and reused by the unit or by other units. | | | | If you decide to use the Dimmy Kombat rules, ignore Chapter Two: | | The Trooper's Arsenal. Much of Chapter Three: Advanced Combat, | | and many of the special troop distinctions in Chapters Eight and | | Nine, will be rendered irrelevant and should be ignored. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Destroyed vehicles are ripped apart, and the pieces are scattered around the area in which the destruction occurred. (If players are very attached to their vehicle models they can elect not to rip their constructions apart.) Remove half the pieces from the playing field, leaving "realistic" debris behind. If a minifig unit is destroyed, leave his dead body wherever it falls. You are encouraged to vary the method of destruction to suit the nature of the attack. A Trooper hit by a missile would leave scattered body parts and a spattering of small red pieces for blood. A grenade tossed in the cabin of a pickup truck would destroy only the front half of the truck. A blasted building would lose an appropriate-sized chunk of wall. A Flyer hit by an experimental Annihilation Ray would just disappear. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Optional Rule: Critical Rolls :) | | --------------------------------------- | | "I was a pitiful, pitiful dice roller in my youth, and I | | occasionally fall victim to embarrassing relapses." | | - Shaun Sullivan, NELUG member | | | | If a player rolls a Skill Roll or a Damage Roll and all the dice | | end up on ones, the roll is an Automatic Failure, no matter how | | easy the task he was attempting. Contrariwise, if all the dice in | | a Skill Roll or an Armor Roll end up on the dice's highest numbers | | (i.e. sixes on d6s, tens on d10s, etc.), the roll is an Automatic | | Success, no matter how difficult the task. If there is a contest | | between two rolls, and both sides roll Automatic Successes or | | Failures, ignore the Automatic Success/Failure rules and just | | resolve the rolls normally. | | | | Optional Rule: Better Critical Rolls :) | | --------------------------------------- | | There are a lot of situations where normal Critical Success rules | | lead to truly bizarre results (such as allowing a Trooper to punch | | his way through a mountain on one out of six tries). Especially | | for Skill and Damage Rolls, you may want to handle your Automatic | | Success rolls a little differently. | | | | Any time one of the dice in a roll ends up on the die's highest | | number, you may add one more of that die to the roll. If the new | | die comes up on its highest-numbered face, then you may add an | | additional die, and so on, until you stop getting such lucky | | rolls. Damage added in this manner does not increase the blast | | radius of an Explosion or the Burn Level of a Fire. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ -------------------------------------- CHAPTER TWO: The Troopers' Arsenal -------------------------------------- "... because there cannot be good laws where there are not good arms, and where there are good arms there must be good laws, I shall leave out the reasoning on laws and shall speak of arms." - Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince" 2.1 Weapons and Equipment -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The weapons and equipment listed in this chapter are divided into a number of major sections. Each section contains a table of statistics, descriptions, and sometimes special rules for the group of weapons or equipment that they detail. The table headings are as follows: WEAPON or ITEM. This column lists the name of the weapon or item being described. TL (TekLevel). Units with at least this level of teknological sophistication will have no problem using this item. A unit one TekLevel below this number will be able to use the item with a -2 Skill Penalty (although not always completely - a Crusader might be able to fire a musket but will have no idea how to reload it). A unit who is two or more TekLevels below this number will not be able to use the item for its intended purpose at all. 2H (Two-Handed). If there is an X in this column, then the item requires two hands to use. The unit may or may not be able to carry the item with only one hand, but he must have both hands free before he can make use of it. CP (Construction Points). This column lists the number of Construction Points required to purchase this item. RNG (Range). The range of this item, usually in inches. If there is a CC in this column, it can only be used in Close Combat - the unit carrying it must be able to touch it to the target. UR (Usage Rating). A unit needs to make a Skill Roll higher than this number to successfully use the item. -CMP" (Cargo Movement Penalty). This item is heavy enough or clumsy enough that it encumbers the unit carrying it. The unit's Move rating is decreased by the number of inches listed in this column. If a unit is especially strong, it is less affected by Cargo Movement Penalties. For every point in its Power Rating above the usual 1 Power, it can ignore -2" of -CMP". DAMAGE or EFFECT. If a unit makes successful use of this item, it will either do the damage dice listed in this column, or have the effect listed in this column. A weapon listed as 'slow' may only be used once every other turn. Damage ratings marked with 'exp,' 'stun,' or 'fire' do Explosive (3.4.2: Explosions), Stun (3.4.4: Getting Stunned), or Fire damage (3.4.3: Fire), respectively. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Optional Rule: Quick and Dirty Armament :P | | --------------------------------------- | | Some people find BrikWars' long lists of weapon stats a little | | daunting. Players who choose to use more than four or five basic | | weapon types often find that they have to constantly return to the | | tables to confirm weapon stats, which can become a source of | | frustration for their impatient opponents. For this reason, we've | | created a super-simplified set of equipment statistics. | | | | Using these simplified statistics will tend to affect game balance | | somewhat. For this reason it is better, although not completely | | necessary, that if one player uses the simple chart then all | | other players in the game also use the simple chart. | | | | +------------------------------------------------------+ | | | Equipment for the Attention-Span Impaired | | | |------------------------------------------------------| | | | Item | CP | 2H | Rng | UR | -CMP" | Damage/Effect | | | |---------+----+----+-----+----+-------+---------------| | | | Tool | 3 | - | - | - | - | (special) | | | | Knife | 2 | - | CC | 2 | - | 1d6 | | | | Pistol | 3 | - | 6" | 3 | - | 1d6 | | | | Rifle | 5 | X | 12" | 3 | - | 1d6+2 | | | | Grenade | 4 | - | - | 3 | - | 1d10+3 exp. | | | | Armor | 1 | - | - | - | -1" | +2 AV | | | +------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | These six item types can be used for almost anything you could | | want a minifig to carry. Damage types for the weapons may be | | changed to Stun, Fire, or Poison damage without affecting the | | other weapon stats, if one of those damage types is more | | appropriate to the specific weapon in use. | | | | TOOL. This covers any type of tool required by a specialist | | unit such as Medikal Equipment or a Mechanik's Repair Tool. | | | | KNIFE. Any hand weapon uses these Knife stats. Players must | | use common sense to decide whether the weapon requires two | | free hands. | | | | PISTOL. Any short-range weapon, such as a sling or a revolver. | | Some items in this category, such as a shortbow, will require | | two hands to use. Any ammunition associated with a Pistol | | item (such as a quiver full of arrows) is free. | | | | RIFLE. Any longer-range weapon, such as an AK-47 or a longbow. | | Any non-explosive ammunition associated with a Rifle item is | | free. For a Rifle that launches explosive ammo, such as a | | bazooka, ammunition must be bought separately as Grenades. | | | | GRENADE. Any thrown weapon or Rifle ammunition that explodes | | or causes another kind of area effect, such as a Molotov | | cocktail or a flashbang grenade. | | | | ARMOR. Any armor item above and beyond a Trooper's basic | | helmet, including a shield, body armor, or a fancier helmet. | | | | If you want one of your minifig units to carry an item that does | | not fit into one of the six categories, you will have to look up | | the item in the tables below as usual. Hopefully you will not | | need more than one or two such items. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ 2.1.1 Breaking Stuff ------------------------- Any equipment item or weapon can be broken if it receives enough damage, or if it is used in a Close Combat attack and does more damage than its own Armor Value. This can often happen if a super-powerful minifig swings a weapon designed for lesser mortals, or if one minifig smacks another with an object that was not designed to be used as a weapon, such as a porcelain vase. In general, the durability of an equipment item depends on what it is made out of. +--------------------------------------------------------+ | Equipment Armor Values | |--------------------------------------------------------| | Material | Color | Minimum TL | AV | |----------------+-------------+--------------+----------| | Air, water | clear | 0 (StoneAge) | 0 | | Paper, Glass | | 2 (IronAge) | 1 | | Ceramics, Tile | | 1 (TribalAge)| 2 | | Stone, Leather | | 0 (StoneAge) | 5 | | Wood, Bamboo | brown, tan | 1 (TribalAge)| 10 | | Iron | gray, black | 2 (IronAge) | 20 | | Steel | gray, black | 2 (Medieval) | 30 | | Mithril | shiny gold | 2 (Magikal) | 40 | | Adamantium | shiny gold | 5 (SpaceAge) | 50 | | Energy | transparent | 6 (StarAge) | no limit | +--------------------------------------------------------+ 2.2 Ranged Weapons -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.2.1 Pistols ------------------------- "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid." - Han Solo +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: PISTOLS | | (light anti-infantry ranged weapons) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Weapon | TL | 2H | CP | Rng | UR |-CMP"| Damage | |------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----+------------| | Pirate Flintlock | 3 | - | 3 | 6" | 3 | - | 1d6, slow | | Revolver | 4 | - | 3 | 8" | 3 | - | 1d6 | | Machine Pistol* | 4 | - | 4 | 10" | 2(6) | - | 1d6 | | Gyro Pistol* | 5 | - | 4 | 12" | 2(5) | - | 1d6 | | Impact Pistol* | 5 | - | 4 | 10" | 3(6) | - | 1d6+2 | | Siege Pistol | 6 | - | 4 | 12" | 4 | - | 1d10 exp | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | * - pistols marked with an asterisk can be used for Automatic | | Fire at the UR listed in parentheses. | | (3.3.9: Automatic Fire) | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ If you do not have any POOP handguns, almost any small piece with a handle can be made into a pistol. Just add cylinders and transparent bits until the pistol is as big and as fancy as you like. If your minifig troops are equipped with more than one kind of pistol, you should come up with a good consistent way to tell different kinds of pistols apart. Either design a distinct style for each type, use a specific color of transparent pieces for each type, or find some other method that is easy to remember and clear for everyone in the game. For instance, you might decide that a pistol made of one piece is a Gyro Pistol, a pistol with two pieces is an Impact Pistol, and a pistol with three pieces is a Siege Pistol. If you do not want to have to differentiate between different pistols, then limit your troops to one type of handgun. After a Pirate Flintlock is fired, a minifig must spend a full turn reloading before the gun can be fired again. If you don't have any low-tek units on the field who need Pirate Pistols or Revolvers, you can use Pirate Pistol and Revolver POOPs as Machine Pistols or Gyro Pistols without fear of confusion. At TL5 or above, all Pistols may be bought as Stun weapons, firing tranquilizer darts, beanbags, or some kind of stun-beam instead of normal rounds. A Stun Siege Pistol will create an explosive burst of Stun energy. Such weapons will do Stun damage to organic targets, and no damage to other targets. 2.2.2 Rifles ------------------------- "He who lives by the sword, will eventually be wiped out by some bastard with a sawed-off shotgun." - Steady Eddy +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: RIFLES | | (medium anti-infantry ranged weapons) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Weapon | TL | 2H | CP | Rng | UR |-CMP"| Damage | |------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----+------------| | Pirate Musket | 3 | X | 4 | 12" | 5 | - | 1d6, slow | | Shotgun | 4 | X | 5 | 12" | 3 | - | 1d6+1 | | Machine Gun* | 4 | X | 6 | 16" | 2(5) | - | 1d6 | | Gyro Rifle* | 5 | X | 6 | 16" | 3(5) | - | 1d6+3 | | Impact Rifle* | 5 | X | 6 | 14" | 4(6) | - | 2d6+2 | | Siege Rifle | 6 | X | 6 | 18" | 5 | - | 2d10 exp | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | * - rifles marked with an asterisk can be used for Automatic | | Fire at the UR listed in parentheses. | | (3.3.9: Automatic Fire) | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Rifles are among the most versatile of weapons. Unlike a fragile Bow, Rifles can be used as Clubs or Staves in a pinch, or as makeshift crutches, pinions, splints, stabilizer struts, etc. If you buy a Saber or a Knife, you can attach it to the barrel of your Rifle at no additional cost, allowing you to use your Rifle as if it were a spear. As with Pistols, if your troops are carrying more than one type of Rifle, you will need to pick a consistent way to differentiate between Rifle types. In future scenarios, many unlikely POOPs can be used as Rifles; laser crossbows, energy muskets, and phaser scorpions have all been popular weapons. After a minifig fires a Pirate Musket, he must spend a full turn reloading before he can fire again. At TL4 and above, all Rifles can be bought as non-lethal Stun weapons affecting living targets. At TL5 these rifles can be bought as Stun weapons affecting electronic and mechanical targets, firing an ion blast or a scrambling magneton beam. All TL6 Rifles can switch on the fly between doing normal damage and firing Stun-beams that affect both living and mechanical targets. 2.2.3 Death Guns ------------------------- +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: DEATH GUNS | | (troop-portable siege weapons) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Weapon | TL | 2H | CP | Rng | UR |-CMP"| Damage | |------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----+------------| | Cannon | 3 | NA | 10 | 16" | 6 | -3" | 1d10+3 exp | | Bazooka | 4 | X | 10 | 16"*| 6* | -3" | special | | Death Gun | 6 | X | 10 | 16" | 5 | -2" | 2d20 exp | | Sniper Cannon | 6 | X | 10 | 20" | 5 | -2" | 3d6+4 slow | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | * - Bazooka stats marked with an asterisk apply when launching | | grenades or grenade-sized objects. Damage will depend on | | the damage rating of the object being launched. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ If you are the type who enjoys mass destruction, you're going to want to pass out some of these heavy hitters. A Cannon cannot be carried by minifigs. If you want to move it, it must be mounted on wheels and dragged around - adding wheels to a Cannon incurs no extra CP cost. Cannonballs and Gunpowder must be purchased and transported separately. It takes a minifig one full turn to load a Cannonball in the front of the Cannon, and one full turn to load gunpowder in the back; two minifigs working together can complete the two operations in one turn. To fire the Cannon, a minifig must have some means of lighting the fuse - a torch is best, but a minifig may also light the fuse by shooting it with some kind of firearm. The Bazooka can be used to launch any roughly coconut-sized object, such as a water balloon or a human skull; mostly they are used to launch grenades and missiles. Unlike other guns, where minifigs are assumed to be carrying an unlimited supply of ammunition in their pockets, with Bazookas you have to build grenades and missiles out of PBBs and then have minifigs lug them around the field. This can make it somewhat inconvenient for your Bazooka troop to move around very much. It takes a full turn to pick up a fresh round and load it into the Bazooka. When firing a missile, flames shoot out the back of the Bazooka and 45° to either side. The missile's 'Mk' number determines the number of inches the flame shoots backward and the Burn Level of the fire. For instance, a MkII Missile would shoot 2" flames that did 2d6 Fire damage. The Death Gun is a ridiculously massive Rifle that shoots explosive bursts of superheated plasma. All Death Guns have some kind of Blade attached as a bayonet; these are free unless they are LightSabers. All attacks with Death Gun bayonets have a UR of 6. The Sniper Cannon is a big Rifle with an extended barrel (attach an antenna to the end of a Rifle). It is a 'slow' weapon, because you have to stand still and aim for at least one full turn before you can fire it. However, every consecutive turn you stand still aiming at a target gives you a cumulative +1 Skill Bonus when you finally fire. 2.2.4 Explosives ------------------------- "A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit." - PS Magazine, August 1993 issue, page 9 +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: EXPLOSIVES | | (general-area demolition/entertainment) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Weapon | TL | 2H | CP | Rng | UR |-CMP"| Damage | |------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----+------------| | Gunpowder Barrel | 3 | X | 3 | - | - | -3" | 2d10 exp | | CannonBall* | 3 | X | 2 | - | - | -3" | 1d10+3 exp | | MkI Explosive | 3 | X |2(4)|(20")| (6) | - | 1d10+3 exp | | MkII Explosive | 4 | X |3(6)|(22")| (7) | -1" | 2d10 exp | | MkIII Explosive | 5 | X |4(8)|(24")| (8) | -2" | 2d10+3 exp | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | * - CannonBall stats are included for Troopers loading Cannons. | | CannonBalls cannot be thrown. | | () - numbers in parentheses are for Missiles. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ It's hardly a BrikWar if there aren't a healthy dose of explosions. Explosions are not always the most precise or elegant tactical solution, but they are almost always the most entertaining. Where a laser might put a little hole in a Trooper, a MkII Missile will not only inspire him to throw himself into the air and divide himself into his component parts, but all his buddies in the area will do the same thing. Now that's entertainment! Explosives have four potential uses: as grenades, as bombs, as timed explosives, or as missiles (in the chart, the numbers in parentheses give the statistics for missiles). All types of explosives can be launched out of a Bazooka, except for Cannonballs, which must be launched from Cannons. Any non-missile explosive will have a Range of 16" and a UR of 6 when launched from a Bazooka. Grenades and bombs look about the same; you can tell them apart because bombs are attached to Flyers, while grenades are carried by Troopers. Grenades are cylindrical in shape, and increase in size depending on their Mk rating. It is usually a better choice to throw a grenade (3.6.3: Throwing Objects) than to set it off in Close Combat. A typical minifig can throw a grenade (Skill minus -CMP") inches with a UR of 3. Timed explosives are the same size as the corresponding grenades, but square instead of cylindrical. Timed explosives are coated with a special glue called "Glom." Once the Glom has been activated and the explosive is Glommed onto something, there is no way to remove it, so be careful where you put those things. It takes a full movement phase to arm the explosive, set the timer, and Glom it onto a target. You can even launch the explosive out of a Bazooka; it will Glom onto whatever it hits. The timer of a timed explosive can be set to any number of turns, including zero (instant detonation). The timer counts down by one at the end of every turn of the player that set it. When the timer reaches zero, the bomb explodes. To keep track of the timer, you can set white Pips next to the explosive and remove one at the end of every turn. Missiles are usually launched out of a Bazooka. In desperate situations, a Trooper can set off a missile by hand. He aims with a -3 Skill Penalty, and he is automatically hit by the thrust flames as it launches (1d6 times the Mk rating of the missile in Fire damage (3.3.5: Fire)). If you roll a Critical Failure on the Damage Roll when attacking with Explosives (you roll all ones), it means the explosive failed to go off. This does not mean it is a dud; the explosive is armed and live. If someone tries to pick up the explosive to use again, a roll of 6 on 1d6 means that disturbing the explosive sets it off. Shooting such an explosive will always set it off. If an explosive has not been armed, you may still attempt to set it off by shooting it. Multiply the explosive's Mk rating by 5. If you can do more than this amount of damage to the explosive in a single attack, the explosive is set off, despite the objections of whoever is carrying it at the time. Gunpowder Barrels will always explode when shot (by guns, not by arrows) or exposed to open flame. 2.2.5 Archery ------------------------- +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: ARCHERY | | (low-tek anti-infantry ranged weapons) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Weapon | TL | 2H | CP | Rng | UR |-CMP"| Damage | |------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----+------------| | Quiver | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | | ShortBow | 1 | X | 1 | 5" | 3 | - | 1d6-1 | | MediumBow | 1 | X | 2 | 8" | 4 | - | 1d6 | | LongBow | 2 | X | 5 | 16" | 5 | - | 1d6+2 | | CrossBow | 2 |(X) | 3 | 8" | 3(2) | - | 1d6+3(slow)| | CompoundBow | 4 | X | 3 | 10" | 3 | - | 1d6+2 | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Archery weapons can only be loaded by a minifig with a Quiver, although in a pinch a single minifig with a Quiver could keep a whole squad of archers supplied with arrows. Nocking an arrow in a bow takes no time at all. Quivers never run out of arrows or crossbow bolts. A ShortBow is not a good weapon for foot archers, because its range is too short to keep attackers at bay. It is mostly useful for hunting small game. However, put a horde of ShortBow archers on horseback and you have the formula for some of the most successful rampaging barbarians of TL1-2. Horses are fast enough to put the archers in range of the target and get them back out again before they are exposed to counterattack. Most Bows require two hands to fire. A CrossBow's main advantage is that it can be fired with one hand or even by clockwork (typically when triggered by a tripwire). With one hand, a CrossBow is fired at UR3, but it is more accurate when using two hands (UR2). A minifig always needs two hands and a full turn to reload a CrossBow. If an archer has a buddy standing nearby with a torch or other source of fire, the buddy can light the archer's arrows as he fires them. Damage from these arrows is converted to Fire Damage (3.3.5: Fire). The arrows must be fired on the same turn as they are lit, otherwise they burn up and light the bow on fire, which can be extremely inconvenient. At higher TLs, if archery weapons are used at all it is common to attach grenades or other devices to the arrows. This does not cost anything beyond the cost of the grenades or devices. 2.2.6 Thrown Weapons ------------------------- "Though boys throw stones at frogs in sport, the frogs do not die in sport, but in earnest." - Plutarch +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: THROWN WEAPONS | | (low-tek projectiles) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Weapon | TL | 2H | CP | Rng | UR |-CMP"| Damage | |------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----+------------| | Hand Weapons | (normal weapon stats) | | Little Rok | 0 | - | 0 | - | 2 | - | 1d6-3 stun | | Big Rok | 0 | - | 0 | - | 3 |-(B)"| Bxd6 stun | | Sling | 1 | - | 1 | +1P | 3 | - | 1d6 stun | | Bolo | 1 | - | 1 | - | 3 | - |-1d6 Skill | | Net | 1 | - | 2 | - | 3 | - |-2d6 Skill | | Boomerang | 1 | - | 1 | - | 2 | - | 1d6-1 stun | | Shuriken | 2 | - |1/3 | - | 2 | - | 1d6-1 | | Chakram/Discus | 2 | - | 3 | +1P | 2 | - | 1d6 | | AutoChakram | 5 | - | 5 | +2P | 2 | - | 1d6+2 | | EnergyDisk | 6 | - | 10 | +2P | 2 | - | 2d6 | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | The range of thrown weapons is (Skill x Power)/Mass. Normal | | Troopers throwing normal weapons have a range of 1d6". | | (3.6.5: Throwing Objects) | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Almost any object can be thrown to bonk opponents (for most objects, you can use the bludgeon stats for shovels or hammers). If you throw a hand weapon, us the regular stats for that weapon as if it were used in Close Combat. Some weapons have Range stats marked with a +P. The range of those weapons is what the minifig's throwing range would be if he had that many additional points of Power. This range can never exceed ten inches times the +P number. For example, a Trooper using a Sling would have a range of 2d6", but even if he rolled an 11 or 12 his range would be limited to 10". Bolos (weights attached by ropes, chains, or leather straps) and nets (with weighted fringes) are designed to entangle and disable enemies. When a bolo or net first strikes a target, roll a contest between the weapon's damage and the target's Skill. If the target rolls as high or higher than the damage, then it escapes unhindered; otherwise, it becomes entangled in the bolo or net and falls over. The target may roll again at the beginning of every turn to try and untangle itself, or another friendly unit may help untangle the victim, adding its Skill to the victim's roll. The friendly unit may also cut the victim loose with a blade; this ruins the bolo or net of course. To use a bolo, net, or sling, a minifig must be able to swing it around above his head. If there are any head-high obstacles within one inch, the minifig does not have enough room to swing the weapon and must try something else. If a minifig rolls a Critical Failure when attacking with one of these weapons, he suffers the Ewok effect: he strikes himself with the weapon for full damage. If a boomerang hits a target, it bonks it and falls to the ground. If it misses, it automatically returns to the thrower. The thrower automatically succeeds when trying to catch the boomerang. Shuriken are bought three at a time and represented by the smallest one-dot PBBs. A unit can carry as many shuriken as it likes, and can throw 2 per turn. A chakram or discus is like a bladed DeathFrisbee. A unit throwing a chakram or discus can bounce it off of any number of objects, as long as the total distance traveled is not greater than the maximum range of the chakram. After each bounce, the chakram does 1 point less Damage, and the thrower must make another Skill Roll with a cumulative -1 Skill Penalty per bounce. If the chakram kills or destroys a target, it may slice right through the target without bouncing off of it, at the thrower's discretion. If the thrower attempts to catch the chakram, he automatically succeeds. If a normal chakram ever misses or does zero Damage or less, it falls to the ground. If an AutoChakram misses, it automatically returns to the thrower (or comes as close as its remaining Range will allow). An EnergyDisk is like a super chakram. It can perform the craziest curves and loops the thrower wishes, allowing it to make impossible bounces and to hit impossible targets, as long as it does not travel farther than its maximum Range. If an EnergyDisk misses a target or runs out of Range, it automatically returns to the thrower. 2.3 Close Combat Weapons -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.3.1 Bludgeons ------------------------- +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: BLUDGEONS | | (bonking weapons) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Weapon | TL | 2H | CP | Rng | UR |-CMP"| Damage | |------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----+------------| | Fists * | 0 | - | - | CC | 2 | - | 1d6-1 stun | | Hammer | - | - | - | CC | 3 | - | 1d6 stun | | Shovel | - | X | - | CC | 4 | - | 1d6 stun | | Club/Mace | 0 | - | 1 | CC | 2 | - | 1d6 stun | | Staff | 1 | X | 1 | CC | 2 | - | 1d6 stun | | BatteringRam | 2 | X | Sx | CC | 6 |-Sx" | Px1d6 stun | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | * - a minifig can only use Fists if he has no other CC weapon. | | Do not try to punch anything harder than bamboo armor or | | you'll break your hand and look stupid. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Just about any object can be turned into a bashing implement by a determined Trooper. However, bludgeons are pretty weak, so Troopers use them only if they have no other option. Bludgeons cause Stun damage to living targets, and normal damage to other targets. If a Trooper goes into battle empty-handed, he has years of unarmed combat training to fall back on. He will use his fists only if he has no other weapon, because the armor of enemy units can be pretty tough and the Trooper would prefer not to injure his hands. Clubs include everything from maces and nightsticks to baseball bats and tree limbs wrapped in barbed wire. These can usually be represented by an antenna with a couple of cylinders stuck on it. Staves happen when you let little kids come over and play with your PBBs, and they break the heads off of your spears and pitchforks. Little bastards! BatteringRams are used by groups of minifigs to bash down large immobile objects like doors and walls. It is difficult to hit a moving target with the Ram; of all the units in the group swinging the Ram, the one with the least Skill must make a Skill Roll against the Ram's UR of 6 in order to hit a mobile target. A Ram's stats depend on how big it is. Each BatteringRam is given a Size Multiplier (Sx) based on the maximum number of minifigs who can grab and swing the Ram at the same time. The Ram costs Sx CP, and incurs -SxCMP". To find out how much damage a BatteringRam does, add up the Power ratings of all the minifigs swinging it. The Ram does this many d6's of damage to its target. Shovels and Hammers aren't weapons you buy, they are provided as templates for improvised weapons. If you try and beat someone down with something big and heavy like a Bazooka or a metal detector, use the Shovel stats. If you're swinging a tool-sized object, like a wrench, a radio, the butt of a pistol, or a coffee mug, use the Hammer stats. Remember that if it's not designed to be used as a weapon, it will probably break when you hit someone with it. Most equipment items have an AV of 3; if you do more than 3 points of damage thumping somebody with them, they will break. Most Close Combat weapons can be 'turned' to act as bludgeons. If a Trooper wishes to stun rather than kill a target, he can hit it with the butt of a pistol, the flat of a blade, the blunt side of an axe, etc. Weapons used in this manner will use the stats of the equivalent bludgeon. 2.3.2 Blades ------------------------- "I must say, to die with one's sword still sheathed is most regrettable." - Miyamoto Musashi +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: BLADES | | (laceration inducers) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Weapon | TL | 2H | CP | Rng | UR |-CMP"| Damage | |------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----+------------| | Knife | 1 | - | 1 | CC | 2 | - | 1d6-1 | | Shortsword | 3 | - | 2 | CC | 2 | - | 1d6 | | Saber | 2 | - | 2 | CC | 3 | - | 1d6+1 | | Katana | 2 | - | 4 | CC | 2 | - | 1d6+3 | | Golden Broadsword| 2 | - | 5 | CC | 3 | - | 2d6+1 | | Chainsaw/Buzzsaw | 4 | X | 3 | CC | 6 | - | 2d6+1 | | LightSaber | 6 | - | 10 | CC | 2 | - | 3d6+2 | | Double LightSaber| 6 |(X) | 20 | CC | 2 | - | 3d6+2 | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ When a Trooper expects to do some hand-to-hand combat, he reaches for a blade. More deadly than a mace, less clumsy than an axe, and with a million battlefield uses including gutting and dressing opponents, shaving, and emergency whittling operations, a blade is the perfect companion for any Trooper. The golden broadsword and, to a lesser extent, the katana, are not usually given to Troopers in the lower ranks. Because of their rarity and expense, they are held mainly by generals and kings. The shortsword, saber, and knife are given to the foot soldiers, and they do the job well enough, so who can complain? Chainsaws and Buzzsaws are excellent cutting tools but are very difficult to use in combat. The gyroscopic forces of the spinning blade or chain make it tricky to swing around with enough skill to hit an adversary (this was a painful lesson we learned during real-world testing). Usually, your troops will be using them against inanimate objects like locked doors and parked cars. A LightSaber is a powerful weapon but very expensive. You don't want to hand these out to just anybody. Usually you find these only in the hands of the students of the Farce (either the virtuous JetEye Knights or the evil Syph Lords). If one has the Farce as his ally, he can use a LightSaber to do some pretty impressive things indeed. If one does not have the Farce as one's ally, one often ends up chopping off one's own limbs when swinging a LightSaber around. A minifig can use a Double LightSaber one-handed as if it were a normal LightSaber. If the minifig is trained in the Farce and uses both hands, he can use the Double LightSaber to make two attacks per turn, even against different targets (a rare ability indeed); he can also defend against any number of Close Combat attacks at no penalty. If a minifig is not trained in the Farce, any failed roll made while attempting to use a LightSaber or Double LightSaber results in the loss of one hand, arm, leg, torso, or head (player's choice). 2.3.3 Spears ------------------------- +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: SPEARS | | (perforation producers) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Weapon | TL | 2H | CP | Rng | UR |-CMP"| Damage | |------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----+------------| | Spear | 1 |(X) | 2 | CC | 3 | - | 1d6 max 10| | Trident | 2 |(X) | 3 | CC | 3 | - |1d6+1 max 10| | Wooden Lance | 2 | - | 3 | CC | 3 | -1" | 1d6* max 15| | Iron Lance** | 2 | - | 4 | CC | 4 | -2" | 1d6* max 20| | Steel Spike | 4 | - | 3 | CC | 2 | - |1d6-1 max 30| |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | * - Wooden and Iron Lances can normally only be used in | | Charging attacks. | | **- an Iron Lance is very heavy and can only be wielded by a | | minifig with a Power of 2 or higher. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Spears are interesting weapons because they can be used for a number of purposes. Except for the lances, they can be used in close combat or thrown as ranged weapons. But those minor applications aside, the whole point of having a spear is taking a firm grip on it and running full-tilt at something. If you're riding a horse or a motorcycle at the time, all the better. If you just mount a bunch of spikes on the front of your station wagon, better yet. The trident and the spear require two hands only when being used in Close Combat. A Trooper can throw them with one hand or tuck them under one arm and rush someone. If a Trooper is using a Trident in Close Combat, he may choose to disarm his opponent rather than dealing damage. He makes his Damage Roll vs. his opponent's Skill rather than Armor. If the defender is holding more than one object, the defender chooses which item is dropped. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Optional Rule: Getting Stuck :P | | --------------------------------------- | | Depending on your mood, you may decide that spears and axes get | | stuck in their targets. Every time a spear or axe does enough | | damage to puncture a target's armor, it incurs a -2" Movement | | Penalty on the following turn because the Trooper wielding it has | | to pull it back out again. If nobody 'unsticks' the weapon, the | | target is dragged around wherever the weapon goes, and vice versa. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ A spear that is used in a Charging Attack (or held fast against an onrushing opponent) has the capacity to do a great deal of additional damage. First the Collision Speed between the attacker and target must be determined as in a regular Collision (4.3.6: Collisions). For each full 5" in the Collision Speed, the Damage Multiplier is increased by 1. If the Collision Speed is less than 5" then the attack is too slow to be a Charging Attack; the attacker may make a regular Close Combat attack instead if appropriate. For every point in the Damage Multiplier, the attacker takes a -1 Skill Penalty due to the high velocity. The spear does its own Damage rating, mulitplied by the Damage Multiplier. If the resulting number is higher than the spear's Maximum Damage (listed in the Damage column), the spear does only that Maximum Damage and then shatters. If a mounted soldier's Charging Attack hits the target but does not pierce the target's armor, then the soldier is knocked off of his steed. 2.3.4 Axes ------------------------- +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: AXES | | (limb / head / torso separators) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Weapon | TL | 2H | CP | Rng | UR |-CMP"| Damage | |------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----+------------| | Hatchet | 1 | - | 2 | CC | 2 | - | 1d6 | | PickAxe | 2 | X | 2 | CC | 3 | - | 1d6+2 | | BattleAxe | 2 | X | 3 | CC | 4 | -1" | 1d6+3 | | Halberd | 2 | X | 4 | CC | 5 | -2" | 2d6+1 | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Axes are good for some cheap Close Combat power and range. Unfortunately, at the higher end, they become kind of clumsy. Troopers who choose to carry axes do so more because of axes' frightening appearance than because of merely practical concerns. 2.3.5 Flails ------------------------- +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: FLAILS | | (painful welt generators) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Weapon | TL | 2H | CP | Rng | UR |-CMP"| Damage | |------------------+----+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------------| | Lasso/Rope | 1 | - | (1) | CC | 2 | - | - | | Leather Whip | 1 | - | (1) | CC | 3 | - | 1d6 stun* | | Chain | 2 | - | (2) | CC | 4 | - | 1d6 stun | | Flail | 2 | - |1+(1)| CC | 3 | - | 1d6+1 stun | | Rope w/ Hook | 2 | - |2+(1)| CC | 3 | - | 1d6 | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | * - a whip does Stun damage to unarmored flesh only. | | () - CP costs in parentheses indicate CP cost per 5" of rope | | length. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ In combat situations, whips and chains are disdained by normal Troopers, since they are not particularly lethal. Besides the fringe market of sadists, psychopaths, and other torture specialists, these products are primarily intended for lone-wolf adventurers, because of their many useful secondary functions. All types of whips and flails can be used to grab objects, in order to (for instance) yank a weapon out of an enemy's hands, swing across a bottomless chasm, catch hold of a gargoyle as one is falling off a skyscraper, latch onto the bumper of a passing truck so one can enjoy being dragged over sharp gravel and rocks, etc. In order to grab an object or unit, a minifig simply has to make a normal Attack Roll with his flail. A successful roll means he has grabbed the object without damaging it (unless he is using a hook, in which case the object takes damage in addition to being grabbed). If a minifig wants his whip to let go of an object, it does so automatically - like magic! Lassos include every type of rope and vine. Leather whip stats can also be used for rubber hoses, although rubber hoses are not flexible enough to 'grab' objects. Flails can be any rope or chain with a weight on one end (nunchaku, morning stars, etc.). As with bolos, nets, and slings, a minifig attacking with a flail must be able to swing it around over his head. If there are any head-high obstacles within the rope-length of the flail, the minifig does not have enough room to swing the weapon and must try something else. (When using a Whip, the minifig must have one free inch to either side and half the whip length free to the rear.) Any time a minifig rolls a Critical Failure when attacking with a flail, he suffers the Ewok Effect, striking himself for full damage. When dealing with very long flail, it may take more than one turn to 'let out' the rope to its full length. The minifig must have the flail coiled up before swinging begins. Each turn he may expand or contract the radius of his swing by up to 2"; this process requires two hands. (A Whip does not have to be 'let out' in this manner, although it does have to be coiled up before each use.) If the flail strikes a target or other object, the swing momentum is canceled and the minifig must coil up the flail and begin again. If the flail strikes a target or object more than 2" inside the radius of its swing, the rope wraps around the target and does no further damage. 2.3.6 Incendiaries ------------------------- "Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life." - Terry Pratchett, "Discworld" +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: INCENDIARIES | | (conflagration catalysts) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Weapon | TL |2H | CP | Rng | UR |-CMP"| Damage | |------------------+----+---+----+-----+----+-----+---------------| | Flint and Tinder | 0 | - | 1 | CC |(6) | - | starts fires | | TinderBox | 2 | - | 1 | CC |(5) | - | " " | | Matches | 3 | - | 1 | CC | - | - | " " | | Lighter | 4 | - | 1 | CC | - | - | " " | | Torch | 0 | - | 2 | CC | 2 | - | 1d6-1 fire | | Oil Flask | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | - | 2d6 fire, 2" | | | | | | | | | puddle radius | | Molotov Cocktail | 4 | - | 3 | - | - | - | 3d6 fire, 3" | | | | | | | | | puddle radius | | GreekFire/Napalm | 2 | - | 5 | - | - | - | 4d6 fire, 3" | | | | | | | | | puddle radius | | FireBomb | 3 | - | 5 | - | - | - | 1d10 exp + | | | | | | | | | 1d6 fire | | FlameThrower | 4 | X | 6 | 8" | 3 | -2" | 2d6 fire* | | PlasmaGun | 5 | X | 8 | 8" | 4 | -2" | 3d6 fire* | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | () - UR costs in parentheses must be rolled to light a fire. | | * - FlameThrowers and PlasmaGuns can be used for Full-Auto | | Automatic Fire at normal UR, with a maximum firing arc of | | thirty degrees. | | (3.3.9: Automatic Fire) | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Fire is scary stuff, and is a lot more complicated than most types of damage (3.4.3: Fire). Unless you're willing to put up with a lot of extra die rolls, you might want to avoid using Fire in your battles. Fire-starting equipment (flint and tinder, tinderbox, matches, lighter) never runs out of fuel, although if it gets wet (except for the lighter) it is ruined. It takes a long time to start a fire with flint and tinder or a tinderbox; each attempt takes a full turn, and the minifig must make a Skill Roll against the equipment's UR in order to light a fire. Torches never go out unless they are deliberately put out or doused in water. Oil flasks, Molotov Cocktails, and GreekFire must be lit on the turn that they are thrown (or launched from a Bazooka). If they are lit but not thrown, or if they are shot or otherwise ignited by an enemy, they explode in the minifig's hands. If they are thrown but not lit, they create a puddle of fuel which can be lit at any later time. To use a FlameThrower or PlasmaGun, minifigs must carry some sort of portable power source, fuel tank, or backpack canisters. If the minifig takes more than three damage in a single attack, a roll of 1 on 1d6 means the fuel source explodes. If the fuel source itself is the target of attack, than if it takes 3 or more damage it automatically explodes. FlameThrower fuel goes up in a 1d10 explosion; PlasmaGun fuel creates a 2d10 explosion. Remember that any fire, including the stream of fire from a FlameThrower or PlasmaGun, burns everything nearby. Fires do full damage within one half inch, and damage is reduced by 1d6 for every half inch after that. 2.4 Special-Purpose Items -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.4.1 Armor ------------------------- +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: ARMOR | | (damage deflectors) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Item | TL | 2H | CP | Rng | UR |-CMP"| Effect | |------------------+----+----+----+-----+------+-----+------------| | Shield | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | +2 AV | | BigShield | 1 | - | 2 | - | - | - | +4 AV | | PlateArmor | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | -1" | +1d6 AV | | (No Helmet) | 0 | - |(-1)| - | - | - | (-1 AV) | | (Helmet) | 2 | - | 0 | - | - | - | +0 AV | | VisoredHelmet | 2 | - | 1 | - | - | - | +1 AV | | HorseBlanket | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | - | +2 Horse AV| | HorseHelmet | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | - | +2 Horse AV| +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Every now and then a soldier gets it into his head that he wants to live through the next battle. It's not very common. The usual Trooper is so excited about the chance to maim and kill other Troopers that thoughts of personal survival never have time to enter his head. When they finally do, it's time to either retire or pick up some armor. At TL2 or higher, all Troopers and most other minifig units come equipped with a standard helmet, and this is already factored into their CP cost and AV stats. If such a unit takes its helmet off, then you may apply the No Helmet stats. For a unit that does not come equipped with a helmet, do not bother with the No Helmet stats. They have already been factored in. Shields only protect a minifig from attacks on one side. Imagine an infinite plane defined by the surface of the shield. If an incoming attack originates from the side of the plane away from the minifig, the minifig receives the benefit of the shield's AV bonus. If the attack originates on the minifig's side of the plane, he receives no bonus from the shield. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Optional Rule: Painted Armor :( | | --------------------------------------- | | "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no | | influence on society." | | - Mark Twain | | | | Some minifigs have armor painted right onto their torsos. If so, | | a player may decide that these minifigs have an increased AV due | | to Painted Armor. This AV may be any amount, and costs 1 CP per | | +1 AV. | | | | A player who decides to take Painted Armor into account must pick | | an AV bonus for each type of painted armor worn by minifigs in his | | army. This can be hard to keep track of even in small battles | | and so the use of Painted Armor is discouraged. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ 2.4.2 Equipment ------------------------- +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: EQUIPMENT | | (special-purpose items) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Item |TL |2H |CP |Rng| UR |-CMP"| Effect | |------------------+---+---+---+---+----+-----+-------------------| | JetPack | 5 | - | 5 | - | - | - | x2 straight-line | | | | | | | | | minifig Move | | Parachute | 4 | - | 2 | - | - | - | prevents falling | | | | | | | | | damage | | SuitCase PsiAmp | 6 | - |10 | 5"| - | - | controls Normal | | | | | | | | | People's brains | | Precision Tool | 1 | - | 3 | - | - | - | some specialists | | | | | | | | | need tools | | Skis | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | - | x2 Move on slick | | | | | | | | | surfaces | | Flippers | 4 | - | 1 | - | - | - | full Move | | | | | | | | | underwater | | Container | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | holds stuff | | Big BakPak | 2 | - | 8 | - | - | -1" | contains supplies | | PowerPak | 5 | - | 2 | - | - | -1" | provides 2 Power | | | | | | | | | to one device | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Sometimes the nature of a battle will offer special opportunities to the soldiers that have the tools to take advantage of them. These are those tools. Or some of them, anyway. There are all kinds of tools you might think up. These are just a few that we like, but they are only provided as examples; you are fully encouraged to make up new kinds of equipment for your battles. Parachutes are great for deploying Troopers quickly, not just by dropping them from planes or spaceships but also by loading them into catapults, cannons, or mass drivers and just launching them wherever they need to go. In TL4, parachutes are big bulky cloth things that can only be used once and from a great height. They are far more practical in TL5, thanks to AntiGrav teknology. TL5 parachutes are compact, reusable, and work in any conditions. An AntiGrav parachute is powerful enough to let a SpaceParatrooper carry a POOP vehicle with him as he falls. SuitCase PsiAmps appear to be innocuous suitcases or medikal bags, but they are actually sinister Brain Control Devices that can be used to control any Civilians within five inches. This isn't as great as it sounds, because Civilians are pretty useless. If any Civilian falls under the influence of more than one Brain Control Device at the same time, he suffers an instant and fatal case of Exploding Head Syndrome. Some units in Chapter Eight: Standard Combatants, such as Mechanix and Technix, need a set of Precision Tools to do the specialist jobs they were trained for. If you're just using normal Troopers, you won't need to buy any tools. A container is any PBB that holds things, such as a barrel, chest, safe, or suitcase. If you want to use one of the small POOP backpacks as a container, go right ahead. A backpack like this can hold two small tool-sized items, or one tool-sized item and a bunch of gem- and coin-sized items. Since you can't really put anything in the small backpack piece, keep these items off to the side somewhere and try to remember which minifig's backpack they are supposedly in. The larger adventurer's BakPak is like a magical cornucopia of mundane supplies. Any normal supplies you would expect to take on a hiking trip or safari expedition can be pulled out of this backpack at any time. A 5" rope, a magnifying glass, a sextant, granola bars, a compass, a first aid kit, fresh underwear and socks, notebooks, pencils, and signal flares are only a few examples of what you might find, depending on the TL. The BakPak contains no weapons unless they are bought separately. PowerPaks are large bulky batteries that can be connected to large devices by a hose. PowerPaks add to a system's existing Power, and can be used cumulatively, but each PowerPak can only provide Power to one device at a time. It takes one full turn to attach a PowerPak to a specific device, but it can be detached instantly. 2.4.3 Communications Systems ------------------------- "Gongs, drums, pennants, and flags are the means to unify the men's ears and eyes. When the men have been unified the courageous will not be able to advance alone, the fearful will not be able to retreat alone." - Sun-Tzu, "The Art of War" +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS | | (information translocation) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Item |TL |2H |CP |Rng| UR |-CMP"| Effect | |------------------+---+---+---+---+----+-----+-------------------| | (yelling) | 0 | - | - | 8"| - | - | communication | | Bugle, Drums | 2 | - | 0 |12"| - | - | " " | | Banner | 2 | - | 0 | * | - | - | " " | | (hand signals) | 4 | - | 0 | * | - | - | " " | | CB Radio | 4 | - | 0 | - | - | - | " " | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | * - ranges marked with an asterisk are only effective with | | direct line-of-sight contact but otherwise have unlimited | | range. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ If you decide to play using communication systems, then every squad of three to five Troopers must be able to communicate with other squads so that orders can flow down the chain of command. A squad that falls out of communication becomes disoriented and moves at half speed. 2.4.4 Magikal Potions ------------------------- +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Classification: MAGIKAL POTIONS | | (physical law suspenders) | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Item | Color | CP | Effect | |---------------+--------+----+-----------------------------------| | Koke | Red | 1 | +1 Power for 1d6 turns | | Jungle Juice | Green | 2 | +1d6" Move, +1 Attack, 1d6 turns | | Milk | White | 1 | +1d6 AV for 1d6 turns | | Blue Bull | Blue | 3 | minifig can fly for 1d6 turns | | Ginnis | Black | 1 | cures poison, reenergizes unit | | Yak's Blood | Brown | 0 | dummy! don't drink yak's blood! | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Magikal Potions of one kind or another exist in almost every age, although in more teknologikally advanced cultures they may be called by other names, like "stimulants" or "SynthoHormones." A magikal potion can be represented by a colored cylinder (or mug, or chalice) with a transparent colored gem on top. Most potions have an effect that lasts for 1d6 turns. The best way to handle this is as follows. As soon as a minifig drinks a potion, place a white Pip next to him, indicating that he is feeling the potion's effects. At the beginning of every turn thereafter, roll 1d6. If you roll a one, remove the white Pip. The minifig will start to feel the potion's effects wearing off; the effects will last until the end of that turn and then cease. Drinking more than one of the same kind of potion does not increase its effect or duration. A minifig can feel the effects of more than one type of potion at the same time however. Koke powder is made by grinding the bones of incinerated Dimmies into a fine black charcoal. This powder is then added to a secret recipe of carbonated water and natural colors and flavors. Jungle Juice is formulated from an extract of Jaw-Jaw blood. The Jaw-Jaws' regenerative enzymes have a bizarre stimulating effect on a minifig's muscular and nervous systems, allowing him to move and attack much more rapidly than would normally be possible. Milk does a body good. Not only does it give a Trooper strong bones and muscles, it envelops him in a protective energy field. This field appears as a glowing white aura with large black spots and an occasional large pink udder. Blue Bull is made by pulverizing glowing crystals that form in the depths of the ocean. While Blue Bull doesn't give a minifig wings, it does give him the ability to hover or fly around with a 5" Move. Scientists are baffled by this phenomenon. Ginnis is mostly made from fermented barley, but a tiny percentage of every batch is soured in secret ancient vats which are home to colonies of magikal bacteria the likes of which have never been seen elsewhere. These bacteria give the drink such incredible curative powers that it cancels the effects of getting stunned or falling unconscious; it also eliminates the corruptions of poison, fatigue, depression, low morale, and inhibition. Yak's Blood is gathered by tapping yaks. No good can come of doing this. 2.5 Creating New Weapons and Equipment -------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you would like to create new items or modified versions of existing items, it's easy to do. But be careful! The more different specialized types of objects you have in a battle (and this also applies to specialized units, vehicles, bases, and abilities), the harder and more time-consuming it is to keep track of all of them. As you start spending more and more energy trying to keep track of all the details, you will find that you have much less fun playing. Especially when you are just starting out, keep everything as simple as possible - three or four basic types of weapons, units, and vehicles should be enough for most purposes. After a few games you should have a good idea of how many different lists of statistics you can keep track of while still having a good time. The easiest way to create a new item is to find the item in the charts above that most closely matches your new item in form and function. Then modify it according to the following chart. It is critical that you create the item you want first, and then work out its stats on the chart. Only an Anorak would first work out ideal stats from the chart, and then try to invent an item to match them. +---------------------------------------------------------+ | Customized Equipment | | (special-special-purpose items) | |---------------------------------------------------------| | Attribute Modified | CP Cost | |--------------------+------------------------------------| | TekLevel | x2 total CP per -1 TL | | 2-Handed | +1 CP to make a 2H object 1H, | | | -1 CP to make a 1H object 2H | | Range | +1 CP per +4" | | | -1 CP per -2" | | CC Weapon length | +1 CP per +1/2" of length | | | -1 CP per -1" of length | | Usage Rating | +1 CP per -1 UR | | | -1 CP per +2 UR | | Cargo MovePenalty | +1 CP per -1" -CMP" | | | -1 CP per +2" -CMP" | | Damage | +1 CP per +1 Damage | | | -1 CP per -2 Damage | | | +1 CP per +2 Stun Damage | | | -1 CP per -4 Stun Damage | | | +4 CP per +1d6 Fire Damage | | | -2 CP per -1d6 Fire Damage | | | +6 CP per +1d10 Explosion Damage | | | -3 CP per -1d10 Explosion Damage | | | +1 CP per +1 Poison Point | | | -1 CP per -2 Poison Points | | Armor | +1 CP per +1 Armor | | | -1 CP per -2 Armor | +---------------------------------------------------------+ You will get a better return on your CP investment if you create your custom equipment by improving the quality of a weaker item rather than by lessening the quality of a stronger item, but regardless you should choose the method that is more appropriate to the item you have in mind. If you create too many modified items, or modify an item too heavily, the other players may become resentful and suspect that you are abusing the system. Whether or not the abuse is real or imagined, suspicion and resentment impair a group's ability to enjoy themselves and you are therefore honor-bound to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. It may become necessary for you to closely monitor your own thought patterns during preparation for a game and be prepared to apply the Hammer of Discipline to your own noggin when you feel tempted to go overboard with modifications. It has been mentioned that by combining certain equipment modifications with specific Trooper Performance Modifications, players can gain an unfair advantages. Although the advantage is fairly slight, if you are thinking of doing this, stop reading now. You are not worthy of this game. For the honest BrikWarriors who remain, be careful to avoid modifying a stat in one direction in an equipment item that you modify in the other direction with Trooper Performance Mods, for the sake of other players' peace of mind. If you cannot create your new item by modifying the stats of an existing item, then you must come up with the details and stats from scratch. Discuss your idea with the other players. As long as you can all agree on fair statistics and rules, you can invent as many new types of equipment as you like.