New Campaign

[Libris]

There I was all set to do a D20 campaign; either D&D (yes I bought 3.5) or a Spycraft/SG-1 hybrid, or GURPS. Hero had not (seriously) crossed my mind.

 

Then I foolishly asked the players opinion. Why don't we do that Danger International/Fantasy Hero thing we played a while back. It was cool. You could base it on the SF short story you did it seemed excellent. Flattered but thrown I prepared my defence.

 

Er... okay. I've got the new stuff but it's like strange. You know, points for everything and, and, and ...this big book is the basic rules. There are extra books for everything!

 

It didn't work.

 

So... some questions.

 

1. I'd like to use chameleon surface armour. There are several qualities which all affect perception to a greater or lesser degree but also work at a reduced level when the wearer is moving. How would I simulate this?

 

2. HEAT rounds are very effective in modern combat. How would you simulate one of these compared to say an AP cannon round?

 

3. Looking at Star Hero, on p155 the Full Body Armour weighs 80kg for 12PD Half Mass! The Battlearmour on p156 weighs 224kg! Is this right!

 

Any help, advice would be appreciated.

 

John Robertson

- Religiones antiquae et arma rediculae non comparant

cum bono telo eruptionis igneae latero te puer -

[Zed-F]

Re: New Campaign

 

1. I'd like to use chameleon surface armour. There are several qualities which all affect perception to a greater or lesser degree but also work at a reduced level when the wearer is moving. How would I simulate this?

There is a chameleon invisibility example in the main rule book (sidebar next to Invisiblility power) that should help.

 

2. HEAT rounds are very effective in modern combat. How would you simulate one of these compared to say an AP cannon round?

One hex area RKA or explosive RKA if it's a big enough shell.

 

3. Looking at Star Hero, on p155 the Full Body Armour weighs 80kg for 12PD Half Mass! The Battlearmour on p156 weighs 224kg! Is this right!

Don't have Star Hero so I can't help. You could try to reverse-engineer it & see if it seems reasonable. Or check the errata & rules questions (under FAQs at the top of this page). Sorry I can't be more help on that one.

[CorpCommander]

Re: New Campaign

 

Originally posted by Libris

2. HEAT rounds are very effective in modern combat. How would you simulate one of these compared to say an AP cannon round?

 

How big? 20mm, 120mm? HEAT has an armor penetrating effect plus an explosive effect. Its not as effective against armor as hyper dense discarding sabot rounds. My suggestion is a compound power: an Energy Blast with Explosion PLUS an RKA with AP. For the Hyper Dense round put all the points into an RKA. HEAT Rounds tend to have the same energy at all ranges because the round is designed to kill by its shaped charge vs. kinetic energy. On the other hand, penetrators lose energy over range. You probably already know this so I won't bore you with the penetration at range reverse-S curve.

 

Here is an example of a 120mm L55 gun that you might find on an M1A2 or Leopard MBT.

 

31 points____120mm HEAT: (Total: 120 Active Cost, 31 Real Cost) Explosive Effect: Energy Blast 10d6 (vs. PD), 16 Charges (+0), Explosion (+1/2) (75 Active Points); Limited Power STR Min = 30, STR Min Cannot Add/Subtract Damage (-1 1/2), OIF Bulky (Rhinemetal 120mm Gun System; -1), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 20)

plus Shape Charge Effect: Killing Attack - Ranged 3d6 (vs. PD), 16 Charges (+0) (45 Active Points); Limited Power STR Min = 30, STR Min Cannot Add/Subtract Damage (-1 1/2), OIF Bulky (Rhinemetal 120mm Gun System; -1), Beam (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 11)

 

79 points____120mm DSFSDU-T: Killing Attack - Ranged 12d6 (vs. PD), Increased Maximum Range (1575"; +0), 32 Charges (+1/4), Armor Piercing x1 (+1/2) (315 Active Points); Limited Power STR Min = 30, STR Min Cannot Add/Subtract Damage (-1 1/2), OIF Bulky (Rhinemetal 120mm Gun System; -1), Real Weapon (-1/4), Reduced By Range (-1/4)

 

Here is the effect chart for the DSFSDU round:

 

Range_____ KA Dice

in Hexes

4__________12

8__________11

16_________10

32_________9

64_________8

128________7

256________6

512________5

1024_______4

1800_______3

 

Pardon the horrible formatting. Anyway, this is just my way of doing it. There are many other ways of going about it. The HEAT round is useful against groups of Enemy soldiers, bunkers, etc. The APFSDU is good pretty much only against tanks. That might be a useful additional limitation.

 

John Robertson

 

Hope I was of some help.

[Markdoc]

Simple fix.

 

HEAT is AP with perhaps 1 hex area effect or explosive. It's designed for any sort of toughened target, but does make a bit of bang.

 

HESH is simply explosive (perhaps with decreased falloff)

 

APDS is double AP, since it is designed for use against modern tanks which often have hardened armour.

 

 

cheers, Mark

[Farkling]

1. I'd like to use chameleon surface armour. There are several qualities which all affect perception to a greater or lesser degree but also work at a reduced level when the wearer is moving. How would I simulate this?

 

2. HEAT rounds are very effective in modern combat. How would you simulate one of these compared to say an AP cannon round?

 

3. Looking at Star Hero, on p155 the Full Body Armour weighs 80kg for 12PD Half Mass! The Battlearmour on p156 weighs 224kg! Is this right!

 

1) Only if Not moving is a -1 limitation on Invisibility. Chameleon is -1/2. Bright Fringe is -1/4. SO....

 

a) buy a multipower with two invisibility slots...one works if not moving...one for when moving. Complicated.

Buy the Invisibility power as it would be at max when immobile. Add a Side Effect limitation that summarily dictates the reduced invisibility effect (this could range from -1/4 to -1 depending on how restrictive it is).

 

2) Markdoc's suggestions are streamlined and decent.

CorpCommander is more realistic and complicated. Hmmm. I would do his example like this:: ( xd6 RKA, AP, Explosion, Explosion Area is STUN only (-0) ) - but I prefer to avoid the compound effects on normal weapons when possible.

 

3) No STAR HERO here...sorry. It's on my wish list. It sounds reasonable to me though, as a science fiction reader. 12 PD Armor would stop a light Bazooka round (4d6 RKA) from doing BODY on an average roll...that should be fairly heavy. The Battle Armor aounds like the stuff a Space Marine might wear...15 STR is a 200 kg lift...it is not unreasonable to assume that the heavily armored Space Marines would be wearing armor requiring an 18-20 STR to move in.

[CorpCommander]

Originally posted by Farkling

( xd6 RKA, AP, Explosion, Explosion Area is STUN only (-0) )

 

That is elegant and easy. I like it! If you will have this effect come up often that is probably the best way to do it. I've played wayyyyyyyy to many historical minatures games I think and it limits me to how I see to model things I have too much information for.

 

Throw in another limitation indicating it is 1/4 effective if reactive armor succedes in going off. (-1 1/4 or -1 1/2 depending on the GM I guess.)

[Space Cadet]

From what I've heard about it, the HESH (High Explosive Squash

Head) warhead is essentially a huge glob of plastic explosive

that, upon impact, spreads to cover as wide an area as possible

on an armored surface. Upon detonation, the warhead causes

a sizable chunk of armor to blow into the target as a cloud of

fragments, killing or at least seriously injuring occupants of the

building or vehicle.

 

Space Cadet