Primary Skill Sets
Military, Engineering, and Science.
Each player chooses one of these, for the purpose of this game I will assume most of you will choose Military, if anyone wants to experiment with a different PSS I will add more material as we go.
Military PSS Your character picks up militant skills quickly and easily. Military skills include use of weaponry and setting and removing demolitions charges.
Science PSS Your character is good with people and their environments. People with the Science primary skill area are good with biology, medicine, and how such biological beings interact with their environments around them.
Engineering PSS Your character is good with technology in all of its forms, from steam power to weapons and manufacturing.
PSS Skills
Now that you have a Primary Skill Set, you need to specify which skills your character has. Starting characters begin play with two skills, each at first level. One of these skills must come from your selected PSS, but the second one can be any skill at all.
Example: Trooper Jones likes to blow things up so he chooses Demolitions level 1 as his first skill and Artillery level 1 as his second skill but Hawkeye 'Doc' Pearce chooses Musketry level 1 from the Military PSS but decides to take Medicine from the Natural Sciences PSS as his second skill.
Military Skills | Science Skills | Engineering Skills |
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Demolitions | Classical Education | Signals |
Musketry (Rifles) | Natural Sciences | Navigation |
Musketry (Pistols) | Medicine | Blacksmith |
Archery | | Steam Engineer |
Martial Arts | | Pilot |
Artillery | | Naval Engineer |
Thrown Weapons | | |
Melee Weapons | | |
Naval Gunnery | | |
Learning Skills
To learn new or higher-level skills, characters must spend experience points. The experience point cost depends on the skill's level and PSS. The Skill Cost Table shows the costs for each level of skill in the different PSSs. If the skill is from the character's Primary Skill Set, the cost is the number in the column. A character can learn skills from other PSSs, but must pay twice as many experience points for them. Doubled costs are shown in parentheses.
SKILL COST TABLE
Level | Military PSS | Engineering PSS | Science PSS |
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Level 1 | 3(6) | 4(8) | 5(10) |
Level 2 | 6(12) | 8(16) | 10(20) |
Level 3 | 9(18) | 12(24) | 15(30) |
Level 4 | 12(24) | 16(32) | 20(40) |
Level 5 | 15(30) | 20(40) | 25(50) |
Level 6 | 18(36) | 24(48) | 30(60) |
A character can learn only one skill level at a time. Skipping levels is not allowed, even if the character has enough experience points to do so. Training to improve skills takes 1 week per skill level.
Weapon Skills
Success rate: 1/2 DEX + skill level
All weapons skills work the same way. Each level of skill adds 10% to the character's chance to hit with that type of weapon. A roll of 96-00 always misses, however, no matter what the character's modified chance to hit is. Each type of weapon has its own skill, and characters must increase their scores separately in each. When a character uses experience points to increase one weapon skill, his other weapon skills are not affected.
MUSKETRY - PISTOLS skill applies to all types of pistols.
MUSKETRY - RIFLES skill applies to all types of rifles and shotguns.
ARCHERY skill applies to all types of bows and crossbows.
ARTILLERY skill applies to all cannons, gatling guns, mortars, rockets and howitzers.
THROWN WEAPONS skill applies to all grenades and thrown axes, knives and spears.
MELEE WEAPONS
Success Rate: 1/2 DEX or 1/2 STR + skill level
This skill applies to axes, brass knuckles, chains, clubs, swords, knives, nightsticks, pistol and rifle butts, bayonets, spears and whips.
Demolitions Skill
There are two subskills to the demolitions skill: set charge and defuse charge. Only a character with demolitions skill can legally buy or use explosives or detonators. Dynamite is the standard explosive, Blackpowder can also be used.
SETTING CHARGES
Success Rate: 30% + skill level
Only characters with demolitions skill can set charges. The number of turns needed to set a charge is the character's skill level subtracted from seven. At 1st level, a character needs six turns to set a charge, but at 6th level he needs only one turn.
If a character fails the skill check to set and detonate the charge, the charge has not exploded and must be re-set. The referee should feel free to have the charge explode prematurely or late.
Charges can be detonated by timer, fuse or weapon fire. A timer lets the character set a time when the charge will explode. The timer can be adjusted to delay from 1 second to 60 hours. Demolitions experts also can set off a charge with a rifle. If the expert hits the charge, it explodes.
DEFUSING CHARGES
Success Rate: 50% + [diffuser's] skill level - [setter's] skill level
A demolitions expert can try to defuse a charge that was set by another expert. Defusing a charge takes one turn, no matter what level the expert is. The expert's chance to succeed is modified by subtracting 10 x the skill level of the person that set the charge. A character can defuse one of his own charges automatically.
MARTIAL ARTS
Success Rate: 1/2 DEX or 1/2 STR + skill level
Martial Arts skill makes a character a better fighter in melee. A character with Martial Arts skill can add 10% per level to his basic chance to hit with his bare hands in melee. The skill also increases the damage caused by a successful bare-hands attack, adding one point of damage per level.
Martial Arts skill also gives the character three subskills: tumbling, defensive throws and nerve combat. Tumbling reduces damage from falling by -1 point of damage per skill level. Defensive throwing lets the character inflict damage when breaking out of a hold. When a character with Martial Arts skill breaks out of a hold, he automatically knocks his opponent down, causing damage equal to his punching score. Nerve combat increases the character's chance to knock out his opponent. The opponent must be one of the four major races. The attacker gains a +1% chance to knock out the opponent per skill level on each attack. Thus, a character with 4th level skill in unarmed combat and a Dexterity score of 40 would knock his opponent unconscious on a roll of 01-06, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or 60.
NAVAL GUNNERY
Success Rate: 1/2 DEX + 10%/skill level
A ship's weapons can be fired by the ship crew if no characters with Gunnery skill are aboard, but ship gunners increase a ship's effectiveness in combat. The gun commander may attempt to coach unskilled gun crew members with a successful LDR check. This skill applies to all Naval Guns including Mortars, Carronades and Howitzers.
The gunnery subskills are: Improve Accuracy and Selective Targeting.
IMPROVE ACCURACY Modifier: +10% x skill level
This subskill gives a gunner a better chance to hit a target with ship-mounted weapons. A gunner can apply this subskill to only one weapon per turn. This bonus can be combined with the pilot's Forward Firing Weapons bonus.
SELECTIVE TARGETING Modifier: -30%
This subskill lets a gunnery expert shoot at a specific system on an enemy ship. External systems only (those visible from outside the ship) can be attacked, so the galley, navigation, pumps and anchor winch cannot be targeted selectively.
To use this subskill, the attacking ship and its target must be in the adjacent hex. The gunner declares what system he is targeting, and rolls to hit with a -30% modifier, in addition to all other modifiers that apply. The gunner can use his Improve Accuracy subskill with Selective Targeting. If the shot hits, the damage is applied directly to the targeted system as described on the Advanced Game Damage Table.
If the shot misses, it is considered a clean miss and causes no damage. If the system that is hit can receive several grades of damage on the Advanced Game Damage Table, a random die roll should be used to determine how badly the system is damaged. If the ship's hull is hit, there is a 50% chance it will suffer double damage.
EXAMPLE: A gunnery expert using selective targeting hits the drive of an enemy ship. According to the damage table, this can reduce the ship's ADF by 1, by half of its total, or completely to 0. In this case, the referee decides that the gunner must roll 1d10. A result of 1-3 means 1 ADF is lost, 4-6 means one-half of the ship's ADF is lost, and 7-9 means the entire ADF is lost. A 0 is ignored and re-rolled.
PSA Sub-skills
A number of PSA Skills include sub-skills, a player with Level 1 in these skills automatically receives all the appropriate sub-skills shown below.
Classical Education | Natural Sciences | Medicine | Signals | Navigation | Blacksmith | Steam Engineer | Pilot | Ship Engineer |
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Empathy | Analyzing Samples | Administering Drugs | Telegraph:Operate | Plot Ocean Voyages | Blacksmith:Equine | Steam Engineer:Engines | Evasion | Ship Design |
Persuasion | Analyzing Ecosystems | Diagnosis | Telegraph:Make/Repair | Rushed Calculations | Blacksmith:Make Tools | Steam Engineer:Railroads | Increased Accuracy | Damage Control |
Communication | Finding Directions | First Aid | Morse Code | Find Location | Blacksmith:Make/Repair Melee Weapons | Steam Engineer:Manufacturing | Increase Maneuver | Stress Analysis |
Hypnosis | Survival | Minor Surgery | Telegraph:Identify Operator | Chart New Routes | Blacksmith:Make/Repair Armour | Steam Engineer:Agriculture | | |
Literacy | Making Tools/Weapons | Major Surgery | Telegraph:Imitate Operator | - | Blacksmith:Make/Repair Muskets | Steam Engineer: Civil | | |
Society | Tracking | Controlling Infection | Combat Signalling | - | Blacksmith:Make/Repair Rifles | Steam Engineer: Naval | | |
Politics | Stealth | Curing Disease | - | - | Blacksmith:Make/Repair Artillery | | | |
Law | Concealment | Neutralising Toxins | - | - | - | - | | |
Finance | Naming | Medical Research | - | - | - | - | | |
Languages:Latin | - | - | - | - | | | | |
Extra Language | - | - | - | - | | | | |
Classical Education
Classical Education gives a character an advantage when dealing with individuals or groups of intelligent people. The skill can be used when dealing with any nationality the character encounters.
There are ten Classical Education sub-skills: empathy, persuasion, communication, bluff, hypnosis, literacy, society, politics, law, finance and two language skills, Latin plus one of the characters choosing.
EMPATHY: Success rate: 40% + 10%/skill level
Empathy allows a character to get a general impression of the mood and intentions of individuals or groups. In order to use this skill, the specialist must be able to see or hear the individual or group. The information that a character gains by using this skill is very vague and non-specific. The referee should use descriptions like hostile, curious, cautious, helpful, neutral, etc. Empathy can be used by a character only once per encounter. If two characters in the group have Classical Education skill, each can try to use their empathy sub-skill.
PERSUASION: Success rate: 40% + 10%/skill level
Persuasion lets a character try to convince a person or group to follow a reasonable course of action suggested by the character. The character must explain their plan to the group or person being persuaded. If the character must use a translator, there is a -20% modifier. A character can try to persuade a group or individual only once. If the character misses their roll by 50 points or more, the audience will get mad and might try to do something that is the opposite of what the character wanted.
COMMUNICATION: Success rate: 40% + 10%/skill level
This sub-skill can be used when a character must communicate with someone whose language they do not speak or understand. If the character uses this sub-skill successfully, they can communicate using very simple messages. The referee might force players to use simple messages by restricting them to two-word phrases.
BLUFF: Success Rate: 30% + 10%/skill level
A bluff is loosely defined as a lie, evasion, or convincing someone that you are something or someone you are not. Any character attempting a bluff that does not have this skill has a base chance of 5-20%. The more difficult the bluff, the lower the chance of success. A character with this skill is smoother and more confident in their bluff if the bluff is plausible. An adventurer telling a member of a secret society that they are also a member of the society may work. The referee should modify the bluff based on other factors (unknown information, passwords, etc)
HYPNOSIS: Success rate: 20% + 10%/skill level
In order to hypnotize a character, the hypnotist must be able to speak to the subject in a common language without a translator. If the person being hypnotized is willing, this is the only requirement. If the subject does not realize they are being hypnotized, they get to make an Intuition check. If they pass the check, the subject realizes what is happening and can not be hypnotized. If they fail the check, they can be hypnotized normally. No one can be hypnotized against their will if they realize they are being hypnotized. A character may try to hypnotize only one subject at a time. Hypnotizing someone takes 1d10 minutes. The hypnotist can try to hypnotize a willing subject a second time if the first attempt fails. If the subject is unwilling, the hypnotist gets only one chance to hypnotize them. If the attempt fails, the subject gets to make another Intuition check to realize what has happened. Hypnosis can be used to give a character a +10 modifier on all rolls to hit in melee. This effect lasts one hour, and can be used on a character only once every 20 hours. Hypnosis also can be used as an anaesthetic. A wounded character that is hypnotized can ignore the wound modifier in combat. This effect lasts 1d10 hours and can be used on a character only once every 20 hours. A hypnotist's most powerful ability is suggestion. A hypnotized subject will believe almost anything the hypnotist tells them. The hypnotized character will not do something that is against their moral code or religion, but they can be tricked into doing things they would not normally do. The hypnotist must give the subject a good reason to do something unusual, or convince them that the situation is not exactly as it seems. For example, a hypnotized guard will not let unauthorized persons into a restricted area. If the hypnotist tells the guard that they are authorized but have forgotten their pass, the guard will let them in.
LITERACY: Success Rate: 50% + 10%/skill level
Literacy. A character with this skill can read and write any language they can speak, including Indian languages and other languages using pictographs etc. The referee can require a skill check in cases where the written material is complicated or the character doesn’t get much practice.
SOCIETY: Success Rate: 40% + 10%/skill level + 20% for Home Town/City
This skill gives the character a chance to know the social elite in a city, town, or village. This includes knowledge of the rich and famous (including celebrities), what their status in society is, where they are located, what their interests and backgrounds are, social graces and manoeuvring, and major social activities. The skill can be invaluable when working undercover or on a specific case. The skill must be taken for every different society, except for the player character's own society, which is 20% higher. The referee may also decide that it can be a positive modifier when bluffing.
POLITICS: Success Rate: 40% + 10%/skill level
This skill gives the character a chance to know the history and due process of various jurisdictions. This includes knowledge of political bigwigs, their aids, and how honest they all are. It also gives knowledge of the finer arts of political manoeuvring, the basics of speech making, and allows the character a skill check on local politics after they has spent at least one month in a city or country.
LAW: Success rate: 60% + 10%/skill level
This skill gives the character complete knowledge of the laws of the land in which they live. It also allows them a skill check on all civilized lands to know their laws. Characters who are members of law enforcement or Diplomats are completely briefed on local laws before they are sent on a mission. A character with this skill is trained to serve as both lawyers and judges. A skill check can serve to determine whether the character knows the legalities of a situation, whether he can adequately defend or prosecute a suspect, or pass a judgement that is both fair and satisfactory to the crowd.
FINANCE: Success rate: 50% + 10%/skill level
This skill gives the character a chance to know the past and present history of corporations, their subsidiaries and holdings, to be able to read and prepare financial records and credit ratings, to know how to manipulate credit and financial investments. If the character does not know the information themself, they know where they can do research to find out, though this can sometimes take months of study. This information includes knowledge of corporation bigwigs, underlings, and what private company policies exist.
A character with this skill can work as a bank clerk, accountant, store clerk, railroad ticket agent, stock broker or in another position that involves using math and handling money. He has a fair amount of business sense.
Natural Sciences
Natural Sciences Skill deals with relationships between intelligent life and nature. An Natural Sciences specialist has training in astronomy, biology, botany, chemistry, ecology and geology. There are nine Natural Sciences subskills: Analyze Samples, Analyze Ecosystem, Find Direction, Survival, Make Tools/Weapons, Tracking, Stealth, Concealment and Naming.
When a Natural Scientist is dealing with an unknown environment, he has a -20 modifier on his rolls to analyze samples or the ecosystem, find direction, track or use survival.
ANALYZE SAMPLES: Success Rate: 50% + skill level
A Natural Scientist can analyze atmospheric, biological or geological samples. An environmental specialist can use a variety of scientific equipment to analyze samples. Cannaries for gases in mines. Microscopes to examine biological samples. If the analysis succeeds, it can indicate what type of plant or animal the sample was, perhaps whether it is edible or poisonous. For geological samples, if the analysis succeeds, it indicates what minerals are present in the sample and the possibility of finding rich ore in the area.
ANALYZING ECOSYSTEMS: Success Rate: 30% + skill level
An ecosystem is the combination of all the plants and animals that make up the local environment, and their relationships to each other. If an ecosystem is upset or thrown out of balance, entire species can become extinct and whole regions devastated by floods, droughts or other natural disasters. One of the environmental specialist's jobs is to analyze local ecosystems and determine whether they are balanced and, if not, to determine what can be done to restore balance. An environmentalist must spend at least 200 hours studying the area to use this subskill.
FINDING DIRECTIONS: Success Rate: 50% + skill level
A Natural Scientist can try to find directions in a wilderness without a compass or other aid. If the specialist makes a map or marks a trail (by cutting notches in trees or lining up rocks), his chance to find a direction on that path is increased 30%.
SURVIVAL: Success Rate: 40% + skill level
This subskill gives a specialist a chance to do several things related to survival: find food or water (if any is available in the area), find or improvise shelter, and set or avoid traps. If a trap is set in a built-up area (city, farm community, etc.), there is a 50% chance it will be noticed. This subskill also lets the environmental specialist make a special Intuition check to predict natural disasters.
MAKING TOOLS/WEAPONS: Success Rate: 80% + skill level if materials are available
A Natural Scientist can make tools and weapons out of stones, sticks, cords, and other natural materials. Only bows, axes, clubs, knives and spears can be made. Only the spear can be balanced well enough to use as a thrown weapon. The referee may allow an environmentalist to improvise tools and weapons from wreckage and scrap parts.
TRACKING: Success Rate: 30% + skill level
A Natural Scientist has a chance to follow a creature, person or vehicle by watching for its trail. This skill works only in the wilderness, not in settled areas. The specialist also can use this subskill to cover his own tracks.
STEALTH: Success Rate: 20% + skill level
Stealth is the ability to move without being seen or heard. This ability is useful for stalking animals, but also can be used to sneak up on guards of follow suspects.
CONCEALMENT: Success Rate: 10% + skill level
Concealment is the art of hiding in natural cover. Once concealed there is an 80% chance the specialist will not be seen as long as he does not move or make noise.
NAMING: Success Rate: 100%
One of the benefits of being a Natural Scientist is that when he discovers a new plant, animal, mountain range, sea, etc., he is allowed to name the new discovery.
Medical Skill
A character that has Medical skill is called a doctor, nurse, medic or corpman. Medics need a medical kit to use their skill. Medics diagnose ailments, heal wounds, control infections, neutralize poisons, cure diseases, wake up unconscious individuals and prevent tissue deterioration.
There are nine Medical subskills: Administer Drugs, Diagnosis, First Aid, Minor Surgery, Major Surgery, Control Infection, Cure Disease, Neutralize Toxins and Medical Research.
If a patient is treated in a hospital or sick bay all Success Rates are increased 20% for Minor Surgery and 10% for Major Surgery. If the patient is an animal or an unfamiliar alien, all Success Rates are reduced 20%. These two modifiers are cumulative.
Natural healing in this medieval society is not great, 1 point recovered every 2 days of rest.
ADMINISTERING DRUGS: Success Rate: 100%
The drugs that are covered under this subskill include: ether, smelling salts, laudanum, alcohol and antiseptics.
A medic can use one dose of smelling salts to wake up an unconscious or stunned character, or other remedies to restore 10 Stamina points to a character that was poisoned or contracted a disease or infection. A medic can use one dose of ether to place an individual in a state of unconsciousness.
DIAGNOSIS: Success Rate: 60% + skill level
This skill will give a medic a brief diagnosis. This diagnosis will outline the patient's general symptoms and will identify the ailment as a wound, a disease, a poison or an infection.
Once the medic has a general diagnosis, they can use this subskill to get a specific diagnosis. If they pass the skill check, the medic knows exactly what the ailment is. With this information, the medic can use one of their other subskills to heal the wound, control the infection, cure the disease or neutralize the toxin.
Without a specific diagnosis, a medic can not use a subskill to treat a victim. However, the medic can use the general diagnosis as a guide to which drug the victim needs. After the medic gives the injection, the victim must roll their current Stamina or less on d100 to overcome the effect of the poison, disease or infection. If the victim fails this roll, the drug has no effect. A second dose given within 20 hours automatically has no effect.
FIRST AID: Success Rate: 100%
A medic can heal 10 points of wound damage automatically by using appropriate items from their medical kit (local anesthetics, bandages, splints etc.) FIRST AID can only be given to a character once. If a second attempt is made, it has no effect. If a character suffered more than 10 points of damage, the medic must use major or minor surgery to heal him completely. After being treated with First Aid a charcater will naturally heal 1 point per day.
MINOR SURGERY: Success Rate: 40% + skill level
Minor surgery can heal up to 20 points of damage and can be performed in the field. This is in addition to the 10 points that can be healed with first aid. Minor surgery also uses one dose of anesthetic. If the surgery succeeds, the patient heals an additional 10 points per week for 2 weeks (total of 20 points). If the surgery fails, the patient does not recover these additional Stamina points.
MAJOR SURGERY: Success Rate: 20% + skill level
Major surgery can heal up to 50 points of damage to a character however it cannot be performed in the field, only indoors with access to facilities i.e. hot water, operating table, instruments and assistants. For every extra 10 points of damage (or fraction of 10 points) healed, in addition to natural healing of 1 point per day, a week of rest is required. If the operation fails, the patient does not recover any additional Stamina points. The medic can try minor surgery on the same patient, if they have not already. Major surgery also requires one dose of anesthetic. Major and minor surgery are effective only on wounds. They can not be used to heal damage from infections, diseases or poisons.
CONTROLLING INFECTION: Success Rate: 50% skill level
Controlling Infection checks may be required after any patient has been exposed to unsafe environments including Surgery in unsanitary conditions (not a hospital or aid station), wounds inflicted by infectious weapons, or failed surgery attempts.
Controlling infection may require a dose of penicillin, use of clean bandages and boiled instruments or combinations of these techniques. If the attempt fails, the consumables are used up and the infection is out of control. Infections are rated by their infection strength (S) and duration (D). The infection causes a specific amount of damage every 10 hours. For example, an S6/D8 infection causes six points of damage every 10 hours for 80 hours if it is not controlled.
CURING DISEASES: Success Rate: 40% + skill level
Curing a disease requires a dose of the vaccine. If the attempt fails, the vaccine has been used up and the disease has not been cured. Diseases are rated according to how they modify ability checks, how long the modification lasts and whether the disease is fatal. The modifier is a negative number and the duration is in 10-hour periods. If the duration is followed by an exclamation mark, the disease will kill anyone it has infected after that length of time unless the disease is treated at a hospital. For example, a -10/D10! disease modifies every ability check the character makes by -10 for 100 hours. The victim will die after 100 hours unless he is treated successfully at a hospital.
NEUTRALIZING TOXINS: Success Rate: 30% + skill level
Neutralizing a poison inside a victim's body requires the correct anti-venom. Poisons are rated like infections, according to how much damage they cause and for how long. Poison damage is inflicted every turn instead of every 10 hours, and the duration is in turns. An S7/T9 poison will cause 7 points of damage every turn for 9 turns. Neutralizing a poison stops the poison from causing any more damage, but does not heal damage the poison caused on earlier turns
MEDICAL RESEARCH: Success Rate: 30% + skill level
Anything from developing prosthetic limbs to researching cures, vaccines and new medical treatments.
Signals Skill
TELEGRAPH: OPERATE: Success Rate: 60% + 10%/skill level
This skill allows a character to send and translate messages via telegraph in Morse code. Except in the case of very simple messages (five words or less), a skill check is necessary to get the whole message or send the message with no significant errors. If the skill check fails, entire words will be scrambled or untranslatable. Pre-requisite: Literacy.
TELEGRAPH: MAKE/REPAIR Success Rate: 40% + 10%/skill level
A telegraph operator can string telegraph lines, install glass insulators or repair broken telegraph keys if they have replacement parts and tools. They can also instruct blacksmith’s in the manufacture of replacement parts.
MORSE CODE: Success Rate: Automatic
A qualified Telegraph Operator can send or receive 10 words per minute plus an additional 5 words per minute for each level above 1st. Morse code can also be transmitted using lights or flags.
IDENTIFY OPERATOR: Success Rate: 50% + 10%/skill level
A successful Identify Operator check allows an operator to identify the sender of a message if they have previously communicated with the sender of the message.
IMITATE OPERATOR: Success Rate: 40% + 10%/skill level
An operator can imitate another operator they have communicated with previously if they make a successful Imitate Operator check.
COMBAT SIGNALLING: Success Rate: 60% + 10%/skill level
Training Time: 1 week/method of communication (hand signals, flags etc)
This is the art of being able to communicate silently with others who also have this skill to indicate your movement or an enemy's movement, location and numbers without revealing your own location. This skill also includes using flags to transmit standard messages. The character can also use other methods of long-distance signalling such as drums, flags mirrors, smoke and horns or trumpets and understands the import of the various messages. This is essentially another language, although the messages are simple and limited to warfare, etc.
Navigation Skill
Characters trained in navigation can make the complicated calculations required to take a ship on a safe course across the ocean. Navigators also have a chance to pinpoint their location in the ocean if, for some reason, a voyage deposits them somewhere other than their intended destination i.e. storms, damage to their ship etc. Navigators of all levels can perform all navigation subskills.
PLOT OCEAN VOYAGES: Success Rate: 100% on charted route with proper preparation
A ship that makes a voyage must carry a navigator, or the pilot will not be able to predict where the ship will arrive. The time needed to make course calculations increases for long voyages, because even small errors become very serious as the distance increases.
Normal plotting time for a voyage is 10 hours for every 500 nautical miles that will be travelled. For example, a navigator plotting an 4,000 mile journey must spend 80 hours performing calculations before the ship has any chance of arriving at the correct destination. This time must be spent actually making calculations; the referee should remember that navigators need to sleep sometime. (If a player wants to work without sleeping, the referee can make a secret Stamina check, if the character fails, his calculations are wrong and the ship will drift off course.)
If a voyage is made along one of the established travel routes marked on a map, and the navigator spends 10 hours per 500 miles making the proper course adjustments, there is no risk that the ship will arrive anywhere other than its planned destination.
RUSHED CALCULATIONS: Success Rate: 10% x skill level + 10% per hour
If for some reason a navigator does not spend the full 10 hours plotting each 500 miles of a voyage, there is a chance the ship will drift offcourse. Sailing without sufficient preparation is risky.
The chance that a ship will reach its destination without sufficient course preparation depends on both the navigator's skill level and the amount of time he spends planning the ship's course. To determine the exact percentage chance that the journey will be successful, follow the procedure below:
•Divide the total number of hours the navigator spent preparing the course by the number of 500 mile increments in the jump.
•Add the navigator's skill level to the result from step 1.
•Multiply the sum from step 2 by 10%. The result is the chance that the voyage will be successful and the ship will arrive at the target destination.
•The navigator rolls d100, and if the result is equal to or less than the chance that the journey will succeed, then the ship arrives at its planned destination. Otherwise, the ship has arrived somewhere else (see Fix Location subskill).
Two restrictions apply to this process. First, if the navigator spends fewer than 10 hours plotting each 500 mile increment, a roll of 96-100 always means the ship misses its mark, even if the navigator's modified chance to succeed is above 100. Second, if the navigator spends fewer than two hours plotting each increment, the ship will automatically be off course.
If the navigator is using high-quality navigation equipment (described in the Equipment section), he can add 5% to his chance to lay the course properly. This applies only to the most expensive equipment available.
EXAMPLE: Peter the pirate is a 3rd level navigator. His ship is carrying a desperately needed cargo from Europe to an outpost in the Caribbean. He wants to get the medicine there as soon as possible, so he spends only 25 hours plotting the 2500 mile course. The chance that Peter's ship will actually arrive at the correct port is (25 / 5 + 3) x 10, or 80%.
FIND LOCATION: Success Rate: 30% + 10% x skill level
When a ship deviates off course, either because the navigator spent too little time plotting the course or because the ship was following an uncharted route, the ship will arrive somewhere other than its intended destination. The navigator then must try to figure out where the ship is. The navigator can determine his position easily if the ship reaches a charted system, because the coast lines are charted in detail. The navigator will recognize a charted area after only 1d10 hours of calculation.
A very simple way for a ship to find out whether a region is colonized is to locate a settlement or local shipping. Unless the ship is very near a colony or settlement, however, it may take several days or even weeks to reach a possible colony, and the reply will take just as long to return. If the region is uncharted, the stars may appear in unfamiliar patterns and could be difficult to recognize. Unless the navigator can determine the ship's position, the crew may never see home again.
Determining the ship's position in an uncharted region takes 2d10 x 10 hours of calculations. The referee rolls d100. If the result is equal to or less than the navigator's success rate for this subskill, the navigator will know exactly where the ship is when he finishes his calculations. Like course calculations, these 2d10 x 10 hours do not include time for sleep.
If the navigator does not pass the skill check, the referee must consider how close the roll was. If the roll was reasonably close, the navigator will realize that he cannot locate the ship. If the roll was very much higher than the navigator's success rate (at least 30 or 40 points higher), the referee may decide to tell the navigator where the ship is, but deliberately give him false information.
If the navigator cannot fix the ship's position, the ship can travel to another location and try again. The referee should simply move the ship to another randomly chosen location, because it will be off course automatically. The navigator has a -10% penalty on his location roll at the new location and, if the ship must sail blind again, an additional -10% for each new location it sails to. (By making blind journeys, the ship's position becomes more and more confused.) A navigator using high-quality equipment gets an additional +5% bonus when trying to fix the ship's position.
If a ship travels to a location that has never been explored, the route to that system is not considered charted or explored. Even if the navigator locates the ship's position, he must also successfully chart a new route out of the system in order to leave safely.
CHART NEW ROUTES: Success Rate: 50% + 10% x skill level -5% x 500 miles
A navigator has a chance to chart a new route to a destination. New routes may be shortcuts between colonized locations that are not directly connected, or they may be routes to unexplored destinations.
If a navigator guides a ship successfully on an uncharted route, that navigator can regard that route as charted if he ever travels it again. However, the route is charted in only one direction. To completely chart the route, the navigator must guide the ship back to its starting point along the same path. If the navigator fails this subskill check, the ship deviates off course.
Navigators do not get a bonus for using high-quality navigation equipment when trying to chart a new route. If the navigator chooses to tell the authorities about the route, the information will be added to their Navy’s charts and within a year the route will be considered as marked on the navigation charts of that Navy.
Blacksmith Skill
BLACKSMITH: EQUINES: Success Rate: Automatic
This skill is used to make and fit horseshoes and to make stirrups, bits and horseshoe nails.
BLACKSMITH: MAKE TOOLS: Success Rate: 70% + 10%/skill level
The smith was a multi-faceted craftsman, whose responsibilities ran far beyond shoeing horses. In remote areas he could be called upon to fix or manufacture almost anything from metal: horseshoes, ploughs, knives, buttons, shovels, hammers, hinges, bathtubs, and barber chairs. A skill check determines whether an item can be repaired, and whether the work turns out properly.
BLACKSMITH: MAKE/REPAIR MELEE WEAPONS: Success Rate: 70% + 10%/skill level
Swords, maces, axes and knives are among the weapons a blacksmith can make or repair in a fully outfitted smithy with a furnace, anvil, tongs and other tools and materials needed for the art of blacksmithing. The time required to make or repair these items will depend on the complexity of the item and the level of the Blacksmith.
BLACKSMITH: MAKE/REPAIR ARMOUR: Success Rate: 60% + 10%/skill level
A Blacksmith can manufacture and repair various kinds of armour, including chain mail, plate armour and shields. The time required to make or repair these items will depend on the complexity of the item and the level of the Blacksmith. A fully outfitted smithy is also required.
BLACKSMITH: MAKE/REPAIR MUSKETS: Success Rate: 40% + 10%/skill level
Blacksmith Skill must be level 2 to attempt this sub skill.
This character can repair or even make muskets, with the proper equipment. Any gunsmith will usually carry with them the simple tools needed for most repairs, but they need a stocked gunsmith’s shop to make a gun or perform extensive modifications. If a Gun smithing skill check fails, the judge decides whether the task is beyond the character’s skill, they don’t have the equipment they need, or it is just impossible (too badly damaged to be repaired, for example). A gunsmith can also cast and reload bullets, and modify existing guns (turn a regular pistol into a fast-draw pistol, for example).
BLACKSMITH: MAKE/REPAIR RIFLES: Success Rate: 30% + 10%/skill level
Blacksmith Skill must be level 3 to attempt this sub skill.
This character can repair or even make rifles & pistols, with the proper equipment. Any gunsmith will usually carry with them the simple tools needed for most repairs, but they need a stocked gunsmith’s shop to make a gun or perform extensive modifications. If a Gun smithing skill check fails, the judge decides whether the task is beyond the character’s skill, they don’t have the equipment they need, or it is just impossible (too badly damaged to be repaired, for example). A gunsmith can also cast and reload bullets, and modify existing guns (turn a regular pistol into a fast-draw pistol, for example).
BLACKSMITH: MAKE/REPAIR ARTILLERY: Success Rate: 20% + 10%/skill level
Blacksmith Skill must be level 3 to attempt this sub skill.
This character can repair or even make Canons, Mortars & Howitzers, with the proper equipment. Any gunsmith will usually carry with them the simple tools needed for most repairs, but they need a stocked gunsmith’s shop to make a gun or perform extensive modifications. If a Gun smithing skill check fails, the judge decides whether the task is beyond the character’s skill, they don’t have the equipment they need, or it is just impossible (too badly damaged to be repaired, for example). A gunsmith can also cast solid shot and make loads of case shot and canister.
Steam Engineering Skill
STEAM ENGINEER- ENGINES: Success Rate: 50% + 10%/skill level
This skill is required to design, build and operate steam engines that are used to power locomotives, ships, mills & factories. If a character has the necessary materials, manpower and tools then a skill check is required to build a steam engine. A minimum of 3 months is required to build each engine. A steam engineer can oversee one engine concurrently per level of skill.
STEAM ENGINEER- RAILROADS: Success Rate: 50% + 10%/skill level
There is a mistaken notion that anyone can climb into a locomotive and run a train. This is true to about the same extent that anyone can climb into a car and drive it. If you value your life, however, you might not want to be in that car or train. A railroad engineer (literally, someone who runs the engine) can operate a train safely and correctly. He knows railroad procedures and signals. A skill check can be used to avoid mishaps planned by the Judge (e.g., stopping the train before it hits a torn-up section of track), but a failed check should never be the cause of a random mishap.
STEAM ENGINEER- MANUFACTURING: Success Rate: 40% + 10%/skill level
A character with this skill can install an appropriate sized steam engine to provide power for factories and other industrial works such as foundries, trip hammers and rollers for weapons manufacturing. This skill is also required to maintain and repair the engines, gears and other aspects of steam powered manufacturing. Depending on the complexity of the factory this may take between 1 and 3 months.
STEAM ENGINEER- AGRICULTURE: Success Rate: 40% + 10%/skill level
Steam powered mills and other agricultural related equipment can only be designed and constructed by characters with this skill. This includes saw mills and flour mills as well as steam powered cranes and hoists to move heavy loads from various forms of transport into the mills. A skill is required to construct each facility and usually only takes one month for each facility.
STEAM ENGINEER- CIVIL: Success Rate: 30% + 10%/skill level
This character is educated in the mechanical sciences, particularly architecture, drainage, railroad construction, and street building. While the day-to-day effort of designing and building a municipal water tower is not the stuff of adventure, characters can also use this skill to spot weaknesses or flaws in such structures. Pre-requisite: Literacy
STEAM ENGINEER- NAVAL: Success Rate: 20% + 10%/skill level
This skill is required to install steam engines into purpose built vessels or to convert suitable vessels from sail to steam power. A successful skill check is required to install or convert each vessel and tis process takes one month. A failed check means the engineer needs to start the process again in order to establish what went wrong and to attempt to repair the error. A check can be made each month until the installation is successful.
Piloting Skill
Piloting skill allows a character to pilot a ship. Rising levels of piloting skill represent both an improvement in sailing ability and the ability to handle larger craft. The Pilot Certification Table lists the types of ships that can be operated by pilots at various levels.
!PILOT CERTIFICATION TABLE
Level | Ship Types |
---|
1 | Oared vessels of all sizes |
2 | Ships of 50 hull points or smaller |
3 | Ships of 80 hull points or smaller |
4 | Ships of 100 hull points or smaller |
5 | Ships of 200 hull points or smaller |
6 | All ships |
EVASION Modifier: +3% x skill level
The pilot of a xebec, lugger or flute can increase the ship's inherent ability to avoid enemy fire. As explained in the board game rules, xebecs, luggers and flutes can try to evade enemy rams and fire ships by using their full manoeuvre rating to dodge. Besides the enemy's usual modifier for shooting at an evading target, there is an additional modifier of -3% x the evading pilot's skill level.
EXAMPLE: Horatio is a 2nd level pilot. If he evades, the total modifier is-31%: -25% because the ship has an MR of 5, and (-3% x 2 =) -6% because of Horatio's pilot skill.
INCREASE ACCURACY OF FORWARD FIRING WEAPONS Modifier: +5% x skill level
The pilot of a ship that carries forward cannons can add 5% x his skill level to that weapon's chance to hit. This reflects the pilot's skill in lining up the ship and weapons for an accurate shot.
INCREASE MANEUVER RATING Success Rate: 10% x skill level
On a given turn, a pilot has a chance to turn his ship more than its MR will allow. This chance is 10% per level of the pilot. If the skill check is successful, the pilot can make an additional 60 degree (one hex side) facing change during that movement. This subskill and the evasion bonus cannot be used during the same turn. This subskill cannot be used by a pilot whose ship has no MR points (due to damage, etc.).
Ship Engineering Skill
Ship engineers are trained in the construction, maintenance and repair of ships. A skillful engineer often can save a damaged ship from destruction. The Engineering sub-skills are: Ship Design, Damage Control and Stress Analysis.
SHIP DESIGN Success Rate: 100%
A ship engineer must draw up plans and blueprints for a ship before a ship yard can begin building it. If a character who is not an engineer wants a custom-built ship, an engineer must be hired to do the technical design. The referee must determine whether any NPC engineers are available for hire and how much they get paid; 500 Pounds per point of hull size is standard, but this can vary with the number of engineers at the station and the amount of work available to them.
As an engineer reaches higher levels, he can design larger ships. The Ship Design Qualification Table lists the types of ships an engineer can design at various skill levels.
SHIP DESIGN QUALIFICATION TABLE
Engineer's Level | Qualified to Design |
1 | Oared vessels of all types |
2 | Ships of 50 hull points or smaller |
3 | Ships of 80 hull points or smaller |
4 | Ships of 100 hull points or smaller |
5 | Ships of 200 hull points or smaller |
6 | Ships of all sizes |
An engineer must spend 10 days x the hull size of the ship to complete the design. The entire design of a ship must be done before construction work can start.
DAMAGE CONTROL Modifier: +10% x skill level (added to ship's DCR)
An engineer can greatly aid the crew of a ship in repairing damage caused by combat or accidents. The engineer effectively increases the ship's Damage Control Rating (DCR).
The engineer's addition to the DCR equals 10x his skill level. For example, a 3rd level engineer aboard an assault scout (DCR 30) increases the ship's Damage Control Rating to 60.
Unlike the ship's regular DCR, which can be divided among as many repairs as a player wants, the engineer can use his repair ability on only one repair per repair turn (he can oversee only one thing at a time). Otherwise, the engineer's damage control points are used the same way as the ship's inherent DCR.
All or part of a ship's DCR can be combined with the engineer's damage control points to make a repair. Any part of the ship's DCR that is not combined with the engineer's ability can be used for other repairs.
In order to use his damage control ability, the engineer must be working on the repairs during all three turns (30 minutes) preceding the repair turn. For example, a character who serves as both a ship's pilot and engineer cannot be flying the ship and making repairs at the same time.
If a ship is carrying more than one engineer, each can be working on a separate repair at the same time.
STRESS ANALYSIS Modifier: -5% x skill level (to ship breakup percentage)
Because of their keen understanding of the forces at work on the hull of a spaceship, engineers can advise a pilot on how to accelerate and manoeuvre a damaged ship without tearing the hull apart with excess stress.
Having an engineer on board a ship modifies the chance that the ship will break apart when damaged. The player controlling the ship multiplies the engineer's skill level by 5, and subtracts the result from the normal chance that the ship will breakup.
EXAMPLE: Doc Evanson is a 3rd level engineer. His xebec has taken 13 hull hits in combat. This is 6 hits above the 50% mark for the 15-hull point ship. In order to get away, the pilot uses full acceleration (5) and makes one turn. The chance that the ship will break apart is (5 + 1) x 6% = 36%. Doc's advice reduces this by (3 x 5% =) 15%, so the actual chance the ship will break up is only 21 %.
An engineer cannot use this subskill during a turn when he is making or overseeing repairs.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:14, Tue 06 Feb.