Post by CJ on Sept 9, 2008 13:56:13 GMT -5
USING VEHICLES
Boarding - Simple enough. Climb in and get going! Boarding takes an Act if done in battle, but outside of it it's basically free.
Driving - Driving is easy! It takes half an Act to hit the gas and another to hit the breaks or turn. As long as you don't turn, you can continue going in a straight line as long as your gas holds out, and you will travel the Move Rate of your vehicle once per turn, expending one point of gas every turn. You can lay off the gas as a free action. If this happens, or you run out of gas, you will roll to a stop after one turn of motion, during which Impact is halved and you gain none of the usual dodge bonuses of motion.
Dismounting - As long as the vehicle isn't moving, getting off/out is easy enough. It costs an Act in battle and is free outside of it. If the vehicle is moving when you jump off, or are knocked off, you take damage equal to half the vehicle's Impact from rolling to a stop. An Accuracy check can be made to tuck and roll VS the Impact, which will halve the damage again, as long as either the dismount was voluntary or the attack that caused it didn't deal Knock Down or Stun.
DANGERS OF DRIVING
Tickets aren't the biggest danger of a vehicle in combat conditions. The following are things you just might end up dealing with...
Explosion: Any vehicle with an engine...Most of them at least. There is a cumulative chance every time the engine block, usually located in a particular side of the vehicle, that the engine will blow. Various vehicles will have different amounts of time between that fatal blow and total system failure, which manifests as a Priority check between your Speed and the vehicle's Volatility stat (the first number). If you win this, you escape and then just have to outrun the AoE of the blast. If you fail this, the vehicle explodes with you inside it. The AoE of the explosion is equal to the Size of the vehicle, and the base stat is the second number in the Volatility stat. Getting caught in the exploding car is an instant crit on this attack. If it blows up while you're outside, and you don't attempt to outrun the blast, you can Defend it normally with SDefense. Unless stated otherwise, vehicle explosions deal Fire damage.
'Bucking': Bucking is a profoundly painful experience that occurs when you're moving and then you aren't with too little intermission between the two. Bucking has a certain chance of occuring any time your Impact stat while driving is overcome by the Power stat of an attacker from the front, or the Defense of a defender you strike. If bucked, you will be thrown the movement rate of your vehicle and take damage equal to the Impact it was going. You can only Defend this if you have an aerial defending passive, but you can attempt a Dodge with your Power stat averaged with your Accuracy stat versus the Impact of the vehicle to halve damage. If the distance you're thrown is less than your Run skill AND your Jump skill, you are immune from damage but are still thrown. What you hit determines the "element" of this damage, usually Rock, Plant, or Water.
On a critical Buck, you have the misfortune of landing right in front of your vehicle and are run over by it if it's braking isn't good enough to stop before it reaches you.
Losing Control: This isn't always the worst thing in the world, but it can be nasty. The standard loss of control occurs when you fail the check required to preform actions while driving. You simply veer either to the left or right (d2 to see which way). Some Stunts have unique 'Loss of Control' reactions that occur if you fail them. These can range from rolling the car to crashing to the ground, and will be noted at the end of the action's desc. IF they aren't, the veer is assumed.
Being Attacked: If the vehicle currently has 0 HP or less, you are open to being attacked from outside the vehicle. If someone manages to get into the vehicle with you, they likewise can attack you. If attacked from outside, a Dodge or Defense can be attempted, but Speed for a dodge will be halved, and Defending causes the car to swerve if in motion. If attacked from the direction the car is moving in, Impact will be added to the base stat of the attacker, unless it is a gun or magic. Being struck with a Knock Up or Knock Back, whether from outside or inside, may threaten to knock you right out of the vehicle, which is treated as a Buck with a modified distance (the distance the Knock had)
VEHICLE STATS
Travel Speed: This is how far the vehicle travels on the world map in how many hours, and with how much gas. This means -nothing- in battle.
Terrain: A small list of what terrains that the vehicle can travel easily on. This means nothing in battle, but Travel Speed is halved on terrains not supported. Terrains marked with a star will actually double the speed, and those marked with an X can't be traveled on at all. 'Air', 'Aquatic', and 'Subaquatic' are special Terrain types that can't be traveled on unless marked, and mean that the vessel can fly, float, or travel underwater respectively.
HP: This number will seem rather small. It is the number of times the vehicle can be struck before attacks will start striking the driver ( be careful about this. Attacks from the front that connect with the driver have the vehicle's current Impact stat put behind the base). No matter how threadbare it gets, it will still be ridable until the engine goes kaput, though once it goes into negatives, every point downward cuts the stats by 1/MaxHP, stopping when current HP negative is equal to the max HP of the craft. Hitting something with sufficient force to stop the car deals 1 damage as well, if the thing that stopped it wasn't already an attack.
Combos deal as much damage to the car as the Act they spend.
Fuel: The amount of fuel a standard canister will provide, in number of actions it can take before running out. This is a combination of fuel economy and tank size. Fuel reduces by 1 every round the vehicle is used and every time the ignition is cut, as well as when the vehicle is used to travel between battles or after missions. After missions, the fuel is used up once every time it travels it's speed's distance.
Engine Volatility: The lower this number the better. This is the cumulative chance per attack that an attack made on the portion of the vehicle that contains the engine will cause that engine to explode. This chance, unless stated otherwise, is doubled if the engine is struck with a Fire attack. The engine has to be attacked -specifically- from a direction it is vulnerable from. AoE attacks won't hit the engine with enough concentrated force to risk an explosion.
Engine Stability: This will be a fraction. The first number represents the effective Priority of the vehicle when it decides to explode, which must be beaten by your own to escape the vehicle before that happens, which is an instant Crit. The second number is the Base Power of the explosion, with a Bonus as if it were a spell, the bonus being multiplied by the amount of remaining fuel.
Ignition: This stat will be a negative number, and is subtracted from Speed when determining Priority on actions that require starting the vehicle. This can be negated by leaving the engine running, but this uses up Fuel. Starting or stopping the vehicle is a free action, but it instantly expends 1 Fuel if you turn it off again. Doing this while NOT under attack cannot be Interrupted and pretty much negates the need for this stat.
Impact: An expression of the size, speed, and horsepower of the vehicle, or more accurately, an expression of how much force is behind it once it gets going. This serves as the Power stat of the vehicle when it rams someone (which is considered a martial arts attack made by the car). If struck from the front while moving by a Power higher than this number, or if it hits a Defending enemy with a Defense higher than this number, the vehicle is stopped outright, and every point higher the stopping stat is becomes a % chance of the driver being thrown clear of the vehicle. The Power behind Cutting weapons is considered halved for this purpose. If the attack used has a Knockback chance, the base stat put against the Impact is multiplied by the distance the knockback would normally be, or at the very least negates the halving of stat behind Cutting weapons.
Every full Move Action (traveling as far as it can in a single action) the vehicle takes in a straight line without stopping adds this stat to itself, stacking as many times as you do this.
If the vehicle is struck from the front or strikes a target, but isn't stopped, it's Impact will still be reduced by the Power or Defense of the thing it strikes. The above rule continues to work, so the loss isn't permenant as long as you don't keep going too long.
NOTE: In the above, all instances of 'Power' can be replaced with 'Special Power' if the attack type used is Rock/Earth.
Tread: The traction of the vehicle, which allows it to stay on the road or in some cases avoid being flipped like a pancake. If struck from the front while moving, the Impact of the vehicle is added to this number. When struck physically, a Power check is made against this number, where a success rolls the vehicle. Another Power check is required against HALF this number to roll it back over. If an attack has a Knockup chance, the base stat for the attack is multiplied by the distance they would normally be knocked, and Impact is no longer added to Traction if it would be.
NOTE: Again, a Rock/Earth type attack can force this check, and uses SPower instead of Power.
Maneuverability: This number is the amount by which Speed is reduced when attempting a dodge, and it's Bonus is how many panels the vehicle will travel after a turn or stop action is made before the vehicle turns or stops. Dodges can only be attempted while the vehicle is in motion.
VEHICLE ACTIONS
Actions taken while driving a vehicle are very limited, especially if you're driving. There are two kinds of actions, Stunts and Standard. Stunts are actions you preform using the vehicle itself. Stunts include any action that manipulates the vehicle itself, or that are specially statted for use on a vehicle. Standard actions are ...Standard things that you do while you just happen to be riding. Standard actions in particular are limited.
Each vehicle has a few Stunts that can be preformed as long as you have the proper Vehicle level. These moves usually require an Accuracy Check versus the move's difficulty. Standard Actions require an Accuracy check against the move's level times 20, with a normal attack considered a level 1/2 move. Different vehicles have different limitations, but in general, any move that depends on motion, or any stance can't be used at all, and any that requires both hands, or requires mental commands from the user has a doubled difficulty. Special Stunts bought with ability slots don't generally require a check.
Accuracy for these attempts is multiplied by how far your Vehicle Skill is beyond the required level (which is one for a Standard Action). Failure causes a Loss of Control, either the standard swerve or something especially nasty depending on the vehicle and Stunt.
The difficulty of these checks is halved if you are just a passenger.
Actions made by a passenger have the difficult of the check halved, but Vehicle skill doesn't matter. Failure also only wastes half an Act rather than causing a Loss of Control.
If the passenger doesn't stick at least his upper body out the window, his Accuracy will be halved for any physical attacks he makes.. Sticking your neck out this way, however, also leaves you open to attack.
Attacks made while on a speeding vehicle will have the Impact of the vehicle added to their Power, but magic and projectiles are unaffected damage wise.
TRANSPORTATION
When used out of battle, vehicles make a nice ...Well...Vehicle. They can be used to rapidly traverse wide distances of whatever medium they are built to traverse. Traveling this way gives one a sort of tunnel vision, and it isn't the best way to find things. You don't generally make the discoveries one would make on foot, though you still generally find the really big things. Flying is an even better way to find such things, expanding your effective range of vision for such things by the distance you're upward in all directions, but again, you can't find anything smaller than a building this way.
Boarding - Simple enough. Climb in and get going! Boarding takes an Act if done in battle, but outside of it it's basically free.
Driving - Driving is easy! It takes half an Act to hit the gas and another to hit the breaks or turn. As long as you don't turn, you can continue going in a straight line as long as your gas holds out, and you will travel the Move Rate of your vehicle once per turn, expending one point of gas every turn. You can lay off the gas as a free action. If this happens, or you run out of gas, you will roll to a stop after one turn of motion, during which Impact is halved and you gain none of the usual dodge bonuses of motion.
Dismounting - As long as the vehicle isn't moving, getting off/out is easy enough. It costs an Act in battle and is free outside of it. If the vehicle is moving when you jump off, or are knocked off, you take damage equal to half the vehicle's Impact from rolling to a stop. An Accuracy check can be made to tuck and roll VS the Impact, which will halve the damage again, as long as either the dismount was voluntary or the attack that caused it didn't deal Knock Down or Stun.
DANGERS OF DRIVING
Tickets aren't the biggest danger of a vehicle in combat conditions. The following are things you just might end up dealing with...
Explosion: Any vehicle with an engine...Most of them at least. There is a cumulative chance every time the engine block, usually located in a particular side of the vehicle, that the engine will blow. Various vehicles will have different amounts of time between that fatal blow and total system failure, which manifests as a Priority check between your Speed and the vehicle's Volatility stat (the first number). If you win this, you escape and then just have to outrun the AoE of the blast. If you fail this, the vehicle explodes with you inside it. The AoE of the explosion is equal to the Size of the vehicle, and the base stat is the second number in the Volatility stat. Getting caught in the exploding car is an instant crit on this attack. If it blows up while you're outside, and you don't attempt to outrun the blast, you can Defend it normally with SDefense. Unless stated otherwise, vehicle explosions deal Fire damage.
'Bucking': Bucking is a profoundly painful experience that occurs when you're moving and then you aren't with too little intermission between the two. Bucking has a certain chance of occuring any time your Impact stat while driving is overcome by the Power stat of an attacker from the front, or the Defense of a defender you strike. If bucked, you will be thrown the movement rate of your vehicle and take damage equal to the Impact it was going. You can only Defend this if you have an aerial defending passive, but you can attempt a Dodge with your Power stat averaged with your Accuracy stat versus the Impact of the vehicle to halve damage. If the distance you're thrown is less than your Run skill AND your Jump skill, you are immune from damage but are still thrown. What you hit determines the "element" of this damage, usually Rock, Plant, or Water.
On a critical Buck, you have the misfortune of landing right in front of your vehicle and are run over by it if it's braking isn't good enough to stop before it reaches you.
Losing Control: This isn't always the worst thing in the world, but it can be nasty. The standard loss of control occurs when you fail the check required to preform actions while driving. You simply veer either to the left or right (d2 to see which way). Some Stunts have unique 'Loss of Control' reactions that occur if you fail them. These can range from rolling the car to crashing to the ground, and will be noted at the end of the action's desc. IF they aren't, the veer is assumed.
Being Attacked: If the vehicle currently has 0 HP or less, you are open to being attacked from outside the vehicle. If someone manages to get into the vehicle with you, they likewise can attack you. If attacked from outside, a Dodge or Defense can be attempted, but Speed for a dodge will be halved, and Defending causes the car to swerve if in motion. If attacked from the direction the car is moving in, Impact will be added to the base stat of the attacker, unless it is a gun or magic. Being struck with a Knock Up or Knock Back, whether from outside or inside, may threaten to knock you right out of the vehicle, which is treated as a Buck with a modified distance (the distance the Knock had)
VEHICLE STATS
Travel Speed: This is how far the vehicle travels on the world map in how many hours, and with how much gas. This means -nothing- in battle.
Terrain: A small list of what terrains that the vehicle can travel easily on. This means nothing in battle, but Travel Speed is halved on terrains not supported. Terrains marked with a star will actually double the speed, and those marked with an X can't be traveled on at all. 'Air', 'Aquatic', and 'Subaquatic' are special Terrain types that can't be traveled on unless marked, and mean that the vessel can fly, float, or travel underwater respectively.
HP: This number will seem rather small. It is the number of times the vehicle can be struck before attacks will start striking the driver ( be careful about this. Attacks from the front that connect with the driver have the vehicle's current Impact stat put behind the base). No matter how threadbare it gets, it will still be ridable until the engine goes kaput, though once it goes into negatives, every point downward cuts the stats by 1/MaxHP, stopping when current HP negative is equal to the max HP of the craft. Hitting something with sufficient force to stop the car deals 1 damage as well, if the thing that stopped it wasn't already an attack.
Combos deal as much damage to the car as the Act they spend.
Fuel: The amount of fuel a standard canister will provide, in number of actions it can take before running out. This is a combination of fuel economy and tank size. Fuel reduces by 1 every round the vehicle is used and every time the ignition is cut, as well as when the vehicle is used to travel between battles or after missions. After missions, the fuel is used up once every time it travels it's speed's distance.
Engine Volatility: The lower this number the better. This is the cumulative chance per attack that an attack made on the portion of the vehicle that contains the engine will cause that engine to explode. This chance, unless stated otherwise, is doubled if the engine is struck with a Fire attack. The engine has to be attacked -specifically- from a direction it is vulnerable from. AoE attacks won't hit the engine with enough concentrated force to risk an explosion.
Engine Stability: This will be a fraction. The first number represents the effective Priority of the vehicle when it decides to explode, which must be beaten by your own to escape the vehicle before that happens, which is an instant Crit. The second number is the Base Power of the explosion, with a Bonus as if it were a spell, the bonus being multiplied by the amount of remaining fuel.
Ignition: This stat will be a negative number, and is subtracted from Speed when determining Priority on actions that require starting the vehicle. This can be negated by leaving the engine running, but this uses up Fuel. Starting or stopping the vehicle is a free action, but it instantly expends 1 Fuel if you turn it off again. Doing this while NOT under attack cannot be Interrupted and pretty much negates the need for this stat.
Impact: An expression of the size, speed, and horsepower of the vehicle, or more accurately, an expression of how much force is behind it once it gets going. This serves as the Power stat of the vehicle when it rams someone (which is considered a martial arts attack made by the car). If struck from the front while moving by a Power higher than this number, or if it hits a Defending enemy with a Defense higher than this number, the vehicle is stopped outright, and every point higher the stopping stat is becomes a % chance of the driver being thrown clear of the vehicle. The Power behind Cutting weapons is considered halved for this purpose. If the attack used has a Knockback chance, the base stat put against the Impact is multiplied by the distance the knockback would normally be, or at the very least negates the halving of stat behind Cutting weapons.
Every full Move Action (traveling as far as it can in a single action) the vehicle takes in a straight line without stopping adds this stat to itself, stacking as many times as you do this.
If the vehicle is struck from the front or strikes a target, but isn't stopped, it's Impact will still be reduced by the Power or Defense of the thing it strikes. The above rule continues to work, so the loss isn't permenant as long as you don't keep going too long.
NOTE: In the above, all instances of 'Power' can be replaced with 'Special Power' if the attack type used is Rock/Earth.
Tread: The traction of the vehicle, which allows it to stay on the road or in some cases avoid being flipped like a pancake. If struck from the front while moving, the Impact of the vehicle is added to this number. When struck physically, a Power check is made against this number, where a success rolls the vehicle. Another Power check is required against HALF this number to roll it back over. If an attack has a Knockup chance, the base stat for the attack is multiplied by the distance they would normally be knocked, and Impact is no longer added to Traction if it would be.
NOTE: Again, a Rock/Earth type attack can force this check, and uses SPower instead of Power.
Maneuverability: This number is the amount by which Speed is reduced when attempting a dodge, and it's Bonus is how many panels the vehicle will travel after a turn or stop action is made before the vehicle turns or stops. Dodges can only be attempted while the vehicle is in motion.
VEHICLE ACTIONS
Actions taken while driving a vehicle are very limited, especially if you're driving. There are two kinds of actions, Stunts and Standard. Stunts are actions you preform using the vehicle itself. Stunts include any action that manipulates the vehicle itself, or that are specially statted for use on a vehicle. Standard actions are ...Standard things that you do while you just happen to be riding. Standard actions in particular are limited.
Each vehicle has a few Stunts that can be preformed as long as you have the proper Vehicle level. These moves usually require an Accuracy Check versus the move's difficulty. Standard Actions require an Accuracy check against the move's level times 20, with a normal attack considered a level 1/2 move. Different vehicles have different limitations, but in general, any move that depends on motion, or any stance can't be used at all, and any that requires both hands, or requires mental commands from the user has a doubled difficulty. Special Stunts bought with ability slots don't generally require a check.
Accuracy for these attempts is multiplied by how far your Vehicle Skill is beyond the required level (which is one for a Standard Action). Failure causes a Loss of Control, either the standard swerve or something especially nasty depending on the vehicle and Stunt.
The difficulty of these checks is halved if you are just a passenger.
Actions made by a passenger have the difficult of the check halved, but Vehicle skill doesn't matter. Failure also only wastes half an Act rather than causing a Loss of Control.
If the passenger doesn't stick at least his upper body out the window, his Accuracy will be halved for any physical attacks he makes.. Sticking your neck out this way, however, also leaves you open to attack.
Attacks made while on a speeding vehicle will have the Impact of the vehicle added to their Power, but magic and projectiles are unaffected damage wise.
TRANSPORTATION
When used out of battle, vehicles make a nice ...Well...Vehicle. They can be used to rapidly traverse wide distances of whatever medium they are built to traverse. Traveling this way gives one a sort of tunnel vision, and it isn't the best way to find things. You don't generally make the discoveries one would make on foot, though you still generally find the really big things. Flying is an even better way to find such things, expanding your effective range of vision for such things by the distance you're upward in all directions, but again, you can't find anything smaller than a building this way.