Damage Selection

[polemikus]

Hi Everybody, hope this subforum is still alive. I am wondering: it says in the rules that all Damage selection has pros and cons. I don't find the cons of - e.g. - auto fire. Is there anything which might prevent me from just firing auto?
Oh, and: how do I figure out if my weapon is capable of auto fire? Is all Bullet Damage Type?

 

[polemikus]

Oh, and to add: How does healing work? I realize there is a concept behind it (Hits are converted into injuries and those are healed), but I still haven't found the connection (which might be due to the fact that there are interchangeable terms...)

 

[Hemdian]

To figure out which weapons can auto-fire, etc, it's based on weapon type. Here's where you should look:

• T5 ... p256
• T5.09 ... p184 or p220
• T5.10 ... Book 1 p214 or Book 3 p110

Healing is under the skill description for Medic. Here's where you should look:

• T5 ... p165
• T5.09 ... p135
• T5.10 ... Book 1 p156

 

[polemikus]

Hey, thanks for your reply (and I love the way you quaote all sources; very considerate, thanks!). I am quoting from the 3 book pdf 5.10.

- I am planning on starting a T5 Campaign because we don't know yet where to go with our campaign and it's a great toolset which leaves open everything from a clone war to a deep space horror game.
But it's the basics I seem to miss...

1.
Are there any adverse effects for the person firing to use Auto fire? Ammunition? Recoil?

2.
Regarding healing: If I am 777777, and I take 10 damage - I reduce randomly, and its 740777 afterwards; and I take a second hit with 5 which is applied = 240777 - I have taken two Attacks and 10 and 5 hits. What is the Severity?

All quotes are T5.10

• Is it rolled randomly (according to BD p. 222 it is)? I assume there are two rolls, either one (or only the second) with +1? That would make Severity completely random from 1 to 6(7).
• Is it Hits/2 (according to C2 p. 211 it is), making it a Severity 5 and a Severity 3 (or 2?) wound?
• Are Wounds 3 Severity and 2 Severity (according to T5-016 p. 230-pdf)? Or 3 and 3? Or is this one giant Injury?

And with regard to healing: How does this work? Imagine I had now diagnosed everything and had successfully healed. Taking option 2, it would take 25 and 9 days to heal - when do I get back my attributes? And at which rate? All at the last day? At a steady rate? Are there rules for this?

Just to make it clear: I am just trying to understand it, because I can sense that there is a brilliant idea behind all this, butI sometimes seem to miss one essential sentence. I am a birg Harn fan and I love simulationist systems which are dangerous,detailed and with a load of options. I like slow healing, dfferent injuries etc... But: I would like to understand it. I hope that this all has not yet been explained a 100 times...

 

[whartung]

Are there any adverse effects for the person firing to use Auto fire? Ammunition? Recoil?

Ammunition at a minimum. I can't speak to T5, but in CT, I think, auto fire consumed 10 rounds from the magazine. So, a generic Gauss Rifle could only fire in 4 rounds of play before reloading. I've honestly never gamed it out how much auto fire is (or is not) "worth it".

Historically, it's been found that auto fire at the individual level is not as effective as aimed fire, or bursts. The value of auto fire is more in terms of cover and control (i.e. keep the other guys head down).

You mentioned recoil, the M-14 is a notorious "bad" auto rifle due to it recoil. You really need a monster like the BAR to make that cartridge effective in an auto fire situation.

 

[Hemdian]

If you're planning a T5 campaign, I have some resources on http://hemdian.com/traveller (including referee's screens and character generation flow charts) that might be of help ... I plan to revise and add material soon.





For healing:

I believe T5.1 p222 is for objects (including androids). But beyond that ... I lean towards Severity = Hits/2 (and possibly = Cuts/3 as per T5beta and T5), and just use T5.1 p230 as a quick-n-dirty alternative when needed (such as when my notes during combat got messed up and/or for a minor NPC, etc).

I haven't found the rule for characteristic recovery, so in my game, I house rule: for each wound, half characteristic recovery after half healing time elapsed, and full recovery after full healing time.



For full-auto:

In T5 p218, there was a rule that full-auto could only be used at speed 1 (walking) or less ... not counting vehicle movement. Then, as whartung pointed out, there's the issue of ammo use. On another thread mid-2019, whulorigan wrote:

Since the actual amount of ammo spent on any given attack is somewhat abstract in this system, how about this as a simple house rule for burst or autofire:

• Burst: At the end of each round roll a basic "task" throw (Target# =7, Difficulty Dice= Round#). Failure of the throw means the magazine is empty.
• Autofire: As above, but add an additional 1D to the throw.
• +/-Mods (or +/- 1D) to be applied as the GM deems appropriate (such as for relative magazine capacity, for example).

YMMV.