CT Only: Do you use morale?
- Thread starter aramis
- Start date
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Addendum, if a player want to use the morale rule for their character it is entirely up to them.
I use it for NPCs, players decide what their characters do.
I use it for NPCs, players decide what their characters do.
Ildefonse
SOC-10
I think the point made earlier about the dividing line between player agency and chance is the determinant for me: at a single PC scale the "adventure" line is hard between the player describing their PC's actions (e.g., "I stand and fire") and the results of their actions (e.g., as a Ref: "Ok, roll to hit: if passed, roll for damage"). The "roll for how your PC feels" (e.g., brave, fearful) falls clearly on the side of loss of player agency (i.e., war-game), absent any kind of psionics, high-tech emotion manipulation, sorcery, etc.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
This is the system I use. It's based on MT
Morale in Traveller
One of the most important functions of combat is morale. That is, a character's willingness to continue to fight or fight at all. Yes, there is a system in Striker for morale, but it doesn't translate cleanly to Traveller. The reason morale is needed is that players may, and frequently do, things that if they were actually the character they wouldn't do in combat.
Frequently morale is not going to be a conscientious decision either. A character will simply be reacting to events rather than making an intelligent decision. Therefore, morale should be more of a forced system than simply leaving it to the player to decide what their character will do in a combat situation when faced with threat of death or adversity.
Note, these situations also include animal encounters, encounters with police or, other adversarial situations. So, the system is not just limited to combat.
Morale in such situations is based on a combination of training, skill, experience, and situation. The system described below takes that into consideration. It follows the MegaTraveller Universal Task Profile system to make it uniform with the rest of the game. It also attempts to keep this function from becoming a major obstacle to play by being quick to resolve.
It is intended for use with adventuring parties of up to maybe 10 characters at most. It is not designed to be used with large groups like big military units or a crowd. It is also intended for use with Human parties not other species. Those will require some modification of the various checks and modifiers to reflect their specific traits.
Morale in Traveller
One of the most important functions of combat is morale. That is, a character's willingness to continue to fight or fight at all. Yes, there is a system in Striker for morale, but it doesn't translate cleanly to Traveller. The reason morale is needed is that players may, and frequently do, things that if they were actually the character they wouldn't do in combat.
Frequently morale is not going to be a conscientious decision either. A character will simply be reacting to events rather than making an intelligent decision. Therefore, morale should be more of a forced system than simply leaving it to the player to decide what their character will do in a combat situation when faced with threat of death or adversity.
Note, these situations also include animal encounters, encounters with police or, other adversarial situations. So, the system is not just limited to combat.
Morale in such situations is based on a combination of training, skill, experience, and situation. The system described below takes that into consideration. It follows the MegaTraveller Universal Task Profile system to make it uniform with the rest of the game. It also attempts to keep this function from becoming a major obstacle to play by being quick to resolve.
It is intended for use with adventuring parties of up to maybe 10 characters at most. It is not designed to be used with large groups like big military units or a crowd. It is also intended for use with Human parties not other species. Those will require some modification of the various checks and modifiers to reflect their specific traits.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
MORALE CHECKS
There are two parts to the morale system. The first is the check in specific circumstances. There are just six conditions in which a morale check is called for in an adversarial or combat situation. These are:
1. Upon meeting. That is when the character or party comes upon a situation that potentially has danger involved. This could be encountering a criminal, an animal, an opposed party intent on combat or, other such situations.
This check is considered a Routine confrontation with uncertain outcome. The difficulty is modified by Surprise (explained below) and the distance at which the encounter occurs.
This check is made just once at the beginning of the encounter by both parties (animal encounters the animal does not check this way).
2. When first fired on or physically attacked by the opposing party. This can be a mutual or unilateral check. It is mutual if both sides start their attack in the same combat round. If one side attacks before the other only the one first fired on need make this check.
Like the Upon meeting check this is a Routine confrontation that is modified in difficulty by surprise and distance. It is made before the results of combat are made.
These two checks will normally occur at the beginning of an encounter and be made once. Once complete they do not have to be made again.
3. The character takes damage. Whenever a player's character takes damage in fighting, they have to make a check for the morale of the character. This is done as follows:
Superficial wounds: Routine check
Minor wounds: Difficult check
Major wounds: Formidable check
4. A similar check is necessary when a member of the party sees another member take damage also. For this check the level of difficulty is reduced by one level:
Superficial: Simple
Minor: Routine
Major: Difficult
5. If a member of either party attempts to engage in hand-to-hand or close combat with their opponents that character must pass a morale check to engage. If the character passes, then their potential opponent(s) that are, or will be, within short or close range must pass a morale check to remain there and fight. That is, it takes special nerve to attack someone face-to-face and equal nerve to stand there and fight back.
In this check the attacking character(s) check first. If the character fails the check, then they will not advance and close to combat. Instead, they will remain where they are in the condition they were prior to the attempt. If the attacker's attempt fails the defending characters need not take any morale check. They only have to check if the attacker succeeds in passing their morale check to close to close combat range. The defense must pass their check before attempting return fire or other actions.
The check is made as follows:
Attacker is one on one or greater in number to the defender: Difficult task check
Attacker is one on several (3 or less defenders): Formidable task
Attacker is one on many (more than 3 defenders): Impossible task
6. The last morale check situation is when the situation changes. This check is made at the referee’s discretion. The referee may set the level of difficulty based on the situation. Some typical cases where this would occur are:
One side gets reinforcements
A character's cover is gone.
The vehicle the character(s) is in is disabled or destroyed. The compartment of a starship the character is in is damaged or destroyed.
Running out of ammunition or a jammed weapon
A player wants to be a Hero (see below).
STATES OF MORALE
The results from a morale check using the universal task profile are as follows:
Exceed the needed roll by 10 or more:
BERZERK A berserk character will immediately charge the opposition. They do not need to pass a morale check to close to close or short range for hand-to-hand combat. They will disregard using cover. If equipped with a firearm they will fire unaimed at the highest rate of fire at their opponent(s). They must be incapacitated to stop them. They do not need to check morale for damage / wounds.
Exceed the needed roll by 5 or more:
ENRAGED / IMPETUOUS Enraged characters will immediately return fire. They disregard cover and will advance on their opponent(s) if possible. They disregard morale checks unless seriously wounded or worse. Attacks can be aimed but all attacks are made at the highest rate of fire.
A result of + 4 to 0:
NORMAL Character acts as player wishes.
Failed roll by -1 to -5:
SCARED / STARTLED The character cannot advance towards their opponent. They may run away if desired by player. If in cover will stay in cover. Will seek cover if immediately available within the current move. May fire but fire is unaimed.
Failed roll by -6 to -10:
PANICKED / STUNNED The character will attempt to move away from danger and leave the fight. If in cover will remain in cover. If cover is available will move to cover. May fire blindly at opponents but only if in cover.
Fails roll by greater than 10:
TERRIFIED A catastrophic failure of morale. Character will flee disregarding cover. They will not fight. They may not fire. Will attempt to surrender (if this is practical given the situation... a character will obviously not try to surrender to a wild animal for example) if opponent is at short or close range. Will throw weapons and any encumbering equipment away. Will abandon vehicles and flee. They will continue to flee until there is no longer any danger.
There are two parts to the morale system. The first is the check in specific circumstances. There are just six conditions in which a morale check is called for in an adversarial or combat situation. These are:
1. Upon meeting. That is when the character or party comes upon a situation that potentially has danger involved. This could be encountering a criminal, an animal, an opposed party intent on combat or, other such situations.
This check is considered a Routine confrontation with uncertain outcome. The difficulty is modified by Surprise (explained below) and the distance at which the encounter occurs.
This check is made just once at the beginning of the encounter by both parties (animal encounters the animal does not check this way).
2. When first fired on or physically attacked by the opposing party. This can be a mutual or unilateral check. It is mutual if both sides start their attack in the same combat round. If one side attacks before the other only the one first fired on need make this check.
Like the Upon meeting check this is a Routine confrontation that is modified in difficulty by surprise and distance. It is made before the results of combat are made.
These two checks will normally occur at the beginning of an encounter and be made once. Once complete they do not have to be made again.
3. The character takes damage. Whenever a player's character takes damage in fighting, they have to make a check for the morale of the character. This is done as follows:
Superficial wounds: Routine check
Minor wounds: Difficult check
Major wounds: Formidable check
4. A similar check is necessary when a member of the party sees another member take damage also. For this check the level of difficulty is reduced by one level:
Superficial: Simple
Minor: Routine
Major: Difficult
5. If a member of either party attempts to engage in hand-to-hand or close combat with their opponents that character must pass a morale check to engage. If the character passes, then their potential opponent(s) that are, or will be, within short or close range must pass a morale check to remain there and fight. That is, it takes special nerve to attack someone face-to-face and equal nerve to stand there and fight back.
In this check the attacking character(s) check first. If the character fails the check, then they will not advance and close to combat. Instead, they will remain where they are in the condition they were prior to the attempt. If the attacker's attempt fails the defending characters need not take any morale check. They only have to check if the attacker succeeds in passing their morale check to close to close combat range. The defense must pass their check before attempting return fire or other actions.
The check is made as follows:
Attacker is one on one or greater in number to the defender: Difficult task check
Attacker is one on several (3 or less defenders): Formidable task
Attacker is one on many (more than 3 defenders): Impossible task
6. The last morale check situation is when the situation changes. This check is made at the referee’s discretion. The referee may set the level of difficulty based on the situation. Some typical cases where this would occur are:
One side gets reinforcements
A character's cover is gone.
The vehicle the character(s) is in is disabled or destroyed. The compartment of a starship the character is in is damaged or destroyed.
Running out of ammunition or a jammed weapon
A player wants to be a Hero (see below).
STATES OF MORALE
The results from a morale check using the universal task profile are as follows:
Exceed the needed roll by 10 or more:
BERZERK A berserk character will immediately charge the opposition. They do not need to pass a morale check to close to close or short range for hand-to-hand combat. They will disregard using cover. If equipped with a firearm they will fire unaimed at the highest rate of fire at their opponent(s). They must be incapacitated to stop them. They do not need to check morale for damage / wounds.
Exceed the needed roll by 5 or more:
ENRAGED / IMPETUOUS Enraged characters will immediately return fire. They disregard cover and will advance on their opponent(s) if possible. They disregard morale checks unless seriously wounded or worse. Attacks can be aimed but all attacks are made at the highest rate of fire.
A result of + 4 to 0:
NORMAL Character acts as player wishes.
Failed roll by -1 to -5:
SCARED / STARTLED The character cannot advance towards their opponent. They may run away if desired by player. If in cover will stay in cover. Will seek cover if immediately available within the current move. May fire but fire is unaimed.
Failed roll by -6 to -10:
PANICKED / STUNNED The character will attempt to move away from danger and leave the fight. If in cover will remain in cover. If cover is available will move to cover. May fire blindly at opponents but only if in cover.
Fails roll by greater than 10:
TERRIFIED A catastrophic failure of morale. Character will flee disregarding cover. They will not fight. They may not fire. Will attempt to surrender (if this is practical given the situation... a character will obviously not try to surrender to a wild animal for example) if opponent is at short or close range. Will throw weapons and any encumbering equipment away. Will abandon vehicles and flee. They will continue to flee until there is no longer any danger.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
THE HERO FACTOR
A player may attempt to make a heroic move with a character in some circumstances. Players may attempt a heroic action when the scenario appears to be failing, the party is severely threatened, or disaster appears imminent. The referee makes the final decision as to whether to allow a heroic moral check or not.
An individual player nominates their character for this action. They can select a modifier to the outcome of their choice. A normal morale check is then rolled by the player using all normal modifiers without the hero modifier.
If the morale check is passed (ie., the roll is equal to or exceeding what is needed) then the check succeeds, and the modifier is added as a positive to the result with the attendant actions. If the check fails, the modifier is added as a negative or bad outcome to the roll with the same attendant results.
MORALE FAILURE RECOVERY
A character recovers their morale (ie., returns to normal) when they either:
Pass a subsequent morale check OR are no longer under fire / attack and the danger is not present.
SURPRISE
Surprise only occurs upon initially meeting in an adversarial situation. The levels are:
Minor: The opponent was expected and comes from a known direction or opens fire from an expected direction. The opponent appears suddenly. Party or individual has clues that there is an opponent like noise but cannot see the opposition. Initial check for morale is Difficult
Major: Opposition appears from an unexpected direction. There is little or no warning of their presence. An unseen, unexpected opponent opens fire on party or individual. The opposition in any instance opens fire with far greater intensity and volume than party or individual expects or can generate themselves. Initial check for morale is Formidable
Complete: Opposition appears totally unexpected. Opponent appears at close or short range. Party or individual sees what appears to be overwhelming opposition. Initial check for morale is Impossible
WOUNDS
When a character is wounded or someone in the party is seen to be wounded the individual and party take a morale check as follows:
Individual Party
Minor wound: Difficult Routine
Serious: Formidable Difficult
Incapacitating: Impossible Formidable
MODIFIERS
Skills:
Leader: Reduce check one level of difficulty for each level when leader checks. Reduce party level of difficulty by one level for each two levels of leader present.
Tactics: + to roll per level for whole party. Sum all available tactics levels for this roll.
Sword/blade/spear/polearm/brawling etc.: Reduce difficulty level by one for each level an individual has when attempting to engage in close combat.
Combat Experience:
This is determined from the character's career. Decorations, wounds, and receipt of combat skills indicate the general level of experience of the character. This modifies the morale checks each time.
No combat experience: 1D-3 (roll once apply each time)
Little combat experience: 0 (combat indicated once or twice)
Some experience: +2 (multiple cases, wound, decoration)
Considerable experience +3 (multiple cases, multiple wounds, multiple decorations)
Note: If engaging in Zero G combat apply Zero G skills level as the indicator of number of engagements.
Party:
No designated leader or clear leader present: Increase difficulty of check one level
Disorganized party. No chain of command, no designated tactics, not trained as a group: Increase difficulty of check one level
Individual lacks appropriate training for situation: Increase difficulty of check one level
Examples: Lacks military training for combat, lacks police skills for criminal fight, lacks hunting / scout skills for an animal encounter. Military training can generally be accepted as a substitute in most cases for needed training.
Other:
Each party member fleeing in sight -2
Each party member under cover, in sight and, not fighting -1
Each party member in sight advancing +1 (max of 2)
Each party member visible and fighting +1 (max of 2)
Each party member visible who has a serious or greater wound this round of combat -2
Meeting: Distance of contact. Use only upon initial meeting of parties.
Long or greater 0
Short -3
Close: Increase difficulty one level.
Fire exchanged this round: This is expressed as a ratio of incoming to outgoing fire.
x .5 or < +1
x 1.5 or > -3
x 2 or > -5
x 3 or > -9
Hand-To-Hand combat engagement: A player checks as follows to move to close range with an opponent or opponents or when an opponent advances to close range. Attacker rolls first. Defending characters roll only if attacker is successful.
One on one: Difficult
One on several (2-3) Formidable
One on many (>3) Impossible
There is no penalty for failing this check. The character simply does not advance and this finishes their combat round.
HEROS:
The heroic morale check is allowed to be made by any character / player but only in critical situations. These occur when a portion of the scenario will fail that is critical to success, the party is in serious trouble, or other situations where the party needs immediate success in order to continue. The referee determines if this check will be allowed.
To make a heroic check the player designates a modifier to the final result. The player can choose any amount they want to add. Example: The player chooses to add +10 to the final result.
A normal morale check with all normal, applicable, modifiers is made without the hero modifier. If this check is passed by any amount, then the hero modifier is added to the result and that becomes the new level of the character's morale. Example: A character currently in a morale state of scared takes a hero check and passes by 1. The hero modifier the player chose was 9. The character is now berzerk and acts accordingly.
If the morale check fails by any amount the hero modifier is applied as a negative to it with the attendant results. Example: The same character fails the check by 1. The modifier of 9 becomes a negative and the failure is now -10 and the character becomes terrified with the attendant actions.
A player may attempt to make a heroic move with a character in some circumstances. Players may attempt a heroic action when the scenario appears to be failing, the party is severely threatened, or disaster appears imminent. The referee makes the final decision as to whether to allow a heroic moral check or not.
An individual player nominates their character for this action. They can select a modifier to the outcome of their choice. A normal morale check is then rolled by the player using all normal modifiers without the hero modifier.
If the morale check is passed (ie., the roll is equal to or exceeding what is needed) then the check succeeds, and the modifier is added as a positive to the result with the attendant actions. If the check fails, the modifier is added as a negative or bad outcome to the roll with the same attendant results.
MORALE FAILURE RECOVERY
A character recovers their morale (ie., returns to normal) when they either:
Pass a subsequent morale check OR are no longer under fire / attack and the danger is not present.
SURPRISE
Surprise only occurs upon initially meeting in an adversarial situation. The levels are:
Minor: The opponent was expected and comes from a known direction or opens fire from an expected direction. The opponent appears suddenly. Party or individual has clues that there is an opponent like noise but cannot see the opposition. Initial check for morale is Difficult
Major: Opposition appears from an unexpected direction. There is little or no warning of their presence. An unseen, unexpected opponent opens fire on party or individual. The opposition in any instance opens fire with far greater intensity and volume than party or individual expects or can generate themselves. Initial check for morale is Formidable
Complete: Opposition appears totally unexpected. Opponent appears at close or short range. Party or individual sees what appears to be overwhelming opposition. Initial check for morale is Impossible
WOUNDS
When a character is wounded or someone in the party is seen to be wounded the individual and party take a morale check as follows:
Individual Party
Minor wound: Difficult Routine
Serious: Formidable Difficult
Incapacitating: Impossible Formidable
MODIFIERS
Skills:
Leader: Reduce check one level of difficulty for each level when leader checks. Reduce party level of difficulty by one level for each two levels of leader present.
Tactics: + to roll per level for whole party. Sum all available tactics levels for this roll.
Sword/blade/spear/polearm/brawling etc.: Reduce difficulty level by one for each level an individual has when attempting to engage in close combat.
Combat Experience:
This is determined from the character's career. Decorations, wounds, and receipt of combat skills indicate the general level of experience of the character. This modifies the morale checks each time.
No combat experience: 1D-3 (roll once apply each time)
Little combat experience: 0 (combat indicated once or twice)
Some experience: +2 (multiple cases, wound, decoration)
Considerable experience +3 (multiple cases, multiple wounds, multiple decorations)
Note: If engaging in Zero G combat apply Zero G skills level as the indicator of number of engagements.
Party:
No designated leader or clear leader present: Increase difficulty of check one level
Disorganized party. No chain of command, no designated tactics, not trained as a group: Increase difficulty of check one level
Individual lacks appropriate training for situation: Increase difficulty of check one level
Examples: Lacks military training for combat, lacks police skills for criminal fight, lacks hunting / scout skills for an animal encounter. Military training can generally be accepted as a substitute in most cases for needed training.
Other:
Each party member fleeing in sight -2
Each party member under cover, in sight and, not fighting -1
Each party member in sight advancing +1 (max of 2)
Each party member visible and fighting +1 (max of 2)
Each party member visible who has a serious or greater wound this round of combat -2
Meeting: Distance of contact. Use only upon initial meeting of parties.
Long or greater 0
Short -3
Close: Increase difficulty one level.
Fire exchanged this round: This is expressed as a ratio of incoming to outgoing fire.
x .5 or < +1
x 1.5 or > -3
x 2 or > -5
x 3 or > -9
Hand-To-Hand combat engagement: A player checks as follows to move to close range with an opponent or opponents or when an opponent advances to close range. Attacker rolls first. Defending characters roll only if attacker is successful.
One on one: Difficult
One on several (2-3) Formidable
One on many (>3) Impossible
There is no penalty for failing this check. The character simply does not advance and this finishes their combat round.
HEROS:
The heroic morale check is allowed to be made by any character / player but only in critical situations. These occur when a portion of the scenario will fail that is critical to success, the party is in serious trouble, or other situations where the party needs immediate success in order to continue. The referee determines if this check will be allowed.
To make a heroic check the player designates a modifier to the final result. The player can choose any amount they want to add. Example: The player chooses to add +10 to the final result.
A normal morale check with all normal, applicable, modifiers is made without the hero modifier. If this check is passed by any amount, then the hero modifier is added to the result and that becomes the new level of the character's morale. Example: A character currently in a morale state of scared takes a hero check and passes by 1. The hero modifier the player chose was 9. The character is now berzerk and acts accordingly.
If the morale check fails by any amount the hero modifier is applied as a negative to it with the attendant results. Example: The same character fails the check by 1. The modifier of 9 becomes a negative and the failure is now -10 and the character becomes terrified with the attendant actions.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
Both Traveller and Striker were designed to be as much a wargame and simulation as an RPG. The idea with this morale system is to prevent players from being "super soldiers" and having the ability to overwhelm NPC's or 'monsters.'
Ildefonse
SOC-10
I'd debate the "as much a wargame and simulation as an RPG" with respect to Traveller, and have little knowledge of Striker (decades old memories of designing vehicles is all). But no matter: Traveller's systems allows all kinds of interpretations of what can be emulated. Cheers!
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Snapshot has no morale rules. AHL has a lot of detail:
"18. MORALE
Each character has a printed morale factor and some characters have leadership bonuses. These values are used in making morale checks.
A. When to Check Morale: A character must check morale once for each of the following situations. If the situation occurs more than once in a phase, the character must check once for each occurrence.
1. Exposure to Covering Fire: A character under cover must check morale before exposing himself to covering fire. Exposing oneself to covering fire consists of leaning around a corner or rising above a console if this would place the character in the danger space of a covering fire. Additionally, a character intending to move through the danger space of a covering fire must check morale before doing so.
2. Moving Adjacent: A character who intends to move adjacent to an enemy character must check morale before doing so.
3. Friendly Casualties: At the end of each action phase, any character who saw (had a line of sight to) any friendly character who was killed, was seriously wounded, or lost consciousness must check morale. The line of sight can be in any direction and need not be through a front square.
4. Unexpected Fire: If a character is fired upon unexpectedly, a morale check must be made for that character. Unexpected fire is fire from an enemy character who was unseen prior to the current action phase. Unexpected fire morale checks are made at the end of each action phase.
B. Order of Morale Checks: Higher ranking characters must check morale first, followed in order by lower ranking characters. There are three general categories of ranks: 1) officers; 2) warrant officers/NCOs; and 3) enlisted persons/ratings/ technicians.
Within each of these three categories, characters check morale in order of their identification numbers. Thus, character 01 would check morale before character 02 did, etc.
While the order in which a player's characters move is determined by the player, all characters whose movement will require a morale check must take the morale check before any characters move.
C. Procedure: Roll two dice. If the number rolled is equal to or less than the character's modified morale value, the character passes the check. If it is greater than the character's modified morale value the character fails the check. All positive leadership bonuses are added to the checking character's morale value (not the dice roll), and all negative bonuses are subtracted from the checking character's morale value.
A character with a leadership bonus (referred to as a leader) uses the bonus to modify the morale values of all friendly subordinates (all who check morale after that leader) within the leader's line of sight, but only if the leader did check morale that step. A leader may not apply his or her bonus to his or her own morale checks.
If the leader passes all morale checks, that leader's bonus is added to all subsequent morale checks of friendly subordinates; if the leader fails a morale check then that leader's bonus is subtracted from all other morale checks of friendly subordinates. The effects of several leaders in the same area checking morale are cumulative.
For example, lntruder officer 3 (bonus of +2) and lntruder NCO 2 (bonus of +3) are leading an assault party across an area swept by covering fire. Officer 3 fails his or her morale check and thus NCO 2 checks morale with 2 subtracted from his or her morale rating. Assuming NCO 2 passes the check, all of the other members of the assault party check morale with a positive modifier of 1 (+3 from NCO 2 and -2 from 02 for a net modifier of +I ).
D. Effects of Failed Morale: Failure of an exposure to covering fire check causes the character to avoid exposing him or herself; any other movement (or allowable combat action) is permitted as long as the character does not enter a danger space of a covering fire. Failure of a moving adjacent check will cause the character to stop moving before coming adjacent. The character will stop with at least 3 APs left (if possible), and if 3 APs are left will execute a snap shot at the character to whom he or she was intending to move adjacent. Failure of a casualty or unexpected fire morale check will cause the character to panic and flee. Regardless of what was chosen for the character in the decision phase, the character must, in the action phase(s) immediately following the failed check, run away from the location of the enemy characters until he or she reaches a position of complete cover (referred to as cowering). The character will then remain there until he or she successfully makes a morale check. This morale check is made at the start of each decision phase. Any friendly leader who moves to the square containing the cowering character may apply his or her leadership bonus to that character's morale value. In this case, it is not necessary for the leader to pass a morale check before applying the bonus to the cowering character. Note that any leader may carry out this function for any friendly cowering character. This is the only time that the leadership bonus of a lower-ranking character may be used to assist a higher-ranking character in making a morale check."
"18. MORALE
Each character has a printed morale factor and some characters have leadership bonuses. These values are used in making morale checks.
A. When to Check Morale: A character must check morale once for each of the following situations. If the situation occurs more than once in a phase, the character must check once for each occurrence.
1. Exposure to Covering Fire: A character under cover must check morale before exposing himself to covering fire. Exposing oneself to covering fire consists of leaning around a corner or rising above a console if this would place the character in the danger space of a covering fire. Additionally, a character intending to move through the danger space of a covering fire must check morale before doing so.
2. Moving Adjacent: A character who intends to move adjacent to an enemy character must check morale before doing so.
3. Friendly Casualties: At the end of each action phase, any character who saw (had a line of sight to) any friendly character who was killed, was seriously wounded, or lost consciousness must check morale. The line of sight can be in any direction and need not be through a front square.
4. Unexpected Fire: If a character is fired upon unexpectedly, a morale check must be made for that character. Unexpected fire is fire from an enemy character who was unseen prior to the current action phase. Unexpected fire morale checks are made at the end of each action phase.
B. Order of Morale Checks: Higher ranking characters must check morale first, followed in order by lower ranking characters. There are three general categories of ranks: 1) officers; 2) warrant officers/NCOs; and 3) enlisted persons/ratings/ technicians.
Within each of these three categories, characters check morale in order of their identification numbers. Thus, character 01 would check morale before character 02 did, etc.
While the order in which a player's characters move is determined by the player, all characters whose movement will require a morale check must take the morale check before any characters move.
C. Procedure: Roll two dice. If the number rolled is equal to or less than the character's modified morale value, the character passes the check. If it is greater than the character's modified morale value the character fails the check. All positive leadership bonuses are added to the checking character's morale value (not the dice roll), and all negative bonuses are subtracted from the checking character's morale value.
A character with a leadership bonus (referred to as a leader) uses the bonus to modify the morale values of all friendly subordinates (all who check morale after that leader) within the leader's line of sight, but only if the leader did check morale that step. A leader may not apply his or her bonus to his or her own morale checks.
If the leader passes all morale checks, that leader's bonus is added to all subsequent morale checks of friendly subordinates; if the leader fails a morale check then that leader's bonus is subtracted from all other morale checks of friendly subordinates. The effects of several leaders in the same area checking morale are cumulative.
For example, lntruder officer 3 (bonus of +2) and lntruder NCO 2 (bonus of +3) are leading an assault party across an area swept by covering fire. Officer 3 fails his or her morale check and thus NCO 2 checks morale with 2 subtracted from his or her morale rating. Assuming NCO 2 passes the check, all of the other members of the assault party check morale with a positive modifier of 1 (+3 from NCO 2 and -2 from 02 for a net modifier of +I ).
D. Effects of Failed Morale: Failure of an exposure to covering fire check causes the character to avoid exposing him or herself; any other movement (or allowable combat action) is permitted as long as the character does not enter a danger space of a covering fire. Failure of a moving adjacent check will cause the character to stop moving before coming adjacent. The character will stop with at least 3 APs left (if possible), and if 3 APs are left will execute a snap shot at the character to whom he or she was intending to move adjacent. Failure of a casualty or unexpected fire morale check will cause the character to panic and flee. Regardless of what was chosen for the character in the decision phase, the character must, in the action phase(s) immediately following the failed check, run away from the location of the enemy characters until he or she reaches a position of complete cover (referred to as cowering). The character will then remain there until he or she successfully makes a morale check. This morale check is made at the start of each decision phase. Any friendly leader who moves to the square containing the cowering character may apply his or her leadership bonus to that character's morale value. In this case, it is not necessary for the leader to pass a morale check before applying the bonus to the cowering character. Note that any leader may carry out this function for any friendly cowering character. This is the only time that the leadership bonus of a lower-ranking character may be used to assist a higher-ranking character in making a morale check."
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Ildefonse
SOC-10
Thanks: Snapshot & AHL fall firmly on the wargame simulation side for me, and not on the adventure emulation. I'd only be tempted to use one of them if I wanted to eschew CT's very abstract combat system (pp. 30 - 48 of LBB1) for a large skirmish, and even then I'd exempt the PCs from the morale rules, and only apply them to NPCs. But I certainly wouldn't argue with a Ref who wanted to use them.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
The salient point was that there are two skirmish board/war games Snapshot and AHL, only one bothers with morale.
If you adopt some variation of Snapshot for combat resolution then there is no morale to worry about. You can always just ignore the morale rules in AHL and Striker if you so choose.
If you adopt some variation of Snapshot for combat resolution then there is no morale to worry about. You can always just ignore the morale rules in AHL and Striker if you so choose.
Badenov
SOC-12
The thing about these numbers (or any numbers someone might come up with) is that they are wildly culturally and chronologically specific, with no consistent way to modify them for other cultures, times, or anything. I can totally imagine Aslan passing a morale check others might fail. Or Vargr, for different reasons.
Historically, in the 19th century and before, most of the TNs in the system described above would be very low, but even lowering the pass to a 3+ means 1 in 36 runs away, which is not how movies portray these things (which is all I know about them). The Charge of the Light Brigade could almost certainly not have happened under those rules. The Western Front in WW1 and the D-Day landings in WW2 could probably never have happened, and a lot of historical things that happened could likewise not have happened due to even 1 in 36 people running away.
I am OK with morale rules for NPCs, which these seem to be representing, but I don't feel like these specific rules would do a very good job of portraying specific groups.
Historically, in the 19th century and before, most of the TNs in the system described above would be very low, but even lowering the pass to a 3+ means 1 in 36 runs away, which is not how movies portray these things (which is all I know about them). The Charge of the Light Brigade could almost certainly not have happened under those rules. The Western Front in WW1 and the D-Day landings in WW2 could probably never have happened, and a lot of historical things that happened could likewise not have happened due to even 1 in 36 people running away.
I am OK with morale rules for NPCs, which these seem to be representing, but I don't feel like these specific rules would do a very good job of portraying specific groups.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Morale Values, Human
Recruit 4
Regular 7
Veteran 10
Elite 13
Morale Values, Aslan
Recruit 6
Regular 9
Veteran 12
Elite 15
Morale Values, Vargr
Recruit 2
Regular 6
Veteran 11
Elite 15
Recruit 4
Regular 7
Veteran 10
Elite 13
Morale Values, Aslan
Recruit 6
Regular 9
Veteran 12
Elite 15
Morale Values, Vargr
Recruit 2
Regular 6
Veteran 11
Elite 15
See that in MT the thresholds are +/-4 batches (+/-2 in combat), and, if using your system, I would use them instead of the +/-5 you'd use...
Doesn't this happen in most RPGs? Just see which percentage of the rules are devoted to combat (or related matters) in most of them...
If morale is checked by units, not by individuals, they may. And don't forget for most those soldiers the alternative (fleeing) was neither an option, and even so the stagglers were common...
This case, as the Scotts Grays charge in Waterloo, I see as cases of Bersek...
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I understand this is from MT: If so, just one detail: those are Imperial numbers.
Solomani numbers are (according S&A)
Recruit 2
Regular 7
Veteran 11
Elite 15
Vilani's (according V&V)
Recruit 6
Regular 8
Veteran 11
Elite 14
Unfortunatelly, the Zhodani book was never published, and various minor races may vary, IIRC...
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
They are Striker numbers, Solomani, Vilani and Imperial hybrid are all treated the same, there are special rules for the Zhodani but no morale number difference:
"The basic rules cover combat between human forces. This rule gives some general
guides to the other major races (including the human but unusual Zhodani)"
"The basic rules cover combat between human forces. This rule gives some general
guides to the other major races (including the human but unusual Zhodani)"
Its interesting that in the "Integrating with Traveller" section of AHL, there's no mention of determining a Morale number for a character.
Its not clear how to determine character status ("Recruit", "Veteran", etc.).
Fair enough to base it on terms in the service (Recruit == 1 term, Regular == 2-3 terms, Veteran 4+ terms). Elite would be something different, that's more a skill set than just time in service.
Its not clear how to determine character status ("Recruit", "Veteran", etc.).
Fair enough to base it on terms in the service (Recruit == 1 term, Regular == 2-3 terms, Veteran 4+ terms). Elite would be something different, that's more a skill set than just time in service.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Morale, or willingness to put yourself in harm's way, should really be an intrinsic trait. It is then modified by indoctrination.
Training may improve it a bit, accepting the inevitability of death on the battlefield may give you some detachment, an unwavering belief in an afterlife and a reward in heaven, and then of course drugs.
Training may improve it a bit, accepting the inevitability of death on the battlefield may give you some detachment, an unwavering belief in an afterlife and a reward in heaven, and then of course drugs.
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