Re-Thinking Classic Traveller Gun Combat

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT





The Issue: The issue is the balance between fun gameplay and realistic weapons in Traveller.

If weapons in the game are ultra-realistic, dealing out realistic damage, then either (A) combat will never take place in a Traveller game because players will shy away from armed encounters in order to keep their characters alive (What fun is that, never having exciting shootouts?) , or (B) combat will be so deadly that it is likely that a player character will die each gun battle game session (Again, what fun is that? It's no fun when your character dies.).

Classic Traveller's answer has been to compromise. Damage is more deadly than in most other rpgs, but still just about any single gunshot wound cannot kill an individual.

Consider an average human has physical stats 777. The average weapon does 3D damage, and rolling 3D averages 10 points of damage. The First Blood rule says to take all damage from a single randomly chosen physical stat, and carry over any damage to the next stat if the first stat is reduced to zero.

10 pts damage applied randomly will result in physical stats being: 047 (depending on the random stat choice).

Under Classic Traveller rules, this character has been inflicted with only a minor wound that knocked him unconscious. He will recover shortly.

Obviously, this character hasn't been "shot" with a gunshot wound as we normally think of it in the real world. At best, he's been grazed.






The Question: How do you reconcile this? Is there a way to make Traveller weapons both more deadly yet still keep the game playable?




I have some thoughts on this....

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT





The Issue: The issue is the balance between fun gameplay and realistic weapons in Traveller.

If weapons in the game are ultra-realistic, dealing out realistic damage, then either (A) combat will never take place in a Traveller game because players will shy away from armed encounters in order to keep their characters alive (What fun is that, never having exciting shootouts?) , or (B) combat will be so deadly that it is likely that a player character will die each gun battle game session (Again, what fun is that? It's no fun when your character dies.).

Classic Traveller's answer has been to compromise. Damage is more deadly than in most other rpgs, but still just about any single gunshot wound cannot kill an individual.

Consider an average human has physical stats 777. The average weapon does 3D damage, and rolling 3D averages 10 points of damage. The First Blood rule says to take all damage from a single randomly chosen physical stat, and carry over any damage to the next stat if the first stat is reduced to zero.

10 pts damage applied randomly will result in physical stats being: 047 (depending on the random stat choice).

Under Classic Traveller rules, this character has been inflicted with only a minor wound that knocked him unconscious. He will recover shortly.

Obviously, this character hasn't been "shot" with a gunshot wound as we normally think of it in the real world. At best, he's been grazed.






The Question: How do you reconcile this? Is there a way to make Traveller weapons both more deadly yet still keep the game playable?




I have some thoughts on this....

 

[Outsider]

This effect is easy to justify if your players are wearing armour during the gunfight. A bullet(s) that hit a person wearing armour still deliver a lot of kinetic energy into their frame, although it is spread out over a wide area and not permitted to penetrate and cause serious tissue damage.

However the impact will still hurt, possibly knock them off their feet, daze or stun them, knock the wind from them, cause massive bruising or break an underlying bone. Explosive weapons will cause less fragmentation and burn damage, but concussion will still be a factor. Of course, the heavier the armour, the less effect the shot will have on the person. So being stunned for a moment (I generally rule it less than the ten minutes mentioned in the rules, but dependent on the circumstances) by a shot that inflicts very little 'real' damage is quite acceptable.

If the character is wearing (virtually) no armour then it is harder to justify with this argument. But then if they get hit by a gauss rifle burst while they're just wearing their pyjamas they're probably not looking at a trivial wound anyway!

(IMTU though, I have scrapped the weapon vs. armour section of the table, and have assigned an armour value to each type of armour. Each type of armour has five different defence values; ballistic, energy, impact, explosive, penetrative. Incoming fire is reduced by the appropriate amount. Although I understand that MT takes a similar approach, the values I use are home-grown.)

 

[Outsider]

This effect is easy to justify if your players are wearing armour during the gunfight. A bullet(s) that hit a person wearing armour still deliver a lot of kinetic energy into their frame, although it is spread out over a wide area and not permitted to penetrate and cause serious tissue damage.

However the impact will still hurt, possibly knock them off their feet, daze or stun them, knock the wind from them, cause massive bruising or break an underlying bone. Explosive weapons will cause less fragmentation and burn damage, but concussion will still be a factor. Of course, the heavier the armour, the less effect the shot will have on the person. So being stunned for a moment (I generally rule it less than the ten minutes mentioned in the rules, but dependent on the circumstances) by a shot that inflicts very little 'real' damage is quite acceptable.

If the character is wearing (virtually) no armour then it is harder to justify with this argument. But then if they get hit by a gauss rifle burst while they're just wearing their pyjamas they're probably not looking at a trivial wound anyway!

(IMTU though, I have scrapped the weapon vs. armour section of the table, and have assigned an armour value to each type of armour. Each type of armour has five different defence values; ballistic, energy, impact, explosive, penetrative. Incoming fire is reduced by the appropriate amount. Although I understand that MT takes a similar approach, the values I use are home-grown.)

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT

Types of Damage




In Classic Traveller, there are two basic types of combat: Gun Combat and Brawling/Blade Combat.

Damage is applied differently for the two combat types.





Gun Combat Damage is always applied as described by the First Blood Rule on pg. 34 of Book 1. That is: Gun Combat Damage is always taken as a whole, applied randomly to the target's physical stats.

------------------------
Example.

Pitr has physical stats 785, and he is shot by an opponent using an autopistol. The autopistol does 3D damage: 3, 4, 6. A total of 13 points of damage are rolled. Randomly chosen, this 13 points is applied to the character's DEX, wiping it out to 0. Randomly chosen again, the extra 5 points of damage is applied to the character's END. Now, Pitr has been shot, with a serious wound, and his physicals are 700.








Brawling and Blade Combat Damage is always applied in the normal Classic Traveller fashion, also described on pg. 34 of Book 1, where damage is taken from the target's physical stats in groups of whole, single dice, at the defender's option.

------------------------
Example.

Riin's physical stats are 688, and he has just been hit by an opponent weilding a club. The club does 2D damage, and when the dice are rolled, the result is: 5, 3.

At Riin's option, one of his physical stats are reduced by 5 points and one is reduced by 3 points. Should Riin choose to reduce END and then DEX, his physical would be lowered to: 653.

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT

Types of Damage




In Classic Traveller, there are two basic types of combat: Gun Combat and Brawling/Blade Combat.

Damage is applied differently for the two combat types.





Gun Combat Damage is always applied as described by the First Blood Rule on pg. 34 of Book 1. That is: Gun Combat Damage is always taken as a whole, applied randomly to the target's physical stats.

------------------------
Example.

Pitr has physical stats 785, and he is shot by an opponent using an autopistol. The autopistol does 3D damage: 3, 4, 6. A total of 13 points of damage are rolled. Randomly chosen, this 13 points is applied to the character's DEX, wiping it out to 0. Randomly chosen again, the extra 5 points of damage is applied to the character's END. Now, Pitr has been shot, with a serious wound, and his physicals are 700.








Brawling and Blade Combat Damage is always applied in the normal Classic Traveller fashion, also described on pg. 34 of Book 1, where damage is taken from the target's physical stats in groups of whole, single dice, at the defender's option.

------------------------
Example.

Riin's physical stats are 688, and he has just been hit by an opponent weilding a club. The club does 2D damage, and when the dice are rolled, the result is: 5, 3.

At Riin's option, one of his physical stats are reduced by 5 points and one is reduced by 3 points. Should Riin choose to reduce END and then DEX, his physical would be lowered to: 653.

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT

Personal Combat




Personal Combat attack throws remain basically the same as described in Classic Traveller. The difference is that some DMs are missing from the attack roll (resulting in hits being achieved more often).




Gun Combat Attack Throw: A hit is achieved on a roll of 8+.

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">DMs to the roll include
........................
+n Attacker's Skill
+/-n Weapon's DEX DM
+/-n Weapon's Range DM
-2 Panic Fire
-4 Rapid Fire</pre>[/QUOTE]Brawling or Blade Combat Attack Throw: A hit is achieved on a roll of 8+.

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">DMs to the roll include
........................
+n Attacker's Skill
+/-n Weapon's STR DM
+/-n Weapon's Range DM
-n Weakened Blow</pre>[/QUOTE]

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT

Personal Combat




Personal Combat attack throws remain basically the same as described in Classic Traveller. The difference is that some DMs are missing from the attack roll (resulting in hits being achieved more often).




Gun Combat Attack Throw: A hit is achieved on a roll of 8+.

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">DMs to the roll include
........................
+n Attacker's Skill
+/-n Weapon's DEX DM
+/-n Weapon's Range DM
-2 Panic Fire
-4 Rapid Fire</pre>[/QUOTE]Brawling or Blade Combat Attack Throw: A hit is achieved on a roll of 8+.

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">DMs to the roll include
........................
+n Attacker's Skill
+/-n Weapon's STR DM
+/-n Weapon's Range DM
-n Weakened Blow</pre>[/QUOTE]

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT

Evasion








A new element is added to the Classic Traveller combat routine. Now, a character that is a victim of a successful attack is allowed a roll to evade the damage.

The reasoning behind this is simple: Damage applied from gunshot wounds is now greater than it is in vanilla Classic Traveller, and since some of the DMs on the attack throw have been removed, targets will be hit more often. The net result of this is that combat is deadlier than it is before. In order to keep characters alive (and keep the combat procedure both simple and logical), defenders are allowed a roll to evade damage once a successful hit is made against them.

Once a character is hit in combat, the character can make an evasion roll as long as the character is cognizant of the attack (characters caught unaware are not allowed the evasion roll).

The target number for the attack roll IS the total of the attacker's attack throw.

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">DMs to the roll include
........................
+n Defender's Parry (Skill) (Brawling or Blade Combat only)
+/-n Weapon's Block DM (Brawling or Blade Combat only)
+n Evasion DM
+n Cover/Concealment DM (Gun Combat only)
+n Defender's Speed (Gun Combat only)</pre>[/QUOTE]NOTE: Notice how important finding and fighting behind cover will be to those characters involved in this deadlier, more realistic combat system. (The Cover DM is typically +4.)




---------------------------
Example

An attacker fires his autopistol at Redonii, rolling a total of 13 on his attack roll.

This represents a successful gun combat attack unless Redonii evades. In order to evade, Redonii rolls 2D, using the DMs above. If the evasion roll is 13+, then Redonii successfully evades the pistol shot (it's a near miss, exploding right next to him). If Redonii's evasion roll results in a total that is 12-, then the attacker's autopistol attack is a success and damage is rolled against Redonii.

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT

Evasion








A new element is added to the Classic Traveller combat routine. Now, a character that is a victim of a successful attack is allowed a roll to evade the damage.

The reasoning behind this is simple: Damage applied from gunshot wounds is now greater than it is in vanilla Classic Traveller, and since some of the DMs on the attack throw have been removed, targets will be hit more often. The net result of this is that combat is deadlier than it is before. In order to keep characters alive (and keep the combat procedure both simple and logical), defenders are allowed a roll to evade damage once a successful hit is made against them.

Once a character is hit in combat, the character can make an evasion roll as long as the character is cognizant of the attack (characters caught unaware are not allowed the evasion roll).

The target number for the attack roll IS the total of the attacker's attack throw.

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">DMs to the roll include
........................
+n Defender's Parry (Skill) (Brawling or Blade Combat only)
+/-n Weapon's Block DM (Brawling or Blade Combat only)
+n Evasion DM
+n Cover/Concealment DM (Gun Combat only)
+n Defender's Speed (Gun Combat only)</pre>[/QUOTE]NOTE: Notice how important finding and fighting behind cover will be to those characters involved in this deadlier, more realistic combat system. (The Cover DM is typically +4.)




---------------------------
Example

An attacker fires his autopistol at Redonii, rolling a total of 13 on his attack roll.

This represents a successful gun combat attack unless Redonii evades. In order to evade, Redonii rolls 2D, using the DMs above. If the evasion roll is 13+, then Redonii successfully evades the pistol shot (it's a near miss, exploding right next to him). If Redonii's evasion roll results in a total that is 12-, then the attacker's autopistol attack is a success and damage is rolled against Redonii.

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT

Hit Location / Critical Success




If you use a Hit Location Chart, allow +1D damage for successful attacks against a character's head. Likewise, enforce -1D damage for successful attacks against a target's arms.

Use the link above for a detailed Hit Location Chart, or, if you prefer, a Hit Location Chart that does not require a separate roll can be found HERE.




If you use a task system, like the UGM or the UTP, allow +1D damage when a Critical Success is thrown.

If you do not use a task system in your Classic Traveller game, you might consider allowing +1D damage when boxcars are thrown on a successful attack roll.

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT

Hit Location / Critical Success




If you use a Hit Location Chart, allow +1D damage for successful attacks against a character's head. Likewise, enforce -1D damage for successful attacks against a target's arms.

Use the link above for a detailed Hit Location Chart, or, if you prefer, a Hit Location Chart that does not require a separate roll can be found HERE.




If you use a task system, like the UGM or the UTP, allow +1D damage when a Critical Success is thrown.

If you do not use a task system in your Classic Traveller game, you might consider allowing +1D damage when boxcars are thrown on a successful attack roll.

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT

Panic Fire / Rapid Fire




You will find the Panic Fire rule on pg. 32 of Book 4. I've modified it here to where Panic Fire doesn't eat up all ammo in a weapon--only the number of rounds used in the burst.

The Panic Fire rule allows up to three normal gun combat attacks during the round as long as the attacker uses a -2DM on every attack throw. It makes sense that a character can level, aim, and fire his weapon more than once in a 15 second combat round.

Note that the Automatic Fire rule allows two attack throws for every pull of the trigger when using a weapon in full automatic fire mode. When the Automatic Fire rule is combined with the Panic Fire rule, a character can perform up to six attack throws (3 autofire attacks) as long as a -2DM is used on each attack and the weapon's magazine contains enough ammo.

Some military grade automatic weapons are allowed three or more attacks per burst, as per the rule on pg. 32 of Book 4 (meaning that more than six attack throws can conceivably be made each round with these weapons).




Rapid Fire is akin to the Panic Fire rule except that Rapid Fire allows for an attack against three separate targets as long as the targets are within a 45 degree arc of the character conducting Rapid Fire. All Rapid Fire attacks are made at a penalty of DM -4.

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT

Panic Fire / Rapid Fire




You will find the Panic Fire rule on pg. 32 of Book 4. I've modified it here to where Panic Fire doesn't eat up all ammo in a weapon--only the number of rounds used in the burst.

The Panic Fire rule allows up to three normal gun combat attacks during the round as long as the attacker uses a -2DM on every attack throw. It makes sense that a character can level, aim, and fire his weapon more than once in a 15 second combat round.

Note that the Automatic Fire rule allows two attack throws for every pull of the trigger when using a weapon in full automatic fire mode. When the Automatic Fire rule is combined with the Panic Fire rule, a character can perform up to six attack throws (3 autofire attacks) as long as a -2DM is used on each attack and the weapon's magazine contains enough ammo.

Some military grade automatic weapons are allowed three or more attacks per burst, as per the rule on pg. 32 of Book 4 (meaning that more than six attack throws can conceivably be made each round with these weapons).




Rapid Fire is akin to the Panic Fire rule except that Rapid Fire allows for an attack against three separate targets as long as the targets are within a 45 degree arc of the character conducting Rapid Fire. All Rapid Fire attacks are made at a penalty of DM -4.

 

[SgtHulka]

Originally posted by Outsider:
(IMTU though, I have scrapped the weapon vs. armour section of the table, and have assigned an armour value to each type of armour. Each type of armour has five different defence values; ballistic, energy, impact, explosive, penetrative. Incoming fire is reduced by the appropriate amount. Although I understand that MT takes a similar approach, the values I use are home-grown.)

This is actually a more realistic approach than the pure penetration versus armor approach used by Striker/AHL/MegaTraveller. Guns have a lot of different characteristics, and people are really funky targets. A shotgun has good "stopping power" but very poor penetration. It's an excellent police weapon because against an unarmored perp pumped up on PCP it drops them hard...Remember that scene in the terminator where Michael Bean unloads round after round of 12-gauge buckshot into Ahnald? That scene owned. But I digress...It also doesn't penetrate walls and so collatoral damage is minimized. However, due to its ineffectiveness against armor, or at range, you sometimes run into issues like the North Hollywood bank robbery where the cops literally had nothing to take down the bank robbers.

A rifle has excellent penetration, but poor stopping power. If you shoot someone at short range with a rifle and they're wearing body armor, (at least tech 7 armor), the armor won't help much. On the other hand, it punches through flesh just as easily as armor. So its possible to shoot someone and have them keep coming at you (especially if they're high). I think the NATO round tumbles when it hits you to increase its stopping power, but I'm not sure.

And I know a lot of people on these boards know a lot more about firearms than I do. I know because I've been wasting too much time reading through old threads.

If you ever see it on the bargain rack, pick up a copy of the out of print Millenium's End rules, by Chameleon Eclectic. Some of the most realistic gun combat (and especially gun damage rules) you'll ever see, but very complicated (it uses a silhoutte system where you literally choose where you're aiming on a body diagram, and the bullet deviates in concentric circles outward depending on what percentage you miss by...if you go for a head shot there's a good chance you will deviate into open air, whereas if you aim for center of mass there's a good chance you'll hit at least something...and damage isn't measured by hit points, its measured using Emergency Trauma Medicine terms...if I remember correctly shock was the big killer). Their supplements are excellent as well -- my favorite is the BlackEagle/BlackEagle tactical handbook, with everything you need to know about tailing someone or moving under fire in an urban setting. Their Ultra Modern Firearms supplement and Terror/Counterterror sourcebook are also really excellent.

That all said, I really like the basic Traveller firearm damage rules. In my opinion exactly what Supplement Four points out -- that they are kind of deadly in that one hit will usually drop you, but they aren't really deadly in that that same shot will not actually kill you -- is perfect as a game-play mechanic. In most scenarios the point of gun combat is something other than murder. In these scenarios it's entirely reasonable that the PC's would be shot up, defeated, but then stabilized by their attackers and left to be picked up by paramedics. Gun combat is treated by the players with respect because there's a good chance they will "lose", but it's not so realistic that everyone's ending up paralyzed from the waist down or with irreperable brain damage.

As for justifying it, the way I justify it is high tech level trauma medicine combined with high tech medical techniques that means people we'd currently refer to as "dead" are just "lightly injured" in the traveller universe. Certainly it requires a suspension of disbelief, but hey, I've got that in spades.

Finally, whenever you try to be more realistic about combat, you have to keep in mind the psychological effects of deadly combat. My favorite treatment of this is the "coolness under fire" attribute in first edition Twilight 2000.

I'm sorry I always just sort of give comments from the peanut gallery instead of actual critiques of your specific rules, Supplement 4. Please don't take it as an insult or anything...your rules always look good for what you're trying to model, so I never really have anything to contribute in that respect. But sometimes it's valuable to have someone come in with some idea from left field that maybe you haven't thought about.

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT

Weapon Block DM





The Weapon Block DM featured above in the Evasion Throw DMs is taken from Striker. The reasoning is that a person weilding a dagger would have a harder time defending from an opponent using a sword than the other way around. Therefore, these DMs are allowed when making the Evasion throw for Brawling or Blade combat.



</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">Defender's Weapon Block DM
DM Weapon
+1 Hands
+1 Claws
+0 Teeth
+1 Horns
+0 Hooves
+0 Stinger
+1 Thrasher
+1 Club
+1 Dagger
+2 Blade
+2 Foil
+2 Cutlass
+3 Sword
+2 Broadsword
+1 Bayonet
+1 Spear
+2 Halberd
+0 Pike
+1 Cudgel</pre>[/QUOTE]

 

[SgtHulka]

Originally posted by Outsider:
(IMTU though, I have scrapped the weapon vs. armour section of the table, and have assigned an armour value to each type of armour. Each type of armour has five different defence values; ballistic, energy, impact, explosive, penetrative. Incoming fire is reduced by the appropriate amount. Although I understand that MT takes a similar approach, the values I use are home-grown.)

This is actually a more realistic approach than the pure penetration versus armor approach used by Striker/AHL/MegaTraveller. Guns have a lot of different characteristics, and people are really funky targets. A shotgun has good "stopping power" but very poor penetration. It's an excellent police weapon because against an unarmored perp pumped up on PCP it drops them hard...Remember that scene in the terminator where Michael Bean unloads round after round of 12-gauge buckshot into Ahnald? That scene owned. But I digress...It also doesn't penetrate walls and so collatoral damage is minimized. However, due to its ineffectiveness against armor, or at range, you sometimes run into issues like the North Hollywood bank robbery where the cops literally had nothing to take down the bank robbers.

A rifle has excellent penetration, but poor stopping power. If you shoot someone at short range with a rifle and they're wearing body armor, (at least tech 7 armor), the armor won't help much. On the other hand, it punches through flesh just as easily as armor. So its possible to shoot someone and have them keep coming at you (especially if they're high). I think the NATO round tumbles when it hits you to increase its stopping power, but I'm not sure.

And I know a lot of people on these boards know a lot more about firearms than I do. I know because I've been wasting too much time reading through old threads.

If you ever see it on the bargain rack, pick up a copy of the out of print Millenium's End rules, by Chameleon Eclectic. Some of the most realistic gun combat (and especially gun damage rules) you'll ever see, but very complicated (it uses a silhoutte system where you literally choose where you're aiming on a body diagram, and the bullet deviates in concentric circles outward depending on what percentage you miss by...if you go for a head shot there's a good chance you will deviate into open air, whereas if you aim for center of mass there's a good chance you'll hit at least something...and damage isn't measured by hit points, its measured using Emergency Trauma Medicine terms...if I remember correctly shock was the big killer). Their supplements are excellent as well -- my favorite is the BlackEagle/BlackEagle tactical handbook, with everything you need to know about tailing someone or moving under fire in an urban setting. Their Ultra Modern Firearms supplement and Terror/Counterterror sourcebook are also really excellent.

That all said, I really like the basic Traveller firearm damage rules. In my opinion exactly what Supplement Four points out -- that they are kind of deadly in that one hit will usually drop you, but they aren't really deadly in that that same shot will not actually kill you -- is perfect as a game-play mechanic. In most scenarios the point of gun combat is something other than murder. In these scenarios it's entirely reasonable that the PC's would be shot up, defeated, but then stabilized by their attackers and left to be picked up by paramedics. Gun combat is treated by the players with respect because there's a good chance they will "lose", but it's not so realistic that everyone's ending up paralyzed from the waist down or with irreperable brain damage.

As for justifying it, the way I justify it is high tech level trauma medicine combined with high tech medical techniques that means people we'd currently refer to as "dead" are just "lightly injured" in the traveller universe. Certainly it requires a suspension of disbelief, but hey, I've got that in spades.

Finally, whenever you try to be more realistic about combat, you have to keep in mind the psychological effects of deadly combat. My favorite treatment of this is the "coolness under fire" attribute in first edition Twilight 2000.

I'm sorry I always just sort of give comments from the peanut gallery instead of actual critiques of your specific rules, Supplement 4. Please don't take it as an insult or anything...your rules always look good for what you're trying to model, so I never really have anything to contribute in that respect. But sometimes it's valuable to have someone come in with some idea from left field that maybe you haven't thought about.

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT

Weapon Block DM





The Weapon Block DM featured above in the Evasion Throw DMs is taken from Striker. The reasoning is that a person weilding a dagger would have a harder time defending from an opponent using a sword than the other way around. Therefore, these DMs are allowed when making the Evasion throw for Brawling or Blade combat.



</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">Defender's Weapon Block DM
DM Weapon
+1 Hands
+1 Claws
+0 Teeth
+1 Horns
+0 Hooves
+0 Stinger
+1 Thrasher
+1 Club
+1 Dagger
+2 Blade
+2 Foil
+2 Cutlass
+3 Sword
+2 Broadsword
+1 Bayonet
+1 Spear
+2 Halberd
+0 Pike
+1 Cudgel</pre>[/QUOTE]

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT

Evasion / Cover / Concealment DM





When using the evasion, cover or concealment DM in the Evastion Throw above, use the DMs straight out of Classic Traveller, pg. 33 of Book 1 (Cover and Concealment is covered in The Traveller Book). But, remember to "change the sign" so that the DMs are beneficial to the higher-is-better Evasion Throw.

So, when the CT rules state that a -2 DM is used to evade at Medium Range, this translates to a +2 DM to the Evasion Throw.

 

[Supplement Four]

RE=THINKING Classic TRAVELLER GUN COMBAT

Evasion / Cover / Concealment DM





When using the evasion, cover or concealment DM in the Evastion Throw above, use the DMs straight out of Classic Traveller, pg. 33 of Book 1 (Cover and Concealment is covered in The Traveller Book). But, remember to "change the sign" so that the DMs are beneficial to the higher-is-better Evasion Throw.

So, when the CT rules state that a -2 DM is used to evade at Medium Range, this translates to a +2 DM to the Evasion Throw.