Rules Only: Has anyone used a different rules system for person-to-person combat?

[spank]

Get the Classic Traveller cd rom/USB drive/dropbox from Far Future Enterprises - you get every rule book, supplement, adventure and game GDW printed for CT, this includes the AHL supplement, ruolbook , and map set.

The combat system doesn't require big ships, it works pretty much as a replacement for Snapshot. The maps in AHL can be repurposed to warehouses, industrial manufacturing units, all sorts of things.

I've got it, but I much prefer Snapshot for the simple fact that it comes with maps of ships that players are more likely to be using.

 

[mike wightman]

The AHL rules work just as well on Snapshot maps.

 

[Ildefonse]

I think maybe you could run a combined "hp bar" / stun bar.
Use END + 1/2 STR for wounds and DEX + 1/2 STR for stun.

CE Deluxe uses Stamina (END + Athletics Skill) + Lifeblood (Stamina x2) in a similar vein, but one could use straight END = Stamina and STR + DEX for lifeblood to preserve the CT characteristic-based hits.

 

[mike wightman]

I always liked that characteristic damage could be used to describe wounds:

Characteristic	minor wound	serious wound
Str	muscular damage	tendon/ligament damage/broken bone
Dex	pain/disorientation	nervous system/sense organ
End	blood loss	internal organ damage

minor wound - damage less than unwounded characteristic
serious wound - characteristic reduced to zero in one hit.

 

[whartung]

It's quite pricey to find a good copy.

It was quite pricey back in the day. I remember buying it for $40 when it came out. About $140 today. Loott of money.

As for the rest, yea, it's just maps with squares, works fine for Snapshot maps, or the deckplans from the supplements (or anywhere else) once they're scaled up.

And the decks plans from the AHL work great for large warehouses as well.

AHL was an odd duck, definitely a passion project of sorts I think. Production values were great.

 

[kilemall]

I use two house rules in my CT combat: I enjoy the more abstract nature of CT combat, and so have not looked at anything more simulationist.

• Double Tap: similar in concept to Striker and MT with separate to-hit and penetration rolls, but using CT DM's
• PC's are unconscious at two characteristics = 0, not one (I run a more heroic style of game, at my group's request)

Very nice!

 

[kilemall]

I always liked that characteristic damage could be used to describe wounds:

Characteristic	minor wound	serious wound
Str	muscular damage	tendon/ligament damage/broken bone
Dex	pain/disorientation	nervous system/sense organ
End	blood loss	internal organ damage

minor wound - damage less than unwounded characteristic
serious wound - characteristic reduced to zero in one hit.

That’s another side benefit of my physical location version, I can note level of wound and characteristic and describe medical wounds. Makes it less tanking hits and more personal.

 

[Condottiere]

Lifelong trauma.

 

[mike wightman]

That’s another side benefit of my physical location version, I can note level of wound and characteristic and describe medical wounds. Makes it less tanking hits and more personal.

I can extract hit location from the dice rolled for damage - the first die rolled for damage determines hit location (I tend to use at least three different colours so even more can be extracted from a damage roll if necessary)
1 leg
2 torso
3 torso
4 torso
5 arm
6 head

 

[kilemall]

I can extract hit location from the dice rolled for damage - the first die rolled for damage determines hit location (I tend to use at least three different colours so even more can be extracted from a damage roll if necessary)
1 leg
2 torso
3 torso
4 torso
5 arm
6 head

Using that roll, my system would be leg/arm 1D, torso 2D, head 3D.

 

[Quint]

I used the whole darn Cyberpunk 2020 engine at one point, combat was breeze...

 

[mike wightman]

I stuck with Friday Night Firefight for a long time.

 

[spank]

I can extract hit location from the dice rolled for damage - the first die rolled for damage determines hit location (I tend to use at least three different colours so even more can be extracted from a damage roll if necessary)
1 leg
2 torso
3 torso
4 torso
5 arm
6 head

Using the 1st damage die for hit location is a nice innovation, it adds hit location without an extra roll.
Part of me really likes hit location, but it can bog things down of frustrate players. In 2448 for example you could roll a hit in the head, and that could turn into anything from an outright miss to a hit in the brain with 98% chance fatality.
It adds a lot of variability to the game, but unless everyone is up to speed on the system it can slow things down a lot, And some player will become frustrated when a hit turns into a miss.

 

[mike wightman]

I used to play a lot of RQII, roll to hit, roll location, roll damage

imagine our surprise when someone pointed out if you roll every die at the. same time it speeds things up

Coloured dice in Traveller allow you to do the same thing.

A hit roll is 2d, a damage resolution is usually 2 to 3 dice (sometimes 1 sometimes 4 or more)

Every different colour can provide a differeant data point in addition to the hit and damage. two of them could be designated as the dice needed for a 6 by 6 matrix if you want a more complete hit location, that sort of thing.

 

[spank]

I used to play a lot of RQII, roll to hit, roll location, roll damage

imagine our surprise when someone pointed out if you roll every die at the. same time it speeds things up

Coloured dice in Traveller allow you to do the same thing.

A hit roll is 2d, a damage resolution is usually 2 to 3 dice (sometimes 1 sometimes 4 or more)

Every different colour can provide a differeant data point in addition to the hit and damage. two of them could be designated as the dice needed for a 6 by 6 matrix if you want a more complete hit location, that sort of thing.

Thinking about it, this system might lead to a bias in hit locations, for example it your first die rolls a 1 then you are a lot less likely to hit than if your first die rolls a 6.
I think you could still work with it, if you made 1 a head hit, rare, but with a high damage mod.
something like:

1	Head	+2 dice
2	Arm	+1 die
3	Leg	+1 die
4	Torso	------
5	Torso	------
6	Torso	-1 Die

 

[kilemall]

Thinking about it, this system might lead to a bias in hit locations, for example it your first die rolls a 1 then you are a lot less likely to hit than if your first die rolls a 6.
I think you could still work with it, if you made 1 a head hit, rare, but with a high damage mod.
something like:

1	Head	+2 dice
2	Arm	+1 die
3	Leg	+1 die
4	Torso	------
5	Torso	------
6	Torso	-1 Die

I’d reverse the torso and extremities, generally speaking all the squishy key organs other than the brain are there.

 

[mike wightman]

Thinking about it, this system might lead to a bias in hit locations, for example it your first die rolls a 1 then you are a lot less likely to hit than if your first die rolls a 6.
I think you could still work with it, if you made 1 a head hit, rare, but with a high damage mod.
something like:

1	Head	+2 dice
2	Arm	+1 die
3	Leg	+1 die
4	Torso	------
5	Torso	------
6	Torso	-1 Die

It's not the hit roll die, I use one of the damage dice for hit location.