BASIC Vehicle Rules

Vehicles are ruled by 5 basic statistics, using the acronym "BASIC": Body, Armor, Speed, Instruments, and Control. These attributes are rated between 0 and 10, and determine other statistics relevant to gameplay. They may also be used in place of the PCs SPECIAL stats for certain tests.

Body - This attribute describes the size, heft, and sturdiness of a vehicle. Vehicles have HP equal to 10 x Body. Vehicles suffer an Injury when they take damage equal to 5 + Body in a single hit (after DR). Vehicles can also typically carry a number of passengers (including the driver) equal to Body/2 (rounded up).

Armor - This attribute describes how resistant the vehicle is to damage. The vehicle itself has DR and ER in all locations equal to double the Armor rating, and provides the same protection to anyone riding inside (take the higher of the vehicle's DR/ER, or the PC's). If taking cover behind a vehicle (or firing from windows/gun ports), it grants cover dice equal to ⅓ the Armor rating (rounded up).

Speed - Speed is a measure of how quickly a vehicle can travel. A vehicle's top speed is typically 10 mph x Speed. Use Speed + Pilot for tests involving racing or chases on relatively smooth terrain.

Instruments - Instruments is a measure of advanced systems used to pilot or maintain a vehicle. Most commercial vehicles have a rating of 0 or 1. This rating is used in place of a PC's Perception when piloting a vehicle remotely, and can be used with Repair to diagnose malfunctions or assess damage.

Control - Control is a measure of how well a vehicle handles. Use Control + Pilot for tests of precision driving or races through rough terrain. Always use the lower of Control or the pilot's Perception.

Special Rules

Muscle-powered vehicles

For items like roller skates and bicycles, use Athletics instead of Pilot. You may also use END + Athletics for any test to reduce travel time over long distances.

Races and Chases

Determine how many zones separate the vehicles to start. Each round, the pilots make an opposed Speed + Pilot test (in very difficult terrain where high speed is not an option, such as a hazard-laden death race, the GM may substitute Control for Speed). The winner may then spend AP to add to or reduce the zones of separation between the vehicles. If the separation is closed to 0, the winning driver may optionally take a second Major Action (according to normal rules) to make a ramming attack.

Ramming

When ramming a target with a vehicle, the attack roll is Control + Pilot against the target's Defense (if an individual), or, if targeting another moving vehicle, an opposed check against the target's Control + Pilot.

Against a moving target, the damage dice of the attack is equal to the Body + the number of zones of distance closed that round. As a melee attack, the pilot may spend up to 3 additional AP to deal extra damage. Against a stationary target, instead use Body + 1/10 the vehicle's current speed in mph. Most accelerate at a rate of ⅓ their top speed per round.

Hit Locations and Injuries

Vehicles take injuries just like creatures, but have different hit locations with different effects. Not all vehicles will have all of the hit locations listed. Injuries are inflicted when a single hit does damage of at least 5 + Body.

Body: Reduce the Armor rating of the vehicle by 2.

Wheels/Treads: The vehicle's Speed and Control are halved. Tires have only half the DR/ER of the rest of the vehicle.

Propulsion: The vehicle's Speed is halved.

Pilot: Inflict an injury to a random location on the pilot.

Fuel Tank/Reactor: The vehicle catches on fire! The vehicle suffers (Body) dice of damage each round until someone makes an INT + Repair check (following the rules for healing robots). The difficulty may be increased in a moving vehicle, or require AP or an additional Athletics check to reach the site for repairs. If a vehicle is reduced to 0 HP while on fire, it explodes, dealing 3 x Body dice of damage to any occupants (this damage is Vicious for anyone completely enclosed in the vehicle).

Weapons: A specific mounted weapon is broken and cannot be used until repaired.

Example Vehicles

Bicycle - 1/0/1/0/6

Off-road bike - 1/0/1/0/8

Motorcycle - 2/1/7/1/6

Sporty 2-seat coupe - 3/2/8/2/7

Family sedan - 4/2/7/2/5

Heavy-duty pick-up - 5/3/6/1/5

Garbage truck - 8/5/4/1/3

Armored personnel carrier - 7/6/5/3/5

Tank - 9/7/4/4/6

Vertibird - 9/3/10/8/7

Vehicle Modifications

All mods use the Repair skill to install.