| From: | Mike Bobroff <Airwasp@***.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Vehicle Signature |
| Date: | Sat, 18 Jul 1998 11:45:10 EDT |
ratings for vehicles as given in the R2, as per the power plant given to a
type of vehicle. And I found myself scratching my head over some of the
numbers given, and was wondering why signature is based off of the power plant
(except when considering Aural Signature) and not the Chassis of the vehicle.
So, I am toying around the following as a potential house rule for here in
Lafayette (and on Hoosier Hacker House) :
Signature = 8 - Body
Okay, I thought of this from the description Jon gave in R2 about determining
the signature of people and critters, and was wondering why that was not
applied to vehicles also, in some comparative sense.
So, here is my reasoning.
A normal human has a signature of 6 and weighs somewhere in the Body 2 vehicle
range. So, vehicles with a Body of 2 have a signature of 6.
A troll has a signature of a 5, and corresponds roughly to the same weight as
a Body 3 vehicle (200 - 750 kg) in terms of their Body weight. This would
also correspond to a vehicle with a Body of 3 having a signature of 5 also.
And it would go so on,
Body 4 = Signature of 4,
Body 5 = Signature of 3,
Body 6+ = Signature of 2.
It would mean some of the drones would have higher prices (like the Body 0
'Car' Drone and the Micro UAV Rotorcraft Drone with electric engines), so I
even came up with modifiers that also depend on the type of power plant in the
vehicle.
Electrical Power Plants = +2 to Signature
Gasoline and Methane = No Change
Diesel = -1 to Signature
Jet = -2 to Signature
There are also some situational modifiers which could also benefit a vehicle
when they could occur ... like Partial Cover and Total Cover (or whatever it
is called).
These two things do apply Handling modifiers, which would also be in addition
to any given by the Gm for things like Tight or Restricted Terrain and the
like.
Partial Cover could be described as one vehicle being really close to another
so that from an exceptional distance the two can almost not be told apart. I
would have to say that this form of cover is not effective within half the
current range of the sensors which are tracking the vehicle. Partial Cover
gives an additional +2 to Signature for the hiding vehicle, and this is also
the same modifier to Handling for the hiding vehicle also.
An example of Partial Cover is from Top Gun with the 4 of the 'Migs' at the
end of the movie ... there were originally two and then there were four once
the range closed enough for the radars onboard the Tomcats to tell them apart
from each other.
Total Cover is possible when one vehicle is close to another and is beyond
half the range of sensors that are currently tracking both vehicles. Total
Cover gives +4 to signature to the hiding vehicle, and this +4 also applies to
any Handling tests to the hiding vehicle while trying to hide.
There is one loophole wherein Total Cover can be available when the hiding
vehicle is less than half the range from the tracking sensor. This is done by
hiding very closely to another vehicle that is much larger than the one trying
to hide. To be able to do this, the Body of the larger vehicle must be at
least 2 points higher than the hiding vehicle's.
An example of Total Cover comes from two possible movies ... the first from
Down Periscope when the submarine hid underneath the much -LARGER- oil tanker
above itself. The second comes from, and I don't remember the name of the
movie, when a smaller plane flew underneath a much larger passenger jet.
Then, there is another bonus to signature for aircraft if they happen to be
flying NOE (Nape of Earth). This bonus is equal to +1 (which is also the
Handling modifier for flying at such low levels), plus the Terrain modifier
(+1 for Restricted Terrains and +2 for Tight Terrains).
Another further bonus to signature for all vehicles depends on the weather in
the immediate area at the same time.
What do you guys think of it?
-Herc
--------The Best Mechanic you could ever have.
