Shields as Cover

[CRMcNeill]

I suppose I got a little off track with my modification to the results table, but the gist of what I was saying is to use the preexisting rules for cover and protection, applied as is to Shield dice. The advantage there is that it doesn’t require learning a completely new house rule; someone familiar with the existing cover rules doesn’t need to learn a new rule.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Darklighter79]

[CRMcNeill]

That concept was a mistake, in retrospect. I’d most likely revert back to the original Cover result, where a 0-3 results in no appreciable damage inflicted.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Darklighter79]

[CRMcNeill]

[CRMcNeill]

I'm coming back around to this on the basis of what I posted here. In particular, this post by Totally Not An ISB Agent. While his suggestion is severely unbalancing when applied to the RAW Shield Rules, it plays out much better in combination with what's being proposed in this topic.

Short version, when a ship has its Shields up, said Shield provides 100% Cover in all Fire Arcs, and must be overcome by brute force in order to damage the ship underneath.

However, as an inverse of the RAW Rules, Shield dice can be stacked to provide greater coverage in one arc at the expense of other, but at greater Difficulty the more you stack them.

I had forgotten that I had suggested folding Shields Drained into this rule, but in retrospect, it makes a lot of sense. I had originally planned on posting a full version of this rule tonight, but then I re-encountered the Shields Drained concept from the first page, and I need to think about how I'd fold it in with my Revised Damage Chart. And I'm tired. It's been a crazy past few days.

Anyways, just wanted to bump this and see if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions before I put in some work on it tomorrow.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Darklighter79]

[CRMcNeill]

I'm not a fan of arbitrary caps; characters should be allowed to shoot for the moon and occasionally hit it if they roll high enough.

My thought is more along the lines of what Whill talked about here, where Shields can simply be "up" or can be rolled as a reaction.

Basically, I'm picturing a two-step process; a character can simply raise their shields and get the Protection of the basic Dice value, or if they choose to use Shields as a reaction, they can roll to specifically angle the Shields against existing attacks, with the resulting bonus (+1 for every 3 points of Success on the Shield skill roll) added to the Shield Dice. The bonus would only last for that round, and any attempt to Angle the Shields against the next round's attacks would have to be rolled again.

In the case of most starfighters, the pilots are going to have enough on their plate already, so they'll most likely just be rerouting power or stabilizing Shields in one arc than spending the time trying to angle. That'd be the role of a dedicated Shield Operator or some such.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Darklighter79]

[CRMcNeill]

[CRMcNeill]

Here's my proposed rule for Shields as Cover/Protection, incorporating concepts from the above linked topic.

1). When a ship's Shields are up, the Shields provide 100% Cover in all Fire Arcs, with Protection equal to the Shield's Base Dice Value. Raising the Shields in their default mode requires an Easy Shields roll.

2). On a successful Hit, roll Damage against the target's Shield dice, then compare the result to the following chart:
Damage Roll Succeeds By # = Result
0-3 = No Appreciable Damage
4-8 = -4D to Damage
9-12 = -2D to Damage
13-15 = -1D to Damage
16+ = -0D to Damage

Roll the Dice modifier and subtract it from the Attacker's original Damage roll, then apply the modified Damage value against the target's Hull dice result. On a successful Damage roll, the target suffers an automatic Shields Drained result (no Shield protection for the rest of the round), in addition to any other Damage result.

3). Shield Operators may attempt to divert energy into fewer arcs, thus increasing the base Shield Protection value. However, the Difficulty doing so increases as the number of protected arcs decreases:
# of Arcs = Difficulty (Shield Dice Modifier)
3 = Moderate (+2)
2 = Difficult (+1D)
1 = Very Difficult (+2D)
On a failed roll, the Shields revert to their default level of protection.

Another common tactic is to use the one Shield to reinforce the Shield in the opposite arc, resulting in one Arc being Protected at Shields +1D, the two adjoining arcs at Shields +0D, and the final arc having no Protection at all. This requires a Shields roll against Moderate Difficulty.

4). Ships with Auxiliary Power dice available may transfer a maximum of 1D to Shields, even if the ship has more than 1D of Auxiliary Power available.

5). Options for Shield Operators:
Angling: Shield operators may roll their Shield skill as a Reaction to attacks, "angling" the shields in order to provide a better defense, but this can backfire, as a mistake can actually create exploitable openings in the shield coverage. In game terms, using the Base Difficulty (see #1) as a benchmark, the Shield's dice result is increased or decreased by 1 point for every 3 points by which the Shield Operator beat or missed the Difficulty number. In order to receive the Angling Bonus, the Shield Operator must re-roll Shields as a reaction to declared attacks every round.

Stabilizing:
Shield operators may redirect all shield energy to a single arc, then lock specific settings and segmenting field overlaps into place to bolster the deflector shield. This takes 1 additional round to perform, but adds +1D to the Shield Dice (Preparation rule). However, disengaging from Stabilized mode also requires one round, during which the shields can not be repositioned or angled. As such, this mode is generally used only in situations where the shielded ship expects to come under sustained attack from a single fire arc, such as extended pursuits or when a fighter or transport is operating in an area that provides natural cover to the other arcs.


6). Finally, Shield Generation systems may also be assigned a Shield Control Dice value. This works similarly to Fire Control, but applies to Shield skill rolls. Shield Control will generally run in the 0D-4D range, with the following as basic guidelines:
0D-1D = Most merchant and civilian ships.
1D-2D = Basic, mass produced military vessels (including most starfighters).
2D-3D = Warships with larger, more complex shield systems
3D-4D = Warships known for having extremely capable and versatile shield systems (such as Mon Cal Cruisers)

_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Whill]

It seems like a good option for GMs.
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Star Wars D6 Damage

[Dr. Bidlo]

Have you had much play testing with these rules? What has the general response from the players been? I think I might need to try this out.

[CRMcNeill]

[Dr. Bidlo]