 July 24, 2014 - 1:15pm | Wounds A character whose current Stamina is one-half or less of his full Stamina can only move half speed and his carrying capacity is cut in half. Mixed Parites A party that contains a mixture of races can travel 5km/hour if it does not include a yazirians, 4km/hour if it does. (Because of their high stamina, dralasites can keep up if they must.0 So the above are hard an fast penalties that apply to the PCs without a choice but what if the players had a choice? Suppose the wounded PC doesn't want to slow down or reduce weight carried? We could allow the player to opt to maintain speed for a STA check every so many time increments with failure leading to a serious injury. The kind that sometimes aflicts us in real life and tends to take weeks to heal if we're good about resting but months if we're not. Also the same for weight carried a STR check every so much of a time increment with failure resulting in a serious injury. The injury for movement rate is a reduciton of base movement rate by 1/4 and it only heals if they character actually rests it pulling light duty or pays for a rehab hospital for a one week stay. Failure of the sTr check while not reducing wt carried might be a reduction of STR (call it a muscle tear or other serious injury). can be healed in much the same way as above. The time increment for each check? 1 hour seems to risky but a player might risk it for a 4 hour time increment. Finally I would allow characters to force march at 1km/ hour faster than the book allows them to for a STA check every so many hours. Failure is a simple reduction of STA but once it dips below half forces march is not allowed. Thus a yazirian could travel 5km/h instead of 4, a dralasite could force march at 6km/h instead of 5, a human at 6km/h instead of 5, and a vrusk at 7km/h instead of 6. Time increment could be 2 or 4 hours and the STA penalty for check failur could be 5 pts. This is all optional and at the player's choice to risk his PC. Thoughts? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 July 24, 2014 - 6:25pm | I like this idea. I would allow my players to use this as it makes long journies more eventfull, especially when they are being chased. -iggy |
July 24, 2014 - 7:34pm | I was thinking to elicit feed back and write it up as a one page article for the zine The only two conditions I could think of was the pain penalty for half STA and the limitation on hourly travel. I especially like the potential for drama, especially watching a player sweating the dice rolling knowing that a failure could mean an enemy catching up. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 24, 2014 - 9:34pm | I would make the duration or frequency of checks be related on terrain. On flat land the check could be every 4 hours. Gaining elevation quickly like hiking up a rough mountain should be every 1 to 2 hours. Slogging through a swamp would be every 2 hours. -iggy |
July 25, 2014 - 1:33pm | I would make the duration or frequency of checks be related on terrain. On flat land the check could be every 4 hours. Gaining elevation quickly like hiking up a rough mountain should be every 1 to 2 hours. Slogging through a swamp would be every 2 hours. Relating your ideas to the Terrain Effects Table (page 19) Clear: 4 hours interval Broken: 2 hours interval Rugged: 1 hour interval Bog: 1 hour interval Open Water: N/A Highway: 5 hours interval Hazardous: N/A Slight expansion of the "Push thru the Pain" concept: Encumbrance There is a limit to how much weight a character can carry. This limit is equal to the character's STrength score in kilograms. If the weight a character is carrying is more than half of his Strength score, he is encumbered. The movement rate of an encumbered character is cut in half in all terrain. An encumbered Character can try to continue to move at full rate but must make a STR check every hour. Failure results in a muscle injury that reduce base movement by 1/2 till healed. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 July 25, 2014 - 6:25pm | Could a professional runner be expected to run anywhere near his max speed when he is cut or shot all over and bleeding? They would not be able to achieve top speeds for even a second. Perhaps they can go without modifying walking speed, but running speed would definitely be substantially reduced. Try this. Speed is cut in half. Successful STA check provides +1 movement. Critical success provides +2. Critical failure provies -1 and roll 1d5 for damage. View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write. "It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi "That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild) |
July 25, 2014 - 6:51pm | The ability check should degrade with each subsequent check. First check is at -0, second at -10, third at -20, and so on or something like that. Otherwise a character with high abilities stands a good chance of force marching or going over encumbered for and unrealistic time. This is another aspect of fatigue. -iggy |
