[Frontiercraft] Adapting Star Frontiers to Mastercraft

[Blankbeard]

Sidearms, Longarms, Heavy Weapons (inc vehicular), Melee(including Hurled), Primitive (Black Powder, Siege, Bows)

That's five.  Should be plenty for tricks.  Backworlders get off only needed two proficiencies but they don't get to use the headmelter so I guess it all works out.

How's this quality?

Stunner: You may give up the standard result of your attack to force the attacker to make a DC20 Fortitude save or be stunned for 1d3 rounds.

I am assuming the lasers look ok.  I'll probably work a bit on misc equipment if this looks ok.

[Mister Andersen]

No, hurled should be its own proficiency. You coud include bows in that as 2.0 does to create, in effect, a manually-powered ranged weapon proficiency.

[Blankbeard]

While I understand the appeal of a muscle powered weapon category, I'd rather skill with grenades and thrown axes imply skill with knives, bayonets, and machetes (which are used by real world militaries today) than with long bows and foot bows.

[Sletchman]

I went with:

Unarmed
Edged (per FC)
Blunt (per FC)
Hurled (largely per FC)
Pistol (includes 1 handed sub-machine guns and energy weapons, if applicable)
Rifle (includes 1 handed sub-machine guns and energy weapons, if applicable)
Siege (includes gun emplacements, explosives, rockets, and grenade launchers)

It's 7, which is 2 more (maybe 1 more - you don't have a place for unarmed, which I'm not entirely sure belongs in Melee - especially if grappling is handled a certain way), but it also syncs up fairly well with the FC list and has less bizarre cross pollination (black powder proficiency = bow proficiency is as weird as hurled = bow in my mind).  I eliminated bow entirely, because in sci-fi settings it's kinda non-applicable.  Crossbows go under rifles (for things like the wookie bowcaster).

[Blankbeard]

I forgot about unarmed.  I like that list with my only issue being the Star Frontiers universe includes telepathic squid tribesmen and fallen human colonies.  Bow wielding enemies are common and I can see player characters who choose to use bows.  I really like keeping an edged/blunt distinction though.

I may just slide bows into Rifle and be done with it.  It never takes the movie bow wielder very long to figure out rifles anyway.

Siege I'd rename because I'll be including ground and air weapons in it. 

Grapple- while I didn't have the problems some had with grapple, I think the best way to handle it with the current tools is to assume that most movie grappling is creative use of the Bullrush and Trip with perhaps a custom Wrestling tree.

I need some more vehicle sized weapons (RPG/Missle, tank cannon) and the customization tables.  I've started on ground vehicles too.  The basic toxic hazard is done with an optional system to replace effects and make specific diseases.  Radiation hazards are coming soon.  The intent is that if you use Morgenstern's You Bet Your Life, Radiation Hazard IV is going to be a good place to do so (Spock! NO!)

[Gentry]

By the time of any sci-fi setting, I'm inclined to say that scoring a hit on a person with a weapon meant to shoot vehicles is a Terminal Situation. SC2.0 had mechanics that made hitting single people tougher, and I liked them for this very reason.

As to the stunners, yes like pummeling, but at range: Full action to "blast em!" and deal triple damage (with the fatigue grade-stacking effect especially).

[Sletchman]

That list was just what I did for a sci fi game I ran as a short (3 session) game.  If bows are common then I'd leave them as their own proficiency (that's personal preference, mechanically I can't see an issue in them being "Rifles").  I only kept Siege because I really like the name and think it's super evocative (and Tactical is kind of meaningless / too much of a buzz-word -- a handgun is no less of a tactical weapon if use correctly).  Siege destroys things, other weapons destroy people.  It's a nice division in my mind.  Again, just personal preference though.

I can totally get behind Gentry's suggestion that large weapons should just be a straight up terminal situation.  You get hit with an orbital weapon that has an impact that destroys buildings, and you're almost certainly just dead.  Again though, SC had huge inaccurate penalties compared to FC's static -2.

[snake]

Great stuff, Blankbeard et al. I'd second Morgs suggestions about weapon proficiencies.

Like the way you're thinking about new Eras for MC too.    

[Blankbeard]

Heavy weapons in Star Frontiers were kind of a mixed bag.  The Sonic Devastator and the Maser weapons are more anti-personnel weapons while the others have an anti-vehicle use.  Things could be tightened up by moving those two into the Rifle category as "Heavy Rifles" needing a forte to operate (perhaps along with a traditional sniper rifle) and leave the other anti-material weapons as their own proficiency in Siege/Heavy.

Regarding truly heavy weapons I see three categories: anti-personnel which should be high damage but survivalable, anti-material which do enough damage to be save or die (unless you want to model overpenetration which I don't) and anti-area (large bombs, nuclear missiles, Finger of God type weapons) that are essentially plot based Terminal Situations.

Point taken on inaccurate needing a numerical qualifier.

I have this quality in mind for all electrical and sonic weapons:

Stunner: You may take a full action to inflict triple damage with this weapon.  If the target is flatfooted, a standard target fails one damage save per 5 points the save fails by while special characters gain one grade of fatigued per 5 points the save fails by.  Special Characters and PC's may spend an action die to avoid this effect and take only the triple damage.  This action may never be used when inflicting any damage other than subdual.

Thoughts?  Very much like pummelling, a bit easier to use in combat but with an escape clause for specials. 

[Gentry]

I dig the Stunner quality, though it occurs to me just now that having a Stunner quality actually inflict the stunned condition makes too much sense to leave the option unexplored.

[Blankbeard]

Species 2.0-- I'd consider them done unless there are more comments.

Dralasite

[1.0] Medium Argiloid, Reach 1
[0.0] Base Speed 30
[1.0] +2 Fitness, -2 Grace
[-0.5] Bland appearance: Your species is a textured grey bag with little variation and no concept of physical attractiveness.  Your appearance bonus decreases by 2.
[3.0] Psuedopodia: You can form limbs out of your mass.  You may form 2 walking limbs and a number of grasping limbs equal to the sum of your Precision and Grace modifiers(minimum 0) +2.  Forming or absorbing a limb takes one minute.  While you have at least one free grasping limb, you may make a free Handle Item action each round. If you have at least 2 limbs free, you gain a +1 with  grapple checks.
[1.0] Reabsorption: If you suffer a critical injury to a limb, you may absorb and reform that limb to rid yourself of the injury.
[0.5] Sterner Stuff: The keen value of attacks against you decreases by 4.
[1.0] Bloodhound: Your entire body functions as an olfactory organ.  You may identify people and objects by scent and recieve
a +4 bonus to Track checks when you can smell the target.
[0.0] Lie Detection: Whenever you gain a feat from any tree, you may instead choose to gain Basic Skill Mastery (Whatever Sense Motive shakes out to) or any feat depending on it.

Argiloid (+2xp/+1 design point): Your body is flexible and compressible but constrained by an outer membrane.  You are considered one size larger for resisting Bullrushes and Trips and may be considered one size larger or two sizes smaller as you wish for purposes of passing through confined places.  Argiloids eat, drink, breathe, and age.

Changes: No changes from 1.5

Polydactyl
Gloop and Gleep have nothing on you.
Requirements: Dralasite
Benefits: Your fine control over your body allows you to form limbs much faster.  You may produce or absorb a limb in only 2 rounds.  You also gain the improved stability quality and when you do not take a move action in a round your reach increases by 2.

Master of Many Smells
The nose knows.
Requirements: Dralasite
Benefits: You may identify smells from chemicals, organic beings, and other oderous items with a Knowledge check (DC 10 + 1 per hour since exposure)  This check occurs before any saving throws allowing a Dralasite to avoid harmful areas with recognizable smells.  Further, if you are able to touch skin or fur on an individual, you gain a +4 on all attempts to interogate them or detect their lies.

The Killing Joke
If they can't take a joke, *%^$ em.
Requirements: Aggro Basics, Species: Dralasite
Benefits: When you taunt someone, they also take 1d6 of stress damage.  When a character fails a save against stress damage from you, you may inflict upon them the damage from a readied weapon or your unarmed damage if they are adjacent.

Vrusk

[0.0] Medium Organic, Reach 1
[1.0] Base Speed 40
[1.0] +2 Precision, -2 Guile
[1.0] Agile Defense: Your Defense rises by 1.
[1.0] Enlightened Investigate: Your kind have dealt with corporate intrigue for thousands of years, giving you unparalleled ability to ferret out secrets. Your maximum ranks increase to level +5.
[2.0] Heat Protection II: Your exoskeleton controls moisture loss and allows you to survive heat that would kill others.  You ignore Heat Exposure I and II and reduce Heat Exposure III to Heat Exposure I.
[1.0] Improved Stability: 8 legs give you stability.  You are considered one size larger for defending against Bull Rush and Trip attempts as well as carrying capacity and trample attacks as long as you are standing on a solid surface.
[0.0] Comprehension: Whenever you gain a feat from any tree, you may choose to gain the Mark feat instead or any feat depending on it.

Unchanged since 1.0 except adding the comprehension ability.  I need to come up with a couple follow ons for Mark maybe

Trading House Flunky
A favor here, a deal there.  Enlightened self-interest makes the galaxy go round.
Requirements: Species: Vrusk, Level One only
Benefits: Your Grace falls by one but your Guile raises by one.  You may activate criticals with your Parley skill for one less action die.  Once per scene while among traders, you may arrange for a delivery of your choice at no cost.

Trading House Executive
Surprisingly, they usually thank you after you're done with them.
Requirements: Trading House Flunky
Benefits: When Bargaining, you may move the result up or down two rows as you see fit.  When you complete a bargain, your trading partner's disposition towards you rises by 5.  This occurs no more than once per scene per character.


Military House Flunky
You are used to the front lines.
Requirements: Vrusk, Level one only
Benefits: Your Precision rises by 1.  Pick one proficiency you have.  You inflict +1 damage with weapons of that type.  Also, when you draw a weapon you have not used before in this combat, you may aim with it as a free action.

Military House Executive
You're the brains in this operation.
Requirements: Military House Flunky
Benefits: You gain a +2 with all Tactics checks.  Pick one proficiency you have other than the one in your Flunky feat.  You inflict +1 damage with weapons of that type.  When you have both hands free and no readied weapons, you may ready a weapon as a free action.

Yazarian

[0.0] Medium Organic, Reach 1
[1.0] Base Speed 40
[3.0] +2 Determination, +2 Grace, -2 Fitness
[1.5] Glide: When you are not helpless and you fall, you may glide.  You move horizontally 10 foot for every five foot you fall (maximum 40' per round horizontal) and take no falling damage while gliding.
[-0.5] Light Sensitive: You take 20 points of flash damage each time entering a more brightly lit area.
[1.0] Natural Attack I: Claws
[1.0] Natural Climber: You are always considered to have a climbing kit.
[0.0] Threat Display: Whenever you gain a feat from any tree, you may trade it for Rage Basics or any feat that depends on it.

Changes:  Bowing to public pressure    Having the kit is probably more generally useful.

Soaring Wing Clan.
No one spends more time in the air.
Requirements: Yazarian, Level one only
Benefits: You do not suffer an expanded error range while flying and take no penalty when using one handed weapons.  You also gain the following trick:
Catch a Thermal (Glide trick)
If you did not use this trick last round, you lose no altitude this round.  You may hover for a single standard action or drop vertically for any distance.

Comments appreciated.

Soon to come: Weapons should get another looksee.

[Blankbeard]

I dig the Stunner quality, though it occurs to me just now that having a Stunner quality actually inflict the stunned condition makes too much sense to leave the option unexplored.

I don't see an easy way to give players reliable access to the stun condition that doesn't end up trivializing most combat.  I'm open to ideas though.

NB: Any subdual weapon will stun on a crit of course.

Here's the Toxic Hazard and related disease system.  It may be too complex.

Toxic Hazards
This hazard set encompasses a large variety of biological and chemical dangers present in the environment.  Generally, if the danger comes from something you could fight, it doesn't belong here.  Many protections are effective against both chemical and biological agents while others are effective against a narrow range.  These are general associated with the medicine field.

Defining a Toxic Hazard: Basic Hazards are listed below.  The included effects may be substituted for the effects in the hazard to create more detailed diseases.  In general the incubation period will occur, then the symptoms.  As the end of the duration, whatever is listed in the post infection period occurs.  Depending on those results, symptoms may reoccur or the disease may go dormant or end.
Incubation: This is the delay after failing the hazard save before symptoms appear.  This may be zero or greater.
Effects: What happens during the symptomatic period.  If supplied these effects replace those from the hazard.  An effect will be needed for all four levels of exposure.
Contaigious: This tells whether exposure to an infected person is a hazard.  If so, it is the same as the original hazard.  Usual answers are yes, no, incubation only, symptomatic only.
Duration: How long symptoms last.
post-infection: what happens when the duration ends and the patient is untreated.  Examples include DC20 Fort save or die, nothing, DC 20 Fort or symptoms recurr every six months
Re-exposure? Yes or no

Medicine and Toxic Hazards:  Detecting Hazards is done with Survival, Profession(Medicine or Chemistry) or some equipment. The effects of most toxic hazards can be ended with a expertise(medicine) check (DC 15 + 5 per Roman Numeral of the hazard) once the toxin is identified with a profession (medicine or chemistry) check (Same DC).  Reexposure is generally possible.  Treating a recurring disease is harder (+5 DC)

Toxic Hazard I (mold spores, exposure to sewage) Characters must make a Fortitude save (DC 16+2 per hour without relief) each day or begin the incubation period.  If effects are not defined, take 1d6 subdual and become sickened.  Characters may not lose sickened or recover stress or subdual until they have relief.
Toxic Protection I negates this hazard.  Examples: filtered water, fabric breathing masks, hand washing

Toxic Hazard II (mining gas build up, fungal overgrowth) Characters must make a Fortitude save (DC 16+2 per hour without relief) each hour or begin the incubation period.  If effects are not defined, take 2d6 subdual and become sickened.  Characters may not lose sickened or recover stress until they have relief. 
Toxic Protection II negates this hazard.  Examples: Boiled water, filtered air, antibacterial scrubs
 
Toxic Hazard III (Super-ebola) Characters must make a Fortitude save (DC 16+2 per 15 minute period without relief) every 15 minutes or begin the incubation period.  If effects are not defined, take 2d6 lethal and become sickened.  Characters may not lose sickened or recover stress or vitality until they have relief. 
Toxic Protection III negates this hazard.  Examples: full surgical garb, active chemical neutralizers

Toxic Hazard IV (Poison gas leakage) Characters must make a Fortitude save (DC 16+2 per round/6seconds without relief) each round/6 seconds or begin the incubation period.  If effects are not defined, take 2d6 lethal, 2d6 stress and become sickened.  Characters may not lose sickened or recover stress until they have relief. 
Toxic Protection IV negates this hazard.  Examples: Sealed environmental suits, spacesuits, biohazard suits.


Usable?  Clear?

[Blankbeard]

Or get your Degree! : A guide to education in the Frontier

I want to start laying the groundwork for the gear and associated fields system to be used.  Let's start off with vehicle related fields as they are a bit easier to quantify.

Ground Vehicles
Air Vehicles
Shuttlecraft
Spacecraft

The first two are probably going to have to be in the base kit while the others can be delayed until I work on that section of the game.  Skill use is fairly straight forward. 

Gear is harder.  The original game divided gear into Computers, Robots, Medicine, and Everything else.  Computers and Robots I'm going to kick down the line a bit.  I'd like to handle everything from a quadcopter scout to a Robbie the Robot type guardian. 

For medicine, I've already posted some equipment.  I think the basic medkit should be enough for the FC style checks (Treatment, Mend, Stabilize) while the specific drugs have only the effects listed.  There is considerable overlap but the items should have their own advantages and quirks.  A stabilize check and a freeze field are two different ways of dealing with a dying character.  The stabilize check will get them on their feet (or kill them) while the freeze field will let you get them to a medical workshop and perhaps use a limb regenerator or something similar when needed.

Morgenstern provided an example field - Site Security.  I can see that covering locks, traps, cameras and surveillance.  All three Precision skills seem to work too: Build, place, bypass and abuse.  Tapping a camera feed would be a Sabotage check, putting them in the best places is expertise.  Good, good.

Explosives: Build, disarm, arm and place

Weapons: Build and sabotage.  Not a whole lot of room for expertise.  I might put field repairs in here if that makes sense.

Armor: As weapons

Sciences: I see two relevant areas here: Xenobiology, for understanding the various plants and animals they encounter particularly in the answering of important questions like is it dangerous and can we eat it, and Planetary Science, a mixup of geology and weather that deals with the nonliving parts of the environment.  Useful when prospecting, knowing if there are likely to be caves in those mountains and such.  Xenobiology may share a lot of equipment with medicine while both skills may feed into Survival in new places.  Planetary Science will also be where players go to when it's time to exploit the planets they explore.

Archeology is another possiblity.  There's not so much to build but it would cover the analysis of artifacts and perhaps their repair.  Also when it comes time to build the missing pieces of the Doomsday Machine Repository of Ancient Knowledge, an archeologist would either build them or at least make plans for other specialists to do so.

That's 14 fields, 15 if I include the wastebasket Technician.  Does this seem a reasonable breakdown?

[Blankbeard]

The Crash on Volturnus module came with every box set. Here's a couple races from that module.

Eorna are the oldest intelligent race on Volturnus.  Physically, they resemble flightless birds or raptorial dinosaurs covered in hairlike scales more than any other lifeform.  The snout is much shorter and broader than any of those animals, making room for a large brain and giving them a frog like facial appearance.  Behind the eye on each side is a large membrane covered with chromataphore cells.  These cells can change color to reflect the Eorna's mood although most adults have enough self control to suppress this response.  By coincidence, the colors corresponding to moods are very similar to Human idioms.  Eorna understand what's meant when a human says he's green with envy or seeing red.  
Eorna believe they were visited by advanced races over 10,000 years ago who gave them the mission of sheparding intelligent life in the Frontier.  Unfortunately evidence discovered by a team of explorers indicate that between one and two thousand years ago, the Sathar made contact with the Eorna and destroyed their civilization.  The few surviving Eorna went underground and attempted to continue sheparding the other races of Volturnus while preserving their own race as long as possible.  Explorers have discovered a colony ship with Eorna eggs in stasis.  Armed with a new lease on life, the Eorna are reaching out to the other races with what they view as the Wisdom of the Ages.
There are three cultures that have developed since the Sathar attack.  Traditional Eorna are those embrace the mission bestowed by the elders upon them.  They try to act as "older brothers" and teach non-violence amoung the non-Sathar races.  Yerglings are the mutated, cannibalistic primitives who roam Volturnus's wastelands.  Lacking language, culture, or any sense of morality, they are a blight on all who encounter them.  Dissenters are those Eorna who have returned to a tribal predatory existance.  Unlike Yerglings, they retain Eorna intelligence and are among the first to interact with other races.  They enjoy knowing that most of the other intelligent races decended from prey species and find it funny when others are intimidated by a toothy grin.

Eorna
[1] Large Organic, Reach 1
[0  ]Base Speed 30
[1] +2 Precision, -2 Fitness,
[1] Broad Learning: You gain 2 additional interests.
[1] Encouragement: Once per scene, you may spend a minute talking and guiding a teammate to grant them a +1 morale bonus to saving throws.
[3] Mind Trick: You may distract up to 3 opponents at once.  You roll one time while each opponent rolls separately to resist.
[2] Sharp Mind: You gain an additional skill point per level.
[-2] Survivor's Guilt: Eorna are a race on the edge of extinction and prone to bouts of hopelessness.  Effects that restore morale restore only 1/2 as much.

Dissenter
The way of the ancients led to disaster.  You've found your own way.
Requirements: Eorna, Level one only
Benefits: You lose both the Mind Trick and Survivor's Guilt from your species and gain Menacing Threat and Bite I.  You also gain access to a new BSM: Predator (Intimidate and Survival).

Ulmor look like tan leathery octopi.  They live on the edge of the Volturnan wastes where weakness is not an option. They have the ability to communicate telepathically with those they can make skin to skin contact.  This combined with a hang together attitude serves them well when they find their way into the larger frontier.

Ulmor
[0 ] Small Argiloid, Reach 1
[-0.5] Base Speed 20
[2.0] +1 to the lowest attribute, repeat twice using the lowest attribute each time
[1] Competitive: Competition is always an Origin skill for you.
[1] Enlightened Survival: Your maximum ranks in the Survival skill increases to your level + 5.
[0.5] Fearless: You gain a +4 on saving throws versus fear effects
[1] Multi-Armed: You may simultaneously hold and arm up to four 1-handed, two 1-handed and one 2-handed, or two 2-handed weapons or objects. You also gain a +1 bonus with skill checks made as part of a Grapple action if two or more of your hands that are free. If you gain the Many-Armed feat you lose these benefits and the lower of your Strength of Dexterity rises by 1.
[-1] Technologically Inept: Whenever you use gear from the Digital, Space, or Federation eras, its error range increases by 2 (minimum 1) and errors cost one less action die to activate.
[2] Tenacious Spirit: You gain an additional Morale point per level.
[1] Touch Telepath: Thanks to a small tentacle under your mouth parts, you may communicate with any being you may physically touch even if you share no languages.