Sunday, August 26, 2018

ChromeStrike (0.9.88b)

Not much to say for this one. I've gotten a bit of feedback on 0.987, and that in addition to some time to think has given me some more thoughts on what is needed. Many of the slight changes that didn't make it into the last version are being added with this one. This takes the form of several clarifications and fixes for some of the new rules. Missile costs have been fixed, enemy vehicles with old attributes have been updated, and several personal-scale weapons have been slightly balanced. The Shredder has also been given some much needed love, being updated into a 10cr heavy weapon. As always, see the patch notes for more in-depth details on the various changes.

Here's the new version.



0.9.88b

Melee Weapons are now a Useful skill, to match Martial Arts.

PDW weapon price decreased.

Assault Rifle Wounds increased by +2.

Breachers are now AP3 and Wounds increased by +1.

HE Grenades are now AP-1 against vehicles instead of AP-2.

Satchel charges now deal two hits to vehicles.

Clarified how armor Wounds are removed when wearing layered armor.

Light PA and Recon PA weight has been increased.

Twitch+ Fibers now increase melee AR by 2 and DR by 1, Strength penalty remains at -1.

The Carbine rules text has been clarified; also explicitly usable as a melee weapon now.

The Shredder has been changed into a 10cr flak cannon.

Light Missile CR increased to 4, now is AP1.

Medium Missiles CR increased to 6, now has AP1, two attacks, and three shots.

Anti-Air Missiles CR increased to 6, now has three shots.

AP Missile CR is increased to 8.

Incendiary Missile CR is increased to 8, shots increased to four.

Fire and Forget Missiles shots increased to four.

Fixed and updated a few 'bestiary' entries that I'd missed with correct CR costs and derived attributes.

Artillery/MLRS missiles now cost 3CR each, up from 1. Now has a 3x3 blast that hits other targets at AP1, and deviates 2d6 grid spaces on a miss.

Power Armor (Mobile Infantry) weight increased. I like chunky Power Armor.

Deleted a few duplicated ChromeStrike headers in the bestiary.

Copied the Gutter Power Armor over from the barely finished OPFOR expansion.

Reactive Fire now explicitly does not work against enemies already in line of sight, and is at -2 if not prone or crouching.

Heavy Missiles now cost 9cr, have three attacks, and three shots.

Thursday, July 5, 2018

ChromeStrike (0.9.87)

Most of my time now-a-days is spent leading the production of Towergirls: the Game and working. This doesn't leave me with a ton of spare afternoons to fitz about with pen and paper games, as fun and relaxing as it is. There's also the inclination part- while it's all well and good to say "make a game for yourself", you still want to see at least some kind of feedback and use. Not only do games need criticism to progress and advance, but it's a little disheartening to get zero interest.

Fortunately, ChromeStrike has always held at least a bit of interest. Over the past few years there's been plenty of valid criticisms and feedback on it. It was and remains an alpha-stage game, so there were several places in the rules that were lacking or cross-referencing stuff that simply didn't exist. Semi-recently a GM running a neat ChromeStrike game chucked some feedback at me, in addition to an excellent session/gaming recap of their campaign. This led to me reading the thing several times, and then peering through other archives and discussions. While reviewing playtestings, criticisms, fan-additions on Pastebin and Google Docs, one thing led to another.

ChromeStrike is my baby. Not satisfied with the state I left it in, I've taken the time to give it a tune up and attempt to address some of the issues people were having with it. All that said, here's the new version, along with patch notes. When new issues turn up I'll likely fix those sooner than later.



0.9.87

Speed is now denoted as being 12 MPH or 19 KPH, in addition to the normal grid movement capacity.

Turns take place over a span of two seconds, narratively almost simultaneous.

Added pilot suits to the character armory, courtesy of the unammed Google Docs anon.

Added a whole heap of character equipment and weapons, most of which is shamessley stolen from the Google Docs anon. Thanks, Google Docs anon.

Each class of mech equipment now has some additional information about the setting and usage.

Mechs have 48 hours of operational time. This is now denoted in several more places in the rulebook.

Mech Dodge Rating is now 2 + Pilot Agility + Control + Modifiers, as opposed to the old (1/2 Pilot Agility) + Speed + Control + Modifiers.

Heavy Machine Guns now only jam on an unmodified 2-, from 3-. (Now 5.56% each turn used, down from 16.66%)

Heavy Machine Guns range increased to 25, from 20. Now matches the MG57.

Jackhammer ammunition increased to 15, from 12.

Shredder ammunition increased to 7, from 5. Shredder price decreased to 4, from 5.

Assault Shotguns have been added. They are a shottie variant of the HMG.

Shotfist now deals three hits, up from two.

Combat Shields and Anti-Missile Shields are now allowed to be used as AP0 melee weapons.

Minimum Missile range has been increased to 15.

Missiles may now be upgraded to Short Range Missiles. They are slightly more costly, and deal less damage, but have a close range band.

Hand-held and shoulder missiles now cost +100%, up from +50%.

Missiles and special ammunition are now consumables/finite. :DDD

Weapons have been split up and organized into more categories.

Weapons now have electronic security measures that prevent the immediate use of salvaged weapons.

Added some quick and simple rules for modying existing weapons.

Twitch+ Fibers added to upgrades (torso). Grants +1 AGL and -1 STR for 3cr.

Character Attack Rating is now 2d6 + (Attribute). Defense Rating is now 6 + Agility.

A Morale failure now results in -2 Attack Rating and Dodge Rating for the scene, rather than being forced to attack only the closest enemy.

Skill checks are now 2d6 + Attribute + Bonuses, and attempting to roll equal or higher than an arbitrary difficulty.

Added the Reactive Fire utility action for characters.

Reaction rolls are now also 2d6 + Grandeur + Bonuses, the higher the result being better.

Added rules for Intimidation, First Aid, and healing injuries.

Parts are now cheaper to repair to full Wounds when not fully destroyed.

Salvage rules have been reworked entirely, with the addition of suggestions as to how players could salvage, rules for hiring scavengers, and alternate simple rules.

Last, but not least- I learned a work-around for Apache OpenOffice full-page background image wonkiness that makes formating and editing considerably easier.