What rules to use in a H.A.L.O. jump?

What rules to use in a H.A.L.O. jump?, not the video game...

Wasabi View Member Profile	Apr 17 2007, 10:07 PM Post #26
Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,251 Joined: 11-September 04 From: GA Member No.: 6,651	Truthfully I think the rules should probably be much simpler than I suggested. I wrote it like I'd probably run it but the game as a whole is so much more vibrant and with an excited, growing playerbase now that its been simplified. It leaves me conflicted, lol! I suppose house rules have to be gauged against the players skill at the game and the GM's ability to make it engaging to participate in.

Kronk2 View Member Profile	Apr 18 2007, 03:37 AM Post #27
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 490 Joined: 29-August 06 From: Texas Member No.: 9,245	something my team came up with. The Hell No Jump: From 29000' no opening and full submersion to target up to 300 feet. Junkie drop suit: 4 points ballastic/ 32 impact armor. After drop is initiated a 16 foot spike folds into place underneath the dumper. at 100 feet an attitude parachute folds into place and insures that the spike is downward to break surface tension. at 25 feet the bottom portion of the spike fires breaking surface tension, If stealth is not a real priority a he grenade can provide extra assistance in this. 5 min and 28 seconds or so of free fall a small jerk and then sploosh. The suit has an on board O2 scrubber so you can be submerged for basically as long as needed. Underwater propulsion is provided by a small impeller located along the units torso.

G.NOME View Member Profile	Apr 18 2007, 05:54 AM Post #28
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 164 Joined: 9-December 04 From: former Bug City, now CFS Member No.: 6,875	Free fall survivors - might give GMs some ideas of humerous descriptions for the inevitable Edge burn.

Magus

Apr 18 2007, 06:26 AM

Post #29

Moving Target

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QUOTE (Wasabi)

One way to do it is to have the Body+HALO roll (or IMO a Reaction+HALO roll) resist the damage via landing techniques.
A RL non-HALO chute from the 'T' series lands at 7mph. The lack of injuries in a modern military parachute jump is due to technique. In the future this can be assumed ot be handled by super-sophisticated chutes if the GM wants it easier. :-)
With a sophisticated chute they could have additional dice to their roll granted by the equipment or have the process automated by the chute itself. For example, the chute would not deploy underneath the jumper so little chance of them getting strangled/snagged by falling through their deploying chute.

The rolls (again IMO) should determine the following factors:

1. If they get out the door intact and in a fashion where they don't spin/spew/panic. An easy roll with a little pre-jump coaching and one that strongly affects the other, subsequent rolls.
2. Guide themselves through the air enough so the team isn't scattered over several miles.
3. Deploy the chute with enough body mechanics to not injure themselves from the sharp deceleration.
4. Land safely.

The first roll if they are prepared for it and don't glitch should allow the subsequent rolls to go without additional penalty but guiding yourself in freewall while cartwheeling uncontrollably could be... counterproductive... as would cartwheeling uncontrollably through the air while the chute almost instantly changes your speed from (making numbers up here) 100mph to 3mph in a period of very few seconds.

Those are my thoughts. I've never HALO jumped but I have jumped in the military and the landing never scared us as much as things like getting dragged behind the plane (not a factor in HALO), midair collisions, or equipment deployment. Some parts are effectively spring loaded by the way they are packed so complications can be... odd.

I'd have the Parachuting skill be used for all of the above rolls or have them default and if the playesr do default have different stages of the jump call on different attributes.

Getting out the door and entering a several hundred mph windstream could be Reaction... guiding through the air could be Reaction.... deploying the chute could be Agility... and landing safely could be Body. This makes it so a wizbang physad could do it with amazing stats but keep the parachuting more 'technical' a more practical method.

The other thing you could do to make it easier on your runners is say that a BK: Parachuting knowsoft would add to their rolls as they would then know the technique even if they didnt know firsthand how to do it. It would make hitting key points-of-performance easier by giving them essentially an instructor/coach in their mind as they fell. they may not know what an opening shock of a chute feels like, for instance, but they could know to keep leaning forward slightly as they open the chute so their back straightens and absorbs some of the opening shock instead of transmitting 100% along the spinal cord.

Its a fine line... sure... but those are my thoughts.

[My RL quals are 31 non-HALO jumps with the 1/501 PIR... Geronimo!]

65 non-HALO jumps (3 in Jordan, 2 Britian) 4/325th AIR!! Falcons Ho!!
You can install a clutch, something used in training civies in Skydiving. This deploys the chute at a predetermined altitude even if the jumper panics, passess out or anything dumb. The jumping skill needs modifiers for Weather, Vision Mods, and an additional body + impact armor for landing in my opinion.

MaxHunter View Member Profile	Apr 18 2007, 12:24 PM Post #30
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 718 Joined: 10-September 05 From: Montevideo, in the elusive shadows of Latin America Member No.: 7,727	I am impressed Magus!!! Kudos on your jumping! (I have always though that parachute jumping is something for guys braver or crazier than my computer typing self. Nevertheless I am impressed) Overall I am quite satisfied with the rulings I have posted above; the Ares people will definitely include a clutch and some "parachuting" knowsofts to avoid mission failure. Thxs a lot Max

Rotbart van Dain... Rotbart van Dainig View Member Profile	Apr 18 2007, 12:31 PM Post #31
Hoppelhäschen 5000 Group: Members Posts: 5,807 Joined: 3-January 04 Member No.: 5,951	Why add a KnowSoft (that doesn't help much) if you can add a Pilot?

MaxHunter View Member Profile	Apr 18 2007, 01:02 PM Post #32
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 718 Joined: 10-September 05 From: Montevideo, in the elusive shadows of Latin America Member No.: 7,727	The runners will jump themselves. As not one of them has skillwires, they need to have the skill to perform the jump properly. A pilot won't help. However, a Knowsoft with -Parachuting drill sargent instructions- or something similar would help as a complementary skill. I.e. roll logic + knowsoft, hits are added to the parachuting roll itself as an AR bonus. Somebody posted this suggestion earlier on the thread. But maybe I am misinterpreting your words. Why do you think a pilot software would help? Cheers, Max

PBTHHHHT

Apr 18 2007, 01:33 PM

Post #33

Neophyte Runner

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QUOTE (G.NOME @ Apr 18 2007, 12:54 AM)

Free fall survivors - might give GMs some ideas of humerous descriptions for the inevitable Edge burn.

Gawd, after reading that it just reinforces my belief of not jumping out of a perfectly good working aircraft. Though I would prefer parachuting to bungee, at least with parachuting has a reserve chute. No such backups for bungee... ;)

edit: Some of the accounts are great for a critical glitch. Oops, you get caught in a cyclone. WTH?!

Rotbart van Dain...

Apr 18 2007, 01:55 PM

Post #34

Hoppelhäschen 5000

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QUOTE (PBTHHHHT)

QUOTE (G.NOME)

Free fall survivors - might give GMs some ideas of humerous descriptions for the inevitable Edge burn.

Gawd, after reading that it just reinforces my belief of not jumping out of a perfectly good working aircraft.

Think positive!

Kyoto Kid

Apr 18 2007, 02:40 PM

Post #35

Bushido Cowgirl

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QUOTE (PBTHHHHT)

QUOTE (G.NOME @ Apr 18 2007, 12:54 AM)

Free fall survivors - might give GMs some ideas of humerous descriptions for the inevitable Edge burn.

Gawd, after reading that it just reinforces my belief of not jumping out of a perfectly good working aircraft. Though I would prefer parachuting to bungee, at least with parachuting has a reserve chute. No such backups for bungee... ;)

edit: Some of the accounts are great for a critical glitch. Oops, you get caught in a cyclone. WTH?!

...all the more so.

The storm stories would have been fun to play with when I ran the Missions scenario. Needless to say, the team was separated from their supplies (pretty much by design of the module though)

G.NOME

Apr 21 2007, 08:03 AM

Post #36

Moving Target

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QUOTE

Think positive!

"Let's say your jet blows apart at 35,000 feet. You exit the aircraft, and you begin to descend independently. Now what?"

Great stuff.

Kyoto Kid

Apr 21 2007, 09:02 PM

Post #37

Bushido Cowgirl

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QUOTE (G.NOME)

QUOTE

Think positive!

"Let's say your jet blows apart at 35,000 feet. You exit the aircraft, and you begin to descend independently. Now what?"

Great stuff.

...if your a Mage/Shaman, summon a Spirit of Air & don't blow the drain

...if your a Physad, hope you have enough rating levels in Freefall and Mystic Armour

...If your a Sammy hope they did a real good job implanting that Dermal Armour and consider cyber replacement surgery if you survive.

...if your a Hacker, curse yourself for not booking with another airline.

...If your a TM, curse your Machine Sprites for not discovering the defect in the plane before you took off.

...If your a rigger, curse the airline for making you check your Night Glider in the cargo hold.

...if your a face, well close your eyes & hope you have enough Edge to land in that perfectly positioned haystack
:D

Wasabi View Member Profile	Apr 21 2007, 10:01 PM Post #38
Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,251 Joined: 11-September 04 From: GA Member No.: 6,651	That wacky Kyoto kid... BWWAHAHAHAA!!!

bibliophile20 View Member Profile	Apr 22 2007, 06:26 PM Post #39
Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,180 Joined: 22-January 07 From: Rochester, NY Member No.: 10,737	Ah, gotta love terminal kinetic energy poisoning.

MaxHunter View Member Profile	Apr 25 2007, 04:09 AM Post #40
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 718 Joined: 10-September 05 From: Montevideo, in the elusive shadows of Latin America Member No.: 7,727	Ok guys, we gamed the other day. The jump went smoothly per the rules I have described above. The runners had used karma to get some parachuting skill and, after some judicious use of Edge, everything went smoothly. A couple members of the five in the team ended up 3 and 6 klicks off target, but all in all, zero casualties. Well, zero casualties on the runners side, eventually the run ended up with a shootout in the woods with a Yamatetsu recon team. (8 corporate goons dead) 2 runners with sniper rifles and time to prepare an ambush= deadly. Cheers, Max

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