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HentaiZonga
Advanced Damage Rules

Location-based Damage
In location-based damage, each location has its own Body and Armor rating. Natural limbs will have the character’s full Body rating, while cybernetic limbs (and torsos and skulls) each have their own Body rating. The target’s Damage Resistance dice equals the Body rating of the appropriate location. Armor no longer adds to this test, but instead directly reduces the DV of the attack (see below). After making the Damage Resistance test, apply the following special effects, based on the location hit:

Head - All head hits cause one additional box of Stun damage for each point of damage sustained (Stun or Physical), and immediately require a Body + Willpower (wound boxes sustained) check to remain conscious.
Glitches (1D6)
1, 2 - Agony
3 - Implant Malfunction or Distracting Injury
4 - Implant Malfunction or Nausea
5, 6 - Minor Disfiguration
Heavy Damage / Critical Glitches (1D6)
1, 2 - Brain Damage
3 - Implant Destruction or Organ Loss (an eye, an ear, etc.)
4 - Implant Destruction or Bleeding Out
5, 6 – Major Disfiguration

Torso - Torso hits cause no special effects unless the target glitches his Resistance test.
Glitches (1D6)
1, 2 - Agony
3 - Impalement
4 - Implant Malfunction or Nausea
5, 6 - Infection
Heavy Damage / Critical Glitches (1D6)
1, 2 - Implant Destruction or Spinal Damage
3 - Bleeding Out
4 - Implant Destruction or Irreparable Organ Damage
5, 6 – Irreparable Organ Damage

Legs - A leg hit forces an automatic Knockdown test, with an additional modifier equal to the number of damage boxes sustained by the hit. If the character has fully cybernetic legs, the hit cannot go into damage overflow.
Glitches (1D6)
1, 2 - Implant Malfunction or Agony
3, 4 - Implant Malfunction or Impalement
5, 6 - Impeded Movement
Heavy Damage / Critical Glitches (1D6)
1, 2 – Implant Destruction or Broken Bone
3, 4 – Implant Destruction or Bleeding Out
5, 6 – Limb Loss

Arms - An arm hit forces a Body + Strength (damage boxes sustained) check to hold onto whatever the character was holding, modified further by the weight of the object. If the character has a fully cybernetic arm, the hit cannot go into damage overflow.
Glitches (1D6)
1, 2 - Implant Malfunction or Agony
3, 4 - Implant Malfunction or Impalement
5, 6 – Clumsiness
Heavy Damage / Critical Glitches (1D6)
1, 2 – Implant Destruction or Broken Bone
3, 4 – Implant Destruction or Bleeding Out
5, 6 – Limb Loss

Damage Resistance Glitches
Nausea - see Pg. 245, SR4

Agony - For every 3 damage boxes sustained from this attack, apply -1 modifier to all tests until the character has time to recover.

Infection - One of the character's wounds has become contaminated, requiring an Infection check (at a rating determined by the GM) after combat has ended.

Impalement - something (a bullet, a piece of debris, etc.) has become lodged into the character's body, and will need to be surgically extracted later.

Organ Damage - the GM should apply 5 BP of appropriate Negative Qualities per damage box sustained from the attack.

Implant Malfunction - the GM should apply 5 BP of Negative Qualities from pg. 21 – 22 of Augmentation (Buggy ‘Ware, Mystery Mod Noise, or High-Maintenance Implant) for every damage box sustained from the attack.

Implant Destruction - an implant just died, and all bonuses provided by that implant immediately cease to function. In the case of a cybernetic limb or other large piece of ‘ware, the GM may choose to reduce the Rating (or one of the limb’s Attributes) by 1 point for each damage box sustained.

Clumsiness - All actions performed with that limb are at a -1 dice pool modifier per damage box sustained.

Limb Loss – a character who has suffered Limb Loss immediately loses the limb struck. If the limb was a leg, movement is reduced to a slow crawl; if the limb was an arm, anything the character was holding is now laying on the ground next to the limb. The character’s attributes for that limb drop to 0, and all Skill use that would have partially involved that limb suffers a -4 dice penalty. Additionally, if the limb was not cybernetic, the character immediately begins Bleeding Out.

Bleeding Out - A character who is Bleeding Out has ruptured a major artery. The character takes one box of unresisted Physical damage every (Body) combat turns. An Intuition + First Aid (2) test may be performed on the character to staunch the blood flow for (Body) turns, preventing one round of blood loss. Characters with a Platelet factory or a Blood Circuit Control System may roll Body every turn in which they are bleeding out; if they achieve more hits than their current damage level, the blood flow is staunched by their ‘ware and they stop Bleeding Out.

Damage Overflow and Stabilization
A character who reaches his Damage Overflow begins taking one additional box of Physical Damage every (Body) minutes until dead or stabilized. Stabilization requires an extended First Aid (4, One Minute) test. Stabilizing a character who is Bleeding Out (see below) adds a modifier equal to the character’s total Overflow boxes and requires that the blood flow remain successfully staunched throughout the attempt, but once successfully stabilized, the character will stop bleeding out and stop taking further damage due to Damage Overflow.

Random Hit Locations
Whenever a hit is scored on a metahuman with a non-area effect attack, roll 1D6 and check the following table; the result is the location hit:

1 - Legs (if necessary, reroll: 1-3 = Left, 4-6 = Right)
2 - Left Arm
3 - Right Arm
4, 5 – Torso (if necessary, 4 = Abdomen, 5 = Chest)
6 – Head

Making a ‘Called Shot’
A character making a ‘Called Shot’ to a specific limb (or the head or torso) receives a -1 Dice Pool modifier. Additionally, the first 4 hits on their attack roll do not add to the DV of the attack; instead, if the character achieves 4 or more hits, they automatically hit the called location. At 3 hits, they automatically hit the Torso, and at 1 to 2 hits, they roll 1D6 as normal (or apply the attack over the character’s entire body, if making an elemental or burst-fire weapon attack). Direct Combat Spells cannot make Called Shots.

Area Effect Damage
Area-effect attacks always apply the average Body and Armor of all 6 locations (round up). Only make a Random Hit Location roll if the target glitches his Damage Resistance test, to determine what kind of Glitch effect to apply. Elemental attacks and burst-fire weapon attacks should also be handled in this manner, even if the attack only affects a single target. Ignore this rule if the attacker makes a Called Shot.

Direct Combat Spell Damage
A Direct Combat Spell ignores all Armor. Mana Direct Combat Spells use the character’s natural Body (including any non-cyberlimb enhancements) when resisting the attack. Physical Direct Combat Spells use the average Body (including all enhancements, even from cyberlimbs) of all 6 locations (round up) as Area Effect Damage. Because Direct Combat Spells affect a target’s entire aura, they may never be used to make a Called Shot.

Armor
Standard SR armor ratings must be divided up into which sections they cover; if any one location exceeds half the character's Body (round up), reduce the Agility of that location by the difference. Customized armor only reduces Agility if the location’s armor exceeds the character’s full Body. Rather than adding dice to Damage Resistance tests, Armor directly affects the DV of an attack. Each point of Armor rating converts one point of Physical damage into Stun damage; if all damage has been converted to Stun, each further point of Armor rating reduces any remaining Stun damage by 1 point. If an attack’s initial DV (before extra attack hits or burst-fire bonuses) exceeds the target’s Armor rating (modified by AP), the Armor rating is automatically reduced by 1 point after the attack.

To convert any armor into these rules, take into account the total coverage of the armor before modifying its Armor rating. Armor which only covers the chest should receive its full rating, armor which covers the chest and arms should reduce its Ballistic and Impact rating by 1 each, and armor which covers the entire body should have its rating halved (round down). Helmets, shields and specific limb-based armor (like the Securetech PPP) should have their rating doubled. Shields are a special case – a shield adds its Armor rating directly to the arm worn, and provides a -4 (partial cover) attack modifier to all attacks, including called shots. An attack which isn’t a called shot automatically hits the shield arm. Cyberlimb armor, bone lacing, orthoskin, dermal sheath and dermal plating are a special case: they should each apply their full armor value to each location that they cover.

Penetrating Damage
Certain weapons and attacks deal Penetrating Damage; this is damage which is much harder to resist than normal. All Laser weapons, Assault Cannon, and Monofilament whips deal Penetrating damage. When a target without a Barrier rating resists Penetrating damage, the target’s Damage Resistance dice are halved.



What do you think, Sirs?
edcalaban
QUOTE (HentaiZonga @ May 1 2008, 09:47 PM) *
Armor
Standard SR armor ratings must be divided up into which sections they cover; if any one location exceeds half the character's Body (round up), reduce the Agility of that location by the difference. Customized armor only reduces Agility if the location’s armor exceeds the character’s full Body. Rather than adding dice to Damage Resistance tests, Armor directly affects the DV of an attack. Each point of Armor rating converts one point of Physical damage into Stun damage; if all damage has been converted to Stun, each further point of Armor rating reduces any remaining Stun damage by 1 point. If an attack’s initial DV (before extra attack hits or burst-fire bonuses) exceeds the target’s Armor rating (modified by AP), the Armor rating is automatically reduced by 1 point after the attack.

To convert any armor into these rules, take into account the total coverage of the armor before modifying its Armor rating. Armor which only covers the chest should receive its full rating, armor which covers the chest and arms should reduce its Ballistic and Impact rating by 1 each, and armor which covers the entire body should have its rating halved (round down). Helmets, shields and specific limb-based armor (like the Securetech PPP) should have their rating doubled. Shields are a special case – a shield adds its Armor rating directly to the arm worn, and provides a -4 (partial cover) attack modifier to all attacks, including called shots. An attack which isn’t a called shot automatically hits the shield arm. Cyberlimb armor, bone lacing, orthoskin, dermal sheath and dermal plating are a special case: they should each apply their full armor value to each location that they cover.


What about non-critical glitches possibly doing damage directly to armor instead of to the limb? Reduce the Armor rating or cause an increased Agility impediment for instance, like the glitch effects you've written out for cyberware.
HentaiZonga
QUOTE (edcalaban @ May 1 2008, 08:00 PM) *
What about non-critical glitches possibly doing damage directly to armor instead of to the limb? Reduce the Armor rating or cause an increased Agility impediment for instance, like the glitch effects you've written out for cyberware.


Well, unfortunately, Armor isn't being rolled anymore - so Armor can't glitch. I'm a big proponent of 'the glitch affects the roll'. Instead, I'm just carrying over the idea from Arsenal, that if any of the damage penetrates (remains Physical after armor is applied), reduce Armor by 1 point afterwards.

edcalaban
QUOTE (HentaiZonga @ May 1 2008, 10:04 PM) *
Well, unfortunately, Armor isn't being rolled anymore - so Armor can't glitch. I'm a big proponent of 'the glitch affects the roll'. Instead, I'm just carrying over the idea from Arsenal, that if any of the damage penetrates (remains Physical after armor is applied), reduce Armor by 1 point afterwards.


True. And now that I think of it remembering damaged armor values could get messy...
Though it would add an interesting number of possibilities. Useful for keeping people alive when they do something stupid.


Also, for bleeding out, does it assume they hold something to the wound or tie something on when they staunch it? If the former they'd need to work with one hand, and the repercussions of that are something to consider.
HentaiZonga
QUOTE (edcalaban @ May 1 2008, 08:13 PM) *
True. And now that I think of it remembering damaged armor values could get messy...
Though it would add an interesting number of possibilities. Useful for keeping people alive when they do something stupid.


Also, for bleeding out, does it assume they hold something to the wound or tie something on when they staunch it? If the former they'd need to work with one hand, and the repercussions of that are something to consider.


Yep, it's basically a 'split dice pool' situation unless you've got two people working on him - one to stabilize and one to stave off bleeding
edcalaban
QUOTE (HentaiZonga @ May 1 2008, 10:17 PM) *
Yep, it's basically a 'split dice pool' situation unless you've got two people working on him - one to stabilize and one to stave off bleeding


Thanks for clarifying. I'm definitely going to have to pull this out at my next session.
HentaiZonga
Further house rules:
the Augmentation Source Book

Genecrafted Quality and Genetic Heritage Quality (pg. 20)
Characters who possess both the Genecrafted and Genetic Heritage Qualities reduce the cost of all genetech by 40%, and may acquire one genetech or delta-grade bioware alteration at character creation without paying its nuyen cost (Essence costs are still paid).

Redlining Cyberlimbs (pg. 44)
Only Strength and Agility may be 'red-lined' in this manner; Body cannot be adjusted. When 'red-lining', if all cyberlimbs are adjusted by the same amount in the same attribute, the character only takes damage once per Combat Turn for redlining all of them.

Cosmetic Surgery (pg. 23; pg.60)
Expanding on the "Tweaking the Rules" idea on pg. 23 of Augmentation, Cosmetic Surgery is a Moderate-level Biosculpting augmentation which provides +1 to Charisma per level (maximum +3, limited by the character's augmented racial maximum). Besides the physical appearance bonus, the increased confidence and self-image granted allows the augmentation to apply to any Charisma-based test. Orks and Trolls find this augmentation especially helpful, as it can re-structure their mouth and teeth to give them a more “normal� sounding voice (to human ears, anyways).
Cosmetic Biosculpting (1-3)
Essence Cost: 0.10
Nuyen Cost: (Rating x 5,000)

Bone Lacing (pg. 39 - 40)
Bone Lacing is available in partial-body sections, for those with cyber limbs or for those who only wish to protect their most vital organs. The Essence cost for Partial Bone Lacing is equal to a percentage of the cyberlimb cost for the same section (rounded to the nearest 0.05 Essence), based on the type of Bone Lacing:
Bone Lacing Type / Essence Cost (per Location)
Plastic (Full Arm/Leg: 0.10; Torso: 0.15; Head: 0.10) - 1,000 Nuyen per location
Kevlar (Full Arm/Leg: 0.20; Torso: 0.25; Head: 0.15) - 2,000 Nuyen per location
Aluminum (Full Arm/Leg: 0.20; Torso: 0.25; Head: 0.15) - 2,500 Nuyen per location
Ceramic (Full Arm/Leg: 0.20; Torso: 0.30; Head: 0.15) - 4,000 Nuyen per location
Titanium (Full Arm/Leg: 0.25; Torso: 0.40; Head: 0.20) - 7,000 Nuyen per location

Genetech Bioware (pg. 93)
All Delta-grade bioware is considered "Genetech" (from pg. 93 of Augmentation: "most of the functional changes available through biotech are also possible through transgenic alteration for comparable Essence and nuyen costs but longer treatment times"?.) In my campaigns, all Delta-grade bioware works this way, modifying the genome to grow new tissue instead of implanting externally-grown organs. Thus, all bioware is available as genetech, at a 50% Essence reduction, a 2x Availability multiplier, and a 10x Cost multiplier. Bioware may not be purchased as genetech at any lower "grade", and is never Used or Type O.

Cyborgs as PCs (pg. 162)
Cyborgs do not have to pay double for Mental attributes; their lack of physical attributes to purchase is offset by the incredible amount of BP they must spend on their CCU and drone body. Therefore, 400-pt Cyborgs may spend a total of 250 BP on Attributes + Gear, with the CCU alone eating up 50BP worth of Gear cost.

However, Active Skills do cost double BP, as a cyborg typically just uses Skillsofts, and are not operating a "natural" body in any case. Likewise, skills max out at 5 instead of 6 - maxing a skill to 5 costs double BP again. Characters who wish to play adult-brain cyborgs should purchase a number of Negative Qualities from pg. 163 to 164; every 5 BP of Negative Qualities purchased allows one skill to be bought at "normal"? BP costs. These skills should be noted on the character sheet as skills acquired before the cyborg procedure; these are the only skills that can ever be increased to 6 (or 7 with the Aptitude Quality).
Muspellsheimr
On the combat system, not something I would personally use - I just prefer the more abstract base system with Heavy Damage/Severe Wounds rules from Augmentation. Not taking into account the increased book-keeping, though, they look good.

On the cosmetic surgery, I have always hated the idea of it increasing Charisma - Charisma has nothing to do with appearance and deals with a significant bit more than your self-esteem. I would instead simply run it as a low/no essence dice bonus to all tests in which appearance is a factor. This may not count, or even be a penalty, in some situations (such as dealing with the mutant underground), at the GM's discretion.

On delta-grade bioware being available as genetic augmentations, I like it and have considered such myself. However, I would suggest making them instead a combination if implantation & genetic treatment. Your DNA is altered to make the biotech "natural", and the organs are implanted into the body. I am of the opinion this would be far faster, easier, & cheaper than altering the DNA and then growing them into the body afterwards. It also doesn't completely remove the benefit of Type-O System for those wishing genetic augmentations - just multiply the bio cost by x2 to cover the genetic treatments as well.
Crusher Bob
Here's the thread where I did some work on armor, hit locations, etc.

My first impression of your rules is that the penetration vs armor totals are now screwed up.

For example, if we want armor to stop a heavy pistol round (letting through around 3 stun to be soaked by body alone) then we need armor value of around 11 (heavy pistol with two nets hits does 7 damage, armor 11 converts all 7 points to stun, and still has 4 points left over, leaving 3 points of stun to be soaked with body). However, this armor will also convert any rifle round into stun as well, unless you heavily modify the AP values of weapons.

In addition, since one point of AP is worth roughly one point of damage, there is much less room to fine tune any weapons.
Muspellsheimr
QUOTE (Crusher Bob @ May 2 2008, 02:14 AM) *
In addition, since one point of AP is worth roughly one point of damage, there is much less room to fine tune any weapons.

A good point - this basically makes any ammunition other than APDS/AV vastly inferior. Changing how armor works in this way would require a significant amount of reworking weapon, armor, & ammunition values.

I would say provide locations each armor protects against, but otherwise leave the system the same. Keep in mind the normal penalties for bypassing armor when assigning the location & values.
HentaiZonga
QUOTE (Crusher Bob @ May 2 2008, 02:14 AM) *
Here's the thread where I did some work on armor, hit locations, etc.

My first impression of your rules is that the penetration vs armor totals are now screwed up.

For example, if we want armor to stop a heavy pistol round (letting through around 3 stun to be soaked by body alone) then we need armor value of around 11 (heavy pistol with two nets hits does 7 damage, armor 11 converts all 7 points to stun, and still has 4 points left over, leaving 3 points of stun to be soaked with body). However, this armor will also convert any rifle round into stun as well, unless you heavily modify the AP values of weapons.

In addition, since one point of AP is worth roughly one point of damage, there is much less room to fine tune any weapons.


True, although I think it might be alleviated if you include attack hits and burst-fire DV modifiers before comparing the armor. Let's see how that works:

The Ares Predator has a damage of 5P, with an AP of -1; 2 net hits means 7P. An armor value of 11 gets reduced to 10, which converts all 7 to stun, with 3 left over, leaving 4 stun to be soaked with body.

On the other hand, the Sniper configuration of the HK XM30 has a damage of 7P, with an AP of -2; 2 net hits means 9P. An armor value of 11 gets reduced to 9, which is just barely enough to convert it all to stun, leaving all 9 stun to be soaked with body - which is going to hurt. And note that 7P is the low end of sniper rifles; 8P means at least 1 point gets through as Physical, as does 3+ net hits at 7P.

And of course, an assault cannon is barely going to notice the armor: the Panther XXL deals 10P, and reduces the armor from 11 to 6. This means 6 points get converted to Stun, leaving 4 as Physical.
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