Aberrant 2.0 Vehicle Rules

Vehicle General Errata

Safe Speed and Max Speed are in km/h. The speed in meters/combat round is given in parentheses. Maneuver is the dice bonus or penalty to any control rolls (Dex + Pilot or Dex + Drive). Armor also has a value in parentheses, which is the amount of soak given to the passenger in the event he is directly attacked. Armor soaks both bashing and lethal damage at full value. Damage penalties to vehicles affect both mounted weapons and maneuvering.

Basic Rules

Crew: Most vehicles have multiple crew, allowing them to take multiple actions without penalty. Each crewmember may take any number of actions using normal multiple action rules, allowing military vehicles to act several times in a single round without inordinate multiple action penalties. The crew use their own dice pools for their individual actions, and are often given fixed roles.

Damage: Vehicles take damage differently from humans. Vehicles ignore Stun damage, and do not take Bashing damage normally. Instead, every 2 levels of Bashing damage inflicted in an attack become 1 level of Lethal damage, rounding the conversion down. Vehicles take lethal and aggravated damage normally.

Optional Rule: Reducing High Dice Pools: Vehicle weapons and armor can achieve extremely high dice pool numbers, with munitions such as tactical nuclear weapons often requiring 90-100 dice to resolve. Similarly, novas may end up with extremely ludicrous dice pools. In this case, one may convert a portion of that pool into automatic successes. Every 10 dice in a pool becomes 4 successes (0.4 chance of success). With a relevant quality or dealing with heavy weapons that automatically reroll 10s, every 20 dice in a pool becomes 9 successes (0.4444... ~= 0.45 chance of success per die). Convert a dice pool into automatic successes until 20 dice or less are left, then roll the remainder.

Ramming: A vehicle used in a ramming attack deals damage to both it and the unfortunate target of the attack. To ram, the driver rolls Dex + Drive or Dex + Pilot at +1 difficulty, while the defender can dodge or defend however they wish. A successful ram deals a base 5B damage at Safe and 10B damage at max speed to both parties, modified by the below factors. Note that the below factors do not at all simulate the actual physics of colliding objects and are intended for drama rather than simulation.

Speed: A vehicle has a safe speed (equivalent to a character's running movement) and a max speed (equivalent to sprinting). However, unlike characters, vehicle drivers can take action normally even if moving at maximum speed.

Vehicle Scale: Multiply base damage by Scale difference (min 1, max 3). Ramming a car with a main battle tank means the tank deals (3 - 1 = 2) times damage to the car, while the car deals ( 1 - 3 = -1, which is increased to the minimum of 1) times damage.

Damage Adds: A vehicle adds a number of damage adds equal to (Scale + 2) when ramming. So the MBT adds [5] to its damage adds, while the car adds [3].

Vehicle Soak: Every 2 points of armor a vehicle has adds an additional +1B to the damage, while every 5 points of armor adds [1] to the attack's damage add-round fractional points down. So the MBT, with armor 25, adds 12B [5] to the attack damage, the car, with armor 6, adds 3B [1] to the attack damage.

Vehicle Velocity: A vehicle deals +5B [2] damage to itself and the target if its velocity is between 50 and 100 km/h, with an additional +5B [3] if its velocity is between 101 and 200 km/h, and is lethal if its velocity is above 200 km/h. If a vehicle's velocity is over 1000 km/h, add another +10L [5], and add yet another +10L [5] if the vehicle's velocity is over 5000 km/h. So the MBT, with max speed 80 (64 km/h) adds 5B [2] damage to its ramming attack.

In total, a MBT ramming a car at maximum speed inflicts (2 * 10B) + [5] + (12B [5]) + 5B [2], or 37B [12] damage to the car. The car inflicts (10B) + [3] + (3B [1]) + 5B [2] = 18B [6] damage to the tank. The tank, with Armor 25, shrugs the car off, while the car, with Armor 6 and 12 health levels, is totaled.

Ramming a target at significantly less than normal safe speed reduces this damage by ST discretion.

Scale

Vehicles have a Scale, which is an abstract measurement of their size. Scale 0 is considered to be "human" or close to human, such as motorcycles or hovercycles, while Scale 1 would be a car or the like. Each Scale level is approximately 10 times the mass and twice the length/width/height of the previous scale. Scale increases the difficulty of a vehicle's weapons to acquire smaller targets and the vehicle's ability to evade smaller targets, but makes the attacks of smaller foes decreasingly relevant. It is possible for a character to have a Scale above 0, but this is relatively rare.

Scale 0: Human, motorcycle, personal transporter (less than 200 kg)

Scale 1: Compact Car, Powered Suit, Skimmer (~0.2-1t)

Scale 2: Normal Cars, Trucks, Mecha, Assault Skimmer (1.1-10t)

Scale 3: Main Battle Tank, Small Passenger Aircraft, Fighter (11-100t)

Scale 4: Spaceplane, Jumbo Jet (101-1000t)

Scale 5: Light Corvette, Small Frigate (1001-10,000t)

Scale 6: Naval Destroyer, Naval Cruiser (10,100t - 100,000 t)

Scale 7: Battleship, Aircraft Carrier (101,000-1 million t)

Scale 8: (1 million-10 million tons)

Scale 9: Space Station (10.1 - 100 million tons)

Scale 10: (101 million - 1 billion tons)

Evasion
The number of dodge successes a vehicle achieves is divided by its own Scale minus the Scale of the attacker, with a minimum divisor of 1. So for example, if a main battle tank (Scale 3) is attempting to evade a Nova's attack (Scale 0), every 3 successes on the Dex + Drive roll become 1 dodge success. The tank will generally have better luck standing and slugging it out rather than trying to dodge, although dodging may still allow it to evade marginal attacks. Note that Scale does not affect other defenses, such as power block, "parrying" with point defense, and so on.

Attack Difficulties
The number of attack successes a vehicle rolls is divided by its own Scale minus the Scale of the attacker. If the Scale 3 tank shot back at the Nova, every 3 successes on the gunner's Perception + Gunnery roll become 1 attack success, allowing the Nova to evade the attack much more easily. This is why most vehicles have secondary weaponry which allows for effective engagement of smaller targets. This is only used for direct attack-when firing indirectly, one net success is the sole requirement for placing a shell wherever you want, making area attacks and explosive ordinance a godsend for engaging small targets.

Called Shots
Larger targets have larger weakpoints that are easier to hit, and are much easier to hit at range than smaller ones. If a smaller combatant fires upon a larger one, he may subtract the difference in Scale from the attack's final difficulty. The final difficulty of an attack is capped at a minimum of 0, and this does not subtract from the target's successes on defensive rolls such as dodging, parrying, or power use.

Increased Firepower
Larger assets deal a lot more damage, and a precise hit from a heavy weapon inflicts a lot more damage than one from a handgun or rifle. The bonus damage from additional successes on the attack roll is multiplied by the attacker's Scale (so a tank deals +3 damage per additional success, up to +15, for example).

Reduced Vulnerability
Particularly large vehicles are much more resistant to relative pinpricks. A battleship will barely notice anti-tank missiles, and riddling a jumbo jet with bullets is unlikely to impair it, even though the jumbo jet isn't even remotely bulletproof. If an attack comes from a source at least 2 Scale levels smaller (so shooting a rifle at a car, for example), the attack's final damage is halved, rounded down. If an attack comes from a source at least 4 Scale levels smaller (shooting 40mm grenades or anti-tank missiles at a frigate), no matter how much damage the attack rolls, the attack may only deal a single health level of damage. This allows large, fragile objects, such as blimps, to soak up surprising amounts of damage via their sheer size.

Modifiers

Fast-Tracking Weapons [X]
Anti-infantry and point-defense weapons are most commonly fast-tracking, which allows them to engage much smaller targets. These weapons reduce the Scale of the mounting vehicle for the purposes of attacking with those weapons only by [X], so a weapon with Fast-Tracking [2] reduces the Scale of the mounting vehicle by 2, down to 0. This does not reduce damage.

Area/Explosion
Area attacks or Explosive attacks affect a larger area, therefore simultaneously making them easier to aim at smaller targets and more capable of affecting large targets. Every point of Area rating increases an attack's effective Scale by 1 for purposes of dealing damage, and decreases an attack's effective Scale by 1 for purposes of targeting smaller foes.

Damage Adds
Damage Adds increase the relative scale of an attack, as they symbolize an attack with extreme and overwhelming power, such as an anti-tank missile, battleship shell, or the like. An attack with damage adds increases its effective Scale by 1 for purposes of dealing damage as long as the attack's damage adds are greater than or equal to the target's (Scale X 3).

Cars

• Compact Car: Safe Speed 75 (60), Max Speed 150 (120), Maneuver +0, Passengers 3, Armor 6, Scale 1, HLs -0 x 2, -1 x 4, -2 x 4, -4 x 2, Wrecked
  • A compact car is a cheap and efficient method to transport a family, but is rather vulnerable to gatling gun fire and antitank missiles, making it a poor vehicle choice for most PCs. The car's body and engine block give

• Midsize Car: Safe Speed 75 (60), Max Speed 250 (200), Maneuver +1, Passengers 4, Armor 8, Scale 2, HLs -0 x 3, -1 x 4, -2 x 4, -4 x 3, Wrecked
  • Midsized cars can carry an average family of 4 in decent comfort.

• Large Car: Safe Speed 75 (60), Max Speed 200 (160), Maneuver +0, Passengers 5, Armor 8, Scale 2, HLs -0 x 5, -1 x 5, -2 x 5, -4 x 5, Wrecked
  • Large town cars are stylish and tasteful ways to show wealth and power! And with a hypercombustion engine or fuel cell, they aren't even bad for the environment anymore.

• Sports Car: Safe Speed 150 (120), Max Speed 300 (240), Maneuver +2, Passengers 0-2, Armor 7, Scale 1, HLs -0 x 2, -1 x 4, -2 x 4, -4 x 2, Wrecked
  • If you need to get somewhere fast but can't afford a helicopter you probably want one of these.

Trucks and Bikes

• Motorcycle: Safe Speed 50 (40), Max Speed 150 (120), Maneuver +2, Passengers 0-1, Armor 4, Scale 0, HLs -0 x 2, -1 x 4, -2 x 4, -4 x 1, Wrecked
  • The preferred transportation for advanced robot assassins, bad boys, and other ne-er-do-wells, a motorcycle is lightweight and maneuverable but provides negligible protection to the operator.

• Small Truck: Safe Speed 50 (40), Max Speed 150 (120), Maneuver -1, Passengers 2, Armor 8, Scale 2, HLs -0 x 5, -1 x 5, -2 x 5, -4 x 5, Wrecked
  • Small trucks carry cargo. An entire range of vehicles, from larger pickup trucks to small 6x6 wheeled trucks fall into this category.

• Large Truck: Safe Speed 50 (40), Max Speed 150 (120), Maneuver -2, Passengers 2, Armor 10, Scale 2, HLs -0 x 10, -1 x 5, -2 x 5, -4 x 5, Wrecked
  • Large trucks are much larger and tend to pull several tons' worth of cargo behind them. They are in a very real way critical to commerce, and in an emergency make decent kinetic weapons when barreling towards someone at full speed.

Civilian Aviation

• Small Prop Plane: Safe Speed 220 (175), Max Speed 650 (520), Maneuver +1, Passengers 4, Armor 6, Scale 2, HLs -0 x 4, -1 x 6, -2 x 6, -4 x 4, Crashed
  • A small prop plane is a small civilian aircraft, little more than a toy. That said, they can land almost anywhere and are relatively cheap.

• Large Prop Plane: Safe Speed 540 (430), Max Speed 760 (600), Maneuver -2, Passengers 40, Armor 8, Scale 3, HLs -0 x 6, -1 x 8, -2 x 8, -4 x 6, Crashed
  • Larger prop planes have more commercial applications but tend to be slightly less convenient.

• Small Jet Aircraft: Safe Speed 600 (480), Max Speed 900 (720), Maneuver +1, Passengers 6, Armor 6, Scale 3, HLs -0 x 6, -1 x 8, -2 x 8, -4 x 6, Crashed
  • A personal jet is a necessity for any globetrotting multimillionaire.

• Jumbo Jet: Safe Speed 600 (480), Max Speed 900 (720), Maneuver -5, Passengers 300, Armor 9, Scale 4, HLs -0 x 20, -1 x 20, -2 x 10, -3 x 10, -4 x 10, Crashed
  • And for the rest of us, you have large air transport which is good at several things: 1. Carrying lots of people across long distances with a minimum of comfort, and 2. Becoming an impromptu cruise missile at the hands of someone sufficiently crazy.

• Civilian Helicopter: Safe Speed 200 (160), Max Speed 400 (320), Maneuver +3, Passengers 4, Armor 6, Scale 2, HLs -0 x 5, -1 x 5, -2 x 3, -4 x 3, Destroyed
  • Civilian helicopters combine the convenience of a military helicopter with the legality of a thing that isn't bristling with dangerous weapons, and are fast and maneuverable, if fuel-inefficient, methods of getting from Point A to Point B no matter how rough the terrain at Point B is.

Military Aircraft

• Strike Aircraft: Safe Speed 600 (480), Max Speed 1000 (800), Maneuver +3, Passengers 0, Armor 15, Scale 3, HLs -0 x 10, -1 x 10, -2 x 10, -4 x 5, Eject!
  • Strike Aircraft are (relatively) heavily armored aircraft designed for CAS, armed with heavy rotary cannon and a variety of very deadly missiles.

• Fighter Aircraft: Safe Speed 1000 (800), Max Speed 2500 (2000), Maneuver +3, Passengers 0, Armor 9, Scale 3, HLs -0 x 10, -1 x 5, -2 x 5, -4 x 5, Eject!
  • They might be old, but venerable fighter aircraft with proper updates can still put up a pretty impressive fight at an eminently affordable price point. That is, affordable to the average nation-state, not a single person.

• Advanced Fighter: Safe Speed 1000 (800), Max Speed 3000 (2400), Maneuver +4, Passengers 0, Armor 9, Scale 3, HLs -0 x 10, -1 x 5, -2 x 5, -4 x 5, Eject!
  • Later-generation fighters designed and built in the late 20th and early 21st centuries are common in the arsenals of large power blocs such as the EU, China, and the United States, combining speed, maneuverability, firepower, and defenses to create deadly birds of prey.

• Superfighter: Safe Speed 1500 (1200), Max Speed 4500 (3600), Maneuver +5, Passengers 0, Armor 9, Scale 3, HLs -0 x 10, -1 x 5, -2 x 5, -4 x 5, Eject!
  • These cutting edge prototype designs are often the brainchildren of Nova designers, combining bleeding-edge electronics and materials science to create flying supercomputers with the combat effectiveness of an entire fighter squadron and a comparable price point.

• Bomber: Safe Speed 1000 (800), Max Speed 2000 (1600), Maneuver -3, Crew 4, Armor 10, Scale 4, HLs -0 x 10, -1 x 10, -2 x 10, -4 x 5, Eject!
  • Bombers find themselves assigned to the role of carrying large amounts of ordinance and dispensing it with varying amounts of discrimination on various countries.

• UCAV: Safe Speed 600 (480), Max Speed 1000 (800), Maneuver +3, Passengers 0, Armor 9, Scale 3, HLs -0 x 5, -1 x 5, -2 x 5, -4 x 5, Destroyed
  • Cutting-edge in 2021, UCAVs are fully autonomous strike aircraft. They're still kind of dumb right now, but as science advances by leaps and bounds they are becoming more and more capable of performing even complex maneuvers successfully.

Military VTOLs

• Attack Helicopter: Safe Speed 250 (200), Max Speed 450 (360), Maneuver +3, Passengers 0, Armor 18, Scale 3, HLs -0 x 10, -1 x 5, -2 x 5, -4 x 5, Destroyed
  • Gunships carry an autocannon and a variety of rockets and missiles into combat, generally performing strike missions or escorting transport helicopters.

• Transport Helicopter: Safe Speed 200 (160), Max Speed 400 (320), Maneuver +0, Passengers 10, Armor 15, Scale 3, HLs -0 x 5, -1 x 5, -2 x 5, -4 x 5, Destroyed
  • There are few better ways to move a bunch of light infantry into combat fast, but transport helicopters tend to be vulnerable to AA weapons. Lightly armed for clearing landing zones, transport helicopters can engage lighter foes with some success but their pilots prefer to not deal with hot LZs.

Military Ground Vehicles

• APC: Safe Speed 30 (24), Max Speed 60 (48), Maneuver -2, Passengers 10, Armor 18, Scale 3, HLs -0 x 10, -1 x 10, -2 x 5, -4 x 5, Wrecked
  • APCs are wheeled or tracked armored vehicles with light self-defense armament intended to increase the mobility of infantry.

• Infantry Combat Vehicle: Safe Speed 50 (40), Max Speed 80 (64), Maneuver -3, Passengers 7, Armor 20, Scale 3, HLs -0 x 15, -1 x 10, -2 x 5, -4 x 5, Wrecked
  • IFVs are upgunned APCs, trading some infantry capacity for additional firepower and armor.

• Light Tank: Safe Speed 50 (40), Max Speed 100 (80), Maneuver -2, Passengers 0, Armor 18, Scale 3, HLs -0 x 15, -1 x 10, -2 x 5, -4 x 5, Wrecked
  • Light tanks are smaller tanks, used as tracked reconnaissance vehicles, skirmishers, or airmobile armor.

• Main Battle Tank: Safe Speed 50 (40), Max Speed 80 (64), Maneuver -3, Passengers 0, Armor 25, Scale 3, HLs -0 x 15, -1 x 10, -2 x 10, -4 x 10, Wrecked
  • The pinnacle of the armored combat vehicle, your average MBT is fast, incredibly tough, and armed with enough firepower to smash just about anything in its way.

Combat Robots

• Danguard: Safe Speed 30 (24), Max Speed 50 (40), Maneuver +1, Passengers 0, Armor 20, Scale 2, HLs -0 x 5, -1 x 5, -2 x 5, -4 x 5, Disabled
  • Built by Kuro-Tek originally and with similar designs coming off the assembly lines of a half-dozen companies, these large and heavy combat robots have Strength 16 [4] due to their massive musculature, and have arms and legs, allowing them to make hand to hand combat maneuvers.

• Gunsen: Safe Speed 30 (24), Max Speed 60 (48), Maneuver +2, Passengers 0, Armor 12, Scale 1, HLs -0 x 5, -1 x 3, -2 x 2, -4 x 2, Disabled
  • A much smaller design, the Gunsen is barely 2 meters tall and masses only about a half-ton. Much weaker and more lightly armed than its bigger brother, the Gunsen is often used for internal security. The Gunsen's fast-contracting artificial muscle reduces multiple action penalties by 2, and its artificial muscles have Strength 10.

• Cybertank: Safe Speed 60 (48), Max Speed 90 (72), Maneuver -2, Passengers 0, Armor 35, Scale 3, HLs -0 x 20, -1 x 20, -2 x 10, -4 x 10, Disabled
  • The Ogre is coming! the Ogre is coming! Run for your life! A cybertank is a fearsome war machine, 70 tons of armor and high-endurance powerplant and firepower with no pesky crew chambers to take up space or get tired.

Vehicle Features

Military Aircraft

• Strike Aircraft: Hardpoints x 6, 30mm Rotary Cannon

• Fighter Aircraft: Hardpoints x 6, 20mm Rotary Cannon, Stealth (+1 difficulty to enemy awareness and attack rolls), Advanced Sensors (+1d to awareness and attack rolls, no penalties for darkness or poor vision conditions)

• Advanced Fighter: Hardpoints x 6, 20mm Rotary Cannon, Stealth (+2 difficulty to enemy awareness and missile attack rolls), Advanced Sensors (+2d to awareness and attack rolls, no penalties for darkness or poor vision conditions), Computer Assistance (-1 multiple action penalty, +3 Initiative)

• Superfighter: Hardpoints x 8, Tactical Laser, Stealth (+3 difficulty to enemy awareness and attack rolls), Advanced Sensors (+3d to awareness and attack rolls, no penalties for darkness or poor vision conditions), Computer Assistance (-2 multiple action penalty, +5 Initiative)

• Bomber: Hardpoints x 20, Stealth (+2 difficulty to enemy awareness and attack rolls), Computer Assistance (-2 multiple action penalty)

• UCAV: Hardpoints x 4, Stealth (+2 difficulty to enemy awareness and missile attack rolls), AI Piloted (Init 15, 6d for attack and piloting rolls before adding bonuses), Advanced Sensors (+3d to awareness and attack rolls, no penalties from poor vision conditions or darkness)

Military VTOLs

• Attack Helicopter: 30mm Cannon, Hardpoints x 8, Advanced Sensors (+1d to awareness and attack rolls, no penalties from poor vision conditions or darkness), Computer Assistance (-1 multiple action penalty)

• Transport Helicopter: Miniguns x 2 (one per side), Hardpoints x 4

Military Ground Vehicles

• APC: Light MG x 2, Vehicle Grenade Launcher x 1

• ICV: Heavy MG x 2, 30mm Cannon x 1, Hardpoints x 2 (missiles only). Alternately Heavy MG x 2, 105mm Cannon x 1

• Light Tank: Heavy MG x 2, 105mm Cannon x 1

• Main Battle Tank: Heavy MG x 2, Tank Railgun x 1. Alternately Heavy MG x 1, 120mm Cannon x 1, Vehicle Grenade Launcher x 2

Combat Robots

• All Machines: AI Piloted (Init 13, 6d for attack and maneuver rolls before adding bonuses), Advanced Sensors (+3d to awareness and attack rolls, no penalties from poor vision conditions or darkness), Remote Control Option (can be remote-controlled, uses controller's attributes)

• Danguard: 30mm Autocannon x 1, Vehicle Grenade Launcher x 1, Light MG x 2 (linked, both fire as one action), Anti-vehicle Vibroblade (Damage Str + 7L, AP (3)), Multitasking Computer (+2 actions/turn).

• Gunsen: Vehicular Grenade Launcher x 1, Light MG x 1, Vibroblade (Damage Str + 5L, AP (2)). Alternatively, Portable Laser x 1, Light MG x 1, Vibroblade, Multitasking Computer (+1 actions/turn).

• Cybertank: Tank Railgun x 1, PD Masers x 2 (as Maser, may defend against missile attacks), Vehicle Grenade Launcher x 2, Multitasking Computer (+3 actions/turn)

Large Vehicles

Some vehicles, such as wet-navy warships, hypothetical future starships, are large and relatively compartmentalized, and therefore have multiple components, which each have individual soak and health levels. These vehicles are as much terrain as they are vehicle, though, and should often be treated as such. Therefore, a unit will often be considered to be made up of multiple components, which each take "damage penalties" and have their own soak ratings and whatnot.