BRP VEHICLE DESIGN RULES (Version 3.

0) What follows is a rough set of guidelines for designing vehicles in BRP, based upon material presented in the Worlds of Wonder boxed set, primarily Superworld. It also incorporates some stuff from Call of Cthulu and modified. Note that these rules were written before the release of the new Basic Role Playing rules, and no doubt will need to be modified or discarded after the rules are released. DESIGN GOALS The goal of thes rules is to allow someone to work up stats that are usable and farily reasonable in game terms. Emphasis is on qucik and dirty as opposed to detailed and accurate. BRP is a game based around characrters rather than vehicles and these rules are written in that light. THE DESIGN PROCESS To build a vehicle, just follow the steps below. The order given below is merely the one that will can be the easiest to use, as it get's SIZ out of the way first, but the designer is under no such restriction. Just keep in mind that as many vechile abilties, especially movement factor SIZ into thier costs, the final SIZ will play a biig part in the cost for the vehicle, and that any changes in SIZ will have a major effect. But for the most part just follow the numbers. 1) BUILD A CHASSIS All vehicles must have some sort of chassis or structure that the vvarious components attach to. Each vehicle must have a SIZ attribute to represent that. If the vehicle can carry parrenses inside, then the vehicle must have a greater SIZ value that to SIZ of the passengers and any cargo. Note that a GM should use to total mass for SIZ calaulations. So a car that can carry 4 large (SIZ 16, 225 lbs) people would need to be at least SIZ 34 to be able to carry 1,000 lbs (SIZ 33). The GM should brun this as a farily llose approximation. Some object will simply be too large to fit inside a vechile, and generally you can squeeze a little more weight in avehicle, but at reduced performace. If a vechile's SIZ is not larger than the SIZ of it's passengers and cargo, then it is either ridden (like a mortorcycle) or worn (like a jet pack). Such veheicles usually cannot apply their armor to protect passengers. For such vehicles you should perform Propulsion calulations based upon the combined SIZ of the vehicle and it's rider. So, foir a SIZ 4 jetpack, work by a SIZ 13 character, just go with SIZ 14. To aid in real world coversions. Fine the mass of the desired vehicle or something similar, and look it up on the SIZ table. HIT POINTS: A vehicle's Hit Points are equal to one-half the Vehcile's SIZ. Note that this is actually the same as character's (CON+SIZ)/2, except the vahicles don't have a CON attribute. 2) PROVIDE A MEANS OF PROPULSION In order to move, a vehciles must have a power that provides locomotion. SPEED: This is bought similar to the powe, excpet that the intial cost is equal to the vehicle's SIZ rather than 20. Each level of speed allows the vehicle to move at 25m/MR.

Note that propulsion on or under water is purchases as speed but must be specficied as for that method, and paid for separely from ground movement. FLIGHT: Levels equal to the SIZ of the vehicle allows it to move at 500m/MR. Each level over the SIZ allows it to move an addtional 100m/MR.. OPTIONAL: To allow for slow moving vehicles, allow a vehicle to have Levels lower than it's SIZ rating in flight, but give a move rate porportial to SIZ. For example, if a SIZ 60 vehicle only had 30 levels of Flight, it could fly at 30/60 or one half the speed, or 250m/MR. SPACEFLIGHT: Like flight, but works without an atmosphere. See the Sci-Fi Plugin for your setting to get the costs and movement rates. FASTER THAN LIGHT (FLT): USed by spaships to travel the vast intersteall distances. See the Sci-Fi Plugin for your setting to get the costs and movement rates. VEHICLES & ENERGY: Most vehicles have large enough fuel tanks and batteries that they can operate for hours so tracking Energy Enpeduature isn't practical. Energy Costs are only recordered for vechiles that have a very short duration, such as missles. Other vehciles can generallyingore this and just work under the assumption that they have a fuel supply that will run out after reasonable peroid of time. It most cases it will be far easier, and more accurate to give vehciles an approcimate range rather than work up separate energy costs for each system. 3) ARMOR IT All vewchiles should have some armor to reprsent the material strength of the components. As a rough rule, assume that every vehicle must have a minimim amount of Kinetic armor equal to 1/10th it SIZ or 1/10 it's level in SPEED or FLIGHT, whatever is highest. Vehicle Armor is avlaible in several types, each effective against certain types of damage: KINETIC-Most physical blows, impact, including falls and swords BALLISTIC-Projectiles, such as bullets. ELECTRONMAGNETIC-Magnetisim and Electricty. RADIATION-Hard Radiation, Gavity Attacks. LIGHT- A Focued Beam such as a Laser. PLASMA-Blaster Weapons. Most vehicles should have Ballistic Armor equal to their Kenetic Armor score. For instance, a tank not only resists swords and axes, but is resistant to small arms. FORCE FIELDS: Armor can be purchased as a form of firece field, if the tehnology is avaliable. Force Fields are bought just like other forms of armor (including by type, suchas Kinetic, Eletromagetic, etc). but are twice as effective, yields 2AP per level. The drawback to Foield Fields is that they must be activated, and put a drain on the ship's power systems. PHYSICAL SHIELD: THis is armor that is moved into postion to potect against an attack, the way a human would parry. Such armor is worth 3 points per level, but only protects against one attack per round, and requies a successful skill roll to block an attack.

OPTIONAL: A vehicle can have armor that is specialized to work against a certain subtype of damage at half cost, but such armor is only effective against that subtype.For example a tank could buy extra armor that was only applicable to HEAT rounds for half cost. OPTIONAL: A vehicle can have differernt armor protection on differernt facings. Typically this means doing things like increasing the protection to the front. This is more complicated (and thus why it is optional). Simply multiply the vehicles armor points by 6 and then assign the points to the six facings (front, left side, right side, rear, top and bottom). Note that the mimimum armor rule applies to ALL facings. OPTIONAL: A vehicle can have sloped armor. This provides addtional protection, but at the expsense of taking up more space (increasing the SIZ of the vehicle). For vehicles smaller that SIZ 330,each +1 SIZ you increases the AP values by 5%, to a maximum of +20% for +4 SIZ. For vehciles greater than SIZ 330, each 5% increase in SIZ increases the AP values by 2.5%. 4) DETERMINE HANDLING A vehicle's Handling Rating determes how easy or difficut it is to maneuver. Smaller vehicles tend to be more agile and larger ones more sluggish. For vehicles of SIZ 30 or less, Handling starts off a 0. For each 10 SIZ greater than 30, reduce the vehicles Handling score by 5%. THis can yield a negative Handling rating. Handling can be raised above this amount as follows. Each +1% increase to Handling costs an amont of Hero Points equal to 1/10th the vehicles SIZ (So +10% to handles costs the same as the SIZ of the vehicle). 5) ADD WEAPONS Not all vehicles have weapons. THose that do buy (more like design) such weapons with the following rules. Damage: Each Level of Damage costs 3 Hero Points and inflict 1D6 damage. The type of damage is dertermined by the designer. OPTIONAL: Fractional Values can be purchased. 1 Hero Point is worth +1 to damage, and 2 Hero Points is worth +2. Area Effect: Weapons are assumed to be direct fire, and only damage what they hit. However a designer can create an area effect weapon, such as High Exposive Shell. This requires that the weapon be given a burst radius of 1 meter/yard for 1 Hero Point. Each addtional increase in the area of effect doubles the cost (2 meters cost 4 hero points, 5 meters cost 25 and so on.). Area effect weapons only do their full damage within the blast radius, witrh damage dropping off 1D6 per yard/meter. Range: Weapons have a base range of 15 meters. Each Hero Point spent on range will increase the range by an addtiona 15m. Ammuntion: A weapon comes with 10 rounds of ammunition per attack it can make in one round, with a minimum of ten rounds. For every 3 hero points spent on ammo increases ammo by the same amount (attacksx10). Multi-Purpose Weapons: Some weapon can be used in more than one way, for instance an

artillery piece that can fire a variety or ordiance or a weapon that has mutiple settings such as stun and kill. Such weapons cost 5 extra Hero Points, and each effect must be paid for separately. Telescopic Sights, Laser Sights: For 5 Hero Points a weapon can have a targeting aid that doubles the base range when aiming. For 10 Hero Points, the modifer applies as if aimily wihout requiring an action to do so (it constantly on), but the laser will leave a dot that can be spooted by the target or others. For more addvanced targeting systems see the Superskills section and Computers Plug-In. INCREDIBLY LONG RANGE SCI-FI WEAPONS: For the stuff that can shoot at target hundred of kilometers away, see the approriate Sci-Fi Plug-In. 5) BUY A.I., COMPUTERS AND SUPERSKILLS Vehciles can be bought with SUPERSKILLS like characters, but such enhancements usually involced some sort of computer system. This could be used to degain rangefinding computers, autopilots, databannks or any other aid. INT. All aids require an INT attribute, bought at 1 Hero Point per point. This represents just how smart, effective the computer is, and determines the computer's Idea roll. EDU. If a aid stores some sort of knowledge, like a databank that can identify targets or aid id diagosing disease, it must have an EDU attribute, bout at 1 Hero Point per point. THis reflects just how cencompassing the devices knowledge is in it's field, and determine's it's Knowedlge roll. A computer can have Improved Skills. Each Hero Point spent towards a skill increases it's chance by 5%. Note that a computer that is designed to assist a character, suchas a targeting computer can add it's ability to that of the character's. NOTE: A computer is limited by it's INT, so that no computer can use a skill rated higher than it's Idea or Knoweledge roll, depending on what type of skill is being used. A computer with a skill can use that skill just as a character would. For instance a autoplito would be able to fly the plane using it's pilot skill. IN general, whener a computer must make a decision make an Idea roll to see if it made a good one or not. MULTITASKING: A computer that can use more than one skill at a time must pay an addtional 5 Hero Points. Such computers are still limited by thier Idea and Knoweldge rolls as to how many skill points they can use at once, so if you want to computer than can plito the ship AND man all the weapons, give it really high INT and EDU scores.

6) ADD ADDTIONAL POWERS Buy addionaly powers that are needed to reflect the vehciles capabilties. A list of powers is given below, along with what it they would represent in terns of vehicle technology. A short list of some powers and how they would apply to vehicles follows: Absortption: Each level costs 1 Hero Point, and allows the vehicle to absorb 1 point of damage from the appropriate type eacg round and convert it into energy for use by the vehicle. Use-Generally good for things like solar powered vehicle, or eletrci car. A nice alternative to

armor, if you know what type of attack to expect. Adaptation: Each level costs 1 Hero Point, and a vehicle must have a number of points equal to it's SIZ to be able to protect the occupants. Note that while most of the time you would want to protect the entire vehicle, in some cases you might have only a small section protected, such as a decompression chamber abaord a ship. Adaptation for Suberisbles/Pressure rating of Hull. For submerisbles each Level of Adaptation over SIZ allwos the vehicle to withstand the pressures on an addtional atmopshere. Use--Generally represents things like life support equipment, pressuized hulls. Darkness: Each level costs 4 Hero Points, and creates an area of darkness with a 2 meter radius. The darkness can be projected up to 15 meteres from the vbehicle. All beings and vehicles within the darkness fight at 1/5th ability unless they have some sort of special sense that allows them to see in the darkness. Note that it is possible to make variants of this that would block radar, sonar, Infra-red or other sense. Normally this power comes with 6 uses. Each use less that six reduces the vehicle cost by 1 hero point. Addtional uses can be bought as per ammo with 3 Hero Points granting 6 addtional uses. Use-Smoke Screens, Ink. Electronic Warfare: Each Level costs X Hero Points. Electronic Warfare can be used to interfere with weapons and sensor systems. See the Electronic Warfare rules for mor details. Use-High Tech Combat, Fighter Jet dogfighting. Gas Projection: Each Level costs 4 Hero Points. ONe level produces a gas of 1D6 POTency in a 2 meter radius, to a spot within 15m. Each addtional Hero point can either increase the radius by one meter, the base range by 15m, or the POT by 1D6. Gases work by matching their CON against the CON of anyone within the area of effect on the Resistance Table. Gas Projection must be be specficed to one of the type below (or another type as desired by the GM). Sleep Gas: Puts the subject to sleep. Lethal Gas: Inflicts POT as damage. Incapacitating: Subtract twice POT from skill rolls. Normally this power comes with 6 uses. Each use less that six reduces the vehicle cost by 1 hero point. Addtional uses can be bought as per ammo with 3 Hero Points granting 6 addtional uses. Invisibility: Each level costs 1 Hero Point. A vehicle must have a numberof Levels equal to its SIZ to rended it invisible. Note that this power can be purchased to render a vehicle invisble to a particular sensor such as radar, infra-red, and so on. Generally any sort of emission, firing of a weapon and so forth tends to disrup this ability while in use. Either becuase the effect negates the abilty (like broadcasting on a radio gives away your postion), or becuase the effect iself draws attention (such as a laser beam that comes from nowhere)..

Snare Projection: Each Level costs 3 Hero Points. Each level of this power allows the vechole to fire an entrapping force, such as a net with a STR/SIZ of 1D6 at a target within 15m. Any target caught in the net must overcome it's SIZ on the Resistance table to get free. Range can be increased by buying levels devopted to increasing the range, with each level adding 15m to the range. The net has Hit points equal to one-half it's SIZ. THe snare can buy APS as per a vehicle, but at double cost. Supersenses: Each level costs 3 Hero Points, and grants one of the abilties noted below at a range of 15m. Addtional Level can increase the range, and magifncation/amplification of the power. Infrared, Thermal, Radio. 7) FREEBIES It usually ins't important to get everything a vehicle can do in't it's decription. Usually, a GM just needs enough detail to run the vehicle in the sesssion. For instance, most ground vehicles have headlights, but if the GM or player forget to toss in a couple of levels of Energy Projection (Light) it's no big deal to rettro fit it during an adventure. In general, a vechiel can be assumed to have some freebies like cigarette lighters, AM/FM radio, headlights, wishielld wipers or some such for free. 8) COST Calculate the final HERO POINT cost of the vehicle. This will give a rough indication of how expensive a give vehile is to produce. TO tranlate that into the cost for characters to own one. Subtract 500 Hero Points. Divide remainder by 10.