BAE Rules Changes

Return to Savage Borderlands: BAE

This setting requires several important adjustments and additions to the general rules. Also
see BAE: Guns, Glorious Guns! for firearm-specific tweaks (shotguns, scopes, etc.) and BAE
Vehicles for vehicle-specific setting rules.

Contents [hide]
Bennies
Crouching
Healing Skill
Heavy Armor
Incapacitation (FFYL)
Simple Actions
      Readying Weapons
      Reloading Weapons
      Switching Modes

Bennies
In addition to the existing uses, a Benny may be spent after rolling up a random piece of gear to
reroll it. In other words, if a player doesn't like what they got, they can start over without having to
spend another LP.

The player may choose between the results as long as they wrote down or saved the old one(s). It is
the player's responsibility to do so; if not, they have to take whatever the new result is.

Crouching
Characters may crouch or rise from a crouch as part of their movement. While crouching,
movement costs are doubled (tripled on Difficult Terrain). On any turn in which the hero crouches
(whether for the whole turn or just a portion of it), they cannot run. If they already ran this turn
and need to get behind low cover, they can dive (becoming prone) but not crouch.

There is no inherent benefit to crouching, but it may be necessary to take cover behind low objects
and triggers the benefits of a "Projected" Shield.

Healing Skill
The Healing skill is not used to heal Wounds. For that, you'll need healing vials (see BAE LP, Loot,
and Ammo). However, the Healing skill is used to revive your friends from FFYL (see below), which
is arguably even more important. It continues to be a general medical and forensics skill.

Heavy Armor
BAE Vehicles, fortifications, and certain boss enemies have Heavy Armor, but it's not quite as
durable as in most settings. Non-HW weapons can affect Heavy Armor targets, but at -4 damage.
Incapacitation (FFYL)
A character who is Incapacitated by damage ignores all of the usual rules and instead enters
the Fight For Your Life (FFYL) state. While in this state, they ignore the effects of Shaken and
have Pace 2. Every time they suffer an attack which would normally cause 1+ Wounds, they must
immediately roll Vigor or die, but this roll ignores Wound penalties and other temporary Vigor
penalties.

A different character who can reach the FFYL hero may use Healing skill as an action to revive
them; no penalty applies for the subject's Wounds. A Siren with the Healing power may make the
same attempt. Multiple healers can try for as long as the subject is in FFYL. (Healing vials do not
work on someone in FFYL, and thus cannot revive them.)

If the FFYL hero is not revived by others, they may be able to revive themselves on their next turn.
The only way to do this is to score the killing blow on a foe; if they do so, they immediately revive. If
their turn ends without this happening, they collapse and die; see the rules for New-U stations
on BAE LP, Loot, and Ammo.

A character who revives immediately heals one Wound (so back to three, usually) and exits the
FFYL state, un-Shaken.

Simple Actions
Every character can take two Simple Actions each turn. If they need more, they can do two Simple
Actions as a standard Action. This affects the following rules, which override those from Savage
Worlds.

Readying Weapons
Stowing a weapon you already have out is a Simple Action, and so is readying a new weapon. This
means that swapping one weapon for a different one takes two Simple Actions. The same applies to
swapping grenade mods and shields.

Some weapons have special keywords which change this:

Quick Swap: A weapon with this keyword can be stowed or readied as a Free Action. For
example, swapping between a "Quick Swap" weapon and a normal one takes a total of one Simple
Action (to stow or ready the normal weapon) instead of two.

Swap X: A weapon with this keyword (usually found on rocket launchers) takes X normal Actions
to stow or ready. For example, swapping from an SMG to a "Swap 1" Rocket Launcher uses one
Simple Action and one standard Action.

Swapping, readying, or stowing weapons while running requires an Agility roll (with any applicable
penalties). Failure means your weapon configuration doesn't change; Critical Failure means you
drop your current weapon.

Reloading Weapons
Reloading a weapon is a Simple Action, unless it has the keyword below.

Reload X: A weapon with this keyword (usually found on rocket launchers) requires X normal
Actions to reload.
Reloading while running requires an Agility roll (with any applicable penalties). Failure means you
don't reload; Critical Failure means you drop the weapon.

Switching Modes
In general, if a piece of gear has two modes, toggling between them is a Simple Action. Examples
include switching elements on a Maliwan gun, switching AFs on a Vladof gun, and turning shield
recharge on or off.