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In my next session I am adding a shipboard battle, while the acolytes
are in transit to their mission the ship they are on is going to be
boarded by an orc raiding party. All the books mention how naval
weapons are specialized to prevent damaging the ship and I doubt my
group is gonna give up their grenade launchers I decided to make up a
random damage chart to make combat a little more interesting. I haven't
decided which weapons are all going to trigger rolls on the chart (the
grenade launcher for sure) but here is what I have so far.
There is a
25% chance to trigger an event if there is a miss with most weapons, E
and X probably going to be a higher chance. Also a higher chance with
anything that has a blast radius.
Random Ship Combat Happenings
01-05 Dang that racket! Alarms go
off; PCs must make a WP test or be so distracted they take a -5 to
their actions. Players with Heightened senses (Sound) test WP at -10.
Tech-use at a proper control console can deactivate alarms.
05-10
Strobe Lights - the shot shorts the lighting system which begins
randomly flickering. At the beginning of each round roll for darkness
50% chance the lights are out. Lasts 2d10 turns. Night vision equipment
is useless and disorientating as it tries to react to the rapidly
changing environment, if wearing any character is essentially blind.
11-15
Arrrghhhh… - An ancient sprinkler system springs into life raining foul
smelling water over the area. PCs must make a WP test or be so
distracted they take a -5 to their actions. Players with Heightened
Sense (Smell) test WP at -10. Tech-use at a proper control console can
deactivate sprinklers.
15-20 Lights Out - The shot severs a
power cable running the lighting. All lighting in this room/corridor is
out. The fight continues in total darkness. Effect lasts until repairs
can be made, probably a long time.
21-25 Ewwwww.... - A waste
pipe is fractured and begins spraying the deck with unidentifiable goo.
Movement requires an AG test or fall down.
26-30 The sky is
falling - The shot hits an important bracing in the ceiling of the
deck, a section of the ceiling 1d5 meters in diameter crashes to the
floor, possibly causing damage and pinning anyone underneath. Also
creates an area of cover 1m high. If you roll the max for area there is
a 50% chance the passage is blocked, separating combatants.
31-35
Knock Knock - The shot hits a weak section of inner wall and blows
opens a hole 1d5 meters in diameter into the room on the other side of
the wall. If an exterior wall is opened proceed to use 71-75 “I’m
feeling a little light headed.”
36-40 I’m losing control - One
of the rooms control consoles shrieks with electrical fury as the
machine spirit is extinguished. That control system may no longer be
used until repaired, or more likely replaced. (Sample controls: Doors,
Support Systems, Airlock Controls, controls specific to the section of
the ship)
41-45 I believe I can fly - You broke something arcane
and mysterious about the revered Grav Plating device. Must take a brace
action before firing any weapon. If fired unbraced you are propelled
backwards 2d10 meters or until you hit a bulkhead or something. Can
only brace if there is a hand hold or foothold to hold on to. If you
are hit unbraced you also float back 2d10 meters.
46-50 Smoking
is hazardous to you health - One of the blasts has destroyed the heat
shielding on some minor system which now gutters smoke. The smoke
billows 1d5 meters per round radiating out from the damage up to 10
meters. The smoke is thick and toxic, blocking lines of sight and is
dangerous to breathe for too long. If exposed for more than 3 rounds
PCs must make Toughness tests or suffer one level of Fatigue. This test
increases in difficulty by 10 every additional round exposed.
51-55
What the #%*&^! - Damage to the grav plating causes a polarity
reversal. All character and anything not bolted down falls to the
ceiling. Fall damage as normal, if “I believe I can fly has already
been rolled ignore this result.
56-60 Shot ricochet: A stray
round hits rebounds and randomly hits someone (PC, friend, or enemy).
Apply normal weapon damage -2 to a randomly selected target.
61-65
Going Down - The shot hits an important bracing in the flooring of the
deck. A section of flooring 1d10 meters in diameter crashes to the deck
below, possibly causing fall damage to anyone standing in the area. If
this is the bottom deck also apply 71-75 “I’m feeling light headed.”
66-70
Like a Lobster - A pipe breaks blasting steam in a jet in a random
direction. Treat as a weapon with 1d10+2 E, Pen 2, Range 5m, Flame.
Effect lasts 1d5 rounds.
71-75 I'm feeling a little light
headed. - Your shot cause a microscopic hull fracture. Atmosphere leaks
out slowly. Emergency bulkheads will close after 1d10 rounds. Oxygen
will be depleted after 4d10 rounds. Get out or get air.
76-80
Electrical Discharge - A stray shot has hit a power junction, showering
the area with sparks. Anyone within or passing through 2m of the damage
his hit by a 1d10-1 Shock Damage. This effect persists until power is
cut to that junction (Difficult Tech-Use to shut down)
81-85 Circuit breaker - A shot causes an electrical short. All doors, lights, and grav plating lose power for 2d10 rounds
86-90
it’s getting hot in here. - Your shot hit a fuel line. A fire starts at
a random point in the room. Follow rules for fire. Emergency bulkheads
will close in 1d5+1 rounds. Oxygen will run out in 2d10 rounds unless
fire is extinguished. 30% chance an ancient sprinkler system will kick
in. If so the fire is extinguished in 3 rounds and then apply 11-15
“Arrgghhh…”
91-95 You take my breath away - A shot ruptures a
vacuum conduit. The bulkheads close in 1d5+1 rounds. 2d10 rounds later
suffocation begins.
96-00 A bit Claustrophobic – All bulkheads on this level slam shut.
Bulkheads
can be opened with a difficult -10 Tech-use test, or a very hard -30
Strength test. Apply modifiers for darkness, suffocation, combat, or
whatever other distractions there may be.
For the hull breach I am assuming a shot hits an already weakened
section of the hull, and results in a microscopic leak not a massive
hull breach. Since the PC's are shots are hitting parts of the hull
that are not shielded or even designed to take fire I think a bolt
pistol round has a possibility of causing some damage to the hull. With
4d10 rounds to escape it shouldn't be too deadly. I actually rolled
this out before I added it to the list, barring some really bad luck,
no one in my party suffered suffocation. If you think it is to deadly
go ahead and change it (Personally if I had PCs dropping in this
situation I would not kill em, just make a damage control team show up
at the last minuteand save em). As for the collapses I decided that no a pistol may not be able
to drop a wall or ceiling but a lot of things might and I didn't want
to make seperate charts for every situation so I put the collapses in.
Really the way some ships are maintained it wouldn't surprise me if a
pistol shot in just the right place would do it. I've read of deck
collapses on the forgotten decks of some ships.
Basically what I
am saying is that not all these events make sense in every situation
but in some cases they would make sense, so modify it for the
situation. If they are storming an ork ram ship I can see any of these
things happening, if they are fighting on an imperial flagship, maybe
not. So if something seems totally ridiculous move it down a level to
something more believable. That is much easier than making a seperate
list for all possible situations.
Another thing to remember is
that I don't aply these for every shot, the is a chance the shot causes
damage. Autopistols and such have a much smaller chance to do something
than a grenade launcher or melta gun. So the majority of this damage is
gonna be caused by powerful weapons. I should really put up the numbers
I use for that, I'll add that to the post when I get some time.
I would definitely say large, heavy weapons like melta's and some plasma weapons would make a big hole in things. Frag grenades probably not so much, but definitely krak grenades. Bolt rounds certainly... and since all the orks effectively have bolt weapons...
Way that I've dealt with those other weapons doing more damage is, everyone non-shotgun/primitive/flame weapon rolls on the chart. For each extra penetration over 0 the weapon has, add +10 to the roll.
New Rules 
