Dinosaur Cowboys – Tabletop Skirmish Game

I did some more brainstorming and combined all my rambling notebook pages to come up with a rough document containing some of the core ideas of the game.

The best part is I TOTALLY just realized I can play an early, early, early version of Dinosaur Cowboys using this info, plus the left over information rattling around my head.

+ Combat

- # of Attacks in D12s
 - Modify -1 Attack at Long range, +1 Attack at Short range
- To-Hit based on Armor Rating of target
 - Give +1 AR in cover
- Roll all Attacks, count each one >= target AR
 - Any 12s (Criticals) count as two
- Add base damage of weapon to total count
- Apply result as HP damage to target

- Close combat handled the same way, roll Attacks of Melee type weapon, damage as normal, etc.
- Get a free attack on a foe moving out of combat, but no one is locked into hand to hand
- Some sort of Charge move, maybe 2xMovement? Results in +1 Attack on Charge

- Dino mounts give +Armor Rating, +Movement, +Attacks (in close combat)
- Dino mounts use damage tracks, foot targets use plain HP
 - eg damage track: [ |M| |B|A|AR| |HP| ]
 - X = Dinomount Dead, M = -1 Movement, B = Break Test, A = -1 Attack, AR = -1 Armor Rating, HP = -1 HP to rider
  - OR have -1 HP every hit on the dino, which means from an 8 damage attack the dino basically absorbs 7 damage
- Dinomounts don't die, they are just removed from play for that battle and must be revived later

- Combat example:
 Firing a Laser Revolver (A=3, D=2) at Short range (+1 Attack) at a target (AR=6) in cover.
 Roll 4D12 (3 base Attacks, plus 1 for range bonus), get 8, 6, 12, 3
 Need a 7 (6 AR +1 for cover), so 8 and 12 hit, so 2 hits. But 12 is a critical so count it for 2, so 3 hits
 Add base damage of the weapon (2) to the total hits (3) for 5 damage.
 Reduce by 5 the target HP or apply to Dinomount damage track

+ Weapons

- Reload when X number of 1s rolled (for example 2 1s if the Reload value is 2x1)
 - Have to spend the whole next firing turn reloading
- Firing into close combat is no problem, hits desired target as normal
- Some weapons have a blast radius (eg: 2" Explosion)
- Allow +X weapons, like "Plasma Rifle +1"
 - Must specify what is increased, for example Laser Sniper +1A would add 1 Attack
 - Can increase Range, Attacks, Damage
- Also allow prefixes that give Special? Like Explosive Bolt Gun would have a blast
- All weapons have a level requirement on them, one of the motivations for levelling up

- Weapon statline example:
 S/M/L = range / distance
 Sm/Md/Lg = size
 Laser/Plasma/Gunpowder/Melee = type
 Requirement is in levels
 Some weapons have minimum ranges
 Standardized Special attributes

 Name             S    M    L     Attacks     Damage    Reload    Size    Type    Requirement   Special    Cost
 Laser Revolver   1-3  4-8  8-12  3           2         1x1       Sm      Laser   1             N/A        $10
 Katana           Close Combat    2           4         N/A       Md      Melee   2             N/A        $12
 Bazooka          X    6-10 10-14 1           6         N/A       Lg      Gun     5             2" Blast   $30
 Plasma Gatling   1-7  8-14 14-20 6           1         3x1       Lg      Plasma  4             N/A        $20
 
+ Movement

- Double cost to move through any rough terrain
 - ie: Move 4" over 4" of flat terrain to edge of a forest 8" long, would cost another 16" to move through it
- Can't move through any other models (friend or foe)

+ Turns

- Roll for surprise (D12) to see who goes first
- Whoever gets higher goes first, rotate turns from there
- Turn consists of Movement and Combat

+ Skills

- Have a generic Skill bonus for each character
- To do a task, roll D12 and get >= Skill to succeed in the check
 - Examples: climbing, lifting something, lockpicking, swimming, etc.

+ Traits

- Bonus perks or feats chosen from a list every few levels
- All have a level requirement and tree structure to advancement
- eg: Fast Move (2xMovement one turn per battle), Double Shot (more Attacks at less Damage), etc.
- Only real customization done for a character

+ Break Test

- Roll D12, add Courage, if >= Dinomount Fear score then Break Test is passed
 - Otherwise Dinomount can flee, do nothing ("stunned with fear"), or go beserk
- Slots on damage track prompt Break Tests, maybe other situations like ally killed, urging mount to charge off a cliff, etc.

+ Characteristics

- Player example:
 Name: X
 Gender: Male/Female
 Movement: (1-8")
 Armor Rating: 0-12 (3 is default)
 Hitpoints: X
 Courage: +X
 Skill: 0-12
 Level: X
 Kills: X (every 10 = level up)

- Dinomount example:
 Name: X
 Size: Small, Medium, Large
 Movement: +X"
 Armor Rating: +X
 Melee Attacks: +X
 Fear: X

- Generic monstrous creatures have a similar statline, but don't use a damage track and have custom weapons
 - eg: Sabretooth Cats, Giant Lizards, etc.

+ Level Ups

- Based on # of kills
- Dinomounts never level
- Perhaps 10 kills per level?
- Gain +1 HP every level
- Gain +1 Skill every 2 levels
- Gain +1 Bravery OR +1 Movement every 3 levels
- Also a level requirement for weapons

+ Money

- Money is a Neodollar
- Printed and controlled by the Neotechnoists, but some slips out into the poorer Wastelands
- Still use '$' sign

+ Miscellaneous

- No food / water tracking
- Time is tracked by day, month, year, but just day / night for time of day (not hour by hour)
- Travel is X miles = X" Movement score (so a total of 18" Movement would be 18 miles per day)
- Use slightly modified USA maps
- No limit to weight or inventory maximums, but limit weapons by sizes, and only 1 suit of armor
 - ie: maximum of equivalent of 2 Large weapons (and 2 Medium = 1 Large, 2 Small = 1 Medium)