Dinosaur Cowboys – Tabletop Skirmish Game

Although the following was rather tedious to format from the actual rules doc copy-paste, I figured it was worth it to give a feel for some of the changes. The most obvious change is how simple and small the core rules are, which is a good thing as 1-6 people per side has a way of complexifying (haha ridiculous word) every situation.

Anyways I’ll be working on character / posse generation next, then Dinomounts, some touchups to the History section, then bringing all the items up to speed. A playtest this week is looking less and less plausible (rather busy), but perhaps this weekend (especially Sunday).

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The Turn

The passage of time during combat situations is tracked using Turns, each of which contain the 2 Phases of Movement and Action.

Turn Pass: Anyone can pass or skip their Turn as they please.

Phase Order: Each entity can perform their 2 Phases in either order: Movement then Action or Action then Movement.

Movement Phase

During the Movement Phase an entity can maneuver and position around the terrain.

Option 1 – Standard Move: Move any number of inches in any direction up to an entity’s Movement score.

Option 2 – Charge Move: Perform a Standard Move in a straight line directly towards a target. If the target is reached the attacker gains a Charge bonus in melee (see the Combat section below).

Moving Through Entities: An entity can move through friendly entities, but not through hostile entities.

Difficult Terrain: When entering or crossing any terrain but flat plains (such as trees, hills, etc.) an entity must use double their Movement to continue.
For example a player can spend 2″ of Movement crossing flat plains to the edge of a forest (Difficult Terrain). To move through the 6″ forest they would need to spend a further 12″ of Movement. Or a player can spend 4″ of Movement to climb a narrow slope 2″ long.

Action Phase

During the Action Phase an entity may perform a single complex task, such as firing a gun or using an item.

Option 1 – Use a Weapon: Perform an attack either with a ranged weapon or a melee weapon.

Option 2 – Use an Item: Apply an item from your inventory to yourself or another friendly entity (ie: medpack, whiskey drop, etc.).

Option 3 – Reload a Weapon: A weapon is reloaded.

Option 4 – Run: Perform a Standard Move instead of this Action Phase.

Combat

Since the dawn of mankind there has been violence. The re-emergence of dinosaurs has done little to slow the carnage. In fact, if anything, it has accelerated the technology involved in weapons. Battles can be fought at a distance or in hand to hand.
This section will outline the rules for simulating fights between characters and the various creatures and humans who wish them harm.

Ranged Attack: If the attacker can see the target and are within maximum Range of your weapon, you can attack them in the Action Phase with the ranged weapon.

Melee Attack: Two or more combatants are considered in melee combat if they are within 1″ or less of each other. They can attack with a melee weapon in the Action Phase.

General Combat Procedure

Step 1 – Attack Roll
Roll a D12 for each Attack of the ranged or melee weapon.

Step 2 – Determine Hits
Use the Ranged Miss Chance for ranged weapons, and Melee Miss Chance for melee weapons.
Apply any modifiers to the associated Miss Chance. Every Attack Roll greater than or equal to the modified Miss Chance is a hit.

Attack Roll >= (Miss Chance +/- modifiers) = hit

Step 3 – Apply Damage
Add the count of all hits to the weapon Damage. Apply any modifiers to the total. Subtract this number from the target Hitpoints.

Hitpoints – (count of hits + weapon Damage +/- modifiers)

Critical Hit: Every unmodified Attack Roll of 12 is a Critical Hit, and counts as 2 hits.

Surprise Hit: If the target is unaware of an incoming attack each hit is a Critical Hit.

Automatic Hit and Miss: A roll of 12 is always a hit, and a roll of 1 is always a miss, both regardless of Miss Chance and modifiers.

Modifiers: There are four primary modifiers: Armor, Range, Cover, Elevation. See the table below for when and how they apply:

Armor: +AR RMC
Short Range: -1 RMC
Long Range: +1 RMC
Cover: -1 Damage
Elevation: +1 Damage

Ranged Combat Special Cases

Reload Value: Each ranged weapon has a Reload value as part of their statistics, such as 2×1 or 3×1. This number represents how likely and often the weapon will need to be reloaded, but it can also represent jamming or overheating.
If the count of unmodified Attack Roll dice that rolled 1 are greater than or equal to than the Reload value, the weapon needs to be reloaded.

How to Reload: An entity must spend an Action Phase doing nothing but Reloading a gun before it is usable again.
Note that only a single ranged weapon can be reloaded each Action Phase.

Melee Combat Special Cases

Charge Bonus: +1 Attack if the attacker performed a Charge Move to enter melee combat with the target.

Snap Attack: If a target leaves close combat (such as to flee), any attackers in close combat with them can perform a free melee attack.

Firing in (or into) Melee Combat: There is no penalty for using ranged weapons in close combat, or firing into an existing close combat.

Examples

Basic Ranged Example: Firing a 200KW Six-Shooter (4 Attacks, 2 Damage) with 7 Ranged Miss Chance. The target has no Armor, is not in Cover, and is at Medium Range, so no modifiers are needed.
Step 1: Roll 4D12 (because of 4 Attacks) resulting in 9, 6, 12, 3.
Step 2: Need a 7+ to hit (because of 7 Ranged Miss Chance). So the rolls of 9 and 12 hit. A 12 is a Critical Hit so it counts as double hits. In total there are 3 hits.
Step 3: Add base Damage of the weapon (2) to the total hits (3) for 5 total damage. Reduce the target’s Hitpoints by 5.

Complex Ranged Example: Firing a 400KW Lever-Action Rifle (3 Attacks, 4 Damage) with 4 Ranged Miss Chance. The target has 2 Armor and is at Short Range behind a tree (in Cover). The total Miss Chance needed is 5 (4 base + 2 Armor – 1 Short Range).
Step 1: Roll 3D12 resulting in 7, 7, 10.
Step 2: Need a 5+ to hit, so all rolls hit. In total there are 3 hits.
Step 3: Unmodified total damage is 7 (3 hits + 4 Damage). Target is in Cover, so modify the damage by -1, for a total of 6. Reduce the target’s Hitpoints by 6.

Basic Melee Example: Using a melee Long Sword (2 Attacks, 3 Damage) with 9 Melee Miss Chance. The target has no Armor.
Step 1: Roll 2D12 (because of 2 Attacks) resulting in 5 and 11.
Step 2: Need a 9+ to hit (because of 9 Melee Miss Chance). So the roll of 11 hit.
Step 3: Add base Damage of the weapon (3) to the total hits (1) for 4 total damage. Reduce the target’s Hitpoints by 4.

Complex Melee Example: Charge Move with a melee Spear (4 Attacks, 2 Damage) with 5 Melee Miss Chance. The target has 3 Armor. The total Miss Chance needed is 8 (5 base + 3 Armor).
Step 1: Roll 5D12 (4 base Attacks, plus 1 for Charge Bonus) resulting in 5, 1, 11, 7, 9.
Step 2: Need a 9+ to hit. So the rolls of 9 and 11 hit.
Step 3: Add base Damage of the weapon (2) to the total hits (2) for 4 total damage. Reduce the target’s Hitpoints by 4.

Fear Test

A Fear Test represents an entity trying to maintain their will to stand and fight against tremendous and terrifying odds or situations. Failure represents shaking in their boots and cowardly tactics like running away.
This section will explain how and when to take Fear Tests, and the consequences of failing them.

When to Fear Test: If an entity suffers Damage greater than or equal to half their starting Hitpoint value in a single Turn, a Fear Test is immediately required.
For example a character had 12 starting Hitpoints and is now at 10. They suffer 7 Damage from a single attack. The Damage is higher than 6 (half their starting Hitpoints) and therefore they must perform a Fear Test.

Damage >= (starting Hitpoints / 2) = Fear Test

How to Fear Test: Roll a D12 for the Fear Test. If the result is greater than or equal to the tester’s Fear score, they have failed the Fear Test and are Fleeing.

D12 >= Fear score = failed

Fleeing: At the start of the Fleeing entity’s next Turn they must automatically perform a Standard Move directly away from the nearest enemy. They may then perform an Action Phase normally.