STAR TREK 2d20
  1. #1

    Could "chance to catch fire" be an attack? Or how else should fire be handled?

    Hi. In the ruleset, attacks are all typed according to melee, ranged, thrown, or bomb; is there any way to model something like the chance to catch fire as an attack?

    p.127 of SWADE lists the chance to catch fire as a 6 on a d6, or a 4+ or 2+ if the target is very flammable (paper) or volatile (gasoline). Is there a way to make an attack--ideally one that procs an "on fire" effect--that uses a straight die result? This is a case where size modifiers would get ignored, etc., but one which should key in on and get modified by flammable keywords.

    Of course, I could also use help with automating the "On Fire" effect (by rounds checks to change intensity, and/or opportunities for athletics checks to put it out).

    I'm not married to the need for the mechanism to be an attack on an NPC sheet, so partial credit is available for another mechanism that has a similar outcome, i.e., partially or completely automating the "on fire" process.

    Barring that (if so, *frowny face*), how would you all handle fire?

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by althafain View Post
    Hi. In the ruleset, attacks are all typed according to melee, ranged, thrown, or bomb; is there any way to model something like the chance to catch fire as an attack?
    For most involving weapons, Fire is going to be the result of a ranged or thrown attack; i.e. a flamethower attack in which the target catches fire, an incendiary shell shot from a firearm, or an incendiary grenade that's thrown-lobbed.

    p.127 of SWADE lists the chance to catch fire as a 6 on a d6, or a 4+ or 2+ if the target is very flammable (paper) or volatile (gasoline). Is there a way to make an attack--ideally one that procs an "on fire" effect--that uses a straight die result? ...
    It can be a lot higher chance than just 16.66% depending upon the circumstances; as per the rules on pg. 127 very flammable targets have a 50% (4-6) and volatile targets have a 83.33% (2-6) chance to catch fire. When I have players with fire based weapons, it's never less than a 33% (5-6) chance and often a 50%. After all, the weapons are described as incendiary for a reason and they're likely to cause residual burning.

    I'd be surprised if there was a way to automatically force a catching fire test for a successful attack and then apply fire damage if if the result is high enough. I'm far from the most knowledgeable about FGU SWADE effects though. You can certainly create a table that rolls a d6 test for catching fire and then depending on the result, auto rolls damage in another table that has just dice values for each row in the results column. It gets awkward if you want true 2d6 or 3d6 dice rolls though, as FGU tables are always treated as a single dice; so 2d6 as 1d12 and 3d6 as 1d18. It can still be done by having 2 or 3 separate 1d6 damage tables that are linked, but the 1d6 results won't be summed. Regardless, the results of a table can't be automatically compared against a PC's or Extra's Toughness to determine wounds anyways, so it's a bit of a moot point.

    Of course, I could also use help with automating the "On Fire" effect (by rounds checks to change intensity, and/or opportunities for athletics checks to put it out).
    A table is well suited to this. Just create one that tests if residual fire damage is ongoing and then auto roll in a secondary damage table(s) if it is.
    Last edited by kronovan; August 3rd, 2021 at 19:37.

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