On the road, the Interceptor is the king, generally being faster, better armed and armoured and more stable than the Renegade. So, how does a good Renegade stay alive? They take the fight off the road, and into the surrounding terrain. Off the road, the Renegades start to rein supreme with their ability to go places where others fear to tread, but for how long?
These rules allow a car to travel off-road in a variety of terrain types. This means that no longer are you confined to road sections and paved surfaces for battling...
These rules will only really cover the new terrain types and their effects on the vehicles travelling on them - for details of actually travelling without using the road sections, see Off-Road Movement for more information.
For a list of specialised equipment for the off-road warrior, see here.
Each terrain type has a Damage Speed. This is the speed that the vehicle has to be travelling or less to avoid taking damage. At the beginning of every turn, all vehicles that are currently off road and above the Damage Speed of the terrain should roll a die. Add +1 to this roll for every 10 mph (or fraction) that the vehicle is above the Damage Speed of the terrain. If the die roll is a 6 or greater, then the vehicle takes damage due to the terrain scraping along the tyres and the under body of the car.
If the vehicle does take damage, then check the die roll that was rolled. If the roll was an even result, the wheels take damage. If the roll was an odd result, the floor takes damage.
If a wheel is damaged, then roll on the following Wheel Critical Hit Result table. Reinforced or off-road tyres negate this damage completely. If racing tyres are being used (are you mad?), then they automatically roll on this table every turn, with a +1 modifier. Multiple wheel effects are cumulative simulating the gradual wearing down on the tyres.
|
| Die Roll | Result |
|---|
| 1,2 | Tyre Damage: -1 handling |
| 3 | Tyre Damage: Acceleration reduced by 2 mph |
| 4 | Tyre Damage: Braking reduced by 2 mph |
| 5 | Split Tyre |
| 6 | Tyre Destroyed |
If the floor is damaged, then apply +0 damage against the floor armour, however the maximum damage that the vehicle will take will be 1 point regardless of the roll, although a 6 will still result in a critical hit as normal. If a wheel is rolled on critical damage, then use the above Wheel Critical Hit table and apply this result as well as the standard floor damage.
Vehicles with partial OR suspension have a -1 damage applied against their armour (although a critical hit will still apply on a roll of 6), whilst a vehicle with full OR suspension takes no damage at all, and thus no chance of a critical.
Vehicles may only take a certain amount of damage from off-road travel - they won't fall apart completely from it. A vehicle can take a total amount of damage equalling the amount of damage in a damage increment. For example, an Interceptor can take a maximum of 6 points of off-road damage, while a Renegade can only take 4 points of damage. However, while a vehicle can take only a certain amount of damage points, continue to roll for damage as it can still take critical damage.
This is a modifier that is applied to all vehicles when they are off the road surface, and is applied to the base handling of the vehicle (thus effecting figured handling). It represents the fact that the terrain doesn't give as much grip as a paved surface.
Partial OR suspension reduces the handling penalties for terrain by 1 (thus -2 becomes -1). Full OR suspension reduces handling penalties for terrain to -0 (thus no penalties).
This modifier is applied to all cornering normal safe speeds.
Vehicles with OR tyres can decrease these modifiers by 5 mph (thus -10 mph becomes -5 mph).
The following terrain types are very common in the USA of today. With a lack of rain and water in many parts of the country, some people see nothing but sand and rocks in their whole life.
Rough is the standard terrain off the side of the side. It is a mixture of sand, gravel and loose stones, small scrubs and the like. If no terrain type is mentioned for off road travel, then assume it is rough.
Damage Speed: 30 mph
Handling Modifier: -2
Safe Speed: -10 mph
Notes: Oil has its safe speeds increased by 10 mph, as it is easier to find traction through rough terrain.
Rocky terrain is like rough with larger rocks and brush scattered around, which is able to inflict some serious damage to a car unlucky enough to be travelling over it.
Damage Speed: 20 mph
Handling Modifier: -2
Safe Speed: -15 mph
Notes: A handful of debris and obstacle counters should be scattered over the playing area to simulate boulders and the like, as can sand counters to represent small dunes and drifts. Oil has its safe speeds increased by 10 mph, as it's easier to find traction through rough terrain.
Sand is a very common occurrence in the wastelands of the Fragmented States of America, but in this instance it relates to an area covered with it and pretty much nothing else. This amount of sand can bog cars down and slow them down.
Damage Speed: 40 mph
Handling Modifier: -3
Safe Speed: -10 mph
Notes: Sand counters can also be scattered over the play area to simulate different quantities and qualities of sand, small dunes and the like.
Oil is useless on sand - it simply sinks into the sand. Spikes have their safe speed increased to 30 mph - it's harder for the spikes to damage the tyres when they're not on a stable surface.
