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Vehicles

Vehicles are mostly a class of equipment, driven by one or more operators, and are for transportation. However, they are extremely varied, and at their extreme, can include:

  • suits of armour, in the case of very small mechs;
  • robots, when their controllers are sophisticated enough that the vehicle is completely independent of an operator.
  • mobile weapons, when the vehicle is little more than a means of movement and control for the firing of a weapon. With only a very few exceptions, vehicles start at the base{i} scale.

Notes on Vehicle Properties​

The following explanations explain the various parts of the vehicle listing below:

EM-Car, large, extra battery, self-repair

95K:2(cost), 13(CC)
Op: episodic (mishap(elec-2)), op(Vcl-Ground)
T|2|2(size), base{i}, 2(hardness), 4(HX), 4(EX), 0(FX), 1/170/680(wt)
Resources: 12(hp), 24/24(ep) ◊ Recovery: 1/day(hp), 0/day(ep)
Skills: 2(Health), 5(Energy), 0(Focus), 2/-1(Strength), 2/-1(Agility)
Skills (qual): Vcl-Ground
Challenges: 11(TC)
Speed: 12(hover) ◊ 300(hover,km/h) -> 4(ep/hr)
Cabin: 4(seats), 100(cargo)
s2a: 51/68(hp) 1/1(ep) in min
Description: Small, five-seat ground vehicle.

Size Traits​

This line covers your size traits (including weight and base), as well as your resource factors.

Size Traits

T|2|2(size), base{i}, 2(hardness), 4(HX), 4(EX), 0(FX), 1/170/680(wt)

  • The size is presented in three alternative forms, being the letter (a choice of D,T,S,M,L,H,G), the Size Number, and the Size factor (SX).
  • base{i} refers to the base scale, which is {i} in this case (as opposed to the personal base scale, which is {0}).
  • Most vehicles start at a hardness of 2 as they are more robust than biological creatures, which are usually 1(hardness).
  • 4(HX) is the Health Factor, which is derived (mostly) by multiplying, the Size Number (2) by the Hardness (2).
  • 4(EX) for vehicles this represents, the energy capacity of the vehicle, which would be the size and capacity of the battery in an electric car, or the capacity of the fuel tank.
  • 0(FX) This indicates that the vehicle is completely manually operated, a self-driving vehicle would have 1(FX) or 2(FX).
  • The weight (wt) is presented for three construction phases: unassembled (su), semiassembled (ss), and assembled(a). As has been mentioned in several places, the ss number is a quarter of the final a weight.

Resource Traits​

Vehicles have a full resource line, which works similarly to the one for sophonts, but there are some more details. In the above, you can appreciate the two parts of the resource line:

  • Resources traits themselves. In the EM-Car example, you can see the hp trait and the ep trait represented. This particular EM-Car does not have any AI component (it's not self-driving), so there is no fp trait. Notice how the ep trait has two parts. The first part is called the vital ep, and represents the base energy reserve, while the second is called the stored energy and represents the spare battery in this case. You always consume the stored energy first. The hp trait can also have two parts, it just doesn't in this case.
  • Recovery of those traits. With humans (and any sophont), the recovery trait is about healing, in machines, it's self-repair and self-recharge. You would have seen this in the powered armour listings. In this case, the self-repair is 1hp per day, which is quite slow. Self-recharge is generally done by having a power generator, which is not available in the EM-Car.

Skills Line​

Unlike sophonts, vehicles have a skills line, because they come with a designed competency and so come with ranks, rather than being given a range of starts, or offered bonuses. The skill starts for vehicles are simple, having starts at -3, except Health, Energy and Focus, which have starts at 0. Vehicles are usually missing the Perform and Persuade skills, since only the most advanced AIs have these.

Health, Energy and Focus all start at 0, so the number in front of these is both the R and the M, so only one number is shown. Otherwise, the skills are presented in the form R/M(Skill).

Skills(qual) Line​

This line lists the qualifier skills that the vehicle is qualified in (assume that they are -3 on all other qualifiers).

Challenges Line​

For a lot of vehicles, the challenges line only has one property in it, being the TC, but in vehicles with Scan-Tools and with at least some automation, they may also present a PC to others attempting Stealth+B. A vehicle controlled with a very advanced AI, may also present an SC. Combat-capable vehicles (those possessing one of the Cbt-Skills), may also have an init trait, which can be based on Resolve alone, but can also be based on techniques and other factors.

Speed Line​

Using the idea of stock, half and quarter moves is useful when different moves are ratable in this way, however for vehicles, we tend to mention the movement mode and its speed directly, hence:

direct mention of move with speed

Speed: 12(hover) ◊ 300(hover,km/h) -> 4(ep/hr)

In this sense we are still realting the movement of the vehicle to the contest round. On the other side of the ◊ we present the overland movement rate in terms of kilometres per hour.

Since movement is the primary means of energy expenditure in vehicles, this is where we place the resource consumption. In this case, it is also expressed in terms of per hour of usage.

Cabin Line​

The cabin line is exclusive to vehicles. Its meaning is, however fairly obvious, providing the seating and cargo space. Other vehicles may have a lot more terms including x(storage), x(docks) and x(hangar), to differentiate the various types of spaces.