Haywire Weapons

Haywire weapons (like the haywire whip and grenades carried by the Lightning Cheetah) impose an additional -1 on the base modifier caused by damage (i.e. -2 for Light Damage, -3 for Heavy Damage).

Perks and Flaws

Although doing away with the complex damage tables in favour of simple action modifiers does a great deal to simplify Gear combat in the roleplaying scale, it also renders almost ineffective several Perks and Flaws that would otherwise be critical. Factoring them back into the roleplaying game is a relatively easy procedure.

Backups and Reinforcements

A few perks allow Gears to ignore the first damage table result against specific components. These are:

• Backup Fire Control
• Reinforced Chassis
• Reinforced Crew Compartment

When Light or Heavy Damage is dealt to a Gear with any of the above Perks un-destroyed, roll 1 die. If the roll is equal to or less than the number of un-destroyed Perks from the above list, the Location has absorbed the damage. The negative modifier is absorbed by the armour and not counted against the Gear. Mark one of the perks destroyed.

The perks "Backup Communication System" and "Backup Sensors" allow the player to subtract 1 from the die roll; each can only be used once, and only one can be used on a single die roll.

Exposed AUX Systems

When Light or Heavy Damage is dealt to a Gear with this Flaw, roll 1 die. On a roll of 1, the Exposed Auxiliary Systems flaw adds an additional -1 modifier to the modifier caused by damage (Light damage imposes a -2 modifier, Heavy Damage, -3). This modifier is cumulative with modifiers from other sources of damage (i.e. Haywire devices).

If the Gear has any of the Perks listed in Backups and Reinforcements, roll for these first; if damage is still inflicted, then roll for Exposed AUX systems.

SMS over Rough Terrain

As it's more difficult to take Gear MPs over varying terrain into account when using roleplaying rules, some players may try to get away with using their Gears' SMS all the time. This can easily be countered by having players make Piloting rolls whenever they cross rough terrain.

Before Gear combat, calculate the maximum hexes moved each Gear in the combat at each of its speed bands (1/2 Combat, Combat, Top) for each of its movement modes (typicaloly, Walker and Ground). Compare each of these maximum values to the Target Speed Modifiers table (main rulebook page 139) and write down the modifiers that result.

When using SMS over rough ground, a Piloting roll against a Threshold of (5 plus Target Speed Modifier for Gear's movement, see above) must be made. Failure causes the Gear to stumble; the MoF is subtracted from all action tests in the current turn. On a Fumble, the Gear falls, taking damage equal to (Gear's size x [Threshold-1]) and losing any actions in the current turn. The fallen pilot must spend an action to get up.

E.g.: Pro Duelist Sarrie Chandra of the Petropolis Sluggers is racing on her Tiger's wheels to get a better vantage point when she hits a patch of rubble. As she is moving at Top Speed, Sarrie makes a Heavy Gear Piloting test against a Threshold of (5+2=) 7. She rolls her dice, resulting in 6, 6, 4 and 1. Adding in her Agility modifier, Sarrie's action result is 8, giving an MoS of 1. Sarrie nimbly dodges through the debris strewn in her path.