FMA Draft part 1B

CHARACTERS:
Each miniature figure used in the game represents an individual
"Character". In the Core system each such character is graded in his/her
ability by a single factor known as EXPERIENCE. The five possible levels
of
Experience are UNTRAINED, GREEN, REGULAR, VETERAN and ELITE, and the
level
attained by a particular character is denoted by the COLOUR of its
activation marker (see later).
Note that the terms used for the different Experience levels are
actually
quite loose, as the level does not refer solely to the degree of Combat
experience - it also reflects the amount of formal or informal training
the
character has received, their general level of competence, skill with
weapons, coolness under fire and many other factors.
In broad terms, the different levels are defined thus:

UNTRAINED characters are just that; they are ordinary civilians,
non-military personnel and so on, with virtually no training or
experience
of combat situations. This level should be used for noncombatants forced
to
take up arms by circumstances (eg: citizens protecting their homes and
property), as well as for unarmed "innocent bystanders". An Untrained
character will just about be able to point and fire a weapon if given
one,
but in general will be more of a liabilty to his/her own side. The
QUALITY
DIE of an UNTRAINED character is a D4.

GREEN characters are those who have had at least a little relevant
combat
training (either in Military terms or through life on the streets), but
have seldom if ever had to fire a shot in anger. Such characters would
be
new recruits to either Military or Security forces, or perhaps the
less-experienced members of street gangs and the like. They can fight,
but
are by no means very good at it. This Experience level could also apply
to
members of Militia and National Guard type forces, who have received
some
formal training but have little real knowledge of combat.
The QUALITY DIE for GREEN characters is a D6.

REGULAR characters are "average" in terms of combat training and
experience; they will form the bulk of most Military units, and also the
more experienced core of gangs and other such groups. In general terms
it
will be unusual for non-Military/Security characters to rise above
REGULAR,
except for the occasional "hero/heroine" or charismatic gang boss.
Characters of REGULAR status normally have at least some experience of
being under fire, know how to react in combat conditions, and are
reasonably competent with weaponry.
The QUALITY DIE for REGULARS is a D8.

VETERAN characters are particularly well-trained and experienced in
combat;
they will be either professional soldiers with a good few years of
service,
or else those that are just naturally good fighters. VETERANS know what
it
is like to be shot at, and to shoot people in return. They know how to
follow a good leader, but it should be remembered that they probably
survived this long by knowing when NOT to follow a bad leader.....  Most
professional Mercenaries, Bounty Hunters and the like will be of VETERAN
status, as may some long-service Security and Police characters.
The QUALITY DIE for a VETERAN is a D10.

ELITE characters are the deadliest and most effective fighters around.
Few
characters will aspire to this level unless they are combat-enhanced in
some way. Combat Cyborgs, "wired" characters and BeeCees will usually be
classed as ELITE, as will the occasional real hero or heroine. Even
"Special Forces" personnel are not automatically ELITE - usually it will
only be a few special individuals in such a unit that will warrant this
highest level. Combat Bots (of the SmartBot variety) are rated as ELITE
simply because they are DESIGNED to be very, very good!
The QUALITY DIE of an ELITE character is a D12.

As mentioned above, the level of EXPERIENCE a character has is denoted
during the game by the COLOUR of the activation marker placed by the
figure, as follows:
UNTRAINED = YELLOW marker
GREEN = GREEN marker
REGULAR = BLUE marker
VETERAN = ORANGE marker
ELITE = RED marker.

Each Activation marker (so-called because one of its uses is to be
flipped
over to indicate when a figure has used its Activation for that turn)
also
carries a number, which represents the character's MOTIVATION LEVEL.
This
Motivation Level is a measure of the state of the character's morale,
"nerve", coolness under fire and general will to fight; it strongly
affects
the probability that he/she will actually be able to do something
constructive as opposed to hiding in a quivering lump behind the
dumpster!
Note that the Motivation Level is also used as the "Leadership" value
for
any figure that has been designated as a Leader, as troops or other
subordinates are much more likely to take notice of a leader who has his
act together than one who is cowering in cover....

EXAMPLE: FORMING A UNIT OF CHARACTERS:
To give a practical example of how a small group of characters might be
formed for a typical game, we will create a team of five Police troopers
-
nothing special, just a typical squad of street cops. Choosing five
miniatures to represent the team, we name them and designate the team
leader: one female figure is a particularly dynamic miniature, so we
decide
she will be the squad leader, Lt. Morgan. A male trooper is picked as
the
second-in-command, Sgt. Lewis. The remaining three figures are all
ordinary
officers: Holloway (female), Parnell and Krapski (both male).
Now, we pick activation markers for each figure from a random face-down
assortment. As they are all supposed to be pretty average types, we
leave
out any ELITE markers (no heroes!) and UNTRAINED markers (all are
assumed
to be trained officers), so the mix contains some GREEN, some VETERAN
and a
predominance of REGULAR counters. At least two counters in the mix per
figure in the group is a good rule of thumb.
For Lt. Morgan, we pick a GREEN "1" counter - motivated and gutsy, but
inexperienced; Sgt. Lewis gets a VETERAN "2" - a long-service
professional
who knows what he is doing, but wants to live long enough to collect his
pension...
Officer Holloway gets a REGULAR "2" - a good all-round average, while
Parnell and Krapski get REGULAR "3" and VETERAN "3" respectively - both
OK
on experience, but relatively unmotivated.
So, we have our basic stats for the five characters - not a lot of
detail,
but by applying a bit of imagination we can already see how the group
fits
together: Morgan is probably young, not long out of the academy and has
reached her present rank quickly through confidence, nerve and
intelligence. She has not seen enough action to raise her rating above
"green", but her leadership is well respected by her unit. Lewis is a
long-term Sergeant, a career cop with a reliable but unremarkable
service
record - he will probably act as a steadying infuence on Morgan's
impetuousness. Holloway is a fairly experienced officer with several
years'
service, but may well be new to this squad. Parnell and Krapski are the
"Laurel and Hardy" of the unit - a pair of old-timers who are quite good
at
their jobs but not likely to put themselves in danger if they can help
it -
they will need good leadership and firm motivation if they are to
contribute much to the action.

Five 25mm metal miniatures have thus, with only two "game stats" each
plus
the addition of a little storytelling and artistic interpretation,
become
five quite different "characters". If we are playing a simple combat
game
rather than a role-playing session, this is all we really need - already
you can see that one of them getting shot during the game is going to be
a
serious matter, and not just another metal figure taken off the table!

RATING WEAPONS:

Almost any weapon type you can think of can be integrated into the FMA
system by allocating it suitable weapon stats.
A weapon type is described by three RANGE BANDS (Close, Medium and Long
ranges), each range band having a die type for the weapon's FIREPOWER at
that range, and an IMPACT die type that represents the weapon's
potential
to damage a target once a hit is achieved.
The RANGE BANDS of a weapon determine how far it may be ACCURATELY fired
in
typical snap-fire conditions; taking time to AIM the weapon more
carefully
will double the length of each range band. In general, the accuracy of a
weapon will degrade as the range increases, so the FIREPOWER DIE for
each
range band will be smaller than the previous band - most weapons will
drop
one die type per range band, but some whose accuracy drops off sharply
(eg:
Machine Pistols, which output a large volume of fire but with little
regard
for accuracy) may drop TWO die types per range band. In general terms,
the
Medium range band will usually be twice the Close band, and the Long
band
three times Close.

For example, a typical Military Assault Rifle might have a Close range
band
of up to 12", Medium band of 24" and Long band of 36"; its Firepower die
types for these ranges are set at D10, D8 and D6 respectively. A Machine
Pistol, on the other hand, might have Range bands of as little as 4", 8"
and 12", but might have Firepower dice of D12, D8 and D4 - the MP is
more
likely to hit than the rifle at point-blank range due to its very high
rate
of fire, but its effectiveness drops off very sharply with increasing
distance.

The IMPACT die type of the weapon is a combined measure of its
armour-penetration capability and its actual lethality - these are
definitely not the same thing, but for simplicity of play they are
averaged
into the single Impact factor. In the above examples, the Assault Rifle
might have an Impact die of D10 for its reasonably powerful rifle
rounds,
while the Machine Pistol gets a D8 to represent its lighter pistol-type
ammunition.

To write up the game stats for each weapon, we suggest the following
notation:

ASSAULT RIFLE:		12" (D10), 24" (D8), 36" (D6); Impact D10.

MACHINE PISTOL: 	4" (D12), 8" (D8), 12" (D4); Impact D8.

ACTIONS AND ACTIVATIONS:

One of the key parts of FMA is the INTEGRATED TURN SEQUENCE. Basically,
each player takes it in turn to ACTIVATE ANY ONE of his figures and make
that figure perform actions (2 actions per activation in most cases).
Once
that figure has completed its activation, it may not normally perform
any
further actions in that game turn; the opposing player now activates one
of
his figures, and so on. Unlike many skirmish rules, we do not use any
kind
of "initiative" system to decide when certain figures may (or must) be
activated - each player has a free choice of activating ANY one of his
as-yet-unactivated figures when it is his turn to do so. This removes
any
lengthy procedures of rolling dice, drawing cards or allocating chits to
determine order of play; while it gives the players more freedom to TRY
and
do what they want, it also means they have to be making constant value
judgements about what order to do things in - remember, with freedom
goes
responsibility! We have found that this method gives a simpler game,
with
much more fun than being forced to move a particular figure when the
dice
tell you to.

Of course, there are a few instances where the rules and the situation
limit the choice the player has as to which figure to activate when;
there
are also some cases where more than one figure may activate
simultaneously,
or may even be activated twice in one game turn. Where such special
cases
arise, however, they are clearly identified and explained.

Many actions that characters may perform can be assumed to be
automatically
successful, if they are something that a normal person could do without
difficulty or any significant chance of failure (eg: we assume that most
characters are able to walk and chew gum at the same time without
falling
over or choking....). Whenever a character wishes to attempt something
that
may or may not succeed, however, then an opposed roll is made between
the
character's skill die type and a Task Difficulty die type that should be
assigned by the Umpire (or by agreement between the players if no umpire
is
present). If the character rolls higher than the task difficulty die
score,
then the character succeeds in the attempted action; if the character's
roll is less than or equal to the difficulty die score then the attempt
fails.
[Option: if the character rolls a ONE, then this may be considered a
CRITICAL FAILURE, and something goes nastily wrong.]

Example: a character with COMPETENT weapons skill manages to jam his
rifle;
unjamming it is judged to be an AVERAGE task, so the character rolls his
D8
against another D8 rolled either by the umpire or opponent. If the
character rolls better than the difficulty roll, the weapon is unjammed
and
may be fired again; if he rolls equal or less, then it is still jammed -
he
may re-attempt the clearing in his next action. If the character rolls a
ONE, then he has actually made the jam worse and the rifle is probably
out
of action for the rest of the game.

SKILL DIE TYPES:
MASTER: 	D12
EXPERT: D10
COMPETENT:	D8
POOR:		D6
HOPELESS:	D4

TASK DIFFICULTY DIE TYPES:
VERY DIFFICULT: 	D12
DIFFICULT:		D10
AVERAGE:		D8
EASY:			D6
VERY EASY:		D4