I don't want to stray too much from the main setting for our book - giant war rigs battling it out in the late 1800s - but I am also excited about the curveball presented in our first Stretch Goal target. Steam Wars® creator Larry Blamire is also excited and created this cool sketch banner while dreaming about new threats to the war rigs.
At $17,000 in Funding - TRINITY CONTINUUM: STEAM WARS - LEVIATHAN SUPPLEMENT
We will create a PDF supplement introducing a new threat for the war rigs to face - titanic beasts that rise from the depths. Delving into the origin of these monsters, this supplement will be released for purchase on DriveThruRPG and added as a free bonus reward to all backers receiving the Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars hardcover book as part of their rewards. [Captain reward tier+]
We're gaining ground on our first target, and it's fun to have kaiju daydreams, but it's time to get back to our current project and talk about Large Scale Units!
Boarding Parties and Defenders
Sometimes, battle strategy calls for getting aboard an opponent’s rig. Perhaps the best way to disable the target is to get behind its controls or sabotage its machinery. The enemy might have a hostage the crew needs to rescue, or an asset they want to capture. Or maybe the rig itself is the target worth acquiring, to gain access to an opponent’s rig yards and bases, or simply to scavenge for parts.
In general, boarding party actions happen on the enemy rig’s turn. However, Storyguides should feel free to allow them to go on their home rig’s turn if serves the story and the players’ plans. For example, the gunner may be waiting for the boarding party’s signal to take a shot, or the boarding party leader can’t send the rescued scientist back to their home rig until the pilot brings the headcab close.
Boarding parties can consist of any number of characters, from stealthier one- or two-crew member missions to swarms of riggers ziplining across to a Behemoth’s midrig railings. Larger rigs’ boarding holds can contain dozens of marines. If the party consists of Storyguide characters accompanying player characters, focus on the player characters’ actions as party leaders or pursuing their individual objectives. Storyguides may wish to narrate the Storyguide characters’ actions, or allow players to control them using the Large-Scale Combat system below.
These rules also apply to the player characters’ rig should an enemy boarding party gain access. In this case, the Storyguide controls the enemy rig’s boarding party, while an appropriate player decides how the additional (non-player) crew carries out its defense. While the captain’s player is a good default choice for this role, anyone can control the rig’s LSU. This can change from round to round as the enemy gains access to different parts of the rig. Maybe the engineer rallies the stokers to make a stand against anyone getting past the chest compartment, or the navigator leads civilian passengers in a daring mission.
To represent skirmishes against an enemy rig’s troops, the Storyguide may wish to quickly create an LSU representing those troops. Remember that boarding parties consist of individuals, so the “Shooting at Steam Rigs” sidebar still applies to them. However, individual player characters or boarding party LSUs that gain access to an enemy rig may target its internal systems or disable the human operators those systems rely on, imposing Complications or increasing the difficulty of that rig’s actions.
Large-Scale Combat
Large-scale units, or LSUs, are abstractions of a battle unit’s capabilities. Each LSU is treated as a character. When assigning traits to an LSU, the Storyguide should apply a threat level to the unit and create them as you would make an antagonist character. Though these traits are rooted in the antagonist rules, players may also control boarding parties in a large-scale combat scenario, representing them with an LSU. Player-controlled boarding parties use the same traits as those controlled by the Storyguide.
Each LSU has the following traits to define its capabilities in combat:
Primary Pool: This pool represents the LSU’s greatest skills and assets. This is the LSU’s main purpose and what the unit is best at. LSUs assign their primary pool to one of the action types detailed on p. XX.
Secondary Pool: This pool represents areas of battle the LSU is competent with but are not their areas of greatest strength. LSUs assign their secondary pool to two of the action types.
Desperation Pool: This pool represents the action type the LSU is least competent in. Any action not represented by the primary pool or secondary pool uses the desperation pool. When LSUs defend against individuals in large-scale combat (p. XX), their desperation pool acts as their resistance value for all actions not resisted by Defense. An LSU applies its relevant area of Advantage to any such resistances. For an individual to overcome that Advantage, they must either be able to leverage that Advantage on their own or gain access to it through the Lend Advantage Trick (p. XX).
Enhancements: This is the amount of Enhancement the LSU applies to their primary pool and secondary pool rolls. This Enhancement may only be used to purchase Tricks from the action types listed in those pools.
Defense: This is the difficulty of all attacks against the LSU. If something would affect the LSU’s armor rating or Defense, apply it directly to this Defense rating.
Integrity: Like Defense, this is the difficulty for all social actions against the LSU.
Injuries: This is the amount of damage the LSU can withstand. When an LSU is reduced to half its Injuries (rounded down), the unit suffers the Demoralized status effect. If the LSU loses all its Injuries, it is Taken Out. Any surviving individuals within the unit escape if possible or are detained or killed by the victors.
Resolution: This status effect resolves when the LSU loses all Injuries, the LSU regains enough Injuries to bring their total above half their maximum (rounded down), or the scene ends.
Advantages: This lists the LSU’s Advantages in the areas of Durability, Intellect, Power, Social, and Speed. LSUs begin with 1 in all areas of Advantage and receive a pool of additional Advantage points to distribute among these areas based on their threat level.
Vulnerabilities: Each LSU has vulnerabilities that can be exploited by enemies. LSUs begin with vulnerabilities equal to their desperation pool. Each vulnerability includes a word or phrase that describes the vulnerability and an area of Advantage that vulnerability applies to. Enemy units may claim 1 additional Advantage when acting in that area of Advantage against the target and exploiting the vulnerability. Alternatively, the enemy unit may leverage the vulnerability on their opponent’s turn, adding +2 difficulty to relevant rolls.
An LSU must identify a vulnerability before they can act on it and must declare that they’re leveraging that vulnerability before rolling any dice for the turn. Once the LSU decides how they will leverage a vulnerability, they must do so the same way for the remainder of the combat. An LSU can leverage multiple vulnerabilities at once but must declare all the vulnerabilities they are leveraging at the beginning of their turn (for additional Advantage) or at the beginning of their opponent’s turn (for added difficulty).
Vulnerabilities can be any quality the Storyguide or player chooses but must be chosen at the beginning of the conflict. Example vulnerabilities include:
Concerned for Environment (Power): The LSU wishes to contain collateral damage as much as possible.
Inferior Parts (Any): Some parts of the LSU have a significantly lower Advantage than the unit in the affected area of Advantage.
Speaking Tubes (Intellect): The LSU relies on speaking tubes within the rig to disperse orders and execute tactics. These communications can be interfered with or intercepted, providing a tactical opportunity for enemy LSUs.
Target-Rich (Durability): The LSU contains several small units that tend to clump together, creating a higher vulnerability to high-powered and area attacks.
LSUs In Action
Boarding parties operate differently than individual combatants. Each die roll represents several exchanges of fire, movements within the enemy rig, and defensive maneuvers. Rather than narrate every exchange, the Storyguide describes the general results of the boarding party’s actions at the end of the round once all actions are resolved.
Large-scale combat uses four action types, which limit and define the kinds of actions the unit can take. Each round, every LSU involved in the combat makes a single roll. Hits achieved on that roll are divided among the four action types.
Assess: Assess actions allow the LSU to gauge the capabilities and weaknesses of enemy units, including enemy rig crews or the rigs themselves.
Attack: Attack actions target enemy LSUs, systems within a rig, or objects on the battlefield to deal damage.
Maneuver: Maneuver actions are defensive in nature. This can include simple evasive maneuvers or attacking enemy LSUs in ways that don’t affect the target’s Injuries, instead reducing their effectiveness in combat.
Reinforce: Reinforce actions allow the LSU to recover from Injuries and to overcome interference inflicted by enemy LSUs.
Each round of combat, an LSU must declare which dice pool they use for the round.
The LSU may buy Tricks from among any of the action types each round, regardless of which pool they roll. However, LSUs rolling a primary or secondary pool must spend half their hits (rounding up) on an action type they’ve assigned to that pool, prior to applying Enhancement. The remaining hits may be divided among other action types at the controller’s discretion. Enhancement applies only to the action types listed in the LSUs primary and secondary pools, though Advantage applies to any action, regardless of the associated pool.
Large-Scale Combat Tricks
Large-scale combat relies on Tricks to describe what each unit can accomplish over the course of a round. Large-scale Combat Tricks sharing a name with an existing Trick elsewhere in the rules supersede and replace that Trick with the rules listed here. In addition, increases to hit costs on these Tricks can exceed 3.
Assess Tricks
These Tricks can be purchased using Assess hits. They may only benefit from the LSU’s Enhancement if the LSU has Assess for their primary or secondary pool.
Fog of War (1-3 hits): By taking advantage of the chaotic nature of the battlefield, you impose Complications on an enemy LSU’s next action at a value equal to the number of hits you spend on this Trick. Any levels of Complication that aren’t resolved in the enemy’s next action are applied as damage to the enemy LSU. This can represent damage due to friendly fire, collision with obstacles, or any other hazardous battlefield impediments. You may not spend more hits on this Trick than your LSU’s Intellect Advantage.
Identify Vulnerability (2 hits): The LSU collects and processes combat data on the components of an enemy LSU to determine the enemy’s vulnerabilities. This action uses the LSU’s Intellect Advantage. If the party using this Trick has a higher Intellect Advantage than their target, they gain +2 Enhancement per level of Intellect Advantage they enjoy above their target’s Intellect Advantage. If the target has a higher Intellect Advantage, increase the base cost of this Trick by 1 per level of difference. Identifying a single vulnerability costs 2 hits, and this Trick can be purchased multiple times to identify additional vulnerabilities. Once identified, the vulnerability can be leveraged on subsequent turns.
Attack Tricks
These Tricks can be purchased using Attack hits. They may only benefit from the LSU’s Enhancement if the LSU has selected Attack for their primary or secondary pool.
Critical (3 hits): Deal an additional 1 damage on your target. This Trick may be purchased twice.
Inflict Damage (0 hits): Inflict 1 damage on your target. You may purchase this Trick once for each level of Power Advantage you can exert over the target’s Durability Advantage.
Maneuver Tricks
These Tricks can be purchased using Maneuver hits. They may only benefit from the LSU’s Enhancement if the LSU has selected Maneuver for their primary or secondary pool.
Evasive Maneuvers (2 hits): Increase your Defense by 1 for one round; this Trick can be purchased multiple times. This is influenced by the relative Speed Advantage between you and your opponent LSUs. If your Speed Advantage is higher, you gain Enhancement on this Trick, but if your opponent’s Speed Advantage is higher, the difference in Speed Advantage is applied as a +1 difficulty per level of Advantage difference.
Target Visuals (2 hits): This Trick can represent any sensory interference deployed by the LSU so long as the interference affects only the targeted LSU. This could represent baffling lights, a section of the rig plunged into sudden darkness, or an area filled with steam. Increase the cost of your target’s Assess Tricks by 1. You may purchase this Trick a number of times up to your Intellect Advantage. The effects of this Trick persist until the end of the scene or until the target uses the Fresh Intel Trick.
Reinforce Tricks
These Tricks can be purchased using Reinforce hits. They may only benefit from the LSU’s Enhancement if the LSU has selected Reinforce for their primary or secondary pool.
Fresh Intel (2 hits): If the LSU has suffered from the Target Visuals Trick, they may use this Trick to gain fresh military intelligence. This can also represent data fed up the chain of command to inform adjusted tactics. This Trick allows the LSU to regain 1 lost Enhancement, and can be purchased a number of times up to the LSU’s Intellect Advantage.
Repair and Bolster (2 hits): The LSU distributes repair teams to address damage to craft and apply first aid or other medical care to living members of the LSU. This can also reflect reinforcements called in to supplement the LSU. Regain 1 Injury. The LSU may purchase this Trick a number of times up to the LSU’s Durability Advantage.
As always, this sneak peek is just a small preview from stuff coming in a few weeks when backers have access to the entire contents of Chapter 4! I'll have a few more previews dealing with these massive war machines -looking at Rig Stations and also looking at the components that come into play when you build your own rig!
But before we get to those meaty bits from Chapter 4, backers will have access to the system that powers the game rather than their war rigs, the Storypath Ultra system. Next Tuesday, backers will have access to the rules chapter for this game! It's good stuff!
So let's keep spreading the word and recruiting new backers to our crew and see if we can't unlock some kaiju expansion material within the next week!
