The Adamythryl Engine! Part X: The Optional Rules

Welcome to the new name of my silly homebrew RPG!

What better way to start off its new title than with an ever updating section with all those overly detailed optional rules that while they give flavor, also increase complexity?

First up is a repeat from an older section:

Tech Levels of Skills: Skills have 3 tech levels. Primitive (human history up till 1900 or so), Modern (1900 through 2030 or so), High Tech (Guess!) Each tech level of a skill counts as a seperate skill however a primitive version of a skill can use it with penalties towards Modern, Modern can use their skill with penalties towards Primitive AND High Tech, and High Tech and use their skill with penalties towards Modern. (This penalty is -3 for Simple skills, and -6 for Complex as opposed to the -5/-10 for normal untrained use. And you DO get your skill still added to your attribute check!)

Take Security as an example. While the basic concepts of locks and traps is enough for a Modern skill version to do the basics of both High Tech and Primitive, there is too much different between an old 1800s lock and eye reading bio heat sensing electronic locks hooked to the Galactic Meganet. Yet to the Modern user there is enough of both in current systems that he or she can at least give it a go.

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Automatic Attribute Check Passing: If your check modifier is +11 or more you auto pass just like how a -11 is an auto fail.
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Advanced Machine Damage: Normally when a suit of power armor, vehicle, or mech is damaged, it keeps working fine until you get it to zero damage. This new rule can add a little flavor. Also it replaces the combat action allowing you to aim for a system. You aim as normal, but the effects work as below. A successful aimed hit causes 1d2+1 hits to a system of the attackers' choice.

Now, whenever a mechanical armor or object gets under half of its damage, every damaging hit that it takes, including the one that brought it under, causes a systems damage check. You roll on the chart below, and each hit you caused reduces that system by one with its applicable effects. 3 hits to a system destroys it, and a 4th hit shuts down the machine entirely, though the machine still has whatever (if any) remaining damage left.

Note that skills or abilities capable of repairing systems can be used by characters to fix their machines in the heat of battle and its a lot easier to fix a broken system than the entire machine as it is in the normal rules. If a machine doesn't have one of the below systems it is considered to be the No System Damage result.

Chart: (d20)
1-8 : No system damage.
9-12: Motive systems.
13-14: Sensors.
15-17: Weapons.
18-19: Internal Mechanics.
20: Instant System Destruction.

Explanations:

Motive: Movement reduced by 1 for every hit. When destroyed machine may not move at all.

Sensors: Vision reduced by 1/4 maximum range, and any actions requiring visual or sensor driven actions have a -2 modifier. When destroyed the modifier is either a -8 through impossible depending on circumstances. (A windshield is a sensor, so its possible a character could break it open, look out the side window, while a submarine underwater would be nearly impossible to do anything while submerged.)

Weapons: 1 weapon is destroyed. If no weapons an arm or other form of manipulator is. When destroyed all weapons or manipulators are destroyed.

Internal Mechanics: All actions involving movement or other physical operations have a -2 modifier. When destroyed the machine is immobile but may fire weapons straight ahead or if man powered (like the machine guns on the top of a tank turret), you may fire in a reasonable arc.

Instant System Destruction: Roll a D4 with 1 = Motive, 2 = Sensors, 3 = Weapons, 4 = Internal Mechanics (reroll destroyed or nonexistent systems). That system regardless of condition is now considered to have taken 3 hits.

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EMP Systems Damage: (Connected to the above rules) Certain weapons don't damage things permanently, but can easily take out mechanical and electronic systems and the like without causing serious damage to a machine. We call these EMP weapons. When an EMP weapon hits a machine, it does its damage as a number of effects (1 per point of damage) rolls on the System Damage Chart above. At the start of each turn of combat 1 system point is repaired from this sort of damage, controlling player's choice. 4 or more points does disable the machine, and all points are recorded as the machine will naturally shake off the EMP effects after enough time (and a little repair work maybe!) has passed.

Any machine that takes 10 or more points of EMP damage total is automatically disabled for d6x10 minutes. The total EMP point count on a machine can NEVER go higher than 10. Additional EMP damage becomes permanent systems damage beyond the 10 point threshold.

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Free Skills and Hobbies:

Starting characters get 2 simple skills at level 1, or 1 complex skill at level 1, plus Basic Education at level 2 to start. These 2-3 skills DO NOT take up one of your total number of known skills but they do cost the normal skill points to advance.

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Making more/less heroic games:
This can be done easily by raising or lowering the amount of starting talents and powers characters get. Normally, it is two of each at first level. A high adventure game could increase these starting amounts to 3, 4, or up to 6 depending on campaign. A low heroics game could have 1 of each, or even no starting talents and powers at all.

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And a preview of one of the more off beat Talents I had to add in: (I'm also writing it down so I do not forget. Future generations may NEED THIS INFORMATION.)

Great Hair: Your hair.. its AWESOME. And because its awesome, you are more awesome. It doesn't matter whether or not its a kick ass beard, fabulous sideburns, or the ultimate in manly, the afro, your hair makes you kick more ass than normal people do. Once per game session before making the check, if you try to do something awesome, you may use the power of your hair to ensure that if your attribute check is a failure, it becomes a success, and if the roll is a success it becomes a critical success with the GM to determine what that does if for some reason you decide the powers of your awesome hair aren't being used to beat the spit out of somebody.

If you are roleplaying in a 70s or 80s modern era someone in the party should probably have this talent. Shatner's toupee in TJ Hooker was clearly why he would have had this talent. Also many old school anime characters had this talent. So did rock legends Led Zeppelin and Queen.

More advanced rules to come from time to time! This way I can keep the main game simple, but add in those complex rules some folks might like!